Debuff Master

“Honey!”

Brunhilde came running as soon as she heard the news, and she looked ghastly pale and horror-stricken.

“W-What happened…? How could something like this even happen…?”

She looked extremely confused as she stared at Verdandi’s peaceful sleeping face.

There was nothing out of the ordinary with her reaction, as her daughter had suddenly grown up after going out to play with Hamchi. To make matters worse, she was sleeping as if she were dead.

Which mother wouldn't be scared after seeing something like this?

“Master said that she… drank a growth elixir and grew up too fast. But there’s nothing wrong with her, so we don’t have to worry.”

“B-But…”

“It’s a bit awkward, right? Our baby, that is…”

Brunhilde couldn't hide her feelings.

“Still, that doesn’t change that she’s our child,” Siegfried said, wrapping his arms around Brunhilde’s waist.

“Yes, you’re right. It doesn’t matter how she changes or how much she grows; she will still be our baby.”

“We just have to continue loving her just as he always did.”

“Yes, dear!”

“But I’m worried…”

“A-About?”

“Master said that she grew up not only physically but mentally as well… And she did that by absorbing the knowledge of those around her…”

“Oh dear…”

“That means…”

“Our baby is no longer a baby?”

“Precisely. She’s a little girl around eight or nine years old,” Siegfried replied with a nod.

“Ah…”

“And a very smart and cunning little girl at that.”

“I should prepare myself as her mother,” Brunhilde said, clenching her fists to show her determination.

“M-Me, too,” Siegfried replied, stuttering.

‘W-Will my own daughter start looking down on me?!’

Verdandi was a genius born with SSS abilities. According to Deus, she'd overcome the wall by the age of twenty and step into the realm of Masters.

Could Siegfried even handle such a genius daughter?

‘Argh! N-Nooo! I could really end up getting looked down on by my own daughter!’ Siegfried started pulling his hair out from the scenario he made up in his head.

A servant approached him and said, “Your Majesty, the Guardians are calling.”

“Tell them to call later,” Siegfried replied, waving his hand.

“They claim that it is urgent.”

“Tell them no thanks.”

“As you command, sire.”

“I’m at my wit’s end here. Tell him to come in person if he has something to say.”

“Certainly, sire.”

There was no way Siegfried could care about anything else when Verdandi had accidentally drunk a growth elixir, which led to her going through a massive growth spurt.

***

On that same evening, Duke Decimato returned from fixing the warp gate and heard that Verdandi had accidentally ingested the Transcended Growth Elixir that he had created for Siegfried.

“I have committed a grave sin that can only be punished by death!” Duke Decimato rushed to Siegfried and bowed at his feet. “This is my fault! I was negligent when it came to taking care of my laboratory, which resulted in this mess.

"Please punish me, Your Majesty!”

“No, this is my fault for failing to do my duties as a parent and watch over my child.”

“B-But sire…!”

“Also, this might be for the better, so I will overlook this incident.”

“Pardon me, sire?”

“There is something like that.”

Siegfried was convinced that Verdandi’s sudden growth spurt could be a good thing.

‘Who knows when the game would close its servers?’

He knew the day he had to say goodbye to Verdandi would eventually come. BNW would end up as a relic just like the numerous other games in history, and on that day, he had to say goodbye to not only Verdandi but all of the NPCs.

Thus, Siegfried thought it was for the better that Verdandi had grown up quickly rather.

After all, the alternative was to wait a long time for her to grow up naturally. Verdandi's quick growth meant that he'd be able to make more memories with her. Siegfried braced himself for the day that he'd have to say goodbye to everyone.

“It is not like she suffered any health complications because of it, so it is fine.”

“Your Majesty…”

“But please take better care of your laboratory from now on.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty…”

The incident was concluded with Siegfried forgiving Duke Decimato.

“More importantly, how is the progress of extracting Count Arial’s knowledge of magic?”

“It is progressing very smoothly.”

“That is great news.”

It was then.

“Hey, Han Tae-Sung.”

