The Final Boss Has Returned
Chapter 148
Yujin's official channel.
With over 100 million subscribers, and the number still increasing in real-time, countless users flooded in the moment the livestream began on the channel.
With the massive hype of Arde World's destruction having been cast, the moment the top ranker who held hegemony over Arde World turned on his broadcast, countless people poured in.
A broadcast continuously breaking the record for the highest number of concurrent viewers in Arde World livestreaming history!
[Whoa, lol, is this stream for real?]
[Why did he even turn on the stream?]
[Yujin, you got this!]
[What? Is it a fight?]
The chat window scrolling endlessly!
Not only Yujin's usual subscribers, including the believers of the Infinite Yujin Church, but also the Arde Live members who constantly roamed the internet gathered the instant word spread that Yujin had gone live, and the viewer count of Yujin's livestream began to increase exponentially.
[Greetings, this is Yujin.]
The moment Yujin's greeting rang out, the chat window began to churn dynamically.
With an utterly serious expression, Yujin continued.
[The Arde World currently faces a crisis of imminent peril. If we cannot defeat the Hive Mind, we cannot guarantee the continued existence of the Arde World going forward.]
Hive Mind!
The moment the crisis of Arde World, which had only fifteen days of game time remaining, was directly mentioned from Yujin's mouth, the users watching the broadcast went into an uproar.
[Drakan and I are of the same mind, but even the two of us are insufficient to conquer the Hive Mind.]
At Yujin's following words, the chatroom descended into pandemonium.
Yujin!
It was the first time since his days in the previous game, when he had formed the Revolutionary Army, that he had spoken so frankly and admitted to a lack of forces.
It meant that the Hive Mind was an opponent as powerful as Drakan had been in the previous game.
[Therefore, I, Yujin, formally request the cooperation of Xiongmao Esports and Simseong Iron Stars. For the future of the Arde World, I would be grateful if you would accept my request.]
Yujin's broadcast ended right after those words.
An exceedingly short broadcast.
But the shock left by that short livestream was enormous.
Yujin.
The top ranker of Arde World, and the user who controlled the underlying public opinion of the vast majority of players.
His 'request,' earnestly appealed in good faith, was immediately transformed into a 'command' by the furious public sentiment of the users.
[Come to think of it, what the hell are Xiongmao and Simseong even doing?]
[Fr, look at the state of things and they're still holed up chasing their own gains, lolll]
[Even 'that Drakan' is moving with Yujin, hahaha]
[Honestly, if they refuse Yujin's request, they've got no conscience, lol]
Xiongmao Esports and Simseong Iron Stars!
A barrage of criticism poured down upon the two massive guilds, which had yet to show any reaction.
Moreover, it was Berda who further accelerated the flow of public opinion.
Drakan.
It was a method proposed by him, but Berda also believed the strategy Drakan presented was valid.
Above all, since Yujin wished for the other forces to join, Berda had to manifest his ideal into reality.
Because that was what Berda had been doing all along.
'As an ally, he is indeed quite useful.'
Difficult to face when he was an enemy, but worth ten thousand troops when an ally.
Thinking that this was precisely Drakan, Berda moved the Infinite Yujin Church through its manager, Raiden, and waged an all-out public opinion war.
The result was a tidal wave of furious public sentiment that would, if the request were refused, truly brand them as traitors.
Berda's opinion campaign had the effect of pouring oil on a house already ablaze.
Above all, the narrative that they were still looking out for themselves, trying to protect their own interests at a time when even Drakan had joined Yujin, had properly taken root; now, there was no hole for Simseong and Xiongmao to escape through.
And this movement of public opinion immediately reached the ears of Doje Ujing and Vice Chairman Shin Jeonghyeok.
"Yujin went on a livestream, and the public sentiment of the users is in turmoil?"
The joint base of Simseong Iron Stars and Xiongmao Esports.
There, Vice Chairman Shin's expression twisted upon receiving every report.
We were supposed to sit back and reap the rewards!
That was precisely the plan he had laid out, and now that plan was on the verge of being completely overturned.
"Even so, Boss. We're in danger too if we don't join now."
Axe King Paul continued as he looked at Shin Jeonghyeok.
Axe King Paul.
True to his stature as an Over Ranker who had led one of the Ten Great Guilds, he knew very well just how much potential the public sentiment of users held.
He also knew well what would happen when the enraged public sentiment of users coalesced into one.
Guild Alliance.
And the Ironblood Alliance.
It was precisely the power of the users that had driven out even Drakan, who had stood at the apex of both, through a 'revolution.'
And now, the tip of that immense, concentrated spear was pointed at the heart of Simseong Iron Stars.
What would happen if they refused this request—no, in truth, this command—was too terrible to even imagine.
"It is with regret, but Axe King is correct. Vice Chairman Shin Jeonghyeok. If we do not join, when the Hive Mind Raid is over, we will face the concentrated fire of enraged users."
Having heard Paul's words, Ujing nodded, voicing his agreement.
Xiongmao Esports enjoyed the full-scale support of Chinese users, but they could not ignore the weight of the name 'Yujin.'
