Debuff Master

“Isn’t it too much…?” Siegfried asked while staring at the sack in a daze.

“Uh… The Goblin Lord seemed to have hoarded up quite a bit of gold,” Baron Wegmann explained with an awkward smile while scratching the back of his head.

“Ah…!” Siegfried gasped when he realized what the baron meant.

“And we also gathered supplies and resources from the now-fallen Schreyer Territory, and that amounted to quite a bit as well,” Baron Wegmann added.

Siegfried had been wondering where all the gold came from, but now, he realized that all of it was thanks to the gold Gorgo had hoarded when it was alive.

“Of course, I wish to give you more of it, but we have to compensate the families of the soldiers who had fallen in battle, and we have to spend some of it on restoring the territory, so…” Baron Wegmann trailed off.

“I am satisfied with this,” Siegfried said as he waved his hand to gesture that the baron had no reason to apologize.

Five thousand gold was a decent sum. In fact, it was almost unheard of for a Level 30 user to rake in such a profit even though Brave New World was a game where real-life cash could be used to boost one’s character. Not to mention, Siegfried even obtained the enhancement coupon for Mercedes Workshop, Gorgo’s blood, and other miscellaneous profits from this war. As such, the total profit he raked from the Biermann Territory alone could be worth more than tens of billions of won.

Of course, he had no plans to use or sell the enhancement coupon anytime soon.

“I am already grateful after receiving so much,” Siegfried said.

“I’m glad that you see it that way,” Baron Wegmann replied with a smile.

“Thank you very much, Baron Wegmann,” Siegfried said. He gave a slight bow toward the baron.

“Then… are you going to be leaving now?” Baron Wegmann asked.

“Yes, I will have to get going now,” Siegfried replied.

It was now time for him to leave since there were no longer any Mutated Creatures to hunt in this place. He had to leave this small territory and move on to a larger one.

“I see. That is indeed a shame, but there is nothing we can do about it since a person like you would eventually have to play on a bigger playing field. However, I would like to ask you to stay a couple more days,” Baron Wegmann said.

“I would love to do that, but I hope that you will understand that it is going to be a long journey, so… I hope that you will be understanding of it,” Siegfried said.

“Of course, I understand what you mean,” Baron Wegmann replied with a nod, but it was evident through the expression on his face that he would have preferred to have Siegfried stay a few more days in the territory.

“Hey, Siegfried,” Bleigh suddenly called out.

“Yes, Sir Bleigh?” Siegfried responded.

“I wish to thank you once again. Thank you very much.”

“It was only possible since Sir Bleigh believed in me,” Siegfried replied in a humble manner.

“Haha! No need to be so humble now!” Bleigh said with a laugh.

“Please take care of yourself till we meet again.”

“Don’t you worry about me. I plan to focus on recovering as fast as possible and train my swordsmanship again. My skills were nothing to be proud of even when I still had both of my arms, but I can’t simply abandon the sword just because I lost an arm. I’m a knight after all, am I right?”

“You’re really cool, Sir Bleigh,” Siegfried said. He was genuinely in awe of the Knight Captain.

Bleigh was a man walking the path of a knight regardless of his skills or his position, and he was truly a cool person just as Siegfried had said.

“Siegfried.”

The Mercenary Guild receptionist, Jericho, came and called out to him the moment Siegfried was done chatting with Bleigh.

“You have really done such a huge thing for us, thank you for your hard work,” he said.

“Thank you for your hard work too, Mr. Jericho,” Siegfried replied.

“Here, take this,” Jericho said. He extended something toward Siegfried.

[Mercenary Guild License]

[Name: Siegfried]

[Type: Adventurer]

[Tier: Silver III]

[Class: No Class]

[This license proves that the Adventurer above has passed the rigorous tests of the Nürburg Continent’s Mercenary Guild.]

It was his new mercenary license.

“Silver III? I don’t recall going through a promotion exam…?” Siegfried asked, seemingly confused.

“Do you really think that you still need to go through a promotion exam? Your achievements from this war are more than enough to prove your worth. In fact, I would love to rank you up to Silver I immediately, but Silver III is the highest tier our branch can give so just take that for now. I’m sure you are aware that the Mercenary Guilds are all connected so that license will definitely be handy in your journey,” Jericho said.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Jericho,” Siegfried said. He bowed in gratitude toward the guild receptionist.

“Thank you for everything.”

“I can join the elite forces now, and it’s all thanks to you.”

“I will never forget you.”

Thompson and the other mercenaries thanked Siegfried as they saw him off.

“See you at a high-level dungeon next time.”

“I hope you can carry us again then.”

“Haha, leveling up sure was easy thanks to you.”

The Korean player, Jang Man-Bok, and the other Adventurers said as they took turns shaking Siegfried’s hand.

