Debuff Master

Right after the Immortal King collapsed…

“Hear me, warriors of the north! Let this sight be engraved in your hearts forever!”

“Engrave them forever!”

The cries of the Nordic Warriors filled the entire battlefield.

“Brother!”

Lionbreath used teleportation magic to instantly appear on the battlefield, and he grabbed Siegfried’s hand with both hands.

“Good job! Excellent work! You defeated our foe, the Immortal King! You have avenged us!”

Siegfried looked a bit embarrassed by the sudden grand treatment as he awkwardly scratched his cheek and replied, “We did it together, hyung-nim.”

“What are you talking about? We couldn’t have easily defeated the Immortal King if it weren’t for you!”

“Haha…”

“Come, let us go!”

“Huh? Go where?”

“We have already won the war, so isn’t it time for a banquet?”

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

Ding!

[Alert: You have completed the Quest – ‘Rowdy Northern Shores’ you have received from the Quest Maker, Cheon Woo Jin!]

The tiring quest chain that popped up one after another with no end in sight was finally over, and Siegfried, who finally cleared the quest, was thinking…

‘Just you wait, you lying bastard…!’ 

Siegfried gritted his teeth in anger while thinking of the liar who paid him fifteen random boxes in exchange for this difficult quest, Cheon Woo Jin.

***

The Nordic Tribe’s victory banquet that evening was much more exciting than the welcoming banquet they had thrown for Siegfried. This banquet was a rowdy, wild, and grand banquet that was incomparable to the one before.

“Drink up! Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink up the booze!”[1]

Did a Korean player drop by this place in the past by any chance…?

The Nordic Tribesmen were acting like Koreans for some odd reason.

‘Where the hell did they learn all of that…?’ Siegfried wondered while watching the Nordic Tribesmen act like Koreans all of a sudden.

However, this was not the time for him to be sitting there and watching others drink.

[Alert: Adult content has been unlocked!]

[Alert: You may now enjoy to your heart’s content!]

Lionbreath’s daughter, Ingrid, was sitting right next to Siegfried, and she was poking his waist.

“Let’s go…” she said.

“G-Go where?”

“To do it...”

“D-Do what?”

“Why are you feigning ignorance? Are you seriously going to pretend that you don’t remember how you messed me up that night?”

“…”

“Hurry up. Let’s go. I’m about to go crazy, and I need you to mess me up again just like you did that night.”

“It’s not what you think it is…” Siegfried said while profusely sweating and trying to push Ingrid off of him. He immediately tried to make an excuse, “The banquet is still ongoing, so I don’t think—”

“Let’s just do a quickie and then come back. Yes… let’s do that.”

“…”

“I’m currently extremely—” Ingrid was about to say something extremely scandalous when a voice was suddenly transmitted into Siegfried’s head.

— Are you having fun?

It was Cheon Woo-Jin’s voice.

‘What the? Where the hell are you?’ Siegfried asked in response.

— On the roof.

Siegfried looked up and saw Cheon Woo-Jin standing on top of the crystal roof.

‘Just wait right there, you damned liar. I’m coming to get you!’ Siegfried growled as he stood up from his seat.

“Where are you going?!”

“To the restroom.”

“Oh! Do you want to do it in the restroom? Well… I haven’t tried that before, but it does sound exciting…”

The Nordic Women seemed to be pretty open-minded. Ingrid herself didn’t seem to shy away from anything and everything.

“I’m really going to the restroom.”

“Yeah, I’ll go with you.”

“No, I’ll be right back, so just sit tight and wait for me. Do you understand?”

“I’m fine with doing it in the restroom, too…”

“I’m not fine with it, so just stay put and wait for me. I’ll mess you up and even destroy you once I’m back.”

“Haaang…!” Ingrid let out a strange moan as she squirmed in her seat.

Siegfried decided to just play along with Ingrid because his main objective right now was to go after that lying bastard.

He left the banquet hall and made his way toward Cheon Woo-Jin.

***

On top of the banquet hall roof, Cheon Woo-Jin brazenly greeted Siegfried with a smirk.

“Good job! Here, your rewards.” He presented Siegfried with fifteen random boxes from the Autonika Workshop.

