The Final Boss Has Returned – Chapter 77
She laughed upon hearing Drakan’s words.
Just how far do you plan to go!
Truly, it had been a long time since she’d heard those words.
Her older brother, her younger brother, and her father.
They had said it when she started the siblings’ rebellion.
Just how far do you think you’ll go!
“Just how far I’ll go—it’s really been a while since I heard that.”
Sin Ha-yeon remembered.
After the siblings’ rebellion ended in her victory, no one had ever again asked her how far she would go.
And the fact that her life had been one of consistently, without fail, shattering the limits of what those who asked “how far will you go” had imagined.
Yet now, someone had appeared and asked her how far she would go.
Sin Ha-yeon suddenly felt a surge of defiance.
The same defiant desire to surpass the other party’s expectations that she had felt toward everyone who ever said such things to her.
“Well then. How far should I go?”
A smile formed at the corners of Sin Ha-yeon’s mouth.
Drakan’s figure was reflected in her eyes.
He wasn’t as handsome as some others, but to begin with, the advantage she saw in Drakan was not his face but his ability.
The audacity to fall to rock bottom yet return and resolve to rebel!
And the power of his prime that he had shown for a brief moment through the Rune of Regression, completely overwhelming an Over Ranker!
That was precisely the ability Sin Ha-yeon had wanted, and Drakan was the perfect material for rebellion that Sin Ha-yeon had so desperately desired and sought.
“You’re right, Drakan. You and I are in a business relationship. And nothing is as foolish as mixing private feelings into a business relationship.”
Sin Ha-yeon’s fingers tap-danced across the tree stump with the graceful fluidity of playing piano keys, circling near Drakan’s hand.
Honestly, Sin Ha-yeon thought it wasn’t easy to cut things off so coldly when someone of her caliber showed interest.
Objectively speaking, her specs were practically top class in all of South Korea.
National Assembly members, chaebol chairmen, media company CEOs who wielded power through the pen—none of them could treat her so casually.
A powerful figure who held all real authority over the Jeil Group, a chaebol that had risen to fourth in the business rankings after Miracle Entertainment, Simseong Group, and Future Automotive Group, and was called one of the Big Four of the Korean economy.
People either feared such a her, or treated her with fearful awe, or if not that, prostrated themselves flat in worship.
In looks, in wealth, in power—there was nothing about her near-perfect self that would kneel to anyone, yet the only one who treated her this way was Drakan, right before her eyes.
“That might be true for an ideal business relationship, but reality is different. Humans are social animals, and it’s impossible to divide all human relationships as cleanly as slicing tofu with a knife.”
“So? Are you saying you want to date me or something?”
Sin Ha-yeon burst into laughter at Drakan’s words.
To speak so bluntly in this situation.
As expected of the person I like, Sin Ha-yeon thought as she answered.
“Lovers—that’s not a bad suggestion. But the relationship I want with you isn’t some child’s game like simple lovers.”
“If it’s not a casual fling, then something more—are you saying you’d even get married?”
Marriage!
Except for a very small number of exceptions, the marriages of chaebol scions were mostly political marriages between established power groups.
Just like medieval nobility, for chaebol families marriage was a meeting of two houses and a means for two powers to forge a close relationship.
Had Sin Ha-yeon not staged her rebellion, she might by now have been engaged or married to a man from another chaebol family, or the son of a politician, or someone from a family holding vested rights in the legal or media circles.
But Sin Ha-yeon detested such relationships.
It wasn’t that she hated political marriage itself; she hated a life where her fate was decided from the moment she was born.
That was why she had defied her father’s command and her family’s rules that only a man could become chairman, staged a rebellion, won, and gained the freedom to do anything in exchange for reducing her father, older brother, and younger brother to old men in the back room.
“I want to become a relationship where we are lovers, spouses, companions, advisors, and sponsors all at once.”
Just as Drakan was no fool, Sin Ha-yeon was also well aware of her own feelings.
Sin Ha-yeon neither ignored nor denied her feelings.
In exchange for her rebellion, Sin Ha-yeon had gained freedom and reached the summit.
But the summit was lonely, and no one in the world tried to understand her.
Society had gossiped about her unprecedented rebellion as a daughter, and while her subordinates were loyal, it was merely an attitude born of vested interests. Even if they offered sincere loyalty, they were nothing more than hunting dogs who could not properly understand her grand vision and merely carried out orders faithfully; and her family, including her father, older brother, and younger brother, had distanced themselves from her, who had seized power through fratricidal strife.
Only Drakan understood her.
