Debuff Master

Chapter 311

These half-rotten corpses weren’t zombies but ghouls.

Ghouls and zombies were similar in numerous ways, so people found it difficult to differentiate them from each other in mainstream media such as movies, games, or cartoons.

Hive Games Entertainment decided to upload a file explaining the difference between zombies and ghouls on their website.

Why?

It was all because there were numerous depictions of what a zombie was in the media, so Hive Games Entertainment wanted to help the gamers better understand what a zombie in the game was by educating them.

Ironically, the file from Hive Games Entertainment served as an excellent explanation of the difference between a zombie and a ghoul to not only the gamers but to even the mainstream media.

[Zombie]

[A corpse moving under the influence of a dark power.]

[99.9% of zombies lack self-consciousness, and they are just puppets controlled by evil magic. Most of them are low-rank monsters, and they usually slowly decay until they disintegrate or turn into skeletons.]

[There are a few zombies that possess intellect, but such mutations are quite rare.]

[Ghoul]

[A cursed being.]

[They are living yet dead beings.]

[Their bodies are cursed to decay for eternity, but they will always regenerate half of their body, making it impossible for them to disintegrate or turn into skeletons. They possess consciousness like humans, and they crave human flesh to satiate their insatiable hunger.]

[Unlike zombies, ghouls possess special abilities, and ghouls capable of casting high-level magic spells exist.]

In other words, zombies in BNW were disposable creatures, while ghouls were dark monsters that craved human flesh. An easier way to explain the difference was that ghouls were stronger than zombies in BNW.

Of course, the monsters that ambushed the second party were ghouls.

[Dimensional Ghoul]

[A ghoul empowered by dimensional energy.]

[It is stronger than a normal ghoul. Caution is advised when fighting it.]

[Type: Monster]

[Rating: Normal]

[Race: Ghoul]

[Level: 200]

Perhaps it was because they were in a Raid Dungeon, but the levels of the Ghouls that emerged from the fog were an astounding Level 200.

However, what was more surprising was the response of the party.

Every single one of them was qualified to join one of the main parties, so the second party immediately responded to the threat.

“Two from behind!”

“There are more on our left!”

“Visibility is bad, so stay close!”

The members of the second party showed their experience by killing the ghouls that were lunging at them from within the fog.

However, there were simply too many ghouls, and their Movement Speed was too fast as well. The members of the second party slowly got separated from each other.

“Owner punk!” Hamchi exclaimed.

“Okay,” Siegfried replied with a smirk as he gathered his mana.

Woooong!

A black field emerged on the ground.

Shwaaa!

The ghouls’ shadows emerged from the ground and protected the members of the second party.

However, Siegfried’s Shadow Swamp wasn’t that shallow. It also decreased the Movement Speed of all enemies within the debuff field. The Movement Speed shred slowed the ghouls significantly, which spared the second party any injuries.

Of course, a party member still ended up getting bitten by a ghoul.

Slash!

The party leader cut down the last remaining ghoul before staring at Siegfried.

‘Hey… Why are all of you staring at me?!’ Siegfried cried inwardly after realizing that everyone was staring at him.

“Wow…”

“I gotta acknowledge him…”

“Tae-Pung Ahjusshi was not kidding.”

“Yeah, he’s not someone that would simply vouch for someone else after all…”

“As expected…”

“You can’t really call this nepotism anymore, right?”

Everyone couldn’t help but acknowledge Siegfried’s usefulness. Some of them had been a bit skeptical of his abilities, but they didn’t voice out their thoughts, as Yong Tae-Pung had vouched for him.

However, they no longer had any doubts about Siegfried.

“Hahaha… N-Not at all! I’m just glad not to stand in your way!” Siegfried exclaimed in response while awkwardly scratching the back of his head with his face flushed red.

“All right, enough chatter. Let’s march on now that we’ve seen what our famous newbie is capable of,” the party leader said as he led the party toward the city center.

***

Siegfried didn’t stop proving himself to the members of the second party.

“Gwuuu Oooh!”

“Gwaak!”

“Gwuoo!”

The ghouls swarmed them by the hundreds, but Siegfried’s Shadow Swamp helped the party deal with them without suffering any casualties.

[Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!]

Siegfried gained a ton of Experience Points just by placing down Shadow Swamp. Of course, it was also thanks to the party members making quick work of the ghouls.

[Alert: You have leveled up!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 239!]

Siegfried leveled up after consuming so many Experience Points at once.

‘Wow! Jackpot! Wait, how is my leveling speed so fast? I’m already above Level 200. Has it always been this easy to level up?’

He couldn’t help but question his leveling speed, but there was nothing strange about his growth as the Raid Dungeon was way above the difficulty Adventurers in his level could handle.

In other words, his absurd leveling speed was all thanks to him attempting to conquer a dungeon way above his level. Moreover, the party hadn’t been dealing with only a handful of Ghouls but hundreds of ghouls.

“Stop! We’ll stop here,” the party leader commanded.

The timing was perfect, as Siegfried had just leveled up.

“The other parties are nowhere in sight, so we will scout our surroundings first.”

The party leader wasn’t a famous Adventurer, but he was still an experienced Adventurer.

‘Let’s learn as much as we can from him…’ Siegfried thought as he observed how to lead a party in the Raid Dungeon.

“Anyone here with higher than average Movement Speed?” the party leader asked.

Four Adventurers stepped forward in response.

“I will have to trouble you with scouting our perimeter. Please go and see if the other parties are near us or if there are any traces of them.”

The four Adventurers agreed without kicking up a fuss. They went into the fog to scout.

