The Final Boss Has Returned 103

Chapter 103

“Erena, Berda, and Sharp. You’re not going to tell me you don’t know they’re all in love with you, are you?”

Eugene’s face went blank for a moment.

Erena, Berda, Sharp!

Each of them were famous Over-Ranker users, known as the Saint, the Great Sage, and the Divine Archer, respectively. They were members of Lightwing Guild, and more than that, they were comrades as precious as family to Eugene!

He hadn’t realized that they might harbor romantic feelings for him.

‘They…… they’re in love with me?’

Eugene’s cheeks flushed.

Of course, Eugene wasn’t completely clueless. Having spent six years with them, he’d recently started to sense something unusual in the air.

But for all three of them to be in love with him simultaneously!

Hearing this was like opening Pandora’s Box for Eugene.

“That’s…… N-no, that can’t be right……”

Eugene stammered, still reeling from the shock.

Drakan inwardly smirked as he observed Eugene’s reaction.

Eugene.

He’d sprung the trap perfectly.

Even for someone as notoriously dense as him, the mere suggestion that his three comrades might be in love with him would be enough!

The relationships within Lightwing Guild would be irrevocably shaken from this point forward.

What began as a seed of doubt would blossom into a full-blown inferno.

And Drakan’s role was simply to pave the path to that inferno with good intentions.

“Don’t be naive. Think about it objectively. How have those three treated you all this time? Why were they so competitive over this dungeon raid, far more than necessary?”

Drakan ruthlessly dissected Eugene’s psyche with his blunt words.

Gulp.

Beads of sweat began to trickle down Eugene’s forehead.

As Drakan’s words echoed in his mind, memories of his time spent with them flooded back.

Saint Erena.

He’d always seen her as a little sister, like his own sister Cha Yu-na. Now, he recalled her actions in a new light.

‘I like you, Oppa.’ Erena’s frequent words, which he’d dismissed as playful affection from a younger sister figure, now resonated differently. In those memories, her face was always flushed a bright red.

Great Sage Berda.

He remembered how her perpetually stoic expression would soften whenever she looked at him. He recalled her saying, “You’re the only person I can truly be myself with.” He remembered the clear difference in her demeanor towards him compared to others. He remembered the occasional blush creeping up her neck. He had always attributed it to their close friendship and camaraderie.

Divine Archer Sharp.

He remembered how she, always so prickly, would be surprisingly kind to him. He remembered how she’d grumble but ultimately fulfill every request he made. He remembered how she’d become docile and blush like a cat when he patted her head.

Drakan was right; it wasn’t just about the dungeon raid.

For six years, the three of them had constantly competed over the smallest things.

From trivial matters like who would accompany him to the convenience store or who would sit next to him during meetings, they’d been locked in a perpetual, unspoken rivalry.

But what if it was all fueled by their feelings for him?

Eugene’s train of thought screeched to a halt.

“So you really didn’t know. Or perhaps you subconsciously did but chose to bury it deep down.”

Drakan looked at Eugene and said.

“I already expected you wouldn’t know.”

It was already common knowledge among those in the know that he was insensitive when it came to romance.

But regardless of that, he needed to lay the groundwork for the story he was about to tell.

Eugene was still sitting there, speechless with a blank expression.

Drakan’s words echoed in Eugene’s head.

He had subconsciously known that the three of them liked him, but he had denied it and deceived himself.

Because those words pierced his heart like a dagger.

The painful truth that he struggled to face began to slowly reveal its ugly form before him.

Drakan, looking at Eugene, drove the point home.

“Anyway, it’s a relief you didn’t know. At least you didn’t do it knowingly. If you did it knowing, you know? No matter how you sugarcoat it, that’s just leading them on.”

Leading them on!

It meant deliberately playing push and pull and giving false hope to someone you’re interested in, preventing them from escaping your grasp. Eugene knew the definition of leading someone on.

At the same time, he was shocked as soon as he heard the word.

Drakan.

If, as he said, the three of them truly had a crush on him.

If he had truly noticed it subconsciously but deliberately denied it.

Then there was nothing wrong with his words, that no matter how he sugarcoated it, it was leading them on.

Perhaps he had committed the evil act of leading on his three colleagues, who were as precious as family to him.

Eugene’s pupils dilated as his thoughts reached that point.

He felt self-loathing at the high possibility that he might have committed an ‘evil act,’ that he might have hurt his colleagues, who were like family to him, all this time.

Why……?

“I……”

Eugene’s hands trembled.

“I just wanted to…… continue to be like family with everyone in the guild…… just like now……”

To be like family with everyone!

This was one of Eugene’s greatest goals, an orphan whose only family was his younger sister, Cha Yu-na.

And Eugene knew.

If it was true that those three liked him.

His dream would vanish like a bubble!

Drakan watched him and laughed inwardly.

So far, the results were satisfactory.

Eugene was already facing the truth he didn’t want to see.

