The Final Boss Has Returned, Chapter 62
I laughed inwardly at Yujin’s question.
It was because it was one of the questions on my list of anticipated topics.
Misdeeds!
I knew the meaning of that word within Yujin’s question all too well.
He must have been talking about how I controlled the fields and dungeons to secure war funds and levied heavy taxes. I had already prepared an answer for that.
I naturally fielded Yujin’s question.
“How do I feel about it? That is far too broad a question. What kind of answer would satisfy you…?”
I paused for a moment. It was going to be a long answer.
“First, those misdeeds can be called one of the errors I committed in the past, and one of my most shameful memories. I will take this opportunity to apologize to all the users in Arde World who suffered harm because of me.”
The method chosen by the past me was wrong!
I truly thought so.
Yes, it was the wrong method, my error, and a foolish act that ultimately brought about my own downfall.
The me of that time had been incomparably stupid.
I had been obsessed with a single goal: completing the Conqueror Quest and unifying the continent. Because of that, I squeezed war funds through control and taxes, and even resorted to loans to achieve that goal. And even after unification, I made the mistake of maintaining that control structure to pay off debts and fill the greedy appetites of the guilds allied under me.
The result was my own destruction.
I had only then realized how naive my thinking had been—that I could simply crush dissatisfaction with overwhelming force.
The past me who chose an exploitative structure that was inefficient, ineffective, and immoral had truly been an idiot.
In the short term, it might have looked like plenty of profit was coming in thanks to the control structure, but in the long run, it was a tower built on sand that was bound to collapse!
That was the governing structure I had created at the time.
To rule the world, the support of the people was necessary, but the me six years ago, an utterly stupid fool, had been blinded by the immediate profits and power before my eyes, unable to see the truth.
‘It was a failed and wrong method anyway. Admitting that, and even apologizing, is not a difficult thing.’
Thinking so, I knelt down on the spot, looking at the main camera.
Thud.
As I knelt just as I had prepared in my answer, I could see Yujin’s and Yu Hyegyeong’s faces stiffen rigidly.
I continued speaking in a sincere voice from that position.
“I will make no excuses for my misdeeds. They were clearly my faults. I sincerely apologize to all users. And as I promised before all users previously, I promise once again that I will not repeat the mistakes of the past, the control.”
Control was the error committed by the foolish past me, a blemish I absolutely had to shake off before the current me could rise to the position of Top Ranker.
Since returning, I had gathered a fandom and considerably reversed public opinion through various methods. If things kept going like this, I might smoothly rise to the rank of Over Ranker.
But my goal was not merely Over Ranker.
Top Ranker!
To succeed in the grand scheme of rebellion and seize the seat Yujin occupied, it was impossible as I was now.
The errors committed by the past me—I had to brush them off. To defeat Yujin, and further, to take Arde World into my own hands!
I knew very well that broad support from all users, not just the fandom, was absolutely necessary.
The hearts of the users—precisely to obtain that!
To make that mighty power which had destroyed even myself when I was Top Ranker, to make the hegemony of the world mine, I had to deny the past me. Even if it meant kneeling.
‘If I can win the users’ hearts, I can kneel as many times as necessary.
Pride doesn’t put food on the table.
I realized that fact when I was wandering from day labor site to day labor site to pay off massive debts, and when I was catching tuna on a deep-sea fishing boat braving the knife-like winds of the dawn sea.
If I could win the users’ hearts by kneeling and selling my pride, I could kneel a hundred times, a thousand times, over this mere knee.
Right at that moment.
“Lord Drakan.”
I heard Yujin call my name.
* * *
Thud!
Watching Drakan suddenly kneel on the spot, Yujin was startled out of his wits.
‘Drakan… knelt?’
Drakan’s apology!
He could somehow understand that much.
Whatever his true intentions had been when they first met, Drakan had promised him that he would not repeat the misdeeds of the past.
But kneeling was beyond anything he had expected.
Drakan!
Yujin knew better than anyone that Drakan was as arrogant and proud as he was strong. The sight of such a Drakan kneeling was truly a shock comparable to a nuclear bomb.
In the final battle where defeat had already been decided, Drakan had never knelt until the very end.
Drakan was the kind of man who would rather shatter than ever bend or break.
