Debuff Master

Why did his level not reset?

The Community forum clearly mentioned that those who lost in the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament would have their level reset to one. In fact, there were loads of users crying on the forum after they got their level reset and Rune of Transcendence sealed. However, the other users on the forum only sneered and said, “Serves you right~! You brought it upon yourself~!”

So why did his level not reset?

Siegfried doubted his eyes and decided to check his Inventory. 𝓫ℯ𝓭𝓃𝓸𝓋ℯ𝓁．𝓬𝓸𝓂

[Overly Dried Jerky × 43]

[Low-Grade Healing Potion × 11]

[Low-Grade Mana Potion × 9]

[Completed Treasure Map × 1]

[Mercedes Workshop 100% +12 Enhancement Coupon (No Level Limit) × 1]

[Mid-Grade Dismemberment Tool Kit × 1]

[etc.. etc.. etc…]

His Inventory was fine.

‘Huh? How about my equipment…?’?Siegfried hurriedly clicked on the ‘My Equipment’ tab.

[My Armor]

[Body: Titanium Mail]

[Legs: Titanium Mail]

[Shoulders: Titanium Mail]

[Hands: Titanium Mail Gauntlets]

[Belt: Megingjord]

[Feet: Titanium Greaves]

Surprisingly, Siegfried’s most expensive item, the Megingjord, was still wrapped around his waist.

In addition…

[My Weapons]

[Weapon 1: Golem’s Rock Fist (Mace)]

[Weapon 2: Vicious Fang (Spear)]

Both the armor and weapons he had purchased from the City of Pleasure, Dondegiri, were still in his Inventory.

Why?

How come he retained his level, class, and items despite dying?

Then, was his Rune of Transcendence, which was the catalyst that allowed an adventurer to level up, sealed up?

Siegfried hurriedly changed tabs and checked whether his Rune of Transcendence was sealed or not.

[Rune of Transcendence]

[An ancient rune that holds the power of infinite growth.]

[The holder of this rune will become much more powerful when they accumulate enough experience.]

[Type: Passive (Cannot be deleted)]

[Status: Active]

“Huh…?” Siegfried was stupefied.

Surprisingly, his Rune of Transcendence, which was supposed to be sealed up, was still active.

“It’s fine…? How is it still active?” Siegfried wondered, He took his gauntlet off and checked the back of his hand. The Rune of Transcendence, which was the symbol of the level-up system, was giving off a glow as if it were trying to prove its presence.

“Am I…? My character is not ruined…?” Siegfried was dumbfounded when he finally realized that everything was still the same as if nothing had happened.

“Why? Why am I the only one who’s fine…? Everyone else had their Rune of Transcended sealed, and their character reset…” Siegfried wondered. He opened New World once again and browsed through the posts of those whining after getting eliminated from the tournament. He even went through the screenshots they posted just to confirm what a sealed Rune of Transcendence looked like.

“Huh?”

While he was browsing through the posts, he found something rather peculiar.

***

He noticed that there was one thing that all of those who were eliminated had in common. It was something he was aware of as well.

[Aura of Self-Destruction]

[The Adventurers inflicted by this aura will have their levels reset and their Rune of Transcendence sealed.]

[The seal shall survive for a period of ten years.]

[Those who wish to get rid of the aura will have to drink the ‘Elixir of Proof,’ which is one of the rewards given to the winner of the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament.]

Siegfried suddenly recalled the announcement he had heard a few days ago.

“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’!”

He also recalled the ships and airships that let out low grating noises as they passed through the barrier.

‘Hmm?’ a thought suddenly struck him.

“I was already on the island before the barrier was formed, so I’m…” Siegfried mumbled. He finally realized the reason he was the only one unaffected by the character reset and rune-sealing penalty.

It turned out that the rules didn’t apply to him.

He was already on the island before the barrier was formed, and thanks to that, he didn’t get afflicted by the Aura of Self-Destruction.

“Fwah…!”

It was only after that he made sense of the whole situation that he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Badump! Badump! Badump!?

His heart was beating like a drum, and he was certain that the heart of his real body lying in the capsule was also beating in a similar way.

‘Ah… that scared the heck out of me… really… Eugh…!’?

Siegfried felt dizzy, and he suddenly fell on his butt.

His legs lost all strength in them when he finally realized that his life hadn’t been ruined.

However, he had no time to dilly-dally like this.

‘I have to get out of here,’?Siegfried decided to find a way off the island as soon as possible.

Siegfried forced himself up and forced his legs to start walking.

However, something shiny caught his eye. “Hmm?”

The items dropped by those who were eliminated were sparkled as if they were begging him to pick them up.

“Hmm… ehem… ehem…” Siegfried stopped and faked a cough.

He wanted to leave the island as soon as possible, but he thought that he would be disrespecting the deceased if he just ignored the items they had left behind.

Most of the items on the ground were pretty valuable, and it was because of the tournament rules stating that the most valuable item in the participant’s possession would drop in the event of their death.

Sure enough, all the items in front of Siegfried were expensive ones.

‘Ehem… shall we take a look at the things they left behind?’?he thought before checking the items with his Rune of Insight.

- Pathfinder

- Steel Dumbbells of Schwarzenegger

- Commander’s Dual Heart

- Quicksilver Gloves

- Ramsay’s Frying Pan

- Torn Waistcloth

- Camouflage Cape

- Inzaghi's Compass

- Furry Handcuffs of a Noble Child

- Earrings of Greed: Blood

- Earrings of Greed: Chi

A few sketchy items were mixed in, but most of them were truly valuable.

