Debuff Master

“Are you telling me to become the winner of this tournament…?” Siegfried asked, seemingly dumbfounded by Cheon Woo-Jin’s words.

Cheon Woo-Jin nodded and said, “Yes. I’m asking you to become a king. Shouldn’t you suck this place dry properly if you were going to do so in the first place?”

“Why?” Siegfried said with furrowed brows, “I’m not really interested in that. Whoever wins will probably become the winner after fighting to the death, and someone like me who isn’t even a participant shouldn’t even dream of winning this—”

Cheon Woo-Jin cut him off and asked, “Do you feel guilty about winning?”

“Well, something like that. I’ve already profited enough from this, and do you really think that the people who hosted this tournament will stand by and watch if I win this entire thing?” Siegfried asked in response.

Siegfried was aware that sucking too much honey would end up earning him diabetes, and by diabetes—he meant earning the ire of the tournament host.

The host of this tournament was none other than the emperor himself, and Siegfried was certain that anyone, regardless of whether they were an NPC or not, would dearly pay the price for upsetting the NPC with the highest rank on the continent. In short, life on the Nürburg Continent would be hell for anyone who successfully struck the emperor’s nerve.

However, Cheon Woo-Jin seemed like he was thinking otherwise. “No, the emperor will not get involved.”

“How do you know?”

“I have my ways. In fact, he might even be pleased by the fact that you won the tournament. I’m sure he won’t find it displeasing. And Raptor might end up winning this whole thing. Are you fine with that?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked with a mischievous grin.

“He’s winning with his own ability, so that doesn’t concern me at all…” Siegfried replied.

However, Cheon Woo-Jin’s next words astonished him.

“Even if Raptor becomes the Vice Guild Master of the Genesis Guild?”

“What?!” Siegfried exclaimed in surprise.

The archenemy that he had to destroy one day was the Genesis Guild. Yes, Cheon Woo-Jin had just said that Raptor would join the Genesis Guild as their Vice Guild Master.

***

“Tell me the details,” Siegfried urged.

“They have already agreed to recruit Raptor as the Vice Guild Master of the Genesis Guild if he wins this tournament,” Cheon Woo-Jin nonchalantly explained.

“Don’t tell me…” Siegfried muttered.

“Raptor wasn’t able to debut as a pro gamer. Do you know why? It’s because he was a trash talker who doesn’t know how to hold back. He even made remarks about other people’s families in the past, and he was also famous for receiving cash for boosting other people’s accounts in other games. You must be well aware why a Ranker like him has never joined a guild all these years, right?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked.

“Yeah, I do…” Siegfried replied.

Raptor was playing solo without being affiliated with any guild because most top guilds cared about their public image. Someone like Raptor in their ranks was bound to tarnish their image, so they kept a distance from him. They wanted to avoid being hammered by the public upon recruiting Raptor.

“Raptor and Desire made a deal,” Cheon Woo-Jin said.

Player ID, Desire, real name, Chae Hyung-Seok. He was the Guild Master of the Genesis Guild and the pro gamer who crushed Siegfried until he despaired.

“Chae Hyung-Seok is close with the association, and he is also a rumored successor of the Pro Gamers’ Association of South Korea,” Cheon Woo-Jin added.

“It’s nice to see South Korea’s gaming industry doing so well~” Siegfried sarcastically sneered before asking, “So? What kind of deal did they make?”

“Raptor will transfer all the lands and even the kingship title bestowed upon him to Chae Hyung-Seok if he wins this tournament. In return Chae Hyung-Seok will—” Cheon Woo-Jin said.

Siegfried finished his sentence for him. “Help Raptor debut as a pro gamer by using his authority as the Chairman of the Pro Gamers’ Association?”

“That’s correct,” Cheon Woo-Jin said with a smile.

“If that happens… then the Genesis Guild will have their very own base…” Siegfried muttered before saying, “They could even establish their own country. A country ruled not by NPCs, but a country ruled by players, and the NPCs will be under their rule.”

“The first Adventurers’ Kingdom will be born,” Cheon Woo-Jin added.

“And…” Siegfried trailed off.

Cheon Woo-Jin added the following words for him. “It will be a kingdom ruled by the executives of the Genesis Guild—the guild you swore to destroy.”

“I can’t let that happen,” Siegfried immediately made a decision. He clenched his fists and said, “I can’t let Raptor win.”

