Debuff Master

The scenery in front of his eyes could only be described as amazing.

Sparkle! Sparkle! Sparkle!

Siegfried was blinded by sparkling objects buried between the piles of bones, and it was only after he squinted his eyes and took a closer look that he realized that they were all items.

“H-has there ever been a dungeon that gives you a truckload of items as soon as you enter it?” Siegfried muttered in disbelief and could not help but doubt his eyes.

Was it not common knowledge that rewards would only be given once the dungeon was cleared? Was anyone going to believe him if he told them that there was a dungeon that would give them a ton of rewards as soon as they entered it?

“KYUUUU! We’re rich! We’re RICH!” Hamchi screamed, jumping for joy as if he had never complained in the first place.

‘Tsk... That guy loves money more than anything else in this world,’ Siegfried thought ill of the Great Spirit, which was quite ironic when he had basically described himself.

Then, he proceeded to pick up the items buried amongst the bones.

[Alert: You have obtained +11 Blood Bone Mace!]

[Alert: You have obtained Tiki-Taka Boomerang!]

[Alert: You have obtained Nightmare Blade!]

[Alert: You have obtained King of the Ring!]

[Alert: You have obtained +7 Deserter Marine’s Slippers!]

Siegfried could not help but wonder why there were so many items at the entrance of the dungeon.

“What’s going on...? Why are there so many—”

It was then.

“Ah!” Siegfried gasped after realizing the reason why there were so many items.

He had just dropped thousands of meters from above, and it made him certain without a doubt that all of these items were from those who had fallen and died. The NPCs would have dropped everything they owned after dying, while the Adventurers would have dropped an item randomly as their death penalty before being transported somewhere.

“Hehe... Thank you for the meal!” Siegfried said with a grin while shoving the items into his Inventory.

He was not alone, as Hamchi was hard at work as well.

“Kyu! We’re rich! We’re rich!” Siegfried picked up item after item as if he were possessed and shoved them into his magical pouch. However, the joy was fleeting as Siegfried's ears drooped, depression setting in.

“Kyu... What’s the point of picking all these up...? We won’t be getting out of here alive anyway...”

“Hmm?”

“This is all your fault, owner punk! Why did you bring Hamchi with you?! Kyaaaaak! Hamchi is going to die here—”

“Hey! I already told you not to worry, didn’t I?!” Siegfried shouted.

“Kyu?”

“I’m here because I have a solution! Did you really think I’d come here without a contingency plan? Do you really think I’m crazy?”

“Kyuuu? You have a way to get out of here, owner punk?”

“Obviously!” Siegfried replied before taking out an old parchment from his inventory. Then, he showed it off to Hamchi, “Ta-dah!”

“Kyu...? What the hell is that?!” freeweb novel. com

“What’s this, you ask? This is the Great Inzaghi-nim’s map!”

“Kyu?!”

“I borrowed this just for this dungeon!” Siegfried exclaimed proudly. There was no way he was going to come to such a risky place without any measures in place.

A few days ago, Siegfried visited Beowulf and asked if he could borrow Inzaghi’s Map for a while.

“Oh, I do not mind lending it.”

Beowulf easily lent the map to Siegfried.

The map was the reason Siegfried bravely attempted the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth in the first place.

He would have probably thought twice if he had failed to borrow the map, but he had managed to borrow the map, so the dungeon had become worthy of an attempt.

Why?

Because the Inzaghi’s Map had the ability to guide its user to the Boss Room...

Siegfried came to the conclusion that he would be warped out of the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth once he killed the boss, just like in other dungeons. If not, then he would be like what others would call "ducked."

Fortunately, the chances of that happening were quite low. After all, killing the dungeon’s boss would definitely warp the player out of the dungeon—this was an iron-clad rule among RPG games.

“So stop causing a fuss, and let’s just focus on what we have to do, okay?”

“Kyu! You should have told me sooner! Let’s go, owner punk!”

Just like that, Siegfried and Hamchi proceeded into the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth armed with Inzaghi’s Map and Inzaghi’s Compass.

***

The Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth was an exceedingly difficult dungeon. The labyrinth was extremely dark, and more than five fork roads would appear every five minutes.

The monsters inhabiting this place had the words Great Labyrinth attached to their names, and they would appear out of nowhere to ambush Siegfried and Hamchi. However, the Great Labyrinth monsters couldn't hurt them at all.

Siegfried gained a whopping fifteen levels before coming here, so he had become more powerful than before. Most monsters could no longer threaten him, and it was the same for the Great Labyrinth monsters.

The Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth was a land of opportunity for Siegfried.

“Jackpot!” Siegfried exclaimed after finding an item that somebody had dropped. He immediately put it into his Inventory.

[Alert: You have obtained +10 Coin Buster!]

The Daedalus Underground Great Dungeon was like a pot of honey, providing him with an endless flow of sweet honey. Items that others had dropped were all over the place, and all he had to do was slurp them up.

However, these items gave him a rough idea of how things worked in the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth.

‘Most people would come back for their items no matter what, but judging by the items being here... It’s highly likely that they respawned somewhere else and got lost again. I have a feeling it’s an endless cycle of wandering around this labyrinth, dying again, and dropping another item. Wow... I think anyone would go crazy if they got trapped here...’ Siegfried thought, shaking his head.

