Debuff Master

“How did it go?”

Kwon Oh-Shin was busy on the phone with "Brother Hyung-Seok"without caring whether or not Tae-Sung was listening right beside him.

“I was about to call you because I was curious—what the fuck did you just say?” Kwon Oh-Shin growled, doubting his ears for a second. Then, he raised his voice and lashed out, “You failed?! Did you just say you failed? You couldn't kill him? Fuck! How can you fail after getting paid five hundred million won?!”

It was then…

‘No way?’ Tae-Sung thought of the possibility that Kwon Oh-Shin was the player with the in-game ID, Kaosin.

Meanwhile, Kwon Oh-Shin continued screaming into his phone regardless of whether there was someone else in the room.

“Hey, are you expecting me to fucking believe this? He killed you instead? Hey! Damn it! Fuck! You pathetic shit! I should have known that this was going to happen when he beat the shit out of you, and you became a nobody!

"Hey, you son of a bitch! What are you going to do with my money?! You better transfer me five hundred million won right now! You fucking bastard, Chae Hyung-Seok! Fuck you!”

Kwon Oh-Shin hurled curses and insults at the other person on the line before throwing his smartphone on the wall.

The poor smartphone broke after hitting the wall.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Chae Hyung-Seok had dined and dashed, as he had no plans to return the five hundred million won he received from Kwon Oh-Shin.

“That fucker! I spent so much money and he had one job, but what? He failed? Ha!” Kwon Oh-Shin growled while trembling in anger, and his eyes were bloodshot from rage.

“That fucking son of a—”

It was then.

“Excuse me?” Tae-Sung called out to him.

'Heh.' Tae-Sung had the most annoying and punchable face known to man right now.

“Excuse me~?” Tae-Sung repeated.

“What? What the hell do you want?” Kwon Oh-Shin growled in response.

“I’m sorry, but we’re using this room together, you know? You shouldn’t scream and throw stuff around. We live in a civilized society, right? Civil. Lized.”

Kwon Oh-Shin’s face scrunched up in anger, and he retorted, “Who are you to say what I can and can’t do with my phone?”

“It’s because you’re too noisy.”

“Why don’t you just mind your own business? You’re talking too much for an eavesdropper. Are you aware you’re invading my privacy right now?”

“Invading your privacy? Come on, you were talking so loudly on the phone in a public area. How brazen of you~”

“What did you just say? Brazen?”

“Hehe!”

“Hey, why don’t you just shut up if you’re a nobody?” Kwon Oh-Shin said with an air of superiority as if he was some noble in the game.

This was not a rare occurrence. Chae Hyung-Seok was a classic example of this, and there were several other gamers who had become delusional, thinking that they had become a bonafide celebrity because of the game.

Well, their delusion was somewhat justified, as they earned a lot of money and had social prestige, too, so it was not that difficult to understand why some of them would start becoming arrogant even in real life.

As for Kwon Oh-Shin, he was already known to have a rotten personality, so it did not come as a surprise that he would act the same in real life.

“Ha! Do you even know who I am? Don’t make the mistake of thinking we’re on the same level just because we’re using the same waiting room. I’m going to win this damn tournament while you’re going to get eliminated from the first round,” Kwon Oh-Shin scoffed and said with an air of haughtiness.

“Why should I care about a nobody? You’re going to get eliminated in the first round anyway,” Tae-Sung sneered in response.

“Nobody? Me? Eliminated? Hahaha!” Kwon Oh-Shin burst into laughter. Then, he said, “Are you crazy? Do you have any idea who I am—”

It was then.

“I apologize for being late, Young Master.”

The waiting room door opened, and Tae-Sung’s head bodyguard entered. He addressed Tae-Sung with Young Master, which was something that would make Tae-Sung’s fingers and toes curl inwardly from the cringiness.

However, the head bodyguard had no other choice but to address him this way, as this was something Cheon Woo-Jin explicitly told him to do.

Why?

