Debuff Master

At a famous hanwoo[1] restaurant in Gangnam…

Sizzle… Sizzle…!

Slices of meat were grilling on the grill as smoke emitted a mouth-watering juicy smell.

“Hey, what are you doing? Why do you keep poking the meat?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked.

“Hey, Han Tae-Sung. Stop trying to play tricks now. What’s your excuse today? Are you going to say that you’re sad? Don’t even think about trying to act all pitiful just to make me pay for the meal,” Cheon Woo-Jin growled.

‘I’ll change my name to Dog Woo-Jin if I let this bastard dine and dash again! Dog Woo-Jin!’

Cheon Woo-Jin had come here with the determination that he would never allow Tae-Sung to dine and dash again.

“I already warned you it’s not going to work. Stop moping and eat your food, Tae-Sung.”

“Don’t talk to me… I’m not going to dine and dash today, so stop talking to me…” Tae-Sung replied.

“I’m not in the mood to joke around with you.”

“Wow? You’re really not going to drop your concept today?”

“Hey!” Tae-Sung snapped in anger before he pressed the call button.

A waitress rushed over immediately and asked, “How may I help you, customer-nim?”

Tae-Sung gave his credit card and said, “I want to pay for our meal right now.”

“Certainly.”

The waitress returned two minutes later and passed Tae-Sung his credit card and receipt. “You paid 389,000 won.”

“Huh? You actually paid?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked with a hint of skepticism in his voice.

“Are you seriously asking even after seeing this?” Tae-Sung asked. He shoved the receipt to Cheon Woo-Jin’s face and added, “I’m not in a good mood today, so quit talking to me and just eat.”

“Hmm…?” Cheon Woo-Jin tilted his head in confusion.

“Haa…” Tae-Sung let out a sigh before poking the meat and moping once again.

‘What the hell’s wrong with him today?’ Cheon Woo-Jin wondered.

He couldn’t think of any reason for him to mope around like this. In fact, it should be the complete opposite as he placed first on the first-ever war content in BNW, the Constantine Civil War.

His achievement came with huge recognition for him as a gamer, as well as a ton of gold as a reward.

Han Tae-Sung was not only successful in the game; he was successful in real life as well. He was still in his twenties, but he lived in a three hundred square meters penthouse in Cheongdam-dong and drove a Ferrari on top of earning hundreds of millions a month. ŕã₦𝙤𝖇ËS

What happened to him for him to be so sad?

Cheon Woo-Jin sensed that there was something wrong.

“Hey, did something happen? Is your mother unwell?” he asked.

“She’s healthy.”

“Did your sister get expelled from school?”

“She’s a model student.”

“Then… Did you lose your money gambling or investing in stocks?”

“I don’t do those things.”

“Then what? Why are you moping like that?”

“Ah, stop asking,” Tae-Sung grumbled in response before covering his face with his hands.

“Hey, Seung-Gu.”

“Yes, hyung-nim?”

“What’s wrong with that guy?”

“Ah, that’s—” Seung-Gu muttered.

However, Tae-Sung cut him off. “Hey! Don’t tell him!”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Cheon Woo-Jin realized that there was indeed something and decided to pester Seung-Gu.

“Hey! What is it? Are you keeping secrets from me now? What’s going on?!”

“Ah… It’s nothing, hyung-nim…” Seung-Gu replied awkwardly.

“Hey! Let me in on it, too!” Cheon Woo-Jin continued pestering him.

“Shut up!” Tae-Sung screamed.

“Hey! Han Tae-Sung! Are you really going to be like this?!” Cheon Woo-Jin retorted.

It was only after going back and forth screaming at each other that Tae-Sung lost to Cheon Woo-Jin’s stubborn pestering and decided to spill the beans.

“That’s…”

***

Yesterday, Siegfried froze in his tracks and canceled his log-out. He scanned the document stamped with the official seal of the Proatine Kingdom and screamed in despair, “No! NOOO! I’m getting married? No way! Why do I have to get into a political marriage?!”

“Hehehe… Have a good rest back in your world, Your Majesty. You may rest for a whole week if you want to,” Michele said with a sinister smirk, and then he added with a sleazy smile. “Your Majesty will be getting married soon, so I am certain you will need some time for yourself now.”

“Hey… You… Who gave you the right to—”

“I have the right as the legal representative of His Royal Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa of the Proatine Kingdom. Have you forgotten that you bestowed this power upon me, Your Majesty?”

