Debuff Master-Chapter 859

The phenomenon of a particular faction claiming ownership of a specific dungeon, known as Dungeon Restriction, was not exactly a rare occurrence in RPG games[1].

After all, humans were innately greedy creatures. It was their natural instinct to monopolize something valuable if they could do so.

In other games, it was common for powerful guilds to occupy certain dungeons and claim ownership over them. Whenever that happened, the game developers would dispatch moderators urgently to stop such tyranny, or the players would band together to wage war on the occupying guild.

In the case of BNW, such conflicts were always resolved by the players themselves, as the developer wouldn't intervene in the game at all. Thus, cases like this often resulted in wars between the occupying guild and the players.

One surprising thing was that not a single guild had ever succeeded in occupying a dungeon long-term throughout the game’s history.

Why?

It was all because the concept of dungeons being public assets had become deeply ingrained among the Adventurers, so anyone attempting to monopolize a dungeon would face immense hostility and criticism from the masses.

Thus, whenever a faction dared to claim a dungeon as their own, an extraordinary phenomenon was surely going to follow right after it.

What kind of phenomenon?

The gaming community would unite against the guild.

However, a guild was actually claiming ownership over a dungeon? Not just any guild, but the Execution Guild, one of the top ten Adventurer guilds on the continent? And they were claiming ownership over a Great Rift of all dungeons?

‘Have they lost their minds?’ Siegfried couldn't believe what he was hearing, so he decided to shout at them, “Hey! How can the Great Rift belong to your guild?! Do you even hear yourselves? That doesn’t make any sense!”

— Whether it makes sense to you or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that the Eastern Great Rift is our guild’s property. So, get lost unless you wanna die!

“Ugh... This is absurd,” Siegfried grumbled under his breath.

He was so taken aback by the guild member’s brazen claim that he struggled to find words to express his feelings.

‘But how are other guilds letting them get away with this?’ he wondered. There was something amiss with the situation. When a guild occupied certain regions, the Adventurers wouldn't usually tolerate it.

The laws created by the NPCs prevented players from owning land outright, but it still allowed them to have some territorial claims to some degree. However, it was a completely different story when it came to dungeons.

The universal perception of dungeons as public property was so strong that anyone who dared to claim ownership usually faced devastating backlash.

‘But why?’

Siegfried wondered how the Execution Guild could get away with openly occupying the Eastern Great Rift.

However, he quickly realized the answer to this question—the unique characteristics of the Great Rift.

A Great Rift was basically an infinite number of dungeons with a single entrance. In other words, it could have one single entrance, but the rift could generate an infinite number of dungeons.

This meant that other Adventurers weren't really affected by the Execution Guild occupying the Eastern Great Rift, as they could simply go to another Great Rift if they needed to enter one.

Why?

It was all because the Great Rift had practically infinite dungeons.

In theory, a single Great Rift could accommodate the entire human race. This meant that controlling one Great Rift was not that big of a deal unless the Execution Guild had monopolized the other remaining Great Rifts as well.

‘Why would they claim ownership of something like that, though?’ Siegfried wondered about the guild’s motives. Why were they bothering to claim control over the Great Rift while risking backlash from the Adventurers?

‘Hmm... Something’s fishy...’

It was then.

— You’ve got three seconds! You’ll pay the price if you’re not gone by then!

A final warning.

Then, hundreds of Execution Guild members appeared one by one and aimed their weapons directly at Siegfried.

‘Time to retreat.’

While he could easily annihilate all of them, Siegfried decided to proceed with caution. Discovering the true intentions of the Execution Guild seemed like a better move than engaging in an all-out war with them.

“Fine! I’m leaving! Happy now?!” Siegfried shouted.

Leaving behind those words, he flew away from the Eastern Great Rift, retreating to a safe location.

***

After retreating from the Eastern Great Rift, Siegfried met up with the members of the Beggar’s Guild, who were lying in wait nearby.

“We greet Your Majesty.”

As soon as the guild members, who were hiding near the Eastern Great Rift, made contact with Siegfried, they knelt on one knee and offered their respects.

