Debuff Master

Chapter 318

The bolt aimed at Taycan’s head failed to hit its intended target.

Whoosh!

Taycan displayed animal-like instincts. He moved his head away when the bolt tip was just a hair’s breadth away from his forehead.

“…!”

Chae Hyung-Seok was astonished by Taycan’s display of superb reaction speed by avoiding an attack that was supposed to be impossible to avoid.

“Hey! You almost drilled a hole in my head! What’s wrong with you since a while ago?!” Taycan snapped at Chae Hyung-Seok.

“…”

“Focus! We’re almost there! Just hang in there a bit more! Keep buffing me! It’s almost done!” Taycan shouted and gave a thumbs up.

That was it.

He simply shouted at him a few times but did not get mad at him despite nearly getting a new hole in his head. Instead, he even went as far as to encourage Chae Hyug-Seok with a thumbs up.

‘Is this guy… a retard…?’ Chae Hyung-Seok wondered.

He flashed a sleazy smile and asked, “Keep buffing you? What if I don’t want to?”

“What?!”

“Ha! How dare an NPC act so high and mighty!” Chae Hyung-Seok scoffed and growled in response.

“What are you talking about? Are you high or something?”

“Just shut the fuck up and turn into a ghoul. You have served your purpose, NPC.”

“I have served my purpose…? I think I heard that somewhere…” Taycan muttered before he suddenly remembered what Siegfried said.

“Piss off to your party. I don’t have any business with you. You have served your purpose!”

Those were definitely the same words, but they carried a completely different feel.

If the way Siegfried said it was something like “Stop bothering me, you’re annoying,” then the way Chae Hyung-Seok said it was, “You have served your purpose, so die! You’re nothing but a disposable pawn!.”

“Anyway, you want me to turn into a ghoul since I’ve served my purpose? Why would I turn into a ghoul when the raid is almost over?” Taycan asked while pointing at the Leper King on the ground.

“Because you are going to turn into a ghoul.”

“Why?!”

“You should’ve avoided it properly. Kekeke!”

The reason Chae Hyung-Seok could laugh right now was that the bolt managed to scrape the very top layer of Taycan’s skin. It was a very small scratch, but that was more than enough for the Curse of Decay.

“Why are you doing this…? What are you trying to do… Kuheok…!”

Taycan fell to one knee.

“Grr…! Grrkkk…! My body is… decaying… Ack! Aaaah! N-Nooo! Kwaaak!”

He started screaming as the Curse of Decay started spreading throughout his body.

Bzzzzt! Bzzzzzt!

Sparks flew all around him after his body started decaying.

“Kuheok! I… I need to fight this…! Aaack! Grrrrk!”

Taycan was decaying much slower than the others.

The Thunder God Vajra’s power!

The lightning attribute mana in Taycan’s body was burning the Curse of Decay to slow down its propagation speed. It was still unknown whether Taycan was a Master or not, but it seemed that his mana was fighting back against the curse.

However, that was all he could do.

There was nothing else he could do aside from slowing down the curse.

Of course, that in itself was already quite amazing, but the problem was that the curse was not going to stop simply because it was slowed down.

The one with the heart of a snake…

Thud… Thud…

…Chae Hyung-Seok walked over toward Taycan while holding a mace dripping with Yong Tae-Pung’s blood and brain matter.

“Thank you for your hard work,” Chae Hyung-Seok said with a smile before it turned into a hideous smirk as he added, “Thanks for working so fucking hard for my sake!”

“K-Keuk…! You bastard… Grrrkk!”

“You deserve to rest since you worked so hard, right?” Chae Hyung-Seok sneered before his bloodlust took over his eyes.

He raised his mace above his head and greeted the NPC goodbye, “Farewe—”

“Hey~ Hyung-Seok~” someone suddenly called out to him and asked, “What are you doing~?”

“What else? I’m about to fuck this NPC up,” Chae Hyung-Seok grumbled in response.

“What are you going to do after you fuck him up~?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’ll kill him and monopolize all of the—”

‘Huh?! Who was that?!’ Chae Hyung-Seok suddenly sensed that something was off, and he abruptly turned around.

“H-Hiiik!” He shrieked as if he had seen a ghost.

Well, technically, he had truly seen a ghost.

A vengeful ghost.

It was the crazy bastard who proudly told Chae Hyung-Seok he was going to chase him until the end of the world.