But Drakan was greedy, and therefore couldn’t be satisfied with just this.

That was why.

Drakan added to his words to Eugene.

“To continue in the future, that kind of future. Well, it’s possible. If you continue to act clueless and insensitive like you have been.”

Eugene’s hands trembled like aspen leaves at Drakan’s words.

He was right.

If he wanted to maintain the status quo, he could just continue to act like he hadn’t heard or seen anything, just like now.

But Eugene had now learned the ugly truth.

‘I, I had tried so hard to deny it.’

Eugene revisited his past actions.

No matter how insensitive Eugene was, he had spent well over six years with them.

It was stranger that he hadn’t noticed.

But Eugene finally realized that he had been making excuses for himself all along.

That he had acted that way as a colleague, that it was okay because they were colleagues, that he acted that way because they were like family.

He had desperately interpreted their expressions of affection that way.

And the reason was his own ugly selfishness.

Maintaining the status quo.

The ugly selfishness of wanting to be happy with everyone, wanting to make everyone his family.

Eugene felt self-loathing at the fact that this had brought the situation to this point.

But despite that, he felt disillusioned with himself for not being able to shake off his selfishness.

If he chose one person, his relationship with the other two would undoubtedly become distant.

Reality wasn’t some harem romantic comedy, so it was impossible to choose everyone like the protagonist of a harem story.

But Eugene hated the thought of that happening.

He didn’t want to let go of all three of them!

He wanted to continue to be happy with the members of the Lightwing Guild, just like now, forever!

Eugene couldn’t possibly abandon his desire, his selfishness.

“What should I…… what should I do……?”

Eugene asked Drakan in a trembling voice.

Drakan stared directly at Eugene.

Dilated pupils, trembling hands.

Looking at Eugene, who was clearly in a state of mental breakdown, Drakan said.

“You have to find the answer to that question yourself. No one else can solve it for you. I just wanted to tell you the truth.”

That you, like me, are just another human being with selfishness and desires, Drakan swallowed those words and met Eugene’s gaze directly.

“I see.”

Eugene gave a hollow laugh at Drakan’s words.

He was right.

He had to find the answer to this question himself.

But Eugene couldn’t make a decision.

The guilt of doing something terrible to his colleagues, of trampling on the pure feelings of those who were like family to him, and yet the desire to enjoy his current happiness, even if it was a lie, continued to clash within him.

Looking at Eugene, Drakan slowly said.

“But, even if I can’t give you the answer, I think I can offer some advice.”

Eugene’s gaze turned to Drakan at his words.

Advice!

A faint spark of life returned to Eugene’s eyes at those words.

Eugene had taken the bait Drakan had thrown, and Drakan, seeing this, smiled as if to lighten the mood and said jokingly.

“You see, I’m in a relationship right now.”

“Are you referring to Shin Ha-yeon?”

The image of Shin Ha-yeon came to Eugene’s mind at the mention of being in a relationship.

Shin Ha-yeon.

The image of her, whom he was wary of, affectionately linking arms with Drakan like a lover when she visited the Lightwing Entertainment building the other day, flashed before Eugene’s eyes.

He had wondered why the always aloof Shin Ha-yeon was acting like that, but it turned out they were in that kind of relationship.

“Yes.”

Drakan nodded.

Strictly speaking, Shin Ha-yeon’s relationship with Drakan was a bit more complicated than just lovers, but it wasn’t wrong.

Above all, he needed to break the current stagnant atmosphere, even a little, in order to give the ‘advice’ he had prepared.

In the slightly relaxed atmosphere, Drakan began the ‘advice’ he had prepared.

“Act as your heart dictates.”

“My heart?”

“People often misunderstand, but desire itself isn’t bad. It’s perfectly natural and a natural instinct for humans to act for their own happiness.”

Eugene’s eyes wavered at Drakan’s words.

The pursuit of happiness is instinct, a perfectly natural thing.

Those words shook Eugene’s heart.

Smirk.

Drakan watched the scene and laughed inwardly.

Of course, he could have left the situation as it was, or forced Eugene to choose one of the three, causing discord among the guild members.

But Drakan thought that was the worst possible option, and the three women surrounding Eugene must have been deeply prepared for the possibility that he might choose one of them.

Therefore, provoking Eugene ‘right now’ to make him choose one person was highly likely to be unsuitable for Drakan’s ultimate goal of ‘dividing the Lightwing Guild’.

That was why.

Drakan chose the method of stirring Eugene’s deepest desires.

Drakan was now planning to awaken and gradually amplify Eugene’s desire to ‘be happy with everyone’ and eventually corrupt the noble hero Eugene, dragging him down to the level of an ordinary human.

If the white canvas of Eugene were to be stained with black!

Not only would the support of the common people who had supported him begin to waver, but the unity of the Lightwing Guild, and even the Five Eyes, would begin to crumble.

Thinking of his plan and the future it would bring, Drakan slowly began his devilish whisper to Eugene.