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The Final Boss Has Returned 47

47

Chapter 47

The goal Lexus aimed for, even while showering me with insults!

It was to die by my hand and become a martyr of the Infinite Eugene Church.

Well, now that things had gone awry, the only goal he could aim for was that.

Of course, his judgment wouldn’t have been wrong if it was based on me from six years ago.

If it were me six years ago!

I would have mercilessly killed Lexus and all the Infinite Eugene Church members as revenge, just as he intended.

And if I had killed all of them like I would have six years ago!

The Infinite Eugene Church would have undoubtedly enshrined Lexus as a martyr and tried to manipulate public opinion by condemning me as a cruel villain no different from the past.

That’s because in the previous game, I was a tyrant notorious for the Blacklist and the Infinite Kill Order, and if I killed those guys, my past actions would naturally overlap.

And the Infinite Eugene Church would have definitely clung to that gap and dragged public opinion into a mudslinging fight.

But what if I let them live?

Not only would there be no room for the Infinite Eugene Church to nitpick, but on the contrary, users would re-evaluate and praise me, saying that the past me and the present me are different and that I had become magnanimous.

This meant that public opinion would turn even more favorably towards me due to this incident.

And I had no intention of missing this golden opportunity to sway public opinion.

So I let them live.

That was the path to perfect victory that I had found.

“Deport those humans to the surface.”

“Understood, Contractor-nim.”

After giving my final instructions to the Merfolk soldiers, I left the underground prison.

Now, it was time to throw this hot bait into the sea of information, the internet, and catch the real big fish called public opinion.

▄ ▄ ▄

JDG’s Scylla Raid!

People were excited watching the content of that broadcast, which garnered a whopping 50 million real-time viewers despite being a sudden live broadcast that started without notice.

This was because it was the first underwater raid in Ard Saga Second, and even considering the previous game, it was a rare content that could be counted among the top ten.

What amplified the viewers’ curiosity was the moment at the end of the broadcast, when the raid ended and the giant monster, Kraken, was seen rampaging and spewing lightning in the distance.

[Is that Kraken?]

[Did Drakan already finish the quest?]

[What the lol Show us more war lol]

Kraken!

And the undersea war!

Unlike underwater raids, which were rare but had precedents in the previous game, there was no precedent for undersea warfare.

The viewers’ eyes were focused on the scenery where numerous troops appeared and sea monsters rampaged in the middle of the battlefield, and soon the internet was ablaze with the undersea war bait that briefly flashed at the end of the Scylla raid.

Through the short video of the undersea war shown at the end of the Scylla raid, all sorts of speculation and conjecture ran rampant.

In the midst of all this, a video was uploaded to the official Drakan channel.

It was the video of the undersea war that users had been waiting for.

[Wow, awesome lol]

[The undersea war is crazy. It’s like a blockbuster lol]

[Drakan class is awesome, right? lol When does Kraken appear?]

The uploaded video of the undersea war was enough to satisfy the users’ expectations.

Although Ard Saga Second was a perfect virtual reality indistinguishable from reality, it wasn’t completely identical to reality.

This didn’t mean that Ard Saga Second’s virtual reality was inferior to reality.

No, on the contrary, the world of Ard Saga Second, Ard World, transcended reality.

This was because Ard World was a fantasy world.

Actions that couldn’t be done in reality, abilities that couldn’t be possessed, and scenery that couldn’t be seen, all of this was possible in Ard World.

In other words, Ard World had realized the ‘different world’ that countless fantasy works had imagined in their own way.

And anyone could access this realized different world, as long as they had a capsule and an ID, without the need for special events like truck-kun or summoning rituals.

There was a reason why people were crazy about Ard Saga.

Anyway, Ard World was a fantasy world, and the video of the undersea war that Drakan uploaded was a scene of war that could only appear in a fantasy world, something that couldn’t be found in reality.

Mermaids moving as if they were flying underwater!

And Merfolk riding ocean currents and rampaging with sea monsters!

The battle between these two different races in the dark depths of the sea was a sight that perfectly satisfied the utopia of a fantasy world that users longed for.

And while the viewers were focused on the undersea war video.

A scene appeared that made them doubt their eyes.

[Huh? What’s that? Human users? What is it?]

[??????]

It was the Infinite Eugene Church members shouting “Drakan die!” with voices full of hatred!

