Chapter 85

“I have no obligation to tell you the identity of my employer.”

“Well, I expected as much. Wasn’t really curious anyway.”

I shrugged at Karun’s words.

I hadn’t expected an answer in the first place, and more importantly, I already had a guess as to who his employer was.

Verda.

It was clear that she was the employer.

“But I understand that this employer doesn’t like me very much.”

Karun remained silent at my words.

“Of course, there’s no physical evidence, but the back of my head keeps itching. It feels like that employer who hired you is trying to backstab me, just like with the Infinite Eugene Church scandal.”

Karun’s face hardened slightly at my words.

He was still expressionless, but he was clearly flustered.

[Karun, wasn’t he on Rio’s side?]

[What, is this a three-way battle now?]

[O*G, wasn’t he sent by Eugene???]

The chat window flashed rapidly as soon as I finished speaking.

The seeds of doubt I had sown began to blossom.

[The chat is filthy, let’s not jump to conclusions without concrete evidence]

[What do you mean no concrete evidence, it’s obvious]

[Then who sent the Black King lol lol]

Of course, there were opinions that dismissed it as a conspiracy theory, but since it was my broadcast, the majority of viewers began to agree with the ‘reasonable doubt’ I had raised, and soon Eugene’s name started to appear.

Eugene, who was he?

Wasn’t he the top-ranked player who had taken on the self-proclaimed mission of protecting the ‘justice of Ard World’!

Of course, Eugene wouldn’t act based solely on this level of suspicion without solid evidence, and even more so since Verda was behind this, but that was separate from the feelings of the users.

There was only one reason why Eugene gained popularity!

It was because he was the so-called ‘police of Ard World’ who would not tolerate injustice and would retaliate against those who suffered unfair treatment.

But the fact that he wasn’t helping me now, when I was suspected of experiencing ‘injustice,’ was enough to tarnish his reputation and even make users question his hegemony.

Of course, with the ardent supporters of the Infinite Eugene Church, public opinion about him wouldn’t easily crumble, but as the saying goes, ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,’ this was enough to become an opportunity to gradually widen the cracks and eat away at his influence.

Besides, it wasn’t like there was no precedent. I had already been the victim of the Infinite Eugene Church’s machinations during the Merfolk quest, which even forced Eugene to issue a formal apology.

This meant that the conditions were ripe for me to raise a reasonable doubt about this incident.

‘I’ve cast the bait, now the story will soon flesh out.’

I laughed inwardly as I watched the endlessly scrolling chat window.

What Verda wanted was obvious.

To use the Black King Karun to manipulate Changwang Rio and k*ll me before I could grow!

If I were in her shoes, it would have been natural to nip a potential threat in the bud, but it wasn’t very pleasant to be on the receiving end.

So this was my warning to Verda and a very small revenge.

Full-fledged revenge was still out of the question, but it didn’t suit my nature to just stand there and take a beating knowing it was coming.

I felt like I needed to give that woman a taste of her own medicine to feel a little better.

Karun remained silent.

He seemed to instinctively know that if he opened his mouth now, he wouldn’t even get his money’s worth.

Well, if he didn’t have that much sense, he wouldn’t have made it this far as an Over-Ranker.

“Well, whatever. I didn’t expect to be able to communicate with a mere hunting dog anyway.”

[Hunting dog lol]

[Look at this guy’s old-fashioned word choice lol]

[This is why I watch, Hyung-nim!]

[‘LiberatedDrakan’ has donated 100,000 KRW.]

[‘D*mbass’ has donated 300,000 KRW.]

[‘BlackMagicBoomIsComing’ has donated 200,000 KRW.]

As soon as I finished speaking, the chat and donations started pouring in, and Karun’s mask of indifference finally broke.

“Drakan!!”

A roar erupted from Karun’s mouth.

He kicked off the deck and charged towards me with lightning speed, as if unleashing all the anger he had been holding back.

“I’ll k*ll you!!”

Karun charged at me with a ferocious momentum, his crude greatsword swirling with Aura!

But unfortunately for him, his intentions were thwarted.

“How dare you target the Apostle-nim!”

[You seem to want to d*e.]

The Merfolk King and the Black Knight Commander!

The two powerhouses standing in front of me blocked Karun.

Karun’s greatsword was blocked by the weapons of the two powerhouses, and frustrated at his thwarted attempt, he bit his lip.

I watched the scene and gave them an order.

“K*ll that b*stard.”

He was the one who tried to k*ll me in the first place, and now they had declared war by striking first.

There was no need to show mercy anymore.

No, rather, it was time for some ‘satisfaction.’

As soon as my order was given, the Black Knight Commander, the Merfolk King, and Arch Lich moved.

Bang! Kaboom!

The Merfolk King’s spear, the Black Knight Commander’s sword, and Arch Lich’s magic struck Karun’s body.

Karun gritted his teeth and swung his greatsword, but he was helpless against the combined assault of three powerhouses of equal rank.

“Fenrir’s Strike!”

Driven to a corner, Karun finally used his ultimate skill.

Fenrir’s Strike!

Karun’s ultimate skill, which summoned a wolf-shaped Aura from his greatsword, was known for its destructive power, but it was futile against three powerhouses.

[Absolute Shield.]

