Debuff Master

Chapter 567

“Ahem!”

Parkebros cleared his throat. He could not grant this demand, so he had to plead to Siegfried to reconsider.

“Your Majesty.”

“What?”

“T-That is a bit...”

“...?”

“It is not difficult for us to harshly punish our knight templars, as those are internal affairs. We can just do as Your Majesty has requested.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“But telling Your Majesty who filed the complaint is a bit...”

Siegfried was truly making a difficult demand.

Revealing the names of those who had accused him could greatly affect the prestige of the church, so Parkebros had no other choice but to plead for Siegfried to reconsider his demands.

“Disclosing their names might affect the justice system of our society. Don't you think so, Your Majesty?”

“What?”

“Yes, there was a misunderstanding, but we have a duty to protect the identities of those who had filed a complaint against Your Majesty.”

“Well, I guess you’re not wrong,” Siegfried agreed easily.

Parkebros was right. Protecting those who had the courage to report others for their wrongdoings had to be protected at all costs.

“But you know...”

“Yes?”

“Can you see this?” Siegfried asked, pointing behind him. Then, he said, “I’m innocent.”

“Yes, Your Majesty is without a doubt innocent as judged by the—”

“Haven’t you heard of slander or defamation?”

“...!”

“By accusing someone of a crime without any proof, then don't you think they're prepared to pay the price? I think they call it calumny or something?”

“Y-Yes, we do have that, but—”

“Good. Now tell me, do you think making false accusations without a shred of proof against me based solely on what they think is justice?”

“N-No...”

“Then should they be punished for slander and defamation?”

“T-That is...”

“Then hand it over if you agree,” Siegfried said, extending his hand to the Inquisitor.

“Your Majesty...”

“You just have to give me the list. I’ll personally visit each and every one of them.”

“Please, Your Majesty. That is something I cannot—”

“I wonder if His Imperial Majesty is doing well these days... Should I go greet him?”

“Y-Your Majesty!” Parkebros exclaimed in horror the moment Emperor Stuttgart’s name was mentioned. Then, he pleaded, “P-Please compose yourself, Your Majesty.”

“Compose? I’m very calm. I’m not mad at all,” Siegfried said, smiling and feigning ignorance. Then, he put on an innocent face and asked, “I just want to greet him. Can’t I do that?”

“Please...”

“His Imperial Majesty adores me, so I’m sure he’s curious about how I’ve been doing these days. I mean, that’s the first thing he asks whenever we meet, so he will likely ask again this time. Haha!”

“I will hand it over...”

In the end, Parkebros had no choice but to submit to Siegfried’s demands.

Why?

It was all because getting on Emperor Stuttgart’s bad side was one hundred—no, one thousand times worse than whatever problems those who had accused Siegfried could stir up.

“Then hand it over.”

“P-Please give me a moment...”

Ten minutes later, Siegfried received the list of Adventurers who accused him of being an abuser from Parkebros.

‘We shouldn’t hastily judge without any evidence from now on no matter how many complaints are submitted...’ Parkebros thought, seeing the need to reform the way they handled accusations of wrongdoings.

Of course, that was none of Siegfried’s business, and he couldn't care less about what they do with their system.

“W-What the hell? Why are there so many of them...?” Siegfried muttered in shock after seeing that there were almost three thousand names on the list.

The extensive list was proof that numerous people suspected him of being an abuser. If the number of Adventurers who did not bother to report him were added, then this list was probably going to be a few dozen times longer.

“Hmm...” Siegfried pondered for a long time on how he was going to go through this list.

Could he visit every single one of the three thousand names on the list and get revenge? Yes, he could, but it would take a very long time for him to do so. Not to mention, he would gain three thousand enemies by the time he was done with the list.

‘There’s nothing to gain from making a lot of enemies. I already have more than enough of them...’ Siegfried thought.

Hamchi peeked at the list while Siegfried was busy pondering what to do next. He tilted his head after seeing something. Then, he shrieked, “Kyuuu?!”

***

“What’s up?” Siegfried asked after noticing Hamchi’s strange behavior.

“Owner punk! Kyu!”

“Yeah?”

“What’s wrong with this guy?!”

“Who?”

“One, two, three, four...” Hamchi started counting all of a sudden. He was counting a name that frequently popped up on the list, and this specific name seemed to appear much more than others.

“Kyu! This guy reported you more than two hundred times!”

“What? More than two hundred times?”

“Yes! It’s like he’s hell-bent on screwing you over! Kyuu!” Hamchi cried out. Then, he passed the two hundred complaints filed to him.

“Who is it?” Siegfried asked, taking the stack from him.

— [Report/Match Fixing] I hereby report Siegfried van Proa.

— [Report/Match Fixing] Does his record make sense? Aren’t you going to arrest him?

— [Report/Match Fixing] Aren’t you going to do your job?

— [Report/Match Fixing] Why haven’t you arrested Siegfried van Proa?

This specific individual submitted close to two hundred reports, but the impressive part was that every report was unique. In other words, the reports were not simply copied and pasted.

It was written with the firm belief that Siegfried was an abuser, and the reporter definitely wanted to screw him over.

“Who is this? Let’s see...” Siegfried grumbled. Then, he read the ID written on the report, “Kao... Sin... K-Kaosin?!”

“Kyuuu! What’s wrong, owner punk?! Do you know that guy?!”

