Debuff Master

– I cannot give you a figure right now.

“I will be hanging up. Goodbye.”

– W-Wait! Mr. Han Tae-Sung!

“What now?”

– Please listen to what we have to offer first!

“What do you have to offer?”

– I cannot say how much we will pay you right now!

“Is that so?”

– We will have to discuss it internally before I can make you an offer.

– P-Please wait!

“Hmm?”

– I can tell you the minimum modeling fee!

“The minimum modeling fee?”

– You can think of a figure around three and a half billion won.

“Hmm…” Tae-Sung muttered after hearing the offer.

Three and a half billion won was one billion won more than the two and a half billion won that he had promised to donate, right? However, Tae-Sung was not fooled by the offer.

‘It’s too small. Do they really think they can buy a gamer’s influence with that amount?’

A famous gamer had the same influence as a celebrity superstar in this day and age.

Why?

It was all because BNW was incredibly popular…

Tae-Sung had become a worldwide celebrity, not just in South Korea, and the number of followers he had obtained overnight after the Super Rookie Tournament was a testament to his influence.

In other words, filming a commercial with Tae-Sung would not only give exposure to the company’s brand in South Korea but exposure to all over the world as well.

“That is too little. I might consider it if you offer ten billion won,” Tae-Sung said firmly.

– T-Ten… billion won?

“I have nothing more to say. Please feel free to contact me once you've decided on an offer.”

– Haha…

“I will be hanging up now,” Tae-Sung said and ended the call. He threw his smartphone on his bed and left to get breakfast.

「Yes, I just woke u—」

Unfortunately, he completely forgot about replying to Yong Seol-Hwa’s message.

***

On that same afternoon, Siegfried went to find Deus to inform him of his victory at the Super Rookie Tournament. Then, he went to Brunhilde and Verdandi to spend time with them.

‘The soul should be making an appearance soon. Should I call Cheon Woo-Jin?’ Siegfried felt anxious that there had been no news of the next Soul Fragment of Apocalius.

He had to find and destroy all of the soul fragments to reach Level 299 and face the Insurmountable Wall, so the fact that there was no news regarding the soul fragments made him feel impatient and anxious.

Grinding in the high-level dungeons was one thing he could do, but that was far too inefficient, as the experience points he'd obtain were too little. He had already reached the level where leveling up through grinding was extremely tedious. It was so tedious that his experience bar would increase only by one percent, even after a full day’s worth of grinding.

“I’ll rest until today and just grind in the dungeons if there’s no news tomorrow,” Siegfried grumbled. He finished all of the paperwork Michele tasked him to do and logged out to have dinner.

‘Hmm… I’ll have Japanese for dinner,’ Tae-Sung thought and headed to the Japanese restaurant available only for the residents of the building.

“Huh? Isn’t that Han Tae-Sung?”

“Ah, I knew he looked familiar! I saw him before!”

The patrons in the restaurant grew rowdy after recognizing Tae-Sung. This was only normal, as his face had been plastered all over the internet ever since the group stages, so most people recognized him by now.

‘Tsk… They already recognize me…’ Tae-Sung clicked his tongue inwardly.

“Welcome, sir.”

“Hello.”

“Right this way, sir.”

The waiter escorted him to his seat.

Tae-Sung sat down and pondered what to order. Surprisingly, the chef personally came to his table and greeted him.

“Welcome.”

“Hi?”

“You are Mr. Han Tae-Sung, right?”

“Y-Yes?”

“I watched your match yesterday. You are truly a professional!”

“A professional? Haha… I am just an amateur…”

“But you must be debuting as a pro gamer soon, right?”

“No, I do not have such plans.”

“I-I see… I will prepare a special course just for you today, Mr. Han Tae-Sung.”

“Really?”

“Why, of course!”

“Thank you, then.”

“Please wait a moment.”

Tae-Sung surfed through his social media accounts while waiting for the special meal the chef promised.

He continued to scroll mindlessly until he received a call.

– Mr. Han Tae-Sung! This is Na So-Myeong from Dongnae F and B!

“Eh?”

– We have finished our internal discussion. We would like to offer you twelve billion won!

“R-Really?” Tae-Sung was taken aback after hearing the offer from Dongnae F and B.

He casually threw the number ten billion won without much thought, so he did not expect them to come back with an offer two billion won higher.

– We would like to meet to discuss the specifics. When would be a good time for you?

“I will get back to you with a date…”

– I understand! I will be waiting for your call!

Tae-Sung ended up agreeing to film a canned tuna commercial with the industry’s leader, Dongnae F&B, for an astronomical fee of twelve billion won.

Of course, they were yet to sign any contract so nothing was official.

“Hold on… How did they get my number?” Tae-Sung wondered.

It was then.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

His phone rang again, and it was another call from an unfamiliar number.

“Hello?”

– Hello! Is this Mr. Han Tae-Sung?

“Yes, but who is on the line?”

– My name is Choi Bong-Geun. I am a marketing manager from White Liquor!

“White Liquor… Are you talking about the soju company?”

– Yes! That is correct!

“But why are you calling me…?”

– We were preparing to launch our new drink infused with the fragrance of bamboo, and we believe you are the perfect fit for our new product.

“Eh? Is this related to the third round?”

– Yes, that is correct.

“Please decide on your offer first and send me a message.”

– P-Pardon me?

“I really hate troublesome things, so I will do it if the price is right and not if the price isn't right.”

– How much are you thinking of…?

“That will depend on your offer.”

– …

“I will end the call now. Goodbye,” Tae-Sung said and hung up. Then, he grumbled, “What the hell… First, it’s tuna; now it’s bamboo soju?”

However, that was not the end of the phone calls.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

His phone rang once again.