He alone sympathized with her vision. Unlike the puppet-like subordinates who merely did as they were told, or the others who couldn’t say anything to her face and only gossiped behind her back while being sarcastic, he treated her with a proactive and assertive attitude.
From the blunt, straightforward, and arguably rude casual speech he threw at her without hesitation, Sin Ha-yeon liked it all.
Of course, if a human with no ability dared do such a thing to her, she would have made sure they never saw the sun rise tomorrow morning.
But Drakan possessed the talent for rebellion, and not long ago, he had proven through the Rune of Regression that his potential was on a different dimension from the ragtag bunch of so-called Over Rankers.
Watching that spectacle, Sin Ha-yeon had thought.
Drakan was precisely the ally who would punish Yu Jin, who had dared defy her, devour the Arde World, and fulfill her dream of becoming the ruler of the new media market.
He alone was qualified to be the companion of her who had reached the summit, and probably the only person in this world who understood her.
If her heart wasn’t drawn to such a person, if she didn’t feel affection for him, no, if she didn’t fall in love with him, wouldn’t that be the stranger thing?
As a single human being, Sin Ha-yeon had fallen in love with him.
But what about Sin Ha-yeon, the ruler of the Jeil Group?
“What does that mean?”
“Everything you said is right. I like you. If this feeling is what the world calls ‘love,’ then I can confidently confess that I love you. But as you said, Drakan, in a business relationship we must distinguish between public and private. That’s why I’m making this proposal.”
As the ruler of the Jeil Group, Sin Ha-yeon was someone who could even use her own emotions.
Feeling her pounding heart, her face flushed, she reached out with slender, jade-like fingers, slowly and softly taking his hand as she whispered in a sweet voice.
“A Blood Alliance. That is the relationship I want between you and me, Drakan.”
* * *
“Blood Alliance!”
Drakan smiled upon hearing that word.
It wasn’t because he didn’t know the meaning of the word.
He knew the meaning of that word very well.
A Blood Alliance could be seen as a relationship that went a step further than a simple alliance. Literally, an alliance hardened by blood, or an alliance where they would help each other even while bearing losses, just like a blood relation!
People had used the metaphorical expression “Blood Alliance” to describe such a thing.
Drakan gazed down at the hand Sin Ha-yeon was holding.
“Personally, as a lover who has promised the future, and as the ruler of the Jeil Group, I want to form a Blood Alliance with you. A relationship where we are lovers, spouses, advisors, companions, and business partners all at once. I don’t think there’s anything else in this world like that—only a Blood Alliance.”
She spoke again, holding Drakan’s hand softly but tightly, as if she would never let go.
A smile formed at the corners of Drakan’s mouth at her words.
Sin Ha-yeon!
It was because he felt she had laid her entire heart bare.
Rather than glossing over the situation with ambiguous wordplay, Sin Ha-yeon had chosen a frontal breakthrough.
And contrary to Drakan’s own expectations, Sin Ha-yeon was not someone who couldn’t distinguish between public and private matters.
No, she was thoroughly distinguishing them.
Privately, she held affection for him, and based on that affection, she wanted to become a Blood Alliance with him that went a step beyond a public alliance.
That was precisely Sin Ha-yeon’s intention.
She wasn’t exactly the same type as him, but she could be called similar.
Just as Sin Ha-yeon evaluated Drakan as her only understanding, Drakan understood Sin Ha-yeon well. Therefore, it wasn’t difficult to infer the background from which Sin Ha-yeon’s words came.
The reason Sin Ha-yeon said she wanted a Blood Alliance with him!
“The reason you want to become a Blood Alliance with me—is it because you saw my potential in the Rune of Regression?”
Drakan knew very well that it was because she had seen his potential in the Rune of Regression—the potential to overwhelm an Over Ranker and challenge a Top Ranker.
“You know very well. As expected of you, Drakan.”
Thinking that this was something her only understanding would say, Sin Ha-yeon smiled bashfully, then soon stiffened her expression slightly.
“Do you perhaps hate vulgar women?”
This time, it was the words of Sin Ha-yeon the human, not the ruler of the Jeil Group.
Vulgar!
It was because the thought that she might be judged as such had belatedly flashed through her mind.
Within her “common sense,” ordinary people didn’t like such vulgar talk very much.
Of course, if it had been anyone else, she wouldn’t have cared, but because it was Drakan, she couldn’t help but regret whether she had made a slip of the tongue.
