The Final Boss Has Returned 178

Chapter 178

The words Drakan spoke to Shin Ha-yeon over the phone were simple.

“I will purchase all of Jeil E&M’s shares in Jeil New Media.”

Acquisition of Jeil New Media’s shares!

Currently, Jeil E&M held the majority of Jeil New Media’s stock.

Simply put, Jeil New Media was a subsidiary of Jeil E&M, and Drakan had just declared his intention to purchase all of Jeil New Media’s shares held by Jeil E&M.

It was a nonsensical demand, considering common sense.

[What kind of absurd nonsense is that?]

As expected, Shin Ha-yeon’s incredulous voice flowed through the speaker.

Her sharp voice was loud enough for everyone gathered inside the quiet conference room to hear.

“Oh? Then you don’t mind if I hand over your ‘weakness’ to the Simseong Group?”

Drakan countered Shin Ha-yeon’s words with a relaxed voice.

Of course, such a weakness didn’t actually exist.

It was just a pretense for a public breakup, a camouflage.

However, the moment Drakan mentioned the ‘Simseong Group,’ the atmosphere in the conference room turned frosty.

The relationship between the Simseong Group and the Jeil Group, the two chaebol families, was still not very good.

Despite being part of the same family, they even held separate ancestral rites, so if Drakan truly held a fatal weakness of Shin Ha-yeon, the Simseong Group would gladly accept it.

[Let’s see each other right now.]

With that, Shin Ha-yeon ended the call, and Drakan placed his phone on the conference room table.

“As you heard from the call, I will acquire the entirety of Jeil New Media. Of course, even if I become the owner of this company, I don’t intend to monopolize everything. I plan to grant stock options to everyone here.”

Stock options.

It was the right granted to executives to purchase company shares at a low price. If Drakan became the final victor in this war and acquired management rights of Miracle Entertainment, the stock price of Jeil New Media would undoubtedly skyrocket. Therefore, it was an attractive bait for the three Over-Rankers present in the conference room.

As soon as Drakan finished speaking, the first to respond was Ignis.

“I will follow Drakan-nim’s words.”

Ignis.

The role he played in this play was that of a shill.

Unlike Paul and Layla, Ignis was a so-called ‘pure-blooded’ user who had been connected with the Jeil Group since before Drakan signed a contract with them.

If he, such a person, followed Drakan’s words first, then Paul and Layla would also follow Drakan without much hesitation. That was the prediction of Drakan and Shin Ha-yeon, and Ignis accepted their proposal.

‘Drakan, his ability is real.’

Ignis.

He was the user who had been assisting Drakan by his side from the moment he returned to Second until now.

At first, he couldn’t understand the almost unconditional trust Shin Ha-yeon placed in Drakan and even subtly opposed him during the Lawless Port Recapture Operation meeting. However, the current Ignis completely acknowledged Drakan.

He had witnessed firsthand Drakan’s actions: gradually seizing control of public opinion among users, ascending to the rank of Over-Ranker, forming the Dark Alliance, reaching EX Rank and becoming Eugene’s rival, and even bringing down Eugene’s Lightwing Guild. Therefore, he couldn’t help but acknowledge him.

‘Drakan is the perfect candidate for rebellion, just as Executive Director Shin said.’

The grand plan of rebellion.

Ignis was already convinced that Drakan was the only one who could succeed in overturning the Ard World ruled by Eugene.

Therefore, Ignis gladly accepted the supporting role offered by Drakan and Shin Ha-yeon.

No, he thought to himself that he would have joined Drakan even if he hadn’t known the background.

Because if there was a single user in Ard World who could defeat Eugene, it would be Drakan.

“Good thinking.”

Drakan smiled as he looked at Ignis.

And as Drakan expected, as soon as Ignis accepted, Paul and Layla also voiced their agreement shortly after.

“Well, I have nowhere else to go anyway. We’re already in the same boat, so there’s nothing more to hesitate about. I look forward to working with you, Boss.”

