On a journey that could be considered long or short as perceived, finally, a period began to appear.

After many difficult processes, the only one left from keeping the episode from ending was the ‘King of Dead’, Chalian.

And the journey wasn’t just for the users who were participating in the expedition.

During the whole time, many of the Kailan’s users were with it, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say.

Most of them have watched almost every broadcast, and were sincerely supporting the expedition rankers.

Viewers were nervous when the expedition was in danger and when they overcame the crisis, they were as happy as winning.

In fact, even a novice user in the Kailan was thinking of themselves to be a member of the expedition.

The more dynamic the episode progressed, the happier the viewers were.

In fact, there were those who were much happier than the viewers.

“Kya, Mr. Kim, how does a team dinner sound for today? The taste of Hanwoo meat across the street tastes amazing. The meat just melts in the mouth…!”

“Deal, team leader! Should I contact the production and press offices too?”

“That sounds good! Those press team ones, they didn’t make it the last time because of the night shifts, it is nice to contact them.”

“The payment one… right?”

“This person told me! The audience rating has gone up by so much, I can’t even tell the number, they are already crossing the hundreds.”

“Uh eue, nice!”

They were the employees of the YTBC who were broadcasting the episode almost exclusively.

It was all because of the expedition broadcast of Ian, which had set an unprecedented number of viewership records in the history of the game broadcasting.

Of the many viewership indicators, all but one indicator, the ‘Highest instant viewership’ was being replaced.

Also, the battle with the Lich King remained, so the YTBC was hoping that it would reach even higher ratings.

As such a situation had emerged, the employees of the YTBC involved in the broadcast had been rewarded with bonuses, which turned the atmosphere even more cheerful.

And among the YTBC crew, there was one huge beneficiary…

It was Yoo Jaewoong, the head of the YTBC’s management office and team 1 of the advertising division.

“By the way, team leader, congratulations. I heard that you’re going to be promoted to deputy manager this time.”

“Huh, thank you.”

“By the way, how did you manage to get Ian God’s video? All messengers in the games had been blocked, and even when we try to contact them through the guilds, they are always busy with the quests. Let me in on the secret too.”

“Haha, it was just luck. I guess I had good luck.”

“Aee, you’re being too much, boss. You need to give some tips for your juniors too.”

Yoo Jaewoong just murmured without answering the question of the subordinate, trying to seem humble.

But his words of luck weren’t just out of humbleness.

It literally was the truth.

He connected with Ian and then got the broadcast, however, he wasn’t the one who approached Ian.

When he received the call from Ian, he was under the impression that he got the call by accident.

‘Hu, I was lucky that I was the only person in the team in the office at that time.’

Yoo Jaewoong looked over past the office and smiled.

The team’s subordinates were very excited about the dinner and were packing up their bags and the expedition was still going on and being played on the huge screen in the office.

However, his gaze stuck to the screen where the expedition was going on.

On the screen was a familiar face.

‘Poor guy, next time I’ll buy you a meal.’

Yoo Jaewoong’s eyes were on Hines.

The most struggling employee in the company right now was Hines.

Hines, was commenting on the screen, was the most unfortunate one.

* * *

Ian’s expedition killed many undead of the legion and had to go through many difficulties after that.

They had to pass through the traps of darkness, and they also had to kill the super high- level named bosses who seemed like the direct servants of Chalian.

However, the difficulty of the past task made the current difficulties seem easy.

As a result, the expedition was able to enter the Falcacio’s castle with the expense of a fewer than ten expeditions.

At the end of the task, new system messages appeared before the expedition entered the Falcacio.

Tring-!

[The strong energy of the dead is coming.]

[The dark resistance is reduced by 10.]

[The magic resistance is reduced by 5%.]

[State of ‘Fear’, the defense has been reduced by 20.]

[You have entered the dungeon ‘The castle of Dark Empire’.]

[You are the first to find the dungeon.]

[For 24 hours from now, all the experience gained is doubled.]

[For 24 hours from now, all the types of item drop and gold drop will be doubled.]

[Increase of fame by 300,000.]

(Syncopation)

[You have encountered the final boss of the episode, Lich King Chalian.]

Numerous system messages filled the view.

The expeditionary viewers were much nervous than ever.

The end of the long long episode was finally due.

Also, the shadow of the Lich King Chalian was now in front of them.

“Be ready to turn into a dead man after stepping into the place that belongs to me.”

The man’s voice was sullen and rang inside the whole dungeon.

Subsequently, into the sight of the users, the black cloak of Chalian made the first appearance.

The King of the Dead—Lick King, was overpowering the crowd.

