Megaworld, 55th Floor, Doctor’s Office.
In a small room, a doctor was sitting behind a desk, typing on a keyboard, and reviewing a patient’s medical records.
Fang Raon was silently sitting across from him, his crutches leaning against the wall, and he was pretty calm.
This was just his monthly visit to the doctor to have a new update on his condition, but he called it the "Bad News Day," as it was always filled with bad news.
"Alright, Fang Raon..."
The doctor moved away from the computer, turned to look at the blind young man, and crossed his left leg over his right.
"I’d like to give you good news one day, but unfortunately, this condition of yours doesn’t seem to allow that.
"It is a one-of-a-kind condition, and we’ve given your records to several other doctors for a second opinion, but they have all come to the same opinion.
"You are a ticking time bomb.
"Your condition keeps worsening from month to month, little by little, and I am sorry to say, but you only have a couple of years left before you will be bound to a wheelchair."
The doctor said.
"...My right hand has been getting numb lately. Is that the next thing that will stop working, doctor?"
Fang Raon asked.
"It does look like that way. It is better for you to start preparing for the life that you will face in a few years. You cannot live alone, so do you have family to take care of you?"
The doctor asked.
"...No, I am alone."
Fang Raon said with a heavy expression.
"...I see. In that case, you will most likely get assigned to a medical facility for long-term care and monitoring."
The doctor said.
’I’ll become basically a guinea pig for the doctors to learn more about this condition of mine. Is that even life?’
Fang Raon thought with a sigh, grabbed his crutches, and stood up.
"See you next month, doctor."
The doctor nodded, went to open the door to Fang Raon, and he left, hopping on the crutches as he made his way out of the office and into the bustling floor.
The 55th floor belonged to the Middle Bracket, where people weren’t either poor or rich but simply trying to make a living.
It was like night and day difference, as Fang Raon didn’t smell the disgusting stench that the 18th floor had.
He would prefer to move here instead, but he simply couldn’t afford it.
However, he was not without hope, as the new door of opportunity had opened for him.
Black Online.
It was possible to make some really good money in that game as long as you were strong, and many of the strongest players had become insanely wealthy.
Fang Raon took the elevator straight to the 18th floor and entered his dark apartment.
He quickly drank water, took some food despite not being hungry, and entered the Virtual Reality Pod.
If he could’ve, he would’ve already been playing Black Online from the moment he woke up, but he had to visit the doctor today.
However, he didn’t have any appointments for next month, so he could put all his focus into Black Online!
"Here I come..."
Fang Raon whispered and closed his eyes.
...
Tower of the Black, 1st Floor.
"Hey, watch out!"
Fang Raon opened his eyes in a hurry, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust back to actually seeing.
In that moment, from the corner of his eyes, he saw a horse-drawn wagon racing straight at him, about to run him over.
Fang Raon jumped out of the way, and the wagon wheeled past while the driver was cursing loudly.
"You ****, watch where you are going, you ****, idiotic ****, ****, ****, ****."
The driver’s words were, for some reason, censored, and Fang Raon checked his settings and noticed that he had censorship settings turned on.
With a wry smile, he turned it off.
’I need to remind myself not to log off in the middle of the street next time. It seems that we appear right back at where we logged off initially.’
Fang Raon thought.
In that moment, he received a couple of messages.
[You have received a friend request from Tessa Avery]
[You have received a friend request from Rosabella Avery]
[You have received a friend request from Dewrey Gray]
’Friend requests....’
Fang Raon quickly accepted them, and saw three names appear in his friend list, and they were all shown online.
***
[=Friend list=]
[Tessa Avery - Online]
[Rosabella Avery - Online]
[Dewrey Gray - Online]
***
’I think it makes it easier to meet up now that we are friends. I would never be able to find them otherwise.’
Fang Raon thought about shooting them with a message, but someone else had that idea first.
In the corner of his eye, he saw that he had received a message, and it came from Tessa, as they received notification that Fang Raon accepted their friend request.
[Tessa Avery: Good morning~ We are currently in the Training Hall, so meet us there, and we can start discussing what to do today~ :)]
[Fang Raon: Alright, I’ll be there!]
He quickly answered back, and like yesterday, he asked NPCs for directions and made his way to the Training Hall.
Training Hall was training grounds for players. It was a gated and walled compound with a back and front yard with training equipment strewn about.
The building itself—Training Hall—was a large wooden structure with multiple floors and an open first floor without walls.
On the first floor, there were two players sparring against each other.
Fang Raon entered through the front gate, and after looking around for a moment, he saw Tessa waving at him.
"Fang Raon!"
Tessa called out to him, and he walked over to her.
"What is this place?"
Fang Raon asked.
"It is where players usually come to test their skills and try to improve their mastery. It is also possible to challenge one of the players into a combat, which is pretty harmless but a good way to improve your fighting skills."
Tessa said.
"Where are your sister and Dewrey?"
Fang Raon asked as he wasn’t seeing them anywhere.
"Dewrey is somewhere fighting, as he likes to do that when he comes to Training Hall, and I think my sister is at the back training to improve the accuracy of her magic spells."
Tessa said with a smile.
’Well, since I am here, maybe I should also try to improve.’
Fang Raon thought.