“I also look forward to working with you, Boss.”

Drakan smiled as he looked at them.

Just as Drakan received promises of joining from his subordinate Over-Rankers……

The door creaked open, and Shin Ha-yeon appeared.

The atmosphere in the conference room instantly turned cold as Shin Ha-yeon, looking visibly angry, entered.

“How could you do this to me?”

The first words spoken in the frozen conference room were Shin Ha-yeon’s.

Drakan responded to Shin Ha-yeon’s words with a stern expression.

“We’re going our separate ways. You know as well as I do that staying like this will only hurt us both and lead to defeat against Eugene, right?”

“But this is……”

“Let’s break up cleanly, like professionals. Neither of us wants to drag this out in a messy and pathetic way, right?”

Shin Ha-yeon closed her eyes at Drakan’s words.

Anyone could see that she was suppressing her boiling anger.

“Fine.”

Shin Ha-yeon’s answer flowed out.

“But this is the end of our relationship.”

“Thank you for everything.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll send you a formal contract later.”

Shin Ha-yeon and Drakan thus concluded their fake breakup, acting as if they were opposing each other until the very end. Soon after, Drakan held a press conference and officially announced his acquisition of Jeil New Media.

[Drakan completes acquisition of Jeil New Media.]

[Drakan, “Decided to acquire the company to prevent interference from external forces. We will continue to show you good results.”]

[Drakan, “Broke up with Shin Ha-yeon due to personality differences. Decided to remain good friends.”]

[Jeil New Media changes name to ‘Iron Blood Alliance.’]

[The return of the Iron Blood Alliance, will it be a ‘tectonic shift’ in Ard World? In-depth analysis of the Iron Blood Alliance!]

The new company name decided for Jeil New Media was Iron Blood Alliance!

The Iron Blood Alliance, the guild name from the previous game that Drakan had established, had finally been resurrected in Second after six years.

The independence of Jeil New Media and the reformation of the Iron Blood Alliance drew the attention of countless people and occupied a significant portion of the Ard Forum.

[Iron Blood Alliance lol. Drakan finally revealed his true colors, right?]

[Yoo-quis, welcome. You’re still saying that after seeing Drakan-nim’s actions so far? lol]

[So is Drakan-nim controlling things now? He’s not doing anything;]

[Seriously, the level of Yoo-quis sucking up to the fisherman…… Disgusting]

[Your Drakan dumped Shin Ha-yeon too lol]

[Yeah, but it’s still better than playing the field~]

[Is breaking up due to personality differences the same as playing the field and deceiving people? Look at that Yoo-qui trying to muddy the waters lol]

Soon after, as always, a war of words erupted between the Infinite Eugene Church and the ‘suckers’ on the Ard Forum bulletin board.

Just as this public opinion battle was unfolding simultaneously across the internet……

[Sword Emperor Argen declares, “Breaker Guild withdraws from Five Eyes.”]

[Following Breaker Guild, Arcane Guild and Blue Phoenix Guild also declare withdrawal from Five Eyes.]

[The collapse of Five Eyes becomes a reality.]

[Argen officially announces the launch of “Troika.”]

[Blue Phoenix Guild and Arcane Guild announce their participation in Troika.]

[American game company SI Games announces exclusive sponsorship contract with Troika.]

A massive bombshell had been dropped on the internet.

Sword Emperor Argen.

The news was that he had taken Breaker Guild, Arcane Guild, and Blue Phoenix Guild, left Five Eyes, and formed a new alliance called Troika.

And the exclusive sponsor of this Troika was none other than SI Games!

The company that ruled PC, console, and mobile before the emergence of Miracle Entertainment.

A global giant with studios worldwide, servicing numerous games from AAA titles to online and mobile games, possessing countless well-known IPs, and the world’s largest game company until the advent of Miracle Entertainment.

[Wow, Five Eyes is done for, lol.]

[What’s going on right now?]

