The Final Boss Has Returned - Episode 65
War!
The words Shin Jeong-hyeok had spoken to Rio had unexpectedly struck right at the heart of the matter.
The sole reason JDG and Drakan had been able to dominate the headlines day after day was just one.
It was war.
Until Drakan broadcasted the Lawless Harbor Recapture Battle, no large-scale battle worthy of being called a war had occurred in Arde Saga Second.
The content streamed by the vast majority of streamers had not deviated significantly from the categories of dungeons or adventures.
That was precisely why people had been so wildly enthusiastic about that war in which Drakan spectacularly burned down the city and fought mermaids under the sea during the Lawless Harbor Recapture Battle.
Rio's mind was racing.
Of course, Drakan hadn't gained popularity simply by waging war.
Large-scale user-participation content!
Drakan had opened up the war so that users could participate, turning it into a festival, and countless users had been able to satisfy their desire for fun by participating in the war.
‘User participation is far too inefficient.’
Rio shook his head.
User-participation events!
On the surface, it could be called a decent plan.
But there existed one flaw in such user-participation events that could not be ignored: namely, that the return on investment was low.
They say even half a bean should be shared, but there were many people in the world who didn't want to share even that half.
Let alone sharing a quest, and a large-scale quest at that, with others?
That was truly an impossible thing, and it could be said that Drakan and Shin Ha-yeon, who did such things, were abnormal.
The amount of money they had poured into Arde Saga Second while doing such things until now was truly astronomical.
Compared to that, the rewards that had returned to them until now were not much.
It was truly the pinnacle of inefficiency—a playstyle racing toward the extreme end of inefficiency that not even Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok, let alone Spear King Rio, could comprehend.
Of course, in exchange, they had positively shifted public opinion among users in a short period, but conversely speaking, it meant that all they had left to show for it was public opinion.
And from the standpoint of the Simseong Milky Way Guild and Spear King Rio, who already possessed a sufficient fandom, there was no need to further increase favorable public opinion.
Moreover, the Simseong Milky Way Guild was not even a small elite force; as the hegemon of the North, they could field a massive army with just the troops of allied guilds and NPC factions they could mobilize, so there was no need to mobilize ordinary users.
In any case, for various reasons, the current situation of the Simseong Milky Way Guild was one where allowing ordinary user participation would result in more losses than gains.
Rio continued to rack his brain.
Though he had been roasted by Shin Jeong-hyeok, Rio was fundamentally the Master of one of the Ten Great Guilds!
Rio finally reached a conclusion.
‘We'll strike the Undead.’
Undead!
The faction controlling roughly one-third of the northern region, the domain of the Simseong Milky Way Guild!
The Undead army ruled by the Undead King never left their territory known as the 'Land of Death.' But precisely because of that, they served as a good source of experience points for users, and the Undead territory was famous as a prime hunting ground.
Furthermore, in the background setting of Arde World, the history of northern settlement was precisely the history of Undead subjugation, and to the NPCs of the North, the Undead were a symbol of terror.
‘If it's a war against the Undead and the Undead King, generating buzz is as good as guaranteed even without user participation.’
Rio smiled.
If he could wage war against such an Undead army, and further, slay the leader of the Undead Legion, the Mythic-grade boss monster who had been famous since the previous game—the Undead King!
Without needing to play as inefficiently as Drakan, he could monopolize the achievements solely for himself and his allied forces while succeeding in both hype and buzz generation!
Rio inwardly ridiculed Drakan and Shin Ha-yeon for allowing ordinary users to participate.
This time, Rio intended to show them.
That he could achieve far greater results without resorting to the inefficient play of foolishly giving things away to others like them!
‘I'll have to accept the Undead-related quest I rejected before.’
Rio recalled the quest he had rejected in the past—the one that demanded he wage all-out war against the Undead army.
Shortly after, Rio logged into the game, and soon after, a video was posted on the official channel of the Simseong Milky Way Guild.
[This is the quest I received, 'War Against Death.']
[Starting today, I and the Simseong Milky Way Guild will embark on war against the Undead, and the final goal of this war will be the Undead King.]
A single video posted on the official channel of the Simseong Milky Way Guild!
In this video, Over Ranker Spear King Rio appeared personally to show the contents of the quest he had received and declared war on the Undead and a raid on the Undead King. It spread in an instant, and countless people showed interest in the 'War Against Death.'
The Undead King!
A Mythic-grade monster and the pinnacle of the Undead!
Countless users were enthralled by Rio's declaration that he would hunt a Named Monster renowned since the previous game.
But up until then, people had not yet realized.
That the Undead were included among the six children of the Demon God, and therefore were connected to the Mythic-grade quest Drakan had received!
Shortly after Rio accepted the quest and declared war, moving his actual troops, a skeletal Undead eagle, nothing but skin and bones, took flight from the Skeleton Citadel at the end of the world.
It was a messenger sent by the Undead King to Drakan, the Demon God's Contractor.
* * *
The Undead King!
The monster called the Final Boss of the North and the Mythic-grade leader of the Undead Legion!
I was a hardcore veteran among veterans, a former top ranker, so I knew very well what kind of monster the Undead King was.
‘The Undead King is the greatest Named Monster of the North.’
The Undead King, known to have been the king of an ancient kingdom, was the greatest Named Monster of the North who bore a legend that thousands of years ago by Arde World standards, he had offered the citizens of his kingdom as sacrifices to execute the forbidden great art in pursuit of immortality, only to fail; and as a side effect, he had transformed into an Undead together with his kingdom's citizens.
Even setting aside the legend of the ancient kingdom that was the birth myth of the Undead King, countless legends of the North were intertwined around him.
‘The legend entwined with Kazan is famous.’
The most famous tale among the myths entwined with the Undead King was none other than the confrontation with Archdruid Kazan!
