Return of the Final Boss – Episode 29
The day after I finished my meeting with Shin Ha-yeon.
Not long after logging into the game, a message appeared in my vision.
[The renovation of the Black Tower is complete.]
[The Black Ring Society opens its doors once more from the Black Tower.]
[You have completed the quest ‘Reorganization’.]
[Fame has increased by 1340.]
[Mana has increased by 24.]
[Level up.]
[Level up.]
It was the message that the renovation of the Black Tower was complete and the Black Ring Society had opened its doors again, along with the message that the quest had been completed.
Along with it, other notification windows appeared in succession.
[A new class, ‘Black Mage’, has been unlocked.]
[Lawless Port Granado, the former stronghold of the Black Ring Society, has been recaptured by Drakan, the Demon God’s Contractor. However, the Black Ring Society has not regained its former glory. Kalid, the Leader of the Black Ring Society, has opened the doors of the Black Ring Society to outsiders for the first time since its founding, in order to regain its former glory and spread the great gospel of darkness far and wide.]
[Unlike ordinary mages, the Black Mage is an expert in debuffs and destruction, armed with curse magic utilizing dark mana, and powerful darkness-attribute attack magic unbound by the four major elements.]
[You can begin the Black Mage class-change quest in Lawless Port Granado, the stronghold of the Black Ring Society.]
[A forgotten old power has returned to the World of Arde.]
[Faction: Will Granado, where the Black Ring Society has reestablished itself, survive as a holy land for Black Mages?]
[A new possibility has opened in the World of Arde. Participate in the new history.]
Black Mage!
It was a historic moment when that class, which had never once been revealed in either the previous game or Second and had been an NPC-only class, was finally unlocked for users.
‘Users will flock here now.’
I smiled as I looked at the streets of the ruined lawless port.
Right then.
“Contractor!”
There was someone running frantically from afar.
An NPC in a black robe holding a magic staff.
It was one of the five Black Mage NPC subordinates under Kalid.
“The Leader has commanded me to escort the Contractor to the Black Tower. The power holders of the lawless port are also currently gathered at the Black Tower, awaiting the Contractor, who is the ruler of the lawless port.”
The power holders of the lawless port!
Hearing the Black Mage NPC’s words, I recalled the information I had gathered on the lawless port beforehand because of the war.
The lawless port was a lawless zone, but it was not disorderly.
Because it was a place without laws, strength reigned instead, and the power holders of the lawless port enjoyed power built upon that lawless land.
Therefore, ironically, an order of might existed in the lawless port, and by becoming its ruler, I had taken a seat at the very pinnacle of that order.
Besides, it was a natural procedure for the influential figures of a territory to pay their respects to a new lord when one took control of a territory, castle, or city, and it was something I had experienced to the point of exhaustion in the previous game as well.
‘So the existing power holders have come to greet me! It’s the procedure one goes through when the lord changes.’
I nodded at the Black Mage NPC’s words and had him lead the way.
“Lead the way.”
“I shall obey.”
I smiled as I watched the Black Mage NPC walking ahead and the Black Tower standing tall in the city center.
The power holders of the lawless port.
It was time to meet them.
* * *
[You have entered the Black Tower.]
Along with the brief message, as soon as I entered the Black Tower, I headed straight for the meeting hall on the top floor.
In this meeting hall where the elders of the Black Ring Society had once gathered, I was finally able to meet Kalid, the Leader of the Black Ring Society, and the power holders of the lawless port.
“You have arrived, Contractor.”
The first to greet me was none other than Kalid.
He was the Leader of the Black Ring Society and an Over Ranker-class powerhouse.
And the five NPCs lined up beside Kalid. They were precisely the power holders of the lawless port.
“It is an honor to meet you, My Lord.”
As I accepted their greetings, I etched each and every one of their impressions into my mind once more.
The forces comprising the lawless port were broadly five.
The Casino.
The Thieves’ Guild.
The Assassins’ Guild.
The Mafia.
The Black Market.
The so-called Five Great Powers of the lawless port.
They were the very foundation that made up the lawless port.
All residents living in the lawless port were connected to the Five Great Powers in one way or another.
And the most powerful among them was the Black Market!
The Black Market of the lawless port was famous for trading all sorts of stolen goods, smuggled items, and illegal items that were hard to obtain out in the open, and the secret auction held here once a month was so renowned that the wealthy and nobles from across the entire World of Arde would attend carrying bundles of money.
‘It was famous in the previous game too.’
Lawless Port!
This city, which had been called the Lawless City in the previous game, was famous then as well.
And the Five Great Powers of the lawless port, as well as the Black Market included among them, were the same.
Because I too had occasionally obtained items at the secret auctions held in the Black Market, I knew this all the better.
I slowly examined the leaders of the Five Great Powers.
A faint fear dwelled in their eyes.
I knew very well the tendencies of evil-aligned NPCs.
Might makes right!
That was the basic attitude of evil-aligned NPCs.
