Debuff Master

The legendary blacksmith Herbert.

He dedicated his entire life to his sole goal of creating the most powerful weapon of mass destruction, and he almost managed to create a ‘Universal Tier’ weapon before the embers of his life ran out.

Unfortunately, Herbert only managed to create the blueprint of the Universal Tier weapon of mass destruction before dying, and his legend was passed down from Shakiro to Siegfried.

Herbert’s ghost pleaded to Siegfried over and over again.

‘I should have started this when I was much younger… Anyway, I hope that you will be able to complete my life’s masterpiece.’

Hundreds of years had already passed since his body had decomposed and become one with the ground, but his spirit was still here with the sole purpose of witnessing the completion of the weapon of mass destruction he had always been dreaming about.

The ‘Omnipotent Mechanical Gear,’ which was one of the seven incomparably rare materials necessary to craft Herbert’s weapon of mass destruction, was right in front of Siegfried’s eyes. To be more accurate, it was buried underneath the old scrap metals left behind by the Mecha Lord…

‘Who could have known that I would find it here by pure coincidence?’ Siegfried thought as he picked up the complex-looking contraption from the ground.

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Omnipotent Mechanical Gear’!]

Then, a message popped up in front of his eyes.

[Herbert’s Blueprint]

[A blueprint of the most powerful weapon of mass destruction. A Grand Master blacksmith will easily understand it, and they will be able to complete Herbert’s final masterpiece as long as they have the following ingredients.]

[Type: Recipe (Universal Weapon)]

[Materials:]

[Rod of God × 1 ✓] 

[Omnipotent Mechanical Gear × 1 ✓]

[Horn of Chromatic Dragon × 1]

[Soul of the Vampire Lord × 1]

[Eye of the Storm × 1]

[Universal Grade Mana Stone × 1]

[Heart of the Demon Lord × 1]

Siegfried somehow managed to obtain two of the required materials to complete the Universal Tier weapon. All of a sudden, he couldn’t help but think, ‘Wasn’t the Vampire Lord my neighbor…?’

He remembered hearing that the Vampire Lord resided within the Proatine Territory. He could obtain the ‘Soul of the Vampire Lord’ if he managed to kill the Vampire Lord. If that happened, then he would only need four materials to craft the Universal Tier weapon.

‘C’mon, how am I going to find the rest even if I did somehow manage to slay the Vampire Lord?’ Siegfried thought.

The main problem was the fact that it would be nearly impossible for him to obtain the four remaining materials. Not to mention, he had no idea how he was going to contain the Vampire Lord’s soul, even if he somehow managed to slay the powerful monster.

‘Let’s just forget about it. I have no reason to work so hard to fulfill some dead guy’s wish,’ he inwardly grumbled as he decided to erase all thoughts of the weapon of mass destruction from his mind.

***

Siegfried continued to loot the rest of the items after first picking up the Mechanical Heart and the Omnipotent Mechanical Gear from the remains of the Mecha Lord.

There was a lot of loot lying on the ground. The D-Grade Mana Stones used for the resurrection ritual of the Mecha Lord were there, the items dropped by the Genesis Guild members after dying, and the B-Grade Mana Stones that had been powering the Mecha Knights guarding the Mecha Lord.

‘I don’t think I can bring all of these back with me. My Inventory is already full…’ 

Siegfried got it right.

[Alert: Your Inventory is full!]

[Alert: You will not be able to pick up any more items!

[Alert: It is advised that you look for a high-ranked magician to increase your Inventory Capacity!]

He had always been afraid of running out of Inventory Capacity when it mattered the most, and the dreaded problem finally happened to him.

“Ah, there are still so many items…” Siegfried lamented before wondering out loud. “Should I go to a nearby bank and deposit everything? How do I do that and come back here afterward?”

“There’s no need for that! Kyu!” 

“No need?”

“That’s right!”

“Why?”

“Hamchi has a bag!” Hamchi exclaimed. He swung his front legs, and a pouch appeared out of nowhere.

