Debuff Master

Siegfried did not feel the need to reject the pleading of his party members.

‘There’s no reason to refuse a free meal, right?’?he thought.

It was exactly as he thought; there was no reason to refuse a free meal, especially when it would be convenient for him as well. All he had to do was follow around with his hand behind his back and place his debuff circles and watch as his experience bar filled up.

After experiencing it himself, he finally understood why many people choose to become Buffers.

Since Siegfried’s debuff circles were twice more effective compared to most buffs, Siegfried’s experience bar filled up at a frightening pace. It also resulted in an explosive increase in his party’s hunting speed.

No wonder they were constantly nervous about Siegfried suddenly deciding to leave their party.

“I agree!”

“Hyung! Don’t leave us!”

“Let’s go all the way together! Please!”

The two Tankers and even the Swordsman desperately begged Siegfried.

“Of course,” Siegfried replied with a nod before he added, “Since we’ve already gotten together, we should stay together until the end. After all, I have to level up as well.”

“R-Really?!” one of the party members exclaimed in surprise.

“Yes,” Siegfried coolly replied.

“Kyah!”?a party member shrieked in excitement; he was truly happy.

“Everyone, you heard that, right? Siegfried-nim will continue to hunt with us!” a party member exclaimed.

Then, the other party members smiled brightly at the good news.

“Oh!”

“Thank you very much!”

“I will ensure your comfort as much as possible!”

The party’s treatment of Siegfried changed a hundred and eighty degrees, even though the latter simply placed a few debuffs circles.

‘But I’m a Physical DPS… Haha…’?he laughed inwardly. The party members were overjoyed and excited while being completely oblivious about just what kind of a class the Debuff Master was and what it was capable of.

***

It had been a few hours since Siegfried decided to continue hunting with the party, yet the hunt was still ongoing. However, the funny thing was that Siegfried’s state was completely different from his party members’.

‘Ah… it’s so comfortable and convenient… I wouldn’t mind hunting twenty hours a day if it’s always like this…’?Siegfried thought.

The hunt was a bit boring for Siegfried, but his fatigue was close to zero since all he had to do was to place his debuff circles. Then, his party members would kill the monsters, and all he had to do afterward was watch his experience bar fill up while leisurely sipping on mana potions.

Meanwhile, his party members squeezed every ounce of strength and stamina they had to hunt.

‘Today is the day! I have to keep hunting!’

‘I have to suck every experience point I can before the Debuffer leaves!’

‘This is a rare opportunity! We have to maintain this party for as long as possible!’

‘When will we ever meet a Debuffer like him again? We have to keep him in our party for as long as possible…!’

The party members gnashed their teeth as they squeezed every ounce of their strength to make the lump of blessing stay in their party.

It proved how effective Siegfried’s debuff circles were. The circles made it easier and faster to hunt the monsters, which meant that not only was it easier to kill them but killing them was also less burdensome for his party members.

In addition to the insanely fast hunting speed, there were also some economic benefits from staying with Siegfried: combat wasn’t so tiring anymore, their equipment’s durability decreased at a far slower rate than before, and the number of potions and elixirs they had to take had significantly reduced as well.

Thanks to that, the party members wanted to hunt for as long as humanely possible as long as Siegfried was in their party, and they wanted to keep him with them for as long as they possibly could.

Perhaps it was because of that, but Gosran passed a few shiny stones to Siegfried.

[Lowest Grade Shard of Lightning]

[A shard made up of the energy left behind by the Lightning Python.]

[A faint lightning energy can be felt from it.]

[Type: Material]

[Price: 1 copper]

The yellow shiny stone worth 0.01 gold was the item that could be obtained from hunting monsters in Sohoca Ruins. Adventurers often sold these shards to the store or gathered a few of them to upgrade or exchange them for items being sold by the Mercenary Guild. In short, this Shard of Lightning was the only source of income for the Adventurers hunting in Sohoca Ruins.

“Huh? Why are you giving me this? I picked up a few a while ago,” Siegfried asked.

“It’s only right that we give this to you,” Gosran replied.

“…?”

“In this hunting ground, there’s an unwritten rule to give these to Buffers,” she explained.

“Ah… so it’s the same here…” he muttered while nodding.

