The Final Boss Has Returned 6

Chapter 6

Twenty users were inside the tutorial dungeon.

As befitting the level of beginners, this dungeon, where only goblins existed as monsters, was being filled with the incessant, noisy sound of a whistle.

[BEEEEEEEEEP!!]

“Ah, this is driving me crazy. Just who the hell is doing that?”

One of the users, listening to the sharp whistle again, burst out in complaint.

“Why don’t you ignore the useless noise and focus on finding monsters?”

His friend, who was in a party with the complaining user, chuckled and offered advice, causing the user to yell in an irritated voice.

“If I could see the monsters, I would be looking for them!”

Indeed.

Nearly two hours had passed since they entered the dungeon, yet they hadn’t even seen a single hair of a monster.

“Is this a bug or something?”

“There are no bugs in Ard Saga. Don’t be ridiculous.”

The friend retorted to the male user’s words.

That was right.

Ard Saga was a truly perfect game, devoid of any bugs.

It was said that a supercomputer with the world’s best performance managed the game, but the male user, whose thoughts reached that point, shook his head.

“And it makes sense that there are no monsters in the dungeon? That damn noise too, this is definitely a bug, for real.”

“Well, that’s true, but……”

[BEEEEEEEEEP!]

The moment the sword-wielding user exploded with complaints toward customer service, the whistle blew once again.

“AAAAARGH!!”

“Hey, calm down, will you?”

“I’m going to report this! I’m going to report it!”

Just as the male user was having a fit over the whistle sound.

[The tutorial dungeon has been cleared.]

An unbelievable notification popped up in front of the two users.

They hadn’t done anything, they hadn’t seen a single monster, they had just been walking through the forest!

And yet, the tutorial dungeon had been cleared!

Whether the two users were surprised or not at this unbelievable reality, the system diligently carried out its task, continuously sending notifications of the results to all users in the tutorial dungeon.

[Calculating contribution rate……]

[Contribution rate calculation complete.]

[Tutorial Dungeon Contribution Rate Ranking]

[1st Place Drakan (98%)]

[2nd Place Johnson (0.8%)]

[3rd Place Amy (0.5%)]

…….

And finally, when they saw the announced contribution rate, their jaws dropped.

The contribution rate of the user named Drakan, who took first place, was a ridiculous 98%!

“What the hell is this crazy result?”

“He cleared the entire tutorial dungeon…… alone?”

Shocked by the unbelievable results window, the combat tutorial from earlier flashed through the user’s mind.

The sight of him wielding a crimson sword, radiating an aura of killing intent as he massacred the Dire Wolves!

Remembering Drakan’s appearance, the user muttered in a trembling voice.

“It was him!”

“What are you talking about?”

“That guy who killed all the wolves earlier! It must have been him! Just how crazy of a veteran is that guy? And it doesn’t even make sense that a veteran like that hasn’t returned to the game yet!”

As the user said, almost all of the top rankers and named players from the previous game had returned within six months of Ard Saga Second’s release.

Even those who hadn’t returned within that timeframe had all returned within a year.

It wasn’t just the rankers.

Numerous hardcore users, also known as veterans, had also mostly returned within a year of Ard Saga Second’s release.

They knew.

How valuable time was as a resource in the game.

How important it was to get a head start, build a foundation, and secure a top ranking position to become a veteran.

Therefore, those who were considered decent at the game quickly returned as soon as Second was released.

Consequently, now, two years after release, the new users encountering the tutorial were mostly newbies or light users among the returning players.

Into this peaceful tutorial, a returning player of ranker-level had suddenly appeared!

This was truly a destroyer of the ecosystem.

The user once again checked the nickname on the results window, which he had carelessly glanced over before, and froze on the spot.

“Drakan……”

If the owner of that nickname was truly a returning player of ranker-level……

His identity could only be one.

“Drakan…… has returned?”

Steel Monarch Drakan.

The first formidable opponent Hero Eugene encountered, the leader of the Guild Alliance that ruled Ard World before Hero Eugene, the Guild Master of the Iron Blood Alliance, and the ruthless Overlord who once held the continent in his grasp!

The former top-ranked player, Drakan, had finally broken his long hiatus and returned!