[Infinity Pouch]

[A magical pouch summoned by Hamchi’s Go Fetch! skill.]

[The Infinity Pouch is a magical artifact that opens the gateway to the void, and it is able to store an infinite number of items.]

[Hamchi may wear this pouch on his back and go around picking up items.]

Hamchi looked up at Siegfried with the Infinite Pouch on his back.

“Hey! Owner punk!”

“What?”

“Just say the word, and this Hamchi shall pick everything up for you! Kyu!”

“You will pick up everything?”

“Yes, I already told you so, punk! Just say, ‘Hamchi, Go Fetch!’ and I will pick up everything for you!”

“Erm… Go Fetch?”

With that, Hamchi used his ‘Go Fetch!’ skill and ran at breakneck speeds to pick up all the items on the ground.

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Boots of Requiem’!]

[Alert: You have obtained ‘B Grade Mana Stone’!]

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Bracer of Strong Man’!]

[Alert: You have obtained ‘B Grade Mana Stone’!]

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Earrings of Tracking’!]

…

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes whenever Hamchi picked up an item and stored it in his Infinity Pouch.

“Wow, this is awesome,” Siegfried gasped upon witnessing the might of Hamchi’s skill, and then he immediately grumbled, “I won’t have to work twice with this, right? Ah… it’s a shame I didn’t meet this guy earlier…”

He suddenly remembered all of the items he had to turn his back on at the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament, which he could have picked up if Hamchi were there with him.

“Hey! Owner punk! I’m done picking up everything! Kyu!” Hamchi ran back to Siegfried.

“Good job, Hamchi.”

“Heh! This is nothing to me!”

“I will buy you a lot of nuts once we get back to the city.”

“Don’t you dare forget what you said!”

“I won't, so let's go.”

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“Where are we going?”

“To Mount Kunlun.”

“That’s fucking far… I think we will die of old age walking all the way there…”

“Who said anything about walking? We will be using the gateways and airships. Anyway, let’s go.”

“Alright! Kyu!” Hamchi exclaimed before hopping onto Siegfried’s shoulder.

***

Just as Siegfried left Metropolis and was on the way back to Mount Kunlun...

Gosran was finally resurrected after forty-nine hours, and she was standing in front of Deus once again.

Flinch!

Gosran froze on the spot as soon as she saw Deus, and a string of messages popped up in front of her eyes.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: Your character has been ‘overwhelmed’!]

[Alert: Your compatibility with the ‘Ogre’ has significantly dropped!]

[Alert: You are no longer able to control your character properly due to the drop in compatibility!]

How strong was this NPC? In addition to instantly killing a Level 189 character with a gaze, he also overwhelmed her with his presence alone.

“What are you standing around for? You should greet your elders the moment you see them! Tsk… Tsk…! Kids these days have such bad manners!” Deus grumbled while clicking his tongue.

“Ah… Hello…” Gosran immediately greeted him with a bow. “I greet the master!”

“Ha! What use is it if you had to be forced to do it!”

“I apologize if I offended you, elder-nim. I was just too surprised that I did not know what to do,” Gosran said before apologetically bowing once again.

“Hmm… I think you’ll be pretty good as long as you get educated.”

“Not at all, elder-nim.”

“Alright, what happened last time was regretful. I seemed to have failed the power in my eyes at the time. It seems that even this esteemed self still needs to train more. Hohoho!”

“…”

“To think that I would fail to control my gaze at this age…”

That was what he said, but his next words surprised Gosran.

“…I killed you on purpose, to be honest.”

“Pardon me? What do you mean by that, elder-nim?”

“You would have tagged along with my disciple if you were alive, right? I did not wish for that to happen.”

“Did I do anything wrong, elder-nim…?”

“Are you questioning me?!”

Deus’ voice was a bit louder this time.

“Heok…!” Gosran gasped. Her face immediately turned pale.

[Gosran]

[HP: ⬛⬛⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜]

Deus’ slightly louder voice carried his mana, and it instantly deleted seventy percent of Gosran’s HP.

