Debuff Master

‘T-This guy’s…! Damn it!’ Diesel winced in pain, and his face contorted from the pain radiating up his arm.

“Nice to meet you. Haha!” Tae-Sung said with a sly grin before tightening his grip even more.

C-Crack…!

Diesel felt like his hand was about to shatter from the pressure.

‘It hurts, doesn’t it?’ Tae-Sung smiled with satisfaction while watching the big man break out into a cold sweat.He possessed extraordinary grip strength from a young age. He wasn't gifted on the other parts of his body, but his hand strength was enough to make him unbeatable at arm-wrestling throughout his school life.

On top of that, the rigorous weight training he had been doing over the past year and a half made him even stronger. It went without saying that his grip had become even more powerful as well.

The combined weight that Tae-Sung could lift with squats, bench presses, and deadlifts was just shy of five hundred kilograms. And with that kind of power, he could easily crush the hand of someone as big as Diesel.

‘N-No way…! I can’t lose to this monkey…!’ Diesel gnashed his teeth and tried to hold on with all of his might, but it was all for naught.

“Argh…!”

In the end, he had no choice but to let go and let out a pained groan before his hand was utterly crushed.

“Are you okay?” Tae-Sung asked in broken English, still smiling slyly.

“...”

Diesel refused to answer after having his pride shattered.

“Hey, I was going to break your hand but decided not to because it was too cute. Don’t push it, or else I’ll snap you in half next time,” Tae-Sung threatened with a menacing grin. Then, he turned to the interpreter and said, “Oh, you don’t have to translate that.”

He casually walked over to the sofa and sat comfortably as if he owned the place.

‘This guy is insane…’

‘H-He’s that strong…?’

Chae Hyung-Seok and Palchuck could not believe their eyes. They initially wanted to lynch Han Tae-Sung the moment they met, but they were relieved that they decided not to proceed with the plan—no, they were now hoping that they wouldn't accidentally give him any justification to retaliate against them physically.

“So, why did you call us here, Han Tae-Sung?” Chae Hyung-Seok asked, his tone full of suspicion.

“Eh? Why are you asking me that? You guys are the ones that challenged me to a fight, right? So isn’t it normal for us to discuss and agree to the terms before it?”

“And what terms are you talking about?”

“You guys are in this for the money, too, aren’t you?”

“Well…”

“To make more money, we need to put on a bigger show for the people. Don’t you think so?”

Tae-Sung proceeded to use the exact same manipulative sweet words Cheon Woo-Jin used on him to bait the three losers.

“A… bet to shave our heads…?”

“You want us to bet on shaving our heads?”

“Shaving our heads? This has got to be a joke, right?”

The three losers were momentarily thrown off by Tae-Sung’s suggestion, but it lasted only for a second. Their minds had already been clouded by greed, as they were driven by it just as Tae-Sung himself was. Ṙά𝐍ÖBĚṣ

In the end, they accepted the idea almost immediately without any complaints.

However, greed was not the only thing motivating them. Their hatred for Han Tae-Sung was just as big as their greed, so the thought of earning money by drawing attention to the fight on top of the opportunity to humiliate Han Tae-Sung in front of a wider audience was truly enticing for them.

In other words, the idea was just too good to pass up.

“Oh…”

“This is going to be huge!”

The reporters buzzed with excitement while typing out the heated exchange between Tae-Sung and the three losers. Some of the reporters took pictures to document every moment of the meeting too.

“We’re going to play in hardcore mode. Sounds good?” Tae-Sung asked, upping the ante with a bold challenge.

Dying in normal mode meant that the Adventurer was removed from the battle. They would not drop any items and would only lose ten percent of their current experience points as a penalty.

On the other hand, dying in hardcore mode was a whole different story. In this mode, dying wouldn't just remove the Adventurer from the battle; it meant real death, so they'd suffer from the severe penalties associated with death.

Essentially, a guild losing the battle in hardcore mode meant that their guild headquarters would be left exposed, and their entire guild could be destroyed by their opponent.

“Deal.”

“Why not? Let’s do it.”

“I’m willing to go all in on this.”

