Splash~!

Fang Raon scooped a handful of water from the sink and splashed it into his eyes and face—or, more closely, at the eyes.

The eyes were still itchy and red from the usage of Heat Gaze, and his face also felt really warm for some reason.

"I already knew that the Virtual Reality Pod is the pinnacle of weirdness, but I can even use the skills that I acquire from the game in here?

"Is it every skill or just an Innate Skills? I don’t know, but now that I can really use Heat Gaze in the real world..."

Fang Raon let out cold air from his mouth.

He truly felt like he was a superhuman. There was nobody that he really needed to fear anymore. If he ended up in a fight, he could end it immediately with Heat Gaze!

’It’s also scary to use. I can’t use it recklessly. I might kill someone as easily as breaking a twig, and not to mention that if someone sees me using this... They’ll strap me in some metal bed and start experimenting on me!’

He thought, and then he walked out of the bathroom and returned back to the dojo, which was a mess.

He had already killed off the fire with the help of the fire extinguisher at the back, but the marks of the Heat Gaze still lingered on the walls and ceilings.

It was something that he couldn’t fix at this point in time.

’Sorry, Father.’

Fang Raon wryly smiled.

He would have an unpleasant surprise waiting for him tomorrow morning, as Aizen always liked to start his days in the dojo.

Meditating and such.

Unfortunately for him, he would most likely need to skip that.

’I guess I should start heading for the bed. Gotta wake up early. I should try testing Heat Gaze later tomorrow in some remote location.

’It would be bad if I didn’t learn to control Heat Gaze and accidentally used it like I did just now!’

Fang Raon thought with cold sweat running down his back.

...

The lights dimmed in the Fang Family mansion, and while there were some servants moving about, most of the people had gone to sleep.

"...Young master."

The servants bowed as Fang Raon walked past them, and he gave them a quick nod as he continued making his way to his room.

’I suppose they didn’t hear the sound of the dojo getting destroyed. Good. I also checked if there were cameras in there, and I didn’t find any.

’I should be in the clear.’

At that moment.

The door in front of him opened, and suddenly, Raizen—his older brother—walked out of the room.

He saw Raon. Looked quickly away. And he started making his way to the dining hall, as he was feeling famished.

’He already logged out? I thought the Dead Redemption was going to clear that dungeon of theirs. I did spend an hour and a half over at the dojo, so could it be that they cleared the dungeon that quickly?’

Fang Raon thought in shock.

As Raizen walked past him, he gathered his courage and said.

"I watched that Leon guy’s stream."

Hearing that, Raizen stopped walking and looked over his shoulder at him, looking at him with an expression of "So what?"

"He is strong, huh?"

Fang Raon crossed his arms.

"..."

Raizen turned away and continued walking.

"Can I join you for a talk?"

Fang Raon asked.

"...Do whatever you want."

Raizen said. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

With a slight sigh of relief, Raon followed behind him and followed him all the way to the dinner hall.

Since the cooks and everyone had gone to bed, Raizen cooked something quick for himself and sat down to eat in silence.

He didn’t go to sit at the long table in the dinner hall but instead put the plate down on the kitchen counter, where the cooks usually prepared the food.

He took some high stool from the back to sit on and grabbed a fork from the washing machine where it had been left to dry.

’Raizen never skips the dinner. He always eats on time, unlike me. Thus, the cooks never leave him a tray of food, like they do with me.’

Fang Raon thought and then leaned against the kitchen counter, watching Raizen from behind.

"You all cleared the dungeon already? I thought it would’ve taken longer or had been more difficult."

Fang Raon said.

"...It took over an hour for us, which means it was difficult."

Raizen said it like it was the most casual thing.

For everybody else, only taking a slightly over hour in a dungeon as difficult as on the 56th floor would be an amazing accomplishment.

However, for Dead Redemption, that was a really long time.

’That’s a ridiculous thing to say. I don’t know anything about the dungeon, but I have a feeling that it would take dozens of hours for everybody else.’

Fang Raon thought.

"Have you ever fought Leon? I am sure you must’ve tried. He is the strongest after all, and if you beat him, you’re the strongest."

He asked out of curiosity.

For a moment, Raizen stopped eating his food, hovering the fork right above the mashed potatoes, and then he continued eating again.

It seemed like it was something that he didn’t want to talk about.

’Could it be that he did and lost? Or does he not want to try? Is he afraid of Leon, per chance?’

Fang Raon thought.

This was another form of training Read for him as he tried reading what was going on inside Raizen’s mind.

