Black Online

Chapter 214: Older Generation

Fang Raon opened his eyes.

[Welcome back to Black Online!]

"Oh, a new message?"

He thought that message had never come before when he logged back into the game, so there must’ve been a new update patch last night.

He wiped the message away, and then he almost flinched as, from the corner of his eye, he got a glimpse of a person sitting on the porch.

"Why didn’t you tell me you were here?"

Fang Raon touched his chest as he felt his racing heart, and he then also sat down on the porch, right across from Rock.

"I am enjoying my morning brew, that’s why."

Rock took a long sip.

"I just received some strange message when I logged back in."

Fang Raon mentioned.

"Yeah, I got the same. A silent update patch came last night. It’s not a big deal. Just a couple bug fixes and stuff. Nothing major."

Rock said.

"How often do updates happen?"

He asked curiously.

"Once a week pretty much. It is such a big game that there is always something to add, but they are often quite minor fixes.

"You haven’t noticed those updates because they’re so small in size, but sometimes, there are big updates that even need the servers to shut down for a couple hours to a full day."

Rock said.

"Have you experienced that kind of update?"

Fang Raon asked.

"Of course, many times. During the early days of the Black Online, there was a huge update every week. It’s not happening as often anymore, but they do still happen."

Rock said and continued sipping on his morning brew.

He then took another good look at Fang Raon and noticed that he was just looking east towards the tournament hall.

"Are you nervous?"

"Me? No."

Fang Raon replied.

He wasn’t feeling nervous but impatient, as he just wanted to get the tournament over with.

"Your opponent is a guy called Remu. He is a veteran. Older than me. I know he used to be a professional Chi-Go player in real life, which is also a very technical and strategy-heavy game.

"It translated his skill to the General’s Game pretty well, so he is a formidable opponent and, in my opinion, a strong favorite to win the whole thing."

Rock said.

The door then opened, and Elena and Della, donning summer dresses, the two of them, stepped out of the cottage.

They looked lovely.

Fang Raon looked away, as he was with Chaewon now, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to stare at them.

"Raon, is everything okay?"

Della asked gently and touched him on the shoulder, and she noticed how stiff he became, like a statue.

"Yep... I probably should head over to the tournament hall. The matches will start soon."

Fang Raon said and stood up.

"The matches will start in an hour."

Rock said with a frown.

"Yeah, I don’t want to be late... See you!"

He waved with two fingers and left with quickness towards the tournament hall.

"He is acting strangely, isn’t he?"

Elena said.

She was good at reading people. It was a type of "Read", but not quite, as it was just her intuition.

"..."

Della wondered what that was all about.

"I have something to talk to you about, Della."

Rock said with a serious look on his face.

"What is it, Grandpa?"

Della sat down, as it sounded like it was something serious.

"I talked with Raon yesterday. He wants to dedicate himself solely to training, and I agreed to train him as long as it takes.

"So there is a good chance that we will be staying over at the training camp for quite some time."

Rock said.

"...How long?"

Della asked.

"A year or more."

Rock said.

"That’s far too long, Grandpa! He is the team leader of the 4th line, and he should also be climbing the tower. If he stays behind for one full year, he will be behind everybody!"

Della shouted.

She didn’t like the idea of that at all, and even though she was going to participate in the training camp, she couldn’t stay there one whole year.

And Rock wasn’t planning for her to stay that long either. Probably only one month, as after that, she really had to return to being guild master.

"I know that is a really long time, but trust me in this, granddaughter... After that one year, Raon won’t be some mere fourth-liner anymore.

"He’ll be in the first line, and I guarantee you this—he’ll be the Sword of the Rose Records that’ll help us get to the next level."

Rock said with a serious look on his face.

He meant every word that he said.

He’d never said to anybody why he started training Fang Raon in the first place back on the beach of the 6th floor.

There was a good reason for it.

He was able to see something in him that he hadn’t seen in anybody else—not even in Dead Redemption.

"B-But..."

Della still hesitated.

She believed that Raon could still get stronger if he stayed with Rose Records and went tower climbing with the rest of the Fourth Line.

However.

She also knew that in Rock’s training camp... If he really survived one whole year with him... He’ll be unrecognizable.

Even Dead Redemption didn’t spend that much time with him.

"What will I do with the Fourth Line then?"

Della asked.

"Just make Machary the team leader."

Rock shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmm..."

Della frowned.

She was planning to make Machary the team leader of the Third Line already, but there were several other good options for the Third Line team leader position as well.

There really wasn’t anybody else good for the Fourth Line, so Machary was the only choice for that position.

"Okay..."

Della mumbled.

But it didn’t really sound like she still wanted to agree, and she wanted to use her power as guild master to void the whole thing.

However.

She also didn’t want to make Raon mad, as it sounded like it was his idea, and she didn’t want to get in his way of getting stronger.

In the end.

Him getting stronger would also benefit her guild, even if they were going to be separated for a whole year pretty much.

...

The Tournament Hall.

’It looks like a proper tournament avenue now.’

Fang Raon thought to himself.

There were rows of chairs neatly organized around the hall—it could fit nearly a thousand people in the hall—and at the center of it all, there were only two tables.

Five rows of chairs. The back row was higher up. The second and third rows were at the same level, and the front row was the lowest.

The front row was quite close to the tables. Near enough to chirp at the players. It would add an extra layer of difficulty to the match.

’I can’t allow myself to get distracted by the spectators.’

Fang Raon thought.

In that moment, someone walked next to him, and he was enjoying a pipe—it was a Bliss Pipe—and he looked straight at Fang Raon.

The eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, but it seemed like he was scanning him, and Fang Raon was just kind of ignoring him.

"You are my opponent, right?"

The man said with a smile.

"...You must be Remu."

Fang Raon said, and then finally took a good look at the man, and saw his gray hair that was neatly combed back.

It didn’t seem like he was all that old.

’I know Rock looks younger than his age, but so does he. I wish I would look as good when I am an old man.’

Fang Raon thought casually.

"You are as old as my grandson. If I lose to you, oh boy, I will never stop hearing about that from him."

Remu said with a chuckle and took a long drag of the Bliss Pipe and looked relieved as his stress melted away.

"I thought General’s Game was a younger people’s game. It isn’t such a shame to lose to somebody younger."

Fang Raon said.

"You see, I really don’t agree with that younger people’s game crap. In my opinion, it’s no different from Chi-Go.

"I am not sure if you’ve ever heard of Chi-Go, but in the previous championship, the youngest person was 44 years old.

"And that person is considered one of the greatest talents in the history of Chi-Go, and it took him that long to reach the World Championships.

"I’ve tried getting my friends from the Chi-Go circle to come and try playing General’s Game, but they are not capable enough to reach the 6th floor.

"They’ve become old... If they could come here and start competing in the General’s Game, there wouldn’t be any of you young squirts able to beat them!"

Remu said confidently.

"What a shame. If you beat me in the next match, I will agree with you that the older generation is better. What do you say about that?"

Fang Raon turned to look at him.

"If I lose, the older generation is still better!"

Remu huffed and puffed.