The Final Boss Has Returned — Episode 47
The goal Rexas aimed for, even while pouring insults all over me!
It was none other than dying by my hands to become a martyr of the Infinite Yujin Church.
Well, now that things had gone wrong, that was the only goal he could aim for.
Of course, if his judgment had been based on me from six years ago, it wouldn’t have been wrong.
If it had been me from six years ago!
Just as he intended, I would have mercilessly slaughtered Rexas, not to mention the entire Infinite Yujin Church group, in revenge.
And if I had killed them all like the me from six years ago!
The Infinite Yujin Church side would clearly have honored Rexas as a martyr and denounced me as a cruel villain no different from the past, attempting to wage a public opinion war.
That was only natural because, in the previous game, I was a notorious tyrant known for the Blacklist and the Infinite Extermination Order, and if someone like me killed them, my past deeds would have clearly overlapped with the present.
And the Infinite Yujin Church bastards would clearly latch onto that gap tenaciously and drag the public opinion war into a mud-slinging brawl.
But what if I spared them?
Not only would there be no gaps for the Infinite Yujin Church side to nitpick, but rather, the users would clearly reevaluate and praise me as a magnanimous person who had changed from the past me.
It meant that public opinion from the users would turn even more favorably toward me through this incident.
And I had no intention of letting this golden opportunity to seize public opinion slip away.
So I would spare them.
That was the path to perfect victory that I had found.
“Banish those human scum to the surface.”
“Understood, Contractor.”
After giving my final orders to the fishman soldiers, I escaped the underground prison.
Now, it was time to throw this fresh bait into the ocean of information called the internet and hook the true big fish named public opinion.
* * *
JDG’s Scylla Raid!
Even though it was a sudden live broadcast that started without warning, people went wild watching the content of that broadcast, which had recorded a whopping 50 million real-time viewers.
It was because it was an underwater raid, content so rare that it was the first in Arde Saga Second, and even counting the previous game, it numbered within the top ten rarest occurrences.
What especially amplified the viewers’ curiosity was the moment at the last part of the broadcast when the giant monster, the Kraken, came into view, rampaging while spewing lightning in the distance after the raid ended.
[Could that be the Kraken?]
[Did Drakan already finish the quest?]
[What the lololol show us more of the war lololol]
Kraken!
And the undersea war!
Unlike the underwater raid, which was rare but had a precedent in the previous game, it was the sight of an undersea war for which there was absolutely no precedent.
Viewers’ attention was focused on that scenery where countless troops appeared and sea monsters rampaged in the middle of the battlefield, and soon after, the internet burned with the undersea war bait that had briefly flashed by at the end of the Scylla Raid.
Through the short clip of the undersea war that appeared at the very end of the Scylla Raid, all sorts of speculation and headcanons ran rampant.
In the midst of that, a video was uploaded to Drakan’s official channel.
It was exactly the undersea war video the users had been waiting for.
[Wow, that’s insane lololol]
[The undersea war is crazy. It puts blockbusters to shame lololol]
[Drakan’s class is insane, right? lololol When does the Kraken come out?]
The uploaded undersea war video was sufficient to satisfy the users’ expectations.
Arde Saga Second was a perfect virtual reality indistinguishable from reality, but it was not completely identical to reality.
That didn’t mean Arde Saga Second’s virtual reality was inferior to reality.
No, rather, the world of Arde Saga Second, Arde World, transcended reality.
Because Arde World was precisely a fantasy world.
Actions impossible in reality, abilities unattainable, scenery unseeable—all of these were possible in Arde World.
Truly, Arde World had realized the “other world” that countless fantasy works had each imagined, making it reality.
And anyone could connect to this other world, without needing special events like truck accidents or summonings, as long as they had a capsule and an ID.
There was a reason people went wild for Arde Saga.
Anyway, Arde World was a fantasy world, and the undersea war video Drakan had uploaded now was the sight of a war that could only appear in a fantasy world, impossible to find in reality.
Mermaids moving as if flying through the water!
And fishmen riding ocean currents, rampaging alongside sea monsters!
The battle between those two races in the dark deep sea could only be the sight that perfectly satisfied the ideal of the fantasy world the users had so longed for.
