Debuff Master

Chapter 290

Crash! Bam!

The Nordic King, Lionbreath’s office, was turned upside down.

“Ack! Ingrid! It’s me, your father! I’m your father!”

“Give me that letter right now! Hand it over!”

“Ack!”

Ingrid viciously swung her sword at her own father, which proved how strong she had become.

“B-Blood! I’m bleeding! Do you really plan to kill your father right now?!”

“Hand that letter over if you value your life, Father!”

“Aaaaack!”

Lionbreath’s screams rang all the way out of his office, but the guards standing outside his office door didn’t even budge an inch.

“Yawn…”

One of the guards even yawned as if he had long gotten used to it.

“Here they go again.”

Another guard shook his head as if he was having a headache.

Six months had passed since Ingrid first asked Lionbreath for a duel, and she would come after him so often that the Nordic Warriors had long gotten to their quarrels that it was no longer a cause for concern to them.

There were even some rumors circulating among the Nordic Warriors that Ingrid was strong enough to kill Lionbreath and usurp the throne any time she wished, so she no longer needed her guards around her.

That was why…

“Hey! Fools! Your king is dying! Come in here and save me! I’m not paying you fools for nothing!” Lionbreath screamed at his guards. His voice sounded desperate, but none of the guards moved a single muscle.

Five minutes later…

“Kuheok…!” Lionbreath was groaning and twitching on the floor with a huge black eye and sword cuts all over him.

Ingrid would have been arrested for treason and banished as an unfilial daughter, but the Nordic Tribes placed greater importance on strength, so these kinds of fights between royalty were quite common.

“I-Ingrid… Do you really plan to kill your own father…?”

“You should have handed it over while I was being nice, Father.”

“Ugh…!”

“I need to see for myself what that letter is all about, and why you think I shouldn’t read it.”

Ingrid walked over and snatched the letter from Lionbreath’s hand. She started reading it. “To the respected King of the Nordic Warriors. How have you fared, Your Majesty? I wish to inform you that…”

Ingrid grimaced halfway. She froze for ten seconds before…

Rip!

She ripped the letter made out of the best quality parchment into shreds.

A shadow cast on her face as she muttered a single word, “M-Marriage…?”

“H-Hiiiik!” Lionbreath shrieked after seeing his daughter’s face that resembled a demon from hell.

“He’s getting married… He kept avoiding me just to stick it in that elf bitch…?”

“I-Ingrid! Calm down and listen to me first—”

“No.”

“Ingrid…”

“This marriage… I won’t accept it!” Ingrid exclaimed. She smiled sinisterly, and her eyes gleamed in a red light, making her seem as if she had gone mad.

***

Meanwhile, at a tavern in the Proatine Kingdom. A man wearing a hood over his face flashed a twisted smile after overhearing news of the joyous occasion.

“Marriage… You dare try to live happily ever after with the elf princess after trampling on my kingdom? Keke… Kekeke…!”

It seemed that the man was not delighted by the news spreading across the entire Proatine Kingdom.

“I’ll help you make this wedding a memorable one… A memorable red wedding…!”

The eyes of the man glimmered sinisterly underneath his hood.

***

The Genesis Guild was on the brink of ruin after the Constantine Civil War ended, and it turned out that the Civil War was not an opportunity to restore the guild to its former glory but to remove whatever life support it was on.

First off, the Genesis Guild’s guild master, Chae Hyung-Seok, had made a deal with a demon, which didn’t turn out that well. The mistake caused not only him but all of his guild members to not receive a single penny for their services in the civil war.

Both the papacy and the imperial faction distanced themselves from the Genesis Guild the moment word of their guild master striking a deal with a demon spread.

However, the biggest reason for their exclusion from any rewards or merits was that the current regent of the Constantine Holy Empire, the Saintess, Janette, was being supported and guaranteed by the Proatine Kingdom and Head Crusher Guild.

“Ah!

“Everything he did for the last few months was absolute shit!”

“What’s the point of busting my ass when this moron of a guild master always makes the wrong choices?”

“I didn’t get paid a single cent from this civil war because of him!”

“Ah, this guild is done.”

“He talks big, but he always gets screwed over by a Level 250 newbie. Tsk tsk…”

The discontent within the guild finally exploded after the Constantine Civil War, and the result was…

[Alert: CreamyOnionChicken has left the guild!]

[Alert: PingpongLord has left the guild!]

[Alert: Pungwol-san has left the guild!]

Messages of his guild members leaving popped up one after another in front of Chae Hyung-Seok’s eyes.

[Applicant: 0]

[Resignee: 912]

The Genesis Guild suffered a huge blow after they lost almost one thousand guild members in a single day, and this was indeed a huge blow since the guild depended on quantity over quality to fight their battles.

Kwak…!

Chae Hyung-Seok clenched his fist in anger after seeing his guild members leave the guild, but that was not his biggest problem right now…

[Invoice]

[Amount: 50,000 gold]

[Term: 1 month]

[Remaining Period: 16 days]

[Late Payment Interest: 2,000 gold per day]

[Note 1: Payment must be made in full]

[Note 2: The emperor will issue a hunt if payment is delayed by more than thirty days.]

This absurd invoice was from none other than Siegfried.

“Han Tae-Sung… You fucking bastard…!”

Chae Hyung-Seok initially planned to settle his debt after successfully completing the Constantine Civil War content. It was the only option he had to repay his debt as his income from the game had been drastically reduced in recent days thanks to a certain someone, and his numerous businesses in real life were all suffering losses.

The fact that he did not get a single penny from the Constantine Civil War was a huge blow to him, and he no longer had any way to come up with the money to repay his debt.

How was he supposed to prepare such a huge sum now?

His only option was to convince his creditor to accept the payment in installments, but he was certain that the creditor was only going to sneer at him.

