Debuff Master

Cheon Woo-Jin’s words captured Siegfried’s interest.

The name of his master, the Level 999 Hidden NPC Deus, was of grave importance to Siegfried.

“Do you know him?” Siegfried asked.

“I would say just a tiny little bit,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a peculiar smile, and then he added, “To be honest, I’m not sure how much I should know about a person to be able to say that I ‘know’ them.”

“Hmm?”

“But I do know one thing for certain.”

“What is it?”

“He’s invincible,” Cheon Woo-Jin said.

It seemed that Cheon Woo-Jin was aware of the most accurate description of Siegfried’s master.

“Well, that’s that…” Cheon Woo-Jin said as he stared at Siegfried. He seemed baffled as he said, “It’s really strange…”

“What’s strange?” Siegfried asked with a grimace.

“The skills you used…”

“What about them?”

“They looked like Deus-nim’s skills, but they looked like a very low-quality version of them,” Cheon Woo-Jin said.

Siegfried did not like how Cheon Woo-Jin had emphasized that his skills were a ‘very low-quality version’ of Deus’ skills, but he decided to let it go for now as Siegfried thought the same as him.

‘He isn’t wrong per se… My skills are truly pathetic when compared to Master’s skills.’

Siegfried knew very well that the difference between his skills and his master’s skills was like the difference between heaven and earth.

“That’s why I couldn't help but wonder—wonder if you are Deus-nim’s disciple.” Cheon Woo-Jin pointed out.

Siegfried did not respond.

“That is why I’m telling you this: come to Sinsa-dong tonight,” Cheon Woo-Jin said as he requested a meeting with Siegfried again before adding, “We need to talk.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“That will be your decision,” Cheon Woo-Jin calmly said, but he added, “It will be better for you to come, though.”

“Are you threatening me?” Siegfried retorted.

“No, I’m trying to reel you in.”

“I’m pretty sure you need to cast a bait to reel something in.”

“You will get to know a few secrets about you if you come to Sinsa-dong tonight.”

“Secrets…?”

“Midnight at Sinsa-dong. Look for me, Cheon Woo-Jin, at Club Heaven near Sinsa Station.”

“What kind of—” Siegfried muttered. He was about to ask ‘what kind of secrets?’ but Cheon Woo-Jin suddenly vanished in front of him.

Fwoosh…

Cheon Woo-Jin disappeared without a trace.

“Was he a ghost…?” Siegfried muttered while standing there, stupefied.

***

“I wonder who he was… I couldn’t find any Rankers with the ID Cheon Woo-Jin. I can’t find anything about him,” Gosran remarked.

“I have no idea as well,” Siegfried replied with a shrug, and then he muttered, “The Rune of Insight should have worked properly, but it didn’t work, and that’s pretty rare… I wonder who the hell was he…”

“So… are you going?”

Siegfried shook his head and replied, “Nope.”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“I’m not even aware of everything about myself; who the hell is he to tell me my own secrets? He just spouted some nonsense.”

“Wow… you’re pretty level-headed.”

“I’m just not stupid.” Siegfried shrugged before looking at the Python’s Core in his hand and saying, “Let’s take the loot and leave after I’m done with this.”

“Okay…” Gosran nodded.

“What secret? Nonsense…” Siegfried grumbled before using Attribute Absorption.

Wooong…!

A message popped up in front of his eyes after he was done absorbing the Python’s Core.

[Alert: You have absorbed 60 lightning attribute energy from the ‘Python’s Core’!]

[Alert: Your lightning resistance has increased by 60!]

He absorbed an insane amount of lightning attribute energy he could only dream of absorbing from shards.

[Alert: You may enhance a skill with your lightning attribute energy!]

[Alert: Go to the ‘My Skill’ tab to check which skill you can enhance.]

The message notified him that he could now enhance a skill. Finally, he had achieved what he had been grinding for all this while.

Siegfried grinned after reading the message.

[Alert: Do you wish to enhance the skill?]

There was no reason for him to hesitate.

[Yes!]

***

Siegfried soon got the opportunity to test out his newly enhanced skill.

“Kyaahk!”

“Kihit!”

“Keek! Kieeeek!”

Dozens of monsters formed a mob and rushed at Siegfried and Gosran after they came up from the hidden dungeon.

“Let me take care of this,” Siegfried said and stopped Gosran from casting her spell.

“As you wish,” Gosran said and stepped aside.

She didn’t hesitate to step aside since there was no way she could get rid of all those monsters with her current ability.

‘I wonder what he’s trying to do…’?Gosran thought while looking at Siegfried with eyes filled with curiosity.

While Gosran was intently observing Siegfried, the latter suddenly hurled his tattered steel rod toward the monsters.

Shwiiik!

He had used Flying Spur.

Baam!

His steel rod smashed into the monster at the forefront.

Bzzt!

Then, a bright light flashed ensued.

Bzzzztttt!

Hundreds of bolts of lightning burst from Siegfried’s steel rod and scattered throughout the mob.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

.

The bolts of lightning did not show any signs of dissipating as it jumped from one monster to another and continuously dealt damage to the mobs.

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

A flurry of messages popped up in front of Gosran’s eyes, and there were so many of them that she had a long list of messages to scroll through.

The name of the skill that dealt this insane AOE damage was called ‘Lightning Flying Spur,’ and this was the lightning attribute energy-enhanced version of the Flying Spur.

[Lightning Flying Spur]

[Flying Spur enhanced with lightning attribute energy.]

