The Final Boss Has Returned 29

Chapter 29

The next day, after finishing my meeting with Shin Ha-yeon.

Not long after I logged into the game, a message popped up in my view.

[The Black Tower’s maintenance is complete.]

[The Black Ring Society reopens its doors in the Black Tower.]

[Quest ‘Renovation’ completed.]

[Fame increased by 1340.]

[Magic Power increased by 24.]

[Level Up.]

[Level Up.]

It was a message that the Black Tower’s maintenance was finished and the Black Ring Society had reopened its doors, along with a message that the quest had been completed.

Following that, other notification windows popped up one after another.

[New class, ‘Black Magician’ has been unlocked.]

[The Dark God’s Contractor, Drakan, has reclaimed Lawless Port Granado, the former base of the Black Ring Society. However, the Black Ring Society has not regained its former glory. The Grandmaster of the Black Ring Society, Khalid, has opened the doors of the Black Ring Society to outsiders for the first time since its founding in order to regain its former glory and spread the great dark gospel.]

[Unlike typical magicians, Black Magicians are specialists in debuffs and destruction, armed with curse magic utilizing Dark Magic Power and powerful dark offensive magic that is not bound by the four elements.]

[You can start the Black Magician class change quest at Lawless Port Granado, the base of the Black Ring Society.]

[A forgotten old power has returned to Ard World.]

[Faction: Will Granado, where the Black Ring Society has re-established itself, survive as a sanctuary for Black Magicians?]

[New possibilities have opened up in Ard World. Participate in the new history.]

Black Magician!

It was a historic moment when the class, which had been an NPC-exclusive class throughout both the original and Second, was finally opened to users.

‘Now the users will flock here.’

I smiled as I looked at the streets of the ruined Lawless Port.

Just then.

“Contractor-nim!”

Someone was running towards me from afar, panting.

An NPC in a black robe and holding a magic staff.

It was a Black Magician NPC, one of the five Black Magicians under Khalid.

“The Grandmaster-nim has ordered me to bring Contractor-nim to the Black Tower. The influential figures of Lawless Port are also currently gathered at the Black Tower, awaiting Contractor-nim, the ruler of Lawless Port.”

The influential figures of Lawless Port!

Upon hearing the Black Magician NPC’s words, I recalled the information I had obtained about Lawless Port before the war.

Lawless Port was a lawless zone, but it wasn’t chaotic.

Because it was a place without laws, power reigned supreme, and the influential figures of Lawless Port enjoyed power through the strength they had built up in such a lawless zone.

Therefore, ironically, there was an order of power in Lawless Port, and by becoming the ruler of Lawless Port, I had come to stand at the top of that order.

Furthermore, when one ruled over a territory, castle, or city, it was a natural procedure for the influential figures of that region to come and greet the new lord, and it was something I had experienced countless times in the original game.

‘It seems the existing influential figures have come to greet me! It’s a usual procedure when the lord changes.’

I nodded at the Black Magician NPC’s words and let him lead the way.

“Lead the way.”

“I will obey your command.”

I smiled as I looked at the Black Magician NPC leading the way and the Black Tower standing tall in the city center.

The influential figures of Lawless Port.

It was time to meet them.

▄ ▄ ▄

[You have entered the Black Tower.]

After entering the Black Tower with a short message, I immediately headed to the conference room on the top floor.

In this conference room, where the elders of the Black Ring Society used to gather, I finally met Khalid, the Grandmaster of the Black Ring Society, and the influential figures of Lawless Port.

“You have arrived, Contractor-nim.”

The first to greet me was Khalid.

He was the Grandmaster of the Black Ring Society and an Over-Ranker level powerhouse.

And the five NPCs lined up next to Khalid. They were the influential figures of Lawless Port.

“It is an honor to meet you, Lord-nim.”

I received their greetings and engraved the impression of each one in my mind once again.

The powers that made up Lawless Port were largely divided into five.

Gambling House.

Thieves Guild.

Assassins Guild.

Mafia.

Black Market.

The so-called Five Factions of Lawless Port.

These were the foundations that made up Lawless Port.

All the residents of Lawless Port were connected to the Five Factions of Lawless Port in one way or another.

And among them, the most powerful force was the Black Market!

The Black Market of Lawless Port was famous for trading all sorts of stolen goods, smuggled goods, and illegal items that were difficult to obtain in the light, and the secret auction held here once a month was so renowned that the rich and nobles from all over Ard World would participate with bags of money.

‘It was famous in the original game too.’

Lawless Port!

This city, which was called the Lawless City in the original game, was also famous then.

And the Five Factions of Lawless Port, including the Black Market, were the same.

I also knew it very well because I had often obtained items from the secret auction held at the Black Market.

I carefully examined the leaders of the Five Factions.

Their eyes held a faint trace of fear.

