Debuff Master

“Huh? What brings you here?” Tae-Sung asked.

‘Are you seriously asking me that question right now, oppa?!’ Yong Seol-Hwa fumed inwardly and almost lashed out at Tae-Sung. Why would she come all the way to the stadium and wait outside the waiting room when she didn't even have a match today?

Tae-Sung just had to use his brain a bit, and the answer would become obvious. Was he feigning ignorance?

‘Is he doing this on purpose?’ Yong Seol-Hwa thought. She thought it was possible that Tae-Sung was just teasing her, so she inspected him closely, but she realized shortly that she was mistaken.

Tae-Sung had a stupid look on his handsome face while scratching the back of his head. His eyes were also blinking innocently, showing that he really had no idea why she had been waiting for him here.

‘Sigh…’ Yong Seol-Hwa let out a sigh after realizing that Tae-Sung was not teasing her but really had no idea what was going on. She was forced to suppress her frustration and reply, “I came to congratulate you for winning the tournament, oppa.”

“Eh? Ah, I see. Thank you for coming all the way here, too,” Tae-Sung replied after finally understanding why she had come here to see him.

“No need to thank me. My dad favors you, too, so it is only right for me to come to congratulate you.”

“Haha…”

“Thank you,” Tae-Sung replied and smiled brightly this time.

Badump!

Yong Seol-Hwa felt her heart skip a beat upon seeing Tae-Sung's smile.

Tae-Sung looked so charming while he smiled with both his lips and eyes. He had no double eyelids, but he still looked extremely gorgeous. He was the type of guy who would look incredibly good whenever he smiled.

“U-Uhm… Tae-Sung Oppa?”

“Yes?”

“What are you doing… later?” Yong Seol-Hwa asked after mustering her courage.

“I will be having dinner with my friends and family.”

“W-What about after that?”

“I might go for round two with my friends. You know, have a glass of champagne to celebrate.”

“And after that?”

“I will go home and sleep. It will be late by the time we finish celebrating.”

“Ah…”

“Why?”

“N-Nothing, I was just curious.”

“I mean, there’s nothing special, I guess?”

“Then… what about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“I will probably be playing the game.”

‘Ughhhh! I’m getting cancer! This guy will give me cancer!’ Yong Seol-Hwa screamed inwardly. Then, she felt like grabbing the back of her head and collapsing. ‘This oppa is too dense!’

This was her first time encountering such a dense person—no, a dense man like Tae-Sung. An ordinary person would have already understood what she was hinting at the moment she asked what they were doing, right?

“I did not get to level up because of the tournament, and I also have a lot of quests I have to clear.”

“Ah, I see…”

“Anyway, thank you once again.”

“Okay…”

“See you.”

“W-Wait!”

“Hmm? Is there anything else you—”

“Oppa.”

“Yes?”

“Can we… have a meal sometime when you are free?”

“Sure.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I am serious.”

“I am serious, too.”

“A-Alright! I will let you know, oppa!”

“Okay.”

“Congratulations once again! Goodbye!”

“Thank you, and goodbye.”

Tae-Sung said goodbye to Yong Seol-Hwa and walked toward his waiting room.

‘I almost got cancer, but it wasn’t that bad,’ Yong Seol-Hwa thought, satisfied that she got him to agree to have a meal with her. Tae-Sung was so dense that just having him agree to a meal was already an achievement for her.

“Wow… She’s a really nice person. She sent me a message and even came in person to congratulate me,” Tae-Sung muttered while walking to his waiting room, thinking Yong Seol-Hwa was just being nice to him.

It was then.

“Huh?”

Tae-Sung noticed there was something wrong with the atmosphere in the waiting room.

“Hey, welcome back.”

“Kekeke…!”

Cheon Woo-Jin and Seung-Gu welcomed him back, but both of them seemed to be trying their best to hold in their laughter. On the other hand, his mother and sister were looking at him with sullen faces and their arms crossed over their chest.

‘W-What’s going on?! What did I do wrong?!’ Tae-Sung exclaimed inwardly. He instinctively felt scared upon seeing his mother and sister's mood. He racked his brain, trying to recall if he had done anything wrong.

‘Why is mother and Tae-Hee—’

His thoughts were interrupted by his mother’s words.

“Tae-Sung.”

“Y-Yes, Mother?”

“Come take a seat here.”

“Yes, Mother…”

Tae-Sung was forced to listen to his mother and take a seat.

“You… Is that what you’ve been doing in the game?”

“H-Huh?”

“You dated a game character, married her, and even had a child with her?”

The moment his mother said those words.

'K-Kill me…'

Tae-Sung closed his eyes and felt his soul leave his body.

***

Tae-Sung's sister and mother reprimanded him during their dinner.

Meanwhile, Kwon Oh-Shin went straight home and stayed cooped up in it before logging into the game. Well, he originally had no plans to log into the game.

Why?

It was all because he felt like crap.

However, he still went ahead and logged into the game, as he felt like he would go crazy if he did not do anything. The whole world was talking about the finals, and videos of the match were plastered all over the news, social media, chatrooms, and livestream channels.

In addition, his social media accounts were full of malicious comments after the recording of his cursing was published. Thus, Kwon Oh-Shin had no other choice but to escape from reality by logging into the game.

He booted up the BNW client and descended into the continent as Kaosin.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have been afflicted by Trauma!]

[Alert: Your character’s stats have been reduced by 90%!]

[Alert: 99 days remaining until recovery!]

Unfortunately, his character, Kaosin, was in an utter mess just like him…

On top of that…

[Alert: You have lost all your hair!]

[Alert: Your character has become permanently bald!]

