The Final Boss Has Returned – Episode 14
As he spoke, the Drakan in the video called up the information window of the dungeon gate directly before him.
[Temple of the Trolls]
[Rank: C+]
[Recommended Level: 100–120]
[A ruin of an old civilization occupied by trolls. The temple’s glorious past is now only fragmentarily revealed through a giant old and damaged statue.]
[This temple, where countless souls once cried out in search of god, has now become the lair of hideous and savage troll hordes. Beware their sharp spears. Make but one misstep, and you may find yourself buried beside those who sleep here…….]
Temple of the Trolls.
The information window of a famous dungeon sought by users who had only just shed their newbie status—one with a recommended level of 100 or higher—was now floating inside the video.
[Temple of the Trolls?]
[You’re telling me he’s gonna run that at level 12?]
[And with that gear?]
In Ard Saga Second, levels are less important than in the previous game.
But that only meant they weren’t absolutely important; it didn’t mean levels were completely useless.
No matter how many points Drakan had—enough to buy EXP coupons without hesitation—and even if he was decked out in legendary-grade succession gear, attempting a dungeon with a recommended level of 100 at level 12 was nothing short of suicide.
Moreover, unlike the previous game where you could retry after dying over and over, Second was a hardcore game where a character only had one life!
It was truly something impossible to pull off without being insane.
[From now on, I’ll prove it right before your eyes. My skill.]
Drakan looked at the gate and smiled coldly, and the users who watched the rest of the ensuing video to the end absolutely erupted.
[KingGodEmperorNextGenerationDrakan >>> That hero play]
[Damn lol I thought he was just streaming brain-dead content but he elevated this to art]
[(Fact) Succession is just broken OP. Even a passing newbie could do this if you gave them legendary-grade succession gear]
[Don’t compare based on your scrub standards. Not just anyone can speedrun like this]
[Fr, you think it’s easy running to the boss room without taking a single hit lol]
[Anyone who’s fought trolls knows they communicate faster than you’d think and form encirclements quick; to rush through like that you need both situational awareness and spatial analysis]
[Bullshit lol trolls die in one hit, you don’t need some grandiose skill to break through]
[Stupidass, look at Drakan’s level. The point is he succeeded as a low-level]
[Didn’t Yujin succeed in a harder dungeon run at a low level too? You see him run Rock Gargoyle Cave?]
[That’s because Yujin is a cowardly full-party shill. Solo and full party are worlds apart]
[To begin with, he never does dungeon runs where he chews through mobs and rushes ahead like that lol He’s just utterly boring, plain and simple. People suck up to him because he’s strong, but in terms of fun, Drakan dominates. Agree?]
Drakan.
He had truly conquered the Temple of the Trolls perfectly with a level 12 character.
* * *
Drakan’s video, which had caused a stir on the internet.
The ripples from this viral video crossed beyond the internet and Ard World, finally reaching the Lightwing Guild to which top-ranker Yujin belonged.
The guild house of the Lightwing Guild, located in the capital of the Litaness Holy Kingdom.
A heavy silence hung among the five guild members gathered in the meeting hall, including Yujin.
“Hey. You see the video Drakan uploaded?”
The one who broke the silence was the large, muscular man sitting to Yujin’s right—his real-life best friend, MuscleJjangJjangMan.
“Yeah.”
At MuscleJjangJjangMan’s words, Yujin nodded with a serene expression.
The dungeon clear video uploaded by Drakan.
Yujin had, of course, watched the video that had instantly become a hot issue online.
“I watched it. Is there a problem?”
Yujin looked at his guild members sitting in such a grave atmosphere and spoke with an innocent voice.
At Yujin’s almost excessive innocence, MuscleJjangJjangMan let out a small sigh.
He had always thought so, but his best friend was too dense, too innocent, and too ignorant of the ways of the world.
Of course, that side of him was also his charm, and it was true that many fans went wild for his kind demeanor, but at times, MuscleJjangJjangMan found it incredibly stifling.
“No, it’s just…….”
“Allow me to explain.”
The moment MuscleJjangJjangMan tried to answer Yujin’s obtuseness, a cold voice cut him off and interjected.
It was Berda, the silver-haired witch who was Yujin’s colleague and served as the guild’s brain.
“Drakan has signed an exclusive contract with Jeil E&M.”
Berda began her explanation slowly while looking at Yujin.
“And Shin Ha-yeon, the de facto ruler of Jeil E&M, does not look favorably upon our Lightwing Guild.”
“I know that too.”
Yujin nodded at Berda’s words.