“Yeah, I do,” Siegfried replied. Then, he smirked and said, “He’s really good, but he’s known to be quite the ill-mannered asshole.”

“Kyu?! There’s an even bigger asshole than you?!”

“What did you say?”

“Kyu! I’m just kidding! But seriously, what kind of person is he?”

“I don’t know him in person, but I know what he’s like,” Siegfried replied, recalling what he knew of Kaosin. Kaosin managed to become a high-level Adventurer before BNW's first anniversary. He stumbled upon the arena while playing the game, and he quickly rose to fame as an amateur expert in PVP.

Many acknowledged his skills as being world class after he one-sidedly defeated most Rankers in PVP, and he was the most sought after amateur by all pro gaming teams in South Korea.

However, he was also infamous for having a rotten personality and would almost always taunt, insult, curse, and do all sorts of despicable things to his opponents after winning a duel.

Kaosin’s rotten personality was the reason Siegfried instantly recognized his name.

Interestingly, Kaosin always drew the line at things that could potentially land him in hot water and ruin his future career as a pro gamer. Thus, this led Siegfried to believe that he was a very shrewd and cunning person.

“So he’s the one who tried to screw me over?”

“Kyu?”

“So he’s capable of this?” Siegfried muttered. Then, he smirked and said, “Good. I’m glad it turned out this way.”

“Kyu?”

“I’ll use him as an example and beat the living crap out of him,” Siegfried said, flashing an insidious grin. Things had worked out spectacularly for him, as he couldn't come up with an idea on how to deal with all three thousand names on the list.

“Hohoho!”

“Kyu! That’s a great idea, owner punk!”

“But where is he right now? I’m sure he must be preparing for the tournament somewhere.”

Siegfried was certain Kaosin was somewhere in the Arena. Unfortunately, there were thousands of rooms in the Arena, so looking for Kaosin was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even if he knew where Kaosin was located, it was still impossible to go to where he was without getting invited.

Why?

It was all because Siegfried did not have the ability to cross dimensions.

“I wonder if this will work,” Siegfried muttered before using Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance.

Shwiiiiiik!

Countless pages popped up in front of his eyes, causing him to feel sick. It was akin to having thousands or tens of thousands of internet browsers opening simultaneously in front of him.

Each page showed a different arena and who was in that said arena.

Siegfried had a new problem on his hands now, as he had no idea on which of these pages he could find Kaosin.

“Damn it... When will I browse through all of these—” Before Siegfried's grumbling could end, something suddenly popped up in front of his eyes.

Ding!

It was an icon of a magnifying glass.

“Oh? It has a search function, too?” Siegfried said, sounding impressed.

He pressed on the magnifying glass and entered Kaosin into the search bar.

[Alert: Searching...]

[Alert: Search Complete!]

[Alert: Kaosin has been located!]

All of the pages except one closed, and Kaosin’s location was shown in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

Kaosin was currently in a private arena with other Adventurers.

“I found him, but how can I go there...? It’s not like I can cross dimensions—”

It was then.

Wooong!

Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance unleashed a streak of light, and the light sliced open the space before him.

“Whoa...” Siegfried could not hide his amazement at what was happening.

“Kyu! What are you going to do now, owner punk?!” Hamchi asked.

“What else? I’m going to beat the crap out of him,” Siegfried replied before crossing dimensions and entering the private arena where Kaosin was.

***

“Ah, really...”

Kaosin smirked sleazily while looking down at his opponent on the ground.

Then, he stabbed his opponent with his sword.

Shwik!

His opponent on the ground, Hoshigi, screamed in agony, “Aaargh!”

“You’re so...”

Shwik!

“Aack!”

“Bad at this...”

Shwik!

“Aaaaack!”

Kaosin would stab Hoshigi after every few words as if he was toying with him—no, he was toying with him. This was one of his despicable hobbies, which was to not finish the duel even after winning it.

He was a master at turning his opponents into playthings, and he had embarrassed many Rankers, who had sworn to rip him to pieces if they ever met outside the arena.

“Ah, there he goes again...”

“Can we please have some limits?”

“Hey, the atmosphere was good just now. Why did you have to ruin it?”

The other Adventurers in the private arena tried to stop Kaosin from making a public spectacle of Hoshigi. They knew there was no bad blood between them and that Kaosin was just toying with Hoshigi for his own entertainment, causing the Adventurer to grimace in disgust.

Kaosin had been behaving properly recently; he had been taking care of his public image for the upcoming Super Rookie Tournament, but it seemed that he had failed to control himself this time.

“Wow, what gentlemen you all are,” Kaosin sneered at those trying to stop him. Then, he smirked and stabbed his sword into Hoshigi’s privates.

“AAAARGH!”

“Hey, oldie.”

“Argh...”

“Isn’t it time for you to retire?”

It was then.

Bam!

A black hammer flew out of nowhere and smacked Kaosin on the side of his face.

“Kuheok!” Kaosin coughed blood and was sent flying from the impact, but he quickly broke his fall and rolled on the ground before getting up to scan his surroundings.

His reflexes were truly impressive—unlike his personality.

“Who did it?! Which bastard was it?!” Kaosin roared in anger.

“Me. This bastard did it.”

“...!”

“We need to have a talk,” Siegfried said as he emerged from a ripple in space.