Debuff Master

Chapter 179

Chae Hyung-Seok miraculously survived the bombing despite taking a few direct hits.

The reason he survived the bombing despite not being a Tank was solely because of his high level. His absurd Level of 276, coupled with his various buffs, gave him the endurance he needed to survive the bombing.

In addition, it had also become quite common for Healers and Buffers to increase their defenses to avoid dying in one hit or becoming tanky enough to become an off-tank.

“Hey, I asked you a question. Who the fuck are you?” Chae Hyung-Seok growled.

“Who knows?” Siegfried flashed a sleazy smirk before continuing. “I’m also wondering what kind of a fucker I am, too. Maybe… Seggs Stamina King? Or perhaps I’m a Vulture.”

“What…?” Chae Hyung-Seok muttered in disbelief at Siegfried’s self-roast before he grimaced and thought, ‘Where the hell did this nobody come from? How does he have airships at his disposal…?’

A thought suddenly crossed his mind. ‘Hold on… airships? Is that even something a gamer could buy? Is there a gamer that possesses an airship?’

The cogs in his mind turned madly, but he couldn’t think of a gamer with an airship at their disposal.

A law on the Nürburg Continent prohibited an Adventurer from owning an airship. It was also illegal to sell airships to Adventurers.

The main reason was that airships were simply too overpowered that the Adventurers might use them to challenge the authorities of the continent. The continent made a unanimous decision and passed the law.

Of course, there were a few exceptions, but as far as Chae Hyung-Seok was aware, there were no Adventurers with airships. However, there was one person that he suspected was capable of owning an airship.

‘It’s impossible for someone to own an airship personally… The NPCs will never sell an airship if the buyer is not a nation. In other words, the owner of those airships isn’t an individual. However, the only gamer who can purchase an airship is…’?he thought of one person.

They were none other than the gamer shrouded behind a veil of mystery—Siegfried.

He was the monster who appeared out of nowhere during the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament and defeated the ninety-ninth ranking Ranker, Raptor, in a duel of control.

He then became the first gamer in the world to become a king with his own nation in BNW.

It would make perfect sense that Siegfried could purchase airships under his kingdom’s name. How he managed to purchase one was a mystery as he hadn’t posted anything in the forums nor had he uploaded any videos, so most people assumed that he stayed holed up in his castle and was only interested in playing lord over his territory.

There was also a time when the Genesis Guild was rapidly expanding that they clashed against this Siegfried, and Chae Hyung-Seok noticed that Siegfried resembled some loser he knew long ago.

“You’re that bastard, aren’t you? That Siegfried or whatever your name is. You’re the winner of the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament?” Chae Hyung-Seok asked.

“Who knows?” Siegfried grinned.

“Fuck your who knows! How can an Adventurer own combat airships?! Are you fucking with me right now?!” Chae Hyung-Seok cussed.

“Oh, you’re right… It’s a dead giveaway…” Siegfried muttered with a startled look. Now that he thought about it, he had basically announced his identity by using the combat airships of his nation.

‘Well… there was no other way aside from this, so I guess there’s no helping it,’?he decided to shrug it off. There was no other way for Siegfried to run away from an angry horde of high-leveled Adventurers with the ark.

He had no other choice but to borrow the military might of the Proatine Kingdom.

The Law of Equivalent Exchange...

He had obtained the ark in exchange for exposing his identity.

Of course, he had no idea that Michele would use the combat airships, but he wasn’t in a position to blame anyone because he also didn’t expect that Chae Hyung-Seok would survive the bombing.

In other words, he had miscalculated.

Besides, securing the ark was much more important right now than keeping his identity under wraps, and this was the reason that Siegfried was not bothered by having his identity exposed.

It was much more important for Siegfried to secure the ark right now rather than to keep his identity under wraps. Therefore, Siegfried was unbothered by the fact that his identity was exposed.

Of course, he still felt that it was a bit of a shame that his identity was exposed here rather than during an opportune time.

“Let me ask you one question. Are you that bastard?” Chae Hyung-Seok asked with a glare.

“That bastard? Who’s that bastard?” Siegfried feigned ignorance.

“That stubborn bastard—Han Tae-Sung,” Chae Hyung-Seok growled.

“So what if I am?”

“What?”

“I said, I’m Han Tae-Sung,” Siegfried took his Metamorphosis Mask off.