Users were nervous and were hurrying to check the status.

No one knew what kind of a power the Lich King might possess.

However, they were clear of one thing.

Chalian was going to be stronger than any of the boss monster that they have been dealing with.

Ian, who was at the forefront of the expedition, slowly walked towards Chalian.

However, it wasn’t related to the will of Ian.

Ian had the highest rate of contribution and achievement in the episode, and the story developed around Ian.

All the users in the dungeon began to be controlled by the AI, the last story of the episode was in progress.

Kooong-!

Dark energy spread around Chalian with great resonance.

And as a consequence, Chalian’s appearance could be seen by Ian.

The Lich King Chalian was three times larger than any average human being.

And as the giant body touched the ground, a huge sound rang out.

Kung-!

Resulting in the eye contact between Ian and Chalian.

A disturbing voice came out of the mouth of Chalian.

“Huhu, the man who challenged my power without any fear.”

Ian’s mouth too began to move then,

“The King of Dead, you remember me?”

Chalian dipped his face a little low and looked at the curious face of Ian.

“Of course. I exist beyond the limits. Since I am the king of the dead, and I forgot how to forget.”

“That is such a sad story. Oblivion is the best gift given to the man by God… No, not just the ‘oblivion’ but a thousand things have been blessed onto the humans.”

“Blessed…”

“Happiness, love, joy. Do these feelings reside in you?”

At those words of Ian’s, Chalian’s mouth went up.

If one looks at it, it might be the image of a smile, but it contained intense anger in it.

“Even in the life that I have lived, I have never felt such ‘blessed’ feelings as you say.”

“I want to believe that.”

“Huhu, do you think that they are much more worthy than the ‘eternal’ life?”

Ian and Chalian who exchanged a few dialogues between them took a gap to breathe.

After a brief pause, Ian opened his mouth again,

“If you can’t be happy and if you can’t love… what does it even mean to enjoy eternal life?”

“How can you say that?”

“Me, who is right here and those who are all right behind me…”

“…?”

“Are the living proof and the fact that we don’t envy you.”

“You!”

Chalian with his red eyes burning of anger swept the yellow staff in his right hand.

Kwang-!

Subsequently, intense dark energy spread from the staff of Chalian.

Kwakwakwa-!

Because of the dark energy that swept, the expedition users were swept away and suffered a lot of damage, each of them were pushed back more than half the distance.

And Ian, who was right in front of him, suffered the most damage.

“Keuk!”

Ian’s vitality gauge cut more than half with just a single swipe.

But Ian, contemplating his character, wasn’t surprised, not in the least.

The energy that came out from the staff of Chalian, not just Ian, but whoever it was would’ve suffered the same amount of damage.

‘it’s probably around 60 percent…’

In Kailan, the damage that the users suffer while in the control of the AI would never cause the user to die.

As a result, when the story proceeded under the control of AI, it was safer than ever.

Ian was ready for the story to move ahead, rather than be surprised at the attack done by Chalian.

At the same time, he was closely monitoring the structure of the dungeon.

And as the conversation with Chalian was still proceeding, it was safe to grasp the inside of the dungeon.

‘The whole structure is dome-shaped. It seems to be a bit high for a dome… we need to be careful in the center of the dungeon. It is a good shape to put in traps.’

And while Ian was thinking, Ian’s AI and Lich King Chalian’s conversation was coming to an end.

“Damn, I shouldn’t have let you live at that time. I should have killed you in the Devildom.”

“You’re ‘should’ like you had a chance. It wasn’t that you let me live, it was that you ‘couldn’t’ kill me.”

“Kuk, don’t talk like you’re so confident. If I wanted to, I could have killed you there right away. I just didn’t pursue it as an exchange for unlocking my seal.”

“See, then we made a mistake, one after the other. I freed you by mistake and you let me live by mistake.”

“Kuaahh, you understand well.”

“I just spoke the truth.”

Once again, silence came between them.

And with that, the whole body of Chalian was overflowing with dark energy.

“Nice, human. Then those mistakes, let’s make them right, in this very place.”

With those words of Chalian, Ian picked up the red sword that was placed on his back.

Srrrng-!

In the middle of the dungeon, a sharp sword was pulled out, and that was the only sound that everyone could hear.

It was Bloody Revenge, a great sword that was captured from Limlong.

“I feel the same, Chalian. I’ll rectify my mistake for getting deceived by the Devil King and to release the seal that was placed on you.”

Chalian started to rise into the sky, and Ian returned to the expedition users.

After a while, the final battle of the episode had begun.