Cheon Woo-Jin appeared out of nowhere and called out to him.

“Huh? When did you get here?” Siegfried asked.

“Just now. Can’t you tell? Also, why weren’t you answering my calls?”

“I had some stuff going on.”

“What stuff?”

“Raising a child can be quite the job. Sigh…”

“...?”

“What do you know? There’s no way you’d understand the struggles of a married man.”

“Crazy bastard…” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered in disbelief with his eyes wide open.

Siegfried was talking as if he were married and had a child in reality.

‘H-Hey, this guy is becoming so addicted to the game that it's actually scary…’

At this point, Cheon Woo-Jin felt like Siegfried was an NPC in the game rather than a real human being.

“But what do you want? Did you discover another soul fragment?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then?”

“Something’s happening at the Arctic Pangea and…” Cheon Woo-Jin proceeded to explain everything regarding the strange energy that they had detected.

“Oh?”

“Just accept and read the quest,” Cheon Woo-Jin grumbled and gave the quest details to him.

[Frozen Land]

[Description: Investigate the Arctic Pangea and see if the Church of Osric or any other evil organization is plotting something.]

[Reward: Level +1]

“Oh? One level?”

“What do you think? Do you like the reward?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Siegfried accepted the quest without much thought. Leveling up even once was a big deal at his current level, so the quest was nothing short of rain during a drought for him.

“When do you plan to depart?”

“A bit later.”

“All right, I’ll leave it to you then. Ah, don’t expect any reinforcements.”

“Why?”

“The blizzard is too fierce over there, so we can’t send our airships because the engines will have icing problems. There are no warp gates over there as well, so it’s difficult to send people over to help you. Even if we managed to find a way to send people, the majority of them wouldn’t be able to perform in that kind of extreme cold.”

“Why are you giving me these kinds of quests?”

“Got a problem?”

“Nope, no problem! I was starting to feel itchy, so I’m glad you gave me this quest.”

“All right, good luck,” Cheon Woo-Jin said before disappearing like a mirage just like when he appeared.

“I guess I should get ready.”

Siegfried proceeded to prepare for his expedition to the Arctic Pangea.

***

“I’ll get going now.”

“Okay, dear.”

“Please look after our daughter. I’ll leave her to you. I’m sure she will be more confused than us once she wakes up.”

“Don’t worry.”

On the same evening, Siegfried left Verdandi in Brunhilde’s care and went to board the Huracan. Then, he logged out from the game after boarding the super airship.

Why?

It was all because the flight to the Arctic Pangea would last several hours, and he had no plans of sitting idle in the airship. He logged back into the game the next morning and was informed by the captain that they'd reach their destination in two hours.

“Tsk… I should’ve slept longer.”

“Kyuuu! Let’s play Hardstone, owner punk!”

“I agree. Let’s play a few rounds of Hardstone to kill time, hyung-nim.”

“Should we?”

Siegfried sat down and played a few rounds of Hardstone with Hamchi and Seung-Gu.

“This is my—huh? W-What the hell is that?!” Siegfried exclaimed, pointing out the window right before showing his hand. The reason he was so surprised was that there was someone clinging to the Huracan’s window.

“Y-Your Majesty! P-Please open the door!”

“W-Who the hell is that?!” Siegfried cried out and hurriedly opened the hatch to let the half-frozen person into the airship. He took a good look at the person’s face and recognized him, “Huh? Aren’t you Cork? What brings you here? Did His Imperial Majesty send another letter?”

“N-No, Your Majesty—ughh…” Cork replied, groaning in agony.

“I am here to deliver a package for Your Majesty.”

“A package…? Is it from His Imperial Majesty?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“...?”

“I have finished my mandatory military service period, so I am now working for the Delivery Guild.”

“What?! Does the Marchioni Empire pay their soldiers peanuts?!”

“Huh? No, Your Majesty. The empire’s soldiers get paid more than society’s elite workers.”

