Debuff Master

Rustle… Rustle…

The peeping tom finally emerged from the bush, and it was none other than Siegfried.

“Sniff! Sniff! I smell a motherlode here! It smells like money here!” Siegfried licked his lips and exclaimed while looking at the cave.

“Are you perhaps… a demon?”

“D-Demon?”

“I believe you have crossed the limits of humanity when it comes to making people suffer…”

This was the reason Michele had called him a demon upon hearing Siegfried\'s Operation: Screw Chae Hyung-Seok.

Siegfried\'s plan had always involved driving Chae Hyung-Seok into a corner and made it difficult for him to personally sell his items. Thus, he would have no other choice but to ask his sister to sell them for him, just like how he had purchased them.

However, the difference this time was that Siegfried had upped the search for him so that he couldn\'t meet his sister in the game. Thus, Chae Hyung-Seok was forced to contact his sister back in the real world to give her instructions and then hide the items somewhere on the continent for his sister to find later on.

In the end, Chae Hyung-Seok’s drastic decision to leave his items unattended for his sister to collect and sell was all a result of Siegfried’s diabolic plan.

The result of that was…

“Your Majesty! We have spotted Desire entering a forest seven kilometers away from our borders!”

“Really? Damn it! I’m so busy these days!”

Siegfried immediately left the Proatine Kingdom and headed to the forest where Chae Hyung-Seok had been spotted. He stalked him quietly as he looked for a place to hide his items.

Chae Hyung-Seok looked around the forest until he found the cave, and he went in for an hour to hide his items—just as Siegfried had expected.

Then, he exited the cave an hour later and left the forest.

“All is going according to plan,” Siegfried muttered with a smirk.

He was not saying this just for the hell of it.

Siegfried had truly deduced what Chae Hyung-Seok was going to do because he had made the latter move as he wished. Siegfried was not only stronger than Chae Hyung-Seok, but he was also better at cooking up strategies.

“Let’s see~ Shall we take a look at how much Hyung-Seok hid?” Siegfried said as he happily entered the cave. He looked around for traces of the ground being shifted, and it didn\'t take him that long to find what he was looking for.

‘It’s right here,’ Siegfried thought as he took out Horse Fly.

Shwik!

He pictured a shovel in his mind and Horse Fly instantly changed from a hammer to a shovel.

‘Huh? Is this sentient?’ He suspected that the shovel was sentient, so he tried it out by shoving the shovel into the ground.

Shwik!

Shwik! Shwik! Shwik!

Then, the Omnipotent Mechanical Gear in the Horse Fly activated, and Horse Fly started digging the ground on its own.

Five minutes later…

“Motherlode! I found the motherlode!”

Siegfried finally met the items that Chae Hyung-Seok had buried.

“Well, since I’m busy…” he muttered as he shoved everything Chae Hyung-Seok buried in the ground into his Inventory.

[Alert: You have obtained +10 Oh My God Chainmail!]

[Alert: You have obtained +10 Oh My God Chain Pants!]

[Alert: You have obtained +12 Saint’s Wisdom Amulet!]

[Alert: You have obtained +7 God of Bless Ring!]

(omitted)

[Alert: You have obtained +11 Blessed Jeans Cape!]

A string of messages notifying him of the numerous items he had obtained popped up in front of his eyes, and he could tell in a single glance that all of them were worth more than enough to buy a luxury condo unit in Gangnam.

“Aigoo~ I’m so grateful for my buddy~ Maybe I should use this to move houses?” Siegfried said with a mischievous grin.

He had recently bought a building worth thirty billion won, so he was quite broke.

He had planned on moving houses, so this unexpected contribution from Chae Hyung-Seok was definitely going to help him move out.

“I heard the Beige Stone Legend was really good…”

Siegfried was talking about the luxury condo near Gangnam Town Hall called Beige Stone Legend.

“No, I should just get a luxury property in Hannam-dong instead… I heard Cheon Woo-Jin lives in that neighborhood, too.”

Since he was going to spend a ton of money, he figured that it wouldn\'t be a bad idea to get a property overlooking the Han River. He had also heard that a few of the luxury low-rise condos in the area provided hotel-type buffets as well, which was perfect for him because he lived alone. He would no longer have to worry about cooking or ordering food while taking care of his nutritional needs.

