Black Online

Fang Village, the Fang Cemetery.

A coffin was being gently lowered into the ground. It was made of the finest mahogany wood, and the tombstone included all of Aizen’s achievements in life.

This cemetery was reserved for members of the Fang Family, and Aizen was just a third head of the family buried here.

Raon, Anna, Raikou, and Raizen watched in silence, dressed in black, and carried a heavy sense of grief.

"You may take the shovel."

The man in charge of the cemetery said.

Raon, Raikou, Anna, and Raizen grabbed a shovel each and tossed a little bit of dirt onto the casket and then handed them back.

Then, his workers started filling in the rest of the grave.

"...Rest in peace."

Fang Raon drew a cross on his chest and then walked out of the cemetery with the rest of his siblings.

"...Master."

Sebastian bowed.

"What’s with all the gifts?"

Anna asked as she saw servants bringing tons and tons of gifts inside the mansion. It was almost like Christmas.

"The village folks are sending gifts as a token of respect. You wanted this funeral to be private only to the family, but those who knew of Aizen still wanted to send some gifts as well."

Sebastian said.

Then, he turned to Raon and said.

"Your ride is ready."

"Mm."

Fang Raon nodded.

"Where are you going?"

Anna immediately asked.

"...Let’s all go inside for a talk."

Fang Raon said.

While confused, they all followed him all the way to Aizen’s office, which had been left untouched for a couple of days now.

However.

As soon as they arrived there, they noticed someone standing there. It was a woman they rarely saw. Fang Sara.

"Why the fuck is she here?"

Anna asked angrily.

"Enough, Anna."

Raizen said and looked at his mother with conflicted looks, as they expected to see her at the funeral, but she didn’t come.

And.

While the rest of the village was wearing black to mourn Aizen, Sara was wearing a bright red dress.

Almost like she was overjoyed over his death.

"Why is she here, brother?"

Anna asked with hostility.

"I told her to move back to the mansion."

Fang Raon said.

"Why the hell did you do that?"

She asked angrily.

"...With father dead, she is our only living parent left. She is our mother."

Fang Raon said.

"A mother? That’s funny. She would rather spend time with other people’s kids than her own. She is a piece of shit."

Anna said angrily.

"...Aizen didn’t want me around much. He didn’t want me to influence you children negatively."

Sara said.

"So now with father gone, you want to act like a proper mom for once? If you were a real mother, you would’ve told Aizen to fuck off instead of abandoning your children!"

Anna screamed.

"...You are right, and I am sorry."

Sara said with a sorrowful look.

It stunned Anna, as she at least expected her to shout back or something, but she was acting very apologetic and remorseful.

"Have you told them yet, Raon?"

Sara asked.

"...Told what?"

Anna asked, and Raikou and Raizen also looked over with frowns on their faces, as it sounded like there was something else going on.

Fang Raon looked back at them.

"I will be leaving this place. I’ll head back to the Megaworld."

A short silence fell over in the room, but then with immense anger, Anna grabbed him from his collar.

"Are you fucking kidding me, brother? Father just died, and you’re already running away like a coward? You’re the head of the family!"

"...Brother, please don’t do this."

Raizen said.

Meanwhile, Raikou crossed his arms and scoffed, as if he expected Aizen’s choice to come bite him in the ass.

It looked like Raon was already abandoning their family as soon as Aizen bit the dust!

"I hate this place."

Fang Raon said harshly.

They all knew that he never wanted to be here and was only here because Aizen forced him to. But they didn’t expect him to still leave.

Anna and Raizen had a little bit of hope that Raon would still stay and be the head of the family that their father wanted him to be.

"I want to go back to the Megaworld. However. It still doesn’t change anything, as I will still do my part as the head of the family."

Fang Raon said with a serious look.

"The head of the family has always stayed in here, in this village. You will lead this family from that shitty apartment of yours?

"Just stay!"

Anna screamed.

"I have made my decision. While I am gone, mother will handle the villagers. I’ll handle other family matters from a distance."

Fang Raon said.

"This is such a joke. Everyone, let’s make a vote. Who agrees to have someone else as the head of the family? Raise your hand!"

