The Final Boss Has Returned
Chapter 102
Monster Land!
This massive field, dividing the border between the north and the west, was an area that had existed in the previous installment as well.
And true to its name, Monster Land lived up to the title of “Monster,” boasting a monstrous density of monsters that could nearly rival a dungeon.
From small goblins to colossal monsters like cyclopes and drakes, this Monster Land was practically a comprehensive encyclopedia of monsters. And right now, Drakan was walking through it—just the two of them, with none other than Yujin.
“This, the monster density increasing the further we go in is still the same, I see.”
The skills Yujin displayed that Drakan witnessed firsthand were, as expected of a top ranker, far from ordinary.
As he said, Monster Land was a place where, the further inward one went, not only the monster density but also the level of the monsters appearing rose exponentially.
And Wolf Den, the destination of the two—Yujin and Drakan—was located near the heart of Monster Land.
Because of this, Drakan was able to hunt monsters to his heart’s content for the first time in a while, but even while catching monsters, he continued to observe and analyze Yujin’s combat.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will be ever-victorious!
In order for Drakan himself to one day clash with and defeat that mortal enemy, he had to know what skills he used and how he fought.
Of course, there were the videos Yujin had uploaded, and he had fought Yujin to the point of exhaustion in the previous game, so he roughly knew his combat style. Still, Drakan believed that seeing it with his own eyes was incomparable, as the saying goes: one sight is worth a hundred hearings.
‘It doesn’t seem like his skill composition has changed much from the old days.’
After watching Yujin’s combat scenes directly from beside him like this, Drakan’s analysis concluded that, overall, his skill composition hadn’t changed much from the previous game.
Yujin’s class, the “Hero,” could broadly be classified as a hidden class of the Paladin lineage. It was a complete class, possessing every skill from self-healing to tanking to dealing.
Wrapped in all sorts of hidden pieces and legendary-grade items, it was such an absurdly overpowered class that its balance was only barely maintained by having acquired mythic-grade skills as well!
That was exactly Yujin’s class, the “Hero.”
And in the sequel, since he had inherited the Hero’s epic—a mythic-grade epic at that—his basic skill composition was largely similar to the previous game.
Of course, there would be differences once you got into the details.
Anyway, even after entering, Monster Land was vast, and there was still a considerable distance to Wolf Den, the destination of him and the bastard.
“Let’s rest for a bit.”
No matter how much of a top ranker one was, combat endurance wasn’t infinite.
Therefore, a break in between was unavoidably necessary.
It was their first rest since entering Monster Land.
Drakan gathered firewood from the surroundings and lit a campfire.
Crackle, crackle.
[A campfire has been set up.]
[Life regeneration has temporarily increased by 5%.]
[Mana regeneration has temporarily increased by 5%.]
Drakan stared silently at the burning campfire.
Two moons rose in the dark blue night sky, casting blue and red light.
He thought it was awkward to be taking a break in Monster Land, and with none other than “Yujin” at that.
But Drakan knew.
Right now was the perfect opportunity.
It was the time to sow seeds of division and doubt in the enemy camp, the Lightwing Guild.
Once they entered the dungeon, it would already be too late.
Because he had agreed with Yujin to turn on the broadcast inside the dungeon.
It wasn’t the kind of conversation to have while streaming, so now, before entering the dungeon, was the perfect time.
Thinking so, Drakan called out to Yujin, who was sitting across from him.
“Hey, Yujin.”
“Yes, Drakan.”
“Did you resolve that teammate issue you mentioned before?”
Drakan cast the bait that would lead him down the path of division and ruin.
And Yujin bit the hook.
“Haha. Yes. More or less, it’s been resolved.”
Yujin recalled the meeting and wiped away the cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
Even Yujin, who was nothing if not dense, wasn’t unaware that the atmosphere at yesterday’s meeting had been unusual, and that the cause was his own decision.
But he had merely chosen the lesser of two evils instead of the worst situation that would hurt the other two.
That was what Yujin thought.
Drakan looked at Yujin and spoke in a dull voice.
“Well? I wonder. It doesn’t look that way to me.”
At Drakan’s words, Yujin awkwardly scratched his head, and Drakan rolled the snowball toward him.
“I don’t think this is the first or second time something like today has happened. Am I wrong?”
Drakan’s gaze turned to Yujin.
Drakan had known about Yujin’s relationship with the three women since six years ago, and he was still receiving reports on Yujin-related information through Jeil E&M. Therefore, he could easily predict that this kind of romantic quarrel wasn’t something that had happened only once or twice.
At those words, Yujin laughed awkwardly.
The amount of cold sweat flowing down his forehead increased.
Drakan was right.
This wasn’t the first or second time something like today had happened.
There had been so many such situations that Yujin couldn’t even count them.
“How did you know?”
“Just as you know me well, I know you better than anyone else.”
Drakan replied immediately to Yujin’s question.
Excluding Yujin and his companions, Drakan was the person who knew Yujin better than anyone else.
Because to take revenge on him, he needed to know everything about him.
“That is certainly…… I see.”
Yujin nodded as if he understood Drakan’s words.
Yujin also prided himself on knowing Drakan better than anyone else.
Six years ago, during the World Revolution.
