Black Online

The sun was already going down. It was dipping below the horizon, casting long shadows across the land like fingers reaching out to touch everything in sight.

"...Tch, tch, and we haven’t even arrived at the training camp yet. You two disappoint me with your snail’s pace!"

Rock shook his head with disapproval.

Fang Raon and Della, with the heavy training bags on, slowly made up the steep hill, which was the hardest one so far.

"Haah... Haah..."

Della panted with her hair starting to stick to her face because of all the sweat, and she could feel her muscles burning with exertion.

The straps of the backpack were already digging into her skin, and she could feel her feet being rubbed raw with every step she took.

If it weren’t for the pain nullification setting in Black Online, she would be so much in pain that she wouldn’t be able to move.

"Huff..."

Fang Raon wasn’t in much better condition.

He was very worried.

Once he logged out of the Black Online, he wondered if he would really feel all the pain that his avatar’s body had accumulated.

If so...

He was quite afraid to log out.

It was now so dark in the forest that they couldn’t see all the rocks, twigs, and branches that littered the ground.

It was dangerous to walk.

At that moment, Rock reached out to his inventory and pulled out a lantern and lit the wick, which suddenly illuminated a small area around them.

"We are close. Keep up!"

Rock shouted.

He then continued leading the way through the dark forest, but since they couldn’t keep up with him, the light got further away.

"Ahh... Ahh... Ahh!"

Della gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep moving.

Anyone else would’ve already regretted ever coming to this training camp, but not her, at least not yet.

She knew that all of this would make her stronger.

"One step... Two steps... Three steps..."

Fang Raon’s face drooped, like melting ice cream, and he took one step after another, heavy-footed.

Ahead of them, Rock reached the top of the hill, and he pointed the lantern ahead, and ahead he saw it.

The dimly lit place.

A wooden wall was surrounding a place. Lanterns dangled from the walls. There was a gate. It was possible to see some buildings peeking behind the wall.

"We’re here!"

Rock shouted.

At that moment, Della and Fang Raon reached the top of the hill, and their eyes finally had some light.

Finally... they’ve arrived!

Creak~ At that moment, the gate opened, and with a lantern in hand, a person walked out of the training camp’s grounds.

"Master Rock, is that you?"

The lantern’s light lit up the face of the person—a wrinkly-faced old man with wise eyes—he was draped with a cloak made of dark green fabric, and his long, gray beard reached down to his chest.

"Mikey."

Rock smiled and gave the old man a hug, who laughed in return and patted Rock hard on the back.

"I knew you were supposed to arrive today, but since the sun was already going down, I thought I got days mixed up!"

Mikey laughed.

"Yeah... It took longer than I anticipated."

Rock said.

In that moment, Mikey heard some heavy footsteps and looked over to see two desperate-looking young people walking over.

It looked like they just wanted to take these damn backpacks off and go to bed to relax for the rest of the night.

"And these must be the two."

Mikey rubbed his long beard.

"Yeah, they are. Introduce yourselves, brats!"

Rock ordered.

"D-Della Rose... I am the guild master of the Rose Records... It is nice to meet you, sir... huff..."

It took a lot of strength out of Della to introduce herself, but she still did it with a determined look on her face.

"F-Fang Raon..."

Fang Raon introduced himself simply.

"I am Mikey, and I am the caretaker of this place. If you’re wondering, I am also local to this place. Not a player like the three of you."

Mikey said.

’Local...’

Fang Raon nodded while wheezing and breathing heavily.

"Can you take them to their resting quarters? Show them also where the Healing Hot Springs are. They are in need of it."

Rock said, and then he entered the training camp through the gates.

"Of course, sir. Please, follow me."

Mikey said to the two, and while still carrying the backpacks, they followed him through the gate and into the training camp.

Then.

They finally saw the entirety of the training camp, which was well-lit with lanterns and torches.

The yard was quite open. Plenty of space. There were buildings scattered here and there. Each of them had a different purpose.

And then... at the center of the training camp, they saw quite an interesting sight that they did not expect to see.

