Debuff Master

Chapter 397

Chapter 397

‘That’s a real demon...’

Siegfried tensed up after seeing Chaos' level through the Rune of Insight. He was on the same level as Brunhilde—Level 299.

‘This is going to be difficult...’

A Level 299 opponent was definitely going to be strong. Level 299 figures were those who had gotten stuck after failing to enter the realm of a Master, but it also meant that they were at the pinnacle of ordinary people.

Of course, Chaos was a demon, so such principles did not apply to him, but the fact that he was Level 299 was more than enough to place a great burden on Siegfried. The sheer difference in their levels alone was not something he could easily overcome with his control and debuff skills.

“Hmm... You seem like a useful human... I should’ve contracted with someone like you instead,” Chao nonchalantly said with a smirk.

“What did you say?”

“Hey, human. Do you want to enter into a contract with me? I will grant you a wish in return.”

“What the hell is he talking about?” Siegfried grumbled in disbelief.

Why was the demon making such a proposal all of a sudden?

“Do you think I’m crazy? Why would I enter into a contract with a demon?” Siegfried retorted. Even a child knew that a human was screwed the moment they entered into a contract with a demon.

It was going to be good at first as they would obtain the demon’s powers and have their wish granted, but they would soon be dragged around by the demon until both their body and soul were seized from them. Only those crazy enough to risk their entire existence would be stupid enough to enter into a contract with a demon.

“And do you really think I’ll choose to enter into a contract with a demon like you? Don’t make me laugh.”

“A demon like me?”

“I’d consider it if you were the demon lord, but I’m not interested in a paltry demon like you. I have a class too, you know? A mob like you needs to know your place,” Siegfried grumbled in disbelief.

He was the disciple of the Level 999 Hidden NPC, Deus, and a Hidden Class, the Debuff Master.

However, a no-name demon actually wanted to enter a contract him?

It would be a huge downgrade for Siegfried!

“Cut the crap and bring it on,” Siegfried said as he pointed Horse Fly at the demon.

“Keke!” Chaos snickered and said, “I showed you mercy because you seemed useful, but I guess you need to be put in your place. Well, I guess I’ll have to kill you since one of these human’s wishes was to kill all of you.”

The human Chaos was referring to here was none other than Salvatore.

‘Oh? I swear that guy is insane. What kind of moron sells their soul to a demon?’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly as he walked toward Chaos.

***

While Siegfried and Chaos were having a standoff...

“Kuheok!”

Chae Hyung-Seok was currently getting threatened by the loan shark he had borrowed money from, the loan shark was none other than Ma Dong-Po.

“Hey, Hyung-Seok. You should pay up if you borrowed money, you know?”

“Kuheok...! R-Ret... me gwoo... argh...!”

“Do you know how much interest has piled up from the principal you owe me?”

“P-Pweesh... Gib me a pew daysh... Ack!”

Chae Hyung-Seok was thrown to the ground after he had begged for an extension of a few more days...

Smack! Smack! Smash!

Ma Dong-Po gave no mercy as he sent a flurry of punches to Chae Hyung-Seok's face.

“Wow, look at this bastard.”

“Kuheok!”

“Do you know how many times you’ve been asking for a few more days?”

“Hyung... Kuheok!”

“Hey, you’re breaking my heart, Hyung-Seok. My heart is aching because of you,” Ma Dong-Po said while shaking his head. It was quite absurd for him to say that when he had just punched Chae Hyung-Seok three times in the face.

“Look what you turned our relationship into, Hyung-Seok.”

“Argh...”

“Why do I have to hit you? My heart is ripped into pieces~ doing this, you know?”

“I hill bay... I hill bay so pweesh...”

“Hey, I’m begging you, please pay me back. At least pay the interest if you can’t pay up right now. You know better than anyone else how this works, right?”

Unfortunately, Chae Hyung-Seok was not in a position to pay even the interest as he had hit rock bottom after losing the recent war against the Proatine Kingdom.

The Genesis Guild had fallen, Siegfried had taken all of his items, and enemies would come after him as soon as he logged into the game. To make matters worse, the level he was so proud of had dropped to Level 180 after dying so many times.

His situation was no better in reality, as his numerous business ventures collapsed one by one after he stopped injecting cash into them. Most of the properties he had bought on mortgages were auctioned off after he failed to pay the banks.

Chae Hyung-Seok’s debt to Ma Dong-Po ballooned to around twenty billion won, and it was safe to say that this was the end for him. He was no longer the same Chae Hyung-Seok who once stood proud and tall. In fact, he had been evicted from his Gangnam penthouse unit and had moved to a half-basement room on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.

The only furniture in his half-basement room was a VR game capsule.

“I’ll give you three days, Hyung-Seok.”

“Kuheok...”

“At least wire me the interest in three days; you got that? If not—“ Ma Dong-Po suddenly turned to one of his lackeys and asked, “Hey, how much does a kidney go for these days?”

“Around twenty-five million won, hyung-nim!” the lackey replied.

“Really? I guess that will cover... Two months? Yeah, it’s not enough for three, but it will definitely settle two months' worth of interest payments,” Ma Dong-Po said with a grin.

“Pweesh! Don do zhat! Pweeesh, hyung! We wur frenz! Hyung!” Chae Hyung-Seok screamed desperately and clung to Ma Dong-Po’s leg after organ harvesting was mentioned.

“I’ll give you three days. Don’t forget.”

“Hyuuuuung!”

“See ya.”

Ma Dong-Po ignored Chae Hyung-Seok’s desperate pleas and left after threatening to harvest the latter's organs if he failed to pay up.

“...”

Chae Hyung-Seok was now left all alone in the damp moldy basement. He sat motionlessly for quite a while and zoned out.

