Debuff Master-Chapter 856

“What have you been up to these days, Hyung-Seok?”

Tae-Sung casually broke the awkward silence by asking a question.

“What’s it to you, bastard?”

Unsurprisingly, Chae Hyung-Seok replied in a curt and hostile manner.

“Oh, come on. I’m just curious, man.”

Tae-Sung was sincere, as he really wanted to know what Chae Hyung-Seok had been up to these days.

With his wealth, he could easily hire a private investigator to track Chae Hyung-Seok’s every move. But he was not the type to use such underhanded tactics, so committing such a crime never crossed his mind.

“It’s been over six months since I last saw you, man.”

“You crazy son of a bitch...” Chae Hyung-Seok growled, clenching his fists as though ready to lash out at any second.

However, he did not do so.

The lingering aftereffects of his stroke were one reason, but more than that, he knew just how terrifyingly strong Tae-Sung was despite his appearance.

Tae-Sung had been working out and was quite buff. On the other hand, Chae Hyung-Seok had a small frame. His frame was so small that it was famously called "anchovy."

In other words, Chae Hyung-Seok stood no chance in a physical fight against Tae-Sung.

“Hey, I’m really just curious. I heard rumors that you’ve been living in the demon realm these days.”

“...”

“Hmm? You’re not secretly sharpening your knives to take revenge on me, are you?”

“T-That’s not...”

“Good, good. Keep it up.”

“...What? Did you just say... good?”

Chae Hyung-Seok was surprised by the satisfaction on Tae-Sung’s face.

“Of course! Do you have any idea how boring life’s been without you?”

“...?”

“Things get way more interesting when you’re running around trying your best to beat me. I used to live for the thrill of messing with you, but lately—”

“Shut up! Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?!”

“You! Obviously!” Tae-Sung raised his hands in a mocking manner. Then, he feigned sadness and added, “I honestly really like hanging out with you! Why don’t you ever believe me, Hyung-Seok?”

“You’re a psycho!”

“Hey, don’t be harsh. It’s all thanks to you, you know?”

“...What?”

“I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for you trampling all over me back then.”

It was true.

Tae-Sung would have never become the Debuff Master if Chae Hyung-Seok did not mess with him all those years ago.

“What the hell are you talking about right now...?”

“I’m just saying. The person who made me who I am today is you.”

“You crazy bastard!”

Chae Hyung-Seok refused to believe Tae-Sung’s words.

‘This jerk... He gets featured on the news for becoming a Master, and now he’s openly mocking me?’

News of Tae-Sung breaking through the wall and reaching the realm of Master was a hot topic these days. In other words, it easily reached Chae Hyung-Seok’s ears.

However, he was not intimidated. Not one bit.

‘Hahaha! Go ahead and try me. You’re no match for the demon realm even if you’re a Master.’

As the Supreme Commander of the Seventh Domain of the Demon Realm, Chae Hyung-Seok was well aware of the overwhelming power he wielded. The demons were insanely high-leveled with unparalleled combat abilities.

Yes, they couldn't maintain their physical forms after crossing over to the human realm, but...

‘I’ll crush him real soon. Hehehe!’

He planned to lead his forces from the demon realm and invade the human realm.

His first targets? It was none other than Siegfried and the Proatine Kingdom.

Chae Hyung-Seok's character had already become a demon, so he no longer needed to break through the wall to surpass Level 300.

“Keep grinning while you can. Let’s see how long that smug face lasts, you bastard,” Chae Hyung-Seok said with a scoff as he got up.

“Eh? You’re leaving already?” Tae-Sung asked.

“You better start preparing to quit the game, you bastard.”

With that, Chae Hyung-Seok stormed out of the cafe.

Tae-Sung leisurely watched Chae Hyung-Seok leave the cafe.

“Hehe... What a moron,” Tae-Sung muttered with a smirk. Then, he added, “How do you plan to beat me when I have the Avenger in my hands? Tsk... Tsk...”

He was well aware that Chae Hyung-Seok was enslaved to Baroque, the younger sibling of Metatron. On the other hand, Chae Hyung-Seok knew that Tae-Sung possessed the Demon Sword: Avenger.

In other words, no matter how much Chae Hyung-Seok relied on Baroque and the Seventh Domain’s armies, he posed no real threat to Tae-Sung.

Despite that, he still dared to provoke and challenge him?

That could only mean one thing...

‘He’s plotting something. Hmm... Oh well, bring it on.’

