Debuff Master

Chapter 611

Hamchi flinched and cried out, “K-Kyuuu?! W-What do you want? Why are you looking at Hamchi?!”

“Hey, Hamchi,” Siegfried said in a low voice.

“Kyu?”

“You seem to be quite free these days.”

“Kyaak! What do you mean by that?! Hamchi’s back is hurting from looking after your kid!”

He was telling the truth. He would carry Verdandi on his back around the castle, send her to sleep, read her books, and do other things that a nanny would do. Also, he might look like he had it easy due to the Super Rookie Tournament, but he was quite busy in his own way.

Proof of this was the fact that Hamchi had always been with Siegfried in his travels, right?

“I know that very well,” Siegfried replied with a nod. Then, he wrapped his arm around Hamchi’s shoulder and said, “That’s why I’m asking you a favor.”

“Kyu?”

“Hey, do you know how important these sunbae-nims are? I mean, you saw them fight earlier, right?” Siegfried whispered.

“Kyu?”

“They’re experts.”

“Y-Yeah, that I can agree! Kyu!”

“I want to learn a few tricks of theirs to become stronger.”

“Kyu?”

“To do that, I will need to curry up to them, so they will teach me, right?”

“Kyu! You’re right!”

“Then you should help me, right? I will become stronger if they teach me, so pulling that cart is not a big deal for you. I mean, you can do it for me, right?”

“Kyuuuuu?”

“We’re lobbying right now, so why don’t you help me out?”

“Kyuuu... Alright...”

In the end, Hamchi was convinced by Siegfried’s glib tongue. He would indirectly benefit if his owner became stronger after learning the various techniques of the Legends, right?

“Kyu! Hamchi will drag the cart!” Hamchi exclaimed before growing in size and pulling the makeshift cart with the Legends on it.

“Oh! Is it because this cart is hamster-powered? It’s so comfortable!”

“Our junior sure knows how to treat us right!”

“I love it!”

“I was tired of walking so much. This is perfect! Keke!”

The Legends seemed delighted by the treatment they were receiving, judging by their responses.

‘Sigh... It’s so tiring to bring these old men out...’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly before letting out a defeated sigh. He was exhausted from trying to accommodate them, but he was not angry or annoyed with them at all.

Yes, their stamina sucked, they complained a lot, and they couldn't be bothered to walk at all. However, they would put on a stellar performance in battle as if it was as natural as breathing to them. Thus, Siegfried couldn't bring himself to get angry with them.

On top of that, they had already promised to teach him everything they knew, so he was definitely not getting the shorter end of the stick in this deal.

‘Since things come to this already, let’s just treat them better than the best treatment they ever received in their lives. I’m sure they will be helpful once they level up later on,’ Siegfried thought.

Siegfried expected the Legends to become valuable comrades later on while he continued marching deeper into the dungeon.

***

The party faced different kinds of Hero Terracottas the deeper they ventured into the dungeon.

“Ahhhhh...!”

Siegfried fell to the ground due to exhaustion. He faced the Hero Terracottas almost alone for hours now, so his stamina was bound to hit rock bottom.

“H-Hyung-nim! Are you alright?!”

“I’m tired—really tired,” Siegfried said in a hoarse voice.

“Please rest a bit.”

“Yeah, I think I should. I don’t think I can keep going.”

Siegfried was really exhausted, as he had been putting on a one-man show for the past four hours against a horde of Hero Terracottas.

The reason he was fighting alone was that the Legends refused to participate in battle, as they felt they were not in any particular danger.

Well, it was not that they could participate even if there was any danger.

Sizzle, sizzle...

Their bodies would fade and reappear in the cart. In other words, they were currently dozing off in the cart, as it was already late in the evening.

“Ah...” Siegfried muttered in disbelief while feeling bad for them. He did not expect them to be at the age where they would fall asleep in the VR capsule while playing a game.

“What should we do, hyung-nim?”

