Debuff Master

‘Shit?’?

That was the only word that came to Siegfried’s mind while he was staring absent-mindedly at the ships covering the surface of the sea and the airships that covered the sky with his mouth agape.

‘Is there an ongoing clan war between top clans…? No, they can just fight on dry land… why would they go through the trouble of waging war on an island…?’?Siegfried wondered. He could not make sense of the scene unfolding before his eyes.

‘Ah… damn it… why does it feel like I got caught up in something bad…’?

While he was deep in his thoughts, someone’s voice reverberated throughout the entire island.

- One hour left before the Adventurers make their landing!

- Activate barriers five kilometers to the front!

- Barriers activated!

- All enemies that pass through the barriers will now be inflicted with ‘Aura of Self-Destruction!’

A bunch of words Siegfried couldn’t understand were being broadcasted throughout the island.

‘Barrier? What’s an Aura of Self-Destruction?’?

Siegfried’s brows furrowed, wondering what the announcement was talking about.

Unfortunately, there was no one else around him whom he could ask to alleviate his curiosity.

‘Let’s just wait and see…’?Siegfried thought as he hid and decided to observe for now. The wisest thing to do whenever one was in an unknown situation was to remain neutral and collect information.

***

Siegfried rode the steel horse up the nearest hill and hid behind a large boulder. He continued to observe the ships, and that was when he suddenly noticed something.

‘They’re not coming from only one direction…?’

After going up the hill, Siegfried finally noticed that there were ships and airships coming from all over the place.

‘That’s not even north, east, south, west, anymore… they’re coming from all major cardinal directions? Are they trying to force their way through with sheer numbers?’?he thought. The ships and airships around the entire island looked as if they were creating an encirclement.

‘What the hell are they doing…?’

While Siegfried was wondering what was going on, the ships and airships finally managed to get within five kilometers of the island.

Wooong… Wooong…!

A deep sound echoed whenever the ships and airships passed through the purple barrier.

Then…

Shwiiik… Splash!

The ships reached the shore and put down their anchors.

Splash! Splash!?

The Adventurers onboard the ships started jumping into the waters one by one as they swam for the shoreline.

It was the same for the airships.

Shwiiiiik…!

Dozens of Adventurers surrounded with gravity magic fast-roped their way down to the ground.

‘What the hell are they doing…?’?Siegfried wondered. However, his question was soon answered when a message popped up in front of him.

Ding!

[Alert: The World’s Greatest Survival Tournament is about to commence!]

After reading the message, Siegfried grimaced so hard his face resembled an enraged demon.

“Fuck my life…”

A curse unknowingly escaped his mouth.

***

Siegfried suddenly remembered the words he muttered to no one in particular after seeing where the airship was about to make an emergency landing.

“What a place to land… we’re fucked…”

Those were words he muttered after finding out that they had landed right in front of a waterfall, but it turned out that something much worse had been waiting for him.

Did it even make sense that he landed where the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament would take place? Forget about the waterfall; he was currently in the worst region of the continent—the Land of Death.

It was often said that misfortune followed fortune. No wonder things were going too well for him these days.

“Ah…” Siegfried groaned as his head turned blank and became filled with despair.

This wasn’t fair. He barely managed to obtain his hidden class, but everything would turn into dust if he died here. The second chance he painstakingly got could end even before he could enjoy it.

“That damned old man… I swear I’m going to rip him into pieces…” Siegfried growled when he recalled the veteran captain. Siegfried still had no idea whether the captain was dead or alive. If the old man was dead and he missed the chance to end the old man’s life with his own hands, he was thinking of digging up the old man from his grave and killing the bastard twice

“Ah…” Siegfried despaired at the sense of impending doom crawling up his body.

This could no longer be considered bad luck or misfortune—he was cursed at this point.

Who could have imagined that the airship he was on would crash at the place where the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament, also known as the extreme high risk high return match, would take place?

However, Siegfried had no time to wallow in despair.