[SI Games is using Sword Emperor as a proxy to take down Miracle, lol.]

[Is Sword Emperor really this kind of person?]

The internet was abuzz with the sudden influx of Troika-related articles, but the news didn’t stop there.

[Saintess Elena and Fist King MuscleMan announce their departure from Lightwing Guild. “The ‘fishing’ scandal is all true. I can no longer stay in Lightwing Guild.”]

[With 3 out of 5 members leaving, Lightwing Guild is in crisis. Is this the end?]

[(Breaking News) Elena and MuscleMan announce joining Troika.]

[Sword Emperor Argen: “Elena and MuscleMan are the talents we needed in Troika. We look forward to working with you in Troika.”]

[Saintess Elena: “This place feels like my true home. I will continue to show my best in Troika.”]

[Fist King MuscleMan: “I will work hard in Troika.”]

Saintess Elena!

Fist King MuscleMan!

Following Sharp, the other two members of Lightwing Guild had not only left simultaneously, but also immediately joined the Troika formed by Sword Emperor.

▄ ▄ ▄

‘I can never forgive him.’

At the press conference for her departure from Lightwing Guild and joining Troika, Elena bit her lip.

She could never forgive Eugene.

To Eugene, she was just a ‘little sister’ until the very end, and regardless of the reason, he ultimately didn’t choose her.

The one he chose in the end was Verda, and she ended up being his ‘little sister,’ a disgusting title she couldn’t even bear to think about, until the very end.

The truth that her unrequited love had been a futile hope all along, the reality that Eugene had been deceiving her with the disgusting title of ‘little sister’ while knowing her feelings all this time, finally dawned on her. Now, not a single shred of lingering affection for Eugene remained in her heart.

‘Good luck to the two of you.’

Elena bit her lip.

The first thing Elena, filled with nothing but revenge and hatred, did was seduce MuscleMan.

She had known for a long time that MuscleMan, Eugene’s childhood friend, secretly harbored feelings for her.

She simply hadn’t reciprocated his feelings because she was blinded by her unrequited love for Eugene.

But now, with her unrequited love transformed into hatred, Elena could exploit anything for the sake of revenge, and that included MuscleMan’s unrequited love.

Thus, Elena seduced MuscleMan, and he succumbed to her temptation.

For MuscleMan, friendship meant nothing in the face of love.

Finally, Elena achieved the feat of leaving the guild together with MuscleMan.

Of course, during this process, Sword Emperor Argen, who was already aware of the signs of discord, recruited Elena, and the result was the joining of Fist King and Saintess, two Over-Rankers, to Troika.

[Oh lol, is this for real?]

[Crazy lol, Fist King and Saintess leaving at the same time?]

[The drama never ends lol]

[Looks like I won’t need heating bills this winter;]

The internet exploded with the continuous barrage of massive bombshells.

Just as the internet was ablaze……

A long-haired woman wearing a hat pulled low and sunglasses visited the skyscraper in Seoul where Jeil New Media, now Iron Blood Alliance, was located.

“Hello. How can I help you?”

The first person to greet the woman with the hat pulled low was the receptionist at the 1st-floor lobby.

The long-haired woman replied to the receptionist’s question.

“I want to see Drakan.”

“You mean the CEO? Do you have an appointment?”

“No.”

“Then it might be difficult……”

When the long-haired woman said she didn’t have an appointment, the receptionist smiled awkwardly and trailed off.

Since becoming independent as ‘Iron Blood Alliance,’ countless people had visited the Iron Blood Alliance building. However, CEO Drakan had issued an order to turn away anyone without a prior appointment, essentially refusing meetings.

Some people refused to back down and caused a scene, only to be dragged out by security guards.

Therefore, the receptionist was wondering if the woman in front of her might also be a troublemaker, when……

The woman in sunglasses spoke quietly.

“Tell Drakan that Sharp is here, and that she wants to join the Iron Blood Alliance.”