Ding!

Then, a message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: You have acquired a new title!]

[Alert: You have obtained the title King of Beggars!]

The effects of the title were as follows...

[King of Beggars]

[I am the true King of Beggars!]

[Type: Title]

[Rating: Unique]

[Effects: +50% Affinity with beggars and vagrants.]

The title was granted to him when the Beggar’s Guild was absorbed into the intelligence department of the Proatine Kingdom.

“...King of Beggars?”

Siegfried was not thrilled at being crowned the ruler of beggars, but he let it slide. After all, no Adventurer below Level 300 could peek into his details anymore. His Rune of Insight had been upgraded, after all.

“Well done, everyone. So, what’s the situation?” Siegfried asked them.

One of the beggars stepped forward and reported, “The Execution Guild currently occupies the Eastern Great Rift.”

“And why are they occupying it?”

“We are not entirely sure, but it seems there is something around the rift.”

“Hmm? Something around it?” frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

“Based on the large quantities of construction materials and heavy equipment being transported there, we suspect that underground resources might have been discovered near the Eastern Great Rift.”

“I see...”

At last, Siegfried grasped the Execution Guild’s motive. There was no reason for them to claim ownership over the Great Rift, especially when it would only attract public outrage. However, it was a completely different story if natural resources were discovered in the vicinity.

From the Execution Guild’s perspective, monopolizing those resources would naturally be worth the risk. In fact, using the rift as an excuse to keep the natural resources they discovered a secret was quite convenient, too.

Siegfried sniffed the air around him.

Sniff! Sniff!

“Kyuuu! What’s wrong with you? Have you gone crazy?!”

“Hey, Hamchi.”

“Kyu?”

“Do you smell that?”

“Kyu? Smell what?”

“The smell of money.”

“Kyu?! Money?!”

“There’s a thick, unmistakable scent of money in the air.”

Siegfried had no idea what was hidden underground, but the odds were high that it was something valuable.

“Kyu! What are we gonna do, owner punk?!”

“What else? We crush them and take it for ourselves,” Siegfried replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Kyuuu?!”

“How can I let them hoard it all for themselves? I can’t let them slurp it all up, right? I’m going to take it by force.”

Moreover, Siegfried had the perfect justification. He was maintaining world peace by keeping the Great Rifts in check. He could argue that the world would be in danger if the Execution Guild couldn't manage the rift properly and let one of the Apocalypses escape.

“Yeah, taking is way better than guarding. Hehehe!”

Siegfried’s mood brightened at the thought of pillaging to his heart’s content. After all, wasn’t it much more enjoyable to raid the property of other people than to protect one’s own?

Most importantly, Siegfried expected this venture to bring him immense profits.

“Ahng...! T-The smell of money...! I love money! Ang~!” Siegfried moaned while squirming.

“Kyuuu! That’s right! We kill the women and rape the men!”

“Hey! What nonsense are you spouting, moron?!”

Siegfried shouted, stopping Hamchi from saying any more nonsense. Then, he prepared to hit the logout button.

“Kyu? Where are you going, owner punk?”

“To set things up.”

“Kyu?”

“See ya later,” Siegfried said before logging out from the game.

***

As soon as he logged out from the game, he contacted a V-Sports journalist he was acquainted with and asked for an urgent meeting.

“Ah! Mr. Tae-Sung! Where are you now? I will come to you immediately!”

The journalist was from Daily V, the largest media outlet covering V-Sports. He canceled a scheduled interview without hesitation and rushed to meet Tae-Sung near the latter's home.

This was not surprising at all. Tae-Sung was generous to his fans, but he was notoriously difficult to get an interview with.

After the scandal involving Yong Seol-Hwa, he developed a disdain for journalists and almost never entertained their requests.

Thus, he became one of the most elusive and difficult figures to get an interview with in the V-Sports media world. However, he had actually reached out first for an interview? There had to be a reason behind it; there was no doubt about it.

