Debuff Master

Chapter 564

‘No way, this can’t be true,’ Siegfried doubted his eyes. He tried rubbing them and blinking a few times before reading the headline again.

[Official! Hive Games Entertainment Korea: We hereby confirm that Siegfried has officially registered for the Super Rookie Tournament.]

Unfortunately, not a single word changed in the headline, no matter how much he rubbed his eyes.

‘I-I have to read the whole thing...!’

In the end, he decided to read through the entire article.

[The Super Rookie Tournament has been a hot topic these days, and one of the topics fueling it is whether Siegfried van Proa will be participating or not. The South Korean office of the developer and distributor of BNW, Hive Games Entertainment Korea, has officially confirmed that Siegfried van Proa has registered for the tournament.]

[omitted...]

[Hive Games Entertainment Korea has responded to numerous queries from fans and reporters that an Adventurer by the ID ‘Siegfried van Proa’ has submitted his intent to participate in the upcoming tournament.]

[The spokesperson of Hive Games Entertainment Korea said, “It is true that the player in question has registered for the tournament. We, the South Korean branch of Hive Games Entertainment, are thrilled to see him in action too, as we have been keeping our eyes on him for a while now.”]

[This could only mean that Siegfried van Proa’s true skills are much greater than what he has shown so far... (omitted)...]

“T-This is a scam! A scam! When did I register?!” Siegfried screamed after reading the article. He ended up being registered without his knowledge, and the numerous articles spread the word, making it seem that it was an absolute certainty he was going to join the tournament.

“Huh? You did not register for the tournament?”

“Why are you trying to hide your participation?!”

“Please introduce yourself to your fans around the world!”

Siegfried made a run for the portal as fast as he could.

“After him!”

“Don’t let him get away!”

“People have a right to know!”

The reporters chased after him like a pack of hungry wolves.

***

“What the hell is happening?”

Siegfried logged out from the game as soon as he left the arena, and he immediately called the beehive.

— We are experiencing a high volume of calls. All of our agents are currently busy with another customer.

— We are experiencing a high volume of calls. All of our agents are currently busy with another customer.

— ...

— We are experiencing a high volume of calls. All of our agents are currently busy with another customer.

However, he could not get a hold of the beehive’s customer service department no matter how many times he called. Still, he was not going to give up, so he persistently continued calling for thirty minutes more.

— Hello, customer! My name is Kim Mi-Hee. How may I help you today?

The call finally connected to a customer service representative.

“Ah, I found out that I was registered for the Super Rookie Tournament without my knowledge—”

— Oh~ Really~ I am so sorry for your inconvenience~ I will need some of your information to help you~ May you tell me the phone number registered to your account?

“010 XXX XXX”

— Your address please~

“Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul—”

— Your email address please~

“HTS...”

— Thank you! All of the details have matched~

“Then can you help me—”

— Firstly, I cannot assist you on the matter, as this is not something our department can resolve.

“Huh? T-Then what should I—”

— Please hold while I connect you to the relevant department.

The customer service representative transferred Han Tae-Sung to another call, and he was placed on hold yet again.

— Hello, customer! My name is Song Da-Ye. How may I help you today?

“That is...” Tae-Sung proceeded to explain what the problem was.

— Oh~ Really~ I am so sorry for your inconvenience~ I will need some of your information to help you~ May you tell me the phone number registered to your account?

“010 XXX XXX”

— Your address please~

“Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul—”

— Your email address please~

“HTS...”

— Thank you! All of the details have matched~

The customer service representative asked the exact same questions only to give the exact same answer word for word.

— Firstly, I cannot assist you on the matter, as this is not something our department can resolve. Please hold while I connect you to the relevant department.

Tae-Sung understood that these kinds of things do happen, but the problem was that this exact same process was repeated four more times.

He started trembling from anger after getting passed around like a ragdoll.

“This damn company always does this whenever I call...” Siegfried growled while gripping his phone so tight that he almost crushed it into pieces

— I regret to inform you that this is not something I can assist you with over the phone, customer-nim.

“So? What am I supposed to do?”

— You will have to visit our head office personally and request a meeting with the person in charge. Will that be alright with you?