Realizing this unbelievably shocking fact, the user’s hands trembled.

At that very moment.

A notification window popped up in front of all the users in the tutorial dungeon.

[The tutorial has been completed.]

[You will now be moved to the Reward Room.]

▄ ▄ ▄

[Calculating contribution rate……]

[Contribution rate calculation complete.]

[Tutorial Dungeon Contribution Rate Ranking]

[1st Place Drakan (98%)]

[2nd Place Johnson (0.8%)]

[3rd Place Amy (0.5%)]

…….

[Congratulations! You have cleared the tutorial dungeon with an overwhelming contribution rate!]

I looked at the contribution rate results window with a satisfied expression.

[You have achieved the achievement ‘1st Place from the Tutorial!’]

[As an achievement reward, all stats have been increased by 5.]

[You have achieved the achievement ‘Monopolizing from the Tutorial!’]

[As an achievement reward, all stats have been increased by 6.]

The satisfied smile on my face deepened as I saw the subsequent achievement notifications.

Thanks to securing 1st place with a 98% contribution rate in the dungeon clear, I received two consecutive achievement notifications.

It was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t reach 100%, but this was still a decent result.

In any case, notifications of stat increases always brought me pleasure.

Because it gave me the tangible feeling that I was getting closer, bit by bit, to that bastard Eugene.

[Tutorial dungeon clear rewards will be distributed in the Reward Room.]

I ignored the notification explaining information I already knew and fell into thought.

‘By now, the users in this dungeon should also know that I’ve returned.’

Ard Saga allowed duplicate nicknames, and that was the same for Ard Saga Second.

However, there was no way they wouldn’t know that the only Drakan capable of displaying the skills I showed during the combat tutorial and achieving an overwhelming 98% contribution rate in the tutorial dungeon was me.

And the news of my return would spread rapidly through the internet.

This was a good thing for me.

Because I had no intention of hiding my identity.

No, I actually wanted that bastard Eugene to know that I had returned.

‘Now everyone will know.’

I smiled, imagining the expression Eugene, that bastard, would make upon hearing the news of my return.

Just then.

[The tutorial has been completed.]

[You will now be moved to the Reward Room.]

With the notification window appearing, the surrounding scenery changed in an instant.

Outer space.

I was floating alone in the dark blue space, with shining stars visible in the distance.

This was the space where beginners who completed the tutorial passed through to receive rewards before going to their starting point in Ard World, a kind of waiting room.

[Calculating overall tutorial clear rank……]

[Overall tutorial clear rank calculation complete.]

[Congratulations. Your overall tutorial clear rank is SSS.]

Soon after, my overall tutorial clear rank, the highest possible SSS rank, appeared!

It was a natural result, so I wasn’t particularly thrilled.

[Rewards are being distributed.]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

…….

[You have acquired the title ‘Tutorial Conqueror’.]

However, a smile naturally spread across my face at the rewards that followed.

Level up notifications were always welcome.

Moreover, since I even received a title this time, I was even more pleased.

[The all-time tutorial ranking has been updated.]

[Your all-time tutorial ranking is 6th.]

My eyebrows twitched as I saw the all-time tutorial ranking that appeared next.

‘6th place?’

6th place after all that? Then who the hell is above me!

I thought I would be at least 2nd place, but my expectations were off, and as I was wondering about it, a window popped up in front of me.

[All-Time Tutorial Ranking]

[1st. Eugene]

[2nd. Verda]

[3rd. MuscleMan]

[4th. Sharp]

[5th. Elena]

[6th. Drakan]

…….

My face hardened as I saw the ranking window, and then it started to tremble.

The excitement I felt just a moment ago had completely cooled down, no, it was now burning fiercely.

I wondered who was above me, and it turned out to be that damn Eugene and his gang.

I gritted my teeth and engraved each of the unforgettable nicknames above me in my mind once again, taking a deep breath.

This was just the beginning!

I will advance even faster, bring down Eugene, that bastard, and his entire gang, and achieve my revenge!

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, cooling my head and controlling my wildly beating heart and surging emotions, thinking about the Reward Room.

As far as I knew, this wasn’t all the Reward Room had to offer.

Just giving out some experience points and a title could be done while being summoned to the starting point.

The true function of the Reward Room began now.