It was all because he wanted Tae-Sung to feel embarrassed. He would usually feel so embarrassed he would find a hole to hide upon being called "Young Master," but that was not the case this time.

‘What? Young Master? Is he some rich kid? Hold on, he even has bodyguards?’ Kwon Oh-Shin was surprised by the fact that Tae-Sung had a bodyguard.

“Ah, it’s fine,” Tae-Sung replied nonchalantly.

“I had to get issued a bodyguard pass, so I was delayed.”

“I see.”

“I also apologize for abruptly coming in. I heard some commotion from inside…” the bodyguard said, giving a death glare at Kwon Oh-Shin. Then, he asked, “Did this person harm you physically by any chance?”

Tae-Sung smirked and replied, “Nope. We were just debating on what kind of basic etiquette a civilized person has to maintain in public places.”

“I see.”

“It’s nothing big, so don’t mind it.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

The bodyguard bowed and left the waiting room, but he did not forget to glare at Kwon Oh-Shin before closing the door.

‘H-Hiiik!’ Kwon Oh-Shin shrieked inwardly.

“It’s fine. He looks scary, but he’s a very well-mannered and nice person,” Tae-Sung said, snickering.

“...”

“But he does have a habit of breaking other people’s limbs before asking questions,” Tae-Sung added while leaning back on his chair and placing both feet on the table, making himself at home. Then, he asked, “So, where were we just now?”

Tae-Sung looked like he was asking him this, "who did you say you were?"

***

A deafening silence fell upon the waiting room at the bodyguard's departure.

‘Damn it… I can get screwed if I pick a fight with this guy,’ Kwon Oh-Shin was worried that Tae-Sung was some chaebol kid or something.

“Lalala~”

On the other hand, Tae-Sung relaxed in the waiting room as if he owned the place.

“Oh, by the way,” Tae-Sung said.

“Y-Yes?”

“Who did you say you were again?”

“Ah… That is…”

“I think you were saying that you were some bigshot? Oh dear, I hope I didn’t offend you or anything.”

“N-No, not at all,” Kwon Oh-Shin replied politely. Then, he cursed inwardly, ‘Shit! I picked the wrong guy to mess with!’

He was convinced Tae-Sung was some rich kid, and he became very nervous.

“Ah, that’s a relief. I thought I was rude to someone important.”

“Please do not worry about me.”

“I see… Oh well, if you say so–”

It was then.

Knock! Knock!

Someone knocked on the door and interrupted them.

“Mr. Han Tae-Sung?”

“Ah, that’s me.”

“Please come this way.”

“Pardon?”

“Your match will start soon.”

“Oh? Am I going first?”

“Yes, you are.”

“I had no idea. Haha!”

“...”

“Where should I go?”

Tae-Sung had no idea which group he was in and who he was up against—no, it was more like he did not care at all. He was confident he could defeat everyone else regardless of which group he was in, so he did not feel the need to look at how the groupings were made.

“I will lead the way. Please follow me.”

“Thank you.”

Tae-Sung left the waiting room to participate in his first group stage match.

‘Too bad. I wanted to play with him more,’ he thought while walking away.

Meanwhile, Kwon Oh-Shin was left all alone in the waiting room, extremely confused by what happened earlier.

“Who the hell was that?”

He could not help but wonder who this person named Han Tae-Sung was.

“Oh well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

In the end, he decided to just let it be and switched the channel on the TV to the live broadcast of the match.

“Shall we take a look at what he’s capable of?”

Kwon Oh-Shin waited for Han Tae-Sung’s match to start.

He had no idea that Tae-Sung was Siegfried van Proa, as he couldn't read the news after smashing his smartphone into pieces. If he hadn't done that, he could have found out Tae-Sung's in-game identity before the match.

“That bastard’s probably going to come today. I’m not sure if he’ll be fighting before or after me, but I really want to see that smug face of his,” Kwon Oh-Shin growled.

He was curious about what the bastard looked like, and he was looking forward to seeing his smug face on the television. Ironically, he had no idea that the bastard he was looking forward to seeing was none other than Han Tae-Sung.

