The Final Boss Has Returned – Episode 20
Arde Live, Drakan’s official channel.
It had already been well over a week since a video was uploaded to his channel.
[Where’d Drakan go?]
[He obviously got scared and ran lol. What a washed-up has-been. He can’t mess with our God Yujin, right?]
[Yujin stans are disgusting;; fr]
[The Yujin stans marked the coords and swarmed here again, gross;;]
Drakan’s last dungeon run video!
Of course, comments were being posted on it, and now posts asking about Drakan’s recent whereabouts were beginning to appear sporadically on the Arde forums as well.
[What’s Drakan doing?]
[I dunno either]
[Didn’t he hit level 100 and is doing the Oracle Quest?]
A week!
It could be considered long, or it could be considered short.
But on the internet, where hype cycles spun fast, it was enough time for Drakan’s presence to disappear.
Just as the buzz surrounding Drakan and Yujin was gradually dying down, a video was uploaded to Drakan’s channel.
[(Breaking) Drakan… uploaded… a video……..avi]
[What? Argan Village? The village chief there is a black mage? I did the goblin extermination quest there when I was a lowbie.]
[Holy shit, a cinematic? On the second quest? Wtf lol]
[Wow, Drakan made a contract with a Demon God? He’s crazy;; legacy buff plus contract buff now, straight-up broken;;]
[Is this an Oracle Quest? A cinematic from the very start? Fr, that’s insane]
The content of the uploaded video was simple.
Drakan reaching level 100, receiving the Oracle Quest, traveling to Argan Village, and receiving the next quest.
But the aftermath that short video caused on the internet was tremendous.
[What, it’s war? lmao]
[Never again war! Never again war!]
[Wow, insane. The class of a legendary quest, seriously. They want him to fight Lawless Port with just six old geezers and win, damn]
[Wow, isn’t this difficulty crazy?]
[Drakan’s ready to pull a runner, isn’t he?]
[Breaking… Drakan… preparing to desert……..]
[Honestly, the difficulty is absolute hell, but there’s no time limit, so there’s no need to clear it right away. I think Drakan will level up, build his specs, let it sit, and tackle it later.]
[Real talk]
That was because of the contents of the final quest that appeared after the cinematic ended.
Conquer Lawless Port!
And with only six black mages…….
At quest contents that looked impossible no matter who saw them, the users who had envied him for contracting with a Demon God did a complete 180.
If it had ended here, it would have finished as just another one of those attention-grabbing videos.
But Drakan didn’t end it there.
When the contents of the Oracle Quest Drakan received spread across the entire internet, one more video was uploaded to his channel.
[Greetings. It’s rather awkward, as this is my first time introducing myself through a video like this.]
Drakan!
A video filmed by him personally inside the game, with Argan Village as the backdrop, had been uploaded.
Because the quest to conquer Lawless Port had already become a hot topic across the entire internet, many users began clicking on Drakan’s video again, and the view count of the video he uploaded began rising sharply.
[I believe everyone has seen my video and the quest contents by now.]
In the video, Drakan stared straight ahead and continued speaking in a calm voice.
[I’ll cut to the chase. I will share this quest with all users without any conditions. If there are users who wish to undertake this quest together with me, come to Argan Village.]
Drakan in the video smiled as he said that.
[He’s sharing the quest? That Drakan?]
[Did I hear that wrong? That Drakan? The crazy bastard who only cared about himself?]
[This is a 100% ploy to drag others in because he can’t clear it alone. Don’t take the bait, guys. How is he going to win against Lawless Port by gathering randoms? No chance lol. It’s a shortcut to getting your character deleted.]
[Even if Drakan was a top ranker in the previous game, he’s just a level 100 noob without a guild now. There aren’t any suckers who’d get baited by a legendary quest and go to Argan, right?]
Of course, at Drakan’s words, the users initially mocked him.
Drakan. His notoriety was notorious indeed, but since he was now merely a level 100 solo user who had lost all the glory of his previous game, the users judged that he had no chance of winning.
But Drakan in the video, as if he had predicted that, put on a deeper smile and said in a calm voice.
[Ah, I thought some might think there’s no chance of winning if I only said that, so let me add a little postscript.]
[JDG and Ignis will be joining this quest. So don’t worry needlessly. Users who wish to share in the glory of conquering Lawless Port, come to Argan Village right now. I’ll share the quest without any conditions.]
With those final words, Drakan’s video ended.
And the users who watched the video literally flipped.
Drakan!
JDG!
They were joining hands to strike Lawless Port?