[A chain of lightning will burst and deal damage to every nearby enemy when the user’s weapon comes into contact with the target.]

[The damage increases with every bounce.]

However, Flying Spur wasn’t the only skill enhanced by the lightning attribute energy.

“Five more to go,” Siegfried muttered with a smile while looking at the monsters that managed to survive the massacre.

Kwang!

Siegfried used Smite on one of the five remaining monsters.

[Lightning Smite]

[Smite enhanced with lightning attribute energy.]

[Three bolts of lightning will fan out and hit all nearby enemies when the user strikes the target.]

The enhanced version of Smite, Lightning Smite, was activated.

Bzzzzt!

Three bolts of lightning shot out from Siegfried’s steel rod the moment he struck his target and the bolts of lightning fanned out and zapped the monsters behind his primary target.

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

The five monsters collapsed and died at the same time, as if they had an agreement beforehand.

Gosran’s reaction to what she had just witnessed was easy to deduce. “T-That’s… Isn’t that cheating…?”

***

After leaving the dungeon, Siegfried explained why he had been hiding his strength. “And that’s why I have been hiding my strength. The top ten Guilds have become too commercialized. Joining them might look nice on the outside, but they operate just like the military inside. In fact, the others of the Guild Masters will even affect you in real life.”

“I see…”

“I refuse to become another pawn of those guilds,” Siegfried added.

“I see…” Gosran muttered before saying, “The top ten Guilds will probably do whatever it takes to recruit someone like Siegfried-nim.”

“That is exactly why I had been trying to hide my strength. I wasn’t mocking you from behind or anything. Earlier, I was actually contemplating whether or not I should give up on the hidden dungeon,” Siegfried said.

“I understand,” Gosran replied with a nod, and then she added, “Don’t worry. I didn’t misunderstand you, and neither did I think you were mocking me in any way.”

“I’m grateful if you think that way.”

“I will keep your secret since I don’t want to see Siegfried-nim getting pestered by others.” 𝙗𝙚𝙙𝒏𝙤𝒗𝒆𝒍．𝒄𝙤𝙢

“I’d be even more grateful if you could do that.”

“What are your plans now?”

“I’m not sure…” Siegfried muttered.

He pondered for quite a while before he replied, “I should probably leave this place since I don’t have a reason to stay here any longer. We have cleared the hidden dungeon after all… I also have to go to a city and upgrade my gear.”

He opened his arms and showed his current state. His armor was all worn-out, and his steel rod was bent. Not a single part of Siegfried’s equipment was in good condition, and they were in such bad shape they seemed beyond repair.

Gosran could not help but admire the fact that Siegfried was still alive, even though his equipment had basically turned into rags.

“What about you?” Siegfried asked.

“Me?” Gosran muttered before she replied, “I think I’ll stay here for a bit longer. I’m gonna level up and earn some more money to upgrade my gears as well.”

“Then, it was fun partying with you,” Siegfried said with a slight bow.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yeah, I have to.” Siegfried had to move to another area to continue growing.

“That’s a shame…”

“I’m sure we will meet again someday.”

“Still…”

“Let’s meet again in the future, Gosran-nim.”

“Sure!” Gosran nodded and said, “See you. It was fun partying with you, too.”

Their conversation ended there.

Step… step…?

Siegfried walked toward the gateway leading to the other areas while Gosran stared at his back getting farther and farther away.

***

“Where should I go next…” Siegfried muttered before getting on the gateway.

“Umm… Excuse me…” someone called out to him.

He turned around and saw a kid staring at him.

“Are you Siegfried Ahjusshi?” the kid asked.

“That’s right, but who are you?” Siegfried asked.

“I’m an errand boy.”

“An errand boy…?”

“Some ahjusshi asked me to give this to you.”

“Hmm?”

“Here,” the kid extended a letter over to him and gave a quick bow before saying, “Goodbye, then.”

“What’s this?” Siegfried muttered and opened the letter.

The letter said…

Midnight at Sinsa-dong. Look for Cheon Woo-Jin at Club Heaven.

P.S. Don’t play so hard to get, Siegfried, no… should I call you Tae-Sung instead?

Flinch!

Siegfried was stupefied that Cheon Woo-Jin knew his real name, which was also his previous player ID.

‘How the hell did he find out?’?Siegfried wondered.

It was practically impossible to uncover someone’s information since BNW placed great importance on securing the privacy and information of their players. In fact, BNW’s policies stated that it was impossible to change one’s player ID. A person could only use one account, and it was impossible to register for another account after quitting the game. Siegfried was a special case who only managed to change his player ID thanks to his master, Deus.

However, Cheon Woo-Jin actually knew his identity.

‘Don’t tell me that he has been stalking me ever since I met my master…?’?All sorts of thoughts flooded into Siegfried’s mind, ‘If this bastard really knows who I am… then…’

He couldn’t help but get anxious.

If Cheon Woo-Jin exposed his identity, Siegfried would end up being targeted by the Genesis Guild again.

‘No…! I can’t let that happen!’?he inwardly exclaimed while clenching his fist.

He could not afford to be targeted by the Genesis Guild once again. After all, that would mean the end of the Debuff Master whose full potential never got to awaken.

“Haaa…” Siegfried sighed and grumbled. “Alright, your bait worked.”

He had no choice but to admit defeat on this one.

Siegfried decided to go to Sinsa-dong and meet Cheon Woo-Jin at Club Heaven tonight.

1. The famous gingko tree-lined street in Gangnam, also a popular tourist spot

2. This means like mister or uncle in Korea.