Debuff Master

Chapter 579

“H-Hey, t-this is just...”

“I knew it. There was no way my personal details would get leaked so easily.”

“T-Tae-Sung...!”

“I had my suspicions it was you, but I had no proof. Thank you for confessing to your crime, I guess?”

“N-No, this is a misunderstanding—”

“DIEEEEEE!” Tae-Sung screamed while wringing Cheon Woo-Jin’s neck like a wet cloth.

“A-argh! S-Someone save me...!”

“Die, you bastard! Die!”

“I-I’m sorry! Ack!”

“Dieee!”

“S-Seung... Ack! Gu...! H-Help me!” Cheon Woo-Jin desperately sought help from his accomplice, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Tae-Sung shot a deathly glare at Seung-Gu, sending chills down the latter\'s spine.

“You stay out of this.”

“Y-Yes, hyung-nim.”

“I’ll consider you an accomplice if you get involved.”

“...”

“So you guys decided to test my limits?” Tae-Sung growled.

In the end, Cheon Woo-Jin was abandoned by his comrade.

“P-Please! I’m sorry!”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were so desperate to die? I would’ve made it easier for you.”

“Ack!”

Cheon Woo-Jin struggled, wildly flailing his arms and legs.

Thud! Bam! Clang!

He kicked the table, causing their coffee and food to fall on the ground.

“I... I have some urgent matters to take care of, so I’ll go ahead first, hyung-nim,” Seung-Gu said before rushing out of the cafe. He hopped into his Bentley and sped away as fast as he could.

“S-Seung...! You traitor! Aaaack!”

In the end, Cheon Woo-Jin was left all alone to receive the full wrath of Tae-Sung.

***

The scuffle between the two looked so serious that the people nearby almost killed the police. Fortunately, it ended before anyone could do so.

“...”

Cheon Woo-Jin was sitting quietly across from Tae-Sung. He had his head down as if he were some criminal.

‘Whoa... How the hell is he so strong? The only thing he does is eat and play games...’ Cheon Woo-Jin thought, shocked by Tae-Sung’s strength. Of course, he dared not voice his thoughts out, as he feared getting punched for it.

“I knew it. You insidious bastard,” Tae-Sung growled.

“I-Insidious? W-What did I do to get called that—”

“You stole your friend’s information. I have a feeling you’re going to end up stealing my money, too, in the future.”

“Do you think I’m crazy? Why would I covet that meager—”

“What did you say?”

“N-Nothing...”

“Sigh... What should I do with you?” Tae-Sung let out a sigh.

“...”

“I have to...”

“Ack!”

“If you do this one more time then you better forget about our friendship. Got that?”

“Y-Yeah...”

“Damn it... I’m already so busy, but here you are, creating more work for me...”

“But hey, you’re going to be very popular if you win,” Cheon Woo-Jin said carefully.

“Popular...”

“You can become a legend in this industry with your skills. I\'ve been feeling frustrated seeing you hide your skills,” Cheon Woo-Jin said, fixing his shirt. Then, he added, “You can become a superstar. I’m not asking you to debut as a pro gamer. All you have to do is appear in public a few times, and you will have the whole world’s attention.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! You’re going to get companies lining up to film commercials with you, and TV channels will beg you for an interview once you win the Super Rookie Tournament.”

“Hmm...”

“These kinds of opportunities to become famous don\'t come often, you know? This is your chance to not only become famous in Korea but also in the entire world!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Tae-Sung nodded and replied.

“You’ve already amassed enough wealth, so this is now your chance to become famous too. You can prove yourself to the world with this!”

“To prove myself to the world...”

“Plenty of people possessing half your skills are getting popular these days, so why can’t you? You need to seize this opportunity and carve your image into the people\'s minds. Show them what you can do in BNW and how high you can climb.

"Well, you\'re not the strongest out there, but you can definitely stand above the rest.”

Cheon Woo-Jin was right. There were numerous other Rankers actively playing the game, such as the top Ranker, Beowulf. Han Tae-Sung was indeed good, but it was a fact that there were far more Adventurers with better items than him.