He hated the idea of a Ranker joining the ranks of the Genesis Guild, and he loathed the idea of his nemesis—Chae Hyung-Seok—becoming a crowned king.

“But that guy should just continue live streaming and playing solo. Why the hell is he trying to become a pro gamer all of a sudden?” he grumbled.

“That’s because he is an attention seeker,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied.

“Attention seeker?”

“Raptor has already amassed quite a fortune. What else is there left for him to chase? it is naturally fame and honor.”

“Hmm…”

“Raptor is a special kind of attention seeker. He tries not to show it, but he loves being at the center of attention. Don’t you think he’s dying inside because of the mistakes he made in the past? After all, if it weren’t for those, he could have already become a pro gamer. People like him are only obsessed with money until they start living in a nice house and start driving a supercar. Afterward, they will surely start looking for something else.”

“Are you speaking from experience?”

“You will find out once you make enough money.”

There was no way for Siegfried to understand how the mindset of the rich because he had never been in their position.

“Then, I just have to stop Raptor from winning this, right?”

“No,” Cheon Woo-Jin shook his head and said, “There are four forces in Erengel right now. The first one is Raptor, the second is Khalifa, the third is Seung-Gu and the other rabbles like him, and lastly you.”

“Khalifa?”

“The Islamic Extremist gamers.” 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘰𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝘰𝘳𝘨

“Ah, those bastards…”

The cultural and religious tendencies of people were bound to stay the same regardless of whether it was in reality or in a game. The people who instilled terror while screaming that Allah?was the one and only god and Islam was the only way—those people were doing the same things in games as in reality. Now, it seemed that there were extremists here from a group called Khalifa.

“They were rambling about building Mecca in the Nürburg Continent or something.”

“Wow...”

“Imagine if one of those bastards wins this tournament. That will be a sight to see, don’t you think?”

“Then what about the rest?”

“It’s like giving a pearl necklace to a pig. I checked all of them, but none of them seemed worthy. Forget about being worthy; they won’t even be able to protect the land as soon as they get it.”

“But that’s the same for me, right?”

“Are you a preteen?”

“Huh? Preteen?”

“I said, aren’t you being too pretentious?”

“…”

“Why are you acting so weak when you have a hidden class?”

“But I’m weak—”

“You are weak—for now.”

“Ehem…?Ehem…”

“Go and win this tournament,” Cheon Woo-Jin said, urging Siegfried even more, “You should grab the opportunity while it’s present. And it’s the same here in the game and in reality. The one who owns some land will always be better off than others. Do you really think that the saying: landowner is above the creator exists for no reason? Owning land will automatically make you reap tremendous profits. Lands don’t lie. You wanted to become rich, right? Grab the opportunity while it’s up for grabs.”

The land would never lie! It was indeed a wise saying, and this saying was given credibility by the fact that Cheon Woo-Jin owned numerous high-rise buildings in Gangnam.

“You can’t win just because you want to win, right? I’m just asking you to give it a shot. There’s no way that you can win against the likes of Raptor or those Khalifa bastards,” Cheon Woo-Jin said.

“Give it a shot you say…”

“Just remember to shut up if you do manage to win. The emperor won’t be so happy the moment you disclose how you won.”

“I will...”

“Then, I’ll be going now. Oh, by the way,” Cheon Woo-Jin paused.

He waved his hand, and something surprising happened.

[Alert: Your Inventory weight has increased by 100kg!]

It was truly an astonishing sight.

“W-What the hell?!” Siegfried exclaimed.

“I have increased your inventory capacity so have fun sucking more honey,” Cheon Woo-Jin said as a magic circle appeared underneath his feet.

Wooong…!

Then, he disappeared with a bright flash.

“Just what the hell is that bastard?” Siegfried muttered while staring at where Cheon Woo-Jin stood a few moments ago.

Cheon Woo-Jin was truly someone Siegfried couldn’t quite decipher.

***

While Siegfried was happily looting items from Area 8 and Area 12, a message popped up in front of him.

~

[Alert: A blizzard shall descend upon Area 13 from now on!]

~

The final stage of the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament—Area 13—was entering its final stages as fighting broke out all over the area.

“You bastard! You dare betray me?!”

“I have to put myself first, right?! I can’t sacrifice myself for you!”

Many groups started fighting each other as internal strife shattered their coalitions.

