Chapter 434: Monster Backyard

Fang Raon took Chaewon’s hand. He slid the blue ring onto her finger. A blissful smile appeared on her beautiful face.

“Me next!” Della excitedly gave him her hand, and he slid a matching red ring onto her finger as well. “It’s beautiful…”

The two girls looked at their ring. It must’ve cost quite a bit. It warmed their heart.

Fang Raon took a beautiful black-silver ring from his pocket and put it on his own finger. It looked great.

“Ah,” Yerin wiped her tears with a handkerchief. “I am getting emotional. My baby daughter is getting married!”

“Mom…” Chaewon giggled and then gave her mother a warm hug. “I am not going anywhere. I hope you know that.”

“Mmh!”

Yerin nodded, but she felt like her baby daughter was growing wings and flying away somewhere far.

She already cried when she moved out. Now she was crying even harder.

…

It was already eight in the evening. Fang Raon, Della, and Chaewon got back to their apartment. Little tipsy from all the wine they had been drinking.

“Your mother sure knows how to drink.” Fang Raon pulled down on his tie. “I couldn’t keep up with her at all.”

He was carrying Della on his back. Piggyback style. She wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling as they stumbled through the doorway.

“Hehe,” Chaewon took off her shoes and tossed them to the corner. “My mother is not called the Queen of Wine Drinkers for no reason!”

“Who calls her that?”

Fang Raon asked. Della almost slid off his back. He had to put his hands down on her thighs to steady her.

“Mm…” Della nibbled on his ear. “Naughty boy…”

She was so drunk. Her tolerance towards alcohol was easily the worst. She barely drank a half-cup of wine.

“Her friends,” Chaewon said with a smile. “They have a book club, and they also sometimes gather to watch a movie, and they drink wine.”

She then took off her earrings while Fang Raon carried Della upstairs and then lowered her onto the bed.

“Della…” Fang Raon called out to her but saw that she was barely awake. “You need to take off your dress.”

Della spread her arms with a smile. Like she was wanting a hug. But in this case, she was telling him to undress her.

He scratched the back of his head with a chuckle, and then he took off her dress, the leggings, and the shoes.

Della was soon only in her underwear. White lace underwear that he had never seen before. It must be a new purchase of hers.

Fang Raon gently pulled the blanket over her. All the way to her chin. He then kissed her on the forehead, and turned off lights.

He walked back downstairs and saw Chaewon taking off her dress, as she intended to head for a quick shower.

“Shouldn’t you take the ring off?” Fang Raon sat down on the couch. “You shouldn’t wear it in the shower.

“Haha.” Chaewon laughed and gently rubbed the ring. “I am not taking it off. Never.”

She then went to the shower. Soon, the sound of running water could be heard from over there.

Fang Raon rubbed the back of his neck, and then he took out his phone and quickly checked the Netcord.

His server.

He hadn’t been streaming as much lately, but while he was with Poppy’s party, he did do a few streams.

His viewer count had stabilized around 5000, which was really, really good. People liked tower climbing streams.

“Hmm?” Fang Raon read through the “IRL” channel. “People are talking about the Superhuman Syndrome. The number of violent crimes has increased apparently.”

He frowned.

It was something he expected because if bad people got their hands on superhuman abilities, there was no way they wouldn’t try to use them.

“Virtual Reality Pod X can be used for good,” he thought out loud. “Like it helped to cure me. If hospitals use it, they can cure basically everything. But there is also the downside…”

Fang Raon put down the phone, and then he turned on the television, and it was also showing a news report about the negative effects of the new technology.

He changed a channel. Another news report. This time it was about Kuroganehara Izan, and there was a police chief from the neighboring prefecture speaking at the press conference.

[The manhunt for Kuroganehara Izan is on the way!]

‘They will never find him.’ Fang Raon thought.

A while later, Chaewon left the shower. A towel wrapped around her body. She was drying her hair with a hairdryer and then saw Fang Raon sitting on the couch.