There was no point in hiding the truth. Now that Chae Hyung-Seok knew that he was the King of Proatine, the Genesis Guild would definitely hunt him down.

“You’re Han Tae-Sung?” Chae Hyung-Seok was surprised.

He asked just in case, but he didn’t expect that Siegfried would confess.

“Are you kidding me? How did you change your name and class?”

“That’s none of your business~” Siegfried replied in a high tone before saying, “It’s time for round two, so you better watch yourself.”

“Watch myself? Do you really think that a nobody like you can—” Chae Hyung-Seok scoffed.

Pukeok!

However, Siegfried suddenly charged and smashed Chae Hyung-Seok’s head with his hammer.

***

Pukeok!

There was no way that Chae Hyung-Seok would die in a single hit. He still had ten percent of his HP, and his absurdly high overall defense wasn’t something that Siegfried could pierce with his current Attack Power.

However, Siegfried didn’t stop attacking Chae Hyung-Seok despite being aware of it.

‘He’s just an empty shell. I just have to keep beating him up,’?he thought.

He knew very well that a Buffer without allies was nothing but a punching bag.

Chae Hyung-Seok’s overall defense was absurdly high defenses on top of his Level of 276, but he was still a Buffer, so there was nothing he could do in a one-versus-one situation.

And Siegfried was right on the money…

Puk! Puk! Puk!

Chae Hyung-Seok was reduced to nothing but a sturdy punching bag without any allies to cast his buffs on and help him. Siegfried took advantage of this opportunity to beat Chae Hyung-Seok up to his heart’s content.

He used Smite followed by Machine Gun Smash. He used his elbow, knees, fist, and various possible attacks to beat the living hell out of Chae Hyung-Seok.

The one-sided beating was so brutal that anyone passing by would wonder if it were fine for a person to beat someone else up in such a ruthless way.

Siegfried showed no signs of stopping as he beat, beat, and beat Chae Hyung-Seok up.

Chae Hyung-Seok screamed in fury, “You little FUCKEEEEEER!”

He was overcome by rage after being one-sidedly beaten up by the insect that he could once crush with a flick of his finger. In fact, Tae-Sung was just an insect whom he had ruined with a single command.

However, the fact that Chae Hyung-Seok couldn’t even retaliate made him feel like he was going crazy.

“You asshole!”

Puk!

“Fuck!”

Pukeok!

“Heeeeeey!”

Bam!

Ironically, Chae Hyung-Seok couldn’t land a single blow no matter how hard he struggled against Siegfried despite his incomparably higher HP and Defense. Well, their difference in stats were so great that comparing them side by side was going to end up embarrassing Siegfried.

However, their Strength and Agility were almost equal, with Chae Hyung-Seok’s Strength and Agility being slightly higher than Siegfried’s. This meant that Chae Hyung-Seok had much higher stats compared to Siegfried despite being a Buffer.

Nevertheless, he was receiving a one-sided beating from Siegfried without being able to land a single blow in retaliation.

It was a one-sided beating despite his higher stats. This was more than enough proof that Siegfried was much more talented than Chae Hyung-Seok.

‘I-I’m getting beaten up by this insect?! By Han Tae-Sung? Nonsense! This can’t be real!’?Chae Hyung-Seok’s logic and pride couldn’t accept his reality. Well, Siegfried couldn’t really care less about what Chae Hyung-Seok thought or his curses.

He just kept on beating Chae Hyung-Seok up.

“Hmm…?My damage is low… I wonder how high your Defense is…” Siegfried muttered while looking at his prey with curious eyes before saying, “Well, I guess that’s because I was only using normal attacks…”

“Hey, you fucking son of a bitch!” Chae Hyung-Seok growled in anger.

Siegfried completely ignored him.

“I should buff myself first.”

He activated all of the self-buff skills that the Debuff Master possessed and proceeded to beat Chae Hyung-Seok once again.

“Hmm… I guess the damage is a bit higher, but…”

“Y-You… what are you doing right now? A-are you… are you testing your damage on me…?!”

“Shadow Swamp has no effect on damage dealt, so… I guess I should use Blaze Field.”

“HEY!”

Siegfried completely ignored his prey’s screams and cast Blaze Field. He then proceeded to test his damage dealt on his living punching bag after drastically reducing his punching bag’s Defense and Magic Resistance.

