Black Online-Chapter 185: First Opponent - Quinn

Rock stared at the ground as he walked—heavy feelings swirling inside him—and he wanted nothing but to put those emotions in a box and throw it into an ocean.

Without realizing it, he had already walked back to the cottage and saw Fang Raon sitting awkwardly with the two sisters.

Nobody was talking.

"Rock."

Fang Raon said after noticing him back.

He also caught the solemn mood that Rock was carrying as if he had just been rejected by his crush or something.

"Where is Grandma Diana?"

Bunny and Sunny asked.

"Uh... I don’t know. We split ways a while ago."

Rock scratched the back of his head.

The two sisters nodded, then they stood up and said, "Goodbye then, Grandpa Rock," and then they left.

"...Everything alright?"

Fang Raon asked.

Rock thought about something for a while, and then sat down across from Fang Raon and started a game of General’s Game.

"Shall we have one game?"

He asked.

"...Sure."

Fang Raon nodded, joined the match, and then their soldiers appeared on the beach of the battlefield.

Their soldiers ran straight at each other and started slugging at each other—it didn’t look like there was any strategy behind their movements.

For a while now, Rock had been training Fang Raon in fighting—not strategy—so he could defeat whoever came in front of him with skill alone.

Rock believed that Fang Raon could become one of the most skilled fighters in the General’s Game because of the strength of his mind.

There weren’t many people that could control all ten soldiers.

"You’re in a shitty mood."

Fang Raon said.

He noticed that Rock’s soldiers acted more aggressively than before, which talked all about the state of Rock’s current mind.

He wasn’t as calm and composed as usual.

"Very perceptive of you."

Rock said, and nothing more.

It seemed like he didn’t want to talk about what made him so agitated.

’First, he didn’t want to meet that Diana lady and acted like a stiff board when she hugged him. Then, he came back from the walk and is suddenly in the shittiest mood ever.’

Fang Raon rubbed his chin.

The fight turned more intense, but Fang Raon’s soldiers started overpowering Rock’s soldiers and swiftly cut them down.

"Damn it!"

Rock shouted.

"...You were too aggressive. When you are that aggressive, you leave yourself open to counterattacks."

Fang Raon said.

"Oh, are you now teaching me?"

Rock asked coldly.

"...That’s one of the first things you taught me, master. Why don’t you tell me what is going on with you?"

Fang Ran asked.

Bam~ Rock slammed his finger on the General’s Game board, and closed off the game.

"The tournament will start early tomorrow morning. You need to get rest before that. Don’t stay up too late."

He stood up and went inside.

"..."

Fang Raon watched him leave.

...

9:30 A.M., St. Bella Village, the Tournament Hall.

Inside the Tournament Hall, which had been constructed with oak trees, wood, and stone—players were starting to fill the halls.

While the Professional League was being held on the second floor, the first floor was reserved for the Amateur League.

Hundreds of tables were set up.

"...Where the hell is my match? Number 38... It’s... Over there!"

"...It’s finally time. Let the best general win!"

Players—both nervous ones and excited ones—were walking over to their tables and taking deep breaths to calm their nerves.

"...Fang Raon... Fang Raon... Fang Raon..."

With a frown on his face, a glasses-wearing man looked at the paper in hand and was looking for his table.

He was reading aloud his opponent’s name, and he thought he was being lucky that he didn’t recognize the name.

’I’ve participated in all sorts of Amateur League tournaments, and I know the best players, but I don’t know this name. I might’ve lucked out, but this is only round of 256. I should be able to reach the round of 32 pretty comfortably.’

Quinn thought to himself.

After searching for table number 92 for a short while, he finally found it—it was quite at the back—and he noticed that his opponent was already there.

"Hello, my name is Quinn."

He immediately introduced himself after arriving at the table, as it was good manners to do so, and General’s Game players always introduced each other before a match.

"Fang Raon."

