Black Online-Chapter 87: Marked

The flame-lit torches flickered inside a dimly lit basement that had walls made of rough stone bricks.

There were players gathered. Every one of them bore the mark of Rose Records. They looked at the two shirtless young men.

Without shirts on, Machary and Fang Raon stood in the middle of the basement with their arms behind their backs.

The chain tattoo ran down Fang Raon’s back, and many players caught sight of that and wondered whether it was one of those enhancement tattoos.

"...These two are the new recruits?"

"...I saw them in Miranda’s stream before. They are good."

"...It looks like we got some strong recruits this time. I assume one of them will be the team leader of the Fourth-Liners?"

In that moment, a door opened, and the players quieted down as their guild master, Della Rose, walked in.

She was wearing a red dress with a rose tucked in her hair, and she looked really lovely, like a princess.

She stopped in front of the two young men, brought out some kind of stamp, and pressed it onto their hands to mark them as official members of the guild.

In the palms of Machary and Fang Raon, a mark of a rose with a musical note wrapped around it appeared.

"One Rose. One Record. One Guild—this mark in the hand is the proof of where you belong. Treat the mark with pride, and do not dishonor it."

Della Rose said.

"Yes, guild master."

Machary and Fang Raon echoed the same words.

With a smile, Della nodded and turned the two young men to face the rest of the guild members, and she then raised her voice to address the entire room.

"Welcome your brothers!"

With that, everyone clapped their hands loudly and welcomed the two of them to be part of the guild.

At the back, Rock watched the marking ceremony with drink in hand, a small smile playing on his lips.

...

There was a short feast to celebrate the two new members of Rose Records.

The feast had some nice food and alcoholic beverages. The drunken players’ shouting and laughter echoed throughout the hallways of the mansion.

"Come on!"

Machary screamed as he rolled a pair of dice across the floor, and his heart kept bleeding because of the money he kept losing.

He was doing some gambling with other guild members, but that was a mistake on his part, as he had already lost 2,000 square coins!

"..."

Fang Raon was sitting alone and drinking the alcoholic drink, but he really didn’t like the taste of it.

’What the hell is this?’

He frowned and looked at the drink.

"You sure are a fool. You drink things that you don’t even know what they are made of?"

At that moment, Rock walked over to him with a grin on his face, and he was having the exact same drink.

However, unlike Fang Raon, he at least seemed to be enjoying it.

"What is this?"

Fang Raon asked curiously.

"It’s called Bubbly Tequila Fuzzy. It’s a mix of tequila, bubbly grape, and a splash of fuzzy juice. It’s homemade, as the locals don’t sell it.

"A player created the drink. I don’t know who, but it had become a popular cultural drink of the players.

"Bubbly grape and fuzzy juice are the specialties of this tower, and they are only found on the 12th, 18th, 26th, and 34th floors."

Rock said.

"...It tastes horrible."

Fang Raon said.

"You need to drink it at least three times for your body to get used to the taste of it. Once you do, trust me, it’s delicious."

Rock said with a grin and gulped the drink down.

’I’d rather not.’

Fang Raon thought to himself and then looked around the room to see if there was anything interesting going on.

Most of the players were just talking, drinking, and eating. There were players gambling at the corner.

At that moment, a man and woman—holding hands—were giggling at each other and seemed to leave the party to do something more private.

They were touching each other in a way that made it seem like they couldn’t get enough of each other.

Della and Miranda were also at the party. They were just talking with each other. It looked like they were discussing something guild-related.

"...Shall we go play a game of General’s Game? I can see that you’re bored of this party, but so am I, as I don’t belong with these youngins."

Rock said.

"It’s getting late, and I should probably log off soon."

Fang Raon said, checked the time, and he still had a little bit of time, but he would like to see Chaewon before she headed home.

"We can do a short game. There is a choice in General’s Game to have a match with only three soldiers. What do you say?"

Rock asked.

"...Fine."

Fang Raon shrugged his shoulders and accepted.

They then walked off, and Della noticed them walk away, and her curiosity got piqued about where they were possibly going.

...

"Lights!"

Rock shouted, and at the ceiling, a magic-working lightbulb illuminated the room.

’Hmm, a lightbulb that doesn’t work with electricity but with magic instead. I don’t really know how that works, but it’s interesting nonetheless.’

Fang Raon thought and sat down next to the window, and Rock got the General’s Game from the closet and joined him at the table.

"Because there are only three soldiers, the towers are only at 300 HP as well. It otherwise takes an eternity to destroy a tower with three soldiers."

Rock said and turned on the game.

Fang Raon only nodded, joined the game, and started rubbing his chin as he wondered which three soldiers he should choose.

It felt like the choice was even more important than with ten soldiers because three wasn’t much, and each soldier had to have purpose!

Creak!

In that moment, the door to Rock’s room opened up, and they turned around to see the red-dressed Della walk in.

"You really couldn’t wait, grandfather?"

Della asked with a wry smile after seeing them play the General’s Game and sat down at the same table.

"The party was boring!"

Rock said with a scoff.

With a chuckle, Della slightly agreed, as she also wasn’t the biggest fan of the parties, while everyone else seemed to be.

She then glanced at Fang Raon curiously.

’He managed to beat my grandfather once. I am not sure whether it was a fluke, but if he wins now, he has some serious strategical skill.’