***

The ghost flashed a spine-chilling smile.

“Hey, my beloved Hyung-Seok~”

Siegfried had his index and thumb fingers shaped into a box like a camera while approaching Chae Hyung-Seok.

It was as if he was filming him…

“Ah, look over here, Hyung-Seok~”

“L-Look where…?”

“Snap~ Snap~” Siegfried made the sound before saying, “Yes, this is the picture I wanted. Yes, this is excellent.”

“What are you doing… you crazy bastard…?”

“What else?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion before he replied, “I’m taking the best picture of you…”

“What is this crazy bastard saying…”

“I’m kidding,” Siegfried said with a shrug before he added, “So what I was doing was… taking your funeral photo… No, I mean, a video to be played at your funeral service.”

“A video for my what…?”

“Wow~ You were really something, Chae Hyung-Seok! Your personality is truly one of a kind! You were just amazing, amazing, amazeballs!”

“Hey, stop fucking around and just say it properly!” Chae Hyung-Seok screamed at the top of his lungs, and then he shouted, “I asked you, what the fuck are you doing right now?!”

“What do you think I’m doing?” Siegfried replied as a cold smile flashed on his face. His playfulness was nowhere to be seen. “Hey, Chae Hyung-Seok.”

“What?”

“I was truly moved.”

“Moved by what?”

“You turned Senior Yong Tae-Pung into a ghoul, cut off the buffs to the others so that they would die, and now you’re trying to kill an NPC who fought really hard for the raid party?”

“You bastard… don’t tell me you filmed everything…?”

“Bingo~!”

Siegfried did not hide the fact that he recorded the entire thing.

“Yes, I filmed everything. Full uncut version! Oh, it’s uncensored, by the way.”

“Ah…”

Despair was written all over Chae Hyung-Seok’s face.

‘I’m fucked… I’m really fucked…!’

He finally realized the gravity of the situation.

Backstabbing an NPC?

Well, that was subjective, and he could somehow weasel his way out of it.

Why?

Because it was an NPC…

However, stabbing his fellow Adventurer in their back was something that wouldn’t be overlooked by many. And the fact that he had stabbed the living legend, Yong Tae-Pung, in the back wouldn’t sit well with the majority of gamers.

There was no need to mention that the Mandate of Heaven Guild was much stronger than the Genesis Guild, and they were definitely going to be out for blood once this fact was revealed.

Utter Destruction.

Getting back to his feet was the last of Chae Hyung-Seok’s problems, as he probably had to seriously consider quitting the game one hundred percent this time if the video Siegfried had taken went viral.

Crack…!

Chae Hyung-Seok gritted his teeth so hard that his molar cracked.

Plop…! Plop…! Plop…!

And he clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug into his palms…

Blood started dripping down his palm.

That was how strong the despair and anger he felt at the moment.

“Hey, Han Tae-Sung…” Chae Hyung-Seok muttered.

“…?”

“Han Tae-Sung…”

“What?”

“I…”

“What? I can’t hear you.”

“J-Just… Just let me off the hook this once…”

After uttering those words...

Thud!

Chae Hyung-Seok fell to his knees.

***

“Huh?” Siegfried was flustered at the sudden turn of events.

‘Chae Hyung-Seok is kneeling in front of me? Am I dreaming?!’

He doubted what he was seeing right now.

The great and mighty Chae Hyung-Seok was kneeling in front of him?

This was something he would never have imagined, even in his wildest dreams.

“Han Tae-Sung… No, Tae-Sung… Please save me this once…”

“…?”

“I’m begging you…”

Chae Hyung-Seok even went as far as prostrate in front of him.

“H-Hold on…” Siegfried was completely caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, but he took out a Type II Elixir: Cure Serum, and gave it to Hamchi.

“Make him drink this.”

“Kyu!”

Hamchi ran over to Taycan with the Type II Elixir: Cure Serum.

“Grrkkk… Graaa!”

“Stay still! Kyu!”

Pukeok!

“Kwueek!”

Hamchi kicked Taycan and forcefully opened his mouth before pouring the Type II Elixir: Cure Serum down his throat.

Meanwhile…

“Oops! Don’t do this, Hyung-Seok! You’re being too pathetic!”

Siegfried finally came back to his senses and started throwing punches at Chae Hyung-Seok.

