Debuff Master

“Hmm?”

“Excuse me, do you know what’s—”

“I’m a bit right now so if you have any questions then can you go ask someone—Ack! Stop pushing! Damn it!”

Siegfried tried asking an Adventurer, but he could not be bothered to answer. Then, someone pushed into him, and they ended up throwing fists at each other.

“I said don’t push me!”

“You shoved me first, asshole!”

The two Adventurers used their fists to cultivate their budding brotherhood.[1]

“What the hell...? Just what in the world is happening here?” Siegfried muttered in disbelief.

It took only a few seconds for him to get his answer.

“The Autonika Workshop’s long-awaited explosive sale is about to start!”

“We are opening our Inventory for all of our esteemed customers! All artifacts from the previous models will be sold at thirty to forty percent discounts!”

“All new models will be sold at an eighteen percent discount!”

The promoters hired by the Autonika Workshop shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Huh?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion after hearing the shouting. Then, he looked around and found that most of the Adventurers were heading toward the Autonika Workshop’s mobile smithy located near the entrance.

In other words, the Autonika Workshop was the reason the Adventurers were so worked up to the extent of ending up in a brawl.

“Hmm... Are they having a hard time these days? Why would they sell things at cost price?” Gosran asked.

“Who knows? Maybe they got investigated for tax evasion and were slapped with a fine? Or maybe something happened, and they’re in need of quick cash? I can’t understand why they would do something like that since it will affect their brand value.

"Well, I guess they must be really desperate for cash for them to make such a choice,” Siegfried replied while seemingly confused. Ironically, he was completely clueless about the reason behind the Autonika Workshop's move.

However, Hamchi was different. He knew of the reason behind the Autonika Workshop's drastic measure.

‘That’s all your fault, owner punk...’ Hamchi let out a sigh and shook his head. He clearly remembered how the Autonika Workshop was extorted by Siegfried last night.

How did he extort the Autonika Workshop? Siegfried demanded one Autonika Workshop 100% +12 Enhancement Coupon and another coupon he could redeem for a complete set of armor for free.

Unfortunately, for Boothroyd and the Autonika Workshop, that was not the end of his demands. He demanded the Autonika Workshop craft a full armor set for all of the knights of the Proatine Kingdom for only a third of their original price.

In other words, the Autonika Workshop had suffered a huge financial blow that was incomparable to the financial blow the Bavarian Workshop had suffered because of Siegfried.

‘Owner punk is no longer a punk...! He’s a thug! I should call him owner thug! Kyuu! But the funny thing is he has no idea that he’s become a thug!’ Hamchi exclaimed inwardly.

Of course, Siegfried was completely oblivious.

“Anyway, let’s ignore them and go on our way,” Siegfried said as he walked toward the Great Jungle.

His mind was preoccupied with something else, so he wasn't interested in what the Autonika Workshop had to offer.

‘I wonder if I can finally damage those damned goblins... It did say something about being able to affect similar energy or something...’

The only thing he cared about right now was testing whether the Ignite Crystals could penetrate through the barriers of the Mutated Great Jungle Goblins and deal damage to them.

***

Meanwhile, the headquarters of the United Guild was turned upside down.

The news of their vice guild master getting beaten to a pulp, getting extorted out of items worth fourteen billion won, losing a weapon worth eighteen billion won, and dropping three expensive items upon death was more than enough to turn the entire guild upside down.

To make matters worse, Descartes was the younger brother of the Guild Master of the United Guild, Palchuck, who was a Ranker as well. The United Guild was not going to let this matter go—if that were even possible.

“The Autonika Workshop... ordered a hit on my brother?” Palchuck asked, doubting his ears. Yes, his brother, Descartes, had done something bad worthy of criticism, but was what he did so bad that he deserved to have a hit issued on him? Had he not already paid his dues by having to tank on such a massive loss?

The Autonika Workshop was supposed to just forget about the matter, but they actually did the opposite and went as far as to issue a hit on Descartes?

“Have those Autonika bastards gone insane? They’ve issued a hit for something like that? Are they aware that my brother has been hospitalized because of that incident? Fuck! Who the fuck will extort more than ten billion won in a fucking game?!”

