Debuff Master

“Actually, it has not been revealed who created this Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth. It’s an ancient structure made ages ago, so there are close to no records of it,” Leonid said.

“And what about it?” Siegfried replied curtly.

“But there is a legend passed down about it.”

“By legend you mean...?” fre(e)webnov(l).com

“There was a king eight hundred years ago.”

“It’s a king again...?”

“Hmm?”

“N-No, please don’t mind me,” Siegfried replied awkwardly. He recalled the numerous ancient kings he had killed so far and inwardly grumbled, ‘Just what in the world were the kings from centuries ago doing? Tsk, those bastards in power are the problem... They should’ve just stayed dead. Why do they have to come back to life and cause problems? Ugh... I’m getting sick and tired of them...’

Siegfried smiled and said, “Ah, please continue.”

“Alright,” Leonid replied with a nod. “That king’s name was Lamborghini, but there was one serious problem with him.”

“What problem was that?”

“He would turn into a monster with the head of a bull called Maranello whenever his temper flared, and he would go on a rampage.”

“Eh?”

“The bigger problem was that Maranello was an immortal monster, and it was impossible to kill it no matter what method others tried. Due to that, Lamborghini himself became immortal.

“While others considered it a blessing, it was a curse for him. He would go on a rampage whenever he was Maranello, destroying and killing everything around him. The guilt of his actions would come crashing down on him by the time he came back to his senses as a human being... and he was forced to live with that guilt for the rest of his life.”

“Whoa...”

“Lamborghini decided enough was enough, and the solution he came up with to stop himself from committing any further atrocities was...”

“He built a giant labyrinth and trapped himself in it?”

“Exactly,” Leonid said with a nod. Then, he further explained, “Since he was impossible to kill, Lamborghini decided to separate him from the rest of the world forever.”

“And this labyrinth is the result of that?”

“That’s the most probable answer, don’t you think? If the legend is true, then Lamborghini is highly likely the ruler of this labyrinth.”

“If the legend is true then... aren’t we fucked?”

“Hmm?”

“You just said he's 'impossible to kill,' right? However, we need to either subdue or kill him to get the hell out of here...”

“Ahem!”

“Are we really trapped here...?”

“No, I’m sure we can defeat Lamborghini even if he’s immortal. You and I just have to work together. What do you think?” Leonid asked with a confident smile.

“That's...” Siegfried muttered in response.

Honestly, he was doubtful about their chances. Leonid was a Master, but there was a low chance they could kill Lamborghini, who was an immortal being. There were probably Masters eight hundred years ago, right?

Mankind had made great advancements in technology, allowing civilization to take great strides. However, this did not mean that the Masters of old were weaker than the Masters of today.

Therefore, it made no sense that none of the Ancient Masters had tried to stop Lamborghini, and the fact that he had to resort to locking himself up in this labyrinth meant that the odds of Leonid winning against him were slim to none.

‘This has become far more troublesome than I thought it would...’ Siegfried had a feeling escaping the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth was going to be much more difficult than he initially thought.

‘I guess we’ll just have to find out.’

However, he could not stand around and wasted time complaining.

“Shall we go?” Siegfried asked before walking ahead through the corridor.

***

Siegfried’s party followed and closed their distance to the dot on the map that was supposedly the boss monster. Of course, they were not simply walking around and doing nothing else.

Siegfried commanded his new slaves, Metatron and Chaos, to hunt the Mutated Three-Legged Octopus while they were venturing through the labyrinth.

“Chaos! There’s one beside you! Catch it!”

“Yes! My lord!”

They passionately hunted the Mutated Three-Legged Octopuses as if their lives depended on it. Well, their lives actually depended on it, as Siegfried wasn't using them as sandbags while they were hunting these creatures.

“Kyu! You missed one over there! Are you getting bored of your work? Do you want to do something else?” Hamchi was now the quartermaster of the two slaves.

Meanwhile, Siegfried spent time learning new skills from Leonid.

“Like this?”

“You have to tilt your waist by about seven degrees from there.”

“Hold on...” Siegfried said as he moved his waist around. Then he asked, “I think eleven degrees is better than seven. What do you think?”

“Hmm?!”

“I mean, people have different limb lengths and weights, so I think it will be better for me to tilt it by eleven degrees.”

“...!”

“Ah, I think I got how this works. The skill becomes more effective the more you know yourself and how meticulous you are when you use it, right?”

“Haha...” Leonid laughed in disbelief.

‘He is truly a genius...’ Leonid thought, utterly shocked by Siegfried’s learning speed. The young man was capable of extrapolating ten things from one teaching, and he even discovered the skill's fundamentals by himself.

‘No wonder Shakiro hyung-nim and Betelgeuse hyung-nim passed down their secret techniques to him,’ Leonid thought while staring intently at Siegfried.

‘W-What’s wrong with this old man...?’ Siegfried flinched, finding the Grappling Master’s gaze burdensome. The reason was...

Ding!

[Alert: The Grappling Master Leonid’s Affinity with you has explosively increased!]

[Alert: The Grappling Master Leonid’s Affinity with you has increased by +500!]

[Alert: The Grappling Master Leonid’s Affinity with you has increased by +1,000!]

[Alert: The Grappling Master Leonid’s Affinity with you has increased by +1,500!]

[Alert: The Grappling Master Leonid’s Affinity toward you has changed from ‘Interested’ to ‘Obsessed’!]

Siegfried noticed Leonid’s affinity toward him was going up just like what happened with Betelgeuse, and this blessed Siegfried with a new title.

