Chirp~! Chirp~!

On the balcony railing of a beautiful villa, a blue little bird was singing a sweet melody. Chirping with other birds in the distance.

Splash~! Splash~!

The water of the bright blue ocean splashed against the sand while some early risers jogged down the beach.

The morning cold wind came from over the ocean and brought a refreshing chill to the air. It was nice because it would be immensely hot otherwise.

The rays of the sun streamed through a window of the villa, illuminating two lovers entwined in a warm embrace.

They were slightly covered by a blanket, but they were obviously naked underneath it all.

"Mmh..."

With a quiet groan, Fang Raon’s eyes fluttered open, and he felt like he had some sleep sand in them.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus, and then he came face-to-face with the beautiful face of Chaewon.

Who was still deep in sleep.

’That really happened...’

Fang Raon thought, as he felt like last night was a dream, but when he glanced under the blanket, he realized it was very much real.

"Whoo..."

He sat up on the edge of the bed, turned back around to look at Chaewon, and gently moved several of her hair strands away from her face.

Then, he leaned close, planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, and she reacted in a cute manner by snuggling closer to him.

Fang Raon quickly stood up before he got trapped in her embrace, and he quickly put on some random clothes.

"Interface..."

He softly whispered and then hovered his finger in front of the [Log Out] button, and after taking one last look at Chaewon, he pressed it.

...

Swoosh~!

Chirp~! Chirp~!

"Mmh..."

Fang Raon softly opened his eyes to a view of a small room over at the training camp in the 12th floor.

After logging out of his second character, he didn’t waste any time and went straight to his main character.

Because he had some training to do.

’Birds are apparently chirping on every floor. It does sound nice.’

He thought, and then he left his room and went straight outside, and while checking the time, he knew that he was ten minutes early.

However.

Once he stepped outside, he saw that Rock and Della were already gathered outside, sitting over at the bench.

It looked like they were having some kind of serious conversation.

"Good morning."

Fang Raon said.

"Good morning... Is that all you’ve got to say?"

Rock asked with a twitching eyebrow.

"What do you mean? What did I do this time around?"

Fang Raon asked with a frown.

"Could it be that you haven’t heard?"

Della asked.

"Heard about what?"

Fang Raon asked with a confused look.

"About ’The Livestream’?"

Della said.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just woke up and went straight here."

Fang Raon said.

"I expected you to know since your brother was involved in an incident, but it seems like you’re out of the loop. Something big happened last night."

Rock said.

"Something big... Like what?"

Fang Raon asked, and slowly his heart started racing after they mentioned his brother.

He was definitely talking about Raizen, and he immediately thought about the big incident being an assassination.

"Last night, Fang Raizen and my brother... Rook Rose tried to assassinate Leon D. Hart. It has become huge news overnight!"

Della said.

"...Tried? So he failed?"

Fang Raon asked.

"Why are you acting so casually about this news as if you aren’t surprised at all?"

Rock asked.

"...Well, I already knew that my brother, Raizen, was going to attempt an assassination. He told me..."

Fang Raon said.

"And you didn’t think to tell us about it? It doesn’t only involve your brother, you know!"

Rock said angrily.

"...Sorry."

Fang Raon apologized with an honestly guilty expression.

"Sigh... It wouldn’t have mattered either way. Rook wouldn’t have listened to us even if we told him to not do it."

Rock said.

"...Raon, they indeed failed."

Della said.

"Did they die?"

Fang Raon sat down and asked with a heavy expression, fearing the worst, as failing something like that only meant that they were most likely dead.

"No, they did not die. However, that incident caused the Dead Redemption disband completely. Everyone went in their separate ways.

"It means that the power dynamics have shifted. Dead Redemption is no longer the dominant power.

"It felt like it was going to be impossible to ever catch up to Dead Redemption, but with this, everything is basically reset.

"The race to the top of the tower is again a proper competition between the top guilds, and that has given new life to the players.

