With the bath done, Fang Raon got his change of clothes and was carried back to his soft bed.
"There we go~ Do you need anything else?"
Chaewon asked with a smile.
She was still breathing quite roughly and had a pink blush on her cheeks, as the thing over in the bathroom was also pretty embarrassing for her.
She had never been a bold girl, but at the bath, she did something quite crazy.
"I'd like to go to the pod, please…"
Fang Raon said.
With the help of a carrying device, Chaewon brought him over to the pod and asked whether he was comfortable.
Once Fang Raon was satisfied, she pressed the button and watched as Fang Raon drifted off to sleep.
"Haah…"
Chaewon touched her chest, felt her heart beating quickly, and then slapped herself in the cheeks.
Smack!
"You're a stupid girl, Chaewon… Stupid… What if he thinks of you as a weird girl from now on? You are so stupid…"
She kept smacking herself, then turned the lights off and headed out of the room.
…
The sun was setting on the sixth floor, and the clear blue sky had turned into a shade of orange like a giant peach.
With wind touching his face, Fang Raon arrived at the beach and took a deep breath, inhaling that sweet salty air.
He was wearing a breezy shirt with knee-high shorts and sandals—after returning to the game, he went and purchased these.
"…I can see why people love this place."
Fang Raon saw players and locals just enjoying the beach and saw them also swimming and surfing at sea.
He took off his sandals, walked to the water, and dipped his toes in.
He had never been at the beach before, so he didn't know whether this sensation of sand and water combination was realistic, but he believed it was.
"Ah…"
Fang Raon sat down by the water, watching the water as it ebbed and flowed with the tide.
This kind of feeling of relaxation he couldn't get anywhere else, and all his stress was being washed away.
If he knew how to swim, he would probably take a quick dip in the water, but he never had a chance to learn.
It would be tragedy to survive all the Solo Clear attempts and then die by drowning.
"…You are not tired! Don't tell me that!"
"…Huff! Huff! Huff!"
"…Argh, I am not tired, sir!"
In that moment, countless shirtless players were running down the beach under the scorching sun and were sweating buckets.
Several of them looked like they were minutes away from passing out.
Behind them, their trainer kept shouting and pushing them to go beyond their limits.
'They must be part of a guild, and they are here to train.'
Fang Raon thought to himself.
"…Huff! Huff! Huff!"
At that moment, another player stumbled past Fang Raon. He was barely able to keep standing.
He was left behind by the trainer and other players as he couldn't keep up, and he looked like he was about to cry.
"…I can't… I can't… STOP!"
The player screamed in anguish and kept jogging after them—it looked like he had no strength to swing his arms anymore—his feet looked like they were barely moving.
'…I also need to start training, but where should I begin? Stamina could be a good one, as I always feel like my lungs are burning whenever I fight.'
Fang Raon thought.
"Excuse me, can you help me with something?"
In that moment, out of nowhere, someone talked to him, and he turned his head around to see a young woman smiling at him.
She was a pretty blond-haired girl with a tight-looking bikini that barely covered her curves.
She was leaning forward in a way that made her chest practically spill out of the bikini top, and it seemed quite intentional.
"…Yes?"
Fang Raon asked.
He almost got hypnotized by the two jiggling things in front of him, and it only made him remember Chaewon once again.
Whom he'd been trying to forget for the past half an hour.
"Can you please help me put on some sunscreen? I can't do it by myself~"
She put her hands together and asked with a playful wink. It seemed like an innocent request, but there was something off.
'…Is this some kind of a scam? What is she after?'
Fang Raon scratched the back of his head, said a weak "sure," and followed her over to her sunlounger.
She lay down on her flat stomach and took off the top of her bikini. She then put her arms under her head, smiled, and said, "Go on," with a flirtatious undertone.
'I am curious where this is going. What is the scam, I wonder.'
Fang Raon spilled some sunscreen on his hands and rubbed it on her back. She just smiled and enjoyed the touch.
'A woman's body sure is soft…'
He thought and once again remembered Chaewon.
"Ellie? What the hell are you doing? Who the fuck are you?!"
In that moment, angry-sounding footsteps approached from behind, and red-faced young man came stomping over.
"What do you want, Luke?"
Ellie asked with a frown.
"…What the fuck are you doing, Ellie?"
Luke's voice trembled in anger, and he looked at Fang Raon as if he wanted to rip him apart.
"You didn't want to take me out on a date, so I am just spending my free time with someone else. Is there a problem, Luke?!"
Ellie asked angrily.
'…Ah, lover's quarrel. Fuck. This is going to be a long night.'
Fang Raon felt a headache rising in his temples and hoped to turn invisible and disappear from this scenario.
"I am not part of this, so have fun."
He threw his arms up in the air and tried walking away, but then he heard Luke shout after him.
"You are not going anywhere! You think you can just touch my girl and get away with it? I challenge you to a duel to the death!"
Luke pulled out a steel shortsword from his inventory and held it in two hands with anger blazing in his eyes.
"Luke, just let it go."
Ellie covered herself with a towel and tried to make him stop, but her words were falling on deaf ears.
"…Hah… I accept."
Fang Raon pulled out his refined sword, dashed across the sand, and saw Luke's eyes widening in surprise.
The attack was coming too quick!
"Sword Stab!"
He stabbed through his heart, and Luke disintegrated into light blue particles, his steel short sword falling to the sand ground.
"NOOOO!"
Ellie screamed, and her shocked eyes turned into anger, and she hatefully looked at Fang Raon, who just killed her boyfriend.
"What the hell did you do?!"
"…He picked a fight. I ended it."
Fang Raon shrugged his shoulders and walked away.