The Final Boss Has Returned — Episode 94
Jeil Hotel.
A five-star hotel standing proudly in the heart of downtown Seoul, owned by the Jeil Group.
The restaurant of Jeil Hotel—evaluated as Korea’s finest hotel, accommodating not only upper-class and chaebol-class VIPs but even foreign heads of state visiting Korea—was, befitting its stature, likewise famous for the gourmet dishes crafted by Korea’s top chefs.
“How is it? Does it suit your taste?”
Drakan cut a piece of steak and put it in his mouth, listening to Sin Hayeon’s somewhat anxious voice.
Whether it was because they used the highest-quality meat, the texture of the flesh—melting softly in his mouth—was satisfying his palate.
Truly, it could be called a dish worthy of the renowned Jeil Hotel restaurant.
“It’s delicious.”
A bright smile bloomed on Sin Hayeon’s face at Drakan’s simple evaluation.
Drakan stared at her face and let out a short laugh.
It was a useless fact he had only now belatedly realized, but Sin Hayeon unexpectedly showed reactions quite sensitive to his emotional changes.
She treated others coldly, as if she couldn’t care less what happened to them, but Drakan was the exception.
Drakan thought that Sin Hayeon had an unexpectedly cute side to her.
“I’m relieved it seems to suit your taste.”
Drakan nodded at Sin Hayeon’s words, spoken in a relieved tone as if she were truly glad, and listened to the classical music flowing through the restaurant.
There were no other guests in the restaurant besides Drakan and Sin Hayeon.
Only the waitstaff in charge of serving and the musicians playing classical music were present.
Sin Hayeon.
It was thanks to her renting out the entire restaurant.
“Lord Drakan.”
The voice calling him flowed from Sin Hayeon’s lips.
“Is there nothing else you desire? Whether it’s a Hannam-dong mansion, a Garosu-gil building, or a supercar, please tell me without hesitation. If it’s something my beloved Lord Drakan wants, I can obtain anything for you!”
As if vomiting up words she had been holding back until now, Sin Hayeon spoke to him.
She reacted so intensely because the results of this war had exceeded expectations.
“Or how about shopping to change your mood? Shall I empty out the entire Jeil Department Store in Jongno right now?”
Drakan smiled at her words pouring out like machine-gun fire.
From a supercar to a luxury Hannam-dong mansion to a Garosu-gil building!
He let out a hollow laugh at the scale of these ‘gifts,’ things an ordinary commoner couldn’t even imagine, things only a chaebol would think of.
Even back in the previous game, when he reigned as a top ranker and handled quite a lot of money, Drakan hadn’t been particularly extravagant.
They say only those who’ve spent money know how to spend it well; the extravagance available to Drakan, who had originally come from a poor background, amounted to nothing more than a modest scale—ordering delivery food he wanted for all three meals, or buying his parents a house.
Above all, Drakan had reinvested almost all his money into the game, excluding his living expenses and the money he gave his parents, so he had little leeway to indulge in luxury.
But that was the past, and Drakan thought that indulging in a little greed might not be so bad.
Because he had realized through his entire body—catching tuna on a deep-sea fishing boat to pay off his debts—that real life was important too, not just the game.
Of course, if he achieved his ultimate goal—defeating Yujin and seizing hegemony over Ard World—real-world wealth would naturally roll in, but separate from that, Drakan was neither stupid enough nor a pushover enough to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Drakan listened to Sin Hayeon’s proposal and spoke in an indifferent voice.
“A Hannam-dong mansion, a Garosu-gil building, and a supercar. Do I really have to choose just one among them? I want all of them.”
And upon hearing those words, Sin Hayeon’s pupils widened slightly before her eyes soon curved into crescent shapes.
Already blinded by love, a pleased smile hung at Sin Hayeon’s lips.
An ordinary person would have been too burdened to say anything, fidgeting awkwardly, or would have cleverly circled around their words with false modesty, pretending to be polite.
