Debuff Master

“Yes.”

“What’s that?”

“Let’s get out of here first. It’s a bit risky to chat so near to those monsters.”

“I agree.”

Siegfried and Amundsen walked far away from the Ishuka Empire ruins.

“So, what is that Jungle Challenge you mentioned?” Siegfried asked.

“It’s challenging the Hunterian King to a one-on-one duel.”

“A duel…”

Siegfried gauged his chances of victory against the Hunterian King, and the result was obvious.

“I don’t really think that I can beat that thing…” he muttered.

Siegfried didn’t dare to overestimate himself. Yes, he was pretty powerful for his level because of his Debuff Master class, but there was no way he could win in a one-on-one duel against a Master.

It would be a different story if the stars aligned and the heavens blessed him, or he was a hard counter for the Hunterian King, but it was highly unlikely for him to win against the boss monster in a straight-up normal duel.

“Do you really think it will accept the duel? It has nothing to gain from dueling me, and that thing will probably command its underlings to get rid of someone like me.”

“That will indeed be the case if you challenge it to a duel right away, but it is different if you use the Jungle Challenge.”

“…?”

“The Jungle Challenge is a challenge issued by a worthy creature against the Ruler of the Ruin, and the ruler has to agree to the challenge no matter what.”

“A worthy creature… what’s that…?”

“There are five barbarian tribes living in these jungles that used to be the main factions of the Ishuka Empire.”

“Five barbarian tribes…?”

“They were the nobles of the Ishuka Empire. Those five tribes had been the ones selecting the emperor of the Ishuka Empire.”

“So…?”

“If you challenge the chieftains of these five tribes and win, the Hunterian King will have no choice but to accept your challenge.”

It was then.

Ding!

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Great Jungle Challenge]

[Challenge the chieftains of the five barbarian tribes in the Great Jungle and obtain their insignias.]

[Then, use the Jungle Challenge to duel the Ruler of the Ruin, the Hunterian King.]

[Type: Special Quest]

[Progress: 0% (0/5)]

[Amazoness Tribe (0/1)

[Bullman Tribe (0/1)]

[Dagwa Tribe (0/1)]

[Hogwa Tribe (0/1)]

[Ddali Tribe (0/1)]

[Rewards: Challenge Ticket x 1, Brave Challenger Buff x1]

Siegfried could understand what the quest was asking him to do, and the rewards were quite straightforward as well. However, he had no idea what the reward Brave Challenger Buff was.

“Brave Challenger Buff…?” Siegfried muttered.

It was then that Amundsen took out an old, weathered book from his inventory and flipped it open.

“According to this book… This is a special ability granted to the one that has defeated all five chieftains.”

“Special ability?”

“The Hunterian King has been granted mystical powers by the ruin, but nobody actually knows what it is.”

Siegfried briefly flashed his Rune of Insight at the Hunterian King when he got a peek at it and noticed that the boss monster had a buff called Great Jungle Hegemon.[1]

‘If I get that buff Amundsen is talking about, then… Perhaps I can win…’ he thought before deciding to do the quest, Great Jungle Challenge.

The Great Jungle was filled with all sorts of vicious creatures, and bringing his kingdom’s military to such a place was definitely going to be catastrophic.

He was not going to simply stand and let his army that he had painstakingly nurtured be wiped out by nature.

‘Yeah, let’s try to do this with my own power. I can always call my military later on if I fail to do it myself.’

He still had some time on his hands, so he decided to try and complete the Great Jungle Challenge quest with his own strength.

“Let’s do it, that Great Jungle Challenge or whatever you call it.”

“Do you really plan to? I mentioned it to you, but I didn’t expect you to accept it…”

“Well, I have no other choice. I’m desperate enough to hold onto any opportunity that comes my way right now.”

“Hmm…”

“Do you have any tribe in mind?”

“I know where the Hogwa Tribe is.”

“Let’s go there,” Siegfried said as he started walking.

