Black Online-Chapter 203: Quarterfinals Reached!

’I just want them to leave me alone.’

Fang Raon thought angrily as he headed down to the first floor of the tournament hall.

This whole thing with the Fang Family and Aizen, he didn’t want to be involved in any of it.

"Meow... Meow..."

At that moment.

He heard meowing as if there were a cat nearby, but Fang Raon’s expression turned strange, and he saw someone walking on all fours near the stairs.

"Meow... Meow..."

It was... Raizen... walking on all fours and meowing as if he were a cat, and he then licked his own arm and swiped it across his hair.

"...Catzen, huh."

Fang Raon wryly smiled.

He noticed that other people nearby looked at Raizen as if he were some crazy person, and he didn’t blame them.

"Ah...? Ahem..."

In that moment, Raizen somehow turned back to normal, and he stood back up while looking like nothing was wrong.

As if he wasn’t just pretending to be a cat.

"You talked with Father?"

Raizen asked.

"...Yes."

Fang Raon said.

"Hmm..."

Without wanting to talk any more, Raizen started walking away, and Fang Raon followed his back with his gaze.

’This is why Father doesn’t want him to be the head of the family. He has split-personality disorder, and it is quite severe.

’One of his split personalities is a cat... whose name is Catzen.’

Fang Raon scratched the back of his head.

Without that disorder, it was most likely that Raizen would be the next head of the family without a doubt.

’Nobody in this family is normal... Maybe that also means that I am not normal. Well, I had that strange disease, but it’s not quite the same...’

He wondered to himself.

In that moment, he found Rock sitting alone, eating a thick-looking sandwich, and minding his own business.

Fang Raon approached him and sat beside him on the bench.

"...Where you been?"

Rock asked after swallowing.

"I had a talk with my Father."

Fang Raon said.

"...Your Father? He is here?"

Rock asked in surprise.

After finding out about Fang Raon’s involvement with the Fang Family, he also knew about the head of the family.

Fang Aizen.

It was a name that was quite prominent in the real world, and his son, Ares Rose, has also had few business dealings with him.

Aizen was known as a very careful and calculative man.

"What did he want?"

Rock asked curiously.

If it was some deep family things, then he didn’t think that he had to know, but if it was something that would affect him, then he needed to be informed.

Such as if Fang Raon was forced to stop playing.

"Apparently he is dying."

Fang Raon said.

"...Oh... I am sorry."

Rock patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

He remembered when his father was dying, and it was one of the hardest things he had ever gone through.

"My father and I haven’t been close, like ever. Today, he acted very lovingly towards me and even wants to make me the head of the family."

Fang Raon said.

"...That sounds great."

Rock said in surprise.

However, this also meant that if Fang Raon became the head of the Fang Family, he wouldn’t have time to keep playing.

Being head of such a prominent family would take a lot of time, and he had no time for anything else.

"The problem is this is my father we are talking about, and he has never been loving or supportive.

"Him wanting me to become the head of the family? I think he would rather torch the family to the ground than make me one."

Fang Raon said with a scoff.

"This could be a way for your father to fix the relationship with you. People can change when they’re met with the inevitability of death.

"Maybe he regrets his poor relationship with you and wants to make it right before it is too late.

"Several of my friends, who reached the doorstep of death, wanted to fix their damaged relationships with some of their loved ones or friends before they passed away."

Rock said.

"You don’t know my father."

Fang Raon said.

"Yeah... Sandwich?"

Rock offered him the long sandwich that was slightly too large for comfort, and Fang Raon just shrugged his shoulders and took a bite.

"What are you planning to do?"

"I plan to say no, but I am quite afraid of what my father’s reaction will be."

Fang Raon said with a sigh.

"You want me to come with you?"

Rock asked.

"...Nah, this is something I have to do by myself. I want to confirm something."

Fang Raon said.

"Confirm what?"

Rock asked curiously.

"My father doesn’t like taking a ’no’ for an answer, so depending on his reaction, I can tell whether he really wants to change or not."

