The Head Crusher Guild suffered many casualties, but they managed to safely return to base after razing the Genesis Guild’s biggest source of income to the ground.
Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
A string of messages popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.
[Alert: Your guild has leveled up!]
[Alert: Head Crusher Guild has reached Level 2!]
[Alert: Head Crusher Guild has reached Level 3!]
[Alert: Head Crusher Guild has reached Level 4!]
[Alert: Head Crusher Guild has reached Level 5!]
[Alert: Additional bonuses will be given to the guild master and guild members!]
[Alert: You may now purchase various monster guardians from the Adventurer Guild!]
However, Siegfried paid no heed to the messages.
Additional bonuses? Yeah, they were great, but they weren’t that great. It would be a different story altogether if the guild were over Level 100, but the bonus he would receive while the guild was at Level 5 was insignificant.
He did receive more bonuses as the guild master, but he was not someone that would be satisfied with chump change.
It was the same for the monster guardians that he could hire from the Adventurer Guild.
The only monster guardians available for hire at Level 5 were a bunch of stone-slinging goblins, and it was going to take quite a while before the guild reached a level where they could finally start hiring proper monster guardians.
“Hahaha! Those sons of bitches got fucked!”
“That felt awesome!”
“It feels like decades worth of burden has finally been lifted off of my shoulders!”
“Just wait and see! This is only the beginning! Haha!”
The Head Crusher Guild got drunk in their victory after returning to base, and they started drinking in joy.
However, there were two people that were not smiling in this festive mood, and they were both Siegfried and the Genesis Guild’s spy, SingSingHighschoolGirl.
‘Why did the plan suddenly change? D-did they figure out my true affiliation…?’ She was laughing on the outside but dying on the inside.
Meanwhile, Siegfried was deep in thought, ‘This isn’t the time for us to be happy… The difference in strength is too big…’
He finally realized just how powerful the Genesis Guild was after fighting MassacreGod.
‘I got lucky. MassacreGod’s Poison Resistance is garbage, and he got poisoned as well… I would have died if his Poison Resistance were a bit higher.’
Siegfried would have lost if it hadn’t been for Irradiate. He knew that the only reason he won was that his enemy had gotten poisoned by Irradiate. The stars had aligned, and he had gotten extremely lucky this time around.
‘I have to become stronger… My stats are too low. They’re not enough.’
Stats were extremely important in any game. He could possess god-like control and the most cunning strategy or tricks to hit his opponent a hundred times, but he would still die in a single hit if their stat difference were too great.
There was a limit to what he could achieve in his current state, and he knew that he needed a trump card if he wanted to crush the Genesis Guild.
Siegfried knew very well what that trump card was…
‘Level and debuffs…’ Siegfried clenched his fists. A character’s stats were related to their level, while debuffs allowed Siegfried to defeat enemies with higher levels than him.
‘I need to level up first. I got too distracted doing this and that. It’s time for me to prioritize leveling up. The Genesis Guild is full of people like MassacreGod, so I need to be prepared.’
Siegfried reminded himself that MassacreGod was just one of the pillars of the Genesis Guild’s offense. More importantly, MassacreGod wasn’t the only pillar.
‘My debuffs have to become even stronger as well. My stats are important as well, but there are diminishing returns in stats, so my debuffs are more important.’
Thinking about the battle against MassacreGod gave him a headache.
He won, but the battle only made him more anxious.
“All right, everyone,” Siegfried called out to the guild members.
“Excellent work, everyone, but all of you are aware that there’s something we have to do before we celebrate our victory, right?”
Every single eye turned toward someone at Siegfried’s words.
“…?”
The recipient of everyone’s gaze tilted her head in confusion, and the recipient of everyone’s attention was none other than SingSingHighschoolGirl.
“Excuse me, SingSingHighschoolGirl-nim…?”
“Y-Yes…?”
“Thank you.”
“F-For what?”
She was extremely flustered when Siegfried suddenly thanked her.
“C’mon, you know why,” Siegfried replied.
“What do you mean…? Hohoho…”
“We were able to burn down the vineyard thanks to you, so it’s only natural to be grateful to you. Hmm… Do I have to reward you with something big?”
“…”
“I feel so grateful to you that I don’t know what to do with you!”
SingSingHighschoolGirl’s face turned ghastly pale.
“How did you find out?” she asked.
“Who knows? But do I have to tell you?” Siegfried flashed a spine-chilling smile.
“Hold on, let’s talk this out, shall we? You can trick the Genesis Guild if you use me and—Kweeek!” SingSingHighschoolGirl suddenly squealed like a dying pig mid-sentence after Siegfried’s attack landed squarely on his face.
“This is why I like this game,” Siegfried said with an evil grin. “Trash like you are still considered women in real life, and I’ll be damned if I hit you there. But that’s not the case in the game, right?”
“You asshole… How dare you hit a woman…” she growled.
“Shut up.”
“…!”
“I don’t negotiate with snitches.”
A snitch would forever be a snitch, and Siegfried would never believe a snitch.
“So… I guess you guys can do what you want with her. Feel free to beat her to your heart’s content until she logs out. All right?” Siegfried said and threw the snitch to the guild members.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaahk!”
The guild members had fun beating her up before she managed to log out.
Thud…!
She dropped a useless item called Noble Lady’s Luxury Leather Bag upon dying.
***
Siegfried left the guild headquarters and headed toward his office at the castle.
