Debuff Master

Chapter 580

‘What the hell...? What kind of preliminary round attracts such a crowd?’

He thought that only a handful of people would come and watch the preliminary rounds, but he couldn\'t be more wrong about it.

‘Ugh...!’

Siegfried scratched the back of his head awkwardly while walking toward the arena.

It was then.

“Honey,” Brunhilde walked up to him and held his arm. Then, she smiled and whispered, “You must win, okay?”

Smooch!

Brunhilde did not forget to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“Eh?”

“Look how sweet she is...”

“Wow... He married a super beautiful Level 299 elf...”

“S-She’s so sweet!”

The spectators were in awe of Brunhilde’s beauty and level while being extremely jealous of Siegfried.

Their reaction was understandable, as it was very difficult to woo a woman in BNW despite them being just NPCs. The NPCs in BNW acted and thought like humans, so wooing them would be like wooing a human being.

In other words, the Adventurers had to invest their time and effort just like they would in real life to seduce NPCs.

What did that mean?

Those single since birth in real life were bound to be single in BNW, too!

It sounded cruel, but it was impossible for an Adventurer to have a relationship with a beautiful NPC just because they were merely playing a game. The only way they could be in a relationship with someone as beautiful as Brunhilde despite having zero dating experience was for them to become on par with Siegfried.

Thus, the Adventurers were bound to be extremely envious of Siegfried.

‘Hohoho! Look at me! My wife loves me so much!’ Siegfried thought, knowing the Adventurers were extremely envious of him. Men were bound to be envious of someone who was in a relationship with a beautiful woman, and Siegfried was enjoying every single bit of their envy.

However, that was not the end of their envy...

“Win! Papa! I love you!”

Smooch!

“Okay, Papa will win for you!”

Verdandi gave Siegfried a kiss.

“C-Cute!”

“He married an NPC, and he even has such a cute daughter...?”

“What?! She’s so cute! I’ve never seen such a cute NPC before!”

“Argh!

Cuteness overload!”

“I wonder how beautiful she will be once she grows up...? I mean, her mother is a beauty, right?”

“And his daughter is so cute? I’m so jealous!”

The Adventurers became envious that Siegfried had such a cute daughter.

‘Ahem!’ Siegfried tried to act calm, but he could not help feeling elated after noticing that people were finding Verdandi to be extremely adorable.

However, he was not a fool...

“Dame Oscar,” Siegfried whispered.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” Oscar replied.

“Drag those looking with sleazy eyes out of the arena and punish them.”

“Pardon me, sire?”

“Look over there,” Siegfried said, pointing at the crowd.

“Ah... Brunhilde... Your boobs...”

“So cute... Her skin looks so smooth... Snort! Snort!”

After witnessing Brunhilde’s beauty and Verdandi’s cuteness, some Adventurers lost their minds. Their reaction was normal, as most of the Adventurers had the same reaction as them, but the problem was the difference in their reactions.

Some of the Adventurers were expressing their admiration for the mother and daughter’s beauty and cuteness in a disgusting manner, openly showing their evil desires.

Thus, Siegfried wanted these disgusting individuals to be dragged out of the arena and executed on the spot.

“Make sure you cut their dicks off,” Siegfried growled.

“I, Oscar, receive my lord’s command,” Oscar replied in a low voice with a nod. Then, she went to the knight templars of the Martial God and relayed Siegfried’s command.

The knight templars went over to the Adventurers that Siegfried had pointed out. They grabbed them and dragged them out of the arena.

“W-What?!”

“Why are you doing this?!”

“Let go! Let go of me!”

The Adventurers screamed and resisted, attracting all eyes in the arena.

Oscar bellowed at the top of her lungs, “May I have your attention, please?! I am the knight captain of the Proatine Kingdom’s royal knights, Oscar! Heed my words, Adventurers!

"Those Adventurers have hidden amongst you and spoke in contempt of Her Majesty the Queen, and Her Highness the Princess. Therefore, they are sentenced to death according to the continent’s lese-Majeste laws!”

The highest-ranking knight templar then bellowed at the top of his lungs, “The arena is a holy place instilled with the presence of the Martial God, Ares! We, the knight templars of the Martial God, will not forgive those who dare to slander royalty in this sacred place!”

The Church of Martial God had been doing its best to get on Siegfried’s good side these days, so they couldn\'t refute the command and had to cooperate proactively.

“There are many eyes watching and many ears listening! We know you\'re hiding within the crowd, and we\'re going to find you! I advise all of you to be mindful of your words from now on!” Oscar exclaimed. Then, she turned and shouted, “Knights!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Go and seek out those who daring enough to utter such disgraceful things regarding Her Majesty and Her Highness!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Thud!

The Proatine Kingdom’s knights stomped forward and directed their gazes toward the spectators. Their eyes were as sharp as hawks, searching to see if anyone would further dare to make such disgraceful comments regarding Siegfried’s family.

Thanks to that, none of the Adventurers dared to make any comments regarding Brunhilde and Verdandi.

‘Good,’ Siegfried thought. He found it to be a bit heavy-handed, but he was extremely satisfied with the results.

No one—he was not going to let anyone utter disgraceful things about his beloved wife and daughter.

‘I don’t mind being criticized. Yes, I’ll take all the blame if it means keeping them safe,’ Siegfried thought.