Raikou said and immediately raised his arm, but nobody else did, as they knew that if Raon wasn’t the head of the family, it would be him instead.

And that would be a worse alternative.

Out of nowhere, Raon approached Raikou and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Aargh!"

Raikoun held his nose, which was bleeding furiously, and he stared at Raon with intense hatred in his eyes.

"Y-You bastard... I’ll kill you for that!"

"Silence. I am the head of the family, whether you like it or not, you imbecile. You will either accept that fact or I’ll exile you from here.

"Your choice."

Fang Raon said angrily.

"..."

Raikou’s words got stuck in his throat, and he could tell from his tone that he was really meaning it.

"I love you all. I do. Even you, Raikou. With father gone, we’re the last ones left. I don’t want us to fight anymore.

"Fang Family will not die with me. We will not start killing each other."

Fang Raon said, and everyone just listened, and in their eyes, he did start to look more like Aizen.

Every word of his added pressure to the already tense room.

Then, Raon looked straight at Raikou, who flinched under his scary gaze, and he even instinctively looked away.

"Raikou, what do you want to do with your life?"

Raon asked.

"Ah?"

Raikou looked surprised at the question, and he looked straight into his brother’s eyes that had turned soft.

’...What do I want to do with my life?’

"I... uh... want something of my own... I don’t got anything..."

Raikou said weakly.

"Then, Fang Guild is from now on disbanded. Anna’s Angels and Bastard Men will be their separate guilds once again."

Fang Raon said.

"Ah... Thanks...."

Raikou whispered, and then Raon lent him a napkin, and he wiped the blood off his nose.

"What do you want to do, Raizen?"

Fang Raon asked.

"...I just want to keep playing Black Online."

Raizen said.

There wasn’t anything special that he wanted, as just playing his favorite game was all he wanted to do.

"Anna?"

Raon looked at their little sister.

"...You know what I want."

Anna said, still sounding quite pissed off.

"You can always just send me a message to hang out. You’re my beloved little sister. I will always answer."

Fang Raon said.

"..."

Anna looked surprised, and then she meekly nodded, and even the ever-so-dominant Anna had turned quite submissive in front of him.

"Why don’t we all have a dinner before I leave? Have we ever had a proper meal together with mother present? I don’t think so.

"Mother, can you handle the dinner?"

Fang Raon asked gently.

"...Sure, son."

Sara said.

When she looked at Raon, she thought that he was indeed just like Aizen—the younger Aizen—whom with she had romantic feelings with.

The younger Aizen was different from his older counterpart. When he was younger, he was full of vigor, eagerness, and ambition.

Instead of fear, he used his charisma to make everyone follow him, and that’s what Raon was doing now.

’As long as he doesn’t follow the same path as Aizen, he’ll become a great man.’

Sara thought.

"See you in the dinner then. I have a phone call to make."

Raon said and sat down on Aizen’s chair, and everyone dispersed the room, leaving him all alone.

Then, using the landline phone, he quickly dialled Nero Rain’s number and put the receiver to his ear.

Ring~! Ring~!

Ding~!

"Hello, this is Nero Rain speaking."

"Hello, Master Nero. This is Raon from the Fang Family."

Raon said.

"Ah... young... I mean, Master Raon. Once again, I offer my condolences for your father’s death. He was truly a great man."

Nero’s voice sounded melancholic.

"Thank you."

Fang Raon said.

"...I am sure you called us to talk about the business arrangement. I hope we can continue the partnership, which is what your father would’ve wanted, I am sure."

Nero said.

"I called to terminate the partnership and the arranged marriage between me and your daughter, Phoebe. I cannot go through with it."

Raon said.

"W-Wait!"

"Good day to you, Nero."

Raon said and put the receiver down.

He then leaned against the chair’s backrest and looked at the ceiling, where there was a mural of the universe.

’I wonder if my father always looked at this mural to think more clearly...’

Fang Raon thought.

Ding~! Ding~!

In that moment, his own phone kept being bombarded with messages from Chaewon and Della mainly.

They had heard about Aizen’s death, as it was shown in the news, as he was a quite influential figure in the business world.

Raon looked at the messages but didn’t answer and instead pocketed his phone.

’Not yet... I’ll see you shortly, Chaewon...’