Debuff Master

The animals that emerged from the bush were otters larger than tigers.

[Mutated Great Jungle Otter]

[A Giant Otter inhabiting the Great Jungle mutated by an unknown energy.]

[It possesses the strength and fierceness of a wild beast and can without a doubt be considered an apex predator.]

[Type: Neutral Creature]

[Level: 250]

[Note: It hunts in packs and caution is advised on agitating them.]

The Great Jungle Otters were animals Siegfried was familiar with from his last visit, but these did not look like the otters he was familiar with. These otters were at least as large as a panther or a Siberian tiger, and their sharp fangs were dripping with noxious green poison.

They became stronger just like the other animals did after mutating, and this was evident from how their levels had gone up from around Level 100 to Level 250.

In other words, these were just monsters and could no longer be considered animals.

“Ah... Should I just become a monster? Then, I won’t have to grind and just gain more than one hundred levels in one go, no?” Siegfried lamented after checking the details of the mutated animals with his Rune of Insight.

“Kyu! What bullshit are you spouting, owner punk?! This isn’t the time to say shit like that!” Hamchi cried out in anger.

“Hey! How does that make sense?! I feel wronged!” Siegfried retorted.

“Kyu?”

“I have to run around all day until my dick goes limp just to gain one level, but those bastards gained a hundred and fifty levels overnight! How the fuck does that even make any sense?!”

“Fine! Just go become a monster then! Kyuuu!”

“Damn it! Let’s just hurry up and kill them!”

Siegfried decided to channel all of his anger at the Mutated Great Jungle Otters and swung his +13 Horse Fly like a madman.

Woooong!

One of the passive self-buff skills of the Debuff Master was activated...

[Blade Walker]

[The Debuff Master shows its true value when wreaking havoc in the midst of enemies.]

[Type: Passive Skill]

[Effect 1: Gain bonus Attack Power, Defense, and Attack Speed depending on the number of enemies present. This buff will be much more effective when fighting behind enemy lines.]

[Effect 2: Lifesteal will increase the lower your HP is.]

[Note: You do not need to invest skill points into this skill!]

He placed down Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp to weaken his enemies while he was buffed by Blade Walker. Thus, his anger descended upon the Mutated Great Jungle Otters like a natural calamity, and the other party members did not even have to lift a finger against them.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Siegfried turned into a hammer-wielding murderer after being enraged—actually envious—of the massive level boost the otters had received.

“Yelp!”

“Yeeelp!”

The Mutated Great Jungle Otters were unable to put up a fight against Siegfried.

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

(omitted...)

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

He gained a ton of experience points and...

Thud...! Thud...!

The Mutated Great Jungle Otters dropped the Green Otherworldly Essences, too.

[Alert: You have obtained Green Otherworldly Essence!]

[Alert: You have obtained Green Otherworldly Essence!]

[Alert: You have obtained Green Otherworldly Essence!]

(omitted...)

[Alert: You have obtained Green Otherworldly Essence!]

Siegfried killed nearly thirty Mutated Great Jungle Otters, and he obtained ten Green Otherworldly Essences.

“If it’s ten essences from thirty, then I guess that’s one per three Mutated Great Jungle Otter?” Siegfried muttered while making a note of the drop ratio.

“Great Jungle Otter... One per three...”

“I should write this down...”

The others hurriedly wrote down the ratio, but Siegfried could not care less about them right now.

“Let’s keep going, go go go!” he said and marched onward.

***

The hunt progressed quite smoothly. The animals in the Great Jungle had been empowered by the mysterious energy, but they were a walk in the park for Siegfried thanks to his entire gear being coated by the sap of the Kautschuk Tree.

He managed to collect a decent amount of Green Otherworldly Essence, as the monsters located deeper inside the Great Jungle had a far higher chance of dropping the essences compared to the ones in the outskirts.

[Alert: Your quest progress is 23.7% (237/1,000)]

He had already gathered 237 Green Otherworldly Essences.

“I think you will gather what you need in no time at this rate, hyung-nim.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

“I think we will kill the boss soon at this rate.”

“I hope that’s the case,” Siegfried replied with a smile.

While things were progressing smoothly, one of the party members suddenly groaned in agony and collapsed.

“A-Argh!”

“H-Hey! What’s wrong with you?”

“Heal! We need Heal!”

“Are you alright? What’s wrong?”

The party members gathered around him but...

“A-Argh... P-Poison... Poison—Arghhh!” the party member groaned in agony before plopping dead.

Thud!

He died and dropped an item.

“What the hell? Why did he die?” Siegfried asked while moving quickly to pick up the dropped item.

It was then.

“A-Argh...!”

“Keuk!”

“I-I can’t breathe...!”

The other party members collapsed one by one while foaming at their mouths.

“W-What?! What’s wrong with you all?! Hey!” Siegfried shouted and hurriedly tried to detoxify them with antidotes, but it was too late.

Thud, thud, thud!

Five died instantly and dropped their items.

Thud, thud, thud!

While picking up their items, Siegfried looked baffled at their sudden deaths.

“What’s going on? Did they eat something? Why would they suddenly—”

It was then.

“Kyuuuuu!”

Hamchi suddenly cried out and started rolling on the ground.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you, Hamchi?!”

“O-Owner punk...! It stings! It stings a lot! Kyuuuu!”

“Hey! Are you alright?!”

“Kyuuuuu! Hamchi’s about to go crazy! It stings!”