"I already know that top guilds besides Dead Redemption are celebrating in joy, since now they actually have a chance."

Della said.

Fang Raon nodded, as he had a hunch how the players were feeling, as this was very much a joyful occasion for many.

Dead Redemption was just too strong. Many players lost their motivation to even try to compete against them and thus had quit the game altogether.

Now...

The race was back up!

"What was this livestream you talked about?"

Fang Raon asked.

"Well... about that..."

Della had a really conflicted look on her face, and she didn’t know where to begin, but then her grandfather started to speak.

"Last night, after surviving the assassination attempt, Leon went live on DeadPixel and revealed everything that happened.

"He completely vilified Raizen and Rook, dragging them through the mud, and now those two have become the two most infamous players in the entire tower.

"Leon has a lot of fans, and so basically everyone is hating Raizen and Rook because they tried to kill their own guild leader, and that is unforgivable sin in the eyes of many players."

Rock said.

"...I see."

Fang Raon sighed.

It also meant that Raizen and Rook were now officially Leon’s number one target, and he would stop at nothing to seek his revenge.

It would also mean that it would be quite difficult for Raizen and Rook to make a guild if they desired to do so.

There weren’t enough crazy players to join their guild, knowing that the strongest player alive—Leon—was already their enemy.

"What will happen now to the tower?"

Fang Raon asked.

"There will be a resurgence of new guilds from Dead Redemption members. The tower will soon become a battleground with the arrival of these new guilds.

"They need to fight for their territory, et cetera, so there might be quite a lot of guild wars in the upcoming months.

"Global Guild Rankings will have a huge shift. Dead Redemption will drop from first place for the first time in two years.

"However, since Leon is still planning to lead the guild, I am sure they will climb back up once he is done recruiting.

"There will be a lot of players that would love to join the legendary guild of Dead Redemption."

Rock said.

"I do also need to cut my training short. I will be training for a few more weeks here, and then I must return. It’s pretty dangerous times for guilds."

Della said with a worried tone.

She doubted that any of the Dead Redemption members would come all the way down to the 15th floor for their territory.

However.

They also had an opportunity to do some deals and partnerships with the new guilds that were forming.

"You don’t need to care about all of that, Raon. You’ll stay here and focus on your training. Block all the outside noise."

Rock said.

"...I got it."

Fang Raon nodded.

...

Splash~! Splash~!

"..."

Anna stood on the patio, looking at the water clashing with the sand and then going right back into the ocean.

"...What should we be doing today?"

"...Maybe we should go over there?"

"...Or just hang around on the beach."

Kevin, Aella, Bobby, and Marina were already awake, just lounging around and thinking about what to do today.

In that moment, the door opened, and everyone looked, and they saw Chaewon, dressed in a flowy sundress, walking towards them with a bright smile.

She was as beautiful as ever, but there was something about her that made her feel more mature than before.

"...Whoah."

Kevin exclaimed, but then he shook his head and had to remind himself again that she was taken, which made him burn with jealousy.

Last night, they did hear some noises coming from inside the villa, and while they weren’t exactly sure what they were, they all had a hunch.

"Has Raon left already?"

Chaewon asked.

"I haven’t seen him."

Aella said.

"...Yes, he is already at the training. He’ll be back later today."

Anna said.

The news about what Raizen did rocked the Fang Family household, and Aizen, their father, shouted at Raizen earlier today.

It was so loud that Anna was able to hear it almost all the way from her own room, and then she found out what happened last night.

She became now more impatient to get back to her guild because this incident involved Anna’s Angels quite a bit because they were higher up the tower than Rose Records and they were one of the top 10 guilds.

"Okay..."

Chaewon said, slightly disappointed that she overslept so didn’t have a chance to see him this morning.

"I need all of you to go find the Tower Key. We’ll be heading to the seventh floor as soon as possible."

Anna said.

"Already?"

Kevin asked in surprise.

"YES!"

Anna shouted, and everyone flinched, as her shout was really scary, actually, and everyone meekly nodded.