The Final Boss Has Returned 188

Chapter 188

Verda bit her lip as she watched the unrealistic reality unfold in real time, with the entire world rallying around Drakan.

No matter how she looked at it, it was surreal.

The sight of world leaders, global media outlets, Silicon Valley CEOs, renowned scholars, and even the entire world uniting around ‘Drakan’.

However, since it was happening in reality, she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

A countermeasure.

Yes, she needed a countermeasure to escape this damned situation.

Even as she was agonizing over this, the endless negative propaganda and malicious reports from the media targeting Eugene and the Lightwing Guild showed no signs of stopping, and the exodus of supporters was happening in real time.

Therefore, she had to stop this situation immediately.

Verda, biting her lip, took the elevator to the CEO’s office of Lightwing Entertainment.

“Eugene-nim.”

“Oh, Verda. What’s up?”

As soon as she opened the door to the CEO’s office, Eugene raised his head and answered Verda’s voice calling him.

Even though the situation was deteriorating in real time, Eugene’s face showed no signs of worry.

“Have you seen the news that’s coming up right now?”

Looking at Eugene like that, Verda spoke calmly.

“I saw it.”

Eugene nodded at her words.

“Drakan…….”

Eugene spoke, recalling the contents of Drakan’s press conference.

“He’s defying Dr. Kim Hong-gi’s will.”

“What do you mean, Eugene-nim?”

Verda asked back at Eugene’s words.

Dr. Kim Hong-gi.

The chairman of Miracle Entertainment, the creator of the supercomputer Miracle, and the creator of Ard World.

The will left by such a person?

This was something even Verda had never heard from Eugene.

“The doctor said. Virtual reality and artificial intelligence technology are dangerous technologies that can be misused and harm humanity, so they should only be used within Ard World.”

In response to Verda’s question, Eugene recalled his memory of meeting Dr. Kim Hong-gi at the ending and told Verda.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But now, Drakan is directly denying Dr. Kim Hong-gi’s will.”

Eugene recalled Dr. Kim Hong-gi’s face.

The image of him worrying about the misuse of virtual reality and artificial intelligence technology, his smile when he heard Eugene’s dream of protecting the purity of Ard World and the freedom of its users, and how he was happy to hear that Eugene felt the same way, remained vivid in Eugene’s mind.

“That’s something I can never tolerate.”

Eugene agreed with Dr. Kim Hong-gi’s opinion that virtual reality and artificial intelligence technology should only be used in games because they have a high potential for misuse.

Eugene believed that it was right to act according to Dr. Kim Hong-gi’s will in order to protect the purity of Ard World and the freedom of its users.

From Eugene’s perspective, Drakan’s press conference, which announced the opening of virtual reality and artificial intelligence technology to the world, was an unacceptable and wrong act.

Verda bit her lip as she saw Eugene’s hardened expression.

‘I guess I can’t use the countermeasure I had in mind.’

The plan Verda had in mind was to make the same promises as Drakan.

Drakan, how on earth did he manage to influence high-ranking officials around the world, including governments? Why was this happening? Verda still hadn’t figured it all out.

However, she knew why public opinion was supporting Drakan.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution!

The desire to ascend to the next stage of human civilization through the everyday use of virtual reality and artificial intelligence technology was what made people support Drakan.

Then, if she made the same promises as Drakan, she could at least stop the public opinion from leaning towards him.

Verda thought so, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

Eugene.

It was because the look in his eyes in front of her was one of firm resolve.

And Verda knew very well that Eugene, with that look in his eyes, would never yield or compromise.

“Is that so?”

Therefore, all Verda could do was ask back.

“We have to stop Drakan.”

“But all the media outlets are supporting Drakan. At this rate……. We might lose the support of the users.”

“That’s okay. If I convey my sincerity to the users through Ard Live, they will believe me.”

Eugene said with a smile at Verda’s concern.

“The users have always believed in my sincerity. And above all, because this is the right thing to do, everyone will join in. Just like during the revolution.”

Eugene genuinely believed that.

During the World Revolution, it was a time when everyone thought it was impossible to defeat Drakan, the Iron Blood Alliance, and the Guild Alliance.