“Huh? Main office? Personally?”

— Yes, customer-nim.

“...”

— Unfortunately, your query cannot be resolved unless you visit in person.

“Haa...” Tae-Sung let out a sigh out of frustration. Yes, he was indeed at boiling point after getting passed around just to be told "no," but that did not mean he could lash out at the innocent customer service representative.

“Alright, thank you very much,” Siegfried said and ended the call. He composed himself after hanging up. “Sigh... They want me to go in person to their office just to resolve this?”

Siegfried thought of just not showing up on the day of the tournament rather than troubling himself by going all the way to their office, but he decided that was not a good idea. It was highly likely people would talk about him and spread rumors the moment he did not show up for the tournament.

More importantly, the reporters were going to write article after article about him, and the trending headline for the day was most likely going to be something like ‘Siegfried van Proa Got Cold Feet! Did Not Show Up For the Super Rookie Tournament!’

“Ah, what should I do...? Should I go or not?” Tae-Sung pondered on what he should do, but he decided it was best for him to pay the beehive a visit. “Oh well, I guess I have no choice but to go...”

Tae-Sung changed his clothes and left his house to visit the beehive.

***

Meanwhile, Cheon Woo-Jin was relaxing and having the time of his life reading a news article in a famous cafe in Gangnam.

“Ho Ho Ho! Han Tae-Sung! You must be shocked right now, right? It’s so troublesome, right? Kekeke!”

Seung-Gu was with him, and he asked worriedly, “H-Hyung-nim... How are you going to handle things later on?”

“Hmm?”

“If Tae-Sung hyung-nim finds out that you registered him for the tournament, then...” Seung-Gu said, looking extremely worried and scared.

“T-That is... If Tae-Sung finds out, then...” Cheon Woo-Jin replied, looking worried himself.

“...”

“I’m probably going to get screwed, right?”

“You will have to watch your back around the clock from that time onward.”

“Ah...”

“Should we just come clean now?”

“N-No! The water has already been spilled! It’s too late to come clean!” Cheon Woo-Jin retorted.

“But it’s still better than letting things blow out of proportion!”

“We just have to not get caught!”

“Hmm...”

“He will never know, and we will never get caught as long as you watch your mouth, capiche?”

“I... I will watch my mouth.”

“Good. You should never ever tell him anything about this.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

“Putting that side... Tae-Sung must be causing a scene at the beehive’s office, right?”

“I think he should be.”

“Hoho! You will be forced to participate, Han Tae-Sung!” Cheon Woo-Jin exclaimed with an insidious grin. He seemed one hundred percent confident that Tae-Sung would be participating in the Super Rookie Tournament.

The reason was that he would be slapped with a fifteen-day ban if he withdrew his registration for the Super Rookie Tournament. This penalty sounded completely outrageous, but it was put in place due to one reason.

The reason was none other than Cheon Woo-Jin lobbying heavily for it just so Han Tae-Sung would not be able to back out of the tournament.

“Han Tae-Sung! You're not going to accept the penalty! I know just how you think! Hohoho! Just be obedient and participate in the tournament!”

“H-Hyung-nim...? Don’t you think you’re being too evil?”

“Evil?” Cheon Woo-Jin narrowed his eyes and asked. Then, he retorted, “Do you have any idea how many times that bastard had dined and dashed on me?!”

“T-That is...”

“It’s not a once or twice thing! Thirteen! That bastard made me foot the bill thirteen times, so how can I sit still and not have my revenge?!” Cheon Woo-Jin lashed out, salivating like a rabid beast with his eyes bloodshot from anger.

Cheon Woo-Jin was loaded without a doubt, and he could afford to pay for their meals without causing a dent in his bank account. However, this wasn't about money; Cheon Woo-Jin simply wanted to avenge himself. It seemed that Tae-Sung's dining and dashing antics had really infuriated him.

“Haha...”

“Besides, he’s going to win the tournament anyway, so he'll earn five billion won, he'll become an international superstar, and he'll even get the chance to grow his guild into one of the most powerful guilds on the continent. Don't you think that he should thank me?”

“Yes, I agree.”