I knew the habits of evil-aligned NPCs very well.

The strong prey on the weak!

That was the basic attitude of evil-aligned NPCs.

And I, standing before them, was the strong one, an overwhelmingly strong one at that.

Not only had I mobilized an army of 50,000, but I had also shown an overwhelming level of violence beyond imagination by burning down an entire city. That was why they had no choice but to submit before me.

“Lo, Loyalty! We pledge our loyalty to you, Lord-nim!”

“We will do anything you command!”

The reason why they pledged their loyalty to me like this was precisely because of that.

“Good. You will follow me well from now on.”

[You have received the oath of loyalty from the Five Factions of Lawless Port.]

[You have become the true ruler of Lawless Port.]

[Fame increased by 1233.]

[All stats increased by 10.]

I accepted the NPCs’ oath of loyalty and checked the message that popped up afterward.

As the NPCs withdrew, Khalid spoke to me.

“It’s truly moving to be back in Lawless Port like this. All of this is thanks to Contractor-nim.”

Khalid’s voice was filled with emotion!

I listened to him silently, and Khalid continued.

“I remember the humiliating day of defeat 10 years ago. If only the Abyss Lighthouse hadn’t been destroyed by the Great Cataclysm, we could have summoned our old allies, the Merfolk, and repelled those pirates…… If it were them, who operate underwater, they would have surely dealt with those pirates easily.”

Listening to Khalid’s words, I instinctively realized.

This was a clue to a quest.

And not just any quest, but a quest that was at least Hero grade or higher!

Merfolk. They were a race that had never appeared in the original game, only recorded in legends.

A quest to meet such a race was definitely not going to be easy.

“I see.”

“Unfortunately, there is no way to contact them now because the Abyss Lighthouse is gone. If you don’t mind, would you like to hear more of my story?”

The moment Khalid said that to me.

[Drakan-nim. Where are you now?]

Shin Ha-yeon whispered to me.

[Black Tower.]

[I saw the message that just popped up. I think we need to modify the reconstruction plan a bit. Ignis and I are heading there now.]

The message she mentioned must have been the message about the Black Magician class being unlocked.

After hearing the whisper, I looked at Khalid and said.

“No, I have something to do right now. I’ll have to hear it next time.”

The Merfolk were definitely an attractive bait, but there was no need to rush into it.

“Understood.”

Khalid said so and then withdrew, and not long after, Shin Ha-yeon and Ignis finally appeared in the conference room.

“Hello, Drakan-nim.”

“I didn’t expect to see you again in the game.”

I acknowledged Shin Ha-yeon’s greeting, and she smiled and sat down in the empty chair next to me.

“I might be greeting you often in the game from now on.”

Hearing those words, I stared intently at Shin Ha-yeon.

I already knew her character information.

‘Level 403, and her class was Magician, right?’

Her level was a whopping 403!

One of the criteria for being a Ranker is level 400.

Considering the level system of Ard Saga Second, where 380 is effectively the max level and leveling up from 380 becomes incredibly difficult, it meant that she herself was a Ranker-level force.

Furthermore, her class was Magician.

Not only had she chosen the Magician class, which is called a money-eating monster as it requires the most capital investment among the numerous classes in Ard World, but she was also decked out in Legendary grade items from head to toe, truly befitting a character of a chaebol heiress.

The nickname she was using in the game was ‘Hayeon’.

It was a nickname derived from her own name.

I recalled her character information and continued speaking.

“Is the message you saw the one about the Black Magician class change quest being opened?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The smile on Shin Ha-yeon’s lips deepened upon hearing my words.

“I really didn’t expect you to show results so quickly. Unlocking a new class, truly, Drakan-nim, you are an amazing person.”

As she said, unlocking new content was indeed an amazing feat.

Unlike existing games that add various new content such as items, regions, new races, and new classes through patches, the Ard Saga series was different.

In the Ard Saga series, Ard World was a world on a map the same size as Earth, on a completely different scale from other games, where NPCs with perfect emotions and reason indistinguishable from humans lived. It was truly a perfect other world.

Because the game itself was managed by the super artificial intelligence supercomputer ‘Cosmos,’ there was no need for bug fixes, maintenance, or balance patches.

Therefore, in the Ard Saga series, new content was added to the game in the form of users directly unlocking new regions, quests, items, classes, and races through quests or events.

It was literally a case of users directly unlocking new content in a world of endless freedom.

“Public opinion about the Black Magician is already stirring. Right now, users outside are probably flocking to change their class to Black Magician.”

Shin Ha-yeon’s following words weren’t surprising.

If a new class was added, it was only natural for users to flock to try it out, and it was an expected result.

The important thing now was to plan how to utilize those flocking users.

“Then we need to utilize those users in the reconstruction plan.”

“As expected, you were thinking the same thing as me.”

Shin Ha-yeon nodded and smiled.