Tae-Sung did not care what schemes Chae Hyung-Seok was plotting.

Why?

It was all because he was confident that he could outmaneuver and toy with Chae Hyung-Seok every step of the way.

“Grow stronger for me, my dear Hyung-Seok,” Tae-Sung muttered with a smirk while sipping his coffee and relishing the thought of toying with Chae Hyung-Seok even more.

He had no doubt that Chae Hyung-Seok would soon deliver a ton of experience points, money, and items the next time they clashed.

***

Tae-Sung decided it was finally time to sell the gold and the other items that he had been hoarding for quite a while. The price of gold plummeted the moment he flooded the market.

A temporary dip in value was inevitable as a massive supply of gold was dumped at once.

However, Tae-Sung did not care about how his actions affected the market. All he cared about was converting all of the gold into cash and pouring it into Hive Games Entertainment stocks.

The result?

Tae-Sung became even wealthier.

“W-What?!”

A particular anomaly caught his attention while skimming through his various bank accounts. This specific account that usually sat empty suddenly had seven billion won in it.

‘Why is there money in here all of a sudden?’ Tae-Sung wondered.

He checked the source of the mysterious source of the money. Then, the answer soon became clear.

‘Oh! Dividends!’

It turned out that the developer and distributor of BNW, Hive Games Entertainment, nicknamed the "Beehive" by the gaming community, had distributed dividends to its shareholders.

For the past year, Tae-Sung had been quietly investing in Hive Games Entertainment stocks whenever he had some spare cash lying around. Slowly, his holdings had grown to over three hundred billion won worth of shares.

“Wow... So this is what they meant when they said money makes money,” Tae-Sung muttered in awe.

He had long experienced the true power of capitalism. He bought a few buildings, and the prices of real estate skyrocketed. Even the smallest of properties he owned yielded profits in the tens of billions, while larger ones earned hundreds of billions in capital gains.

But that was not all...

The limited-edition supercars he purchased on a whim were not depreciating at all. Instead, their value actually had doubled, thanks to rising premiums[1] over time.

Even the high-end luxury watches stashed away in his vault, such as brands like Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philipp,e had accrued hefty premiums despite being pre-owned, netting him millions in profit.

Meanwhile, his G-Tube channel raked in tens of millions of won in monthly revenue from the gameplay videos he uploaded.

To top it off, the stocks he had purchased were surging in value, and the dividends from them were rolling in.

Without even realizing it, Tae-Sung had earned hundreds of billions of won from just playing games at home.

It felt like magic. No matter how extravagantly he spent, his wealth was only growing.

In fact, his bank balance showed no signs of decreasing at all.

‘I guess I should spend more money, huh?’

Feeling happy from the mounting wealth and overwhelming investment returns, Tae-Sung decided to spread the joy.

First, he sent gifts to his mother and younger sister back home. Then, he handed out special bonuses to his bodyguards, who had been tirelessly protecting and supporting him.

He also rewarded the employees of his corporation with extra allowances.

And then...

“Hello, is this the Breed Foundation? I’d like to make a donation.”

Tae-Sung donated five hundred million won to a foundation known for working to support low-income families.

Despite his newfound wealth, he had not forgotten his sense of responsibility even after earning a lot of money.

To him, philanthropy was an excellent system that allowed him to help those in need while also benefiting from tax incentives.

After spending money to his heart’s content, he reached out to his friends.

To be fair, his social circle was so small that there were not many people he could call.

***

That night, Tae-Sung rented out an entire lounge bar in Cheongdam-dong to enjoy a private evening with his close acquaintances.

The reason for renting out the whole venue?

As a public figure, being in an open space was practically impossible for Tae-Sung now.

Why? Because fans would swarm him along with paparazzi lurking around to snap pictures.

“Hey, what have you been up to lately? You’ve been awfully quiet,” Tae-Sung said to Cheon Woo-Jin, who was casually sipping champagne beside him.

“What do you think I’ve been doing, you idiot? I’ve been busy rebuilding the Guardians,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a tired and annoyed look.

“Huh?”

“It’s a mess. Everything’s broken, and people are dead, so it’s been a nightmare trying to put it all back together,” Cheon Woo-Jin grumbled. Then, he added, “Speaking of which, you should make a donation.”

“A donation? Why would you need a donation? Don’t you already have plenty of money?”

“Who said I need cash? I’m asking for manpower.”

“Manpower?”

“Oh, by the way. Someone was selling gold at ridiculously low prices today, so I picked up about forty tons.”