“To be honest, this is an opportunity for him. It’s not about the money but the immense prestige he stands to gain from it. I am doing all of this as a friend so he doesn’t miss this opportunity.”

“Hyung-nim...” Seung-Gu muttered, looking slightly moved by Cheon Woo-Jin’s loyalty as a friend.

“I'm the only friend he has, so who’s going to take care of him if I don’t?”

“As expected, you are truly a good person, hyung-nim.”

“Anyway, you’re taking this secret to the grave, do you understand?”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

“And don’t loiter around him for now. I don’t want him to vent his anger at you.”

Cheon Woo-Jin might seem like he was watching out for Seung-Gu, but he was actually deathly scared that Han Tae-Sung might come to find out the truth from a slip of the tongue.

***

“U-Ugh...!” Siegfried slumped over his desk and groaned in pain.

“Kyu! What’s wrong with you, owner punk?! Did something happen?!” Hamchi asked, worried that something had happened to him.

“Sigh... So what happened was...” Siegfried proceeded to explain what happened at the beehive to Hamchi.

“Yes, we can cancel your registration or you could even just not show up, as that is completely your freedom to do so.”

“Really? Then please cancel my registration.”

“But the terms and conditions state that anyone who rescinds their registration will face a fifteen-day ban from the game.”

“What? Fifteen-day ban? What did I do wrong to get banned? I already told you I wasn’t the one who registered for the tournament. There is surely some kind of mistake from your end!”

“I would like to believe you, but as per our company’s policy, it is up to the customer to prove that there was a mistake. If you are unable to do so, then we will have no choice but to enforce the penalty.”

“...”

“It should be fine if you join though? I mean, you are one of the candidates to win the tournament.”

“I’m not interested in stuff like this!”

“Then you can go on a vacation for fifteen days...”

“Just... forget about it...”

In the end, Siegfried couldn't cancel his registration.

They had tracked the IP address where the registration was submitted, and it showed that the registration had come from Tae-Sung’s house. In other words, there was no way that he could prove that this was a mistake.

“Kyuu! So are you participating in the tournament?!” Hamchi asked.

“I have no choice... or else I can’t come to this world for fifteen days,” Siegfried replied, sounding defeated.

“Kyu?”

“Haa... Just who the hell will do something like this? I really didn’t register for that tournament...”

“Kyu! Just look at the bright side, owner punk!”

“What bright side?”

“You can just go and win the whole thing! Kyuu! Show the world how strong you are!”

“Hmm...”

“Also, it’s too late for you to live a quiet life! I mean, you’ve already attracted a lot of attention from the stuff you’ve been doing! Stand tall and proud of who you are! Kyuuu!”

“S-Should I...?”

“It doesn’t matter if you become famous or not as long as you’re who you are! Ignore what everyone else thinks of you! Kyuuu!”

“But...”

“If you’re worried that people will start recognizing you too much, then you can just join the tournament with a mask, right? Kyuuu!”

“...!”

“It’s your life! So keep your chin up and go win that tournament! Kyuu!”

Hamchi continued giving Siegfried various advice even after that.

Perhaps it was thanks to Hamchi’s morale support, but Siegfried changed his mind.

“Ah, I don’t know anymore. Yeah, I can just win the damn thing, right?”

Just like when he decided to win the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament after hearing Cheon Woo-Jin’s advice, he decided to join and win the Super Rookie Tournament too.

“Kyuuu! Good! That’s the spirit, owner punk!”

“Yeah, thanks.” “Hamchi is busy, so I’ll be going now. Kyuu!” Hamchi exclaimed.

Then, he scurried to the communications room of the Proatine Kingdom and called someone.

— Hi, Hamchi.

“Kyu! Hi! Cheon Woo-Jin!”

The one he called was none other than Cheon Woo-Jin.

— How did it go?

“Don’t worry! Hamchi made sure to convince that owner punk! Kyuuu! He’s going to participate in the tournament!”

— Oh? Really?

“So, hand over the nuts that you promised me! Kyuuu!”

— I’ll send it over right now via express delivery. You will receive it tomorrow at the latest.”

“Kyu! It was a pleasure doing business with you!”

Cheon Woo-Jin and Hamchi flashed a sleazy grin at the same time.