One of the guild executives, Darrison, advised, “Hey, calm down.”

“Calm down? You expect me to calm down right now? I would’ve stabbed that bastard ten times over if this were in real life!”

“I know, but we can’t act rashly right now. The situation looks very dangerous.”

“Dangerous?”

“That guy called Siegfried could be someone important to the Autonika Workshop.”

“Is that possible? I know he’s become famous recently, but that bastard’s just a nobody.”

“And that nobody wiped the floor with your brother. Don’t forget that.”

“T-That was...”

“Hey, Palchuck. Try to calm down and think rationally. Our entire guild could be put in danger if you act rashly. Have you forgotten what happened to the Genesis Guild? That hot-headed bastard, Chae Hyung-Seok, was destroyed by the exact same nobody that we're talking about here.”

“Ughh...”

“How about we monitor the situation for now? I completely understand how you feel—hell, I’d feel the same if he were my brother. However, we could end up like the Genesis Guild if we pick a fight with that bastard—no, with the Autonika Workshop.”

“Damn it...”

Palchuck wanted to find Siegfried and rip him to shreds over and over again until he suffered the same thing his brother, Descartes, had suffered.

However, he couldn't do such a thing after hearing the words of Darrison, who was quite conservative. Darrison’s warning made sense, and acting rashly right now was akin to stirring up the hornet’s nest, which was the Autonika Workshop.

Ironically, thy had to be careful of Siegfried as well, who had destroyed the Genesis Guild. They were arguably the best guild when it came to large-scale battles, thanks to their army of Buffers, but everyone knew that Siegfried had crushed the Genesis Guild completely.

“I think there’s a saying in the East that goes, if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles, right?” Darrison asked.

“Where the hell did you learn that?” Palchuck grumbled in response.

“I heard it from some Korean gamers,” Darrison replied with a shrug.

“Your memory’s too good for your own good.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Take it however you want.”

“Tsk...”

“Anyway, so you suggest we watch for now?”

“Yes, we should take our time learning about that guy, Siegfried van Proa.”

“Hmm...”

“I’m certain an opportunity for revenge will come, so try to calm down for now. Don’t ever forget the Autonika Workshop is involved, and we are going to suffer catastrophic damage if you act rashly.”

“Y-Yeah, I got it.”

Palchuck was forced to accept Darrison’s extremely realistic and logical reasoning. He had no other choice but to accept it. The Adventurer, Siegfried van Proa, was a nobody, but he was backed by the Autonika Workshop, which made him almost untouchable.

“We will watch for now, as you said.”

“Good choice!”

“But...” Palchuck muttered with eyes full of murderous intent. Then, he said icily, “I’m going to destroy that son of a bitch the moment we get the opportunity, so make sure we're ready to destroy him at any moment.”

“We will, and I’m sure you will destroy him,” Darrison replied with a nod. Then, he smiled and added, “You’re much more careful and stubborn than that bastard, Chae Hyung-Seok, after all.”

“Is that a compliment? It doesn’t sound like it.”

“It’s a compliment~ Don’t be so sensitive, bro~” Darrison said with a smile, waving his hand.

***

Siegfried’s party swept the monsters coming his way, and they ventured deeper into the jungle. The hunt proceeded quite smoothly, as their repetitive grinding in the jungle these past few days had given them the experience required against the monsters.

Their hunting speed could only be described as insane, and the other insane thing was the rate at which they were collecting the Green Otherworldly Essences.

“We’re doing really well. I already gathered two hundred,” Siegfried said with a satisfied smile.

“I've already gathered one hundred!” Gosran added.

“I managed to get fifty, hyung-nim!” Seung-Gu chimed in.

Siegfried used the Magic Dice to distribute the Green Otherworldly Essences to his party members. The Magic Dice was a party item used to fairly distribute the loot to the party members, and the recipient of the loot was decided at random by the dice.

In other words, it was more luck-dependent rather than being fair, as those with good luck would obtain more loot and those with horrible luck could end up kicking the can.

