Debuff Master

“That’s right!”

Quandt could not hide his excitement as he showed Herbert’s Blueprint to Siegfried.

“Take a look at this!” he exclaimed while pointing at a specific part of the blueprint.

“What’s that?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion.

“That is going to be the main frame of the Universal Weapon.”

“The main frame of the Universal Weapon?”

“Hmm… Think of it as the alpha version of the weapon. It’s now possible to craft that alpha version from the materials you have gathered so far.”

“What kind of weapon is it?”

“If you look closely here, then…” Quandt said while pointing at a specific part of the blueprint. The weapon that could be crafted before the completed masterpiece was surprisingly in the shape of a hammer.

“This is going to be an amazing weapon. It’s definitely going to be amazing.”

“R-Really?”

“This will become the most powerful weapon our Bavarian Workshop has crafted in the last two hundred years.”

“Will it be stronger than this?” Siegfried asked as he pointed at his +15 Gaia’s Fist.

“The Gaia’s Fist is a good weapon without a doubt, but if compared to this embodiment of massacre, then…”

“Then…?”

“It’s just a piece of trash.”

“…!”

“How can you compare these two to begin with? This artifact is way better than what you could imagine, even in your wildest dreams!”

“It’s so good that this guy will just be a piece of junk compared to it?” Siegfried asked as he could not hide his surprise.

“Yes, Gaia\'s Fist is a Mythical weapon, but this weapon is definitely going to be Epic.”

“E-Epic!” Siegfried was shocked after hearing the rating of the weapon.

The items in BNW were divided into seven tiers, and these tiers were magic, rare, unique, epic, mythical, and universal.

Mythical items were higher compared to epic items when looking at the tier list, but epic-rated items were more of a special case that made it difficult to gauge their value from their tier alone.

An epic item held what was also known as an Epic. Any item-rated epic was bound to be related to the main scenario of BNW, but of course, the NPCs were completely oblivious to this fact. As such, epic items were shrouded in mystery, and they were bound to possess abilities that one could not predict.

There were some rumors among Adventurers that each epic item held a special epic quest within it, but it was still a mere rumor even now.

“You might be well aware, but an epic artifact holds a secret of the world within it…”

“Yes, I am somewhat aware of it.”

“And that is a mystical secret that even we, blacksmiths, are not aware of, but we do know that the Epic hidden within these artifacts can sway the winds of one’s fate.”

“I heard that, too.”

“So, would you like to take a peek at this artifact?”

“But how?”

Can you see this inscription here?” Quandt asked while pointing at a bunch of inscriptions written on the blueprint.

Herbert wrote a note beside the epic artifact he named Vanquisher’s Grasp.

“It’s the Inscription of Insight.”

“Inscription of Insight?”

“It’s an inscription written with the same magic that you Adventures use for your Rune of Insight. If you flash your Rune of Insight here, then it will provide you with more details regarding this artifact.”

‘What?! Is this a QR Code?!’ Siegfried couldn’t help but think that the Inscription of Insight was exactly like a QR Code.

‘A-Anyways…’

He flashed his Rune of Insight at the QR co—no, Inscription of Insight, and the details of the Epic item—Vanquisher’s Grasp—appeared in front of his eyes.

[Vanquisher’s Grasp]

[A prototype of the Universal artifact designed by the Legendary Blacksmith, Herbert.]

[It can be upgraded to the specific Universal artifact.]

[Type: Weapon]

[Rating: Epic]

[Attribute: N/A]

[Level Requirement: 250]

[Attack Power: 8,000]

[Durability: Infinite]

Vanquisher’s Grasp had a base Attack Power of 8000, which was higher than the +15 Gaia’s Fist. Incredibly, a weapon with no enhancement was actually stronger than a weapon enhanced fifteen times!

However, Siegfried’s surprise didn’t end there.

[Additional Options: MAX mastery for all weapons, +30% HP Life steal when attacking enemies, +30% Stamina steal when attacking enemies, +200% damage against dragon-type monsters, All stats +400]

The Vanquisher’s Grasp raised the user’s weapon mastery to Max for all weapons, and it could even steal the target’s HP and Stamina. Moreover, it allowed the wielder to deal an additional two hundred percent more damage against dragon-type monsters, as well as increasing the wielder’s stats by 400 points.