“Thank you very much for everything, and I wish you good health and fortune,” Siegfried said as he bowed toward everyone who came to see him off. Then, he walked toward the gates of the Biermann Territory.

Clap…! clap…! clap…!?

Everyone in the Biermann Territory clapped as Siegfried started walking away.

“See you!”

“You will definitely become a hero!”

“You are our hero no matter what!”

“Thank you for everything!”

“We will never forget you!”

The citizens passionately bid him farewell, and their passion was definitely befitting of the ‘Revered’ Affinity level they had with him.

“All citizens!” Baron Wegmann’s voice boomed. “Salute to the hero who saved our territory, Siegfried!”

When Baron Wegmann’s words reverberated, every single person in the Biermann Territory raised a salute toward Siegfried as he was walking away into the distance.

The sound of people saluting him and clapping for him rang in Siegfried’s ears, and he could not help but smile upon hearing them.

***

“Log out,” Siegfried muttered. He logged out after leaving the Biermann Territory and reaching the nearest gateway.

A gateway was a magic circle especially installed for Adventurers.

There were a few things he had to take care of in reality.

“I have some money now, so…” Tae-Sung muttered as he looked at the Ogre before continuing, “I’ll have to move into a better place and pay off some of my debt, too.”

To Tae-Sung, money was ephemeral. He left his house and went straight to a nearby realtor’s office.

“Aigoo, welcome young man!” A middle-aged realtor greeted Tae-Sung.

“Are you looking for a house?” she asked.

“Yes,” Tae-Sung replied.

“What are you looking for? A one-bedroom? A two-bedroom?” she enthusiastically asked.

“A two-bedroom,” Tae-Sung replied. Since he had the Ogre, he could no longer live in a one-bedroom unit.

“What is your budget?”

“Hmm…” Tae-Sung muttered for a moment before he replied, “Around twenty million for the deposit and seven hundred thousand per month for the rent?”

“Huh?” the middle-aged realtor muttered in disbelief before she decided to ask just in case she misheard, “Twenty million and what…?”

“Around seven hundred thousand won,” Tae-Sung repeated.

“For a two-bedroom?”

“Yes?”

“Hey, young man…”

“Yes…?”

“You’re not joking with me right now, right?”

“Why would I joke with you…?”

“Hey, young man…” the middle-aged realtor said as she looked at Tae-Sung with eyes full of pity before asking, “Where in the world are you going to find a two-bedroom for that price?”

“I-Is that so…?”

“Is this some rural backwater town? Why are you bringing up prices from a decade ago?”

“…”

“You know what? Your budget can only get you something in the outskirts even a decade ago! What a frustrating young man you are. Tsk tsk…”?the middle-aged realtor grumbled while clicking her tongue.

It seemed that rental prices had skyrocketed along with the advancement of technology.

“You will have to set a budget of at least thirty million won for the deposit and 1.2 million won per month for the rent if you want to find a decent two-bedroom unit these days,” she added.

“Thirty million and 1.2 million…?” Tae-Sung muttered in disbelief.

“That’s only possible since we are in this neighborhood. Why don’t you go and look at Gangnam? You will have to pay at least fifty million for the deposit and two million for the monthly rent!”

“Crazy—”

“What did you call me just now?” the middle-aged realtor asked with a grimace.

“No, I was referring to the rental prices. It’s crazy expensive,” Tae-Sung hurriedly explained while waving his hands.

“Tsk tsk…?How will you survive being so ignorant?”

“Then…” Tae-Sung muttered. He found it difficult to continue his words. 𝓫ℯ𝓭𝓃𝓸𝓋ℯ𝓁．𝓬𝓸𝓂

‘Thirty million and 1.2 million…? That’s highway robbery! Damn it…?haa…’?he cried inwardly.

“Please show me the ones you have for thirty million in deposit and 1.2 million in monthly rental…” Tae-Sung said in a weak voice.

“Do you want a capsule room?” she asked.

The capsule room the realtor was referring to was none other than a room where the interior was designed to fit a VR capsule perfectly.

“That would be even better,” he replied.

“That will cost you an additional three hundred thousand won, is that okay?” she asked.

Tae-Sung managed to suppress the sudden urge to bite his tongue.

‘Should I just sell the enhancement coupon…?’?he wondered.

It seemed that saving the enhancement coupon wouldn’t be as easy as Tae-Sung had thought it would be.

***

After an hour, Tae-Sung left the realtor’s office and muttered, “It’s a rough world I’m living in…”

He managed to lease a room on the spot thanks to an available vacant unit.

“Why the hell does rent cost 1.5 million a month… Damn it…” he grumbled without an ounce of strength in his voice.