“Don’t you dare try to pull that stunt on me! Do you seriously think that you can call it quits with just fifteen random boxes? Do you even know what shame is, you damned liar!” Siegfried growled.

“Ouch… That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? What do you mean, liar?”

“You already knew that this quest would be a chain quest, didn’t you?!”

“I had no idea. How am I supposed to know that? Just because I’m the Quest Maker does not mean I know how the quest is going to end, you know? I would have given you a complete walkthrough if I had known how it’s going to progress.”

“Stop lying through your damn teeth, liar!”

Siegfried had no intention of getting fooled twice.

“Hey, what do you mean by that? I’m telling you the truth. Well, I did kind of shortchange you, but I had no idea that this quest was going to be this difficult.”

“Thank you, and what’s next?”

“Hey, I’m really being serious here… And I’m sure you profited quite handsomely from this, right? Ten tons of gold plus a D-Grade Mana Stone mine is nothing to scoff at.”

“Huh? How did you know that?”

“I have an informant amidst the coalition forces. You really squeezed them dry. I’m sure you gave the land to the Nordic Tribe, and you will be keeping the money for yourself, right?”

Cheon Woo-Jin was right. The lands that they gained from the coalition forces were going to be given to the Nordic Tribe for them to settle in those lands, while the ten tons of gold plus the D-Grade Mana Stone mine would belong to the Proatine Kingdom.

“Just let me off the hook this once. I really had it rough, too, you know? Do you know how many incidents I had to handle around the world?”

”I’m going to let you know that this isn’t the only incident I had to handle. I’m going crazy trying to take care of every single one of them—Crazy! Sometimes I can’t help but feel that whatever I’m doing is futile…” Cheon Woo-Jin complained.

His complaints continued on for quite a while, and Siegfried decided to forgive him just this once, but it wasn’t because he was starting to pity Cheon Woo-Jin. It was because he was getting tired from listening to the former’s complaints.

“I’m not a famous Ranker, but don’t you ever think of using me for cheap! I’m not going to sign up for any intern pay, so you better pay me properly from now on.”

“Alright, alright, so what will you do now?”

“I’ll have to go to the Martial God Temple,” Siegfried replied.

“About time you went there. You can enter once you hit Level 150 so you can start working on getting your license, right?”

“I should start doing that since I’m already Level 155. I need to start gearing up, too.”

“Anyway, good luck and take care of yourself. The Church of Osric is keeping tabs on you, after all.”

The Church of Osric could be said to be Siegfried’s archnemesis or something by now, so Cheon Woo-Jin’s words to Siegfried about being careful of the Church of Osric weren’t strange at all.

“I know that much, and that is why I have to become stronger.”

“Sounds good. See you later.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you say we go for a drive later tonight or a few days later?”

“Didn’t you just say ‘see you later’?”

“That later could be tonight.”

“Excuse me, are you Mr. Crazy Bastard?”

“Calling me that sounds a bit harsh. Besides, how long do you plan to stay cooped up in your house and waste away playing games? You should go out and enjoy from time to time as well.”

“Should I…?”

The offer sounded pretty enticing. After all, Siegfried had been cooped up in his house and playing BNW for the past week. He also figured that he didn’t really have anything better to do, so he took up Cheon Woo-Jin on his offer.

“Alright, see you later at seven, then. I’ll call you.”

“Sure, sure.”

Cheon Woo-Jin disappeared, and Siegfried went back to the banquet hall.

“Brotheeeer! Driiiiink uuuup!”

“Yes, I am on my way.”

“Hey, owner punk! Have a drink! Kyu!”

The severely intoxicated Lionbreath and Hamchi, along with the lustful Ingrid, stuck to Siegfried at the same time.

‘Why is it that there’s not even a single normal being around me…?’ Siegfried lamented as he covered his face with both hands.

***

The next morning…

“Brother! Thank you for everything! We do not share a single drop of blood, but I sincerely think of you as my real brother!”

“I also think of you as my real brother, hyung-nim.”

“Your Proatine Kingdom and we, the Nordic Tribe, are going to be bound together from now on. Feel free to call us anytime you need our help. We will drop everything on our hands and come running toward you.”

“Thank you very much for your generous offer, hyung-nim.”

“But aren’t you going back so soon? Why don’t you stay a few more days? Ingrid is going to miss you a lot. She has been complaining every night that you didn’t play with her.”

