Rock washed the dishes at the sink, and put them to dry on the dish rack beside the sink.
He then took a glass from the cabinet, poured some liquor, and took a long sip.
Sitting at the terrace, looking over to the sea, with the terrace light casting a glow down at him, Fang Raon was peacefully enjoying his time.
There was some music coming from a street away, as it sounded like someone was playing a guitar.
"There is a bar just around the corner where they play live music every night."
Rock said and sat across from Fang Raon at the table and took a sip of the drink that was in his hand.
"When you aren’t on the sixth floor, where do you spend your time? You are as old as time itself, so no offense, but I doubt you’re doing any tower climbing."
Fang Raon said with a smirk.
"You have a nasty mouth. My granddaughter is the guild master of Rose Records, so I have been teaching her new recruits.
"Rose Record’s headquarters is on the 15th floor. The guilds are trying to claim their own territories and expand their influence in the tower.
"Rose Record has taken root on the 15th floor, and we’ve been trying to claim territory over there, but there are two other strong guilds there as well, so it hasn’t been easy."
Rock said.
"...Why the 15th floor? Anything special about that place?"
Fang Raon asked curiously.
"I think my granddaughter just loves the cold. She’s always been like that, even as a little girl. It also means that not that many guilds are trying to take over that floor.
"Players do not really like the cold of the tower, and they prefer places like this 6th floor. I am the same. I am not that big a fan of a cold.
"You’ve experienced the 2nd floor, but that is nothing compared to the 15th floor, where there are constant blizzards and freezing temperatures."
Rock said.
"...Cold floor, hmm."
Fang Raon nodded.
"...There is also a booming trade market around the tower. There are stuff in cold floors that can’t be found anywhere else.
"Cold Ores... Cold Blood... Ice Melons... Ice Crystals... Snow Shards... all very valuable that helps Rose Records to fund their operations."
Rock said.
"Is it peaceful between Rose Records and the other guilds? Sounds to me like if you have dominance over one floor, you will be very rich, very quick."
Fang Raon said.
"The 15th floor has two powerhouse guilds beside Rose Records—Grinding Grief and Monsieur Rascal—and while they haven’t made a move against Rose Records yet, I think they are just waiting for an opportunity.
"I know they think of my granddaughter as just a little girl who doesn’t know anything. It is a cutthroat world out there."
Rock said with a serious look on his face.
From what Fang Raon could tell based on his voice and facial expression, he could tell Rock dearly loved his granddaughter.
He would do anything to protect her.
"Anyway, enough of that talk. I want to play a game with you!"
Rock said with a smile.
"A game?"
Fang Raon asked.
In that moment, Rock pulled out something from his inventory and placed it on the table.
It was a round-shaped flat object. It had a couple of buttons, like a gaming machine, but it was unlike any game Fang Raon had ever seen before.
"This is General’s Game."
Rock pressed a button.
At that moment, a holographic screen appeared above the device, showing a small battlefield, with ten tiny soldiers standing next to two towers.
"It is a strategy game—the two players will choose ten soldiers each, and they can choose what class the soldiers are part of.
"Warrior, Ranger, Assassin, Mage, Helper, and Tank—the soldiers can be part of any of those six classes.
"You can also assign one skill to each soldier.
"The goal is to either destroy the opponent’s tower or kill every soldier on the opponent’s team."
Rock said with a smile.
Fang Raon crossed his arms and looked at the holographic game board. It sure looked very interesting.
’A game inside a game...’
"The generals—which would be us in this game—can control the soldiers with our minds.
"The best General’s Game players can maybe control six to seven soldiers at the same time, so I am quite curious how you will do."
Rock said.
"...Alright."
Fang Raon pressed on the holographic screen and entered the match, and Rock did the same.
The screen to select the ten soldiers and skills for each of them popped up.
Rock didn’t wait a second and immediately started assigning his own soldiers and their skills.
It looked like he already had a strategy in mind.
’It is my first time playing, so I will most likely have difficulty controlling soldiers all at once, so I must focus on controlling a smaller group first.
’I could go for his tower at first. I think I now know what I should be doing. I will attempt a sneak attack!’
Fang Raon chose his soldiers and assigned skills for each one of them.
There were many skills that he didn’t know what they did, so he didn’t choose them and just chose skills that sounded easy to understand.
In that moment, he accepted his chosen soldiers, and another holographic interface appeared before him.
***
[Fang Raon’s Team]
[Assassin - Skill: Stealth]
[Helper - Skill: Heal]
[Helper - Skill: Heal]
[Tank - Skill: Intimidation]
[Mage - Skill: Earth Wall]
[Mage - Skill: Flame Wall]
[Warrior - Skill: Shield Wall]
[Warrior - Skill: Shield Wall]
[Warrior - Skill: Shield Wall]
[Warrior - Skill: Shield Wall]
***
Fang Raon was satisfied with that and looked across the table at Rock, who was smiling with a mysterious look.
It was like he could read his mind.
’...Let’s see if you are capable of reading my mind, old man.’
Fang Raon thought with a smirk.
[Game Starts in...]
[5...]
[4...]
[3...]
[2...]
[1...]
[0...]
The holographic battlefield appeared in front of them, and it was a round-shaped island with a red tower on one side and a blue tower on the other.
There was a thick forest covering the middle of the island, which couldn’t be crossed, and there were two half-circle roads on the left and right sides of the island.
Those half-circle roads were the only path to each other’s towers.
Then there was also a bridge connecting the left and right sides, going over the thick forest.
[Match Start!]