“Then why–”

“The Delivery Guild pays three times the salary of an airforce pilot for their special delivery pilots, so I applied for the job. Haha…”

“Whoa?”

“Actually, this special delivery job requires the pilot to fly as fast as they could all over the continent so…”

“I-I think that does not concern me.”

“Ahem… Your Majesty is correct. Please, take your parcel,” Cork cleared his throat and took out a large box.

“Who is it from?”

“It was sent by the Adventurer, Yong Seol-Hwa.”

“Huh?”

“Please sign here, Your Majesty.”

“Okay.”

“Then, I shall take my leave now,” Cork said and walked toward the hatch.

“Eh? You’re going?”

“I cannot return if I stay any longer here. We will soon be flying over the ocean, so I will have to leave as quickly as possible.”

“All right then, good luck.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I hope to see you again,” Cork said before opening the hatch and jumping off of the Huracan.

“Wow… That’s what you call an extreme job. Is that why they’re paying so much?” Siegfried wondered while shaking his head. Then, he opened the parcel that Yong Seol-Hwa had sent over to him.

[Despicable Hydra Set]

[A set item crafted by the Dragon Blacksmith.]

[This item was crafted exclusively for the Debuff Master, and it will enhance the effects of the Debuff Master's debuff fields.]

[Type: Armor]

[Rating: Legendary]

[Level Restriction: 280]

[Durability: 5,000/5,000]

[Set: Despicable Hydra Armor, Despicable Hydra Pauldron, Despicable Hydra Gauntlets]

Surprisingly, the parcel sent by Yong Seol-Hwa contained the Despicable Hydra Set, which was a set item crafted exclusively for Siegfried. However, Siegfried could not help but wonder why it had the word "despicable" attached to it.

“Option… Let’s look at the options…”

He decided to ignore the small issue and check the exclusive set item’s options.

[Attack Speed +25%]

[Movement Speed +25%]

[Casting Speed +250%]

[Defense +50%]

[Magic Resistance +50%]

[Water Resistance +1,000]

[Fire Resistance +1,000]

[Darkness Resistance +1,000]

[Light Resistance +1,000]

[Strength +700]

[Durability Enhancement +300%]

“Whoa…” Siegfried muttered out of surprise after reading the options attached to the Despicable Hydra Set. The set item was crafted exclusively for the Debuff Master, so every single bonus it provided seemed to synergize well with his combat style.

“What’s this?” he muttered and opened a smaller box.

[Whistle: Cowherd♥♂]

[I’m coming to see you.]

[Type: Accessory]

[Rating: Unique]

[Effect: It is connected to Whistle: Weaver Girl♥♀, and it could open a portal that would allow the owners to meet.]

“Huh? A whistle? What an interesting gift…”

Thud…!

A letter suddenly fell next to his feet.

Hi!

I tried making an item for you, oppa.

I hope you like it!

You can contact me with this whistle if you want to see me in the game!

✧ʕ̢̣̩·͡˔·ོɁ̡̣̩✧

“I should probably buy her a meal sometime soon,” Siegfried muttered with a smile. He was really grateful that Yong Seol-Hwa had taken the time to craft these items for him.

Bam!

Just then, a sudden impact jolted the Huracan, but it was just the beginning.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The Huracan started shaking like crazy.

“What’s going on?!” Siegfried asked.

“Your Majesty! There’s a blizzard up ahead but the hail is too big! It's damaging our airship!”

“What do we do, then?!” Siegfried exclaimed..

Kaboom!

The Huracan’s right engine exploded and burst into a ball of fire.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The warning sirens went off in the cockpit.

“Your Majesty! The impact has caused our airship to—aaaaah!”

“Ack!”

“I will attempt an emergency landing!”

The captain hurriedly tried to land the Huracan.

“Arghhh! Why does shit happen whenever I’m on an airship?!” Siegfried cried out in fury as the Huracan plummeted rapidly.

"Whyyyyyy?!" Siegfried van Proa’s desperate cries reverberated throughout the cabin.

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