Debuff Master

Chapter 197

Siegfried was right. The nearly two thousand Adventurers who had come to see him were victims of the Genesis Guild.

Was this what the saying—you reap what you sow—meant?

The Genesis Guild expanded their forces aggressively since their founding, so they naturally made quite a lot of enemies in the process.

Most of their enemies were small guilds like the one Siegfried used to own or solo players, and they always held the upper hand because they were a large group, and their targets were always weaker than them.

That was the main reason why their victims didn’t dare to exact vengeance.

However, a single incident changed all of that.

A certain Adventurer appeared out of nowhere and inflicted massive damage against the Genesis Guild through guerilla warfare, and he even went as far as posting the video of the one-sided massacre on G-Tube!

Most of the Genesis Guild’s victims thought that Siegfried was a skilled gamer who would soon be affiliated with a guild.

‘He’s going to get it in the end.’

‘I wonder how he plans to handle their retaliation…’

‘He’s got the balls. I give him that…’

However, the Adventurer turned out to be the first Adventurer to become a king in the game, and he was under the protection of the emperor as well.

Everything changed when that fact came to light.

‘An Adventurer under the protection of the emperor? Then… the Genesis Guild won’t be able to do anything against him, right…?’

‘Does that mean that we have a safe haven?’

‘That place is paradise!’

The gamers zeroed in on the fact that the Proatine Kingdom was a safe haven against the Genesis Guild.

The Proatine Kingdom was basically a sanctuary to these people who would never want to bump into any Genesis Guild members.

In addition, the kingdom was also attractive in their eyes because they could just run to the kingdom after messing with the Genesis Guild members.

‘Let’s go and have a look.’

‘I have a feeling that he’s a victim like us… Should we combine forces and attack the Genesis Guild?’

‘Our headquarters can never be attacked if we establish a guild over there, right?’

Therefore, the victims naturally gathered at the Proatine Kingdom.

“Let’s create a guild!”

“Yeah! Let’s make a guild!”

“Let’s fight together and show those bastards who’s the boss!”

The Adventurers pressured Siegfried to establish a guild.

“Guild! Guild! Guild!”

“Guild! Guild! Guild!”

“Guild! Guild! Guild!”

The crowd started chanting guild while pumping their fists into the air.

“H-Hey! Excuse me! Stop it!” Siegfried protested, but his protests fell on deaf ears.

“Guild! Guild! Guild!”

“Guild! Guild! Guild!”

“Guild! Guild! Guild!”

“I have no plans to make a guild—”

“Guild! Guild! Guild!”

“Calm down and listen to me…”

“Guild! Guild! Guild!”

“Are you guys a bunch of parrots…?”

“Guild! Guild! Guild!”

The Adventurers didn’t listen to Siegfried.

They kept on shouting about what they wanted Siegfried to do.

‘This could be an opportunity…’?

Siegfried realized that there was an opportunity amidst all this.

After all, there was a saying that said—the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Siegfried had no plans to create a guild or join a guild, but it was a good option if he wanted to fight the Genesis Guild.

‘Come to think of it… It’ll be better to use Adventurers to fight rather than NPCs…’?

It was exactly as he thought. A full frontal confrontation against the Genesis Guild would inevitably break out between Siegfried and Genesis Guild. Therefore, it would be much better for him to fight alongside Adventurers instead of NPCs.

NPCs would stay dead if they died, but that wasn’t the case for the Adventurers. The Adventurers would come back to life after forty-nine hours.

“Then… Shall we make a guild together?” Siegfried asked.

“WAAAAAAH!”

The crowd went wild at his words.

“However, I have a few conditions…” said Siegfried.

***

‘Yes, that’s what I need…’?Siegfried finally realized why he had to establish a guild. It was for the sake of none other than the Loser’s Shame debuff. This debuff was important because Adventurers would always come back to life.

What was the point of winning the war if their opponents simply came back to life?

However, it would be a different story altogether if the guild that lost the war was made unable to retaliate against the winner for a whole year.

The losing guild’s members would be subjected to a fifty percent increase in damage received from the winning guild’s members, which meant that they were going to be slaughtered like sheep even if they simply stumbled upon each other.

But what if the winning guild became hell-bent on chasing down the loser to the ends of the earth? The answer was simple—the losing guild’s members would have to disconnect for forty-nine hours every time they were caught.

In short, the Loser’s Shame debuff was like a restraint to the immortality of Adventurers.

‘Yes, I need a guild for that…’?

Therefore, Siegfried decided to create a guild with the Adventurers who had come here to visit him today.

“I had no plans to join or create a guild, but my mind changed after seeing all of you. I have decided to create a guild, but I have a few conditions,” he said.

“What is it? What are your conditions?” an Adventurer asked.

“We will only work together in bringing the Genesis Guild down. Aside from that, we’re not going to care about what we do. I have no plans to wage war against other guilds and…” Siegfried scanned the crowd before continuing. “Don’t think about causing trouble outside and running rampant here. We are not going to protect you if you do that. This place is not a sanctuary for criminals.”

Siegfried decided to draw the line.

He didn’t want Proatine to turn into a lawless land that harbored criminals.

“No problem!”

“I don’t have any issues with that as long as I get to kill those Genesis bastards!”

“Don’t worry about that!”

The Adventurers easily accepted his condition.

“In addition, I will send you my email address. Send me your story with the Genesis Guild, and make sure you include proofs like screenshots or something else. I can’t accept everybody blindly. We’re going to have each other’s back from now on, so I need to know who I’m fighting with. I will contact you once the guild has been made, so do what you want until then,” Siegfried added.

