Earth, Megaworld Apartment, Floor 22.
"...Black Online, after three years of its release, is still growing every day with more and more people pouring in..."
"...It started the Age of the Video Games, and it couldn’t be truer as streamers and gamers are now the celebrities, leaving actors and singers in the dust..."
The neon light sign dangled above the store entrance, and the television screens inside flickered with the news.
Staring through the store window and at the television screen, a handsome black-haired young man stood under the neon lights, his face reflecting the glow.
However, his eyes looked unfocused, and the light didn’t seem to affect his eyes as if he were blind.
Fang Raon only listened to the news, holding crutches that kept him standing upright, and he was holding a plastic grocery bag in his hand.
"...Oh."
He hopped with the help of the crutches, making his way towards the elevators, and the people he passed in the hallway gave him sympathetic looks.
They made way, as they didn’t want to stand in the way of the disabled young man.
Megaworld’s hallways were wide, the floors were spacious and large, and the floor sizes were of small towns.
Megaworld Apartment was the largest structure with its 320 floors, each the size of a small town, and it was basically a massive vertical city.
There was everything here—convenience stores, restaurants, gyms, schools, offices, and even its own police station.
There were some floors that had sports stadiums, aquariums, and even amusement parks.
The higher floors were reserved for the wealthiest residents, offering luxurious penthouse apartments, while those at the bottom had to live in cramped apartments.
Fang Raon belonged to the poor bracket.
He lived on the 18th floor, and while living conditions were terrible already, there was also a higher rate of crime.
Fang Raon took an elevator down to the 18th floor.
The corridors of the 18th floor were dirty. People had left behind cigarette butts, empty bottles, and used needles.
The people living there looked tired and defeated. There were also tattooed gang members sitting on the stairs, acting like they owned the place.
Fang Raon made his way to his apartment with the help of the crutches, opened the door, and entered.
The dim room greeted him back, but since he couldn’t see, it didn’t matter whether the lights were on or off.
The apartment was small.
It had a living room that was also his bedroom with a bed under the window.
A computer with a desk and chair in the corner, and a small kitchen tucked into the back.
Fang Raon aimlessly waved his hand until he touched the refrigerator and filled it with the purchased groceries.
After he was done with that, he stuffed the grocery bag inside one of the cabinets, and went to the computer.
He just turned the computer on, pulled out some random stream, and sat down on the bed by the window.
"...Yo, chat. I think we’re ready to attempt the 17th-floor boss. What do you think? I think I have gathered a party strong enough!"
The streamer said excitedly while the chat went crazy, and he controlled the camera in a way that it was hovering behind him.
Fang Raon, of course, couldn’t see it, but he was happy enough to listen, as it was the only way.
’...17th floor? I think the strongest guild of Black Online has reached the 55th floor. It means I am listening to a streamer who is not all that strong.’
He thought.
It had been his dream to try Black Online, but after his condition deteriorated about five years ago, it had become impossible.
Despite it being another world altogether—a virtual world—his disability was still a hindrance in fully experiencing it.
He was blind even there, which really bummed him out.
Fang Raon wasn’t born blind or disabled. He was a very active child about ten years ago, but then he caught an illness.
Optineurodegenerative Syndrome.
It all started with him turning blind.
One day, ten years ago, he went to sleep, and when he woke up, he couldn’t see anymore, and it truly frightened his younger self.
It didn’t stop there as his body deteriorated, and he started to slowly lose more of his motor functions.
According to doctors, he was just a few years away from becoming completely paralyzed.
Buzz! Buzz!
In that moment, at the foot of the bed, his phone, which was currently charging, vibrated with an incoming call.
He picked it up, answered the call, and pressed it against his ear.
"...Anna?"
Fang Raon said.
"...Hello, young man. I am calling from over at the Daily Video Game Facts Magazine. Do you want to subscribe to our monthly newsletter?"
Fang Raon lowered the phone, ended the call, and put the phone back down on the bed.
In that moment, it started buzzing again, and he answered it.
"I am not interested in your newsletter."
Fang Raon said.
"...Brother?"
At that moment, a voice that didn’t belong to the phone salesman came from the other side, and Fang Raon’s expression softened.
"Anna."
He whispered his little sister’s name.
"...How are you doing, brother? Better, I hope?"
She said.
"...Same old. Did you have a conversation with Father? Can I come back home?"
He asked with a tinge of hope in his voice.
"...I am sorry, brother. I really tried. Please believe me. He does not want you to come back..."
His little sister’s voice trailed away at the end, but it sounded like she was hurting, as if she didn’t want to say these words.
"...What were his exact words?"
Fang Raon asked.
"...He said... I don’t want that useless creature to come back... A disgrace to the Fang family."
Anna’s voice trembled in pain and anger.
"...I see."
Fang Raon ended the call, tossed the phone aside, and silently looked ahead, but all he saw was the same darkness.
His little sister kept calling back, but he ignored it and just kept listening to the same old sounds of Megaworld Apartment.
The jeering of gang members outside his apartment door, sounding like they were picking a fight with someone, and the banging of someone’s fist on the wall.
Ding! Ding!
In that moment, someone pressed the doorbell.