Fang Raon said.

"...So, you’ll say no, at first, and if he has a good reaction, you might change your answer to yes?"

Rock asked.

"Yep."

Fang Raon said.

Rock nodded, and he then continued eating his long sandwich and watched players move into the tournament hall.

The next round was beginning shortly.

"Who is my opponent? Have you seen?"

Fang Raon asked.

"Guy named Jarry. He got a very easy path to this round—the easiest one for sure—so you should have it.

"However, don’t underestimate your opponent, as he can have the best match of his life, and you only need one poor match to get knocked out of the tournament."

Rock said.

"I’ll keep that in mind, Master."

Fang Raon said.

...

"...Argh!"

Jarry put his face into his hands and let out a frustrated groan.

The holographic battlefield in front of him was smoking, and the village was quite destroyed as a result of the fight.

Above the battlefield, a notification hovered.

[Winner—Fang Raon]

"Good match."

Fang Raon said.

While he defeated Jarry pretty handily, it was still quite a difficult one, as he was pretty good at controlling his Mage.

Jarry himself was a Mage, and a pretty good one as well, as he had reached the 40th floor in the tower.

He was a Mage of a quite powerful guild, and thus, since he had a vast amount of experience as Mage, he had an advantage in controlling soldier Mages.

Thus.

Jarry just chose three Mages as his soldiers, just like in his previous matches, and it had worked pretty well for him.

However.

With him being limited to choosing only one skill for each Mage, it did limit his choices quite greatly.

And in the end, Fang Raon was able to use his Warrior, Tank, and Helper combo—which was his favorite combo—to defeat Jarry’s Mages.

"...Good match."

Jarry sighed, and he then shook Fang Raon’s hand, admitting defeat with a smile, and he then walked away.

Unlike his previous opponents, Jarry did take his defeat pretty well, as he just joined this tournament for fun anyway.

He didn’t really care about prize money, as he already had a lot of money because he was a very valuable Mage.

Also.

He was on the 6th floor mainly for the Sun Festival so he could get laid and drink till he passed out from alcohol.

This tournament was just a little side quest for him.

"Here."

The referee then handed Fang Raon a paper, and he went to the front desk to hand it over to the young woman.

"Congratulations on reaching the quarterfinals. It will be the last round for today, and if you make it through, the semifinals, bronze match, and gold match will be held tomorrow!"

The young woman said with a smile.

"Mm, thank you."

If he won the next round, it also meant that he would earn some of the prize money, so it was very important round.

Fang Raon nodded at the young woman, and without going anywhere, he went back to the tournament hall to check the other matches.

After a while, his master, Rock, defeated his opponent after a long and grueling fight that took a toll on both of them.

Rock was sweating quite heavily as he was forced to deplete his mental energy, and thus, he was suffering from a headache.

"Ah... I’ll go rest."

Rock gulped down from the water bottle, feeling the cold liquid soothe his parched throat, and he went to sit down on the bench.

The quarterfinals were held in about an hour’s time, so he had an hour to rest, which should be enough.

It was hard when he drained his mental energy, and all he had to do was let his brain rest.

Thus, he shouldn’t think about anything. He shouldn’t talk with anyone. Nothing that would require any mental effort.

"God damn it!"

At that moment, one of the opponents smashed their fists into the table and angrily left the hall while huffing and puffing.

"Hehe~"

Anna smiled as she again emerged victorious, and she looked at Fang Raon briefly before making her way to the front desk.

She also made it to the quarterfinals.

"Ah..."

Anna looked at the tournament bracket on the wall, and her lips curled into a smile that was a mix of sadistic tendencies and excitement.

[Quarterfinals - Match 4 - Anna vs. Rock]

’I am going against Raon’s master... Hehe, that will be interesting.’ 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Anna giggled to herself.

She then was curious about her brother’s opponent and checked it out.

[Quarterfinals - Match 1 - Raon vs. Sunny]