That’s why Drakan’s unreasonable and unfair control, his oppressive iron-fisted rule, continued.

A world where people couldn’t say what was right was right.

Eugene wanted to change that absurd world, so he rebelled against Drakan.

Because the users recognized Eugene’s sincerity, the revolution succeeded, and Eugene was able to protect the pure Ard World as he wished.

And now, Eugene thought, the time had come to speak his mind once again, to say what was right was right.

“I understand.”

Verda said.

She already knew that she couldn’t persuade Eugene, but she didn’t voice her own plan, which went against Eugene’s will.

One way or another, Verda still loved Eugene, and now that Elena and Sharp were gone, she was the final victor who had won Eugene’s heart.

She couldn’t just lose Eugene’s heart, his love, which she had obtained with such difficulty, just because of a few words.

Eugene.

Just imagining him hating her made Verda dizzy, so she couldn’t tell him about her ‘countermeasure’.

Above all, Eugene’s words weren’t entirely unreasonable.

This was because many people had raised the issue that technological advancement could not unconditionally guarantee a rosy future for humanity.

As seen in numerous dystopian sci-fi works, a bleak future could unfold due to technological dictatorship, and for this reason, there were definitely forces in the world that opposed technological advancement and artificial intelligence.

‘If only I could use them, perhaps, I could overcome this current situation.’

Having finished all her calculations, Verda nodded at Eugene’s words.

“I’ll prepare for the Ard Live broadcast.”

“Thank you, Verda.”

The moment she heard Eugene’s words of gratitude.

Verda’s cheeks flushed.

She smiled faintly, feeling her heart pounding.

▄ ▄ ▄

While the entire internet was buzzing with issues surrounding Eugene and Drakan.

Eugene started a live broadcast on Ard Live.

[Hello, this is Eugene.]

As soon as Eugene’s greeting ended, viewers’ chats poured in.

However, the content was different from usual.

[Welcome, Eugene lol]

[Why is Drakan being slandered?]

[Eugene-nim, has it all been hypocrisy until now? I’m disappointed.]

[Drakan! Drakan! Drakan! Drakan!]

[Long live the suckers!]

Negative chats began to appear endlessly, ridiculing Eugene, mentioning the dating scandal and the Chinese funding manipulation suspicion, and calling him hypocritical.

Occasionally, chats defending Eugene would appear, but they would disappear after being heavily criticized.

Public opinion was completely changing.

But even in the face of such a scene, Eugene spoke confidently.

[First of all, I want to clearly state here that all the suspicions currently being raised against me are not true.]

The dating scandal.

Eugene had already denied it through an article.

Not lying was Eugene’s principle, but he had closed his eyes and lied in the face of Verda’s tearful request and the great cause of ‘protecting Ard World’.

And this time, the Chinese funding manipulation suspicion was something Verda had done unilaterally and secretly, so Eugene knew nothing about it. Therefore, all he could say in response to the numerous suspicions was that it wasn’t true.

As soon as Eugene said that, the chat window was flooded with criticism, but Eugene’s expression didn’t waver at all.

This was because he was convinced that this was the right thing to do.

Eugene continued speaking.

[Now, let’s get to the main point. When I reached the ending of the previous game, Dr. Kim Hong-gi personally told me. Artificial intelligence and virtual reality technology are dangerous. This is a technology that could lead humanity to ruin if misused, and that’s why he’s been preventing the leakage of related technology since he created Ard World.]

Eugene’s eyes sparkled.

[I agree with Dr. Kim Hong-gi. Above all, the person who created virtual reality and artificial intelligence technology, and the Ard World that you users love, is Dr. Kim Hong-gi. Therefore, we must follow the will of the father of Ard World. Because that is the right thing to do, and the only way to protect the purity of Ard World and the freedom of you users!]

Eugene spoke passionately, looking at the camera.

This is the right thing to do!

Thinking so sincerely, Eugene continued to speak.

[However, Drakan is directly defying Dr. Kim Hong-gi’s will and is trying to open Pandora’s Box, which could potentially destroy human civilization. I can neither stand by and watch nor tolerate Drakan’s dangerous playing with fire.]