Siegfried had long gotten used to being criticized and having all sorts of slander made against him, but he was not going to sit still and do nothing while people were uttering Brunhilde and Verdandi on their lips in an evil manner.

‘I’ll have to do better for my beloved wife and daughter.’ Siegfried decided it was imperative that he worked on his public image for the sake of his family.

Siegfried van Proa was having all sorts of thoughts while making his way up the arena.

***

Siegfried’s first opponent in the preliminary round was an amateur with the ID, Nasoguri.

Nasoguri wasn\'t extremely strong or anything. His rank was Overlord III, but his physical capabilities weren\'t that good for his rank.

However, he was known for his creativity, which a lot of people held in great regard. He was a player who used unique items and skills that would completely blindside his opponents.

His playstyle gained fame after he uploaded videos of his PVP duels on G-Tube, and he earned the moniker "Pharmacist"[1] by his viewers.

In short, he was not an opponent that one could drop their guard against. Thus, most people believed that even though Nasoguri didn\'t have what it takes to win the tournament, he was definitely going to reach the round of eight or sixteen at least.

Some people would often cheese their way to victory in a PVP duel, but such cheese tactics were not going to work on really strong people unless they were well prepared.

Of course, they had to know what they were doing, too.

“Aigoo! It is an honor to meet you!” Nasoguri greeted. Then, he grinned and said, “I did not expect to meet you this way. Hehehe!”

“The feeling is mutual. I used to watch your videos, so it does feel surreal. Anyway, it is nice to meet you,” Siegfried replied.

“I will be in your care, so please go easy on me, hyung-nim.”

“Oh, please. I am the one who should be saying that.”

The two exchanged greetings, but Siegfried was not deceived by Nasoguri’s demeanor.

‘What the hell did you prepare that you’re grinning ear to ear? Ah, this guy is making me nervous...’ Siegfried thought. He knew very well just how cunning Nasoguri could be, so he made sure to keep his guard up.

This was a common repertoire of Nasoguri. He\'d smile cheerfully and greet his opponent before a duel, but it was a smile that would disappear as soon as the duel began. Then, Nasoguri would become a vicious beast that would stop at nothing until his opponent was knocked down.

“Shall we start? Hehe!”

“Sure.”

The two tapped the "Ready" button.

The countdown timer appeared.

[3... 2... 1...!]

[Fight!]

“...!”

Only three seconds had passed since the duel began, but everyone’s eyes were already wide open from shock.

***

Not everyone who had come to watch the preliminary rounds was fond of Siegfried, and the majority of those who weren\'t fond of Siegfried were Adventurers contracted to a pro gaming team but had yet to become an official professional gamer.

In other words, they were what people would call semi-pros.

Aside from them, there were Adventurers waiting to debut as pro gamers and were something like a trainee affiliated with some pro gaming teams.

What did this mean? It meant that most pro gaming teams had told their amateur members to participate in the Super Rookie Tournament.

Thus, the Super Rookie Tournament was the perfect place for people to gather data on their future competitors, and participants who were the favorites to win the tournament, such as Siegfried, were closely observed by them too.

The difference between having data on how their trainees performed against candidates like Siegfried would prove invaluable in nurturing them in the future.

Thus, the coaches and coaching staff of each pro gaming team paid close attention to Siegfried’s match.

But...

[3... 2... 1...!]

[Fight!]

The duel started.

Boom!

Siegfried closed the distance to Nasoguri in the blink of an eye.

Fwaaaah!

Flames shot up from the ground and engulfed the entire arena.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Siegfried swung his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp at Nasoguri’s head exactly five times and—

[Nasoguri]

[HP: ??????????]

[Mana: ??????????]

[Stamina: ??????????]

Nasoguri lost fifty percent of his HP.

Siegfried’s basic attacks boasted an Attack Power on par with most people’s skills, but his Attack Power was not the only problem.

Whing! Whing! Whing!

Stars circled above Nasoguri’s head.

Siegfried’s absurd Attack Power and his blunt weapon had left his opponent stunned.

A fraction of a second was extremely important in duels between PVP experts, but the stun Nasoguri was inflicted with had a whopping three-second duration.

In other words, he lost the duel the moment he was stunned.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Siegfried used Machine Gun Smash and smashed Nasoguri’s head open.

Thud...!

Nasoguri\'s HP fell to zero, and he fell lifelessly to the arena floor.

Shockingly, the duel lasted only for three seconds. In other words, three seconds were all Siegfried needed to close the distance, place down Blaze Field, stun his opponent, and smash his opponent\'s head open with Machine Gun Smash.

Speed was of the essence!

Siegfried was so wary of Nasoguri’s tricks that he decided to go all in from the start and end the duel.

“Thank you for the match,” Siegfried said with a bow before stepping down from the arena.

The scouts and coaches from the pro gaming teams could not believe their eyes. They could not gather a shred of data from the match and were forced to sit, blinking their eyes stupidly.

The only thing they got from the match was that Siegfried was extremely fast.

Of course, Siegfried didn\'t really care about what they thought of him.

“Alright, let’s go for the next round,” Siegfried said with a smirk, seemingly riled up.

He went to the next arena, where his next opponent was waiting for him. It went without saying that the crowd moved along with him to the next arena.

1. People who make weird builds in games and upload them on YouTube are called pharmacists, because they’re selling ineffective drugs to people. This is a very Korean term, by the way. ☜