[Active Skills: Scourge of God, Transform Weapon]

Moreover, the Vanquisher’s Grasp even had the active skill—Weapon Transform—as well as the active skill of the Rod of God, Scourge of God.

“C-Crazy…” Siegfried muttered in amazement. He waved the +15 Gaia’s Fist in his hand and muttered, “You are right. This guy can’t be compared to it…”

“Without a question! Herbert-nim had designed this item personally himself, so how could something those Mercedes bastards had designed be compared to it? Those bastards are just like the items they craft! Trash! Junk!” Quandt bellowed while cursing the Mercedes Workshop and the +15 Gaia’s Fist.

‘Tsk tsk… He’s really quite the proud one,’ Siegfried thought while shaking his head.

The Bavarian, Mercedes, and Autonika Workshops had always been at odds with each other over their pride.

“So, do you want to let me try crafting this weapon?” Quandt asked.

“Of course!” Siegfried exclaimed while nodding like a chicken pecking rice.

The Vanquisher’s Grasp was miles better than the +15 Gaia’s Fist just by its stats alone, so it was definitely worth crafting it.

‘Then, I can sell this one and buy Mom a building.’ He was already drawing up plans to buy his mother a building with the proceeds from selling the +15 Gaia’s Fist. By then, his mother would no longer have to worry about retiring, all thanks to the building’s passive income.

“I knew you would accept my offer!” Quandt exclaimed with a smirk, and then he asked, “But I will need a few materials to craft it, can you go get them for me?”

“Huh? I thought these were the materials you need?”

“Yes, these are the core materials I need, but crafting the artifact requires more than the core materials. I need a few other materials, too.”

“Oh?”

“They won’t be easy to procure, but it’s just child’s play compared to the ones you’ve gathered until now.”

“Then, what do you need?” Siegfried asked.

Ding!

A quest message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

***

[Bespoke Weapon Crafting]

[Procure the materials required to craft the Epic weapon, Vanquisher’s Grasp, and deliver them to Quandt.]

[Aquarium x 1kg]

[Arachnid’s Leather x 1]

[Essence of Golem King x 1]

[Progress: 0% (0/3)]

[Reward: Vanquisher’s Grasp x 1]

The quest details were quite straightforward, as it only asked him to collect the required materials. However, Siegfried still had no idea whether these materials could be easily collected or if it was going to be extremely difficult to collect them.

“Where can I find these materials?” Siegfried asked.

“The Aquarium is dropped by the Sea Serpents living in the Western Seas, the Arachnid’s Leather can be obtained from the Witch’s Forest, and the Essence of Golem King is…” Quandt trailed off, seemingly troubled, before saying, “I honestly have no idea.”

“Huh? You have no idea?”

“The Golem King is a creature that was made way back during the Magic Empire’s era. It is a golem that possesses both free will and ego.”

“So?”

“No one knows its location.”

“…”

“It appears from time to time whenever you flip through historical textbooks, but there are no other clues aside from that.”

“So… Is this thing meant to be crafted in the first place…?”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Well, what can we do, right? I’ll give it a shot,” Siegfried grumbled in response.

[Alert: You have accepted the Quest – Bespoke Weapon Crafting!]

Siegfried readily accepted the quest.

“Just wait for me. I’ll go and try looking for it.”

“Ahem! Will you do that? All right, I’ll make preparations so I can get to it straight away once you’ve come back with the materials.”

“Sure. Have a nice day,” Siegfried bid goodbye and left the Bavarian Workshop.

***

Tae-Sung logged out from the game to grab some snacks from the nearby convenience store while Deus was busy healing Brunhilde, but…

“E-Excuse me…? Can you walk a bit further away from me? It’s embarrassing…” Tae-Sung muttered while covering his face.