Eugene stared at the camera and said his final words.

[For the purity of Ard World, for the freedom of all users, and for the survival of human civilization, I will definitely! Defeat Drakan.]

With those words, Eugene’s broadcast ended.

However, very few people listened to Eugene’s words, except for some fanatics of the Infinite Eugene Church and existing groups who were concerned about technological advancement.

[lol No, is that important now? lol]

[The warrior of justice has arrived lol]

[He says it will harm human civilization lol. Ah lol. The one who’s harmful is Eugene lol. Who are you to hinder the development of civilization lol]

[Isn’t Eugene the one who’s actually harmful?]

[Is it just me who finds Eugene’s hypocrisy disgusting? So what about the dating scandal? What about the Chinese manipulation?]

[Did you apologize for manipulating the Chinese funding controversy against Drakan? lol]

[I thought Eugene’s hypocrisy was disgusting, but it turns out he’s also a boomer lol. Who is he to lecture us lol]

[He really seems like a narrow-minded old fart lol. Back in my day~]

[Eugene-nim. Honestly, I know you’re a good person, but this broadcast seems like a bit of a mistake;;]

[But shouldn’t we follow Eugene-nim’s words since the creator of Ard World said so? No one knows what will happen if artificial intelligence develops;;]

[└I think it’s more problematic to hinder development just because you’re scared of it?]

[└lol That’s Dr. Kim Hong-gi’s fault lol. Just because he created it, do we have to follow his opinion unconditionally?]

In the end, Eugene’s sincerity wasn’t properly conveyed.

Not only were numerous intelligence agencies manipulating public opinion, but countless people poured negative opinions into Eugene’s live broadcast.

And for good reason, the users were disappointed with Eugene because of the dating scandal and the subsequent Chinese scandal manipulation accusation against Drakan.

However, Eugene simply responded to these accusations by saying that they were not true, which was worse than not saying anything at all, and simply said in the broadcast, as he had done before, that he was right, so follow him.

Of course, Eugene’s words weren’t entirely unreasonable, but the majority of users, no, the global public, had already turned their backs on Eugene long ago in the face of the endless media reports, declarations of support from various social strata, public opinion manipulation by intelligence agencies, and the grand cause of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that Drakan had presented.

In such a situation, Eugene’s live broadcast was a bad move, and it only ended up backfiring.

The number of dislikes kept increasing, and the comments of criticism, condemnation, and ridicule continued endlessly.

But that wasn’t all.

[(Column) The Development of Artificial Intelligence Technology: Is it Truly Harmful to Humanity?]

[Eugene’s Claim that “Technological Advancement is Harmful to Human Civilization” Sparks Controversy.]

Media outlets around the world began to pour out negative reports about Eugene’s claims as if they had been waiting.

From sharply critical articles and columns in influential newspapers and highly credible media outlets, to articles by tabloid newspapers blatantly bringing up Eugene’s past scandals and slandering him!

Following the media, global scholars and IT experts made their moves.

“Technological advancement will destroy civilization. This is the most common claim made by pessimists. There have already been countless debates and rebuttals on this issue. However, modern civilization is not so easily destroyed as pessimists claim. Humanity is great, and the essence of civilization that we have built up so far will firmly withstand the everyday use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality.”

“Dr. Kim Hong-gi’s achievements are undoubtedly remarkable. However, that doesn’t mean we have to accept all of his opinions. Moreover, sealing off technologies with unlimited potential like virtual reality and artificial intelligence simply because they are vaguely dangerous would be the biggest tragedy in all of history.”

“Innovation always comes with growing pains. Nevertheless, human civilization has continued to develop in a better direction. The same goes for artificial intelligence and virtual reality. There is no development without taking risks. Innovation is always achieved by the 1% of adventurers. And that adventurer is not Eugene, but Drakan.”

Following the media, even experts joined in with follow-up attacks, causing Eugene’s opinions and justifications to crumble.

It was the moment when Eugene’s era, which had dominated Ard World since the World Revolution, finally began to come to an end.