Anyone trapped in the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth would be like a hamster stuck in a wheel forever. Fortunately, Siegfried could easily find his way out. He wouldn't meet the same fate as those who had come before him, thanks to Inzaghi’s Compass and Inzaghi’s Map.

However, he had one big problem right now, and that was...

“Where the hell are these bastards? They asked me to come here, but they’re nowhere to be seen!” Siegfried raged at the kidnappers.

Siegfried had come all the way here because they had told him to come here, but despite three hours passing since he had arrived, he still hadn't heard anything from them.

“Do you think they got lost inside here? Kyuu!”

“T-That sounds possible...”

Siegfried considered the possibility that the kidnappers were dumber than he initially thought they were, but he decided that was highly unlikely after giving it some thought.

“No way. Would they really get lost here? I mean, can someone be that dumb?”

“Kyu?”

“They’re probably hiding somewhere watching us, or they've prepared a trap for us.”

“That makes perfect sense! Kyuuu!”

“We have no other choice but to keep walking until those guys show up. Let’s go,” Siegfried said as he continued walking deeper into the labyrinth.

***

Meanwhile...

“What’s going on?! Chaos!” Metatron raged at his loyal subject, Chaos.

The reason for his rage was quite simple, and that was...

“Damn it! Just how many times do we have to pass this exact same place?! How many times?!”

“M-My lord!” Chaos replied while profusely sweating, trying to appease his lord. “P-Please calm down! I made a mistake reading the map! We are not lost!”

“Ahem!”

“I implore my lord to be patient!”

Yes, Metatron and Chaos were currently lost in the labyrinth, just as Siegfried had suspected.

Of course, they did not barge in here without any preparations. They had chanced upon the map of the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth while searching for the whereabouts of the Demon Sword: Avenger, and that was the reason they chose this place.

Unfortunately, the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth was extremely complicated, and it was difficult to navigate through it even if one possessed a map for it.

“Ahem! Make haste in finding the right path, do you understand?”

“Yes! My lord!”

“I can feel the Avenger nearby!”

Metatron was a demon lord's son, after all, so it wasn't strange that he could feel the presence of the Demon Sword: Avenger. In other words, that money-crazed brat really did come to the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth.

Ironically, he could not set his plans in motion, as he was lost in the labyrinth.

“We are almost there, my lord!”

“Just hurry up!”

“Yes, my lord!”

Chaos had replied confidently, but he was profusely sweating while looking at the map with bloodshot eyes.

Why?

The map was so complicated that the demon felt dizzy just looking at it.

***

Siegfried continued picking up items en route to the Boss Room.

“Where the hell are those bastards...?”

“Let’s wait for them, owner punk! Kyuuu!”

Siegfried hurriedly twisted after he felt something wrap itself around his waist, but it was already too late.

“Huh...?”

He was lifted into the air before he could free himself, and the next thing that happened was...

BAM!

Suplex!

He was slammed into the ground with extreme force.

“Kuheooook!” Siegfried coughed blood from the blunt force.

‘W-What the hell is this?!’ he was shocked at the damage.

[Siegfried van Proa]

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

He lost ten percent of his HP from the impact.

‘Who the hell did that?’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly while getting up, but he couldn't stand up.

“Huh...?”

Siegfried could feel that the other person had not let go of him even after suplexing him into the ground.

Whoosh!

Siegfried felt weightless once again.

BAM!

And he was suplexed to the ground once more...

“Kuheok!”

Of course, he coughed up blood once again.

However, the assailant did not let go of him and attacked him relentlessly.

Whoosh! BAM!

Siegfried was suplexed to the ground three consecutive times before being finally released.

“D-Damn it!”

“Owner punk! Kyu!”

“Who did that?!” Siegfried lashed out in anger while getting up.

“Oh dear!” the assailant gasped as if it was all a mistake. Then, he exclaimed, “You’re a human!”

“Huh...?” Siegfried was flabbergasted after seeing his assailant.

His assailant stood one hundred ninety centimeters tall and had bulky muscles. However, he could not see his face, as it was covered by long hair and a beard that resembled an overgrown jungle.

“Oh! My bad! I didn’t know you were a human, so I ended up attacking you!”

“...”

“It has been more than a decade since I last saw a human in here, so I thought you were a monster!”

It turned out that his assailant was a puddle of stagnant rotting water[1] stuck in the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth for god knows how long.

“I’m really sorry!”

“Ugh... Fine...”

“But you’re quite the tough guy! Most would already have their body snapped in half by the second time!”

“Hahaha... I am not sure if you are praising or cursing me...”

“Anyway, nice to meet you! My name is Leonid!”

“Leo...nid? Leonid? Are you perhaps... that Leonid?”

Hamchi looked at him and asked, “Kyu? Do you know this hairy crab, owner punk?”

“I don’t know him personally, but I have heard of someone with the same name. Leonid is one of the Five St—”

His assailant, who introduced himself as Leonid, exclaimed, “Oh! That’s right! I am that Leonid! I am one of the Five Star Heavens, the Grappling Master, Leonid!”

Siegfried ended up meeting another member of the Five Star Heavens.

1. This is a term used in Korea to describe someone who stayed in the same place (profession, game, etc.) for a long time. For example, when someone plays the same game for so many hours, we call them puddles of stagnant water because they never moved from the game. ☜

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