The news of the collaboration between former top-ranker Drakan and current 6th-ranked guild JDG spread beyond Arde Live, finally reaching across the entire internet, and thanks to this hype bomb of tremendous destructive power, the Arde forums began burning up once again.
[What, JDG is getting involved in this? Is it fake?]
[They both belong to Jeil, so why would it be fake? I think it’s legit.]
[Breaking… JDG… uploaded a collab video with Drakan…….live]
[Wow, it was real. Jeil’s push is insane. They already got him to collab with JDG.]
[Jeil is disgusting, right? Desperately struggling to somehow compare himself to Sir Yujin…… Pathetic…….]
[The disgusting one is your Yujin haha. Coming all the way here to suck up to Yujin, isn’t that disgusting? Go back to your cafe.]
The first reaction that appeared was pure shock.
Drakan and JDG.
The fact that they were joining hands to prepare a large-scale quest, and even accepting participation from ordinary users, shocked the playerbase.
And without any conditions at that.
Normally, large-scale quests conducted by ultra-large guilds or rankers were mostly monopolized among themselves after quietly recruiting people through personal connections, so this was unprecedented.
Yujin.
Sharing a large-scale quest was something unimaginable unless it was him.
And after some time had passed, upon learning that JDG and Ignis would participate in this war, users began calculating the risk and reward and judged that there was a chance of winning.
JDG!
The name of a top-ten guild and an Over Ranker, the towering reputation Ignis had built since his pro gamer days—though it had faded a bit compared to Yujin, who had reached the pinnacle of the Arde World—was by no means light.
Even if they couldn’t believe Drakan, they could believe Ignis and JDG!
JDG and Ignis had joined this war because they had calculated that there was a chance of winning!
So let’s use this opportunity to truly teach those pirate bastards a lesson!
Such public opinion among the Eastern users manifested into action before long.
[(Verified) Got the quest shared by Drakan.]
[Attached screenshots. Took verification shots with Drakan and Ignis directly. He really shared the quest without any conditions. Drakan is way nicer than I thought and looks decent too. Honestly, this quest is going to be epic super fun lolll]
[Attachments: cert1.jpg, cert2.jpg]
[Holy shit, fr, he shared it without any conditions?]
[Yeah, no conditions at all. Honestly, this war is gonna be super fun. With JDG, the war is worth trying. Those pirate bastards have been acting up and it’s pissed me off, so I’m gonna use this chance to wreck them.]
[That’s crazy lollll]
[You a Jeil shill?]
[Yeah, you Yujin-stan]
[What’s wrong with Sir Yujin? He’s way better than that Drakan bastard. Why suck up to Drakan at all?]
[Yuj]
[Look at the Yujin stan burning lol]
[Yep~ Yujin who talks nonsense about pirates running rampant being part of the game, you go ahead and suck him off all you want~]
Drakan!
As the certification relay of users who went to Argan Village and received the quest share from him continued on SNS and the Arde forums, public opinion slowly began to shift.
The Pirate Alliance!
The grudge of Eastern users who had suffered from their tyranny was that great, and there existed a broad consensus among them that they couldn’t live like this and had to beat the pirates down.
It’s just that the Eastern users lacked a focal point to consolidate that grudge and empathy.
Just as during the World Revolution, for users’ vague discontent to manifest into concrete action, they needed a focal point or catalyst, and of course a systematic organization like a guild.
In other words, they needed someone to take the lead.
But the Pirate Alliance’s forces were mighty, and Yujin the Hero, who possessed the only force capable of all-out war with the Pirate Alliance, refused the Eastern users’ subjugation requests.
Whatever his intentions, the situation was that even Yujin the Hero, who possessed the strongest force in the current Arde World, had refused the subjugation request!
In such a situation, there was no way an angelic guild or user would step up to subjugate the Pirate Alliance while bearing the losses and damage incurred during the war.
Someone should step up and take the lead!
But me stepping up is a bit…….
That was exactly the current situation in the East.
A situation that was truly no different from putting a bell on a cat’s neck.
In this state, Drakan appeared.
Saying that he would bell the cat together with JDG.
It was, in a way, a natural phenomenon that Eastern users’ public opinion gravitated toward the boldly leading Drakan, Ignis who declared his cooperation, and JDG.
But in the vast Arde World, the East was the most underdeveloped region along with the North.
From the perspective of users in other regions, honestly, it was a problem that didn’t much matter who won.
While the Pirate Alliance’s tyranny was severe, it was limited to the East.
Therefore, the public opinion of the Central, West, and South regions, where the majority of users enjoyed the game, was quite different from the East, where an air of grim determination flowed.