“This is going to be a scoop!” the journalist exclaimed at the top of his lungs in joy. He could already envision his article dominating the main pages of every news by tomorrow morning, so he stepped on the gas pedal and raced toward Tae-Sung.

About one hour later...

“Ah, Mr. Tae-Sung! Good to see you!”

“The pleasure is mine.”

“How have you been?”

After an exchange of pleasantries and small talk, they got to the point.

“So, what made you reach out for an interview all of a sudden?”

“Well, so this is why...”

For the next two hours, Tae-Sung chatted with the journalist, sharing his thoughts and answering every question.

The following morning, the same headline dominated every news platform.

[Breaking News! (Exclusive Interview)]

[Pro Gamer Han Tae-Sung Declares War on the Execution Guild!]

The interview spread rapidly throughout social media, and the attention of gamers around the world focused on Tae-Sung once again.

His message was straightforward. He opposed the Execution Guild’s monopolization and control of a public resource, the Great Rift, so he declared war on them to resolve the issue.

He stated that there would be no negotiations. Moreover, since they were bound to fight anyway, he proposed turning it into a live event to entertain fans around the world and make money at the same time.

In other words, they were going to fight, anyway, why not monetize it and make it something interesting for the people?

The impact was immediate.

[V-Sports] Pro Gamer Han Tae-Sung: Let’s go to war, Execution Guild!

[Column] Challenging the Top 10 Guilds! Will Han Tae-Sung Succeed Again?

[Breaking News] Declaration of War! Pro Gamer Han Tae-Sung Challenges the Execution Guild! (Comprehensive Report #2)

Countless articles sprung up afterward, shocking the entire BNW community. Nobody expected Tae-Sung to boldly declare war and use the media in such a provocative manner.

Meanwhile, the Guild Master of the Execution Guild, Alexei, fumed while reading the news.

“Han Tae-Sung... You bastard...” Alexei growled, finding himself in a difficult position.

He planned to monopolize the natural resources near the Eastern Great Rift without drawing any attention. However, Tae-Sung had openly challenged them, so the situation became extremely complicated.

Unfortunately, negotiating was not an option, as Tae-Sung one-sidedly declaring war on them using the media made it difficult for Alexei to back down without losing face.

‘Should I still attempt to negotiate...?’ Alexei deliberated.

He knew that fighting Tae-Sung was not going to end well. The Head Crusher Guild wasn't really a proper guild, but they had quite a few high-level Adventurers in their ranks.

Moreover, they were allied with the Mandate of Heaven Guild, which was one of the top ten guilds on the continent.

In other words, if Alexei were to fight Tae-Sung, he would basically be at war against both the Head Crusher Guild and the Mandate of Heaven Guild.

‘Fighting will only result in losses...’

With this in mind, Alexei began searching for Tae-Sung’s contact information.

A few hours later, Alexei called Tae-Sung. “Hello? Han Tae-Sung? This is Alexei. I don’t think I need to introduce myself.”

Since Tae-Sung was Korean and Alexei was Russian, they had to employ interpreters to make the call possible.

— What do you want?

“You’re quite straight to the point.”

— Stop wasting my time and tell me what you want.

“...”

— Just spit it out if you have something to say. I’m a busy person.

Although annoyed by Tae-Sung’s bluntness, Alexei composed himself and presented a tempting offer.

“The Eastern Great Rift that we’re controlling actually has an A-Grade mana stone mine. That’s why we restricted access to—”

— So, what’s your offer?

“...?”

— Hurry up and tell me.

“Erm... Ten percent of–”

— Have a nice day.

With that, Tae-Sung unilaterally ended the call.

“T-That son of a bitch, Han Tae-Sung!” Alexei roared, erupting into a string of curses.

Tae-Sung used the media like a professional to put Alexei in a difficult spot. As if that wasn't enough, he nonchalantly rejected what Alexei had deemed to be a tempting offer and unilaterally hung up the call.

“You damn bastard! You son of a bitch!”

If it were possible, Alexei would tear Tae-Sung apart right now.

1. Author said RPG games, but I think he meant MMORPG. ☜