The Final Boss Has Returned 10

Chapter 10

“Management?”

“Yes. You know what management is, right?”

She said to me with a slight smile.

Of course, I knew about management.

Management was a concept similar to a talent agency, a company that mainly managed Rankers and Named Players by signing contracts with them, much like celebrities.

And successful Rankers or popular users each had a management company.

As an exceptional case, Eugene and his gang created their own management company and belonged to it, but anyway, that was the story.

“I know.”

I replied with a wry smile.

In the past, the concept of such a management company did not exist.

Because there was no reason for it.

Management emerged after Miracle Entertainment, the developer and operator of Ard Saga, launched the internet broadcasting platform Ard Live and started supporting real-time live broadcasts of Ard Saga, which had been impossible until then, exclusively on Ard Live.

Ard Saga was not just a game.

It was the only perfect virtual reality game in the world.

When real-time streaming of Ard Saga was allowed, the internet underwent a massive upheaval.

Ard Live, which had exclusive rights to Ard Saga’s real-time streaming, quickly became as large as MiTube, the world’s largest video site.

And now, it has become so common for Rankers and Named Players to upload videos or stream on Ard Live to earn income that internet game broadcasting has become mainstream.

Six years ago.

It was a completely different environment compared to the days when all we did was send videos of linked quests to cable game broadcasts to get paid for appearances or upload videos to the official Ard Saga website.

Even the perception of users had changed. In the previous game, everyone envied Dark Gamers who made money by selling items, but in Second, everyone was uploading videos to Ard Live, trying to become streamers who could grab both money and popularity through game broadcasting.

Well, it was natural for anyone to see that a popular streamer who could make money just by uploading videos of dungeon runs was more attractive than a Dark Gamer who struggled for months to get and sell a rare item.

Of course, it was very difficult to actually become a popular streamer who could earn money just by uploading dungeon run videos, but people didn’t really care about that.

‘Times have really changed.’

I realized once again that the present was very different from the past, and I spoke to the woman in front of me.

“So, are you trying to scout me?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Management. Not a bad idea.

The times had already changed, and in order to get revenge on that guy, I had to adapt to the changing times.

Unlike six years ago, at the time of Second, thanks to Ard Live, the market pie itself had grown tremendously compared to the past, and as a result, it was difficult to do anything at the individual user level like in the old days.

That’s why companies like management and agencies appeared.

Anyway, in order for me to grow, and ultimately to achieve my goal of getting revenge on Eugene, I needed to use this system called management.

“What are the conditions?”

But that didn’t mean I would just join any management company without considering the conditions.

So, it wasn’t a bad choice for me to listen to her offer.

A smile appeared on her lips as she heard my words.

“I don’t think that’s something we should talk about in the game.”

“Are you saying you want to meet in person?”

She laughed, covering her mouth at my words.

She looked straight at me and said in a clear voice.

“There’s a car waiting outside your house that I sent.”

My face hardened slightly at her words.

The fact that a car was waiting meant that the real identity of this user in front of me was not an ordinary person.

Of course, I was definitely a celebrity in the past, I often did interviews with the gaming press, and even now, if you search my email address on the internet, it shows up as Drakan’s email address. My personal information was quite widely circulated on the internet.

But it was a different matter to use the personal information spread on the internet to find the studio apartment I moved to and even have a car waiting.

When I thought that far, I realized one fact.

This user in front of me was a person with power in the real world, not just in the game!

“Get in. Let’s talk from now on in person. At a place with a good view. While cutting steak.”

She said to me in a soft voice, with a relaxed smile.

I looked at her and smiled.

She was clearly a powerful figure in reality.

But what did it matter?

The fact that she sent a car to recruit me meant, conversely, that I was that much needed by her.

In the end, it meant that I was the one holding the knife.

Then, no matter what her identity was, there was no need for me to be intimidated.

“I’ll look forward to the steak.”

“Good. Then I’ll see you there.”

She seemed a little surprised by my unchanged expression and tone, but then she smiled with interest, answered me, and logged out on the spot, disappearing.

Looking at the spot where she had disappeared without a trace, I said quietly.

“Log out!”

▄ ▄ ▄

After logging out of Ard Saga Second, I took off the helmet I was wearing and pressed the open/close button inside the capsule.