“Should I just go and invade that fucker’s kingdom?!” Chae Hyung-Seok screamed in a sudden fit of rage.

‘If I invade his kingdom and loot everything, then… I could easily make at least ten billion won from it, even though it’s a small kingdom… That means I won’t have any problems even if I quit this game…’ he thought.

It seemed like a good plan to just screw the emperor over and loot the Proatine Kingdom for what it was worth before razing it to the ground, and then he could simply convert everything to cash and quit the game.

“No… This game is a gold mine in itself… I can’t give this game up… Let’s calm down, Hyung-Seok…”

He shook his head and decided not to act rashly.

BNW was the ultimate virtual reality game. No other game could come close to it, and it had attracted the attention of non-gamers as well, thanks to its technology that allowed it to realistically replicate the real world.

In fact, there were numerous streamers who did not participate in combat and just live-streamed their daily average life in the game. It was a fact that attracted not only youngsters but even older people to the game as well.

However, he was actually going to quit such a game?

It was akin to killing the goose that laid golden eggs!

“I should come up with 2.25 billion won somehow and pay that bastard first…”

He shook off whatever extreme thoughts he had and decided to focus on repaying Siegfried to continue playing the game.

***

Flash!

Tae-Sung logged into the game after getting adequate rest and descended on the continent as the Adventurer, Siegfried.

“Oh? You are back so soon, Your Majesty,” Michele greeted him in front of the Warp Gate. He smirked and added, “You could have rested more if Your Majesty wished~”

“Just you wait…” Siegfried clenched his fish and growled while glaring at him.

‘Damn it…! I’m getting married in a game when I haven’t dated anyone in real life? I might end up getting too immersed in this game at this rate…!’

He still had not come to terms with the fact that he was getting married.

“You’re actually an NPC who has taken over a human’s body, right? You know those sci-fi s? The ones where AIs take over human bodies to wreak havoc on the world?”

For some odd reason, the joke Cheon Woo-Jin made suddenly crossed his mind.

‘I think I might become an addict who can’t live without the virtual world…!’

Tae-Sung wouldn’t have batted an eye if he married or killed an NPC if this were a normal online game, but the problem was…

‘Damn it… This game is too realistic for its own good…’

The revolutionary AI system used by BNW was simply too realistic for him.

“Your Majesty? Hello? Your Majesty? Is something bothering you?” Michele asked.

“Is something bothering me? Are you seriously asking me that right now? Ha?!” Siegfried snapped back.

“Just you wait… I promise you’re going to suffocate to death under a pile of documents…!”

“Geez~ I am shivering in my boots, Your Majesty. Kekeke!”

“Y-You little…!”

“I suggest you go on a trip to cool your head down, Your Majesty.”

“A trip?”

“We could send out invitation letters to everyone else, but we cannot possibly do that to the Kingdom’s Elder, right?”

“Heok!”

Siegfried’s face turned ghastly pale at the mention of the Kingdom’s Elder.

The Master.

Level 999 Hidden NPC.

He was the only person Siegfried feared and the only being who was invincible in BNW.

Having to break the news of his marriage to Deus was a daunting task for Siegfried.

Why?

Well, Deus could say something like…

‘You imbecile! I asked you to train, but you dare fool around with women?! Do you really think a piece of trash like you deserves to get married?!’

The mere thought of it sent chills down Siegfried’s spine.

He could die if he gave the news to Deus, or he could even get disowned as a disciple.

However, he had to invite Deus to the wedding.

‘What? You got married? But you actually did not invite your great master to the wedding?’

Siegfried was sure that Deus would react that way if he didn’t invite him to the wedding.

What if he sent an invitation letter instead to save himself from Deus’ wrath?

‘You insolent fool! You dare send a piece of paper to this great being?!’

Deus placed great importance on manners and respect, so he was definitely going to get torn into shreds a thousand times over if he were to do such a thing.

“Ah… I guess I have to go in person, right…?” Siegfried muttered.

“That goes without saying, Your Majesty,” Michele replied with a nod. He suddenly turned serious as he added, “Your Majesty is not the only one who will die if the elder-nim gets upset. All of Proatine will follow you to your demise should that happen.”

“Ugh…”

“Now, please be on your way now. We only have ten days before the wedding ceremony, so make sure you make haste, Your Majesty,” Michele said as he pointed at the Warp Gate.

“Hey, Michele…”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Tell me honestly… You don’t like me, right?”

“Your Majesty only found out? It took you a while to notice that, Your Majesty.”

“…”

“Now, please stop spouting nonsense to your most loyal subject and be on your way. Then, goodbye,” Michele said with a bow before heading back to the castle.

Plop…!

A tear dropped from the corner of Siegfried’s eye.

***

A while later…

[Mount Kunlun: Residence of the Invincible]

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes after he arrived at a shabby shack.

“Oh! Welcome back, Young Master!”

The first to greet him was the Sword Emperor—Betelgeuse, no, Deus’ Slave, Blockhead.

“Have you been well, Young Master? Oh! I can sense that you’ve gotten a lot stronger!”

“Well, yes…”

It seemed that Blockhead could sense Siegfried’s strength as expected of a Master.

“But your expression looks dark… Why?” Blockhead asked while tilting his head.

“You’re here?” Deus came out from the hut.

“I greet my master,” Siegfried greeted Deus with the utmost respect.

“Please accept my bow first, Master,” he added before he raised his arms and was about to kneel on the ground.

“Wait,” Deus suddenly cut him off and asked, “What is wrong with your expression? You look like a pig being dragged to the slaughterhouse.”

“Huh…?”

“Don’t tell me a fool like you actually decided to get married?”

Badump!

Siegfried felt his heart drop to the ground as he froze on the spot.

‘O-Oh my god! He knows?!’