“Huh?”

“It’s a common practice to give loots to the Buffer,” Siegfried explained.

“Really?”

“Yes, it gets worse the higher the level since there will be many DPS players but only a handful of Buffers. That’s why parties would set the loot distribution in a way that would let the Buffers get the biggest slice of the pie,” Siegfried added.

This was a classic example of an unbalanced supply and demand. There were many DPS players but only a few Buffers. It was all because it was extremely difficult for a Buffer to level up in the early stages since giving buffs was the only thing a Buffer could do, yet their buffs were so ineffective in the early stages of the game that they were bound to be looked down on by parties. In fact, they were supposed to be thankful for finding a party willing to take them in the first place!

To make matters worse, a Buffer couldn’t really deal much damage, so it was impossible for them to solo play, which it even more difficult for them to level up.

The main reason there were so few Buffers was mainly due to the stereotype that it was a boring class to play. As such, there was a saying that the real game would only start at Level 150 for Buffers, as only at that level would their buffs start making an impact.

“I see…” Gosran muttered while nodding before saying, “I guess it does make sense. Since Buffers are precious, they have to be treated in a special way.”

“As long as they don’t power trip and act all high and mighty,” Siegfried added with a shrug.

In fact, the infamy of high-level Buffers was so bad that the term ‘power buffer,’ which was a combination of the words ‘power tripping’ and ‘buffer' was coined to refer to the power tripping of high-level Buffers. Their power-tripping came from a sense of entitlement that stemmed from their sorrows of being treated poorly in the past, coupled with the increased demand yet low supply for their class.

“Siegfried-nim won’t be doing that, right?” she asked.

“I don’t plan to,” Siegfried replied with a shrug while thinking, ‘I don’t have to since they will offer the loot to me even without me telling them to do so.’

He recalled Deus’ teachings.

“My disciple.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Don’t go around power-tripping like a moron. A truly strong person does not have to look like a fool acting high and mighty. That’s something only losers do, do you understand? People will come and offer their belongings and money to a truly powerful person without the latter asking them for it.”

“Huh? Is that true, Master?”

“Yes, things will fall on the lap of a truly strong person while they are just sitting around. They won’t have to cry about it or demand it from people. They just have to look as relaxed as possible, and people will come in droves, lining up to offer their things to them. However, you have to make sure that you take just enough from them, and you will notice that their opinion of you has changed, and they will praise your name.”

“But, Master. That is something I find hard to believe. A person’s greed will not allow them to offer something to someone else for free so easily.”

“You will naturally realize the meaning behind my words one day.’

“Hmm…”

“If you really have to power trip, then you should mind the place and time before doing so. Don’t act like a moron acting high and mighty all the time to everyone you meet. And I will emphasize this once again, but a truly strong person will gain the favor and trust of the people around them without having to do anything. I’m sure I don’t have to explain the difference between someone who has to ask to get what they want and a person who does not have to ask to get it, right?”

“I will remember your teachings, Master.”

His master was right. Gosran had taken the initiative to offer up a Shard of Lightning, even though Siegfried hadn’t asked for them.

“Here, take this.”

“Take mine, too.”

“Here, please take mine, too.”

The other party members also offered their Shard of Lightning to Siegfried.

Of course, they were giving it in return for something, but the difference between asking for it and getting it without asking was like heaven and earth.

“Please, take this,” Gosran said. She forcefully placed her Shard of Lightning in Siegfried’s hand.

“I think that Siegfried-nim has the right to receive these. It’s only because of Siegfried-nim that we can hunt like we’re on a stroll, and I don’t feel that it’s a waste to give these to you,” she said.

The other party members seemed to agree with her.

“It might not be much, but I hope it will be of some help when you buy an item.”

“Please take mine!”

“I will give all of my loot to you in the future.” ｂｅ𝚍ｎｏｖｅ𝚕．ｃｏｍ

Siegfried soon found himself with a small pile of shards in his hand.

“Ah…” Siegfried muttered for a moment before saying, “If you insist, then I won’t refuse. Thank you very much, everyone. Now, shall we continue hunting?”

***

That evening…

[You have leveled up!]

[You are now Level 33!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You are now Level 34!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You are now Level 35!]