Yujin.
He was the ruler and icon of Arde World who transcended borders and eras.
Though his antis had increased because of the Infinite Yujin Church, he still controlled the underlying public opinion of all users; thus, going against such a Yujin was practically the same as saying he didn't want to play the game anymore.
Even Drakan, who appeared to harbor open ambitions regarding Yujin, was in reality pulling back to a certain extent before him.
So great was Yujin's power that opposing his request disguised as a command was dangerous.
Of course, had Yujin said this without any justification, rejecting the request would not have been unreasonable.
But now, there was a justification more certain than anything else: 'Let's prevent the destruction of the Arde World.'
If they refused Yujin's request in this situation, they would immediately be branded as traitors, and the guild would perish without a single foundation stone left.
If things had come to this, it was a situation where joining the raid was more profitable than not joining.
"This too is Drakan, that bastard's doing...."
Vice Chairman Shin's eyebrows twisted.
Shin Jeonghyeok was by no means foolish, so he understood their words intellectually.
But even so, his boiling emotions kept encroaching upon his reason.
Drakan.
The culprit who had killed Spear King Rio and seized the Northern Region, leaving a grievous wound upon his pride.
The wound he had left was still vividly engraved in Shin Jeonghyeok's heart.
In such a situation, Shin Jeonghyeok couldn't endure the fact that the bastard was once again blocking his path.
"If it weren't for that man, such a plan could never have been conceived. They incite public opinion by putting forward Yujin, who sits in the position of top ranker, under the plausible pretext of good faith, to pressure us. It is an idea that could never have come from the naive Yujin's head."
The voice of Assassin King Leira sounded in Vice Chairman Shin's ear.
As she said, this scheme was an idea that could not have come forth without Drakan.
And Shin Jeonghyeok himself knew this fact very well.
Drakan.
He had already gathered all information about what kind of man Drakan was.
Know yourself, know your enemy.
Shin Jeonghyeok was faithful to the adage that to defeat your enemy, you must first know your enemy.
Shin Jeonghyeok pressed down his surging rage with cold reason.
He couldn't ruin things by letting his emotions take the lead.
If he let his emotions get the better of him again, he could suffer another defeat to Drakan, just as in the war in the Northern Region waged by the old Simseong Milkyway Guild.
If he wished to advance his pieces, he had to retreat one square now.
And so, with a smoldering resolve to endure any humiliation, Shin Jeonghyeok looked at Ujing, Leira, and Paul seated at the table and muttered in a low voice.
"There's no helping the feeling that we're being dragged along, but for now... we must negotiate."
Not long after Shin Jeonghyeok spoke, his intentions were conveyed to Drakan and Yujin's side, and a negotiation table was immediately prepared.
Simseong Iron Stars and Xiongmao Esports began negotiations to join the alliance of Yujin and Drakan!
The information deliberately leaked by Drakan's side was like pouring oil on the already heated public opinion.
[Whoa, negotiations? Negotiations? When they should be joining unconditionally, they're talking negotiations, lol. Do they have a conscience?]
[Look at them counting their profits even in this situation;; fr disgusting;]
[Typical 'China' move, lolll]
[Fr, no conscience and losing public sentiment too, lol]
Fifteen-day time limit!
At the fact that they were attempting 'negotiations' now, when they should be joining without any conditions, the users were truly up in arms.
Criticism that they were trying to profit even in the face of destruction's crisis began to pour out among the users.
[Hey, Drakan also entered through negotiations, so isn't it fine for Xiongmao and Simseong to negotiate too?]
Of course, among them, there were a few users who defended Xiongmao and Simseong by saying that Drakan had also conducted alliance negotiations.
But such opinions were invariably ignored.
[Hey, are then and now the same? lol]
[Back then, there was no fifteen-day limit, lol. If you're salty, you should've allied back then, lol]
Countless critical comments immediately began pouring down on posts defending Xiongmao and Simseong.
Then and now were absolutely not the same!
Why on earth were they discussing negotiations at this point in time with a fifteen-day limit hanging over them!
If Arde World perished because of this, would they take responsibility!
At such critical comments, the defenders of Xiongmao and Simseong immediately vanished without a trace.
Because they were not wrong.
As the majority of users said, the situation when Drakan had joined and now were completely different.
Above all, attempting negotiations before the 'crisis of imminent peril' that Yujin had personally mentioned was an act perfectly suited to getting caught in the frame of selfish giant guilds busy only with lining their own pockets.
Drakan too had ultimately fallen to ruin in the previous game after getting caught in a similar frame; he knew this fact all too well, which was precisely why he had attempted this public opinion war.
Truly, overwhelming support from public opinion!
With enraged public sentiment at his back, flames of rage once again flared in Vice Chairman Shin Jeonghyeok's chest as he saw the disadvantageous terrain of public opinion.
'To overturn the negotiation table from the very start.'
Vice Chairman Shin was furious at Drakan's act of mobilizing public opinion to overturn the table before negotiations even began, but there was nothing he could do.
Thus, negotiation talks were held at the temporary fortress erected in the Valley of Siyeon, the midpoint between the two camps.