Debuff Master

Tae-Sung and Yong Seol-Hwa chatted about many different topics while eating meat. Actually, Yong Seol-Hwa was the one asking all the questions, while Tae-Sung simply answered.

“Where do you live, oppa?”

“I live near the Gangnam District Office.”

“Do you like cars? That car is a limited edition version, and it’s really expensive.”

“Not really? I just didn’t know where to spend my money, so I bought a few cars. My tax accountant told me to spend money so…”

“What does your mother think about you playing the game for a living?”

“She likes it. Well, she didn’t before, but she’s become proud of me these days.”

Yong Seol-Hwa bombarded him with all sorts of questions, and Tae-Sung answered them one by one.

It was then.

“Yes?”

“How many girls have you dated so far?”

“Huh?” Tae-Sung muttered, his eyes turning round.

Girls? Dated?

“T-That is…”

“Were there a lot?”

“N-No…?”

“Then?”

“Not even… one…”

“Huh?” Yong Seol-Hwa muttered, looking flustered. Then, she narrowed her eyes and said, “Come on, you shouldn’t lie about it.”

“B-But it’s true…”

“Liar.”

“It’s true…” Tae-Sung replied, looking gloomy. Then, he muttered, “I haven’t dated a single girl yet…”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah…”

“Why? How?”

“How am I supposed to answer that question? I just lived a busy life and—”

“Ah…” Yong Seol-Hwa muttered.

It was then.

“Ack! Catch that guy!”

The head of security eating at the table beside Tae-Sung and Yong Seol-Hwa stood up and screamed. Then, Tae-Sung’s bodyguards rushed out of the restaurant in the blink of an eye.

Tae-Sung and Yong Seol-Hwa looked out the window and saw a man scurry away with a camera.

“It's the paparazzi! Oppa!” Yong Seol-Hwa exclaimed.

“Papa…razzi…?”

“You know! Dispatch!”

“Heok?”

Dispatch was the number one news outlet in South Korea when it came to stalking celebrities, professional athletes, professional gamers, etc. They called themselves a news outlet, but they were no different from a professional tabloid, as they had been rumored to hire freelancers to stalk famous individuals.

In other words, Tae-Sung had become famous enough for the paparazzi to stalk him, which was probably the reason he managed to sign two commercial contracts to begin with.

“W-What should we do, oppa?” Yong Seol-Hwa asked, sounding worried.

“What else? Let’s just keep grilling meat,” Tae-Sung replied with a shrug.

“That’s it…?”

“We still have a lot of meat left. Don’t mind it, and let’s just enjoy our food.”

“Okay…”

Five minutes later, the head of security and the bodyguards returned, drenched in sweat.

The head of security reported, “I apologize, Young Master… We lost him. He had a scooter prepared in an alley and escaped with it… We will pay more attention next time.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. Thank you for your hard work as always. Please wipe away your sweat and finish your meal.”

“I apologize once again, Young Master.”

“It happens. Thank you once again.”

Tae-Sung was not bothered by the paparazzi and gave words of encouragement to his bodyguards before resuming his meal.

‘What article can he write with those pictures? It’s not like I did anything, right?’ Tae-Sung didn't bother thinking deeply about the incident with the paparazzi.

***

Tae-Sung finished his meal and said goodbye to Yong Seol-Hwa before going back home. She had asked if he would like to have a cup of coffee somewhere, but he chose not to partake because it was already late.

“Then, see you next time, oppa.”

“Yeah.”

“Can I contact you more often?”

“Yeah, you can. But is it alright if I don’t reply as often…?”

“That’s fine. I’ll be busy with the game, too, anyway.”

“Alright, then, see you next time.”

“Okay, oppa! Take care on the way home!”

“Thanks, you too.”

Tae-Sung threw himself onto the bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, he went down to the resident-only exclusive restaurant to have breakfast. He was fiddling with his phone while eating when he abruptly dropped his fork upon witnessing something shocking.

[Exclusive Scoop] Han Tae-Sung With a Beautiful Lady Late at Night!

[The talk of the town these days, Han Tae-Sung, was found on a date with a beautiful lady late at night in one of the famous hanwoo restaurants located in Gangnam.

They came in their luxury sports cars with caps on to hide their faces and… (omitted)

Based on reports, the beautiful lady is apparently the daughter of the living legend, Yong Tae-Pung, Yong Seol-Hwa, and she was also a participant in the Super Rookie Tournament.]

(omitted)

[It is assumed that both of them seemed to have started developing feelings for each other during the Super Rookie Tournament.]

“N-No! That’s not true!” Tae-Sung screamed unknowingly.

How could they say that he was dating when he just had a meal with her? Unfortunately, it wasn't the only article about them.

[Breaking News] Han Tae-Sung’s Agency Neither Confirms Nor Denies the Rumors!

(omitted)

[Han Tae-Sung’s agency seemed surprised by the news. They stated that they would check the facts first before making an official announcement.]

(omitted)

“What agency?! I don’t have a freaking agency!” Tae-Sung shouted once again after reading an article claiming that his non-existent agency had conducted an interview regarding the matter.

But that was still not the end of it…

[Top Search Keywords]

1. Han Tae-Sung Dating! HOT!!!

2. Han Tae-Sung

3. Han Tae-Sung and Yong Seol-Hwa

4. Yong Seol-Hwa

5. Yong Tae-Pung’s Daughter

6. Han Tae-Sung Instagram

7. Lottery Numbers

8. Spicy Chicken Dumplings

9. Today’s Horoscope

10. BNW

The damned fake news making its way to the front page of most websites made Han "Tae-Sung" and "Yong Seol-Hwa" the most searched keywords of the day.