As soon as human users, clearly a third force other than JDG called by Drakan, appeared among the Merfolk and Mermaids, the internet heated up.

But the video didn’t end there.

Right after the war ended.

The moment the scene of Drakan and the unmasked user confronting each other in the underground prison and talking to each other was shown, the comment section exploded.

[Wow, look at that human’s foul language. Even if that’s the case, it’s almost like swearing openly in front of him;]

[Drakan’s patience is crazy. I would have killed him right there lol]

[No, the Drakan I know can’t be like this. Did he really change? He’s letting him live]

[But who is that person?]

[Right. He seems like a named user, who is he?]

[Isn’t he the Eastern Branch Manager of the Infinite Eugene Church?]

[(Link) I found a verification shot on the Eastern Branch bulletin board of the Infinite Eugene Church cafe. He’s the Branch Manager]

[So the Branch Manager interfered with Drakan’s quest?]

[Seems like it;;]

People cursed at Lexus for the unknown words he hurled at Drakan and the verbal abuse that would make even the listener frown.

On the other hand, it was natural for public opinion to move in a positive direction toward Drakan, who not only dealt with the situation calmly but also mercifully spared the life of Lexus who tried to kill him.

But the problem didn’t end there.

The fact that Lexus’s position was not just an ordinary user, but a high-ranking official of the Infinite Eugene Church, the Eastern Branch Manager, began to exacerbate the problem.

This incident was nothing short of a fatal blow to the Infinite Eugene Church, whose external image had already deteriorated due to excessive deification and praise of Eugene, comparison and belittling of Eugene and other Rankers, and elitism.

Of course, even after Eugene took control of Ard World, underhanded tactics like quest interference didn’t disappear entirely.

Unlike the top ten guilds and the top-ranked guilds below them, who had no choice but to be mindful of public opinion, the guilds in the upper-middle ranks or Rankers and streamers who weren’t affiliated with any guilds would often engage in underhanded tactics.

It was just that if the scale grew beyond a certain point and became noticeable, or if the underhanded tactics were discovered before they were completed, Eugene and his allied guilds would intervene as the ‘police of Ard World’, so it didn’t go as far as killing each other like in the past.

However, the current incident wasn’t just some common underhanded tactic.

It was a huge incident where the Eastern Branch Manager of the Infinite Eugene Church, a high-ranking official, personally tried to kill Drakan and failed, and even after being captured, he continued to hurl verbal abuse.

This incident soon turned into a scandal, and the internet exploded.

[Wow, the Yoo-ggwi are crazy. What did Drakan do to deserve being killed? Are they crazy?]

[Honestly, I used to defend the Infinite Eugene Church people when they were being criticized, but now I feel betrayed……]

[Is it possible that Eugene was secretly stirring up trouble behind the scenes?]

[It could be]

[It’s obvious that they tried to keep Drakan in check]

Numerous people jumped on this stimulating and interesting bait, amplifying and reproducing rumors and conjectures, and soon even the rumor that Eugene and the Lightwing Guild might be behind the incident began to circulate.

Of course, a small number of users raised conspiracy theories, questioning how the timing could be so perfect and wondering if Drakan had known everything in advance, as Lexus claimed.

However, the circumstances surrounding the attempted murder were so vivid, and decisively, Drakan’s side had not done anything wrong on the surface, and on top of that, he even showed the magnanimous side of sparing Lexus who tried to kill him, so they lost ground in terms of justification and soon faded away.

[Infinite Eugene Church Eastern Branch Manager Attacks Drakan. What was the Motive?]

[Shocking ‘Infinite Eugene Church Scandal’, We delve into the truth!]

And it was none other than the gaming media that added fuel to the blazing fire.

Shin Ha-yeon. As soon as her touch reached them, all the gaming media began to cover the Infinite Eugene Church scandal with one voice.

Due to the nature of the internet, information spread rapidly, and the headquarters of the Infinite Eugene Church, which was holding an emergency meeting after receiving the information, could only watch as public opinion worsened in real time.

[Statement]

[We are issuing a statement to explain this unfortunate incident.]

The self-destruction of the Infinite Eugene Church, which had set public opinion ablaze, began in a hurry.

[After internal verification, this incident was initiated impulsively and personally by the Eastern Branch Manager and nine others, and our Infinite Eugene Church has no connection with them.