“I will be the one asking the questions. You just have to answer me,” Deus commanded.

“Why are you loitering around my disciple? Ah, don’t even think about lying to me. I will be able to tell if you are lying or not.”

“…”

“I will ask again. Why are you loitering around my disciple?” Deus asked again.

Gosran bit her lips before she replied, “I’m…”

***

Exactly two days and a half since Siegfried left Metropolis, Siegfried finally returned to Mount Kunlun. He ran toward his master and kowtowed. “Master! I have returned!”

“Welcome back, my disciple.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“I see that you seem to have obtained the Mechanical Heart. Oho… You obtained the Omnipotent Mechanical Gear as well?”

“You can see my Inventory, Master?”

“This great me can see everything, my disciple.”

“As expected of my master!”

“But what is that squirrel with you?” asked Deus while pointing at Hamchi, who was eating sunflower seeds on top of Siegfried’s shoulder.

“Hmm… That looks like the Great Spirit of the Forest. Did you tame him?”

“It turned out that way, Master.”

“He’s pretty difficult to tame, but it seems that you managed to tame him after saving his life.” Deus displayed his omniscience once again as he accurately pinpointed what had happened.

“Hey, squirrel.”

“Yes, Transcendent.” Surprisingly, Hamchi replied so courteously to Deus that Siegfried felt goosebumps breaking out all over his body. The foul-mouthed hamster was nowhere to be seen.

“Look after my disciple to the best of your abilities. Do you understand? I will see to it that your karma will be reduced, and you will be able to return to the Spirit World if you do.”

“I shall do as you have commanded.”

Siegfried’s eyes narrowed.

‘Just what the hell is this guy? Why is he acting so different all of a sudden?’

Hamchi’s attitude toward Deus was a stark contrast to how he had been acting toward Siegfried.

“Hey, Hamchi.”

“Kyu?”

“Why are you acting like that all of a sudden? Was there something in the sunflower seeds?” Siegfried asked.

“Come here…” Hamchi motioned for Siegfried to bring his ears closer, and then he whispered, “You know I value my life, right? That’s why I have to watch my words.”

“…!”

“I could instantly lose my life with a single mistake. You should know that too, Kyu!”

It seems that the Great Spirit of the Forest instinctively knew how great of a being Deus was and decided to act accordingly—for the sake of survival.

***

A storm was brewing at the headquarters of the Genesis Guild just as Siegfried returned to Mount Kunlun.

“Our raid party was annihilated by a mere Level 142 player… Are you asking me to believe that nonsense?” asked the Guild Master of the Genesis Guild, Chae Hyung-Seok, with a sarcastic look.

His reaction was understandable. After all, it was impossible for a mere Level 142 player to defeat a one-hundred-man-strong raid party.

“…”

None of the guild executives could speak. They understood that Chae Hyung-Seok was not joking right now despite his sarcastic expression. They knew from experience that they would have to shoulder all of the blame if they were to speak rashly amidst all this.

However, Chae Hyung-Seok wasn’t really the type to be complacent and arrogant in front of a new threat.

‘Debuff… That’s a rare ability, but we have to be the wariest when it comes to people like that… Hmm… something is off about this… Am I overreacting if say that it feels like we are being targeted right now? Don’t tell me that one of the top ten guilds raised a hitman to keep us in check, and they were just testing their secret weapon out?’ 

Many complicated thoughts ran through Chae Hyung-Seok’s mind.

Why?

It was because he was well aware that the Genesis Guild lived by their buffs and died by their buffs, and a powerful Debuffer was no different from their natural enemy.

“Look into it. Investigate the fool who dared to stand up against us, and find out who he is affiliated with. Ask the guild members who participated in the raid that day for screenshots or screen records, and make a composite sketch of that guy and spread it around…”

“Find him. Find him at all costs. Do you understand me?” said Chae Hyung-Seok.

The Genesis Guild executives simultaneously shouted in response.

“Yes, Guild Master-nim!”