“Sigh…?Garbage.”

And Raptor took advantage of the groups’ infighting to mercilessly cut them down.

“Allahu Akhbar!”

The Khalifa Group also went on their way, chanting ‘God is the greatest’ while slaughtering the infidels according to their own logic.

“D-Damn it!”

“Dieeeee!”

“Euaaaak!”

The participants turned into a bunch of lone wolves who could only trust themselves as they fought to be the winner of the tournament, and it didn’t take long before the entire snowfield was drenched in blood.

It was during this entire scuffle that the Islamic Extremist group, Khalifa and Raptor came face to face. The encounter could be considered a fateful, inevitable encounter since the tournament started.

Why?

The clash between the two-digit Ranker and the group composed of users whose levels were Level 100 on average was unavoidable.

“I shall take your head, infidel,” Ishmael—a Level 220 Adventurer as well as the leader of the Khalifa Group—said to Raptor.

“What nonsense are you spouting, you oily Arab bastard?” Raptor said in his usual arrogant straightforward tone as he sneered at the extremists.

The clash between the two giants, which signaled the start of the tournament’s second half, had finally started!

***

Meanwhile…

“Go and win this tournament. You should grab the opportunity while it’s present. And it’s the same here in the game and in reality. The one who owns some land will always be better off than others. Do you really think that the saying: landowner is above the creator exists for no reason? Owning land will automatically make you reap tremendous profits. Lands don’t lie. You wanted to become rich, right? Grab the opportunity while it’s up for grabs.”

Cheon Woo-Jin’s words continued to echo in Siegfried’s head.

The opportunity had arrived, and he could grab it for himself.

However, Siegfried hesitated…

‘These guys are fighting for their lives to survive… I can’t just suddenly appear and snatch the title from underneath them.’

He could see from atop a cliff located behind the safety of the barrier that the participants were fighting for their lives to become the winner. But he was supposed to snatch it all away for his own benefit? It wasn’t an easy decision for him to make unless he was corrupted to the core. It became even more difficult for him to do that when he saw how the participants fought while shedding blood, sweat, and tears.

‘I have a hidden class, so I still have a lot of opportunities… But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone else…’?

Siegfried’s conscience was bothered at the idea of stealing the daily bread of someone hanging by a thread. After all, he could be considered someone fortunate enough to be entitled.

‘Let’s keep watching for now… It’s fine as long as it’s not Raptor or Khalifa. I’ll jump into the fray when it starts looking like either Raptor or Khalifa will win…’?

Siegfried decided that the victor of this tournament didn’t matter as long as it wasn’t a distasteful organization like the Khalifa Group or Raptor, who was a potential threat to him. However…

Puuuk!

Siegfried watched as Raptor stabbed his blade deep into the abdomen of Khalifa’s leader, Ishmael, but the main problem was the fact that this was not the end of it.

“Die, you Arab bastard.” Raptor swung the sword sticking out of Ishmael’s abdomen upward.

Fwaaa!

Blood spurted all over the place as Ishmael’s body was split into two.

Thud…! Thud…!?

“…!”

The remaining Khalifa members were stunned at the sight of their leader being split in half.

“Line up, boys. I’ll take care of you one by one,” Raptor said with a smile. His eyes were filled with madness.

Siegfried bit his lips at the scene unfolding before his eyes. It seemed like Raptor was going to massacre the rest of the participants and be crowned as this tournament’s winner.

What if that really happened?

Another powerful foe would be added to Siegfried’s list. The Genesis Guild would surely shoot up the rankings and become the strongest guild on the continent the moment Raptor, who would become a Dual Class player thanks to the Soul Separation Device, joined them. In fact, there was a high chance that things would turn out exactly as Cheon Woo-Jin had said and the first Adventurers’ Kingdom would be born as well.

‘I can’t let that happen…!’?

Siegfried clenched his fists. He got up and started moving.

1. Author used a Korean wordplay joke here ??? -> ???. Kim An-Ja sounds like a middle-aged woman’s name while Ki-Man-Ja means someone that’s pretentious or deceitful. Writing it as it is made negative two hundred percent (-200%) sense in English, so I had to write a dad joke of my own. Badum…?Tsss…!

2. The saying in Korea is a wordplay since ??? and ??? both have the same ending sound. Basically, it means that the landowner is above the creator who created the land.