A few minutes later...

Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!

He opened a two-liter bottle of soju and chugged it down as if it were water.

“Keuh...!” he grimaced after the alcohol hit.

Chae Hyung-Seok's days were filled with nothing but alcohol, alcohol, and alcohol.

There was nothing he could do anymore despite Ma Dong-Po’s threat to harvest his organ. The only thing he knew how to do was play games, as he had spent most of his twenties playing games. He didn't even know how to get a part-time job somewhere. To make matters worse, he was slurring and could not move properly after suffering a stroke, so he could not work as a manual laborer.

He was living off of ramyun and soju with the money sent by his family, and there was nothing else he could do aside from barely surviving the day. A normal person was going to try to find a job at some factory and work their butt off to repay their debt, but Chae Hyung-Seok’s brain didn't work like that.

No.

‘Han Tae-Sung... This is all that bastard’s fault! Son of a bitch! That son of a bitch! That bastard! Fucking bastard! Han Tae-Sung! I’m going to destroy you! I will find a way to destroy you! Mark my words!’ Chae Hyung-Seok gnashed his teeth and swore vengeance against Tae-Sung.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to get revenge as he had fallen too far. He had sworn vengeance against Tae-Sung, but he could not think of a way to enact such vengeance no matter how much he racked his brains.

Forget about his vengeance, he tried to come up with a solution to his current predicament, but he could not think of any way he could resolve things with Ma Dong-Po.

He considered banking on his infamy to become a streamer and do all sorts of crazy stunts just to receive donations from people, but becoming a streamer required special skills and even talent, both of which he didn't have.

‘As expected... I guess all roads lead back to the game...’

Chae Hyung-Seok stared at the VR game capsule taking up more than half of his half-basement unit with lifeless eyes drowning in alcohol.

‘But I’m still wanted...’

It was then.

‘Hmm? I can still try that!’

His eyes shot wide open after recalling a certain item in his inventory; the item could be the key to his return to glory.

‘Y-Yes! That’s it! If I can find that...!’

Chae Hyung-Seok dragged his body like a zombie and crawled into the VR game capsule. The only thing he could rely on right now was the game, just like Tae-Sung did last time.

***

Siegfried was struggling against Chaos.

Bam!

Horse Fly and Demon Sword: Swarm clashed.

“Ack!”

Siegfried screamed in agony and was flung back from the sheer impact.

Chaos proved he was not Level 299 for nothing as he completely dominated Siegfried.

“Kekeke!”

“Keuk...!”

“It’s still not too late to enter into a contract with me, human. Keke! I think it’s a fair deal if you get to save your life and become stronger! You can’t defeat me!”

“Fuck off.”

“Kekeke! Is it because of pride or fear? Are you scared of entering into a contract with a demon?”

“Shut the fuck up and bring it on,” Siegfried growled as he got up. Then, he clenched Horse Fly tightly and rushed at Chaos.

Bzzzt! Bzzzzt!

Sparks flew and enveloped Horse Fly.

Siegfried knew that lightning attribute worked best against demons, so he decided to make full use of it; he even activated Elemental Shower to shred Chaos’ attribute resistance.

Bzzt! Bzzzt! Bam!

It was super effective!

Chaos was starting to get injured after Siegfried started using lightning attribute in his attacks, but that was it.

“Your petty tricks won’t work on me!”

“Ack!”

Siegfried was flung back once again by Chaos’ absurd strength.

‘Damn it! The gap between our levels is too big!’

Siegfried was frustrated by his current situation. He clearly had the upper hand when it came to skill and control, but his skill and control weren't enough to allow him to deal with the demon.

It seemed that one's level could also be considered part of one’s skill set.

Siegfried was able to land ten hits on Chaos, but a single attack from the demon dealt much more damage than him hitting the demon ten times.

He was currently Level 243 while Chaos was Level 299, and it was obvious who was going to be the winner if a Level 243 and Level 299 fought.

‘I guess I have no choice...’

Siegfried gritted his teeth and came up with a plan.

‘I’ll have to use Quick Draw and Torrential Flower Rain against this guy. Let’s see if you can withstand that, too!’

He decided to use his ultimate skills against the formidable Level 299 demon.

“You got this, owner punk! Kyuuu!”

Hamchi appeared and hopped onto his magical wheel to buff Siegfried.

‘Alright!’

Siegfried overlapped Hamchi’s buff with Overclocking.

Bzzzzzzt!

Sparks flew all over his body after he activated the second stage of Overclocking.

He pointed Horse Fly at Chaos and said, “You’re dead.”

“Oh? Something changed.”

“Shut up and prepare to die.”

“I guess I’ll have to match your energy. Keke!” Chaos snickered and raised his Demon Sword: Swarm.

Sseuuuu!

The demon sword unleashed a sinister aura.

Siegfried scoffed at the demon and grumbled, ‘You think some demon sword is going to defeat me? I’m not going to lose to some flimsy demon swo—’

A thought suddenly crossed Siegfried’s mind. ‘Hold on... That’s just a normal demon sword, while I have a demon lord’s artifact, right? I’m definitely going to win if I use that, no?’

He remembered that the demon sword in his possession was not an ordinary one but an artifact of a demon lord. If he used that against the demon, then...

‘I should be able to use it for a minute or two after becoming stronger, right?’

He was confident that he wouldn't be in danger of getting devoured by the sword like last time, as he had gotten quite stronger compared to before. Well, he was still going to be in danger, but he could at least swing it a few times in battle, unlike last time.

‘Let’s do it...’ Siegfried took out Demon Sword of Vengeance: Avenger from his Inventory.

“Whaaaaat?!” Chaos screamed.