In addition, there were bound to be unranked experts hidden across the vast continent.

However, Cheon Woo-Jin believed that one day—Tae-Sung would triumph against all of them and stand at the pinnacle of BNW. He believed that Tae-Sung would become the second Adventurer after Beowulf to break through the insurmountable wall most would face upon reaching Level 299.

“That’s your goal anyway, right? To stand at the pinnacle of the game,” Cheon Woo-Jin said.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Just think of the tournament as something like that, showing the world what you’re capable of.”

“Should I?”

“It’s an RPG game, so you won’t lose that much time becoming a pro gamer.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Also, I’m... really sorry about what I did. I just wanted you to be the best you can be.”

“Forget about it,” Tae-Sung replied, shaking his head. Then, he shrugged and said, “I know you were just looking out for me.”

“R-Really?”

“The fact that you used my personal information without consent annoys me, but I’ll let you off this once.”

“Really? You’re letting me off the hook?”

“In return...” Tae-Sung said, trailing the end of his words.

“What do you want in return?”

“I want information on the Church of Osric. I want as much information as you have.”

“Huh? Church of Osric?”

“The Guardians probably have a lot of information on them, right?”

“Y-Yeah, we do.”

“Make sure to share all of those with me from now on.”

“But why all of a sudden?”

“Why else? I want to destroy them.”

“All of a sudden?”

"Well, so what happened was...” Tae-Sung proceeded to explain what happened. To be precise, he shared the story of how Shakiro came back to life as the Weapon Seeker.

“What? A dead person came back to life?”

“He didn’t just die. I saw him turn into dust with my own eyes.”

“So he didn’t even leave his remains behind...?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“If he came back to life even after that, then the only culprit I can think of is the Church of Osric,” Cheon Woo-Jin said, agreeing with Tae-Sung\'s theory.

If there was one organization with the means to resurrect a human being without their remains, then it would be the Church of Osric with its dark magic.

“All right, I’ll have to discuss it internally, but I can convince them to cooperate with you. Actually, the Church of Osric has become even more secretive these days, so we do need the Proatine Kingdom’s help.”

“Oh?”

“Should I say it feels like they can read our moves? It’s very subtle, but I can’t help but get that feeling.”

"Is there a rat?”

“That’s possible,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a nod. Then, he added, “I don’t have any leads so far, but I have a feeling there’s something amiss.”

“Be careful.”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll have to be careful.”

“Anyway, so we’re going to start sharing information from now on, right?”

“I’ll do my best.”

Han Tae-Sung and Cheon Woo-Jin discussed how they could crush the Church of Osric over a meal.

‘They must be gamers. Sigh... They’re talking about their game even in real life? This is why addiction is scary...’ The staffers waiting at their table could not help but think that they were a bunch of gaming addicts.

***

“Phew!”

A few days later, Siegfried recovered fully and was back in optimal condition.

“Are you okay now, my love?”

“Yes!”

“That’s a relief. I was really worried about you.”

“Should I just die and come back to life again?” Siegfried joked. However, he regretted his joke just a few seconds later. Tears started forming in Brunhilde’s eyes, making him realize that he had cracked a bad joke.

“D-Don’t you ever say something like that again, even if it’s a joke...!”

“H-Honey!”

“I know you’re immortal, so you’re not going to die, but... Just thinking about you dying scares me. What if you leave my side forever one day...? I don’t... I don’t even want to think about it!”

Brunhilde’s heart dropped at Siegfried’s joke, causing her to tear up.

Siegfried felt extremely guilty after seeing her cry, but he could not help but have another thought.

‘S-She’s so cute and adorable!’

He could feel just how much Brunhilde loved him.

“I’m sorry, dear,” Siegfried said, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her from the back.

“N-No, it’s not your fault...”

“I will never leave your side, okay? I promise to never make such jokes again, so please stop crying.”

“I-I know... but...”