Fang Raon said with a nod, and then, Quinn sat down on his seat, and they were just waiting for the referee to come and start their match.

"Have you been playing for long?"

Quinn asked.

’Ah... He is fishing for information about me.’

Fang Raon caught Quinn’s intention pretty easily, and he then said.

"Not for long. I haven’t even been playing Black Online for long. This is also my first tournament, so."

Fang Raon said.

While Quinn tried hiding it, there was an obvious tuck of a lip, as if he was about to smile but stopped himself at the last possible moment.

Quinn was quite confident in his victory now.

While Quinn had been playing for eight months now, he had only reached the 8th floor, as he didn’t care about tower climbing.

He fell in love with the General’s Game and had been putting all his effort into mastering all of its intricacies.

"I hope we will have a good match, then."

Quinn said with a smile.

"Good luck to you as well."

Fang Raon smiled.

"Good luck, Fang Raon!"

In that moment, they heard a shout of cheer, and they both turned their gaze to the second-floor balcony—where some spectators were allowed to watch.

The one that just shouted was a beautiful-looking young woman—she was Della Rose, and she was accompanied by Miranda.

’I thought she would be too busy to come here.’

Fang Raon thought, and with a smile, waved at her and turned his attention back to the opponent in front of him.

’How does this guy have that pretty of a girl cheering for him? I am burning with jealousy... Sorry, buddy, but I’ll have to embarrass you in front of her!’

Quinn cracked his knuckles.

In that moment.

The referee walked over and wrote down in his book that both participants had indeed arrived and were ready to compete.

"The rules of the game will be basic ones—three-versus-three—if your tower gets destroyed or your soldiers have all died, you will lose the match.

"The battlefield for the tournament is a special one, designed specially for this tournament."

The referee said.

He noticed that they understood, and then, he pressed a couple of buttons on the machine, and the hologram came up.

"Choose your soldiers, and assign one skill to each soldier. When you’ve done that, the match will start."

The referee said, and then went to another table to do the exact same thing.

’What should I start with? Since we don’t know the battlefield, the first round will be used to understand the map better, and so, I think the match will be decided with our soldiers.

’However.

’That might be what he wants me to do, and while I focus on attacking his soldiers, he might focus on attacking my tower.’

Fang Raon thought with a frown.

’Should I just bunker down and play defensively? Get him to attack me.’

In that moment, he looked over to Quinn and saw that his fingers were being quite busy as he was tapping something in his own holographic screen that only he could see.

’He is already choosing his soldiers and classes. I think he’d already decided what to do beforehand.

’We already knew that the battlefield would be never-before-seen, and thus, he had already thought about a plan for it.

’This guy seems to know what he is doing, and I am sure he is already thinking that I will be an easy opponent. He might look to understand the battlefield better for upcoming rounds.

’Thus, if I were him, I would try to take control of the center of the map. Where I can both attack and defend the towers.

’To do that, he must choose Rangers and Mages. Mages to create an Earth Wall fortress in the middle of the map, and then Rangers to attack the towers.

’So, I think he will choose one Mage and two Rangers.’

Fang Raon thought.

And thus, he also decided on his own approach and decided to attack right away with all of his might.

’I will use speed, take control of the center of the map, and stop Quinn’s plan before he can even do that. I won’t let him bunker down, or it will be really hard to defeat him.’

Fang Raon started touching the holographic screen in front of him, and it didn’t take long for him to decide on his soldiers.

***

[Fang Raon’s Team]

[Warrior - Skill: Speed Man]

[Warrior - Skill: Strength Man]

[Mage - Skill: Earth Wall]

***

And without further ado, Fang Raon pressed the "Ready" button, and Quinn looked over with a frown on his face.

He then also pressed ready.

’Speed Man gives my Warrior a temporary speed boost, and with that, I can reach the center of the map before anybody else.

’Strength Man gives my Warrior a temporary strength boost.

’And with Mage... I have special use just for him.’

Fang Raon thought with a smile on his face.