Tak! Tak! Tak!?

The Adventurers that fast-roped down the airships landed one by one, and that wasn’t all.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

The Adventurers that jumped off of the ships reached the shoreline one by one, and they made a run for it.

A message popped up in front of Siegfried.

[Alert: Five seconds left before the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament commences!]

[5…]

[4…]

[3…]

[2…]

[1…]

[Alert: The World’s Greatest Survival Tournament has officially started!]

Fierce fighting broke out as soon as the message appeared before the Adventurers’ eyes.

“Die! You bastard!”

“I’ll kill you!”

“You dare fight me?!”

“You’re the one who’s gonna die, you moron!”

***

The island suddenly turned into what could only be described as ‘hell on earth’ since everyone was an enemy on this island, and the only ally the participant could depend on was themselves.

Perhaps it could be described as a never-ending war to the death?

The island had become the main stage for the royal rumble, where everyone had to die and the last man standing had to be crowned the winner for it to end.

The island was instantly painted with blood the moment the death match started as the participants mercilessly massacred each other.

[Alert: Muller-nim has died!]

[Alert: Calcutta-nim has died!]

[Alert: Notkimochi-nim has died!]

A message would pop up whenever an Adventurer died.

Thud…! Thud…! Thud…!?

The items dropped by those who died were littered across the ground.

Ding!

Another message popped up in front of the participants’ eyes.

[Rule #1]

- The most valuable possession of the deceased participant will drop on the ground.

- The rest of their belongings will disappear.

It seemed that it was one of the tournament’s rules.

‘Ah… what the hell does dropping an item matter at this point?’?Siegfried grumbled in disbelief.

There were bound to be precious items among the ones dropped by the participants, but what use was that if they couldn’t become the last man standing? The precious items they looted would end up as junk if they failed to survive on this island. After all, they would lose everything the moment they died.

‘Don’t tell me there’s someone stupid enough to pick those up…’? ｂ𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎ｌ.ｎｅｔ

Siegfried was immediately proven wrong.

After all, a human’s greed could transcend logic and understanding.

“Huh? Boots of the Colossus? Awesome!” an Adventurer exclaimed after seeing a pair of steel boots on the ground.

Boots of the Colossus was a high-level item famous among physical damage dealers because of its attached options, and it was a pretty expensive item. Its price dropped a bit in recent years, but buying one with decent options would surely set someone back at least two hundred million won.

“Jackpot!” Blinded by greed, the Adventurer licked his lips as he bent down to pick the boots up.

However, carelessness was bound to bring death in places like this.

Puuuk!

Another Adventurer stabbed his sword deep into the side of the greedy Adventurer.

‘Wow… there really are greedy morons blinded who will still try to pick up items in this situation…’?

Siegfried was amazed while looking at the greedy Adventurer.

However, that Adventurer wasn’t the only one who had been blinded by greed. There were quite a few of them who gave up on fighting as they ran around the area looting the dropped items before making a run for dear life.

‘Tsk… humans…’?Siegfried thought. He clicked his tongue and shook his head. To think that some people would still have the luxury to put their materialistic greed forward in this kind of situation…

‘Humans are going to be humans no matter what,’?Siegfried thought in disbelief. He let out a sigh when he realized that he couldn’t really judge other people. ‘Yes… I’m a bastard who?sold out a country?in my previous life…’

Siegfried lamented his pitiful luck, and he couldn’t help but be tongue-tied and dumbstruck at how unfortunate of a life he had been living so far.

He really thought that he would be able to live a decent life from now on, but who could have known that life actually had such a surprise waiting for him? Anyway, he eventually decided that there was no point crying over spilled milk. He decided to come back to his senses and steel his resolve.

It didn’t take him long to calm himself down since he had already experienced every single thing imaginable in life, and he could already consider himself a veteran when it came to the misfortune that life could possibly throw at someone.

‘I will definitely survive this no matter what happens. Definitely… I will do whatever it takes to survive…!’?