He was quite shocked to find the bodyguards suddenly surrounding him right after he left his house. He was wearing a t-shirt, track pants, and slippers to go to the nearby convenience store. However, four burly men tagged alongside him.

“Roger,” replied the leader of the bodyguards. He pressed his earpiece and said, “The VIP wishes for ranged protection. Maintain distance from the VIP. Over.”

“…”

“We will be protecting you from a distance from now on,” the leader of the bodyguards said before walking far away from Tae-Sung.

Unfortunately, Tae-Sung remained the center of attention even without the bodyguards, but it wasn’t really strange. The bodyguards were walking in a square formation with him in the middle, and their get-up of black suits, sunglasses, and earpieces in broad daylight exacerbated the issue.

“Who’s that?”

“Maybe he’s an heir to a conglomerate?”

“Is he someone important…?”

The pedestrians commented whenever they passed by Tae-Sung.

‘Argh… This is so embarrassing…!’

Thanks to that, Tae-Sung was forced to walk with his head down out of embarrassment.

‘Cheon Woo-Jin, you bastard! I’m sure this was your plan after all! You did this on purpose to humiliate me in public…!’

Of course, he didn’t forget to curse Cheon Woo-Jin in the process. After all, the Cheon Woo-Jin he knew wouldn’t mind spending hundreds of millions to pull a prank on him and humiliate him.

‘Just wait and see…! I’m going to screw you over big time soon!’ Tae-Sung growled inwardly while trembling in anger.

Meanwhile, Chae Hyung-Seok was hiding in an alley between two buildings a distance away from Tae-Sung.

“Fook tis… Tis fookin bashta ish bwinging bootygos now? No yo plaish! Yo plaish!”

He asked a private investigator to investigate Han Tae-Sung, and he found that this was the convenience store Tae-Sung frequented. Chae Hyung-Seok had been waiting over the past three days in the alley, waiting for a chance to pounce on his archnemesis.

He was prepared to take out the fruit knife in his pocket and stab his archnemesis to death, but Han Tae-Sung had hired four bodyguards out of nowhere. It was completely out of Chae Hyung-Seok’s expectations, as an introvert like Tae-Sung shouldn’t have hired bodyguards.

“Fook tis…!” Chae Hyung-Seok growled while gritting his teeth.

He planned to stab Han Tae-Sung out of anger, but Tae-Sung was completely surrounded by bodyguards.

‘Don’t tell me… Did he know I was going to do this?’ Chae Hyung-Seok thought that it was highly likely that Han Tae-Sung had seen through his plans.

‘A-Alright, I’m the one who’s going to screw my life up if I do this. I’m the one losing if I kill that fucker and go to jail…’

In the end, Chae Hyung-Seok suppressed his impulsive desire to stab Han Tae-Sung.

Well, it was more like he had decided to abandon his plans after seeing the four burly bodyguards protecting Han Tae-Sung, but whatever thought was fine as long as it would help him sleep at night.

‘Yeah, a gamer should settle things in the game. Just you wait, Han Tae-Sung! You haven’t seen the last of me!’ Chae Hyung-Seok swore vengeance before he shoved the fruit knife back into his pocket and left.

He visited the office of none other than the loan shark, Ma Dong-Po’s office.

“Hyung-Seok! I heard that you were unwell! What brings you here? Come in!” Ma Dong-Po welcomed him with open arms.

It wasn’t strange that he was so welcoming of Chae Hyung-Seok. After all, Chae Hyung-Seok was the one who had given him the seed money for him to run his own money-lending business in Gangnam.

“Are you okay, Hyung-Seok? I heard things aren’t working out for you these days! Aigoo!”

“Hoong…” Chae Hyung-Seok cut him off and said, “Lend me shom monee.”

“W-What did you say?”

“I shed, lend me shom monee.”

“You want me to lend you some money…?”

“Yeah.”

Chae Hyung-Seok had come here to find Ma Dong-Po for the sake of borrowing money.

He wanted to borrow money from Ma Dong-Po to buy items and gear up his character for the sake of destroying Han Tae-Sung once and for all—just like what he had done to Han Tae-Sung three years ago.