He stayed in his office and contemplated many things. His main problem right now was quite simple, and it was the fact that the Genesis Guild was much larger and stronger than he initially thought.
He knew they were strong, but he didn’t expect them to be that strong.
Still, there had to be a solution out there.
‘I just have to become stronger,’ he thought.
However, he knew that leveling up wasn’t exactly the right answer, as he was at the stage where it was excruciatingly slow to level up. It would take him ages to crush the Genesis Guild with the stat difference alone.
Siegfried knew that his only chance of survival was to stick to his roots.
‘Debuffs. It’s the answer. That’s my only chance of winning this war.’
Level? Item? Guild?
Yes, those were great, but he was the Debuff Master.
He would eventually hit a wall if he didn’t level up his debuff skills.
Debuff was the only answer. He had been neglecting his debuffs, but the battle against MassacreGod made him realize the importance of his debuffs. His debuffs weren’t only useful against stronger opponents, but they would also help his guild members.
‘How can I strengthen my debuffs, though…? Is leveling up and putting skill points the only answer? Perhaps items…?’ he racked his brains as hard as he could.
Thud!
A dull thud echoed.
An old tattered book suddenly appeared in front of him.
‘Huh?!’ Siegfried’s eyes shot wide open. The old tattered book was none other than the Debuff Master’s skill book that his master—Deus—had bestowed upon him.
***
‘Why did this appear all of a sudden? I thought this turned into dust and disappeared…?’ Siegfried was puzzled and surprised after seeing the book.
[The secret to invincibility lies in this secret book.]
Those words were written in the book, and he remembered a vast amount of information rushing into his brain before the skill book turned into dust the last time he read the words out loud.
It had already turned into dust, so why did it appear all of a sudden?
‘What is going on?’ Siegfried was still confused, but he still reached out for the book.
He slowly flipped the pages and started reading.
Smite, Circle of Mortality, Circle of Weakness, etc.
The familiar names of the skills he had obtained so far and their descriptions were written on the pages until he reached the page of the most recent skill he had obtained at Level 200, Frost Wave.
The rest of the pages were completely blank.
‘Ah, it’s empty as expected. Tsk…’ He clicked his tongue out of disappointment, even though he knew that it would be blank.
The Debuff Master’s skill tree was already predetermined by Deus, and all he had to do was unlock them one by one through progression, and the unavailable skills were completely hidden until he reached the required level to unlock them.
Of course, it was still no different from being spoon-fed, as all he had to do was reach the requisite level to learn the skill automatically.
‘Huh? So why did this book even appear?’ he wondered.
Letters suddenly appeared on a blank page.
Keke! I knew you would think that way.
‘M-Master?!’ Siegfried was shocked after realizing that Deus was talking to him.
Who could have thought that a skill book could be used to communicate?
“M-Master? Are you in there?” Siegfried asked, but it was in vain.
Tsk tsk…
You stupid fool.
I’m sorry to say this, but this is not intended for communication.
This skill book was infused with my great thoughts.
Surprisingly, Deus seemed to have written everything in advance while fully aware of what Siegfried was going to think or say.
So stop making a fuss and get rid of your foolish ideas that the great me is talking to you through this book.
“Haha… I apologize for being stupid, Master…” Siegfried muttered with an awkward laugh as a tear dropped from the corner of his eye.
Anyway, the fact that this book appeared once again means that you have finally reflected on yourself.
So, have you realized it by now?
You are bound to go back to your roots no matter how strong you grow or how good your weapons are.
Your whole existence starts with the debuff and ends with the debuff.
Learning how to use your debuffs to weaken your enemies is your only path to invincibility.
Deus’ words pierced him as if they were knives.
Since you have realized it by yourself, it is time for me to guide you to become stronger.
I’m talking about how you could draw the true powers of your debuff skills!
Those words were like rain in a severe drought for Siegfried.
‘As expected of Master…!’ Siegfried was moved.
He was once again awed by Deus' greatness.
He patiently waited for the skill book to bestow new teachings upon him from Deus.
However, you will have to undergo training first.
You are probably confused after obtaining so many skills.
In fact, you probably fail to use your skills to their full potential, and you are probably completely neglecting some of your skills by now.
That’s why you need to train how to use your skills to their fullest before I teach you how to enhance your debuff skills.
Now, we’re going to start the training!
Are you ready to get beaten up to your heart’s content?
“W-What…? Beaten up to my heart’s content…?” Siegfried muttered and tilted his head in confusion.
Wooong!
A magic circle appeared on the floor of his office, and a figure appeared above it.
[World’s Strongest and Most Evil Training Dummy]
[A training dummy carved from a ten-thousand-year-old Baobab tree growing in Mount Kunlun.]
[It is extremely strong, and anyone going up against it has to be prepared to get beaten to a pulp.]
[Type: Monster]
[Race: Training Dummy]
[Level: 600]
[Class: Ultimate Trainer]
[Additional Information: It can only be used for training purposes.]
“What’s that imposing training dummy…?” Siegfried muttered, seemingly confused.
Who would believe their eyes upon seeing a Level 600 training dummy?
However, the training dummy didn’t give him time to contemplate.
Whoosh!
Shwik!
The World’s Strongest and Most Evil Training Dummy abruptly appeared in front of him.
‘Why the hell is it so fa—’ Siegfried thought.
Pukeok!
The training dummy sucker punched him right in the face.
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