Just as the viewers were intensely focused on the undersea war video.
A scene that made them doubt their eyes appeared.
[Huh? What’s that? A human user? What?]
[??????]
It was none other than Infinite Yujin Church members shouting “Die, Drakan” with voices full of hatred!
The moment a clear human user—a third force that wasn’t JDG whom Drakan had called—appeared between the fishmen and mermaids, the internet heated up.
But the video didn’t end there.
Immediately after the war ended.
The moment the scene came out where Drakan faced the unmasked user in the underground prison and the two talked, the comment section literally exploded.
[Wow, look at that guy’s attitude. No matter what, he’s basically spewing two-bit curses right to his face;;]
[Drakan’s patience is crazy. If it were me, I’d kill him right there lololol]
[No, the Drakan I know wouldn’t do this? Did he really change as a person? He actually spared him]
[But who is that person?]
[Right. He looks like a named character, but who is he?]
[Isn’t that the Infinite Yujin Church East Branch Leader?]
[(link) Went to the Infinite Yujin Church cafe East Branch board and found a verification screenshot. It is the branch leader]
[So the branch leader interfered with Drakan’s quest?]
[Seems like it;;]
People cursed Rexas for the incomprehensible words and abusive language so vulgar it would make even the listener frown that he poured onto Drakan.
In contrast, it was natural, in a way, that public opinion moved in a positive direction for Drakan, who not only responded with composed patience but even mercifully spared Rexas.
But the problem didn’t end there.
The fact that Rexas’s position wasn’t that of an ordinary user, but rather a fairly high position as the East Branch Leader of the Infinite Yujin Church, began to worsen the problem.
For the Infinite Yujin Church, whose external image had already soured due to excessive deification and praise of Yujin, comparisons and disparagement with other rankers, and notions of being a chosen people, this incident was nothing short of a fatal blow.
Of course, even after Yujin seized hegemony in Arde World, underhanded schemes like quest interference hadn’t completely disappeared.
Unlike the top ten guilds and the highest-tier guilds beneath them who couldn’t help but care about public opinion, mid-tier guilds from high-tier down, or rankers and streamers who traveled alone without guild affiliations, often carried out underhanded schemes without a care.
It was just that if the scale grew large enough to be noticeable or the scheme was discovered before completion, Yujin and his allied guilds would intervene as the “police of Arde World,” so situations no longer escalated to killing each other endlessly as in the past.
But the current incident was no such common underhanded scheme.
It was a massive incident where a high-ranking executive, none other than the East Branch Leader of the Infinite Yujin Church, had personally tried and failed to kill Drakan, and even after being caught, spewed abusive language.
This incident soon devolved into a scandal, and the internet exploded.
[Wow, those Yujin freaks are crazy. What did Drakan do that they’re trying to kill him? Aren’t they insane?]
[Honestly, I used to shield Infinite Yujin Church people when they got flamed, but I feel betrayed…….]
[Could this be Yujin pulling strings from behind?]
[That’s possible]
[Anyone can see they were trying to keep Drakan in check]
Countless people latched onto this stimulating and interesting bait, amplifying and reproducing rumors and headcanons, and before long, rumors even began circulating that Yujin and the Lightwing Guild might actually be behind the incident.
Of course, a few users raised conspiracy theories about how the timing could match up so perfectly, and whether Drakan hadn’t known everything beforehand just as Rexas had said.
But because the circumstances of the attempted murder were so vivid, and crucially, Drakan’s side hadn’t committed a single visible wrong, and on the contrary had even shown the magnanimity of sparing Rexas who had tried to kill him, they were pushed back in terms of justification and soon died down.
[Infinite Yujin Church East Branch Leader assaults Drakan. What was the motive?]
[The shocking ‘Infinite Yujin Church Scandal,’ intensively investigating the inside story!]
And the ones who threw firewood onto that burning fire were none other than the gaming press.
Shin Hayeon. The moment her touch reached them, all the gaming press simultaneously began covering the Infinite Yujin Church scandal in one voice.
Due to the nature of the internet, information spread far and wide in an instant, and the Infinite Yujin Church headquarters, having obtained the information and holding countermeasure meetings, could do nothing but watch public opinion worsen in real time.