Just as the old saying goes that the best spectacle is a fight, users from other regions pulled out their popcorn and began spectating as they watched the thrilling bait of war atmosphere looming over the East.
The common emotion that all those users harbored was excitement.
In fact, if you excluded the point that the one sharing the quest was Drakan, this quest was nothing but good for the users.
War!
The fact that they could experience that war, one of the most fun contents in the Arde Saga, for the first time in a long while made the users’ hearts pound.
[Honestly, it’s a fact that there have been almost no wars since Yujin took power. Everyone’s too busy watching Yujin’s mood so they don’t do it lol. War is so much fun though. I’m heading to the East for a war match for the first time in a while.]
[‘That Hero’s’ special trait: Killing off super fun content like war with his damn righteousness lol]
[That bastard kept wars burning hot even while controlling things…… Nothing but Shining Drakan…….]
[Honestly, the fact that Yujin stans are disgusting is facts lol. Making everyone watch his mood so conflict disappears and the no-fun situation continues is unacceptable.]
[It’s “they’re,” not “their,” you bastard. Jesus, the literacy of Yujin stans.]
[Yujin stans can’t get the point and just flail around blindly, right? Must be because you guys are stream-watchers instead of actual players lol]
Soon, the internet became a mess of keyboard battles by users fed up with the Infinite Yujin Church and their tyranny, and began blazing up.
Yujin. It was true that he had created a peaceful Arde World, but conversely, it was also true that because of that peace, super fun content like war had disappeared.
In the days when Drakan ruled.
Unlike that time when large and small wars broke out frequently across the entire world, in the present ruled by Yujin, all rankers and guilds had voluntarily bowed their heads under Yujin’s hegemony, and the hierarchy between guilds had become entrenched.
Since Yujin himself disliked war, the hegemony wars between guilds like those in the past had long since disappeared.
A world that was peaceful but stagnant, suffocating, and boring!
That was exactly the Arde World that Yujin had created.
Naturally, such a world could not be a very pleasing sight to users who had little interest in enforcing justice and instead pursued fun and thrilling excitement they couldn’t taste in reality.
Therefore, they praised Drakan for opening up a big event called war for the first time in a while, while belittling Yujin, who had created the boring present-day Arde World.
And the problem didn’t end there.
[Honestly, putting aside Yujin stans and fanboys, for us Easterners getting robbed by the Pirate King is daily life, but I’m down. Yeah. If he just beats up the pirates, I’m confident I’ll suck him off whether it’s Drakan or Drakan’s grandpa.]
[Fr, people who’ve never even been to the East should go to the Central region if they’re butthurt.]
[Honestly, it’s sad enough being from the countryside, but if he’s going to play hero and just watch…….]
[Sir Yujin said it before. NPC factions are part of the game’s makeup, so not interfering artificially is for the good of Arde World. This is an inconvenience we have no choice but to endure.;;;]
[Yuj]
[Ah, the Yujin stan’s acting up again. Must want attention lol. Can’t even talk with that mouth of yours. If you came to the East and got wrecked by pirates, you’d come to your senses.]
[Yep, I don’t buy fake saint Yujin~ Fuck off~]
The Pirate Alliance!
The atrocities they committed in the East and the grievances of Eastern users who had suffered at the hands of the pirates had finally begun to explode, using Drakan’s quest share as a large-scale event.
Of course, Eastern users hadn’t hated Yujin from the start.
Even if they hated the Infinite Yujin Church, there were few who hated Yujin himself, as he was a top ranker with a personality close to perfection.
When the Pirate King began his tyranny.
The Eastern users believed.
That Yujin, as always, would sweep away those wicked pirate hordes with the blade of justice!
But no matter how long they waited, and waited again, Yujin did not come to the East.
Unable to endure it, several users active in the East went all the way to the guild house of Lightwing Guild, where Yujin was, to ask him to resolve the situation, but the answer Yujin gave them after such a difficult meeting was truly a sight to behold.
“It is my policy not to interfere with factions artificially. I sympathize with the Eastern users’ plight, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it right now. I’m sorry.”
There was nothing he could do!
He had to uphold his principle of not interfering with factions artificially!
At that disappointing answer, the Eastern users’ public opinion turned away from Yujin.
And now.
The grudge of Eastern users that had built up since then was exploding, taking advantage of the gap while the entire internet was burning with topics about Drakan, JDG, and Yujin.
“Everything is proceeding according to plan!”
Drakan, who had received reports on all these circumstances from his dedicated support team, smiled.
Public opinion regarding Drakan himself, as well as regarding Yujin, was gradually changing.
Truly, everything was going according to his intention.