“The rest will wait here. You can go cardboard scavenging if you want, but please make sure to stay within a hundred meters from here just in case.”

Half of the party members ventured into the fog after the party leader gave them permission to go cardboard scavenging.

‘Cardboard? What does that mean? Where is everyone going?’ Siegfried had no idea what was going on, as this was his first time in a Raid Dungeon.

In the end, Siegfried decided to ask the party leader despite feeling a bit embarrassed for his ignorance.

“Excuse me… party leader-nim?”

“Yes?”

“I-I have no idea what you meant just now. What do you mean by cardboard scavenging?”

“Ah~ Cardboard scavenging? Haha!” the party leader responded with a laugh before saying, “It’s nothing important, to be honest.”

“I’m sorry… This is my first time, so…” Siegfried replied while awkwardly scratching his cheek.

“Haha! It’s alright, everyone has a first, right?”

“So… What does cardboard scavenging mean?”

“Look,” the party leader pointed at a party member trying to lockpick a door before asking, “Look at him.”

“Oh.”

“What do you think he’s doing?”

“It looks like—Oh?”

Siegfried finally realized the meaning behind cardboard scavenging.

“Don’t tell me—are they going to loot the houses?”

“Bingo~” the party leader said with a smirk before adding, “Do you remember how there are games where you find treasure chests in dungeons or in secret corridors?”

“Yes?”

“It’s the same here. This is a dungeon, but it usually spawns with things that people had left behind. There’s a chance to find something of value from time to time when looting the houses.”

“Oh… So that’s why it’s called cardboard scavenging[1].”

Nobody knew who coined the term, but it seemed like the perfect way to describe what they were doing. Of course, it could be called farming, but that term was already used for something else in online games, so it wasn’t apropos.

“Why don’t you try cardboard scavenging, too? Who knows? You might find something really valuable.”

“Should I? Haha…”

Siegfried did not refuse the party leader’s suggestion. He was pretty good at scavenging, after all.

***

Cardboard scavenging wasn’t that difficult. He would enter any of the empty houses in the City of the Dead and see if there was anything of value in it.

Rustle… Rustle… Rustle…

Siegfried and Hamchi chose a large mansion.

“Did you find anything?” Siegfried asked.

“There’s only dusty old stuff here! Kyu!” Hamchi replied while shaking his head.

“I guess it’s a bust here, too. Let’s go.”

“Kyu!”

Siegfried gave up on the mansion and went to another mansion to try their luck with cardboard scavenging. Unfortunately, they were not able to find anything of value in it, aside from a few canned food and gold coins.

‘Well, there’s no way it’s going to be that—huh?’

Siegfried was about to give up when he noticed that a book was placed a bit unnaturally on the bookshelf.

‘Maybe..’

Siegfried decided to pull the book out since he had nothing to lose.

Click!

An audible click echoed, and the sound of turning cogs rang out soon afterward.

Clack…! Clack…! Clack…!

The bookshelf moved sideways and revealed a hidden passage that led underground.

“Oh! Is this what they call beginner’s luck?!” Siegfried exclaimed while proudly smirking.

Who would have known he would find a hidden passage on his first cardboard scavenging?!

“There should be something of value down there since it’s a hidden passage. Hoho!”

“Owner punk! Are we going to be rich?! Kyu!”

“Maybe?”

“Let’s go! Kyu!”

“Go, go, go!”

Siegfried and Hamchi went down the hidden passage, but…

“What the hell…?”

What greeted them was not a pile of gold or a legendary sword but what seemed to be a laboratory. The laboratory seemed to have stood the test of time, judging by how much dust had covered the flasks and beakers.

A skeleton wearing a white gown, at least, he assumed it used to be white, was sitting on a chair.

Hamchi approached the skeleton and gave it a light tap.

Pshhuuu!

The skeleton crumbled into dust.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to treat the dead that way. You’re going to get punished for that, you know? It could haunt you in your dreams later.”

“K-Kyu?! Hamchi didn’t do anything! Kyuuuu!”

“I’m just kidding. Calm down.”

Siegfried teased Hamchi before approaching the desk in front of the skeleton.

He found what seemed to be the written will of the skeleton when it was still alive.

I, Albert ?? ?? have conducted this ??? for ???? and ?????…

(omitted)

??? wants to ??????? ability ????

This cursed… ???? ??????…

(omitted)

Unfortunately, it was impossible to make sense of what was written on it.

The parchment was too weathered to read.

“What the hell is this saying?” Siegfried grumbled while inspecting the letter.

He soon gave up and threw the letter away after getting quite disappointed. He was thrilled to have inadvertently stumbled upon a hidden passage, and he had been thinking that he had discovered a hidden treasure room or something.

He continued searching the laboratory until he found a large chest.

“Oh! Perhaps the skeleton kept his money here?”

“Hurry up and open it, owner punk!”

“Relax! I’m going to open it!”

Siegfried and Hamchi looked at the chest with greed and expectations.

“All right~ Here we go! Bam bambam bam bam! Bambambam! Tadadada~ Tadadada~” Siegfried hummed the tune of Voices of Spring Waltz composed by the famous Johann Strauss II[2] while opening the chest.

Click… Clack…!

The chest finally opened.

‘Oh! I’m going to be rich!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly.

He was certain that the chest was definitely filled with treasures.

“Hmm? What the fuck are these?”

Siegfried cursed not even a second later.

1. There are people in Korea who scavenge recyclables, mainly cardboard boxes, to make ends meet. This is a term widely used in online games, and the English equivalent is ‘farming.’ ????

2. For those interested: ????