Shin Ha-yeon of Jeil E&M!
The memory of meeting her when Second had just launched was still vivid in his mind.
“Shin Ha-yeon’s goal is the same now as it was then. She wants to take the future of Ard Saga for herself.”
Berda calmly continued.
“And you, Yujin-nim, refused her proposal.”
“Because I couldn’t entrust the future of Ard World, the future of the users, to someone like that.”
“But Shin Ha-yeon has not given up on her ambition. Signing an exclusive contract with Drakan is proof of that.”
Yujin’s face stiffened slightly upon hearing Berda’s words.
Because he wasn’t foolish enough to fail to understand after being explained this far.
Shin Ha-yeon was joining hands with Drakan to unfold her ambition once more.
That was exactly the hidden meaning behind Berda’s explanation, and Yujin, realizing it, muttered in a voice laden with regret.
“If only I had accepted the Doctor’s proposal back then…….”
After catching Apocalypse, the Harbinger of the End who had been the previous game’s final boss, and unifying the continent under the banner of Lightwing Guild to see the ending—
Yujin had been invited to the headquarters of Miracle Entertainment, and had been given the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Dr. Kim Hong-gi.
Dr. Kim Hong-gi.
An unprecedented genius who had designed and created Ard World—a perfect virtual reality that was practically another world—all by himself!
At their first meeting, Dr. Kim had revealed a shocking truth.
That he was suffering from an incurable disease, and despite employing all the latest treatments to prolong his life, he only had about ten years left.
And that if Yujin, who had seen the game’s ending, wished it, he would hand over Miracle Entertainment, the company operating Ard Saga.
But Yujin at that time had foolishly refused Dr. Kim’s proposal, wishing to remain not as the owner of Miracle Entertainment, but merely as a single user.
“……None of this would have happened.”
Yujin knew.
That Ard Saga Second was not simply a sequel to Ard Saga, and that the ending reward was not merely one hundred billion won!
That Ard Saga Second was a succession contest, attempted once again following the previous game by Dr. Kim—who suffered from an incurable disease—to select a successor who would inherit Miracle Entertainment and Ard World!
Because he knew the truth of the matter, Yujin had no choice but to refuse Shin Ha-yeon’s proposal all the more.
He believed that if she, a third-generation chaebol brimming with ambition, got her hands on Ard World, they would no longer be able to see the pure Ard World that users created, as it was now.
That was also the reason Yujin was desperately clinging to his position as a top-ranker in Ard Saga Second.
If he could see the ending just as he had in the previous game, Yujin intended to inherit the position of owner of Miracle Entertainment from Dr. Kim.
In order to protect Ard World—a world of pure users, another world—from the hands of numerous hyenas including Shin Ha-yeon, keeping it in its unchanging, beautiful state.
Of course, that was a kind of arrogance and dogmatism—the belief that he alone, among all users, possessed the qualifications to inherit Miracle Entertainment and protect Ard World as Dr. Kim Hong-gi’s successor.
But the current Yujin, intoxicated by idealism and a sense of duty, had yet to realize that fact.
In any case, the only ones who knew that the true ending reward of Ard Saga was the succession of Miracle Entertainment were Dr. Kim, Yujin, and the five members of the Lightwing Guild.
Shin Ha-yeon, a third-generation chaebol, as well as all the rankers and people of the world, still did not know what the true ending reward was.
Thanks to Dr. Kim earnestly asking Yujin to keep this a secret, and Yujin and his companions upholding that secret to this day.
“Please do not blame yourself too much, Yujin-nim. The choice you made then was not wrong.”
A trembling emotion laced Berda’s voice as she saw Yujin’s regretful expression.
A rare light of worry appeared on her usually expressionless face.
Right then.
“Let’s kill him. Drakan.”
A brutal voice flowed from the mouth of Sharp, the elf archer sitting beside Berda.
At her statement, the gazes of everyone seated focused on her.
“If we kill him, it’s over. Unlike before, there’s no resurrection. And Drakan is a succession character, right? If we kill him, he loses his succession too, so he won’t be able to use his power.”
“We can’t do that.”
Yujin answered Sharp with a resolute expression.
“He hasn’t broken his promise yet.”
Yujin spoke with a serious expression.
As his words indicated, Drakan had not yet broken his promise, nor had he committed any evil deeds.
All Drakan had done was upload a video of clearing a dungeon and sign an exclusive contract with Jeil E&M.
Yujin could not punish Drakan for merely those reasons.
“If I killed him for such reasons, what on earth would make me different from the old Guild Alliance?”