Debuff Master

Siegfried was shocked. He didn't expect, even in his wildest dreams, that he would fail to deal any damage against a mere goblin, even though it had mutated and had been empowered by a mysterious energy.

Thus, Siegfried hurriedly flashed his Rune of Insight and checked the green goblin’s details.

[Mutated Great Jungle Goblin]

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

[It has undergone prolonged exposure to the unknown energy, causing it to obtain a barrier protecting it from external attacks.]

[Type: Monster]

[Level: 250]

[Race: Goblin]

[Note: It is impossible to destroy the barrier protecting this monster through ordinary means.]

The Mutated Great Jungle Goblin’s level was absurdly high for a mere goblin, but that was not an issue for Siegfried, as he was able to defeat the Level 250 mutated animals with relative ease.

However, the problem was the barrier protecting the goblin, as it would knock back anything that tried to harm it while being extremely durable against external force.

‘I can’t destroy it through ordinary means?’

Siegfried had no idea how he was supposed to fight the goblin, and as he was busy thinking of a solution...

“Kiki!”

“Kieeee!”

“Kiriiik! Kiriiik!”

More Mutated Great Jungle Goblins emerged from the bushes, and each of them was armed with a variety of weapons. They lunged at Siegfried without giving him any time to think.

The battle that ensued was extremely disadvantageous for the party. Siegfried placed down all of his debuff fields and even used Irradiate, but it was to no avail.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one helpless against the goblins, as even his comrades couldn't do anything against them.

The bombardment from Seung-Gu’s Iron Golems? It failed to deal even a little bit of damage.

What about Hamchi’s laser beam? It also failed to deal any damage.

Their last and final hope was Gosran’s magic, but her magic also failed to get past the goblins’ barriers.

“Hey! Why won’t these bastards die?!” Siegfried shouted out of frustration. He tried using Splitting Heaven and Earth on top of Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp.

Krwaaaang! Bam!

Splitting Heaven and Earth turned the ground upside down and caused lightning to strike from above the treetops.

“Kiii?!”

“Kihi?”

“Kihihihi!”

“Kehehehe!”

“Keke!”

The goblins emerged unscathed from it. In fact, they even pretended that they were hurt before bursting into laughter, taunting Siegfried.

Soon, they stopped laughing and lunged at Siegfried with bloodlust in their eyes.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

They were still covered by a barrier made out of a mysterious energy.

“I think...” Siegfried muttered, sweeping his gaze across the goblins. Then, his eyes shot wide open as if he had realized something, and he exclaimed, “We should run!”

He activated Pesky Brat and was the first to run away.

“Kyu! Wait for us, owner punk!”

“H-Hyung-nim!”

Hamchi and Seung-Gu hurriedly ran after him.

“S-Siegfried-nim...?”

Gosran stood stupefied for a while before she soon came to her senses and used Blink to get ahead of the trio.

***

Siegfried’s party ran all the way to the entrance of the Great Jungle. Their defensive gear was safe thanks to the Kautschuk Tree Mixture, but the durability of their gear would still take damage from physical impact.

Also, it was about time they took a break, as they looked as haggard and disheveled as they could be after continuously hunting like machines for the past three days.

“Oh! You’re back!” Quandt welcomed him.

“Please repair these,” Siegfried responded by passing his defensive gear to him.

“How did it go? Three days have passed since you went inside the jungle! Was the mixture effective?”

“It was,” Siegfried replied. Then, he took out all of the Green Otherworldly Essences he gathered and added, “Here, I already managed to gather 451 Essences.”

“F-Four hundred?! Are you serious?!”

“You can count them yourself if you don’t believe me.”

“Oh my god! The other workshops have yet to gather even one hundred of these!” Quandt exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

“This is all thanks to the Kautschuk Tree,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“Oh! I think you can gather one thousand very soon!”

“It will take me around three or four more days... I think?”

“Bwahahaha!” Quandt let out a burst of boisterous laughter. Then, he exclaimed with absolute joy, “As expected! It was the right choice to entrust this to you! I bet those imbeciles at the Autonika Workshop and Mercedes Workshop have no idea what’s coming their way! They can try all they want, but the patent for this new material will belong to the Bavarian Workshop!”

“Good for you.”

“Hmm? Is something the matter?”

“Not really... Do you know how it feels to be chased down by goblins?”

“G-Goblins? They chased you down?”

“Yeah, something like that. Anyway, I’ll come back for my artifacts later.”

Siegfried did not feel like further explaining what happened, so he cut the conversation short and left.

***

Siegfried went to check on his vending machine while waiting for the repairs of his defensive gear.

“Huh? It’s sold out?”

Surprisingly, every single item he had put up for sale was sold out in just three days.

He pressed the Collect Earnings button and placed his Inventory on the outlet of the vending machine.

Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink!

Clink! Clink! Clink! Clink!

CLIIIIIIINK!

The vending machine unleashed a stream of gold coins that created a sound that elated Siegfried’s mood.

“A-Aaaah!” Siegfried moaned and twitched after experiencing what people called an eargasm.

“This owner punk is... crazy...” Hamchi muttered, looking at Siegfried as if he was pathetic.

Siegfried finally calmed down after the ecstasy from his eargasm settled down. Then, he looked at the source of his ecstasy and muttered, “I want to feel that again... I should put up more items for sale.”