“What are you watching, babe?” Chaewon sat next to him and looked at the television. “News…”

“The same old,” Fang Raon turned off the television. “The government is trying to shut off Black Online. They’ve even taken control of Black Online Company. Yet, they can’t turn it off.”

“Why?” Chaewon asked. “Can’t they just pull the plug?”

“I don’t know, but Kuroganehara Izan is a very, very smart man. He must’ve made a way that ensures that Black Online servers will never get turned off.”

Fang Raon said.

“I don’t like to think about that.” Chaewon grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the bedroom. “We need to wake up early, so why don’t we go to sleep? It is a long day tomorrow.”

‘Grinder’s Day,’ Fang Raon felt like he needed some distraction. ‘It will be nice. I can focus my attention back on Black Online and not at all on the noise happening in the outside world.’

They changed into their comfy pajamas and settled into the bed. Fang Raon took his familiar place in the middle of the bed.

Chaewon on his right and Della, who was already deep asleep, on his left. Yet, she instinctively turned to lie on her side and hugged him tight, seeking warmth and comfort in his embrace.

“Good night.”

Chaewon kissed him on the lips. She then tucked the blanket around them both. She moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest.

Fang Raon put his arm under his head, and he looked at the ceiling silently, then he slowly closed his eyes.

…

50th floor, near the Monster Backyard.

In the skies above, there was a massive holographic interface. It was probably about a thousand times as big as player interfaces.

It had every guild name, who had registered for the Grinder’s Day, and every guild’s score was displayed next to their name.

[Ranking Leaderboard]

Monster Backyard was a nasty swamp. Thick fog blanketed the ground. When the thick fog blanketed the swamp ponds, it made it impossible to see what was beyond.

It made just about everyone think that there might be some horrible creatures lurking there, eager to attack anyone who dared to venture too close.

“The players should start arriving soon,” a member of the Twelve Elder Council said. “I can already see the first carriage.”

A carriage, rocking side-to-side, pulled by two black horses, pulled up to the entrance of Monster Backyard.

The door had a symbol of a cat eating an apple. It was a symbol of a weaker guild. The member of the Twelve Elder Council did not remember that guild.

But then, more and more carriages began to appear a distance away. The start of Grinder’s Day was three hours away, but everyone wanted to be here early.

“Alright!” Guild Master of Cat Apple hopped out of his carriage. “Let’s put up our tent!”

They came here early for a reason. To put up their tent in a prime location. His guild members started setting up the camp.

Emblems of famous guilds started to appear a distance away. Guilds in the top 50. Some are even in the top 20 of the Global Guild Rankings.

A distance away, two carriages, holding the members of the Rose Records guild, wheeled down to a stop near the Monster Backyard.

“Everyone!” Rock shouted from the front seat. “Let’s set up a camp. The tent will be the Safe Zone, remember that!”

Everyone was making their own camp, as that was considered a ‘Safe Zone’ where they could go if they needed a break from monsters.

And they weren’t going to keep fighting for 24 hours straight. They also needed to eat and do bathroom businesses.

So in the camp, they could log off, as outside the Safe Zone, they were stuck in an eternal Combat Zone.

Whole Monster Backyard was one big Combat Zone.

Fang Raon, with Waylen and Machary, set up a large tent. Others started to unpack supplies and set up a fire pit for cooking.

“That’s good,” Waylen said at the finished tent.

Fang Raon nodded, but then he felt like someone was staring at him, and he turned his head around.

A beautiful woman. Xiao Yue. She was caught looking, and she quickly looked away, blushing, and rushed inside her tent.

‘Yue…’ Fang Raon thought. ‘She is our enemy now too. Everyone is.’

He looked around at the other tents. This place was currently the gathering of the strongest. In that moment, he saw somebody.

Sitting few tents down, he saw a familiar face that filled him with fire. It was no other than Lock Manchester.

‘Lock Manchester…’ Fang Raon cracked his knuckles. ‘I’d like to fight him now.’