“Hey, buddy. Get up, okay? How can the great and mighty Chae Hyung-Seok kneel?”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“What are you sorry about?”

“I’m sorry for everything I did to you… I’ll apologize for them once again… I’m really sorry, so… Please let me off this once. You know I’m done if that video spreads—”

“So?”

“Just think that you’re saving someone’s life and let me off this once, please? I’m going to be good from now on and not cause any trouble, so please—”

“Fuck off.” Siegfried cut him off and said, “You were having the time of your life ruining other people’s lives, but you’re scared now that it’s your turn?”

“T-That’s…”

“You gave money to the loan sharks and preyed on gamers, right?”

“H-How did you know about that?!”

“That’s what you did to me, right? You put me in a situation where I had to borrow money, and you stole the items I bought using that money.”

“…”

“I heard some people committed suicide because of what you did, and some are on the streets after putting their house as collateral. Meanwhile, you? You were lining your pockets while your victims were suffering at the hands of the loan sharks.”

Chae Hyung-Seok was so shocked out of his wits that he felt like passing out.

‘Just how? How much does he know? How did this bastard know about that?’

His relationship with the loan shark, Ma Dong-Po, was one of his biggest secrets.

However, Han Tae-Sung actually knew about it as well?

“H-Han Tae-Sung! I’m sorry! I’ll stop money lending, too! I won’t do anything of that sort from now on, so…!”

“Nope~ I don’t have any plans to go easy on you.”

“Please…”

“Do you know what one of my life’s goals is?”

“R-Revenge…?”

“Nope. Making you take your own life,” Siegfried said without a single hint of emotion.

“H-Hiiik!” Chae Hyung-Seok felt his heart drop after seeing Siegfried’s face.

A vengeful ghost.

Chae Hyung-Seok could feel an unexplainable amount of malice, bloodlust, and lust for vengeance from Siegfried’s face.

‘This fucker has no plans of letting me off…!’

He realized that Siegfried was not as merciful as he hoped he was, so his brain immediately came up with another despicable plan.

‘If I’m going to be fucked then I might as well take the reward…!’

The Raid Dungeon's clear reward could only be described as massive, so he decided to take the rewards for himself for now and worry about things later.

Seuk…

Chae Hyung-Seok prostrated on the ground once again. He pretended like he was begging while discreetly smearing a crossbow bolt with blood contaminated with the Curse of Decay.

“Haa… What should I do now? Should I play with you a little bit while threatening you? Should I just upload this on the internet? Or should I live stream all this? Hmm…” Siegfried pondered while Chae Hyung-Seok was right in front of him.

Pshwoong!

Chae Hyung-Seok didn’t miss this opportunity as he shot a bolt at Siegfried’s thigh.

“Ack! That stings!” Siegfried jumped and grabbed his thigh, and then he grumbled, “Look at this punk? So you’re fine if I upload the video?”

“Do what you want, you motherfucking asshole!” Chae Hyung-Seok got up and cursed at him. Then, he scratched his head frantically before screaming, “I don’t know what the fuck I should do anymore! I’ll just take the rewards if I’m going to get fucked, anyway!”

“You? How? Ouch!” Siegfried asked as he pulled out the silver bolt lodged in his thigh.

“Do you really think that you can win here?”

“Who knows?”

Chae Hyung-Seok flashed a despicable smile and rubbed the bracelet on his wrist.

Seuk…! Seuk…! Seuk…!

Then, three spirits in the shape of a wolf blocked Siegfried’s path.

[Sirius]

[A wolf spirit.]

[It is quite aggressive, and caution is advised against it.]

[Type: Spirit]

[Race: Spirit]

[Level: 250]

[Remarks: It is immune to Physical Damage, making it the worst enemy possible for Physical Damage Dealers.]

“Grrr…!”

“Grrr…!”

“Woof! Woof!”

The wolves Chae Hyung-Seok had summoned using the bracelet Master of Sirius growled at Siegfried.

“I hope you’re not thinking that you can kill me with dogs?”

“Who knows? Kekeke!”

Chae Hyung-Seok laughed like a madman.

“I can just kill you while you’re turning into a ghoul! Kekeke!”

“Who? Me? A ghoul?”

“Enjoy your last thirty seconds! Hahaha!” Chae Hyung-Seok exclaimed triumphantly with a jubilant smile.