Fortunately, Hamchi didn't die like the others, but the cause of his agony was still a mystery. Then, he started swelling as if he was stung by a swarm of bees, and he suddenly looked so round that he would probably roll like a ball if somebody kicked him.

“BWAHAHAHA!”

“Kyuuuu! Don’t laugh, you bastard!”

“Hey, you’re as round as a ball right now! Bwahahaha!”

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? Did you get stung by a bee? Why are you so—”

Siegfried’s eyes suddenly caught something a third of the size of a pinky’s nail clipping crawling through Hamchi’s fur.

[Mutated Sandfly]

[A poisonous sandfly inhabiting the Great Jungle mutated by an unknown energy.]

[It possesses lethal poison and anyone stung by it will instantly die if they possess low poison resistance.]

[Type: Neutral Creature]

[Level: 250]

[Note 1: It hates the scent of the Kautschuk Tree Sap and will not go anywhere near it.]

[Note 2: You may neutralize the poison with the Kautschuk Tree Sap.]

“Oh?” Siegfried finally understood why the others died, and Hamchi suddenly ballooned into a ball. He, Seung-Gu, and Gosran were all safe from the Mutated Sandfly, as their gear was coated with the Kautschuk Tree Sap, but the others didn't have the coating.

“Hey, Hamchi.”

“Kyu?”

Siegfried took out the Kautschuk Tree Sap from his inventory and placed it near Hamchi’s mouth.

“Drink this,” Siegfried said.

Hamchi took a mouthful and swallowed it. Then, his swelling went down at a rate visible to the naked eye.

“Wow? This thing is really handy.”

“Kyu?”

“Tsk... But it’s a shame...”

“Kyu? What?”

“You looked cuter looking like a ball. Keke!”

“KYAAAAAK!” Hamchi shrieked and raised his fur after immediately realizing that Siegfried was making fun of him.

Siegfried ignored the giant hamster and said, “Anyway, everyone’s dead... Tsk...”

“Yes, we’re the only ones left,” Gosran replied.

“Hmm...”

“What should we do?”

“What else? We just have to keep going without them,” Siegfried replied with a shrug. Then, he added, “I guess this is what you call a blessing in disguise...?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, they’re just going to leak information out if we take them along with us. Information is as valuable as our lives right now, so there’s no reason for us to share our findings with others, right?”

“I guess you’re right...”

“Anyway, let’s keep going,” Siegfried said and continued venturing deeper.

***

Two days later, The party suffered a small setback with the party members dying from the Mutated Sandfly attack, but the ones who survived managed to continue the expedition smoothly.

Siegfried and the others managed to venture even deeper into the Great Jungle, which allowed him to gather even more Green Otherworldly Essences.

[Alert: Your quest progress is 45.1% (451/1,000)]

He successfully gathered 451 essences out of the 1000 he needed to complete the quest.

“I think three or four more days will do to clear this quest...” Siegfried muttered.

Shwoosh! Shwoosh!

Two poisonous darts suddenly flew toward Siegfried.

“What now?!” Siegfried shouted in surprise, but he managed to instantly react in one fluid motion and snatched them out of mid-air.

“W-What was that just now?” Gosran asked while slightly flustered.

“Hmm... These look like poison darts,” Siegfried replied while inspecting the darts he snagged from the air.

“No, I’m talking about your movement just now.”

“Huh?”

“Those poison darts were really fast...”

“Eh? They looked slow to me.”

“...”

“But where did these come from?” Siegfried grumbled and looked toward the direction where the darts came from.

Rustle... Rustle...

Then, a green-skinned creature of similar height as an elementary school kid emerged from the bush.

“Eh? It’s just a goblin,” Siegfried grumbled and readied his +13 Horse Fly to beat the goblin to death. He did not even bother flashing his Rune of Insight at it and just decided to kill it as quickly as possible.

Why?

The goblin had mutated as well, so it was probably abnormally strong just like the animals.

‘I wonder how many essences this guy is going to drop?’ Siegfried wondered while licking his lips. The thought of obtaining the Green Otherworldly Essences from the goblin made him spring into action.

Bam!

Siegfried swung his +13 Horse Fly at the goblin’s head but...

“Ack!” Siegfried screamed and was flung back.

The goblin unleashed a shockwave that shoved him back and slammed him into a tree.

“W-What the hell was that?!” Siegfried was shocked by the shockwave unleashed by the goblin.

Oh my god! How could a mere goblin unleash such a powerful shockwave?!

Bzzt! Bzzt!

Then, something that resembled a barrier formed around the green goblin’s body, and it seemed that it was the thing that shoved him all the way back.

“You think you’re the only one who can do that?” Siegfried grimaced and activated Overclocking.

This skill gave him the Super Armor effect, which prevented him from being knocked back, and it was the perfect counter to whatever trick the goblin had used just now.

Bzzzzt! Bzzzzzt!

Sparks flew all around Siegfried.

Bam!

He lunged at the green goblin with his +13 Horse Fly ready and swung it with all of his strength at the green goblin.

Baaaaam!

The goblin’s barrier released another shockwave, but it failed to push Siegfried back. The Super Armor effect of Overclocking rendered him immune to knockbacks, and it worked perfectly against the goblin.

However, just because he didn't get knocked back didn't mean his problems were resolved.

[Mutated Great Jungle Goblin]

[HP: ■■■■■■■■■■]

Shockingly, the damage he dealt was so negligible that the goblin’s HP bar did not even budge a bit.

“I-Impossibru!” Siegfried ended up screaming unknowingly.

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