However, there was no way that the skyrocketing real estate prices in South Korea were going to plummet just because he was spending his time grumbling at it. His original budget of twenty million for the deposit and seven hundred thousand for the rent were prices from the days when people used to play games on PC.

“Let’s make more money… money…” he muttered weakly.

He managed to earn a huge sum of money in a week thanks to Lady Luck smiling at him, but it seemed that he still had a long way to go. He still had a mountain of debt to clear and a family to care for in his hometown.

‘Let’s clear my debt first. I have already decided to move out from my place, so I should start focusing on clearing my debt from now on,’?he thought as he steeled his resolve once again.

He walked toward the nearest bank to wire transfer some money to the loan sharks.

***

At some office in a run-down building at Guro-gu…

“Boss, Han Tae-Sung just transferred money to us.”

The youngest in the office, Halibut, reported to his boss sitting at a table.

“What? Who transferred money?” Halibut’s boss, Ma Dong-Po, was counting money when he paused before looking up and asking, “Han-who?”

“Han Tae-Sung, Boss,” Halibut repeated.

“Who’s Han Tae-Sung?”

“That guy you know… Last year, he’s the one who…” Halibut said before whispering the details into Ma Dong-Po’s ear.

“Huh?” Ma Dong-Po doubted his ears for a moment before he asked, “That bastard transferred money to us?”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Well, look at that?” Ma Dong-Po muttered before he continued, “That bastard is still alive? I thought he did a long time ago.”

“Boss, Han Tae-Sung is also a debtor, so isn’t it a bad idea if he dies? Shouldn’t he pay you back first and ask you for permission before dying?”

“Look at you—you’ve grown up now. You sound like a true loan shark now!” Ma Dong-Po said with a grin.

“Hehe,?thank you, Boss,” Halibut replied with a huge smile on his face.

“That’s that. How much did Han Tae-Sung transfer?”

“Two hundred million won, Boss.”

“Huh?”

“He transferred around a hundred million four months ago, too. Were you not aware of it, Boss?”

“Do you really think that I will trouble myself with a small fry like Han Tae-Sung? I’m already busy as it is,” Ma Dong-Po grumbled.

It was exactly as he said…

Ma Dong-Po was an illegal lender who specifically targeted gamers, and he was currently at the peak of his career thanks to the rise of virtual reality games. The rise of virtual reality games attracted lots of ignorant wannabe gamers trying to make it big by borrowing money from loan sharks.

“I couldn’t care less as long as he pays his interest on time,” Ma Dong-Po added.

“You are right, Boss.”

“Hmm… how much did that Han Tae-Sung borrow from me?”

“Well…” Halibut muttered while scanning the records. Then, he replied, “He borrowed a total of eight hundred million won. We took his apartment unit worth five hundred million and his car, so that offsets around four hundred million after the fees, so he had around four hundred million won left.”

“So he paid back a hundred million four months ago, and he paid back two hundred million just now?” Ma Dong-Po asked.

“Yes, Boss. He only has to pay us around a hundred million won,” Halibut replied.

“Well, look at this bastard…” Ma Dong-Po muttered before he added, “How the hell did that broke bastard pay off the principal when the interest alone should have been more than enough to drag him through the mud?”

The interest rates of the illegal loan shark, Ma Dong-Po, could only be described as highway robbery. His interest rates were beyond the legally allowed twenty percent as he was charging thirty percent for his services. A thirty percent interest on a three hundred million won debt would be around ninety million won, and it would be equivalent to 7.5 million won a month when divided into twelve months.

“I have no idea how he did it, Boss,” Halibut said while scratching his head.

“Hmm…” Ma Dong-Po muttered as he rubbed his large chin. He tilted his head and said, “Did he win the lottery? Or did he open a business and made it big? No… there’s no way that he would be able to earn that much money with a business…”

“I think so, too, Boss.”

“In addition to paying off the interest, he paid off the principal amount as well? Hmm… something smells fishy here… Sniff…! Sniff…!”?Ma Dong-Po said as his nostrils started squirming.

It was his habit whenever the scent of money was in the air.

“Halibut,” Ma Dong-Po called out.

“Yes, Boss,” Halibut responded.

“Ask the boys to go and find out what Han Tae-Sung has been up to these days.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“I have a feeling that I will have to call our financier right now,” Ma Dong-Po said as he picked up the phone.

1. Some of you might be aware, but the rental market in South Korea works in a different way. The tenant will place a deposit, which is usually a sizable amount and pay monthly rent on top of it. Then, the landlord will fully return the deposit at the end of the lease term. This is done to prevent rent prices from skyrocketing since South Korea has one of the most expensive real estate prices in the world. The other rental system is called ‘Jeonse’ which is to place a deposit and use the unit without paying rent. More on that here: