Debuff Master - Chapter 1141

Chapter 1141

Tae-Sung logged out and went to get some sleep first. He was worried about Daytona, but he was so exhausted that he knew he needed to get some sleep first before doing anything else.

A long while later, Tae-Sung woke up. ‘I should go and see how he’s doing.’

He skipped his usual routine of working out at the gym. Instead, he grabbed a quick breakfast and headed straight to where Daytona lived, which was a luxury villa in Hannam-dong.

“Welcome, Young Master.”

When Tae-Sung arrived in front of Daytona’s house, his head bodyguard, who had been waiting, greeted him politely. The reason Tae-Sung had stationed his head bodyguard in front of Daytona’s house was simple.

“Could you keep an eye on him for me?”

“Certainly, Young Master.”

The night before, Tae-Sung called his head bodyguard and instructed him to stand by near Daytona’s house. He was worried that Daytona would be unable to bear the grief of losing Amelia and do something drastic.

Some people would probably laugh at him for thinking that anyone would do something like that over a game, but in reality, there were already quite a few similar cases.

The menstrual stress caused by gaming was no longer something that could be brushed aside, as it had become a social issue in its own right.

As virtual reality games grew in popularity, more and more gamers too immersed in the virtual world suffered from psychological stress serious enough to require psychiatric treatment.

The negative side effects of the virtual reality game industry was already a global issue. In some extremely strict countries, there were even laws banning virtual reality gaming altogether. Thus, it wouldn’t be strange at all if Daytona were to end his life over Amelia’s death.

“How is he?”

“He has been quiet, sir.”

“Really? Has there been… any incidents?”

“No, sir. I had the police check inside the house just to be safe, but they confirmed that he has not done anything drastic.”

“Phew… That’s a huge relief.”

“But… the police officer who went inside said that Mr. Daytona does not look well at all.”

“Ah…”

“I believe we will need to get him psychiatric help.”

“He should.”

Tae-Sung firmly believed in getting treatment for gaming-related mental health issues.

As a matter of fact, he had been worried about his own mental health and addiction in the past, so he fully supported seeking mental help when needed.

“This is starting to become a problem. It’s either the government starts limiting playing time, or actively encourages and supports counseling for gamers. Something has to be done.”

“Is that how you see it, sir?”

“Yeah,” Tae-Sung replied with a nod. Then, he explained, “Honestly, people live half their lives inside the virtual reality world these days. But the scary part is how they don’t even realize how addicted they are until it’s already too late. By then, they’re stuck and can’t really differentiate between reality and virtual reality.”

“I agree. Mental health problems are often difficult to recognize on your own.”

“Oh? You seem to know something about it?”

“I know quite a few people who have struggled with mental health decline, sir.”

“I guess you have quite a few gamers around you, too?”

“No, sir. In my case… it mostly comes from war.”

“Ah…”

Tae-Sung finally understood what he meant. His head bodyguard was a former elite special forces soldier with multiple deployments under his belt.

After his stint in the military, he worked for a private security firm and went on missions to various war zones.

With such a past, he had definitely witnessed countless horrific scenes, so it was only natural that many of those he fought alongside with on the battlefield were suffering from severe PTSD.

“A healthy mind is really important.”

“Indeed, sir.”

“I would like to work on welfare or support for gamers someday, if I get the chance.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea, sir.”

“Well, that will be after I retire from being a gamer myself,” Tae-Sung said before walking away.

***

“Daytona? Are you there, Daytona?”

Tae-Sung called out to him over and over again, but there was no response.

No matter how many times he pressed the doorbell, there was only silence. He couldn’t hear so much as a hint of movement from inside the house.

‘Do I need to call the police? No, that will take too long… Should I just break the door down?’

His anxiety grew to the point that he seriously considered just smashing the door open. He had been ringing the bell for over thirty minutes, yet Daytona still hadn’t answered him.

[The person you are calling is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep. Charges will apply.]

Beep!

To make matters worse, Daytona’s phone was switched off, leaving Tae-Sung with no way to reach him.

‘What do I do? Should I just break in?’

Just as Tae-Sung was about to break the door down…

“Hello, Tae-Sung…”

The door opened, and Daytona appeared, looking like a complete wreck.

‘Ugh…!’

Tae-Sung nearly passed out from the stench of alcohol Daytona reeked of. The strong, pungent stench of whiskey was so overwhelming that Tae-Sung felt like he was getting drunk just from inhaling it.

‘Just how much did this guy drink?’ Tae-Sung wondered, but he couldn’t even begin to guess.

However, the problem was that Daytona didn’t even look drunk at all.

“May I come in?” Tae-Sung asked.

“Yeah…” Daytona replied weakly.

“How much did you drink? Seriously?”

“I… don’t know… I can’t even remember how much I drank…” Daytona replied, his voice sounding low and lifeless.

“…”

“But what’s strange is… I can’t seem to get drunk no matter how much I drink… No matter how many bottles I empty…” Daytona said, forcing a smile.

“Daytona…”

“I want to get drunk, but my mind is crystal clear. And this… this thing right here just hurts so much…” Dayton said, clutching his chest. Then, he clenched his fist and pounded his chest hard as if he wanted to smash it.

“Daytona! Stop!”

“What am I supposed to do now?! I’m just in… constant pain. My mind’s blank, but I can still feel the pain.”

“First, let’s try to—”

“Haa… Haa…!”

All of a sudden, Daytona started gasping for air like he was suffocating. Then, he clutched his chest and collapsed to the floor.

Thud!

Tae-Sung’s head bodyguard rushed in at once.