Kaosin ended up completely bald after Siegfried pulled all of his hair and scorched his scalp during the final match.

“Fuck…” Kaosin growled under his breath but did not cause a scene. He covered his face with a hood and headed for the nearest warp gate. He warped to another area and walked to a secluded village deep inside a forest.

This village was formed by farmers without land of their own, also known as slash-and-burn farmers. They relied on farming in the forest by burning plots of land, and these farmers were considered to be the poorest of the poor.

Kaosin entered the village and was greeted by an old man.

“Hello, may I ask who you are and why you have come here?” the old man asked.

However, Kaosin did not bother replying to the old man.

Chwaaak!

Thud…!

He drew his sword and cut the old man into two halves.

“Hehe…” Kaosin snickered after killing the innocent NPC. Then, he proceeded to hunt down the villagers like a predator hunting its prey.

This was Kaosin’s way of relieving stress. He would log into the game whenever he felt stressed and hunt down the NPCs living in secluded remote places, massacring every single one of them just to vent his stress.

“I feel like I’ll have to kill more than usual to feel better today,” Kaosin grumbled after massacring and butchering every single NPC in the village.

He headed to another village nearby.

“...!”

However, he stopped in his tracks after someone blocked his path.

“S-Savior…!” Kaosin muttered with fear in his voice.

“I heard you lost.”

“T-That was…!”

“Honor the agreement.”

“...”

“I suppose you don’t have any excuses after losing to him with the power I gave you?”

Kaosin shut his mouth and did not say a single word in response. He was racking his brains, thinking of how to respond to the Savior. A short while later, he finally made up his mind.

“The agreement…” Kaosin muttered. Then, he flashed an evil, twisted grin before shouting, “I don’t remember agreeing to anything with you—Argh!”

Kaosin froze and clenched his left chest.

[Alert: Warning! Warning!]

[Alert: The Rune of Contract: Subordination has been activated!]

[Alert: You have lost control over your character!]

[System Message: As per the terms and conditions of the game, the developer will not take any responsibility for the user losing control over their character.]

[Alert: Your character has become subservient to the Savior!]

[Alert: You may no longer play your character, Kaosin!]

The user, Kwon Oh-Shin, had completely lost control of his character, Kaosin.

“Kneel,” the Savior commanded.

Thud…!

Kaosin knelt in front of the Savior.

“Take him away. He has completely submitted to our cause, so get him ready to serve our church,” the Savior commanded. Then, four shadows appeared and took Kaosin before vanishing into thin air.

“No! Noooo! Give it back! Give me my character back!” Kwon Oh-Shin raged, trying to regain control of his character, but it was to no avail. There was nothing he could do to recover control of his character, as the Rune of Contract: Subordination had already been activated.

“A-Ah… No…”

Kwon Oh-Shin lost in the final round of the Super Rookie Tournament and obtained more than ten million haters while at it. To make matters worse, he also lost his character to the NPC called the Savior and was forced to quit BNW.

***

The next morning…

“Phew… I’m so tired…” Tae-Sung woke up feeling exhausted.

He received an earful of fact-based criticism from his mother and sister last night, which made his soul leave his body.

“You need to live like a normal human being, Tae-Sung…”

“How can you still be single since birth at your age, oppa? Do you want me to introduce my friends at least?”

“Don’t you think you’re too old to play mommy and daddy in a virtual game, son?”

“You look like a nerd!”

“Do you want me to ask around and set you up on a blind date, son?”

This was the price he had to pay for marrying an NPC and having a child in a virtual game.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

His phone suddenly vibrated, alerting him he received a message.

「 Did you sleep well last night? Wait, are you still asleep?」

The message was from Yong Seol-Hwa.

「Yes, I just woke u—」

Tae-Sung was about to reply when his phone suddenly vibrated once again.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

An unfamiliar number was calling him, so he couldn't send his reply to Yong Seol-Hwa.

“Hello?”

– Ah! Hello, is this Han Tae-Sung?

“Yes. May I know who’s on the line?”

– This is Na So-Myeong. I am a marketing manager at Dongnae F and B.

“Dongnae F and B…?” Tae-Sung muttered in response.

He found the company name to be quite familiar for some reason.

“Ah! Is that the company making canned tuna?”

– Yes! So you have heard about us?

“I mean, is there anyone in South Korea who has not heard of your company?”

– Haha!

“But why are you calling—”

– We would like to have a meeting with you to discuss the possibility of filming a commercial.

“Eh?” Tae-Sung doubted his ears.

Commercial? Were they asking him to do a canned tuna commercial?

“A commercial?”

– Yes.

“Are you asking me to film a canned tuna commercial?”

– Yes!

“B-But why? Why me, of all people…?” Tae-Sung replied, sounding baffled.

– Our chairman was moved by your performance in the first round of the final match.

“First round…?” Tae-Sung tilted his head in confusion. Then, he remembered the Blache of Ascension that appeared in the first round and replied, “Ah… I-I see… Hahaha…”

– So, when would you be free to meet?

“I don’t want to.”

– Pardon?

“I am not interested in filming a canned tuna commercial,” Tae-Sung said firmly. He won the first round thanks to a giant tuna, so he was sure he would be called Tuna Man or something if he filmed a canned tuna commercial.

– B-But…! Mr. Han Tae-Sung!

“I will be hanging up now.”

– Please wait! Sir!

“What?”

– We will pay you as much as you want!

Tae-Sung was about to end the call when his hands suddenly stopped, and his eyes shot wide open.

“H-How much… can you give me?”

He decided to listen to what the Dongnae F&B had to offer before hanging up the call.

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