[Old Man Romance ❤]

[Do you want to be secret friends with ajusshi?]

[A title awarded to those loved by old men.]

[Type: Title]

[Rating: Unique]

[Effect: +250% Affinity from old NPCs]

‘This is too muuuuuuuuch!’ Siegfried screamed inwardly after obtaining the new title.

He was unhappy with his other titles, but this new one completely crossed the line. What the hell was Old Man Romance ❤? Other people might start thinking that he was gay and attracted to older men—really old men.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Leonid asked.

“N-Nothing... It’s nothing...” Siegfried replied weakly and shook his head.

Leonid was slightly taken aback by Siegfried’s sudden change in demeanor, but he decided not to inquire further about it. He had something more important to ask, so he decided to carefully proceed with that.

“Hey, Siegfried...”

“Yes?”

“I want to teach you my secret technique... Are you interested?”

“Huh? Your secret technique?”

“Since Shakiro hyung-nim and Betelgeuse hyung-nim taught their secret techniques to you, I think I could do the same. Besides, finding someone as talented as you was not an easy thing to do.”

“Oh! I will be grateful if you taught me your secret technique!” Siegfried replied immediately.

There was no reason for him to refuse the offer judging by how useful Betelgeuse’s Quick Draw and Shakiro’s Torrential Flower Rain had been so far to him. As there was precedence, Siegfried was certain that Leonid’s secret technique would be useful to him, too.

“I will do my best to learn!”

“All right, I will do my best to teach you then. The first secret technique I will teach you is a striking—”

Leonid was about to teach his secret technique when...

“What?! An item!” Siegfried exclaimed, jumping to the ground to pick up an item.

“...”

Leonid stopped explaining his secret technique and wondered, ‘Just what in the world is this guy? Haha...’

Siegfried was so unpredictable that he couldn't help but feel flustered.

***

Siegfried’s party chased after the red dot on the map while faithfully carrying out their respective roles.

“Huh?”

The red dot, which was presumed to be the boss monster, was suddenly flying straight toward them.

“The boss is coming this way,” Siegfried said.

“Boss? Are you talking about this labyrinth’s ruler?” Leonid asked.

“Yes.” Siegfried nodded. “I think it is five hundred meters away.”

“Oh!”

“It is moving very slowly, but that thing is right ahead of us. There are no other paths so we will most likely run into it.”

“So I will finally get to meet the ruler of this place after being stuck for fifteen years...”

“I think we have to get ready to fight,” Siegfried said as he stood at the front alongside Leonid and waited for the boss monster to appear.

Five minutes later, Siegfried’s party was on their toes as the boss monster finally appeared from within the darkness.

Thud... Thud...

Then, a man probably in his thirties emerged from the darkness.

“Eh?” the man uttered and looked flustered after seeing Siegfried’s party.

Three... two... one...!

Whoosh!

The man turned around like a bolt of lightning and ran away.

“CATCH HIM!” Siegfried screamed.

The entire party chased after the man, and they caught him quite easily. The reason was that the man’s running speed was just like an ordinary person, and he was like a turtle to Siegfried and his party members.

“Excuse me?” Siegfried asked while running beside the man. He was running so effortlessly that it looked like he was jogging alongside the "boss."

“Huff! Huff...! Huff...!”

On the other hand, the man looked like he was running as fast as he could.

“Excuse you?”

“Huff! Huff!”

“Hello? Can you please respond?”

“Huff... Huff...! Huff...!”

They continued running for around a minute.

Thud!

In the end, the man fell to the ground after being unable to run any further.

“Huff... Huff...!”

“Why did you run? I just wanted to talk, you know?”

“Huff... Huff...”

“Hey, you might run out of breath at this rate. Here, drink this.”

“T-Thank you...”

Siegfried passed a stamina potion to the man.

Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!

The man downed the stamina potion.

“Why did you run away?”

“T-That was because I got scared... I thought you guys were evil people roaming this labyrinth...”

“Eh?”

“Thank you... I will be on my way now.”

The man attempted to disappear into the labyrinth once again after catching his breath.

“Wait!”

“Please move out of my way.”

“Are you busy? Why are you trying to run away?”

“I am not running away. I am just looking for a way to escape from this labyrinth...”

“Then do you want to come with us? I think you are not that strong, so it is dangerous for you to wander alone.”

“No, I cannot cause any further trouble for you. Then, I will—”

Siegfried grabbed the man’s arm and asked, “Why the rush?”

“Please let go of me!”

“Sure,” Siegfried replied with a smirk. Then, he asked, “But do you know anyone by the name Lamborghini, by any chance?”

“L-Lamborghini?!”

“Yes.”

“I do... not know of anyone that goes by that name.”

“Really?”

“Yes, so I will be on my way now,” the man pulled his arm back and tried to walk away.

“Wait.”

“Please do not stop me.”

“I just want to talk.”

When Siegfried stopped the young man once again...

“I said don’t stop me.”

The man’s voice suddenly changed, becoming similar to the sound of metal grinding against each other.

A chill traveled down Siegfried’s spine after hearing the voice.

“I will... take my leave now. Please do not stop me this time...”

“Excuse me, Mr. Lamborghini?”

“...”

“Why don’t we talk for a bit?”

“I am not Lamborghini.”

“I have the ability to check other people’s identity,” Siegfried pointed at his Rune of Insight. Then, he proceeded to explain, “This thing right here allows me to—”

“R-Run...”

“Huh?”

“I said run... hurry...! Argh!”

“...!”

“You must... run away right now!”

Then, the man—no, Lamborghini started to transform.

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