“I… I’m a bit busy, so I won’t be able to stay much longer…” Siegfried started profusely sweating as he made an excuse.

“Ah, then that can’t be helped. Make sure you drop by once in a while.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Then, you should get going since you’re busy.”

Siegfried and his party left for the Warp Gate to Proatine.

“Please stay a bit longer!”

“Please stay with us forever!”

“Great Hero! Please stay with us a few days more!”

The Nordic Warriors cried as they saw Siegfried off.

However, the one who cried the most when Siegfried was about to leave was none other than…

‘Siegfried! Don’t go! I don’t want to go back to elder-nim…’ Betelgeuse was inwardly screaming as he looked at Siegfried with pleading eyes.

Siegfried could see the desperation in the Sword Emperor’s eyes.

‘I guess he really does not want to go back to Master… but you still have to go back. As long as you keep training under Master, you will surely be able to reach the realm of a Grandmaster…’

‘Well, I know that, but it’s too painful… How can I endure getting beaten up like a dog at this age…?’ 

‘You have to be strong. Master is going to come after you if you don’t return, and once he catches you…’

‘…’

‘Something good will definitely come out of it, so please return if you had enough fun. That’s what everyone feels when their vacation ends, but they still went back to work, right?’

Betelgeuse looked despondent.

‘Why does a 130-year-old man look like a private going back to the barracks after his very first time off?’ Siegfried thought.

‘See you later, Siegfried…’

‘Yes, Elder-nim.’

Siegfried bid farewell to Betelgeuse and left the Nordic Tribe’s lands.

He left proudly as the hero who finally vanquished the Immortal King after three hundred years.

***

That afternoon, Siegfried didn’t really have to go far since even though his territory was small, it still had a Martial God Temple.

“It has been a while since I’ve been here…” Siegfried muttered while standing in front of the Martial God Temple. The Martial God devotees worshiped Ares, the Martial God.

“How may I help you? Have you come to offer your prayers to the Martial God or—” asked a blonde female priest at the entrance.

“I came to prove my right,” Siegfried replied.

There was no way that Siegfried would pray to a god of his own volition, even if it were in a game. In addition, he didn’t really have any religious beliefs in real life.

The reason that he came to this place was simple. He was here to use the dimensional arena being operated by the Martial God Church.

The Arena was a place where fair competition and various other contents existed. As long as one’s rank was high enough, one would be able to access dungeons across the continent.

In short, Siegfried came here to obtain a license that would allow him access to the dungeons of the continent.

Moreover, the Arena was a good source of experience points.

It was also frequented by many fighters from many different disciplines, so it was a good place to train one’s skills against many different enemies.

“Please write your details here,” said the female priest as she extended a piece of paper over to him.

Siegfried wrote down his details.

[Siegfried van Proa]

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

[Position: King of the Proatine Kingdom]

[Rank: Total Newbie]

[Ring Name: N/A]

It was possible for anyone to use an alias known as a ‘Ring Name’ at the Arena, as there was no rule that forced people to use their real names.

‘The Genesis Guild might come and disturb me if I use my real name here…’ Siegfried thought as he contemplated about the ring name he would use in the Arena.

Eventually, he finally came up with a good ring name.

[Ring Name: Cansomeonepleasebeatme?]

Siegfried’s naming sense was abysmal, so this was the best name he could think of.

“Huh…? Y-Your Majesty! I apologize for not recognizing you earlier! I hope that you’ll forgive me for my rudeness…” exclaimed the female priest as she immediately kowtowed.

“I’m not wearing a nametag saying I’m the king or whatnot, so please don’t be so worried about it,” Siegfried replied with a smirk.

“But… Your Majesty…?”

“Yes?”

“Your ring name is a bit…”

“I-Is there a problem?”

“I think it will attract too much attention, so…”

The female priest seemed to be trying to say that Siegfried’s ring name could cause other people to aggressively target him.

“Who cares? The more people I get to fight, the better, am I right?”

“…”

“Then, may I enter?”

“Please follow me, Your Majesty,” said the female priest as she guided Siegfried toward the Warp Gate that was going to bring him to the Arena.

1. This is a game or a song Koreans usually sing or play while drinking. ☜