“Even if it hadn’t been for the Rune of Regression, from even before that. No, from the moment we first met! I already had feelings for you, Drakan. So…”
Seeing Sin Ha-yeon continue her answer with a slightly flustered expression, Drakan smiled.
It was the first time he had seen Sin Ha-yeon so flustered.
Anyway, if he left her like this, she seemed ready to ramble on uselessly, so Drakan cut her off.
“I don’t hate vulgar things. No, I don’t really understand why that would be considered vulgar.”
At Drakan’s words, the anxiety left Sin Ha-yeon’s face.
“I’m saying it’s not vulgar, it’s honest.”
“Honest?”
Slightly surprised by Drakan’s words, Sin Ha-yeon smiled bashfully.
Truly befitting her only understanding, the companion she had chosen—Drakan’s way of thinking and values were outside the norm.
“Yeah. Honest. What’s wrong with forming a relationship based on my ability? My ability isn’t separate from me; it’s also a part of me. In this world, there are almost no human relationships without cost, calculation, or conditions. If such a relationship exists, it would be about my parents who did their best to raise me well even when we had nothing.”
Drakan truly thought so.
In this world, human relationships without cost, conditions, or calculation almost didn’t exist!
Whether conscious or unconscious, people weighed their own profit and loss when forming relationships. That was Drakan’s thinking and values, formed from wandering the bottom of the world since middle school, weathered by the harsh winds of society until he could no longer trust others.
And that was the fundamental reason Drakan and Yu Jin had become such bitter enemies.
Drakan believed in human malice, while Yu Jin believed in human goodwill.
From Drakan’s perspective, Sin Ha-yeon’s words didn’t sound particularly vulgar.
Rather, in his values it was an extremely natural thing, and people who revealed their true intentions honestly from the beginning like Sin Ha-yeon were far better than those who hid their true feelings and spewed hypocritical words.
“Truly…”
Heat settled in Sin Ha-yeon’s pupils as she listened to Drakan’s words.
From him, who sincerely evaluated her words as “honest,” Sin Ha-yeon felt affection once more.
Sin Ha-yeon understood Drakan’s words very well.
If Drakan had become unable to trust humans because he was weathered by the harsh winds of society, Sin Ha-yeon had become unable to trust others after watching her younger brother, older brother, and father block her path as she pushed through with her will.
Blood is thicker than water?
Sin Ha-yeon didn’t believe such nonsense.
If blood were truly thicker than water, her older brother, younger brother, and father would never have blocked her path!
She had seen more than anyone the sight of blood ties becoming meaningless in front of the Jeil Group, that large and alluring piece of candy, and the reality of yesterday’s friends becoming today’s enemies, drawing blades against each other in betrayal.
Having survived bloodshed to the end and seized victory in an iron-blooded world where people smiled on the outside while calculating profit and loss thoroughly inside, Sin Ha-yeon could empathize with Drakan’s words more than anyone.
At the same time, she realized once again that Drakan understood her well.
“I suppose this is why I can’t help but like you—no, love you.”
Sin Ha-yeon’s ears turned red.
Feeling her pounding heart, she spoke to Drakan.
“So, please, will you become my Blood Alliance?”
Drakan answered Sin Ha-yeon’s question.
“I don’t trust others. Even if it’s you.”
“I’m the same. I love you, but I don’t trust you.”
Drakan smiled at the answer that seemed to throw his own words back at him.
“I like that you’re honest.”
Honest.
Sin Ha-yeon’s ears grew even redder at those words.
Worried that her heart pounding madly enough to be heard outside might be audible, she calmed herself and continued speaking.
“What I trust is the undeniable fact that your goals and mine are the same, and that even after achieving those goals, we have no choice but to remain together.”
“Fine.”
Drakan answered Sin Ha-yeon’s words.
Because his verification of her was complete.
Sin Ha-yeon distinguished well between public and private, was honest, shared the same goals as him, and possessed the overwhelming power and wealth in the real world to sponsor him.
There was no reason for Drakan not to form a Blood Alliance with such a woman.
“I’ll form a Blood Alliance with you. Sin Ha-yeon.”
The moment she heard Drakan’s words, a smile spread across Sin Ha-yeon’s entire face.
Sin Ha-yeon breathed a sigh of relief, let go of his hand, and immediately embraced Drakan, sealing their lips in a kiss.
After the long kiss, Sin Ha-yeon slowly pulled her lips away herself. She looked up at Drakan with a flushed face and said.
“From now on, we are a Blood Alliance. I’ve personally stamped the seal, so you can’t take it back now, understood?”
At Sin Ha-yeon’s words, Drakan silently nodded.