Approximately twenty-five minutes later…

Kwon Oh-Shin’s eyes darted to the television after hearing that the mysterious amateur, Siegfried van Proa, was finally making an entrance.

– Ladies and gentlemen! The tournament’s favorite candidate! The Dark Horse who had defeated the expert amateur, Kaosin! Siegfried! Vaaaaaan! Proaaaaaa! Also known as Han! Tae! Sung!

Kwon Oh-Shin realized it just then…

“FUUUCK!” Kwon Oh-Shin screamed at the top of his lungs.

***

Tae-Sung was stunned the moment he stepped into the arena.

Waaaaaaaaah!

Tens of thousands of spectators cheered while cameras flashed all over the place.

– Ladies and gentlemen! The long-awaited match will soon begin!

On top of that, the emcee added to the noise by shouting into his microphone.

‘Ah…! This is too much for me… Should I just run away?’ Tae-Sung seriously considered running away from the tournament.

And that was when he heard familiar voices from the spectator’s seat nearest to the arena.

“Tae-Sung!”

“Oppa!”

He looked toward where the voices came from and gasped in horror.

“Heoook?!”

His mother and sister were sitting together with Cheon Woo-Jin and Seung-Gu in the VVIP row.

‘C-Cheon Woo-Jin! You damned bastard!’ Tae-Sung screamed in horror inwardly after seeing his family. He did not imagine in his wildest dreams that his family would be invited to watch the tournament live in the stadium.

“You can do it, son!”

“Oppa! Fighting[1]!”

Tae-Sung’s family screamed and cheered him on once again.

“Haha… Hahaha…” he awkwardly laughed in response.

– Both contestants, please enter your capsules.

The referee’s voice could be heard from the earpiece provided by the tournament staffers, and he did as he was told and entered the VR capsule.

‘Hmm… It’s quite uncomfortable,’ Tae-Sung thought. He had already gotten used to his hyper capsule, the Ogre, so he couldn't help but find the capsule he was currently in to be quite uncomfortable.

The capsule used in the tournament was designed by the beehive called Garland, and it was designed to provide the same synchronization rate no matter who was using it. In other words, they specifically designed this capsule to make sure that the tournament was fair and square for all participants.

Click… Clack…!

The VR capsule lid closed.

‘Phew, this feels much better,’ Tae-Sung let out a sigh of relief. He felt very safe now that he was inside the capsule.

It seemed that he felt much more at ease inside the capsule, where time would always seem like it had stood still, compared to being on the stage, where dozens of lights were shining down on him.

– Please log into the game.

The referee instructed him to log into the game, so he booted up the BNW client.

***

Meanwhile, Vladimir was back at the headquarters of the Church of Osric. He was currently receiving treatments for his wounds, but he couldn't be at peace even while receiving treatment.

“Argh! Aaargh!” Vladimir groaned in agony and squirmed on the bed.

He couldn't stop trembling from fear.

‘I have to… move… my body…!’

Unfortunately, the aftermath of getting hit by Touch of Death while completely frozen by Absolute Zero dealt tremendous damage he could not easily recover from.

Vladimir attempted to use his innate regenerative abilities to restore himself, but the injuries worsened instead of improving. The energy from Touch of Death still remained in his body, and this fearsome energy was preventing him from recovering.

Siegfried’s attack was so stubborn that not only did it inflict tremendous damage to Vladimir’s fleshly body, but it persisted and tormented his soul as well.

‘H-He will kill me…! I need to run… away now…!’

However, the reason behind Vladimir’s fear was not the immense damage that Siegfried had dealt to him. He was afraid of the Church of Osric's leader. His instincts were screaming at him to run away at once, or he would suffer the wrath of the church leader for failing his mission.

It was then.

“...!”

Vladimir’s heart dropped after seeing a shadow appearing beside him. The shadow’s owner was wearing a hood that covered their face, and this individual was none other than the Savior—the leader of the Church of Osric.

1. This is a Korean cheer word. ☜

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