However, the following items held immense value:

The Steel Dumbbells of Schwarzenegger, which explosively increased one’s stamina, the Quicksilver Gloves, which increased one’s attack speed, the Camouflage Cape, which allowed one to blend into their surroundings for ten seconds, Inzaghi's Compass, which directed the user to where fortune could be found, and the Earrings of Greed, Blood and Chi, which granted the user 7% life steal.

These items would cost quite a fortune if Siegfried were to purchase them.

‘They’re ownerless, so it should be fine for me to pick them up… no… it is my right to pick them up… yes, that’s right,’?Siegfried thought as he picked the items up one by one.

The air smelled pretty fresh for him today for some odd reason…

***

Erengel, the island where the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament was being held, was divided into thirteen areas. These areas were randomly connected to each other.

As such, one could access Area 3, Area 5, and Area 11 from Area 9, which was where Siegfried was located.

However, the issue was if Siegfried could even go to another area. After all, he was inside a closed-off area.

‘Is it possible…?’?he wondered while walking the boundary of Area 11, which was another closed-off area. He wanted to test whether it was possible or not.

A purple barrier divided Area 11 and Area 9.

‘Just a foot in… Nice and easy…’?Siegfried nervously extended his foot into the barrier.

Shuuuk!

And his foot passed through the barrier and into Area 11 before safely stepping on the ground.

‘Huh? It worked? Then…’?Siegfried squeezed his courage and stepped into Area 11.

Nothing happened…

‘Then…’?He hopped back into Area 9.

He could perfectly go in and back without anything happening to him.

‘Is it because I’m not afflicted by the Aura of Self-Destruction…?’?he wondered.

Siegfried couldn’t be sure if it were indeed because of the aura, but that wasn’t important to him right now.

‘If I can cross over to the other areas, then…’?Siegfried caught a whiff of the sweet scent in the air as he thought, ‘I can just go around the closed-off areas and pick up all the items, right?’

It sounded possible to him, although it was blatant cheating against the tournament rules, but what was that to him? He had no plans of joining this tournament in the first place. He was just unfortunate enough to crash on this island.

‘Let’s do it,’?Siegfried thought as he clenched his fists.

***

The closed-off areas could only be described as a treasure trove, and Siegfried only roamed around the closed-off areas, picking up every single valuable item he could find.

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Knight’s Sacrificial Talisman’!]

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Necklace of Silence’!]

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Scream of the Nameless One’!]

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Orochi’s Tongue’!]

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Hostile Sword’!]

~

The ites in his inventory were worth millions to tens of millions won.

“Ehem… Ehem…”?Siegfried faked a cough before he brazenly uttered, “These items are now ownerless anyway…”

He was talking to himself since he was feeling guilty about taking these items and wanted to justify it, but why did it seem like he had a huge smile on his face?

“They say that blessings come in disguise. I thought my life was over, but what is this jackpot? Haha…” Siegfried weakly chuckled.

He had been prepared to kneel in front of Deus and beg him to help him just a few hours ago, but it turned out that he hadn’t sold his country out in his previous life. Instead, he had to have been a hero who saved his country.

***

The team in charge of monitoring code name 007 was diligently carrying out their duties as they tracked Siegfried’s every single movement.

Their team managed to live on borrowed time after the whole fiasco Siegfried had put on, and their team leader with dreams of becoming a salary thief managed to keep his spot and continue being a salary thief.

“Wow…” the salary thief—no, the team leader muttered while looking at the screen before asking, “How much are all of those worth?”

“Almost… five hundred million won…?” the operator, Choi Hee-Jung, replied.

“Five hundred million won?! Wow… that’s crazy!”

“There are still four more closed-off areas, so… he’ll probably make around 1.5 billion won if he loots those areas as well.”

“1.5 billion…? He stands to make 1.5 billion from walking around and picking up items?!”

“Yes...”

.

“This damned unfair world!” the team leader screamed, and then he cried out, “Someone is leisurely walking around, picking up millions of won like they’re pieces of paper on the street, while I have to sit ten hours a day in front of a monitor just to watch him make money! This damned life is so unfair! UNFAIR!”

“You can become a gamer too if you feel so wronged…” Choi Hee-Jung meekly retorted.

“I can’t…”

“Why?”

“I suck.”

“…”

“Haaa… When I was young, my parents used to scold me saying, ‘What good will playing games do? You will only end up suffering later in life if you get too absorbed in them.’ They told me to study hard and go to a good university to have a good life… See? This is why early life education is important…” the team leader grumbled.

“Why are you blaming your parents? Don’t you suck because you’re not talented in video games?”

“Well, t-that is that…”

“People without talent tend to be talented at blaming others. Tsk… Tsk…”

“Ms. Choi Hee-Jung,” the team leader called her name in a disgruntled voice before asking, “Have you already reported what happened to the higher-ups or not?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean by ‘what do you mean?!’ Is there anything else other than the fact that cold name 007 crashed on the island where the tournament is being held?!”

It was the team leader’s attempt to teach the operator, Choi Hee-Jung a lesson by using his authority, and this was nothing but a petty attempt to get back at her.

“Of course, I did.”

“Y-You did?!”

“Yes…”

“What did they say…?”

“Just the usual, like they always say. Have they ever said anything other than that?”

Choi Hee-Jung was referring to their job to monitor and only monitor Tae-Sung, which was the one and only task they had in their department.

1. A salary thief is someone that takes a paycheck home when they barely do anything. The original term used in Korea is ‘Paycheck Lupin’, Lupin being the legendary thief, but the author decided to go with a thief for some reason.

2. Author-nim used ?? which means controlling with one’s feet. This is another Korean gaming term used to tease people who suck at the game by saying ‘Are you playing with your feet?’