The three losers agreed to play in hardcore mode despite the risks.

Why?

It was all because they knew that they needed to generate some serious buzz if they wanted to make serious money.

***

The next morning…

[Breaking News] Head Crusher Guild vs. Pandemonium Guild to Fight in Hardcore Mode!

[Breaking News] Gamers Clash! Head Crusher Guild and Pandemonium Guild Set to Battle in Hardcore Mode!

The agreement between Tae-Sung and the three losers hit the front page of the morning news, and it was immediately followed by explosive coverage. The headlines went viral across the world, drawing the attention of all BNW game fans around the globe.

Sponsors began lining up in droves, such as luxury watch brands, high-end German car manufacturers, and sportswear giants. These kinds of sponsors usually backed only major sports leagues or the Olympics, but they were not competing to sponsor a match between two guilds in a virtual reality game.

V-Sports channels worldwide were also bidding for the media rights to the match, which further fueled the hype around it.

One week later…

[Web Message]

[Deposit Notification]

[HTS Corporation Account: 25,000,000,000 KRW[1] has been deposited to your account]

A massive sum of twenty-five billion won was deposited into the corporate account that Han Tae-Sung had created. This was from advertising revenue, sponsorships, media rights, and TV appearances. The amount rivaled what top sports stars could earn in a whole year, but this was only for a single broadcast match.

Shockingly, this was not the full amount Tae-Sung stood to earn from this match. When it came to V-sports broadcasts, viewers could send live donations to players during matches, which meant that roughly an additional one billion won in donations was likely to come rolling in.

“Whoa!” Tae-Sung cheered with excitement after confirming the money deposited into his corporate account. He was enjoying a cup of coffee with Cheon Woo-Jin and Seung-Gu at a cafe.

“How much came in, hyung-nim?”

“Twenty-five billion won.”

“Huh? What the heck…?” Seung-Gu gasped in disbelief.

“Wait, you really made twenty-five billion won? That’s for a single match only?”

“Yeah.”

“Ha… Hahaha…”

Seung-Gu could not help but laugh in utter disbelief. He was quite successful, too, making a solid five billion won a year, but that kind of money was no different from pocket money compared to what Tae-Sung had just made before even fighting the actual match.

“Hey, Han Tae-Sung,” Cheon Woo-Jin said. Then, he glared at him and asked, “Since you’re rolling in dough now… You’re paying for lunch today, right?”

“...”

“Right?”

“H-Hey! Where are you going?!”

Han Tae-Sung bolted out of the cafe as soon as Cheon Woo-Jin's words fell.

“You rascal! Han Tae-Sung! Asshole!” Cheon Woo-Jin roared.

“I’ll buy lunch next time!” Tae-Sung shouted back as he jumped into his supercar and sped off.

Once again, Cheon Woo-Jin failed to get a free meal from him.

***

One month before the match, Tae-Sung—no, Siegfried was drowning in work. He had to prepare for the broadcast match against the Three Losers, after all. The first step to that was to sift through tens of thousands of guild applications, which was by no means a small task.

One silver lining for him was that no soul fragments had been found yet, and the Church of Osric seemed to be quiet these days, too, allowing Siegfried to direct his focus more on building up his guild.

However, there was one little problem.

“We don’t have nearly enough Rankers joining us…” Siegfried muttered, furrowing his brow. He noticed that there were only a handful of high-level Adventurers applying for the guild.

This was not a surprise, as the Head Crusher Guild was no different from a brand-new guild. All the established Rankers were already members of the top ten Adventurer guilds on the continent, so there was no reason for them to jump ship to a latecomer.

On top of that, finding influential and charismatic Adventurers who could take on leadership roles within a guild while being strong in combat was extremely difficult, so most top guilds were unwilling to part with their best members.

In other words, most of the useful Adventurers were already affiliated with guilds and enjoying quite lucrative compensation packages just to make them stay.

“Hmm… I can’t think of anyone to bring with me either…” Siegfried groaned. His biggest headache was that he had no one to accompany him to the V-Sports Stadium.