Whirr.

With a low sound, the capsule opened, and I stepped out of the capsule and opened the small window in the studio apartment to look outside.

“What she said earlier was true.”

In the scenery where studio apartment buildings and old multi-family houses stretched endlessly along the alleyways, a striking black luxury sedan caught my eye.

A smile appeared on my lips as I saw the sedan.

Now that I had confirmed that her words about having a car waiting were true, it was time to listen to the conditions offered by the great and powerful figure.

▄ ▄ ▄

The place I arrived at in the black luxury sedan was beyond my imagination.

‘Jeil World Tower…’

Seoul.

The tallest skyscraper in Korea, standing on the golden land where land prices were astronomical, and a symbol of the wealth accumulated by Jeil Group, Korea’s top media conglomerate, Jeil World Tower!

Right before my eyes, the famous Jeil World Tower stood majestically, boasting its dignity like a window piercing the sky.

‘It was under construction in the old days.’

Seeing the Jeil World Tower, I was reminded of the old days.

After being defeated by Eugene, I was burdened with astronomical debt, so I sold all my items to make money, and even that wasn’t enough, so I worked everywhere I could until I got on a deep-sea fishing boat. One of those jobs was working at the construction site of this Jeil World Tower.

It felt like just yesterday that I was wearing a safety helmet and safety shoes, struggling to work in the dusty construction site, but time had flown by so quickly that this tower was already completed.

I felt anew how quickly time flies.

“Please have a seat. The young lady is waiting for you.”

A polite voice reached my ears.

A handsome man in a suit with glasses and an intellectual image.

This man, who asked me to call him Secretary Kim, was the one who came to my studio apartment with the luxury sedan.

It felt strange to actually see the ‘Secretary’ I had only seen in dramas.

And I could also guess the identity of the woman who employed this man.

No, actually, it’s more absurd not to know after coming all the way to the Jeil World Tower.

‘I’ve caught a bigger fish than I thought.’

Thinking so, I said.

“Alright, then.”

I nodded and followed Secretary Kim into the Jeil World Tower.

After passing through the gorgeous and huge lobby, I arrived at an elevator with a luxurious and spacious interior, which was easily recognizable as a VIP-only elevator.

Secretary Kim, who had entered before me, pressed the top button of the elevator.

124th floor.

It was the top floor of this tall skyscraper.

How long did the awkward silence linger between Secretary Kim and me?

Ding!

Finally, the elevator stopped with a notification sound, and the door opened smoothly.

“This is where my guidance ends.”

Leaving Secretary Kim’s voice behind, I got off the elevator.

The 124th floor I arrived at was a spacious hall with soft classical music and a gorgeous chandelier.

Or rather, it could be called a sky lounge, with the dazzling night view of the metropolitan city of Seoul reflected through the glass windows installed beyond.

And she was sitting at a table set up like a lonely island in the middle of the spacious hall.

“You came right on time.”

She looked exactly the same as she did in the game.

She, who had cut her dark blue hair short, smiled at me.

I sat down at the table without saying a word.

A steak, seemingly freshly grilled and steaming, came into my view.

To rent out the entire sky lounge of the tallest skyscraper in the country and serve steak just to meet one person like me.

It was a creative waste of money that I couldn’t even imagine. Of course, as the Guild Master of the Iron Blood Alliance, I handled quite a bit of money, but I mostly sent the remaining money to my parents after reinvesting in the game, so I didn’t really indulge in luxury.

Anyway, it seemed that those born with a silver spoon had a different way of thinking.

I admired her fresh waste of money and said as I cut the steak with a knife.

“You, what’s your identity? A third-generation chaebol of Jeil Group?”

Hearing my words, she smiled as if she found it amusing and replied.

“You guessed right.”

As expected.

Actually, it would be stranger not to be able to guess after being given such obvious hints.

Jeil World Tower, the pride of Jeil Group.

And the young lady Secretary Kim mentioned!

All the circumstantial evidence pointed to her identity as a third-generation chaebol of Jeil Group.

I looked at her and smiled.

Now it was time to hear why a chaebol like her wanted to meet me.

As I was thinking that, she spoke to me.