Their positions had been polar opposites.
Six years ago, Drakan was a top ranker and the strongest player who had achieved the feat of unifying the continent and obtained the first mythic-grade skill. He was the head of the massive forces known as the Ironblood Alliance and the Guild Union, while Yujin himself had been an ordinary user with nothing but a hidden class and comrades.
From the egg’s position, to break the rock, he had no choice but to analyze the rock’s weaknesses.
That was why Yujin knew Drakan so well.
And conversely, the same was true for Drakan.
Drakan!
He was greedier than anyone, but precisely because of that, he was more cautious than anyone.
The Drakan Yujin knew was a man who wouldn’t bet unless he was certain, a player who analyzed every variable and the environment and only jumped in when he had a chance of winning.
And such a Drakan wouldn’t have failed to analyze Yujin, the leader of the revolutionary army who had continuously been victorious against him six years ago, on top of picking a fight with him.
Therefore, as he said, Drakan must be someone who knew Yujin better than anyone else.
That was what Yujin was thinking.
They had been lifelong enemies pointing blades at each other six years ago, but ironically, it was because of that that they knew each other as well as comrades.
That was exactly why Yujin and Drakan knew each other so well.
Of course, Yujin had been fooled by Drakan’s act, so he currently believed that their hostile relationship had been resolved, but that was another matter.
“You know it too. Avoiding it like this isn’t a solution.”
Rumble.
The snowball Drakan rolled began to tumble down the snow-covered slope.
Avoidance is not the answer!
It was an uncomfortable truth that Yujin had been turning a blind eye to, and that no one among his acquaintances had dared to point out.
Drakan intended to awaken him to that truth.
Of course, the truth was not a beautiful one, but that was precisely why Drakan intended to make Yujin face reality.
Of all forms of violence, the most powerful was the violence of facts.
Lightwing Guild!
What would pierce a hole in that solid dam would be cruel facts.
Drakan thought so and smiled inwardly.
“That’s……”
A hollow breath escaped Yujin’s lips, struck by a blow from an unexpected situation.
Until now, no one had ever said such words to Yujin.
Avoidance is not a solution!
Of course, the three people around him, his best friend Muscleman, the guild masters of the allied guilds, and countless other acquaintances were there, but none of them had pointed this out to Yujin.
This was because the three of them—Elena, Verda, and Sharp—had erected a human barrier around Yujin, filtering out such talk.
The desire to maintain the status quo, the wish that he would choose them, and the concern over the fallout from the choice—these emotions were intricately intertwined, causing the remaining members of the Lightwing Guild to implicitly agree.
Yujin. They agreed not to bring up such topics until he chose on his own.
Of course, Drakan didn’t know of such an agreement, and even if he had known, he had no loyalty that would make him keep it.
Drakan’s heart surged as he watched Yujin’s flustered appearance.
The desire for revenge!
Rage!
All sorts of negative emotions flared up like wildfire, but Drakan suppressed them.
Because rolling the snowball of destruction required caution.
He had to pretend to help, to act, and slowly—very slowly—lead him down the path of ruin before he knew it.
And to do that, he had to maintain a cold, composed sense and control the conversation.
If he slipped up even for a moment, the trust he had built up until now could turn to bubbles.
“But……”
Yujin was still hesitating.
Yujin.
Deep down inside, he knew as well.
That Drakan’s words were correct.
He couldn’t turn away forever.
What exactly it was, the dense Yujin didn’t know yet, but subconsciously he knew that something needed to be settled.
But consciously, Yujin was trying hard to forget such a fact.
Yujin.
What he wanted was to maintain the current situation, which was nothing short of bliss. In four letters: status quo.
The four comrades belonging to the Lightwing Guild were all precious people, comrades Yujin trusted and cherished more than anyone else in the world, precious beings who were more like family than his actual family.
And Yujin had wanted to keep his relationship with them exactly as it was now, precious forever and ever.
Yujin mumbled evasively and looked at Drakan.
And agonized.
Over whether it was okay to confide this worry of his to Drakan.
It hadn’t been long since trust had begun to sprout between Yujin and Drakan.
Drakan had been a formidable enemy in the past, an object of distrust until he knelt in the interview, and even now his comrades were implicitly keeping Drakan in check, still collecting related trends and information.
But conversely, there are worries you can’t pour out precisely because they are someone you know.
So Yujin’s heart was now wandering aimlessly, having lost its way.
“What are you worrying about?”
At that moment, Drakan’s words dug into Yujin’s ears.
“Well, that is….”
Drakan watched silently as Yujin trailed off.
Since Yujin was someone whose emotions showed plainly on his face, Drakan realized he was agonizing over whether or not to speak up now.
And given the guy’s incomparably indecisive personality, Drakan could easily predict that if left alone like this, he wouldn’t even reach a conclusion before the dungeon raid ended.
Therefore, now was the time for strong shock therapy.
Thinking so, Drakan looked at Yujin as if casually and spoke.
“Elena, Verda, and even Sharp. The fact that these three women have a one-sided love for you. Surely you aren’t unaware of it?”
Hearing those words, Yujin froze on the spot.
Watching Yujin’s frozen figure, Drakan laughed inwardly.
It was checkmate.