The broadcast match required five guild leaders to be physically present in the stadium while the rest of the guild members participated from the comfort of their homes or VR rooms.

Unfortunately, Siegfried had only Seung-Gu to accompany him and no one else, which meant that he needed to recruit three more players.

“Kyuuu! This is why you should’ve made some Adventurer friends!” Hamchi chimed in smugly while helping Siegfried sift through the applications.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Siegfried admitted, reflecting on his past.

In hindsight, ninety-nine percent of his time in BNW was spent interacting with NPCs rather than with other players.

“Kyuu! Well, you better hurry up and find some no.”

“Yeah, I’ll definitely have to do that.”

Siegfried started racking his brains, trying to think of anyone he could ask for help, but no suitable candidate came to mind, no matter how hard he thought about it.

“Hmm… who should I contact…?”

And that was when a lightbulb went off in his head…

“Oh!”

Siegfried suddenly remembered the Descendant of God Arrow Windforce, Gosran. She was definitely going to be a great addition to the guild.

“I should ask Cheon Woo-Jin,” Siegfried muttered before quickly calling him through the communication device.

— Yeah, what’s up?

“Hey, do you still keep in touch with Gosran?”

— Gosran? Ah, you mean Seul-Gi?

“Seul-Gi?”

— Yeah, that’s her real name.

“Oh…”

– Why? Do you need her help? Ah, let me guess… you don’t have any friends, right?

“...”

— Hey, I told you to stop playing solo all the time, didn’t I?

“Can you reach out to her or not?”

— Yeah, I can. She just got back to Korea recently, by the way.

“She's back?”

— Yeah, she has finished her studies abroad and has moved back for good.

“Nice.”

— It’s actually perfect timing. She mentioned that she wants to focus on gaming for a while, so she might be down to join your guild.

“That’s awesome.”

— I’ll talk to her for you.

“Thanks.”

— On second thought, let’s just meet up tonight. I’m going to be having dinner with her anyway, so you should just come along.

“Huh? Really?”

— Yeah, I’ll tell her you’re coming tonight. You should just meet her and pitch your guild in person.

“Sounds good. Let me know when.”

Siegfried agreed to meet Cheon Woo-Jin and Gosran in real life. He vowed to do whatever it took to recruit her, as her presence in the guild meant a huge boost in the guild's overall prowess.

***

On that same night, Tae-Sung arrived at the agreed-upon restaurant. The restaurant was an upscale Korean beef omakase place in Cheongdam.

The manager greeted him with a smile, “Good evening, Mr. Han. Is the reservation under your name?”

“Ah, it should be under Cheon Woo-Jin,” Tae-Sung replied.

“Oh! Mr. Cheon’s table. Right this way, sir.”

The manager courteously led Tae-Sung to the table reserved under Cheon Woo-Jin’s name.

“Oh, you made it,” Cheon Woo-Jin said, welcoming him.

Then, a beautiful woman seated next to Cheon Woo-Jin smiled and greeted, “Hello.”

“Gosran…?” Tae-Sung muttered.

“Please, just call me Seul-Gi,” she replied with a warm smile.

Gosran—no, Seul-Gi was a stunner. She had a pure graceful beauty about her with long flowing hair and flawless pale skin that made her look like she belonged in a high-end cosmetics advertisement.

“I’m Han Tae-Sung. Nice to meet you,” Tae-Sung introduced himself. Then, he squinted his eyes as if trying to recall something before muttering, “Wait, have we… met before?”

It was then…

“Hahaha!” Cheon Woo-Jin burst out laughing.

“Hey, what the hell are you laughing at?! I’m not using some cheesy pick-up line!” Tae-Sung growled at him.

“Sure, sure,” Cheon Woo-Jin said with a mischievous grin.

“It’s just that… you look really familiar, that’s all…” Tae-Sung said, squinting his eyes again.

“Haha! You should be familiar with her. I mean, you’ve already slept together and all,” Cheon Woo-Jin said, still chucking.

“W-What?!” Tae-Sung exclaimed, his eyes wide from disbelief.

Slept together? What on earth was he talking about?

1. Roughly 18.5 million USD ☜

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