“He is having a panic attack from severe stress, sir!”

“A panic attack?”

“Yes, sir. And on top of that, he is too drunk and showing signs of dehydration, too. We need to get him to a hospital quickly. If we leave him like this, he might continue drinking and eventually die… if he does not do something drastic before that.”

“Okay. Let’s get him to a hospital right now.”

Tae-Sung ended up taking Daytona, who was now like an empty shell, to the nearest hospital.

‘Damn it… How can someone do this to another person? That bastard isn’t even human…’ Tae-Sung growled inwardly.

Seeing Daytona in this state only made Tae-Sung’s fury burn hotter. Right now, Tae-Sung wanted nothing more than to find Lee Geon and kill him with his bare hands.

Why? It was all because Lee Geon showed little remorse after doing all sorts of despicable things. He had even uploaded a video on his G-Tube channel showing Amelia’s death and the mansion burning down.

He didn’t care one bit about tormenting Daytona by uploading the video. He just cared about raking in views and profiting off of Daytona’s misery.

[Divine Punishment: The First Step Towards Revolution (Ft. Killing Han Tae-Sung’s Friend’s Lover)]

As if what he had done wasn’t despicable enough, he even uploaded the video with an extremely provocative thumbnail and title. Without a doubt, Lee Geon was pure evil—the embodiment of evil in its rawest, vilest form.

‘Fine. If that’s how you wanna play it, then this means war. I’m going to destroy you thoroughly,’ Tae-Sung thought, swallowing his anger and vowing to never forgive Lee Geon.

***

On that same night, Lee Geon started livestreaming once again.

“So, how have you all been? Did you see the new video I uploaded? I’m going to keep uploading the Divine Punishment Series. It’s gonna keep going forever, and I don’t care who you are.

“This revolution will be fucking brutal as hell, and I’m going to crush everyone related to Han Tae-Sung. So don’t get chummy with him if you don’t wanna be the next star of my show.”

Lee Geon called the terror he unleashed on Tae-Sung and his comrades “the Divine Punishment Series.”

The idea was quite simple and straightforward. Lee Geon was playing the role of heaven’s retribution to punish Tae-Sung and everyone related to him.

[GENKim: This guy is crazy…]

[WeAreUniverse: Holy shit… This guy is absolutely ruthless…]

[ShowtaryTV: Lee Geon is back! LEE GEON is fucking BAACKKK!]

[AlPacinko: Damn! This was crazy!]

[ZzapZzap: I think Han Tae-Sung’s balls just shriveled up lol lol lol!]

Lee Geon’s followers were in awe of his demonic charisma and cheered like zealots at the return of the gaming world’s devil.

‘Keke! Yeah, this is human nature. Unwritten rules? Fuck that! If you have power, you get to do whatever you want. Kill, steal, and burn! That’s right! Kekeke!’

Lee Geon was pleased after watching the chat go berserk. He understood the dark hunger buried in every gamer better than anyone else.

In his eyes, BNW had failed its players. The game granted its players freedom, but was it actually freedom? BNW’s world was built around massive NPC nations, and those nations had always been too strong and controlling for the players to run wild.

However, that was only true up until a year ago.

Gamers had grown exponentially in number during that time, while the NPCs had been slowly losing control. Moreover, the players’ ability to grow stronger was unique to them, so they were finally starting to outgrow the NPCs, tipping the power balance in the favor of the players.

On top of that, a string of massive wars had decimated the old great powers on the continent, making it further difficult to control the players.

Now, a world had come where the players could slaughter the NPCs without fear of repercussions, and Lee Geon, being the cunning devil he was, saw that opportunity all too well.

This was the dawn of an age of chaos, a lawless age where monsters like Lee Geon could rampage unchecked.

“Hey, everyone. Want me to let you in on a little secret?” Lee Geon leaned closer to the camera and said, his tone dripping with menace. Then, he grinned and said, “The balance of power in this game is about to change.

“What do I mean by that? It’s quite simple! We, the players, are getting strong enough to crush the NPCs. In other words, we’re stronger than those damn AI puppets now.”

At that moment, a question popped up in the chat.

[JoseonPrincess: So what’s your point? Stop beating around the bush already!]

Lee Geon flashed a devious grin before instantly kicking the viewer who asked the question and blacklisting them.

“My point? Keke! You’re a dumbass. Learn to listen next time, okay? Blacklisted!” Lee Geon sneered. Then, he continued, “Up until now, we, the players, are being ruled by NPCs. Isn’t that funny? Why the hell should we be ruled by some artificial intelligence? They’re just objects created by us, so shouldn’t it be normal for humans to rule over AI?

“A world is coming where we, the players, will rule the NPCs. We’re only gonna get stronger, and those pathetic NPCs can’t keep up with us. Eventually, we will rule them, conquer them, and enslave them! That’s how things should be—that’s justice!

“I’m gonna build that world for all of us. I’ll execute Han Tae-Sung, that lapdog who sides with the NPCs, and carve out a world for us, the true masters!”

Having delivered his message to his fanatics, Lee Geon suddenly thought of Han Tae-Sung.

‘Kekeke! I don’t care anymore if Season two gets delayed! This will be fun, maybe more fun than starting over again! Massacring the NPCs is a thrill in itself! And you will side with them, won’t you, Han Tae-Sung? Bwahahaha!’

He loved the narrative he came up with and couldn’t help but be excited for what would soon happen in the future.

The mere thought of bringing Han Tae-Sung down, dragging him into a pit of despair he would never crawl out of, and watching him drown in his tears was more than enough to give Lee Geon a euphoric rush.