“H-Hey!” Amundsen exclaimed.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to protect you, so just lead the way.”

“No! Listen!”

“I already told you I’ll protect you, right? I swear it on my life, so just lead the…”

“No! I mean, it’s not that way. It’s this way!”

“Oh…”

Siegfried awkwardly scratched the back of his head and traced his steps back to where Amundsen was waiting for him.

***

On the way to the Hogwa Tribe’s village.

“What kind of tribe is the Hogwa Tribe?” Siegfried asked.

“Those guys are… quite the vicious bunch…” Amundsen replied, and then he added, “They are probably the top three most vicious creatures in this jungle.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The Hogwa Tribe are quite adept in sorcery, and they are extremely gifted in handling all sorts of poison.”

“Hmm…”

“The Hogwa Chieftain is an extremely powerful Voodoo Shaman from what I heard.”

“Oh, that’s a very important piece of information.”

It seemed that Amundsen lived up to his reputation as an explorer based on the vast knowledge he possessed.

‘It was the right choice to save him. He’s an excellent guide,’ Siegfried thought as he continued following the explorer.

They continued walking for an hour until…

“Who are you?!”

“An Adventurer from the continent?”

“Hoho! How would you like to die?”

Siegfried and Amundsen were greeted by the Hogwa Tribe as soon as they set foot near their village.

“Stop! Don’t attack us! This young man is here to challenge the chieftain under the name of the Great Jungle Challenge! You have a duty to accept his challenge fair and square!” Amundsen exclaimed.

Siegfried never asked him to be his representative, but he was already talking to the barbarians on his behalf.

“What? The Great Jungle Challenge?”

“Kekeke! How can you claim that when you’re not even from the jungle?”

The Hogwa Tribesmen laughed at them, but not a single one of them attacked them. It was all because the Great Jungle Challenge was open to anyone with the desire to challenge the chieftain.

“Amundsen.”

“Yes?”

Siegfried asked Amundsen while following the Hogwa Tribesmen leading the way, “Now that I think about it, isn’t this too liberal? I mean, I’m not even from this jungle, but how can they simply accept my challenge? Isn’t this too much of a hassle for the chieftain? What if all sorts of people come to challenge the chieftain?”

“Yes, it’s going to be quite bothersome if everyone comes to challenge the chieftain, but…”

“But?”

“The challenge itself is not a simple battle of strength, so not everyone is going to think about attempting it.”

“Not a simple battle of strength?”

“Every tribe has their own method to settle the duel, as far as I know, but even I’m not sure of the specific details…”

“I see…”

It was then.

“Which one of you fools is foolish enough to challenge me using the Great Jungle Challenge?”

A middle-aged man with a shrill voice emerged from the hundreds of tribesmen.

[Dwaitka]

[The chieftain of one of the five barbarian tribes in the Great Jungle, the Hogwa Tribe.]

[He is a powerful Voodoo Shaman, and he specializes in dark magic and all sorts of poison that exists in the Great Jungle.]

[Type: Semi-Named NPC]

[Level: 250]

[Affiliation: Hogwa Tribe]

[Position: Chieftain]

[Class: Voodoo Shaman]

The chieftain named Dwaitka was wearing a skull headgear decorated with all sorts of trinkets as if announcing that he was a Voodoo Shaman.

“Hahaha! You foolish outsiders!” Dwaitka exclaimed in his shrill voice, and then he said, “You dare speak of the Great Jungle Challenge? You people from the continent have a saying that fools rush in where angels fear, right?”

Then, he licked his lips and threatened, “Have you already understood just how foolish you are? Why don’t you retract your challenge? I’ll let you go with only one arm as payment for your insolence.”

“Ah, shut up, will you? Let’s hurry up and fight,” Siegfried grumbled in response.

“W-What?!” Dwaitka exclaimed as he grimaced, and then he doubted his ears and stuttered, “Shut up and… hurry up and fight…?”