However, many users who harbor resentment towards the Infinite Eugene Church are posting malicious posts in an attempt to manipulate public opinion, and rumors and fake news are spreading indiscriminately and even being reported in the news, causing us significant mental and material damage, and we will not stand idly by and will respond strongly.

The rumors about the Infinite Eugene Church are all false, and this incident is nothing more than the deviation of the Eastern Branch Manager and some users, so……

……

We sincerely apologize for causing unintended concern to everyone who loves Ard World due to this incident.

Infinite Eugene Church Manager Raiden]

After reading the apology, no, the statement, public opinion exploded.

[Wow, is Raiden’s judgment for real in this situation?]

[This isn’t even an apology. It’s a statement]

[It is. Looking at it again, it’s a statement lol]

[Strong response lol]

[Unintended? Wow, they included everything that shouldn’t be in an apology]

[Honestly, it’s true that there are a lot of rumors and fake news. The official statement is out and it’s just their personal deviation as announced, so what more can the Infinite Eugene Church do?]

[Official statement my a*s. It’s probably just your cult’s b*llshit lol]

[It’s obvious that they’re trying to cut off their tails and muddy the waters. Who do they think they’re fooling?]

The users didn’t believe the Infinite Eugene Church’s statement.

No matter how you looked at it, the Infinite Eugene Church’s statement seemed to be filled with excuses, cutting off tails, and muddying the waters.

Moreover, in the current situation where public opinion towards the Infinite Eugene Church wasn’t favorable, their statement declaring a strong response was like pouring oil on a burning fire.

From the perspective of the Infinite Eugene Church, who knew the truth to some extent, it was truly maddening, but the truth had long ceased to be important in this situation.

“People only believe what they want to believe.”

Before manipulating the media, Shin Ha-yeon whispered to Drakan with a smile.

And as she said, people only believed what they wanted to believe.

No, it was closer to the accumulated karma of the Infinite Eugene Church exploding due to this incident.

The flames of public outrage raged, threatening to engulf the entire Infinite Eugene Church.

The game that Drakan and Shin Ha-yeon had set up ended here.

“This much won’t be enough to bring down Eugene.”

“But it’s enough to tarnish his reputation.”

Drakan and Shin Ha-yeon.

The two who were plotting rebellion against Eugene moved cautiously.

This was because they already knew that they couldn’t take down Eugene, him, with just this level of scandal.

The truth wasn’t important ‘now’.

But if public opinion cooled down ‘later’, the truth would become important again.

Besides, the opponent was Eugene, him.

Unlike the Infinite Eugene Church, the resentment towards Eugene wasn’t that great yet.

But Eugene cherished the Infinite Eugene Church, and now that things had escalated to this point, he would definitely appear in person to try and calm public opinion.

If Eugene tried to calm public opinion, Drakan’s side had no way to stop him yet.

If they forced public opinion, the backlash that would follow would be immense.

Drakan and Shin Ha-yeon weren’t stupid enough to not calculate such a backlash.

You can’t get full on the first drink, and a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!

Therefore, from the beginning, Drakan and Shin Ha-yeon’s goal was to plant seeds of doubt and confusion in the users’ public opinion.

Even if Eugene clarified things, the seeds of doubt and distrust would remain.

After all, the fact that the Eastern Branch Manager of the Infinite Eugene Church had engaged in underhanded tactics was true, and even if they dismissed them as the ‘deviation of a hardcore fandom’, the majority of users knew that the ‘hardcore fandom’ within the current Infinite Eugene Church was not a minority, but a majority.

Therefore, the eyes of reasonable doubt towards the Infinite Eugene Church would never disappear.

Just as the entire internet was in an uproar.

A live broadcast was turned on after a long time on the official Eugene channel.

[Hello, this is Eugene.]

As Drakan expected, Eugene himself appeared to calm the heated public opinion.


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(🇰🇷)The Final Boss Has Returned

🇰🇷)The Final Boss Has Returned

끝판왕이 돌아왔다
Score 7.4
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: Released: 2020 Native Language: Korean
Drakan, a former top-ranked player and Guild Master of the Iron Blood Alliance, returns to the virtual reality game Ard Saga Second after six years, driven by a burning desire for revenge against Hero Eugene, the player who defeated him and brought down his guild. He finds himself in a drastically changed world: the game has been reset, a new Legacy System allows players to inherit the achievements of their previous characters, and the rise of Ard Live, a real-time streaming platform, has revolutionized the game’s economy and social dynamics.

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