And standing before them, I was a strong one—no, an overwhelmingly strong one.
It was the reason they couldn’t help but submit before me, who had shown overwhelming violence beyond imagination, mobilizing an army of 50,000 and even burning the entire city to boot.
“L-Lord! I pledge my loyalty!”
“I’ll do anything you command!”
That was precisely the reason they were pledging loyalty to me like this.
“Good. You’ll have to follow me well from now on.”
[You have received the loyalty pledges of the Five Great Powers of the lawless port.]
[You have ascended as the true ruler of the lawless port.]
[Fame has increased by 1233.]
[All stats have increased by 10.]
I accepted the NPCs’ loyalty pledges and checked the messages that followed.
As the NPCs withdrew, Kalid spoke to me.
“Returning to the lawless port like this fills me with new emotions. All of this is thanks to you, Contractor.”
Kalid’s voice was steeped in emotion!
I listened to his words without saying anything, and Kalid continued.
“It reminds me of that humiliating day of defeat ten years ago. If only the Lighthouse of the Abyss hadn’t been destroyed during the Great Upheaval, we could have called upon the Merpeople, our old allies, to repel those pirate bastards……. If it were them, who move beneath the sea, they surely would have handled pirates with ease.”
Hearing Kalid’s words, I instinctively realized.
This right now was a clue to a quest.
And not just any quest, but one of a scale that was at minimum Hero-grade or higher!
Merpeople. They were a race that had never once shown themselves even in the previous game, recorded only in legends.
A quest where I had to meet such a race—just looking at it, the difficulty was clearly no ordinary matter.
“I see.”
“Unfortunately, as the Lighthouse of the Abyss is gone now, there is no way to contact them. If it is alright, would you hear more of my story?”
The moment Kalid said that to me.
[Drakan-nim. Where are you right now?]
Shin Ha-yeon spoke to me through a whisper.
[Black Tower.]
[I saw the message that just came up. I think we’ll need to revise the city reconstruction plan a bit. I’ll head over there now with Ignis.]
The message she mentioned was without a doubt the one about the Black Mage being unlocked as a new class.
Hearing the whisper, I looked at Kalid and spoke.
“No, I have something to take care of right now. I’ll have to hear it next time.”
The Merpeople were certainly an attractive hook, but there was no need to rush into it.
“I understand.”
Kalid said so and withdrew from his seat, and not long after, Shin Ha-yeon and Ignis finally revealed themselves in the meeting hall.
“Hello, Drakan-nim.”
“I didn’t expect to see you again inside the game.”
I accepted Shin Ha-yeon’s greeting, and she smiled as she took the empty seat beside me.
“I may end up greeting you often inside the game from now on.”
Hearing those words, I stared at Shin Ha-yeon.
I already knew her character information.
‘Level 403, and her class is Mage.’
Her level was a whopping 403!
One of the standards for being a ranker was level 400.
Considering the level system of Arde Saga Second, where 380 was practically the level cap and raising levels beyond 380 became tremendously difficult, this meant she herself was ranker-class power.
Besides, her class was Mage.
Not only had she chosen the Mage, which consumed the most capital among the numerous classes in the World of Arde to the point of being called a money-eating hippo, but seeing her decked out in legendary-grade items from head to toe, one could say she had a character truly befitting a third-generation chaebol heir.
The nickname she was using in the game was ‘Ha-yeon’.
It was a nickname taken from her own name.
Recalling her character information, I continued speaking.
“Was the message you saw the one about the Black Mage class-change quest being unlocked?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Hearing my words, the smile on Shin Ha-yeon’s lips deepened.
“I truly didn’t expect you to show results again so quickly. Unlocking a new class—Drakan-nim, you really are an amazing person.”
As she said, unlocking new content was indeed an amazing feat.
Unlike existing games that added various new content like items, regions, new races, and new classes through patches, the Arde Saga series was different.
In the Arde Saga series, the World of Arde was essentially another perfect world, with a map the same size as Earth, on which NPCs possessing such perfect emotions and reason that they were indistinguishable from humans lived—a dimensional difference from other games.
Because the game itself was managed by the super AI supercomputer ‘Cosmos’, bug fixes, maintenance, and balance patches were unnecessary.
Therefore, in the Arde Saga series, new regions, quests, items, classes, races, and so on were added to the game in a format where users directly unlocked them through quests or events.
Literally, it meant users directly unlocked new content within endless freedom.
“Public opinion regarding Black Mages is already moving in an unusual direction. By now, users wanting to class-change into Black Mages should be gathering outside.”
Shin Ha-yeon’s following words were not particularly surprising.
If a new class was added, it was natural for users to flock to try it, and it was a result I had already predicted.
What was important now was establishing a plan for how to utilize those flocking users.
“Then I suppose we’ll have to make use of them in the reconstruction plan.”
“As expected, you were thinking the same thing as me.”
Shin Ha-yeon nodded and smiled with her eyes.