And yet such a Drakan was kneeling to apologize!
Drakan’s current action was already far beyond a level that could be interpreted as a political gesture.
Once, Berda—the brains of the guild—had said to Yujin:
Drakan!
His heart had never changed, and all of Drakan’s actions, which might appear altruistic at a glance, were nothing more than a calculated political maneuver to win public opinion!
His nature remained the same, and given the chance, he would recreate the oppressive ruling structure symbolized by “control” in Arde World at any moment!
She had said so.
Perhaps, just this once, Berda’s prediction might have missed the mark?
Leaving political maneuvering aside, Yujin thought that there existed a line, something like an uncrossable boundary, for every person.
And Drakan had clearly crossed that line now.
“Lord Drakan.”
Yujin called the name of Drakan, who was still kneeling with his head bowed.
Drakan’s gaze turned toward Yujin.
The moment their eyes met, Yujin realized.
The principle Yujin had first established!
It was to believe in people’s goodwill.
There were no exceptions to that principle. Even if it was Drakan, a former archenemy and villain!
Yujin extended his hand toward the kneeling Drakan.
“I believe your promise.”
Yujin decided to believe Drakan, who had proven his own change by even kneeling.
Having someone in his guild to play the role of doubting others—Berda alone was enough for that.
Thinking so, Yujin looked at Drakan, and Drakan took his hand.
* * *
‘What a sucker, through and through.’
I took Yujin’s extended hand and rose from the floor, laughing inwardly.
Yujin!
He had effectively ended up attaching wings to a tiger’s back with his own hands.
Of course, I would never break my promise not to exercise control.
I had learned the lesson that while you can conquer the world on horseback, you cannot rule it from horseback all too bitterly.
But separate from that, the fact that he had made an enormous contribution to stripping away my disgrace was tremendous.
The sight of me kneeling would certainly be shocking.
But even so, I did not think everyone would believe my change.
But if Yujin—if he acknowledged my change?
Then the story would be completely different.
Even if not everyone, a considerable number of people would believe in my change.
The name Yujin held such tremendous latent power. To harness that power, I had decided from the very beginning to answer his question in this manner.
‘Believing in human goodwill—what a truly hollow thing to say.’
I did not believe in human goodwill.
How many times had I been stabbed in the back after believing in someone else’s goodwill?
In this damned world, to avoid being stabbed in the back first, you had to believe in malice, not goodwill.
Believing in human goodwill blindly!
That sucker-like nature would surely strangle him one day.
I smiled as I thought that.
‘Berda will be racking her brains.’
Berda!
The mage of the Lightwing Guild and Yujin’s tactician.
I knew her very well.
And it wasn’t just her?
I knew every single member of the Lightwing Guild who made up Yujin’s inner circle very well.
Just as you cannot rule the world from horseback, you cannot rule the world with only dreams and ideals either.
Utopia cannot be built in reality, nor in Arde World.
A perfect ruling system does not exist in this world, and every attempt to realize utopia in this world has ended in terrible failure.
In such a situation, the fact that the hegemony of Yujin—who knew nothing but ideals and dreams, whose head was a flower garden—had lasted six years was all thanks to Berda moving behind the scenes, or so I thought.
Perhaps by now she had realized that I was using Yujin.
But even if that were the case, I didn’t care. Because Yujin truly believed in me.
Thinking so, I rose from my seat and spoke.
“Thank you for believing me.”
A smile rose to his face at my words.
And only then could I bring the smile I had been wearing inwardly to the surface.
* * *
That day’s interview concluded successfully.
Thanks to Yujin’s appearance, not only the viewership ratings but also the number of viewers watching the live broadcast on Arde Live had explosively increased, and the real-time search rankings from first to tenth place were completely dominated by words related to my interview.
Naturally, the gaming press was also zealously churning out articles on this bait as well.
After finishing all my schedules, I shook hands with Yujin and parted ways, then got into the back seat of the black sedan where Shin Hayeon had been waiting for me.
Feeling the car pull away smoothly, I buried myself in the seat and raised my smartphone.
It was to check the public reaction to the interview.
I tapped my smartphone a few times and entered the Arde Forum, and soon headlines regarding the interview began cascading down one after another.