“…”

“I am telling you this just in case Your Majesty forgets. Your Majesty is just reaping what Your Majesty sowed.”

“I’m reaping what I sowed…?”

“This happened because of the mess

“T-That was…”

“I simply came up with the best possible solution to resolve the problem Your Majesty caused, and that solution was to receive military aid from Elondel. Hohoho!”

‘This was the reason Brunhilde-nim appeared in Soosunhwa Village?!’ Siegfried finally realized that it was quite strange to see the elven princess in a mountain village of the holy empire with her entire squadron.

“S-See you soon… Hehehe…”

Her farewell sounded strange as well as she departed the Constantine Holy Empire.

‘Ah…’ Siegfried finally realized that he got stabbed in the back.

Justification.

He had basically offered the justification for Michele to stamp the political marriage agreement by causing trouble with the papacy.

“H-Hey...” Siegfried muttered. He flashed a desperate look and pleaded, “Michele-nim~?”

“Please stop that, Your Majesty.”

“Please look at me, sir~ I will not ever cause trouble ever again~”

“Nope.”

“Please have mercy on me, good sir~”

“I am not going to change my mind, Your Majesty.”

“I will be obedient from now on, Sir Michele~”

“Nothing will change my mind, so please drop the act, Your Majesty.”

“Please…”

“I would advise Your Majesty to go back to your world and rest up.”

Michele gave Siegfried the cold shoulder even though he was practically begging in a manner unbefitting of a king.

“Unfortunately, the agreement has been sealed by both kingdoms, and this document is the proof of the diplomatic promise between the Proatine Kingdom and Elondel. There is nothing Your Majesty can do to back out of this.”

“Ah…”

“Why did Your Majesty have to force me to take such a drastic decision?”

“…”

“Please return and have a good rest, Your Majesty.”

A thought suddenly popped up in Siegfried’s head.

Crack… Clang!

‘Should I make a run for it?’

He played a simulation of jumping out of the window to run away from the Proatine Kingdom, but…

‘I’m going to get caught in no time…’

Running away was not an option as Michele was going to mobilize all of the Proatine Kingdom’s forces, as well as the Elondel forces, to track him down.

He also couldn’t afford to hide from his own kingdom when both the Genesis Guild and the Church of Osric were eyeing an opportunity to invade it.

“And I will say this just in case Your Majesty tries to run away or break the agreement with Elondel,” Michele said as if he could read Siegfried’s mind.

“…”

“Your Majesty will have to be prepared to deal with the severe diplomatic backlash from Elondel. Hohoho!”

“Diplomatic backlash…”

“I’d like to believe that Your Majesty would not put the kingdom in jeopardy once again.”

Siegfried was absolutely speechless as there was nothing he could say to defend himself. He was indeed indebted to Elondel for their aid, and there was no backing out of the marriage, as the kingdom’s official seal had been stamped on the document.

The elves despised Brunhilde for her grotesque appearance, but she was still their princess. What would happen if he were to call off the marriage after using them for military aid?

‘Appeasing them will be impossible…’ he thought.

The End.

It was going to be the end of all diplomatic relations between the two kingdoms, as Elondel was going to take it as a scornful insult from the human kingdom.

The elves would also think that he had treated their princess as a plaything that he had thrown aside after he was done with her.

“Your Majesty is truly a wise king, so…”

“…”

“…Your Majesty has no choice but to accept it. Hohoho!”

Siegfried couldn’t retort at all. He could only cry tears of blood in his heart in silence…

***

Cheon Woo-Jin was absolutely shocked by Siegfried’s sob story.

“So you’re telling me that your NPC subordinate stabbed you in the back, and now you’ll have to marry an NPC?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Tae-Sung replied with a devastated look.

“You? The Han Tae-Sung who had never dated or kissed anyone?”

“Yeah.”

“Getting shipped off to an NPC?”

“I already told you!” screamed Tae-Sung.

All eyes in the restaurant darted to their table. Tae-Sung instantly huddled up in his seat with his face flushed red from all the attention.

“Wow… You’re the real deal, Han Tae-Sung… The real deal…” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered.

“…”

“You’re a virgin in real life, but you’re marrying an elf princess in the game? My goodness, you should just live in the game and never come out.”

“Stop it.”

“Isn’t the game your real life and your real life the game?”