It was hard.

"I am curious. What are the current power rankings of every Dead Redemption member? Who are the strongest to the weakest?"

Fang Raon said curiously.

"...You are ruining my appetite."

Raizen said, and then he stood up, went to the garbage bin, and emptied the plate that he barely even touched.

He then tossed the plate into the sink, and Fang Raon thought that he would just walk away, but he didn’t.

Instead, he crossed his arms and leaned against the door.

"I’ll tell you if you tell me why you are asking me all these questions."

Raizen said.

"...You can just use Read on me, can’t you?"

Fang Raon said.

"I am sure you have already found a way to counter Read in a way. I don’t trust you enough to get into your head."

Raizen said.

"...Fair."

Fang Raon wryly smiled.

He had indeed thought of a counter, and thus, he was imagining Raizen in a catgirl cosplay outfit.

Therefore, if Raizen had tried to peek into his mind, he would’ve been welcomed with that funny sight.

Fang Raon was slightly disappointed, as he would’ve liked to see his reaction to that.

"If I want to be the strongest, I will eventually fight members of the Dead Redemption, won’t I? I am just preparing. That’s all."

He said.

"...Hah, you’re three years too late. You’ll never catch us since you started this late."

Raizen said.

"Maybe, but I’ll try."

Fang Raon said.

Raizen rolled his eyes, and then he uncrossed his arms and walked to the center counter of the kitchen.

"The power rankings, huh. You sure you want to hear it? It might discourage you. After all, I’ve heard that you had some previous encounters with some of our members."

"...I want to know."

Fang Raon said with a serious expression on his face.

"Okay... I warned you. Well, the strongest of the group is pretty obvious. It is Leon. We follow him because of his strength, after all.

"He has reached level 7, which makes him a Divine Ranker, and there are only three of them in the entire tower. He is the only Warrior that has ever become Divine Ranker.

"His class is—Angelic Swordsman."

Fang Raon nodded.

"The second strongest is Hermes Moon. He is also level 7 and the only Mage that has ever become a Divine Ranker. His class is White Bishop."

Raizen said.

"...Wait, you aren’t even the second strongest?"

Fang Raon said in shock.

Raizen looked at him, shook his head slightly, and then continued:

"The third strongest is Aria Rossie. She is the Helper of the Dead Redemption and the greatest Helper in all of Black Online.

"She is also level 7, thus a Divine Ranker, and she has become such a powerful Helper that she can even revive the dead.

"Her class is Dead Resurrection."

Raizen said.

’Even a Helper is stronger than him? I’ve not heard much about this Aria Rossie girl, but she sounds scary strong!’

Fang Raon thought.

"And fourth strongest. I believe it is me, but the fifth place might disagree with me. Because all of our duels have ended in a draw, but in a proper deathmatch, I believe I would emerge victorious.

"The fifth place is Rook Rose, Warrior like me and Leon, and his class is Mana Sword King, as he likes using Magic to enhance his sword skills.

"We are just level 6, thus at the pinnacle of the High Rankers, but we are not too far from reaching the Divine Ranker.

Raizen said.

’Della’s brother.’

Fang Raon thought.

"The sixth place is Xiao Yue. She is Mage and her class is Demoness. She might look beautiful and all that, but she uses dark magic, and that thing is ugly to witness.

"Seventh is Kerr Gehram, the Player Hunter, and I personally believe that he is the tower’s greatest Ranger, even though Rasmus might disagree.

"The eighth strongest is Seonwoo Kim. If you watched the stream, you might’ve seen her fight. Defeating her is not that difficult for some of us, but killing her... I am not sure if any of us can except Leon.

"Her class is Ugly Titan... the game has not been very friendly towards her when it comes to the class names that she has received. For some reason, her class names have always had either Ugly, Horrendous or Unfortunate in them.

"Ninth strongest is Rasmus Seider, but he might be most deranged in the entire group. High-ranking Rangers can create their own arrows from whatever material they want, and for some reason Rasmus likes to craft his arrows from the blood of the players.

"His class is Bloodmaker.

"And the weakest, in my opinion, is Lock. However, he is the youngest and has the most potential for growth. He is the fastest fighter in the tower.

"His class is Devil With Speed."

Raizen said.

’...Wait, Lock is the weakest? I can’t believe it.’

Fang Raon thought with a dark expression.

For him, defeating Lock was one of his ultimate goals, as his strength seemed unbeatable and unmatched.

Yet...

He was the weakest in Dead Redemption.