“...That was me.”

“What?!”

“I ended up with a lot of gold recently, so I dumped it all at once. Oh, so you’re the one who bought it?”

Tae-Sung was looking at Cheon Woo-Jin with a mix of surprise and amusement. After all, he was wondering who the sucker who bought forty tons of gold in one go was.

On the flip side, he was also wondering about something else.

‘Just how much money does this guy have?’

Tae-Sung was wealthy, without a doubt, but Cheon Woo-Jin was on a completely different level.

This was a guy who treated the grandchildren of major corporate chairmen like they were insects and chartered private jets on a whim. His spending habits were so outrageous that he would rent out an entire department store in the middle of the night just to shop.

There was not a single shred of doubt that Cheon Woo-Jin was indeed far wealthier than Tae-Sung.

“Ah, so you’re the one who sold it? I should’ve guessed as much...” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered while nodding.

In hindsight, he realized that, aside from Tae-Sung, few people were capable of offloading that much gold at once.

“Hey, Cheon Woo-Jin.”

“What?”

“Why the hell are you so rich? Are you a chaebol or something?”

“A chaebol? Please,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a chuckle. Then, he smirked and added, “Do you think a mere chaebol can compare to me?”

“What?!”

“Even a diamond spoon wouldn’t do me justice, you know?”

“You little... Are you messing with me right now?” Tae-Sung growled, glaring at him.

“Hey, when did I ever mess with you?”

“Then what’s your deal? Who are you really?”

At that moment, their friends, who were sitting nearby, exchanged puzzled looks before chiming in.

“Do you seriously not know who Woo-Jin Hyung-nim is, hyung-nim?”

“Oppa? You really didn’t know?”

“You’ve been so close all this time, and you still don’t know who he is?”

“Oh, come on...”

Seung-Gu, Yong Seol-Hwa, Gosran, and Daytona all looked at Tae-Sung in disbelief after learning that he had no idea who Cheon Woo-Jin was.

“What’s going on? Do you all know?” Tae-Sung asked, flustered.

Everyone simply nodded in response.

“Hold on, am I the only one who didn’t know?”

Again, more nods.

“You traitors!” Tae-Sung cried out. Then, he lashed out at them, “Why am I the only one in the dark?! Why?!”

“Hyung-nim... It’s actually weirder that you had no idea...”

“What?!”

“Anyone paying the slightest bit of attention would know...”

“Argh! Fine! Do I have to look it up myself? Just tell me! Who the hell is this guy?!” Tae-Sung screamed while pointing at Cheon Woo-Jin.

Cheon Woo-Jin let out a sigh after getting tired of Tae-Sung throwing a tantrum.

“Sigh... Alright, Han Tae-Sung.”

“What now?!”

“If you really want to know who I am, then—”

But before Cheon Woo-Jin could finish, Tae-Sung’s phone buzzed loudly.

It was a call from his mother.

“Hold on,” Tae-Sung said. Then, he answered the call with a gentle tone, “Hello? Yes, Mom?”

— Tae-Sung! Something happened! It’s urgent!”

“What? What happened?”

— I’ll explain everything when you get here, but come home immediately!

“I-I will be right there!”

Without even waiting to hear the rest of Cheon Woo-Jin’s explanation, Tae-Sung abruptly stood up.

“Sorry, everyone! Something came up at home! I’ll contact you all later!”

With that, he rushed out of the lounge and climbed into the back of a van driven by his bodyguards. It was still illegal to drive after drinking, even in this age of widespread autonomous vehicles.

***

‘What in the world is going on?’

Tae-Sung’s heart raced with urgency as the car sped toward his home.

No matter how many times he asked, his mother refused to explain over the phone. To make him even more anxious, even his younger sister, Tae-Hee, was not answering her phone.

“Please step on it,” Tae-Sung urged.

“Yes, sir!” the head of the bodyguards replied.

The driver sensed Tae-Sung’s anxiousness and stepped on the accelerator a little harder than usual.

‘Please, let it be nothing...’

The tension in Tae-Sung’s chest grew heavier with each passing moment as they neared his family’s house in Bucheon.

His mother was not the type to speak so cryptically, and this made him fear the worst.

He had no idea what happened, but he was certain that it was serious. Everything seemed perfectly fine just this morning when he sent gifts to his family, so what exactly had happened?

1. Not sure if this is a Korean term, but luxury goods have something called ‘premiums’ that makes them increase in worth over time. ☜