A small pyramid. Just about thirty meters tall. It was only made of rock pebbles, very small ones.

"..."

Fang Raon looked over and saw Rock meeting with someone over at one of the buildings—a woman who had green hair.

They were chatting amiably.

’She must be the dancing teacher.’

He thought.

In that moment, Mikey led them to the resting quarters, and it was only made of wood. It smelled like a mix of cedar and pine.

They walked through the front door, and there was a narrow hallway with doors on all sides—they were all rooms—and at the end of the hallway, there was a small living room with stairs going to the attic.

"Take whatever room you want. You two cannot stay in the same room. Those are Rock’s orders."

Mikey said.

"Of course we weren’t going to be in the same room!"

Della huffed and puffed, and she opened a random door and tried walking through, but the bag was too big.

"Ahem... You two can finally get rid of your bags. You do not need to carry them anymore."

Mikey said with a wry smile.

In an instant, they both dropped the heavy bags, and they let out moans of satisfaction as they stretched their arms and shoulders.

"Once you’ve got settled, I’ll take you two to the Healing Hot Springs. It is the reason why Rock built this training camp all the way here.

"It is good to rejuvenate the body and the mind from the exhaustion."

Mikey said with a smile.

He then picked up the two heavy training bags, almost falling while doing so, and with great struggle, he took them away.

"...I’ll be taking this room."

Della pointed at her room shyly, and Fang Raon nodded and took the room across from her and entered it.

It was a small room. It had a mattress leaning against a wall with some bed sheets strewn on top and a pillow.

A window looked out towards the outer wall of the training camp. The room also had a small wardrobe.

A very modest room, but they didn’t need some kind of mansion in here, so he was very satisfied with it.

"Argh..."

Fang Raon felt discomfort, and he took off his shirt and saw that his shoulders were red and bloody.

’Great...’

He sighed.

"Aish... Oww..."

He then heard Della let out painful sounds in her room, but she had closed the door, so he couldn’t see.

She was probably also shirtless currently, checking out the state of her body.

’Healing Hot Spring better do wonders, as I still have to join Anna tonight for that playing session. I might die of exhaustion if I go there in this state!’

Fang Raon thought.

He then put on another shirt, stepped out of the room, and closed it for the meantime.

A short while later, Della had also changed her clothes and left her room, but she still wore the same look of exhaustion.

"You two are done?"

Mikey came back and saw the two of them nod, and then he rubbed his hand and said with a smile, "Follow me then!"

They left the resting quarters and walked across the training camp until they arrived at the steaming building.

There were pillars of steam coming from the backyard of the place, which was shielded by walls on all sides.

[Healing Hot Springs]

A large sign was nailed to the front wall of the building.

Mikey, Raon, and Della walked through a flap in the room and found themselves in a normal room with two ways leading to the hot springs.

One of them had a blue flap for men’s hot springs. The other one had a red flap for women’s hot springs.

"Take your time over there. You’ll be most likely going to visit these hot springs every day while you’re here.

"Rock will push your body and mind to the absolute limit every day, and you would completely break if it wasn’t for these hot springs.

"Enjoy!"

Mikey said, and he then left.

"...No peeking over the wall, Raon!"

Della cheekily said, and she then stepped through the red flap and disappeared into the women’s side of the hot springs.

"Hah..."

Fang Raon wryly smiled, and he then entered the men’s hot springs, and he took off his clothes and stored them into one of the baskets.

Then, he wrapped a white towel around his waist, opened a sliding door, and stepped out into the night air.

"Ah..."

He was welcomed with the sight of steam and the sound of running water.

There was one big hot spring with a large rock in the middle of it, and the water was pure green-colored like jade.

It was also steaming heavily, so the water must be quite hot.

And then there were stools placed around for people to sit on, and some buckets with water to rinse off after soaking in the hot spring.

’This place is amazing.’

He thought, and he then took off the towel, put it on one of the stools, and slowly dipped into the hot spring.

In that moment... His eyes widened in shock, and he completely melted into a state of bliss.

All the exhaustion from the long day faded away as he felt the warm water enveloping his body.

’I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good before!’