A translucent barrier appeared in front of them along with Arch Lich’s gloomy voice!

When the Absolute Shield, the highest-level magic of the shield type, collided with Fenrir’s Strike, an explosion and shockwave erupted, and the Merfolk King and the Black Knight Commander rushed in through the shockwave to attack Karun.

Karun desperately defended against their attacks, but with the addition of Arch Lich’s magic, he eventually became overwhelmed, allowing more and more attacks to land.

At that moment.

[Death Slash.]

The Black Knight Commander’s ultimate skill was activated.

Death Slash!

As the name of the skill suggested, a dark Aura reminiscent of death flew towards Karun’s body in the form of a black beam of light.

Bang!

With a loud explosion, Karun’s body, hit by the Death Slash, was flung back.

[Bone Prison.]

Karun, flung from his spot, couldn’t get up easily as if he was under a status ailment, and Arch Lich’s Bone Prison spell successfully imprisoned him.

Bound by the white bone structure, which was more of a restraint than a prison, a sword and spear, both swirling with Aura, were pointed at Karun’s neck.

It was the work of the Merfolk King and the Black Knight Commander.

I watched the scene and clapped my hands.

Karun, trapped in a situation where he could neither advance nor retreat, glared at me as if he wanted to k*ll me, and I spoke to him.

“Soon, you’ll be the first Over-Ranker in the history of Ard World to d*e. Congratulations.”

[So strong lol]

[Wow, even Over-Rankers are still no match for NPCs lol]

[Black King pathetically calling for a 1v1 lol]

[Bring your friends if you’re jealous lol]

As soon as I finished speaking, the chat window went wild again.

Over-Ranker!

Among the countless users playing Ard Saga Second, only twenty of them existed, the strongest of the strongest!

Since the introduction of the Combat Information Archive and the concept of Over-Rankers, not a single Over-Ranker had ever died.

Yes, until now.

I looked at Karun and said,

“Any last words?”

Karun remained silent, still glaring at me, and I gave him a thumbs down.

“Guess not. K*ll him.”

As soon as I finished speaking, the spear and sword pierced Karun’s body, and he met his ‘permanent death’ in the game.

▄ ▄ ▄

Since the introduction of the hardcore system in Ard Saga Second, the sight of a character being deleted after a single death was no longer uncommon.

Unlike its predecessor, characters could no longer be resurrected after death!

The initial flood of complaints that had bombarded the customer service center and the Ard forums in the early days of Second’s service, following the introduction of the shocking hardcore system, had now subsided.

If Ard Saga was a typical game, they would have said, “If you don’t like it, quit,” but unfortunately, Ard Saga Second was the only game in the world that combined a truly perfect virtual reality, indistinguishable from reality, with NPCs equipped with perfect AI, indistinguishable from humans, creating a vibrant world that was practically another reality.

Inspired by Ard Saga’s perfect virtual reality technology, other game companies and IT companies were developing various VR and AR technologies, but compared to the technology of Miracle Entertainment, the creators of Ard Saga, their offerings were so pathetic that they were ashamed to even call them virtual reality.

Unlike Ard Saga’s perfect, fully immersive virtual reality that simulated all five senses, the virtual reality of other companies was still stuck with low-resolution images displayed on head-mounted displays, not even close to capsule technology.

Naturally, the crude products of other companies, which were embarrassing to even call virtual reality, could not be a substitute for people who were already accustomed to the perfect virtual reality of Ard Saga. The same applied to PC and console games.

Ard Saga was something that transcended games, and therefore, the user base would not collapse due to something like a hardcore system.

Since there was no substitute for Ard Saga, users couldn’t ‘rage quit,’ and in the end, they had no choice but to continue playing Ard Saga.

In fact, with the advent of Ard Live, the number of users had increased compared to the previous game despite the hardcore system, and there were even cases where people praised the hardcore system for its realism.

Anyway, in the present day, two years later, the hardcore system had become a part of Ard World.

Yes, that was until the Black King Karun died.

[Drakan killed the Black King Karun!!]

[Drakan didn’t k*ll him. His monsters did (serious)]

[Real]

[Cool guy calling it real]

[No, but even Over-Rankers are just users like us lol, they d*e if you stab them lol]

[You get one shot, I get one shot lol]

[Isn’t Karun screwed now? What’s a Dark Gamer going to eat after getting deleted lol]

[Why worry about Karun? He’s been playing for so long. He must have made a ton of money, probably even owns a few buildings~]

[Wasn’t Drakan kinda cool when he was taking down Karun? I felt like I was watching a movie lol]

[Yes, next s*cker]

[Even cows can talk these days?]

The Black King Karun!

His death was enough to shake even the users of Ard World, who were now accustomed to ‘permanent death.’

One top-ranked player, and twenty Over-Rankers below him!

And the ten guilds that ruled Ard World!

Since the launch of Ard Saga Second, this solid structure that had solidified in about a year had been shaken for the first time by a shocking event.

Who would have thought that an Over-Ranker would d*e, that a character would be deleted!

The impact was lessened because the deceased Over-Ranker was the Black King Karun, known for his solo play, but the impact of the ‘death of an Over-Ranker’ was still significant.

But that wasn’t the only impact of this naval battle.