Black Online-Chapter 123: Wartime Protocol

Whir~ Gurgle~ Buzz~

"..."

Fang Raon stared at the coffee machine in silence.

It was early in the morning, and he just woke up and decided to immediately wake him up with a cup of coffee.

It had been a while since he had woken up this early, but he had a good reason for it, as he was going to finally start properly grinding Black Online.

He was going to wake up early from now on and play till nine at night.

If anything, he was only going to stop for lunch and a bathroom break, but otherwise, he was going to play all day.

"Yawn..."

In that moment, as he let out a quick yawn, the coffee finished brewing, and he poured a cup for himself.

While enjoying the bitterness of the coffee, he looked at the Virtual Reality Pod and was already itching to hop on.

Even though it had only been about forty hours since the last time he played, it honestly felt like a week.

"I didn’t tell Rock that I’ll be skipping a day, but I don’t think it’s that bad now that I leveled up. The fourth line is also about to head off to the raids.

"However, knowing Rock, he is going to torture me for today, but well, I am sure other guild members also had real-life situations that stopped them from playing..."

Fang Raon was actually starting to feel quite scared.

’I need to get their phone numbers so I can tell them next time if I cannot come to play. There might come another day when I can’t.’

He thought.

And since he was now team leader, he was an important piece of the guild, and if someone like him was out of reach, it was pretty bad.

He quickly finished the coffee, put the cup inside the dishwasher, and hurried to the Virtual Reality Pod.

After climbing inside, he pressed a button that closed the lid, and then he took a deep breath.

’I hope it’s a good day today...’

...

Blink~ Blink~

After blinking his eyes a couple of times, Fang Raon looked around his room and realized where he logged off previously.

’Right, once I talked with the Fourth-Liners, I headed to my room and logged off there.’

Fang Raon straightened his sleeves, then he walked to the door, opened it, and stepped out to the hallway.

"Fang Raon, where the hell have you been at?!"

In that moment, a shout reached his ear, and for a moment, he thought it was Rock, but when he turned to look, it wasn’t him.

It was someone he didn’t quite remember.

"...You are?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Fang Raon asked with a frown as he looked at the unfamiliar-looking man, but he might’ve seen him somewhere.

’I think he was at the marking ceremony...’

"I am Owen, the team leader of the Third Line. Have you been informed yet?"

Owen, a tanned man, was speed-walking towards him, as if he were in a hurry to go somewhere and was too busy to talk with anyone.

"...Informed about what?"

"We are at war with Grinding Grief and Monsieur Rascal. They’ve besieged Snowberry Village. You’re team leader, so get your fucking act together, and find the guild master over in her office.

"We are under the wartime protocol, so for the nights, you don’t sleep in the real world, but instead you’ll sleep here!"

Owen shouted and kept walking away.

’...War? What the hell did I miss?’

Fang Raon’s eyes widened in shock.

He turned around and immediately sped off to the guild master’s office and noticed that the mansion was emptier than before.

’Everyone must be over in the Snowberry Village protecting the place!’

A while later, he arrived at the guild master’s office, and without wasting time to know, he pushed the doors open.

There were three people inside the office—Della, Miranda, and Rock—and they all turned to look at him all at the same time.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

Rock asked.

"...Sorry, real-life stuff."

Fang Raon said with a sigh and then put his arms behind his back and stood like a good soldier would.

"What are the current orders, and what do I need to do?"

He asked.

"Your team can update you on the current situation, but currently, your team is monitoring the locals and ensuring their safety.

"During wartime, it’s common for even the locals to get agitated and start robbing and rioting, which we don’t want to happen.

"Your team’s job is to stop that from happening."

Della said with a serious look.

Her eyes were slightly bloodshot because she hadn’t been sleeping lately and had only had, like, a 30-minute nap last night.

"Okay."

Fang Raon turned around to leave.

"They’re housed currently over in the Up-And-Down Inn. You’ll most likely find them there, and you’ll take the reins from there."

Della said.

"...Ok."

Fang Raon nodded.

"I’ll come with you."

Rock said, and followed him out of the office, and there was urgency in their steps as they headed out of the mansion.

"I don’t want you to do anything stupid, Raon. In the wartime, it is always the most excited ones that die.

"Drop any and all notion of making a name for yourself in this war. Level 3 players die like flies, and you won’t be any different."

Rock said with a deadly serious expression.

"I understand."

Fang Raon said with a nod.

"And since you’re the team leader of the fourth line, your job is to also stop them from doing anything foolish.

"They’re all young, and they might think that if they become a war hero, they will be rewarded with glory and fame. It’s never that easy to become a war hero."

Rock said.

"Okay."

Fang Raon said.

"Send me a message of your phone number also. I will deliver it to Miranda, who is responsible for real-life communication.

"It is unacceptable that you aren’t available when you’re team leader."

Rock said.

With a nod, Fang Raon opened his chat window, sent his phone number to Rock, and then made the chat window disappear.

"And real-life stuff, huh? Anything serious?"

Rock asked curiously.

"It’s been dealt with. I can focus on this wholeheartedly, so you don’t have to worry."

Fang Raon said with a serious look.

"Good!"