“What else? Let’s rest for a bit and keep moving. We can afford to stay up all night, right?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“It’s going to take us forever if we match it to their pace. Just let them leech experience points off of us while we clear this dungeon.”

“Alright, hyung-nim.”

Siegfried and Seung-gu took a short break before venturing deeper into the dungeon.

Around one hour later...

“Huh?”

Siegfried spotted a large structure in the distance.

“I see something over there. It looks like a temple to me,” he said.

“Yes, it looks like a temple to me, too, hyung-nim,” Seung-Gu replied.

“Maybe it’s the boss room?”

“I think that’s highly likely. Should we go take a look?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

“Okay, hyung-nim.”

They made their way toward the temple.

[Graveyard of Swords: Hero’s Resting Place]

A message notifying their current location popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

“Hero’s Resting Place?” he read the message under his breath.

They took a look around inside the temple. The temple was quite big, with a statue as large as the Statue of Liberty, and it was clear at a single glance that it was a statue of none other than the god of the Church of Martial God—Martial God Ares.

There were other smaller statues to the left and right of the statue of Ares, and these statues were laid out on each and every floor.

“What’s that? Do we have to fight with those statues, and the boss monster is that statue of Ares?” Siegfried muttered.

Rumble!

A rumbling noise echoed, and some of the statues started moving.

Four statues moved in total...

The second statue from the left on the second floor, the first statue from the left on the fifth floor, the sixth statue from the right on the seventh floor, and the eleventh statue from the left on the ninth floor.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud...!

The four statues jumped down from their respective floors and landed in front of Siegfried’s party.

“W-What are these?” Siegfried muttered, flustered, and flashed his Rune of Insight on them.

Siegfried’s Rune of Insight displayed the details of the statues.

The first statue’s name was Vartizan, and it was riding a pegasus and wielding a polearm called a Ji[1].

The second statue’s name was Tristan, and it was carrying a large bow. The third statue’s name was Varka, and it was wielding a book in one hand and a fan in the other.

The last statue’s name was Agniskar, and it was wielding a blue flame in one hand and a red flame in the other.

Ding!

A golden exclamation point popped up above the heads of the statues.

“Huh? Isn’t that a quest icon?” Siegfried said, tilting his head in confusion.

He tried to grab the quest icon on top of the statues’ heads, but...

[Alert: You may not attempt this quest!]

[Alert: You may not attempt this quest!]

[Alert: You may not attempt this quest!]

[Alert: You may not attempt this quest!]

He couldn't even attempt it.

“I can’t even read the quest details. Hey, what about you, Seung-Gu?”

“Me too, hyung-nim. It won’t let me access it.”

“Huh? I wonder what’s the problem.”

“Maybe...”

“No way?”

Siegfried and Seung-Gu simultaneously looked at the same place.

Zzzzz...! ZzzZ...! zzZ...!

They were looking at none other than the four Legends sleeping on the cart.

***

“Sunbae-nims! Please wake up!” Siegfried called out, shaking them.

“Hmm? Is it morning already?”

“I can’t open my eyes...”

“I’m such a sleepyhead these days.”

“Ughh... Five more minutes...”

The Legends struggled to wake up, but Siegfried tried his best to wake them up.

“We have a quest, sunbae-nims. Do you see that golden exclamation point over there? You can get a class if you clear the quest—” Siegfried tried to explain to them the current situation, but he ended up closing his mouth.

And it was all because...

“Mmm...”

“Tsk...”

“Umnya... Mmnya...”

“Zzz... ZzZzz...”

The Legends went back to sleep without even listening to what he had to say.

“...Are they testing my patience?” Siegfried growled under his breath. He could feel his anger boiling up, but he decided to suppress it for now and let it be.

How could he fault them for sleeping when they were sleepy? They were already at the age where they would lose the battle against sleep, and he would age, too, just like them one day.

However, he refused to give up and woke them up once more; this time, he shouted even louder.

“Wake up! Wake up! Please wake up!”