“I said stop it.”

“Hey, answer me honestly.”

“What?”

“You’re actually an NPC who has taken over a human’s body, right? You know those sci-fi novels? The ones where AIs take over human bodies to wreak havoc on the world—argh!”

Cheon Woo-Jin screamed after Tae-Sung threw his spoon covered in hot stew at his face.

“I told you to quit it,” Tae-Sung warned in a low voice before saying, “This is a serious issue.”

“U-Ugh…” Cheon Woo-Jin groaned in pain.

“Haa…” Tae-Sung let out a sigh.

“What a joke… I haven’t dated anyone in real life, but I’m getting married to an NPC in a game…” Tae-Sung muttered.

Cheon Woo-Jin rubbed his aching forehead and said, “J-Just think of it as a pre-marriage simulation. Haha… Hahaha…”

“Shut up!” Tae-Sung screamed and pulled at his hair.

***

Meanwhile, the Proatine Kingdom was busy preparing for the royal wedding while their king was busy despairing in his world.

“His Majesty is getting married!”

“Really? Who’s going to be his queen?”

“I heard the queen is going to be Elondel’s princess! You know, that elven kingdom?”

“What?! Elven kingdom? Elondel? The princess of that legendary elven kingdom is going to be our queen?!”

The citizens of the kingdom were delighted at the news of their king’s marriage.

“His Majesty is going to get married!”

“Prepare the offerings for the royal wedding!”

“Let’s go to the temple and pray for a successful wedding!”

The people’s love and respect for Siegfried had already reached MAX, so the entire kingdom was soon quickly excited for the wedding.

“Hoho! Things are going quite smoothly,” Michele said with an extremely satisfied smile.

A mountain of documents related to the Constantine Holy Empire touched the ceiling next to him, but he didn’t feel tired at all.

‘Your Majesty! I will finish these documents until my bones turn to dust, so Your Majesty should offer your body for the kingdom! Kekeke!’ Michele considered this as a spectacular revenge on Siegfried, who had been pushing all paperwork to him.

Of course, this payback was a nice payback, as Siegfried wouldn’t really lose anything, but he stood to gain a lot from the arrangement.

“Hmm… Should I start writing up the invitations?” Michele said before picking up his quill pen.

***

The news of Siegfried’s marriage immediately reached the nations the Proatine Kingdom had good relations with through Michele’s invitation, and one of the nations that the invitation was sent to was none other than the Nordic Tribes.

“Hmm?” Lionbreath opened the invitation letter and was surprised. “Oh? My brother is getting married? His spouse is… Oh? The Elven Kingdom, Elondel’s princess? Was she that knight who came that time?”

He recalled seeing Brunhilde during the fort battle last time.

“Hmm… A princess knight that commands an entire flying squadron… My brother sure has an eye for women! Bwahahaha!” Lionbreath exclaimed while letting out a bust of boisterous laughter.

Siegfried had saved the Nordic Tribe from the brink of annihilation by helping them defeat the resurrected Immortal King.

Lionbreath had considered him as his blood brother ever since. The Nordic Tribe was obsessed with raising their offspring into powerful warriors, so Lionbreath was elated to hear that Siegfried had chosen a princess knight as his queen.

However…

“H-Hold on! If this news reaches Ingrid’s ears, then…” Lionbreath exclaimed as he suddenly froze on his chair.

“Then what?”

“Hiiik! You scared me!” Lionbreath squealed, and his face turned ghastly pale.

“Father?”

“Y-Yes?”

“What is that? It seems like a letter from the Proatine Kingdom,” Ingrid said as her eyes focused on the letter in his hand.

“T-This is… Erm… The Proatine Kingdom is…” Lionbreath stuttered while profusely sweating.

“Please show it to me, Father.”

“N-No, it’s nothing important so…”

“Please show it while I am being nice, father.”

“Ingrid, my beloved daughter, please calm down and listen to what your father has to…”

“Show. It. To. Me. Now.”

“That is…”

“If you so refuse to show it, then…” Ingrid said before she flashed a cold smile that sent chills down Lionbreath’s spine.

Seuk!

She unsheathed her sword and threatened, “I will have to take it by force.”

“Ingrid! Calm down and—”

“Haaap!”

Ingrid charged at Lionbreath with her sword in hand.

1. Hanwoo is Korean cow. Han = Korean. Woo = Cow. ☜