However, he wasn’t actually just fooling around. He was trying to find out what would work best against Chae Hyung-Seok in case he ran into the latter in the future.

Fwaaaaa! Fwaaaaa!

The Flames of Destruction hissed and clung to Chae Hyung-Seok.

Bam!

Siegfried smacked his prey with his hammer.

Chae Hyung-Seok still had nine percent of his HP, but Siegfried’s blow took a huge two percent of his HP, which made his HP drop to seven percent.

“Hmm… I guess it should be enough once I reach Level 250 and arm myself with a +12 legendary weapon… Ah,?it’s a shame… I could have tested more skills if he had more HP remaining… I think he’s not going to last long if I use my skills…”

“Y-You…! Han Tae-Sung, you bastard! Do you really think that you will be safe after doing this?! I will fucking drag my guild to your doorstep and make you quit the game once again! Kekeke! Keke!” Chae Hyung-Seok roared and broke out into laughter.

Siegfried smirked and replied, “Go ahead. Do you really think that the emperor will let that happen?”

“The emperor?”

“I’m still under the emperor’s protection, and I will remain under His Majesty’s protection for the next two years and two months~”

“…!”

“The Genesis Guild will be annihilated the moment you come to my doorsteps to attack me. What do you say? Do you want to quit the game together?”

“Y-You bastard…!”

Chae Hyung-Seok finally remembered the emperor’s announcement. He knew very well that he would have to quit the game if the emperor sentenced him to death. His status as the guild master of one of the top ten guilds wouldn’t matter by then.

“I think there was a screenshot somewhere that the lowest-leveled knight under the emperor’s command was—hm, was it Level 270?”

“…”

“There were five hundred knights in that screenshot alone, so…”

“You better run and hide. I’m going to rip you to pieces if I catch you!”

“Good luck scouring the world map looking for me~”

Siegfried decided to infuriate Chae Hyung-Seok as much as he could.

After all, his identity was already exposed.

‘So it begins. You and me—to the death—until one of us ends up quitting the game.’?Siegfried planned to interfere with everything the Genesis Guild would do from today onward and maximize the remainder of the emperor’s promised protection period.

“It’s my turn now, so no hard feelings, all right?”

“…”

“I’ll make sure to drive you crazy at the end of it.”

Siegfried then swung his hammer at Chae Hyung-Seok’s head.

Puk! Puk! Puk!

He stubbornly and persistently aimed for Chae Hyung-Seok’s head.

***

C-Crack…!

Chae Hyung-Seok’s head finally cracked open.

Thud…!

With a dull thud, he died and dropped an item.

[Alert: You have obtained the item Miracle Rune Earrings!]

The Miracle Rune Earrings was a Mythic accessory that Buffers used, and this item was going to fetch billions of won if he sold it.

“Wow~ Who could have known that the day when I would get to pick up an item that Chae Hyung-Seok had dropped would come?” Siegfried smiled. He had just done what Tae-Sung couldn’t even dream of doing, even in his wildest dreams.

“Hmm… I should probably be on my toes from now on since the tea has been spilled.”

He was a bit nervous about the retaliation, but he figured that nothing would happen as long as he was careful. History wouldn’t repeat itself as well because he had the Proatine Kingdom as his sanctuary, so he wouldn’t be stuck in the endless cycle of being killed like last time.

“Hey, owner punk! Are you done?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, let’s go.”

“Sure.”

Siegfried shot another signal flare.

A ladder soon descended from an airship hovering in the night sky. He climbed the ladder with the Ark of the Ancient God in tow, and he climbed aboard the main combat airship.

Afterward, the combat airships of the Proatine Kingdom silently flew across the night sky.

***

Thud!

The capsule cover opened.

“Han Tae-Sung… You son of a biiiitch!” Chae Hyung-Seok screamed at the top of his lungs with a flushed face.

His reaction was totally understandable. After all, he had lost the ark containing a hidden class, and he had also become Han Tae-Sung’s punching bag, whom he had treated as an insect in the past.

“You actually dared to screw me over after hiding like a rat all this time? Just wait and see…! Struggle as much as you want—it’s useless! I’ll show you that you’re still nothing to me. Do you really think that you can do anything against me just because you have a hidden class??Hehe… Hehehe…!”

Chae Hyung-Seok vowed to destroy Siegfried—no, Han Tae-Sung once again.

Just like what he had done two years ago…