In the end, he managed to wake them all up.

“Alright, please click the quest icon on top of their heads. Ah! Watch your step, please!”

He even went a step further and carried the Legends in front of the statues one by one.

“Hmm? You want me to click this? It won’t let me,” Han Sang-Gi said while clicking the quest icon above the statue named Vartizan.

“There are four statues, so please try all of them,” Siegfried replied.

“Oh? If you say so,” Han Sang-Gi replied and clicked the quest icons one by one.

The other Legends proceeded to click on the quest icons, too, and the results of their actions were—

Wooong!

The statues reacted to the Legends.

Vartizan reacted to Kim Han-Yong, Varka reacted to Kim Gi-Tae, Tristan reacted to Han Sang-Gi, and Igniskar reacted to Park Gi-Don.

‘I knew it,’ Siegfried smiled after seeing that his guess was correct.

The Graveyard of Swords: Hero’s Resting Place had hundreds of statues.

The fact that only four statues awakened out of the hundreds and the fact that neither Siegfried nor Seung-Gu could access the quest meant that the statues had awakened only for the Legends.

‘I wonder what kind of quest they have received,’ Siegfried wondered.

It was then.

Flash!

A bright light flashed from the statue in front of Han Sang-Gi.

The statue of Tristan and Han Sang-Gi himself then disappeared.

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

Siegfried and Seung-Gu were flustered upon seeing their disappearance.

But that was not the end of it...

Flash! Flash! Flash!

The three remaining Legends and their statues disappeared one after another as well.

“W-Where did they go, hyung-nim?” Seung-Gu asked.

“How should I know?” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“Do we have to chase after them and help?”

“Nope, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t think anything bad will happen to them. There’s no evil energy here, and what’s the worst that could happen here? This is the Martial God’s ruin, after all.”

“But...”

“Let’s take a break until those old geezers come back,” Siegfried said with a shrug before placing down a mat to lie down on.

“Hey! Hamchi! Good job pulling the cart! Come and take a break too!”

“Kyuuu! Alright!”

Siegfried and Hamchi plopped down on the map and took a break.

“I guess I’ll go get some shut-eye too,” Seung-Gu said with a shrug and closed his eyes too.

After an unknown amount of time, Siegfried grumbled, “Mmm... Sleeping in the capsule is really uncomfortable."

He tossed and turned before rubbing his eyes and checking the time.

‘What the? How come I slept for such a long time?’

It was already four in the morning, which meant four hours had passed since the Legends had disappeared with the statues.

‘Hmm... Should I log out and get some proper sleep?’ Siegfried wondered.

He was about to log out from the game when a blinding flash of light appeared in front of his eyes, and the statue of Vartizan appeared along with Kim Han-Yong.

“S-Sunbae-nim!” Siegfried exclaimed after seeing Kim Han-Yong’s appearance.

Fwaaaa! Fwaaaaah!

Kim Han-Yong was mounting a flaming pegasus, and his right hand wasn't holding onto its reins. It was holding a weapon instead. The weapon was called Sky Piercer[2], and Siegfried could tell that it was ridiculously strong from its appearance alone.

“Eh?” Siegfried couldn't hide his shock upon seeing Kim Han-Yong's transformation.

He flashed his Rune of Insight and found that Kim Han-Yong’s class had changed from Noob Footman to Blaze Rider, which was a Legendary Class.

“No way... Was that a class change quest for a Legendary class?” Siegfried muttered in dsibelief.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

The remaining three Legends appeared one by one before Siegfried could even recover from his shock.

1. This is a type of polearm/halberd used in Ancient China. Lu Bu is a famous figure who wielded the Ji. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ji_(polearm) ☜

2. So this weapon is called 方天畵戟 which translates to Fangtian Huaji. It’s the weapon used by Lu Bu in the Romance of The Three Kingdoms Novel. It felt very out of place to suddenly have Fangtian Huaji out of nowhere, so I decided to just translate it into English. ☜