“Come here,” Siegfried said, turning her toward him. Then, he added, “Don’t worry, okay?”

“Okay...”

“Look at me,” Siegfried said with a smile. Then, he cupped her face and pulled her closer to him.

Their lips met, igniting the passion that was always burning between them.

***

A week later, Siegfried headed to the highest-ranking arena, the Hall of War God, to participate in the preliminary round of the Super Rookie Tournament.

The Super Rookie Tournament was divided into online preliminary qualifying rounds, group stages, and finals. In other words, the participants had to qualify in order to advance to the next round, which was the round where the tournament would be broadcast to the world.

“Alright, shall we get going, Hamchi?”

“Kyuuu! Let’s go, owner punk!”

Siegfried headed to the Church of Martial God’s temple in order to participate in the preliminary round of the Super Rookie Tournament, but—

“His Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa!

—the Proatine Kingdom’s knights were already lined up outside the temple. They drew their swords to create an arch and exclaimed at the top of their lungs.

“H-Huh? What the hell is this...?” Siegfried muttered in disbelief.

The knights were not the only ones lined up. Oscar, Carell, the Weapon Maestros, and various other core members of the kingdom were lined up as well.

But they were not the only ones there...

“Honey!”

“Papa!”

“Kwing! Kwing!”

His family was present. Brunhilde, Verdandi, and the Fairy Dragon had come to see him.

“Let’s go together, my love,” Brunhilde said, linking arms with him.

“T-Together? It’s just the preliminary round,” Siegfried replied, sounding flustered.

“Still!” Brunhilde said with a smile. Then, she added, “I can’t sit at home when my beloved is participating in a tournament, right? I want to see you in action too!”

“But...”

“Let’s go. I want to see every second of you whenever I can,” Brunhilde said with a warm smile.

“A-Ah...” Siegfried muttered, his face flushed red from his wife’s sweetness.

Then, he suddenly thought of teaching her a lesson later at night, ‘We’re playing mommy and daddy tonight! All night long, baby!’

“Ahem... Okay, let’s go.”

“Okay, my love.”

Siegfried entered the Hall of Martial God accompanied by his family, the kingdom’s core members, and the kingdom’s elite knights.

Flash!

“H-Huh? Wasn’t this the preliminary rounds...?” Siegfried muttered in shock. He could not help but doubt his eyes at what he was seeing before him.

He was shocked because the entire hall was packed with spectators. It was so packed that it seemed impossible to find an empty seat in the entire hall.

“Siegfried has entered... His first match is...”

“The favorite to win the tournament, Siegfried van Proa, has arrived! He will be participating in the preliminary rounds shortly.”

“Siegfried van Proa is here...”

There were scores of reporters busily writing down news articles in real-time.

“Hmm... Let’s observe for now.”

“We already called dibs on him, so don’t you dare!”

“What the hell are you talking about? We were the first to offer him a contract!”

The scouts and coaches from the Korean pro gaming teams were present.

“We must bring him to China. Spare no expenses if you must!”

“He’s going to come to the United States.”

“Have you ever heard of anyone who doesn’t like money? We must bring him to our league!”

There were other pro gaming teams from different countries present too.

Numerous people related to the industry were present to watch Siegfried’s first match.

However, that was not the end of it.

“Oh! They’re here!”

“Whoa! Awesome!”

“Is that elf his NPC wife? She’s so beautiful...”

“Do you see those knights? What’s up with their levels?”

“Hey, it’s not just their levels. Look! They’re wearing full gear sets from the Autonika Workshop!”

“Wow... I know he’s the first Adventurer to become a king, but his entrance is really intimidating...”

A myriad of Adventurers were here to watch Siegfried’s matches in the preliminary round.

“Welcome to the preliminary round of the Super Rookie Tournament! Siegfried van Proa’s match will soon begin!”

In fact, even the Korean major game broadcasting channels were present to live stream the event on their official G-Tube channel. Surprisingly, Siegfried\'s fame had already risen to the extent of attracting people in droves.