Siegfried left Sohoca Ruins after gaining another three levels when the hunt ended.

‘It’s really fast. My level increased a lot after a day of power leveling here. It was indeed the right call to come here,’?he thought, greatly satisfied by his choice of coming to this place.

A message suddenly popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: You may now learn a new skill!]

‘What’s this?’?he wondered as his hands instinctively moved toward ‘My Skills’ in his status window and checked which skill he could learn this time.

[Attribute Absorption]

[A support skill that allows the user to absorb energies with attributes.]

[The user gains increased resistance toward an attribute the more energy of that attribute they absorbed, and the user can enhance their skills after absorbing enough energy.]

[The attribute energy’s source does not discriminate, the source can be a monster’s blood, heart, or core. Attribute energy can also be gathered from minerals or herbs .]

[Lightning: 0]

[Darkness: 0]

[Water: 0]

[Fire: 0]

‘Oh?’?Siegfried muttered in surprise as his eyes shot wide open.

He had never imagined that he would gain a skill to absorb attribute energy and gain resistance toward them. Gaining resistance was one thing, but he was excited just thinking about the endless possibilities of enhancing his skills with attributes.

All of a sudden, a message notifying him that he could absorb the Shard of Lightning to gain its lightning attribute energy popped up in front of him.

[Alert: You may now use ‘Attribute Absorption’ to absorb the lightning attribute energy from the ‘Lowest Grade Shard of Lightning’!]

‘Perfect, shall we test it out?’?Siegfried thought.

He was about to test his new skill out, but Gosran suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

“Siegfried-nim?” she called out.

“Yes?” he responded.

“What are you thinking about? You did not respond no matter how many times I called you.”

“Ah, sorry. I was distracted for a moment.’

“You are leaving now, right?”

“I have to since we have been doing nothing but hunt for the past nine hours after all.”

“Will we meet again?”

“Who knows?” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

Siegfried was planning to hunt at Sohoca Ruins tomorrow, but he did not feel the need to confirm that he would party up with Gosran and the others.

‘Establishing camaraderie is not a good idea,’?Siegfried thought. He recalled the experience of being backstabbed by his own trusted Guild members in the past.

“That’s a shame…” Gosran muttered.

Siegfried nonchalantly said, “It’s just how things work.”

“Then, thank you very much for today, and thank you once again for partying with us today,” Gosran said with a bow.

“Same here,” Siegfried casually responded.

“Ah… that’s a shame… I hope you would party with us again tomorrow…”

“Take care, hyung!”

“Let’s hunt together tomorrow if we bump into each other!”

The party members seemed sad at the fact that it was now time to say goodbye.

“Then, I’m off,” Siegfried said before leaving Gosran and her party.

However, the only thing in his mind was none other than…

‘Attribute Absorption… I wonder what skills can be enhanced with this?’?he wondered.

Siegfried was fully immersed in imagining ways to utilize his new skill.

***

After leaving Gosran’s party, Siegfried went to the forever sanctuary of Adventurers, the ‘Intervention Hotel.’

“Do you wish to check in?” a hotel reception staffer asked.

“Yes,” Siegfried replied.

“Have you used our Intervention Hotel before?”

“Yes.”

“Then, you must be familiar with the rules. Please sign here and pay the fee. You will be paying upfront, right?” they asked while extending a parchment of paper toward Siegfried.

The terms written on the paper were as follows:

[Adventurer ____ wishes to stay at the ‘Intervention Hotel’ from ____ to ____and agrees to adhere to the rules set forth.]

[Adventurer ____ understands that no criminal actions such as arguing, stealing, peeping, murder, etc. will be tolerated while staying at the ‘Intervention Hotel,’ and they are not allowed to fight with anyone under any circumstances.]

[Adventurer ____ agrees to be placed on the kingdom’s wanted list if they were to break the aforementioned rules.]

[Signed, Adventurer: ____ ]

[Warning: You may end up having to quit BNW if you break the Intervention Hotel’s rules.]

[Please be extra careful and mindful!: Hive Games Entertainment]

The terms and conditions seemed pretty intense for a hotel.

1. Hyung is ‘big brother’ in Korean, and it is used by a man to call another man older than them. In this case, this is used by the party member to act close yet respectful toward Siegfried.