He proceeded to register even more items on the vending machine before making his way back to Quandt.

“Kyu! What are you going to do now, owner punk?”

“Hmm...” Siegfried pondered for a moment. Then, he replied, “I’ll go look for our party members who died yesterday and return their items.”

“Kyu?! I thought you were keeping those items!” Hamchi exclaimed out of shock.

“No?”

“Did you eat something wrong, owner punk? Weren’t you the in-bred bastard of the scummiest people in the world?! What’s gotten into you?!”

“What did you just call me? Hey! Do you really think I’m someone who would pocket the items dropped by my party members?!”

Technically, there was no problem if he didn't return the items. They would badmouth him for it, but nobody was going to see it as a problem.

However, the reason he decided to return the item was quite simple. He was wealthy to the point others would consider him a Chaebol in the game, and he did not feel the need to keep the items dropped by his deceased party members.

“Kyu?”

“I’m rich, you know?”

“A-Alright, whatever you say, owner punk... Geez... Why are you getting so worked up? Kyu?”

“Fuck this! You call yourselves my friends, but you have the worst impression of me!” Siegfried lashed out and went to find those he partied with on his own.

However, his sole focus was on the Mutated Great Jungle Goblins.

‘But how am I supposed to kill those damned goblins?’ He was trying to come up with a solution while walking when a group of Adventurers suddenly approached him.

“It’s Siegfried-nim!”

“Siegfried-nim!”

“Hello! Can I have a second of your time?!”

That was only the beginning.

“Siegfried-nim!”

“Go away! I saw him first!”

“Over here! Please look at me!”

“Stop pushing!”

“Siegfried-nim!”

The Adventurers started rushing at him.

“W-What’s going on...?” Siegfried muttered while instinctively retreating.

It was then.

“Siegfried-nim! The information got leaked!” Gosran suddenly appeared and told him.

“What?!”

“I think our party members went around saying that you know the secret behind this dungeon!”

“...!”

“Everyone's been trying to find you since yesterday! They want to know how you managed to preserve your defensive items!”

“Damn it! I told them not to tell anyone!” Siegfried cursed out of anger.

However, there was no point crying over spilled milk.

“Siegfried-nim!”

“Please!”

“Talk to me!”

“Let’s party together!”

“Please tell me your secret!”

The Adventurers were rushing toward him like a horde of zombies, and every single one of them was after two things: to find out his secret and to party with him.

“Damn it!”

Siegfried activated Pesky Brat and ran for his life while screaming inwardly, ‘I can’t tell you right now!’

He had to collect one thousand Green Otherworldly Essence faster than anyone else, so he could not afford to divulge the secret of the Kautschuk Tree yet.

“Excuse me!”

“Hey, he’s running away!”

“Catch him!”

Of course, the Adventurers had no plans of letting him get away with the secret.

***

In the end, Siegfried turned into a fugitive despite doing nothing wrong, and he was forced to hide and lay low for a while.“Damn it... Can’t they keep a secret? I was going to return their items, but forget about it.”

“Kyu?”

“They refused my goodwill first.”

He no longer had any reason to return their items, as they were the ones who first broke trust by going around and telling people about the fact that he knew the secret behind this dungeon.

“I don’t think we can get anywhere near the dungeon anymore, hyung-nim...” Seung-Gu said.

“It will be very difficult to form a proper party now, too. What should we do?” Gosran asked worriedly.

“Sigh... I guess it’s just us now,” Siegfried replied with a shrug. He decided that they no longer needed a full party, as they were under the protection of the Kautschuk Tree Mixture. Then, he added, “Let’s focus on gathering the Green Otherworldly Essences first until we find a solution against those goblins.”

“I agree, hyung-nim. Oh, these are your items. I collected them on the way here since I figured you won’t be able to anymore.”

“Thanks.”

Siegfried equipped his items and headed for the Great Jungle once again.

***

Meanwhile, one of the Adventurers who chased after Siegfried returned to his party after losing Siegfried.

“What should we do? That bastard got away.”

“I don’t think he plans to share his secret with others.”

“Damn it... Why can’t he just share it?”

Their party leader asked, “He got away?”

“Yes, he was really fast.”

“Hmm...”

The party leader looked quite disturbed after hearing the report.

“What should we do, Descartes?”

Descartes was a Level 292 Ranker, and he was the vice guild master of one of the top ten guilds on the continent, the United Guild.

“What else? We should follow him. We are quite behind him now,” Descartes replied in a tone asking if that was even a question.

He received the quest Sample Collection: Green Otherworldly Essence from the Autonika Workshop. In other words, he was one of Siegfried’s competitors for the quest.

“Let’s follow him.”

“Follow him into the Great Jungle?”

“We will follow him to find out his secret or...” Descartes trailed the end of his sentence. He did not feel the need to share all of his plans even with his party members for now.

Then, one of his party members raised their hand and asked, “But how are we going to track him down?”

Descartes did not bother responding to the question. Instead, he looked at the giant wolf beside him and said, “Hey, Lucky.”

The giant wolf the size of a bull barked in response, “Woof!”

“Track him down.”

“Woof! Woof!”

Descartes’ pet, Lucky, sniffed the ground and tracked down Siegfried’s party.

Descartes turned to his party and said, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

Thus, his party entered the Great Jungle to track down Siegfried.

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