“This is why people call you presstitutes! Arghh!” Tae-Sung growled and gnashed his teeth in anger. Who would have known that they'd go as far as make things up and release them as news?

‘Ah, forget about it. Let them do what they want. I’ll just do an interview later,’ Tae-Sung grumbled inwardly. Then, he calmed down and thought, ‘But I’m more worried about Seol-Hwa… Maybe I should give her a call later.’

He finished his meal and went back home. He tried calling Yong Seol-Hwa the moment he got home, but she wasn't picking up her phone, so he assumed that she was probably still asleep.

“Tsk…" Tae-Sung clicked his tongue and grumbled, "Let’s just log into the game."

He thought of waiting for her to wake up, but he decided that the game was more important than that.

Why?

It was all because every single second was precious right now, especially when the soul fragment somewhere in the Espadrille Province had yet to be found. Tae-Sung had to find it fast before it did something bizarre.

***

Siegfried left the Cabochon Territory and roamed the Espadrille Province. It was imperative that he scout these new lands of his, as both Treasure Hunter and Great King’s Blessed Land could trigger, rewarding him with riches and new talents.

Of course, his main priority was to find the soul fragment. Unfortunately, there were no signs of the soul fragment anywhere, no matter how hard he looked.

“Sniff! Sniff! Maybe it’s not here…” Siegfried muttered while sniffing around. He was being accompanied by a group of villagers from a slash-and-burn village that he had discovered while looking for the soul fragment.

He was in the middle of taking them away to the nearest feudal territory.

“Kyuuu! That’s a possibility!”

“Right?”

“Kyuuu! That’s right!”

“I don’t sense that unique energy. The soul fragment usually announces its location, but…”

“Kyuuu!”

“Tsk… This is starting to get on my nerves.”

“Kyu? What’s wrong, owner punk?”

“It’s none of your business,” Siegfried grumbled.

It seemed the tabloid news about him dating Yong Seol-Hwa was bothering him.

“Ah, forget about it. Let’s just go,” Siegfried said.

“Kyu! Alright!”

Siegfried and Hamchi continued their journey around the Espadrille Province in search of the soul fragment.

Meanwhile, Cheon Woo-Jin, who had been quite busy in the headquarters of the Guardians these days, gnashed his teeth at the news article he had stumbled upon this morning.

“That damned Han Tae-Sung…! He’s fooling around instead of searching for the soul fragment?” Cheon Woo-Jin grumbled.

After breakfast, Siegfried immediately logged into the game to search for the soul fragment, but Cheon Woo-Jin had no idea about that. He was under the assumption that Siegfried was busy going on dates rather than searching for the soul fragment, and it was all thanks to the recent news articles about him.

“Tsk… They say the tame cats are the first to cause trouble. Who could have known that he was secretly dating someone?

"Hold on… Is this news even true? That guy is as dense as a brick, so there’s no way he can get a girlfriend… I have a feeling they just had dinner once, and some presstitute made stuff up…”

Cheon Woo-Jin was about to deduce the truth behind the news articles when the alarms nearby simultaneously went off.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

— Alert! Alert!

— All forces on the bridge!

— The soul energy has been detected!

— I repeat! The soul energy has been detected!

— All forces prepare to deploy at once!

The Eye of Behemoth had picked up traces of the Soul Fragment of Apocalius, and it announced the news throughout Heaven’s Eyes.

***

Siegfried finally ended his search for the day and returned to the Cabochon Territory.

“Is it even here…?”

He had been staying in the Espadrille Province for ten days now, but there were still no traces of the soul fragment.

Ding!

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

[Alert: Your level has risen!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 283!]

The effect of his title "Ruler of Proatine" was activated, and he leveled up once.

“Whoa! Jackpot!”

He was delighted by the message, as leveling up had become extremely difficult at his current level. He could barely raise his experience bar by one percent, even after killing so many monsters, so leveling up from his title’s effect was definitely something to be delighted about.

[Alert: 59 days 23 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds remaining until your next level up!]

[Alert: The Ruler of Proatine will pause when you are not within the territories of the Proatine Kingdom!]

There was the drawback of having to stay in the Proatine Kingdom for sixty days if he wanted to level up once again, but that was not that big of a deal, as he'd barely fill his experience bar, even if he were to grin in a dungeon for sixty days.

If he only wanted to level up, then spending time in the Proatine Kingdom was far more efficient than killing monsters.

'Hmm… I guess I should log out and give Seol-Hwa another call, Siegfried thought.

Just as he was about to log out from the game…

“Your Majesty! Your Majestyyy!” A herald rushed in and fell on his knees. “Urgent news, sire!”

“What is it?”

“That is… That is…”

“Calm down and catch your breath first.”

“Something unbelievable has happened, Your Majesty! Something completely unbelievable!”

“What is it?”

“A god has appeared!”

“Huh? Did an evil god descend onto the continent? Or is it a demon lord?”

“N-No, it is not that! This is a real god! A real god has descended upon the world!”

“...?”

“Your Majesty! Count Arial is bringing the dead back to life!” the herald exclaimed.

“Eh?” Siegfried doubted his ears.

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