They would be comrades, but only while they were fighting the Genesis Guild.

After all, that was the only thing that Siegfried wanted from this guild.

***

The reporters wrote all sorts of articles based on Siegfried’s declaration to establish a guild while the Adventurers were shouting guild. Of course, this happened purely out of coincidence. He had no intentions of blowing the matter up and making it go viral.

[V Sports: Siegfried will rise up against the Genesis Guild with two thousand gamers.]

[BNW Forum: Things are looking hot!]

[V Sports Exclusive: Is Siegfried a Korean?]

Of course, he didn’t really care about those articles.

‘I need to prioritize getting a new weapon,’?Siegfried thought.

What good was establishing a guild to him if he didn’t have a weapon to use while fighting? His top priority right now was to find a suitable weapon that he could use in battles.

Therefore, he decided to stop by the Bavarian Workshop.

He had to find a suitable weapon that deserved to be enhanced using the Mercedes Workshop Enhancement Coupon.

‘Change Identity.’

Siegfried reached the outskirts of the Bavarian Workshop’s headquarters.

He used the Metamorphosis Mask to change his face and identity.

Seuk…

He now looked like a middle-aged man with a thick beard.

He had two reasons why he had decided to hide his identity before entering the workshop.

The first reason was the Genesis Guild.

“Who the hell was that guy again? I heard our guild master once crushed him like an insect?”

“The old timers said that he was apparently a stubborn insect…”

Adventurers and even NPCs frequented the Bavarian Workshop, so there was bound to be a bunch of Genesis Guild members in the workshop. Therefore, Siegfried had to hide his identity before entering the workshop.

How about the second reason?

‘I should avoid the public embarrassment…’?

Siegfried simply wanted to avoid being embarrassed.

He could still remember the cringe-worthy way the workshop had greeted last time with the banners, fanfare, and all.

In fact, there was actually a group of people on standby outside the building with instruments and a red carpet. They seemed to be waiting for him to show up.

‘Wait, do they do that every day? Like, do they wait for me every day?’?

At the thought, goosebumps broke out all over Siegfried.

“How may I help you today?” a staffer asked.

“I wish to look at some blunt weapons,” Siegfried replied.

“Please come this way…”

He didn’t need an expensive weapon, so he didn’t bother going to the Hometown of Death. He decided to take a look at the artifacts on display.

“I’ll take this one,” Siegfried chose a mace with high Attack Power.

It was only a Unique weapon, but it was far stronger than the Frost Dragon's Foot because of its Level 200 Level Requirement.

“How do you wish to pay?”

“By cash. Ah,?and…”

“Yes?”

“Please come over here for a second…”

“…?”

Siegfried showed his real face to the staffer and said, “I’m actually Siegfried. Please don’t forget about my thirty percent discount.”

“Heok!?Y-Your Majesty—”

“Shhh!”

“…!”

“Please keep my visit a secret.”

“B-But we have to report every time you visit…”

“I’m not going to buy anything, then.”

“B-But that’s—”

“Please keep it to yourself this time.”

“All right…”

Siegfried bought the Level 200 mace without anyone knowing about his visit.

He managed to exit the workshop in peace.

“Hey, owner punk! Where are we going now?” Hamchi peeked out from his pocket once they were out of the workshop.

“To the Mercedes Workshop,” Siegfried replied with a smile.

***

The Mercedes Workshop was known as the best among the top three workshops on the continent.

The Bavarian Workshop specialized in killing power, while the Autonika Workshop specialized in design and functions, but the Mercedes Workshop specialized in everything.

This meant that they had been creating artifacts that could only be described as crazy.

However, they had become so good at their craft that most people deemed this period of time as the Golden Age of the Mercedes Workshop.

‘Shall we go have a look at how amazing they are?’?Siegfried decided to take a look for himself. He wanted to see just how good the Mercedes Workshop was at their craft.

Siegfried was astonished upon arriving at the Mercedes Workshop’s headquarters.

‘Why are there so many people…?’?Siegfried wondered after seeing a huge crowd of both NPCs and Adventurers. ‘I heard they’re the most expensive out of the three, but they actually have the most number of customers despite that? Just how amazing are their artifacts?’

He went and checked the artifacts, and he could only describe them as works of art.

The artifacts possessed powerful specifications, flawless design, and excellent functions.

The Mercedes Workshop’s artifacts were the clear winner compared to the artifacts from the Bavarian Workshop or the Autonika Workshop.

It finally became clear why they were called the best.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

Their customer service was excellent as well.

“Hi, I want to buy an artifact… A blunt weapon.”

“A blunt weapon…? Hmm…?May I recommend some products to you?”

“That would be great, but…” Siegfried took out the Mercedes Workshop 100% +12 Enhancement?Coupon?from his Inventory and showed it to the sales representative. “I need an artifact to use this on. Can you show me the best artifacts you have?”

Siegfried was determined to buy the best artifact available.

After all, he would be using the enhancement coupon to enhance it.

“T-This is…! I heard that there are only a few of these left on the continent…!” the sales representative exclaimed.

“I guess so? It was sold during the early days of the workshop, after all…” Siegfried replied.

“Please follow me. I will guide you to where we serve our VVIP customers,” the sales representative said.

And that was how Siegfried ended up being treated as a VVIP customer by the Mercedes Workshop…

He was now a VVIP of all three top workshops in the Nürburg Continent.