And they clearly wouldn’t have been able to come up with the bold idea of choosing all three.
Only the man before her could speak his desires so directly and honestly without any burden toward her.
And Sin Hayeon loved that honest, direct, and greedy side of him more than anything.
Because the Drakan before her was her one and only blood ally in this world, one qualified to have such desires.
More than anything, even if she gave all three to Drakan, her wealth accumulated to an unfathomable degree wouldn’t suffer a single scratch.
Because the scale of wealth possessed by a ‘chaebol’ was tremendous, far beyond what ordinary people could perceive.
So she could give this level of gifts to her blood ally, her beloved lover, without any burden.
“Really? Then shall we go choose the gifts after we finish eating? You don’t need to shop at the department store?”
“No need for shopping.”
“Yes! Understood. Ah, and this. It’s a surprise gift I prepared.”
Sin Hayeon took out the gift she had prepared in advance and carefully presented it to Drakan.
“What is this?”
“Open it!”
At Sin Hayeon’s words, Drakan unwrapped the gift box, and inside, a sparkling luxury watch meticulously packaged was waiting for him.
“It’s a Patek Philippe Grand Complications. How is it? Do you like it?”
Patek Philippe?
It was a brand name he had never heard of, but he could tell at a glance that an extraordinary aura flowed from the watch—it was no ordinary item.
Above all, the one who had gifted him a fountain pen worth over a million won upon their first meeting was Sin Hayeon.
A watch gifted by such a woman could not possibly be ordinary.
‘So it’s roughly a luxury watch, I see.’
Drakan stopped thinking deeply and strapped the Patek Philippe Grand Complications onto his right wrist.
A smile lingered at Drakan’s lips at the sensation of the watch strap clasping firmly into place.
“I like it.”
“I’m so glad.”
Watching Sin Hayeon’s smile, Drakan polished off the remaining steak.
Afterward, Drakan and Sin Hayeon, having finished even the final dessert, rose from their seats.
It was to go choose the ‘gifts.’
* * *
“Wake up.”
Mmm.
I tossed and turned.
“Wake up. Lord Drakan.”
Only after the sweet voice reached my ears once more was I able to lift my heavy eyelids.
The sensation of the fluffy bed enveloping my whole body, and a room spacious enough to be called a sports field if I exaggerated a little, came into view.
And the figure of Sin Hayeon smiling in front of me, too.
“Mmm.”
I half-rose and held my forehead.
Memories of yesterday surfaced.
I received this and that gift from Sin Hayeon, received gifts, received gifts…… and drank alcohol.
And…….
When my memory reached that point, I felt my face flush needlessly.
“Do you remember last night?”
Sin Hayeon asked me in a playful voice, and I replied with a smile.
“Of course.”
At my words, Sin Hayeon smiled and softly embraced me from behind like a cat.
“I feel like we’ve grown a little closer. The kind where we can’t escape each other, that…….”
Sin Hayeon trailed off.
I could guess what she had omitted when she cut her words short, but I didn’t bother saying it aloud.
“Lord Drakan, you are now completely mine.”
Sin Hayeon’s sweet voice tickled my ear.
I snickered at her words.
“Think whatever you want.”
At my words, Sin Hayeon burst into laughter as if something were so amusing, then released the back hug and sat down close beside me, saying,
“Lord Drakan. May I ask what your plans are going forward?”
At Sin Hayeon’s question, I held my throbbing forehead from the hangover and organized my thoughts.
Plans, plans.
For now, the mid-term goals I had set had all been achieved.
I had encountered an unexpected stumbling block called the Simseong Milky Way Guild, and had taken the north instead of the east I had originally planned to conquer, but by and large, things hadn’t gone off track.
I had become the conqueror who subjugated a region first even in Ard Saga Second, and was charging toward the upper ranks where the rankers were at a terrifying speed.
No, since my character’s performance itself was already similar to ordinary rankers, perhaps I had already risen to the upper ranks.