[Official Statement]
[To explain this unsavory incident, we release an official statement.]
Having already ignited public opinion, the Infinite Yujin Church’s self-destruction began to rush ahead.
[This incident was, according to internal verification, something started spontaneously and personally by the East Branch Leader and 9 others, and our Infinite Yujin Church has no connection whatsoever to them.
However, many users who hold hostility toward the Infinite Yujin Church have posted numerous malicious posts attempting to wage a public opinion war, and rumors and fake news are spreading indiscriminately, even being turned into articles, causing us great mental and material damages; therefore, we intend to respond strongly without overlooking this.
All rumors regarding the Infinite Yujin Church are untrue, and this incident as well is merely the deviation of the East Branch Leader and some users…….
…….
We sincerely apologize for causing concern against our will to all who love Arde World through this matter.
-Infinite Yujin Church Manager Raiden]
Users who saw the apology—no, the official statement posted like that—exploded in opinion.
[Wow, Raiden, is his judgment for real in this situation?]
[This isn’t even an apology. It’s a statement.]
[You’re right. Looking again, it is a statement lololol]
[Strong response my ass lololol]
[“Against our will”? Wow, they put everything that shouldn’t be in an apology letter.]
[Honestly, there are a lot of rumors and fake news. The official statement came out and it was just their personal deviation as announced; what more can Infinite Yujin Church do here?]
[Talking about official, huh. Official my ass, it’s probably your pseudo-cult’s brain-official lololol]
[Anyone can see they’re cutting tails and shifting blame. Who do they take us for, fools?]
Users did not believe the Infinite Yujin Church’s official statement.
To anyone, the Infinite Yujin Church’s statement looked like nothing but excuses, scapegoating, and blame-shifting.
Moreover, in the current situation where public opinion toward the Infinite Yujin Church was already not very good, their official statement declaring a strong response was no different from pouring oil on a burning house.
From the Infinite Yujin Church’s standpoint, which had grasped the truth to some degree, it was truly maddening, but in this situation, the truth had long since ceased to be very important.
“People only believe what they want to believe.”
Before moving the press, Shin Hayeon whispered to Drakan with a smile.
And indeed, just as she said, people only believed what they wanted to believe.
No, rather, it was closer to the built-up karma of the Infinite Yujin Church exploding through this incident.
The flames of enraged public opinion surged as if to burn the entire Infinite Yujin Church.
The board that Drakan and Shin Hayeon had laid out ended here.
“This much can’t take Yujin down.”
“But it’s enough to scratch his reputation.”
Drakan and Shin Hayeon.
The two who were planning rebellion against Yujin moved carefully.
Because they already knew that Yujin—him—could not be taken down by a scandal of this magnitude.
‘Right now,’ the truth is not very important.
But ‘later,’ when public opinion cools down, the truth will become important again.
Moreover, the opponent was that Yujin.
It might be different for the Infinite Yujin Church, but hostility toward Yujin himself wasn’t that great yet.
But Yujin cherished the Infinite Yujin Church, and now that this had grown so big, he would definitely appear personally to try to quell public opinion.
If Yujin tried to quell public opinion like that, Drakan’s side currently had no real way to stop it.
If they forcibly moved public opinion, the backlash that would come afterward would clearly be tremendous.
Drakan and Shin Hayeon were not stupid enough to fail to calculate such backlash.
You cannot get full at the first spoon, and a journey of a thousand li begins with a single step!
So from the beginning, Drakan and Shin Hayeon’s goal was to plant seeds of doubt and confusion in the users’ public opinion.
Even if Yujin clarified, seeds of doubt and distrust would remain.
Anyway, the fact that the Infinite Yujin Church’s East Branch Leader carried out an underhanded scheme was true, and even if they dismissed it as a “deviation of extreme fans,” the majority of users all knew that those “extreme fans” were not a minority but a majority within the current Infinite Yujin Church.
Therefore, the gaze of rational suspicion toward the Infinite Yujin Church would never disappear.
In that moment when the entire internet was seething.
A live broadcast turned on for the first time in a while on Yujin’s official channel.
[Hello, this is Yujin.]
Drakan. Just as he had expected, Yujin had personally stepped up to calm the intensified public opinion.