Black Online

Tap, tap, tap~ chatter, chatter, chatter~!

The sounds of the bustling city entered Fang Raon’s ears, and he hadn’t even opened his eyes yet but could tell that he was in a city.

At that moment.

He finally opened his eyes, and the old sight of the First City opened up in front of him.

Players and locals alike were bustling about, carrying out their daily activities.

It even felt like it was busier now than when he was here last time, as he wasn’t sure whether he could even walk without bumping into someone.

’The First City...’

Fang Raon dropped his gaze to his getup, and he was wearing the mage’s brown robes with dark brown leather sandals.

It felt weird because it was very breezy compared to the Warrior’s tight armor.

’I feel kind of naked wearing only this brown. It has like zero defensive capabilities. But it does make me feel light on my feet.’

He thought to himself.

Then, he looked around the spawn square, and he pushed through the crowd until he arrived at some benches that were surrounding a small fountain.

He sat down.

On the other bench, there was a mother feeding her child some milk from a bottle, and on his left side, there was an elderly man reading a newspaper.

’It doesn’t look like Anna has logged in on yet. I expected her to have arrived here already, as it took me some time over in the Zero Floor.

’However, I know that she has already been playing, so she must’ve logged out somewhere else, and it takes her some time to walk over here.

’I know that we’re supposed to meet here.’

Fang Raon thought.

He wasn’t in a hurry, but he wasn’t going to play longer than two hours, as he also wanted to sleep.

’I am wondering why this place is so busy now.’

He thought.

Then, he looked to his left and saw the old man reading the newspaper—he was a local—so he might have a scoop.

"Excuse me."

Fang Raon said to the old man.

With his aged gaze, the old man looked away from the newspaper and looked at him, recognizing him as a player, and slowly tipped his hat.

"How may I help you, mister player?"

The old man asked.

In truth, the old man was kind of scared right now.

It was the First Floor, and thus it was usually every player’s first time experiencing this magical world of the Tower of Black.

Thus.

They liked experimenting with stuff, such as how real locals were, so there had been some instances where players just outright killed some locals.

Of course, they got banned from the city for a month, but if a player was already planning to leave for the second floor, they wouldn’t care!

And seeing Fang Raon’s getup, he was, without a doubt, a completely new player.

"I am just wondering what’s with all this ruckus. This is actually not my first time in here, but it wasn’t this busy back then.

"Is there something going on that I need to be wary of?"

Fang Raon asked.

"Oh, well, young man, it is because of this!"

The old man showed him the newspaper and pointed at the picture of the Twelve Elder Council.

This page of the newspaper was all about "The Race," which would happen in a couple months’ time.

"The Race will start on the First Floor, so the Twelve Elder Council has already sent people here to start preparing for it.

"And because of it, some locals are also moving here temporarily for work and to experience the start of the Race.

"It will be pretty busy around here for the next months!"

The old man said.

"I see, thanks."

Fang Raon nodded.

’The players that have left the newbie floors can’t come here yet, but once the Race approaches, the newbie floors will be opened up.

’I bet some players will use it as a great opportunity to just go to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th floor again to do stuff.

’It’s going to be chaos.’

Fang Raon thought.

In that moment, he noticed someone.

There was a young woman, walking with confidence, with her shoulder-length brunette hair flowing in the wind.

Heads turned wherever she walked. She was beautiful.

She was being catcalled. Some players tried to invite her to their party. She ignored them all as if she couldn’t even hear them.

And then.

Her gaze pierced through the crowd like that of a hawk and landed straight on Fang Raon, who sat frozen in place.

Then.

She smiled, and it brightened the place like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, and she walked straight through the crowd.

Whenever she bumped shoulders with others, they were just pushed aside, and the locals were shocked that such a petite girl could be so strong!

"Raon~!"

Anna excitedly waved at him, and Fang Raon slowly stood up, and then was hugged tightly by the petite girl.

"Urgh..."

Fang Raon felt like his entire body was being crushed, and he had a hard time breathing.

Meanwhile, Anna was just smiling while enjoying the hug, and she pressed her cheek against his chest to hear his heartbeat.

The players who saw that kicked rocks in frustration as envy filled their hearts like never before.

’Just how many points did she put on Attack?!’

Fang Raon wondered with cold sweat running down his back, and then finally, Anna let go of him with a cheeky smile.

"Do you see something different about me?"

Anna asked and flicked her hair back.

"...You cut your hair."

Fang Raon said.

He noticed it right away, as it wasn’t really a hard thing to notice, as her hair used to reach her lower back, and now it was barely shoulder-length.

"You noticed~ I am glad!"

Anna giggled.

She then took a good look at him and noticed the brown robe that he was wearing.

"You chose the Mage class. It’s an interesting choice. I honestly didn’t expect you to choose that, as I thought you would go for the Assassin route."

She said.

"I just thought that an Assassin wouldn’t be that much of a use in boss raids. We need more variety, and Mage can be a great offensive and support class, so I chose it instead."

Fang Raon said.

"That makes a lot of sense. You’re so smart, brother~! It will definitely help."

Anna said with a smile.

He also noticed that Anna did indeed choose Tank class again, which wasn’t surprising, as it was her specialty.

It was really hard to guess that a petite girl like her would be Tank, and Fang Raon would go so far as to say that it was harder than guessing what class Randell was.

Randell was Helper, which really didn’t fit him, but he would bet that it would’ve been harder for him to guess Anna’s class.

"I already know where we should head off to. Since we don’t have that much time, I want to accomplish as much as possible today."

Anna said.

Fang Raon nodded and followed behind her as they left the spawn square and found a street that wasn’t as overcrowded.

Carriages with donkeys and horses wheeled down the street, and they even came across as some clowns and mimes performing in the streets.

Funnily enough, some of those mimes were actually players, and they were so good at it that they most likely were also mimes in the real world.

They did earn some money.

’Black Online is such an interesting place because you can use your real-life talents to make your earnings as well.

’You don’t have to go pick up a weapon and start fighting monsters if you don’t want to. It’s really just like a second world.’

Fang Raon thought.

It was why he loved this place so much.

"Where are we going?"

He then decided to ask his little sister, who couldn’t stop smiling, as this moment was like a dream come true for her.

She had been dreaming about playing Black Online with just her brother Raon and nobody else.

"Adventurer’s Guild. I want to do a quest with you. A special kind of quest that will give us good starting boost in strength."

Anna said.

"...What kind of quest?"

Fang Raon asked.

"In every floor, there are some Side Bosses that can be even stronger than the actual bosses in the towers. They’re supposed to be the ultimate challenge for players who are seeking greater rewards and more difficult battles.

"There is a quest in the Adventurer’s Guild that is killing the Side Boss. It is one of the hardest quests in there. And we’re going to take it."

Anna said with a smile.

"Are you sure we can do it with just the two of us?"

Fang Raon asked.

He asked that because he wasn’t familiar with the Mage class yet, and he might mess things up if he didn’t do some training first.

"I know we can. Don’t worry, brother. You can use the Side Boss as a training exercise. I am sure you’ll do great."

Anna said with a smile.

As if she could tell what her brother was worried about, but she didn’t think there was any need to worry.

She believed that he would still do great.