Given the nature of Ard Saga, where latecomers had difficulty catching up to early starters, this could be called a quite encouraging achievement, but I had no intention of being satisfied with this.
“First, I need to hit max level.”
Max level!
Of course, theoretically, Ard Saga Second had no max level, but users considered level 380, where the so-called ‘experience cliff’ began, as the practical max level.
Since the experience needed from level 380 to 381 exceeded the total experience needed to rise from level 1 to 380, it was truly a level deserving of the title ‘cliff.’
That was why Ard Saga Second had a completely different atmosphere from the previous installment, where simply leveling up was all that mattered; it was a game where people said the real game starts at max level.
“Then I’ll receive the Successor Quest.”
Successor Quest!
It was a special type of quest that only successor users who had inherited the legend of succession could undertake, corresponding to ordinary users’ ‘Awakening Quest.’
Anyway, whether it was a Successor Quest or an Awakening Quest, the point was one.
Completing said quest drastically upgraded the character’s specs!
And a so-called ‘Awakening Skill,’ an ultimate skill, would be gained!
That was one of the biggest differences between the previous game and Second.
“Once the quest is done, I need to register my info in the Combat Information Archive.”
Combat Information Archive!
Miracle Entertainment’s official add-on page that measured a user’s ‘strength’ by aggregating all sorts of numerical values, from items and stats to quests and fame!
Naturally, the one occupying the top of that Combat Information Archive was Yujin.
Warrior Yujin.
He was also the only ranker to receive an EX grade in the Combat Information Archive.
At this point in time where even the Over Rankers, called the strong above the heavens, stopped at SSS grade, receiving an EX grade meant that Yujin—his accumulated strength was literally on the level of a heaven beyond heaven even when compared to Over Rankers.
In this situation, it was impossible for me, who had just hit max level and completed the Successor Quest, to catch up to him.
But.
“If that happens, the currently empty nineteenth Over Ranker seat will come straight to me.”
Over Ranker was worth a shot.
I had the confidence to immediately raise my grade to SSS once I hit max level and completed the Successor Quest.
“And then?”
“He’s not alone, so I need to gather forces to face Five Eyes, his closest faction, using the name value of an Over Ranker.”
Five Eyes!
It referred to the alliance of the top five guilds among the Ten Great Guilds gathered around Yujin’s Lightwing Guild, and it was a united body with a nature similar to the guild alliance I myself had formed in the past!
The fearfulness of Five Eyes didn’t simply come from five of the Ten Great Guilds moving as one body.
Other guilds allied with Five Eyes, and ordinary users including the Church of Infinite Yujin which fully supported them, and even the Goddess of Light, the Pantheon of Ten Thousand Gods, the Holy Kingdom, and the Empire that sponsored him!
To oppose Five Eyes’ forces, which could be called Ard World itself without exaggeration, this side also needed to build up comparable strength.
But with the current forces of Jeil E&M, including myself, facing Five Eyes including Yujin was like hitting a rock with an egg!
That was why military expansion was needed.
And to expand one’s influence, the name value of an Over Ranker was necessary.
“And at the same time, I need to divide them.”
But there would clearly be limits to expanding one’s forces.
So, just in case, there was a need to divide the enemies united under the name Five Eyes.
Having gathered all forces, the moment the enemy was divided—that would be the true starting point of revenge.
Having heard all my words, Sin Hayeon smiled.
“I have no doubt you will do well this time, too.”
Her warm arms wrapped around my neck.
“When have I ever disappointed you?”
At my words, Sin Hayeon playfully shook her head, and I brought my face close enough that my breath reached hers and spoke.
“And there’s one more thing you’re mistaken about.”
“What is it?”
“Sin Hayeon. I’m not your possession—you’re mine.”
Hearing my answer, Sin Hayeon’s face flushed red, and soon she whispered in my ear in a shy voice, as if she had never heard such words before,
“Yes. I belong to Lord Drakan.”
Her warm lips, having finished the whisper, immediately overlapped softly with mine.