“I’m quite busy, you know? So let’s just skip the chatter and get on with it,” Siegfried said as he waved his hand.

The Hogwa Tribesmen froze for a second before they started shouting.

“That insolent bastard!”

“Rip him to shreds and feed him to our toads!”

“He dares to insult the chieftain?!”

The tribesmen seemed to completely forget about the fact that it was Dwaitka who had provoked Siegfried first as they gnashed their teeth at Siegfried’s insolence.

“Haha…” Dwaitka laughed, unlike his furious tribesmen.

“You foolish outsider, I will make you realize the huge price you will pay for your foolishness,” he said nonchalantly. He obviously didn’t consider Siegfried a worthy opponent. He already thought that he had won even before the fight began.

“I will not kill you today, outsider. Instead, I will sever all of your limbs and make you regret your foolishness! You shall remember this day for the rest of your—”

“Ah, you talk too fucking much.”

“…!”

“Let’s hurry up and get on with it! Can we?!”

Siegfried sounded quite annoyed as he pressed Dwaitka to start the duel. He did not have the luxury of listening to someone’s vain monologue while Brunhilde and his child were fighting for their lives right now.

“Ah, it seems that you will have to be inside your coffin before reflecting on your foolishness. Alright, I will give you what you wished for, outsider. Men! Prepare for the Great Jungle Challenge!” Dwaitka shouted.

The Hogwa Tribesmen busily moved as soon as their chieftain gave the command, and they took out all sorts of instruments and started setting them up.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of drums signaled the start of the first Great Jungle Challenge.

***

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The duel started with the beating of drums.

“What do I have to do? I heard every tribe has their own method of dueling, right?” Siegfried asked.

“Hoho! You seem to know your stuff! Not bad for an outsider!” Dwaitka replied with a smirk before he said, “All right, I guess I will have to tell you since the challenge has started. Our Hogwa Tribe’s chosen method of duel is—Shwooooop…!”

Dwaitka suddenly inhaled a big gasp of air halfway through his explanation.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

He thrust his staff topped with a skull and all sorts of bells attached to it toward the sky.

“The challenger has to face the creature summoned by me, the chieftain of the Hogwa Tribe!”

“A summoned creature?”

“It’s time for you to experience the viciousness of the jungle, foolish outsider!” Dwaitka roared.

Vroooooom!

A noise reminiscent of a car exhaust echoed throughout the tribe.

‘What was that…?’ Siegfried tilted his head in confusion and looked toward where the sound came from.

“A swarm of… locusts…?” he muttered after seeing a swarm of Great Jungle Locusts blotting out the horizon.

However, that wasn’t the end of it…

Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit!

There were hundreds of frogs.

Ssss…! Ssss…! Ssss…!

There were hundreds of vipers.

Sssk! Sssk! Sssk!

There were hundreds of thousands of fire ants.

Flap! Flap! Flap!

And thousands of bats…

Dwaitka’s summoned creatures turned both the heavens and the earth pitch black.

“Hahahaha! Kneel before the might of the jungle, foolish outsider! I will acknowledge defeat if you manage to withstand my creatures for ten minutes! Haha!” Dwaitka exclaimed with both of his arms proudly raised up.

“But you are in luck since I am a merciful chieftain! If you beg for forgiveness, then I shall—Huh…?” Dwaitka stopped mid-sentence and doubted his eyes. “Y-y-you crazy bastard! Ha! Where did you come from, you crazy bastard?! Tsk tsk… He looked quite normal on the outside, but to think that he’s mentally challenged.”

“How unfortunate. He’s quite young, but he’s already going to perish…” Dwaitka said while shaking his head. He treated Siegfried as if he were mentally challenged because…

“Hell yeah! Come to Papa! Yahoo! Come to Papa right now!” Siegfried was smiling brightly with both of his arms spread wide open as if he was welcoming the oncoming swarms of calamity.

1. The Hunterian King’s details were not shown in the previous chapter. It’s either an oversight from the author or a part of the story. ☜