Swoosh!
Fang Raon appeared back at the red team’s flag, and smiled at the sight of it being raised at the top.
’We won...’
He sat down with a satisfied smile on his face and saw his name as "MVP" of the match.
’I am the Most Valuable Player? I don’t know if I really did anything special to receive that ’honor,’ but I’ll take it.
’I think the Red Team was more impressive for being able to hold down Blue Team for all that time. It must’ve not been easy.’
While waiting for his team to return, he checked his inventory and saw that it was very full.
The items that he got from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors weren’t really good, as some weapons he received were worse than the ones he already had.
There weren’t any skill scrolls either, and he had some strange items instead, so he decided to sell them at a later date.
"Team Leader!"
In that moment, a shout came.
Excited-looking Red Team came running over from the forest, and Nathan immediately just embraced Fang Raon, very much to his surprise.
"You are fucking great! Your plan worked, and we won! How the hell did we win?! I can’t believe it!"
Nathan excitedly said.
The rest of the Red Team also seemed as excited as he was, and Fang Raon still kept his calm and said.
"Good job... The victory was all you, though. I just kept Machary a little busy while you guys did the most important part."
Fang Raon said.
"That’s not true! You keeping Machary busy is the only reason we won! That’s why we all agree that you are the ’MVP’ of the King of the Hill, easily!"
Nathan said.
Everyone else also agreed, and without him knowing it yet, even Miranda’s chat wholeheartedly believed that he was the best player today.
"I agree with your team, Fang Raon. No need to stay humble. You saved your team from a certain defeat."
At that moment, Miranda walked over with the camera hovering around her, but it wasn’t broadcasting anymore.
She already said "goodbyes" to her chat and ended the stream.
"If you say so."
Fang Raon stood up, stretched his arms above his head, and asked, "Are we leaving now?" But Miranda’s expression showed that they weren’t.
"Unfortunately we missed our boat, but it will come back tomorrow, so we will have to spend the night here."
She said.
Fang Raon nodded as he really didn’t care.
He could just log off for the night and get back tomorrow morning.
After a short while, the Blue Team came walking over from the other side of the island, and they had defeated looks on their faces.
"A moment..."
Miranda said to the Red Team and went to talk to the Blue Team.
She talked to them about how they did well and how they should be proud of how they performed, but she then also criticized Machary.
It was a surprise to many as he was the only one whose performance didn’t satisfy Miranda.
Machary just stayed silent during her rant and didn’t speak a word, but even he was ashamed at his own performance.
’...I am so weak... I will crush you one day...’
Machary stared at Fang Raon, who didn’t look back and instead fiddled with something on his system interface.
Without Fang Raon realizing, he actually got an extremely tough rival today—Machary—who got a new reason to get even stronger.
"If you plan on still staying on, you can hang around in the cottage, and I can put up a fire in the fireplace, so it won’t be cold."
Miranda said.
The players were happy about that, and they entered the cozy cottage. It had a spacious living room with a fireplace, a corner-tucked kitchen, and a wooden ladder leading to a loft bedroom.
Despite the fact that they were all fighting all day, Blue Team and Red Team quickly got along once they entered the cozy cottage.
They started chatting and laughing as they settled inside the cottage, and Miranda turned on the fire in the fireplace.
"..."
Machary just sat down on the corner, crossed his arms like a pouting child, and kept staring at Fang Raon like he wanted to tear him apart.
"I will be off for tonight, Miss Miranda."
Fang Raon said.
"Oh, Miss Miranda? You finally found some sense in that thick head of yours to talk to me with respect?"
Miranda said with a scoff.
"Don’t get used to it."
Fang Raon pulled out his system interface and pressed "log off," and after he was gone, Miranda was almost exploding in anger.
"That stupid..."
She stomped her feet on the wooden floor.
Seeing that Fang Raon was gone, Machary didn’t think he had any reason to stay either and thus logged off.
...
"...Mhm..."
Fang Raon mumbled and then opened his eyes and looked around himself and saw the glass lid above him and the many buttons of the Virtual Reality Pod.
He kept blinking his eyes and was about to call for Chaewon, but then he completely froze as he realized something.
He could... see?
"...Am I still in the game? No... I am definitely inside the Virtual Reality Pod... What the hell?"
Fang Raon’s heart started beating rapidly, and it almost burst through his chest, and he kept blinking his eyes.
’Don’t be a dream... don’t be a dream... don’t be a dream...’
He then opened his eyes, kept them open, and almost stared a hole in the glass lid, and even after three minutes, he could still see!
’I-I am not anymore blind? I can see?’
Fang Raon released a couple of teardrops and then closed his eyes again and opened them one more time.
’Black Online is your cure...’
That message in the letter came back to him, and for the first time since his childhood, he could see!
Fang Raon, with excitement, tried moving his legs and arms, but his excitement dropped slightly.
’I can’t move still, so why the hell can I suddenly see? Does this mean I am getting better or worse?
’What happened that caused this to happen?
’Nothing, except... I leveled up in the game? How would that help me to see again? I also added new stat points, and I put quite a lot to Vitality, but how would that...’
Fang Raon was full of questions, but in that moment, the door opened, and he heard soft footsteps.
’Chaewon...’