Black Online

Chapter 212: Home Run

144th Floor, the Grand Sports Floor.

"Whoah..."

Fang Raon let out an exclamation of amazement as he stepped inside the floor that was just majestic.

"I know, right~"

Chaewon smiled happily.

The whole floor was one big sports paradise, like an amusement park for sports enjoyers. It had everything from basketball courts to swimming pools and even a rock climbing wall.

There were hundreds of different sports you could try and attempt to win prizes and such.

They paid the entrance fee, and then they received a card that would allow them to access all the different facilities and activities at the sports complex.

Ping~ Ping~

They were near a baseball batting center, so there was a constant sound of "ping" as aluminum bats hit baseballs.

"Should we play some bats first?"

Chaewon asked.

"Sure."

Fang Raon said.

They entered the batting center, and there were several empty batting cages, but one of them was occupied.

"You’re amazing, baby!"

A woman said to her boyfriend, who was in the middle of swinging the bat, and it met with the ball with a loud crack as it sailed far into the air.

It flew close to a hundred meters, but it wasn’t quite a home run, and only home runs gave a special prize from the batting center.

"Close!"

The man said with a smirk.

He was a brownish-tanned man with tattoos poking underneath his sleeve, and his girlfriend was a woman who wore very skimpy clothing and had bright red hair that matched her red lipstick.

She also seemed to be a makeup enthusiast, as she had A LOT of makeup on her face, as if she were trying to desperately hide her real face.

"The home run gives a secret prize. Should we try to get that?"

Chaewon looked at the television with excitement, which told about the secret prize, and turned to Raon with sparkling eyes.

"Mm, sure."

Fang Raon nodded with a smile.

He didn’t know how hard it was to get a home run, but since it was the only requirement for the secret prize, it couldn’t be easy.

"Hmm?"

Hearing some noise, the tanned man looked over and saw that they weren’t alone in the batting center anymore.

In that moment, his gaze completely ignored Fang Raon and went directly for Chaewon, and his eyes went wide.

"Whoah..."

"Where the hell are you looking at?!"

In that moment, his girlfriend just smacked him in the back of the head, and he let out a sudden yelp of surprise.

"What?! I just checked who entered the batting center. Sheesh!"

The man said, sounding pissed off, but his grip on the baseball bat tightened, and he felt rejuvenated to get that home run.

He felt like showing off a little bit.

Not towards his girlfriend, but to the beautiful woman that just came, and he even had the delusion that she was currently watching him play.

She wasn’t. She was only staring at Fang Raon. She hadn’t even noticed that there were other people in the room yet!

"Come on!"

The tanned man pressed the button, and after a couple seconds, a baseball started hurling toward him.

With both hands on the bat, he swung with all his might and hit the ball with a loud crack.

Swoosh~ The ball soared through the air, and it was heading for a home run, but at the last moment, it lost speed and dropped to the ground.

It was a few meters away!

"Damn it!"

He shouted.

It was still a decent swing, and he believed that it was enough to show his cool side, and with a side-eye, he glanced at Chaewon.

However.

She was not looking at him at all and was instead getting a bat together with Fang Raon, as they planned to try a few times for the home run.

"Tch!"

The man clicked his tongue.

He then turned around and tossed the bat to his girlfriend, who looked at the bat like it was some kind of foreign object.

"Your turn!"

"B-But I don’t know how to swing a bat!"

She said.

"It’s easy. Just swing it at the ball."

The man said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and once he stepped out of the cage, his girlfriend entered it.

"Maybe... you should hold me and teach me how to swing the bat?"

The girlfriend batted her long eyelashes at her boyfriend, but it didn’t look like he wanted to do it as he nonchalantly waved his hand.

"Nah, you got it!"

"Oh..."

The girlfriend sounded sad, but she then pressed the button and waited for the baseball to launch from the machine.

Bang~ The baseball hurled over, and she swung the bat, but it went slightly over the ball, and thus, the ball went flying past her.

It was at quite low speed settings, which, in theory, would’ve made it easier for her to hit the ball, but she still missed.

"I am so bad at this... Why don’t you help me?"