Siegfried gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve.

Gnash!

He gritted his teeth so hard that one of his molars ended up getting chipped from the force. He was desperate enough to grit his teeth over a game, as what would happen here would affect not only his virtual life but his real life as well.

Why?

Because aside from his game account, his life was on the line as well.

‘Let’s wait and observe for now,’?Siegfried thought. He decided to quietly hold his breath and hide for now.

***

The island finally quieted down around an hour after the tournament started. Those fated to die had already died, while those fated to live were still alive as they went their separate ways and ventured deeper into the island.

The island, thick with hostility in the air, was painted red from the blood of those who died. Their corpses and the items they left behind were littered across the ground.

‘I’m not going out… Never…’?Siegfried thought while hiding beneath a boulder.

It would definitely be a foolish and costly mistake for him to make a move right now. The island had become quieter compared to a while ago, but there was a high chance that there were some people lurking in the shadows lying in wait—similar to what Siegfried was doing.

While he was deep in his thoughts, he heard the rustling of bushes nearby.

Rustle… rustle…

Someone seemed to be crawling underneath the bushes while looting whatever useful items they could find on the ground.

‘That person is probably going to die soon… Maybe in around ten seconds…?’?Siegfried thought.

Puuuk!

Exactly ten seconds later, an arrow flew from somewhere and pierced the looter’s head.

Hostility filled the air once again.

‘Only death awaits me if I move without thinking. Let’s ignore the items and focus on survival for now…’?Siegfried once again steeled his resolve of stubbornly waiting things out.

***

Thirty minutes later, the Adventurer who shot the arrow a while ago finally appeared and approached the looter.

Then…

“Heok!”?The Adventurer gasped in surprise.

The looter had dropped a pretty valuable—no, it would be an understatement to describe it as valuable. The Adventurer couldn’t help but wonder how an item like that even appeared in this place. The Adventurer considered its appearance illogical because…

[Soul Separation Device]

[A necklace containing the War God, Iskandar’s enlightenment.]

[Type: Necklace]

[Rating: Mythic]

[Abilities: Separated Soul.]

[Separated Soul: Allows the user to obtain another class. (Dual Class)]

The necklace named ‘Soul Separation Device’ was a priceless item. It was something like the Boots of the Colossus could not even dare to compare against. It was because the Soul Separation Device could allow its user to obtain a 2nd Class.

Dual Class!

This didn’t refer to something like a hybrid class that was neither here nor there like the Magic Swordsman. The Soul Separation Device allowed the user to become a knight and a magician at the same time and master both classes simultaneously.

As such, the Soul Separation Device was extremely expensive that it could probably allow its user to purchase an entire building at the heart of Gangnam once sold.

In fact, the item was abnormally precious even Siegfried struggled to hold back when he saw it.

‘I have to pick that up…’?Siegfried thought as he tried his best to suppress the greed welling up inside of him.

‘Get a grip! Don’t risk it all for some item!’?

He rebuked himself while suppressing his greed through superhuman patience.

However, it seemed the others had different ideas.

Tak…! Tak…! Tak…!

Someone suddenly darted out from the bushes, clearly aiming for the Soul Separation Device.

“Fuck off! That’s mine!” another Adventurer appeared out of nowhere and blocked the person who darted out from the bush.

Then, Adventurers started showing up one by one. They all seemed to be aiming for the Mythic item.

Where the hell had they been hiding all this time?

“I’ll kill you!”

“Fuck off, you bastards!”

“What did you just say?! Do you have a death wish?!”

“Has money clouded your sense of judgment? Heh!”

More than a dozen Adventurers started fighting to the death over the Soul Separation Device.

‘What a mess…’?Siegfried inwardly muttered. He felt sick at the sight of the never-ending human greed unfolding right in front of his own two eyes.

1. Sold out a country in their previous life is a Korean saying used for people with the worst luck since it is believed that the karma from their previous life caught up to them in their present life.