Black Online

Fang Mansion, the dining hall.

The family of five—Aizen, Raon, Raizen, Raikou, and Anna—had gathered around the dining table.

Foods, drinks, and desserts filled the table, just about anything that one could possibly wish for in a meal.

For a while now, they have had these family dinners once in a week as requested by Aizen to make the family "closer" or something like that.

Only one person had never been invited, and that was Sara, the mother of the family, who probably wouldn’t even come if she were invited.

"Can I get bread?"

Anna asked.

The basket of bread was in the middle of the table, just out of her reach, and Raon then reached out for it and handed it to her.

"Thank you."

Anna took a bread from the basket and began to spread butter on it.

Aizen cut into his food and munched on it while watching his children sitting around the table in mostly silence.

It was as awkward as ever.

The servants, every now and then, came to bring more food, and even they could feel the tension in the air.

Raikou, especially, was in a pissed-off mood.

He bit on his food with hatred, which was mostly targeted at Raon, who had just killed several members of his guild—again.

"Why don’t you all tell about your days?"

Aizen said.

Everyone glanced at him.

It was another thing that he always requested during these family meetings.

It sounded like he was just a father who wanted to know what their children were doing all day in Black Online.

’Maybe because he is dying, that has caused this sudden interest?’

Anna wondered.

"Raizen, you start."

Aizen said.

"...I’ve just organized the guild’s ranks for tomorrow."

Raizen said.

"What happens tomorrow?"

Aizen asked curiously.

"We’re launching an attack on the hackers situated on the first floor. We’re hoping to get rid of them once and for all."

Raikou said.

"...Is that so?"

Aizen halted his eating speed for a while, but then he slowly continued eating, slowly like he was trying to savor every bite.

"..."

Fang Raon looked at his father silently.

"Are you coming as well, brother?"

Anna asked Raon, as there had been sightings of him on the 6th floor, as rumors had spread among the Fang Guild.

Fang Raon had become quite a famous figure within the Fang Guild, as he was the future heir of the Fang Family.

Also.

The incident over a year ago was still very much vivid in their minds.

Ever since that day, the Bastard Men didn’t dare to overstep their boundaries within the Fang Guild again.

They tried to get along with the Anna’s Angels, and even if their relationship was still quite rocky, it wasn’t horrible like before.

"Yeah, I will."

Fang Raon said.

"When will this attack take place?"

Aizen asked curiously.

"Eight in the morning, from what I know. We’re taking these hackers down for sure."

Raikou said boastfully.

Aizen just nodded, thinking about something, and then he resumed eating in silence, and the rest of the dinner was also pretty quiet.

The sound of the silverware, chinking against the plates, was the only noise that broke the silence.

A while later.

The dinner ended, and everyone went in their own ways.

"..."

Fang Raon followed Aizen with his gaze as he walked out of the dining hall, and he narrowed his eyes.

...

With a half-full stomach, Aizen rushed to his study room and sat down on his chair and took out a secret burner phone from the drawer.

It was what he had been using to contact the hacker group Reality First.

He quickly dialed their numbers and then waited for someone to pick up.

Ding~ the phone call connected.

"Mister Aizen, what do I owe this pleasure?"

James’ voice came from the other side. It sounded as carefree as ever before. There was also a woman’s voice in the background.

It was easy to determine that he was currently in a bed with some woman, probably done with their lovemaking session.

"We’ve got a problem."

Aizen said with a serious voice.

"Oh? And what could that be?"

James asked with a chuckle.

"The players will launch a counter-offensive on your group tomorrow, eight in the morning. They’re going to attack the first floor with all they’ve got."

Aizen said.

"...And you know this information how?"

James asked.

"My children told me. They’re part of the team. They have inside information."

Aizen said.

"...I see. Thank you for this information."

James said.

"Don’t do anything foolish, James. Black Online is not dead yet. It’s unnecessary to fight the players at this time."

Aizen said.

"Haha... this is a good opportunity, no? We know they’re attacking and they have no idea that we know. We can take down their strongest soldiers once and for all.

"With them gone, Black Online is as good as dead!"

James said.

"Don’t underestimate them."

Aizen said.