She turned around to look at her boyfriend but saw that he was only staring elsewhere towards the other "couple," who were talking and laughing.

In that moment, Fang Raon stepped into the batting cage with an aluminum bat in hand.

"Let’s go talk with her... I mean, with them."

The tanned man said.

"Why?!"

His girlfriend protested, but he was already walking over, and she followed him reluctantly.

"Hi, is this your first time in the batting center?"

The man formed a smile, and talked to Chaewon, who didn’t expect to be talked to, and turned her head to face the man.

"Yes?"

She said.

Then she noticed his tattoos and the girl’s fake eyelashes, and they made her remember a few classmates during her high school years.

Who never came to the classes, always skipped classes, and ended up dropping out.

Delinquents.

"I can give you some lessons if you want. It’s all about proper technique, you see. This guy, whom you are with, has horrendous technique.

"Like that, he won’t even be able to hit the baseball!"

The man said intentionally loud so that Fang Raon would hear, and it would ruin his concentration.

He didn’t think that the two of them were together, as Chaewon seemed way out of his league.

’I think this guy is desperately friendzoned, and he came here to try to look cool in front of her, but sorry, buddy, you’re not in her league at all.’

The tanned man said arrogantly.

"I don’t need it..."

Chaewon stepped slightly away from the man, slightly uncomfortable that he was standing so close.

And then she saw the tanned man’s girlfriend clinging to his arm, as if she were saying, "Mine!" but then the man just shrugged her off.

The girlfriend looked like she was ready to beat him up right then and there.

’A horrendous technique? Well, it is my first time in the batting center. However, I know how to swing a sword, but this is definitely way different.’

Fang Raon thought.

He then looked at the screen in front of him, where he could select the speed of the launch machine and when it would release the ball.

’Let’s try 50% speed.’

He moved the speed from 20% to 50%, and then he pressed the "Launch" button, and the countdown started on the screen.

He turned around, grabbed the bat with both hands, and moved it over his left shoulder, right next to his head.

Bang~ the baseball shot out.

"Ah?!"

Fang Raon looked surprised, and he then swung the bat, but he swung it way too early, and the baseball just slipped past him.

"Pfft, hahaha!"

The tanned man just laughed.

"..."

Chaewon looked at the laughing man—very annoyed—as she hated people that were loud and obnoxious.

He was both.

’That was surprising...’

Fang Raon thought as he looked at the baseball that was rolling on the ground and kicked it away.

’It was much slower than I expected. I thought it would be very fast, so since it was slow, it completely threw me off.’

He thought, and then he turned to the screen and just moved the speed to its fastest setting and pressed launch.

"Haha!"

The tanned man laughed even harder after seeing that.

’What a pathetic guy. He already embarrassed himself in the 50% setting, and now he is trying the fastest setting? That’s the setting that the professional baseball players use!’

Bang~ the baseball shot out, and this time around, it was so fast that it was almost invisible to the naked eye.

Fang Raon had his eyes wide open. He then swung the bat. It cracked against the baseball and sent it flying high into the sky.

CRACK!

"He hit it!"

The girlfriend of the tanned man shouted in shock.

It flew high and far. It almost grazed the high ceiling. It was hard to see just how far it actually flew, but it flew far.

[HOME RUN!]

A massive neon sign went off in the batting center, flashing "HOME RUN!"

’WHAT THE FUCK?!’

The tanned man’s eyes widened in disbelief.

’That was easier.’

Fang Raon thought, and then he stepped out of the batting cage, but before he could make another step, Chaewon jumped in front of him and hugged him tightly.

"Haha, you did it!"

She shouted happily, and since she was so overwhelmed with joy, she suddenly just kissed him in the heat of the moment.

’They are actually together?!’

The tanned man’s eyes widened in shock.

"...I think we should break up."

The ex-girlfriend of the man said with a pissed-off look.

"Ah?"

The tanned man turned to her, a puzzled look on his face as if he were saying, "Why?" with his expression.

"You’re not romantic at all."

She said coldly, and she then flipped him off with a middle finger and left the batting center with a leopard-themed bag slung over her shoulder.