Siegfried was luckier than Gosran and Seung-Gu as he frequently rolled a higher number, thus gaining more Green Otherworldly Essences compared to them.

Wooong!

His Lucky Guy Earrings resonated whenever he rolled the dice, and it seemed that they played a role in making him luckier than the others.

“The goblins should start appearing from here,” Gosran said while looking at Siegfried.

“That’s great news,” Siegfried replied with a smirk. He was itching to run into the Mutated Great Jungle Goblins, as he wanted to test out if the Mid-Rank Ignite Crystal in his item’s socket could penetrate the goblin’s barrier.

Fortunately, it did not take that long for him to run into the Mutated Great Jungle Goblins he so dearly wished to fight.

Ten minutes later...

“Kihik!”

“Kiki!”

“Kihit! Kikiki!”

The party ran into a group of Mutated Great Jungle Goblins as they ventured deeper into the jungle.

“Siegfried-nim!”

“Yes!”

Siegfried immediately ran to the front to place down Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp, and then he jumped high up with his +13 Horse Fly in hand. He slammed his +13 Horse Fly into the ground and used Splitting Heaven and Earth.

Baaam! Krwaaaang!

The ground split open, and lightning flashed in the sky. The Mutated Great Jungle Goblins were tossed into the air by the ground and slammed down as the heavens collapsed unto them.

However, not a single one of the goblins died.

‘Did I manage to deal any damage this time?’ Siegfried wondered while getting up after using Splitting Heaven and Earth. He immediately checked the HP of the goblins and saw that fortunately, he did deal some damage to the goblins.

[Mutated Great Jungle Goblin]

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

The Mutated Great Jungle Goblins had around sixty percent of their HP left after getting hit by Splitting Heaven and Earth. Clearly, the Ignite Crystals had somewhat bypassed the barriers of the goblins. After all, Siegfried could only deal five percent of damage to them last time.

“Ah! It seemed we were right!” Gosran exclaimed.

“Yes, we injured them!” Siegfried replied with a smirk.

They were able to confirm their theory that the Ignite Crystals could disrupt the barriers of the Mutated Great Jungle Goblins. This was a great finding for the party, as this proved that the Ignite Crystals could not only disrupt the barrier of the Mutated Great Jungle Goblins but also the barriers of any other monster in the Great Jungle.

Of course, the Ignite Crystal couldn't nullify their barriers completely. Siegfried’s Mid-Rank Ignite Crystal only managed to nullify sixty to seventy percent of the goblins’ barriers.

What did that mean?

‘I need to increase my Ignite Crystal’s rank,’ Siegfried thought, reaching the conclusion that he could nullify the barriers completely with a crystal of a higher rank.

In other words, it was imperative for him to obtain the highest possible rank of Ignite Crystal if he wanted to reclaim the Ishuka Ruin from whatever monster was occupying it.

“Alright, time to wrap things up!” Siegfried said. Then, he charged at the Mutated Great Jungle Goblins with his +13 Horse Fly in hand.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Two Green Otherworldly Essences would drop whenever he swung his +13 Horse Fly and killed a Great Jungle Goblin. The drop rate of the Mutated Great Jungle Goblins seemed to be much higher than the average mutated creatures.

Soon, the battle was over and...

[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!]

[Alert: You have obtained Green Otherworldly Essence!]

The party managed to obtain hundreds of Green Otherworldly Essences from the single battle, and this was all thanks to the goblins dropping a minimum of two essences upon death.

“Oh? I think we could craft the Top-Rank Ignite Crystal in no time at this rate!” Gosran exclaimed out of joy.

“Yeah, I think so too,” Siegfried replied with a nod. Then, he added, “I have a feeling the DoT damage of the Top-Rank Ignite Crystal is going to be amazing...”

He imagined the damage he was going to deal with two Top-Rank Ignite Crystals slotted into his item sockets. Then, he grinned and exclaimed, “Let’s hurry up and hunt more!”

“Okay!”

“Let’s go!” Siegfried raised his +13 Horse Fly and continued their expedition deeper into the Great Jungle.

1. This is just a joke author-nim included. It doesn’t make much sense in English, but I found it funny, so I just kept it as it is. ☜

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