“Okay, let\'s set that aside for now…”

Siegfried decided to set that thought aside for now and took out a large leather sack from his Inventory. He poured the slimy fluid in the sack into the pit where Chae Hyung-Seok’s items were. Then, he took out the last roll of used tissue he had and scribbled a message for Chae Hyung-Seok on it before throwing the used tissue into the pit and backfilling it with soil.

“Okay, I think I’m done here,” he said with a smirk before leaving the cave.

***

A few hours later…

“So this is where you were hiding?!”

“Gotcha, punk!”

Chae Hyung-Seok was caught and surrounded by the Head Crusher Guild members, but he didn\'t seem to be bothered by it.

“Just hurry up and kill me,” Chae Hyung-Seok said with arms wide open.

Death?

It wasn\'t a big deal to him. He had already made up his mind to quit the game, so dying and losing levels was not a big deal to him. In addition, he had already hidden most of his expensive items in the cave, so he didn\'t have any items to drop.

This allowed him to be quite confident despite being completely surrounded.

‘I lured you here, morons,’ he thought with a smirk. He had intentionally walked out in the open to lure his trackers away from the forest to make it safer for Arcadia to collect his items in exchange for his life, but…

He received a call from his sister as soon as he died and was forcefully logged out from the game.

—O-Oppa!

“W-Whaf habin?!”

An ominous feeling crept up his spine. He could tell that something bad had happened, judging by his sister’s voice.

— T-The items…! It’s all gone!”

“What?!”

— I went to the coordinates you sent, but the items were not there! Instead…

“…?”

—There was tissue smeared with poop with a message on it…

“A m-mesheej?!”

— Thanks for the meal it says…

Badump!

Chae Hyung-Seok felt his heart drop—literally.

Thanks for the meal.

It was obvious what the message meant, and he immediately realized what had transpired. What happened next was his usual routine of high blood pressure followed by symptoms of stroke.

“Aah… Ahhh… Aaaah!”

— O-Oppa!

“Uwaaaaaah!”

— Oppaaaa!

“Guwaaaah! Keeb buuu buuu!”

— Oppa! Oppa!”

Chae Hyung-Seok could no longer respond to his sister’s desperate shouts.

Thud!

He collapsed to the ground when his blood pressure shot up to dangerous levels.

***

While Chae Hyung-Seok was in the middle of his third stroke…

“Goo~ Goo!”

“Hello! Peek-a-boo!”

“Kyaaah! Goo!”

“Argh…! My heart…!”

Siegfried was having a Gyul-induced heart attack. Gyul was just so cute that Siegfried couldn\'t get enough of her.

“Owner punk! Are you that happy?! Kyu!” Hamchi asked while pulling on the hem of his pants.

“Hey,” Siegfried said as he glared down at the hamster and added, “She’s extremely cute.”

“Kyu?!”

“I feel like my heart’s going to stop any second now.”

“Kyu! Let me hold her too, owner punk!”

“I don’t want to?”

“Kyuuuuu! Hamchi wants to hold owner punk’s offspring too!”

“One hundred gold.”

“K-Kyu?”

“Pay up one hundred gold every time you hold her.”

“Hey, you piece of shit! What bullshit is this?!”

“Forget it if you don’t want to,” Siegfried said with a shrug.

“H-Here you go! You stingy bastard…” Hamchi exclaimed as he took out gold coins from his pouch and passed it to Siegfried.

“Hoho! Easy money!”

“Here! Put her on Hamchi’s back! I’ve already prepared a swaddling blanket for her! Kyuuu!”

Hamchi really wanted to hold Gyul to the extent that he had even prepared a swaddling blanket for her.

“Kyaah! Goo~ Goo~!” Gyul exclaimed after being placed on Hamchi’s back. She seemed to like the feeling of Hamchi’s fur as she rubbed her face on his back.

Huff… Huff…

Then, she almost instantaneously fell asleep on his back.

Gyul looked like an angel as she slept innocently on Hamchi’s back.

“Kyu? O-Owner punk! Gyul fell asleep!”