Archdruid Kazan, famous for the legend that two thousand years ago, he had sealed the cold of the North, which had been too bitter for people to survive in, and transformed it into land habitable for humans.
He had waged a decisive battle against the Undead King lasting seven days and nights; though he could not kill the Undead King, he succeeded in landing a fatal blow and sealing his power through grand sorcery that cost him his own life.
Therefore, even today after two thousand years by Arde World standards, the Undead King remained seated upon his skeletal throne, unable to move a single step from the Skeleton Citadel built in the place called the End of the World.
The reason I knew the Undead King so well was that he was the only monster I had attempted a raid on and failed against in the previous game.
Of course, I heard that Eugene later also attempted a raid and failed, so it seemed I wasn't the only one who lost face.
In any case, right now, a messenger sent by such an Undead King was before me.
The Undead King's messenger I met after urgently heading to Lawless Harbor on the Kraken was none other than a skeletal eagle!
[So you are the Demon God's Contractor. I am the Undead King.]
The moment it saw me, a blue light swirled in the hollow eye sockets of the skeletal eagle, and soon a gloomy voice flowed from it.
It was the voice of the Undead King himself.
[I have heard rumors that you seek to revive the Ancient Alliance?]
The Ancient Alliance!
Those words flowed from the Undead King's mouth, and I looked at the skeletal eagle and countered.
"And if I am?"
[If you heed my request, I shall personally recognize you as an Apostle, and of course, allow you to join the Ancient Alliance.]
"What request?"
Before my words even finished, a video appeared.
It was a cinematic video I should have grown accustomed to by now.
Well, the Mermaid Kingdom quest had been a Legendary-grade quest; the quest given by the famous Undead King couldn't possibly be anything less than Legendary-grade.
The moment I thought that, the video began.
The background of the video was a coniferous forest grown so dense it seemed to pierce the sky!
In that forest, an old druid draped in bear skin pulled out a spear made of branches from a clear spring.
[The restoration of Mistilteinn is finally complete.]
Mistilteinn!
It was the Legendary-grade spear that Archdruid Kazan had used to repel the Undead King!
The legendary weapon said to have been broken in half and lost its power when Kazan repelled the Undead King at the cost of his own life. That Mistilteinn was now in the old druid's hand, radiating vitality.
[You, proud warrior of our North, with this spear, you shall be able to finish the task that the Archdruid could not complete two thousand years ago.]
The old druid handed the branch-spear to the other party.
And the one who received that spear was, surprisingly, a user I knew well.
Spear King Rio!
The Master of the Simseong Milky Way Guild, hegemon of the North, and one of the twenty Over Rankers!
It was the first time in all my extensive gaming experience that a user appeared in a cinematic video, but I instinctively grasped the nature of the quest.
This was an opposed quest and a hostile quest.
Yes, just as when Eugene received the rebellion quest six years ago, and I received the rebellion suppression quest!
It was clear that the core of this quest was interfering with each other's quests.
While I was guessing the quest's contents as such, the scene had already changed.
Snow Castle, the center of the North!
In that grand square, Rio stood holding Mistilteinn before countless users and NPCs.
[Today, we shall begin the war against death. The long history of the North confronting the Undead shall finally end today. When this war is over! The North shall become entirely human territory! I, Rio! Shall pierce and kill the Undead King with this Mistilteinn!]
The people were enraptured by Rio's speech as he finally raised his spear to the heavens, and the video concluded with the sight of a massive expeditionary force beginning its advance toward the Land of Death, the territory of the Undead.
[A quest has occurred.]
As soon as the video ended, a quest notification rang out as if it had been waiting.
[War of the Eternal Winter]
[Grade: Legendary]
[Since the Undead King executed the forbidden great art, from an uncountably distant past until now, the North was entirely the domain of the Undead. But two thousand years ago, everything changed with the appearance of Archdruid Kazan.]
[Archdruid Kazan sealed the winter of the North with terrible sorcery, summoned humans and defiled the domain of the Undead King, and ultimately committed the atrocity of dealing a fatal wound to the Undead King and sealing his power at the cost of his own life.]
[And today, the accursed legacy left behind by that Archdruid has been restored, threatening the survival of the Undead.]
[The accursed branch Mistilteinn has been resurrected, and the humans of the North have ignorantly formed the so-called 'Northern Expeditionary Force,' invading the domain of the great Undead King.]
[Undo the Winter Seal to restore the eternal winter to the North, complete the Flame Sword of Souls, Lævateinn, burn the accursed branch Mistilteinn, and rout the Northern Expeditionary Force.]
[Now, the time has come to teach them who the true master of the North is.]
[Quest Objectives]
[Complete 'Lævateinn']
[Release the 'Winter Seal']
[Repel the Northern Expeditionary Force]
[Will you accept the quest?]
The quest completion conditions alone were similar to the Mermaid Kingdom quest. No, even more—three of them!
And each and every one looked far from easy.
'Undo the Winter Seal, complete Lævateinn, and use it to repel the Northern Expeditionary Force!'
I was appalled by this absurd quest difficulty.
Just like with the Mermaid Kingdom, the quest difficulty was truly merciless.
Moreover, this time the enemy wasn't simply NPCs.
Users!
And not just any users, but an Over Ranker I would have to fight against.
If I mishandled a fight against users, the tower of public opinion I had painstakingly built could collapse.
But I couldn't give up on the Path of the Apostle quest either, so it was truly a dilemma—a situation with no way forward or back.
I sighed as I looked at the message asking if I would accept the quest.
Because I had to accept the quest first, no matter what.
"I accept the request."
[You have accepted the quest.]
After accepting the quest, I logged out right then and there.
Because I needed some kind of plan for this new quest I had received.