"It’s fine. If things turn dicey, I can just teleport away, haha. Sure, few of my hackers have died, but I am not like them. I’m invincible, after all."

James boasted.

’This arrogant fool.’

Aizen clicked his tongue.

He had been aware that James’ biggest weakness had always been his oversized ego and his arrogant nature.

If he were only smarter, James would be unstoppable with his strength that, even without hacks, was among the best in the world.

"Don’t you think that if they’re planning an attack, they have a way to counter your teleporting abilities? By the sound of it, they aren’t planning to let any of you leave alive!"

Aizen said.

"I think they’re just stupid. They can’t possibly believe that they can kill all of us. There are still many of us left.

"At most, they’re just trying to chase us off the first floor so the starting location is secure for new players to spawn in.

"It’ll be alright. I have a plan."

James said with a chuckle.

Aizen scoffed, ended the call, and then snapped the burner phone in half and tossed it into the trash bin.

’Idiot.’

He thought angrily.

Then, out of nowhere, the door opened, and Fang Raon walked inside with a dark expression on his face.

"Son, what’re you doing here? Never heard of knocking?"

Aizen asked sternly.

"Please, tell me that what I just heard was some hallucination that came from my lack of sleep."

Fang Raon said coldly.

"...What do you mean?"

Aizen asked, but his heart skipped a beat, and he glanced at the trash bin where the destroyed burner phone lay.

’He heard...’

"I thought it felt far too coincidental. The hackers came at the perfect time. It boosted Rain Online’s popularity by a thousandfold.

"And the way you talked when we were leaving from the Rain Game Company... you talked as if you knew this would happen.

"So this was your doing all along."

Fang Raon said.

"...I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Aizen said.

"You lied just now. I know Read, remember, and my Read is stronger than yours, so you cannot lie to me."

Fang Raon said coldly.

Aizen’s eyebrow twitched.

It had been a while since Fang Raon possessed stronger Read than his, so he had been walking on eggshells around him.

Because he had to act even smarter around Fang Raon because of his mastery of Read and his ability to see through any lies or deceit.

"This family dinner bullshit was just a way for you to fish some information out of us since you knew we were tightly connected with the player community and the information.

"Every bit of information we gave you, you gave to the hackers."

Fang Raon said.

"...When you become the head of this proud family, you will also do difficult things. One day, you will understand.

"Rain Online, alone, couldn’t have possibly defeated Black Online because of its established player base.

"Something had to be done, and this was it."

Aizen said.

"Does the Rain Family know?"

Fang Raon asked coldly.

"They don’t. I acted on my own. This deal will benefit us in ways that you can’t even imagine. It will guarantee the future of this family.

"This is my last act of my short remaining lifespan. I will guarantee the safety of this family. I won’t step into the afterlife without knowing that this family is taken care of!"

Aizen shouted, but then he quickly covered his mouth with his fist and started coughing uncontrollably.

"Cough... cough... COUGH!"

He coughed blood, staining his hand, and he looked at it with a mix of horror and acceptance.

"I won’t let you do this. I won’t let you destroy the thing that is dear to me. I just won’t let you. I won’t let you win."

Fang Raon said coldly and turned around to head out of the door, but then he heard his father’s, Aizen’s, rough, raspy voice.

"You... are not allowed to join that raid. Neither are your siblings. I forbid it."

Aizen said angrily.

"...Try to stop me."

Fang Raon said coldly.

"...As you wish."

Aizen said coldly, and then he pressed a hidden panic button at the bottom of the desk, and the door suddenly slammed open.

Out of nowhere, about fifteen black-suited bodyguards stormed inside the study, and they were all bred superhumans of the Fang Family.

They were all masters of the Five Pillars of Power, and they had never allowed Aizen to get even a scratch on his body.

Aizen had spent a fortune to cultivate these fifteen bodyguards into the ultimate warriors just for his safety.

"Take my son to the basement prison, and my other children as well. Make sure they don’t go anywhere!"

Aizen shouted.

One of the bodyguards tried grabbing Fang Raon, but he suddenly grabbed his hand by the wrist and looked directly into his black eyes.

The bodyguard then noticed that Fang Raon’s eyes started to turn red. Smoke began to billow out of his eyes.

’What is this...’

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