“Shh! Be quiet,” Siegfried retorted as he placed a finger between his lips.

“A-Alright! Kyu!”

“Be quiet and let her sleep. I will—“

Siegfried was planning to log out to settle some stuff, such as selling the items Chae Hyung-Seok had donated to him and visiting the realtor while Gyul was asleep, but…

“Your Majesty!”

One of the servants rushed in and announced.

“The Elder-nim has arrived!”

“Master is here?! Where?!” Siegfried jumped up and immediately rushed to where Deus was.

He ran as fast as he could and bowed on the ground in front of Deus.

“Welcome! Master!”

“I received your message. So, your daughter is born? That was earlier than expected!”

“Yes, Master!”

“So, where is this great being’s granddaughter?”

“Hey! Hamchi!” Siegfried shouted.

“Kyu! I’m almost there!” Hamchi replied. He ran as carefully as possible because Gyul was sleeping on his back. Upon arriving, he carefully turned around and showed her to Deus.

“Oh! So this child is my granddaughter?”

“Yes, Master!”

“Ahem!” Deus cleared his throat and grimaced.

“What is the matter, Master?” Siegfried asked while profusely sweating.

He was nervous at the idea that he had done something wrong and had offended Deus.

“You punk…” Deus said as he glared at him.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have been Overwhelmed!]

[Alert: A greater being\'s aura has immobilized your character!]

Siegfried couldn\'t move a single muscle after getting glared at by Deus.

“M-Master… Keuk…!”

“You punk…”

“W-Why are you—“

“How can a loser like you have such a cute daughter?!”

“Huh…?”

“Hoho! She is the most adorable creature this great being has seen in centuries!”

Deus had spent most of his life cultivating, so he had ended up missing the timing to get married. As such, seeing his granddaughter through Siegfried was a completely new experience for him.

“Hand her over! Let this great being hold his granddaughter!”

“Kyu!” Hamchi immediately responded by bringing Gyul closer to Deus.

“Oh! So this child is my granddaughter? Ahem! She’s really adorable! Kekeke! My disciple is a piece of trash, but at least he gave me this adorable granddaughter!”

“M-Master, that is a bit harsh—“

“Hmm? What are you if you’re not a piece of trash? Are you refuting me by saying you’re useful for something?”

“N-No, I am not!”

“Then silence! This great being is busy observing his granddaughter! Can’t you see?!”

Gyul woke up from her nap.

“Goo? Kyah!” she looked at Deus for a few seconds before smiling brightly. Then, she did the unthinkable and made the big mistake of pulling Deus’ long beard.

‘Heok…?!’ Siegfried gasped in horror. He knew just how much Deus valued his beard, and pulling the beard of that nasty-tempered Level 999 Hidden NPC meant…

‘N-No…!’ he desperately screamed inside in fear of Deus’ wrath, but…

“Kekeke! Do you find your grandfather’s beard interesting? Look at you! You have such a strong grip!”

“Kyah! Goo~ Goo~”

Shockingly, Deus laughed, seemingly happy to see Gyul pulling his beard.

Gyul managed to win over the Level 999 Hidden NPC with her cuteness alone.

“Master.”

“What?”

“I have a favor to ask, Master.”

“A favor?”

“I should be the one doing it, but… I was hoping that you could give her a name, Master.”

“A name… Are you sure you want to give that honor to me?”

“It is an honor only you are befitting of, Master.”

“Keke! Look at this punk! Alright, I will name this great being’s granddaughter!”

“Thank you! Master!”

Deus contemplated for a moment before he finally decided on a name for Gyul.

“This child’s name will be…”

***

“Here.”

Jessie passed a bassinet to Carlisle in the dead of the night.

Huff… Huff…

A baby with red hair was sleeping in the bassinet.

Verdandi van Proa.

This baby, named after the Goddess of Fate, was none other than the daughter of Carlisle’s archnemesis, Siegfried van Proa.

Heh.

Carlisle flashed a spine-chilling smirk after accepting the bassinet.

“So this bitch is the spawn of those bastards! Kekeke!”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“Please follow me.”

“Alright.”

Jessie disappeared into the darkness; Carlisle followed closely right behind her.