“Don’t tell me… Is it KORAIL this time?” Tae-Sung grumbled, thinking that the caller was from Korea Rail Corporation.

Fortunately, he was wrong this time.

“Oh? Seung-Gu?”

– Yes, it’s me, hyung-nim.

“What’s up?”

– I found an interesting dungeon.

“Huh? An interesting dungeon?”

– Yes, but I think I will need your help, hyung-nim.

“What kind of dungeon is it?”

– It’s a bit complicated to explain over the phone. Can we meet instead?

“Sure. Is it urgent?”

– No, it’s not.

“I’ll log in after eating so wait for a bit.”

– Sure, hyung-nim. Enjoy your meal.

“Alright, see you in a bit.”

Tae-Sung focused on the special meal the chef prepared for him.

‘I need to eat to survive, right?’

It was said that one needed to eat first before hiking Mount Geumgang—no, wasn't it to eat before raiding a dungeon in this situation? Regardless, Tae-Sung decided to eat first before anything else.

***

Tae-Sung finished his meal and logged into the game to meet up with Seung-Gu.

“What kind of dungeon is it?” Siegfried asked.

“I was boosting the elders when I stumbled upon it, hyung-nim,” Seung-Gu replied.

“Elders?”

“You know… the elders you handed over to me…” Seung-Gu muttered, sounding slightly disgruntled.

“Oh? You've been hunting with them?” Tae-Sung asked, realizing that the elders were none other than the Legends.

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

“And you found the dungeon while hunting with them?”

“Yes, hyung-nim. I noticed a cave, and there was something fishy about it.”

“What do you mean by fishy?”

“The mob pattern was strange.”

“Hmm?”

“We deal the same damage to the same monster regardless of whether you hit it or I hit it.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What I’m saying is, the monsters receive fixed damage regardless of who’s attacking it, and it's the same the other way around, too.”

“I can’t understand what the hell you’re trying to say…”

“Why don’t we just go there so you can see for yourself?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Siegfried tried to understand what Seung-Gu was saying, but they decided to just go and check it out with their own eyes instead.

They traveled for around thirty minutes from the Proatine Kingdom’s castle until they reached the dungeon where Seung-Gu claimed to have strange monsters.

“Hey! Are you pulling a fast one on me?!”

“What did you say?! Do you have proof?!”

“Damn it!”

“Tsk… You guys are still cheating at your age? Grow up!”

The legends were gathered in front of the dungeon and were bickering with one another. The table was flipped and cards scattered on the ground. Judging from the cards, it seemed that they were having an argument while playing Hardstone.

“I-It looks like they’re getting along?” Siegfried said, looking awkward.

“Sigh… Tell me about it…” Seung-Gu let out a sigh and shook his head. Then, he added, “They just look old, but they’re no different from kids.”

“R-Really?”

“They can be quite annoying and demanding at times, too. It feels like I was taking care of four sergeants…”

“...”

“Don’t you think you were being too harsh on me, hyung-nim–?”

It was then.

“Oh! Tae-Sung is here!”

“Welcome back, junior.”

“Congratulations on winning yesterday!”

“Welcome!”

The Legends stopped bickering and warmly welcomed Siegfried.

“Hello, sunbae-nims,” Siegfried said with a bow. Then, he whispered to Seung-Gu, “Hey, why are they here? I thought you couldn’t clear this dungeon? Won’t they die in one hit at their current level?”

“No, hyung-nim.”

“Hmm?”

“This dungeon doesn't scale by level, so it's fine even if a Level 1 player or a Level 300 player attempts it. In other words, we can raid it with the elders.”

“Huh?”

“Shall we go in?”

“S-Sure…”

Siegfried followed Seung-Gu and entered the dungeon.

[Ruin of Martial God: Valhalla]

A message flashed in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

“Ruin of Martial God? Does this place belong to the Church of Martial God?”

“That’s most likely the case.”

“But why is it abandoned?”

“That’s… I have no idea even if you ask me, hyung-nim.”

“Ah, I guess you’re right.”

They walked deeper into the cave.

Thud… Thud…

They heard nothing for a while, but they eventually heard footsteps in the distance after ten minutes of walking. Soon, they spotted humanoid monsters up ahead.

[Hero Terracotta]

[A clay statue of an ancient warrior.]

[Type: Monster (Statue)]

[Level: N/A]

[Note: Strong against everyone.]

Siegfried flashed his Rune of Insight and found that the monsters were called Hero Terracotta. There was no other information provided aside from the fact that its level was unavailable and that it was strong against everyone.

“Oh well, I guess we will find out,” Siegfried said with a shrug, then took out his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp and placed down both Blaze Field and Shadow Hell.

Seung-Gu summoned Golem King Reventon and hopped into the cockpit while the Legends readied their weapons.

The battle against the statues soon began.

‘It’s a statue so Irradiate won’t work and the cave might collapse if I use Splitting Heaven and Earth. Ah, I guess I have no choice,’ Siegfried thought. He gave up on using AOE skills against the monsters and threw his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp at them.

Shwiiiiik!

The +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp flew, assisted by Flying Sword, and bounced around the Hero Terracottas before returning to Siegfried’s hand.

“Huh? They’re quite strong?” Siegfried was surprised after seeing that he didn't deal that much damage to the Hero Terracottas.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Meanwhile, the Legends were locked in combat against the Hero Terracottas.

“T-They can fight toe-to-toe against them…?” Siegfried muttered and grimaced. He was surprised yet again after seeing that the Legends could fight and defeat the Hero Terracottas, even though their levels were very low.

A Hero Terracotta was decapitated by Park Gi-Don’s sword, but what was shocking about this was that the same Hero Terracotta was completely fine after getting hit by Siegfried’s +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp earlier.

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