Debuff Master - Chapter 1146
Chapter 1146
‘But how many levels does it give?’
Siegfried wasted no time and went straight up to the Adventurer selling the pants that boosted the skill level of Karma Flare.
He decided to ask point-blank and find out, as there was no point dropping a fortune if it only boosted the skill by one or two levels.
The fact that the item boosted the skill level of Karma Flare was already pretty good, but what really mattered was how many skill levels it would bestow upon the skill.
“Hello. How many levels does it give?” Siegfried asked.
The Adventurer asked in response, “Which one? Ah, the pants with Karma Flare?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“See for yourself.”
The Adventurer brought up the trade window and placed the Coral Pants inside the trade window.
[Coral Cardinal’s Pants]
[A pair of pants worn by a religious leader of the Coral Race.]
[It looks a bit worn out, but it is still perfectly usable.]
[Type: Armor]
[Rating: Unique]
[Durability: 389/500]
[Level Requirement: 299+]
[Effect: +20 Karma Flare]
‘H-Holy shiiiiit!’
Siegfried was so shocked that he almost fell on his butt right then and there, as the Coral Cardinal’s Pants raised the skill level of his main ability by a whopping twenty levels.
‘I-I have to buy this! I have to buy this even if I get ripped off!’
The god of impulse-buying possessed Siegfried.
Even getting +10 on a main skill was already considered unbelievably lucky, so +20 on a main skill was absolutely absurd.
Having twenty levels to one’s main skill was akin to gaining twenty bonus levels.
Only a fool would walk away from this, so Siegfried was prepared to go into debt if it meant getting his hands on the item. An item that gave twenty skill levels was so rare that it could be considered legendary.
“How much for this?” Siegfried asked.
The Adventurer shrugged and replied, “Make me an offer.”
“Hmm…”
Siegfried pondered for a moment before naming his price, which was about ten percent above the usual market price for high-end Coral items. Since the item gave twenty skill levels, it seemed like a fair offer to him.
However, the Adventurer simply laughed at his offer.
“Pfft! Sorry, man.”
He flatly refused and didn’t even pretend to negotiate.
“Is it too low?”
“Yeah, it’s too low.”
“Then how about if I give you more?”
“Make an offer then.”
“Okay, I’ll go twenty percent above market price.”
“Nope. Sorry.”
“Thirty percent?”
“Sorry.”
The guy seemed completely unfazed, not budging an inch, even though Siegfried wasn’t showing his desperation.
However, the Adventurer’s response made sense, as an item that gave twenty skill levels was not something that could simply be slapped with a price tag.
This was one of those rare items where a number would be given, and either the deal would go through or not.
“Look, just give me a figure so I can match it. How can I make an offer when I have no idea how much you want for it?” Siegfried said with a hint of irritation in his voice.
“Then just don’t buy it, no? Problem solved.”
It was then.
‘Should I just kill him?’ Siegfried thought, killing intent rising from deep within him.
The deal would be sealed and done if the Adventurer simply gave a number, but no, he had to act like a total prick instead.
“Fine. If gold is too vague, then let’s talk cash.”
“Go ahead.”
“…”
“Spit it out. You’re the one who needs this, no?”
“Five hundred million won.”
“Nope. Sorry.”
“Seven hundred million won.”
“Newp.”
“One billion won.”
“Yeah, thanks for the offer, but no thanks. Not selling.”
The Adventurer turned and walked away without any hesitation after rejecting Siegfried’s one billion won offer.
‘Should I just kill him? I think that would be much simpler…’ Siegfried thought, considering the possibility.
If he were to kill him here, then the Coral Cardinal’s Pants could probably end up dropping.
‘No. Calm down…’
Siegfried forced every last bit of self-control he had to suppress the itch in his hand that wanted to reach for his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp.
He was a greedy bastard, but Siegfried still had one rule he always followed—to not harm anyone innocent just because he wanted their items.
‘Okay, fine. I’ll just think of it as donating money to the poor. I’ve got more than enough money anyway.’
Taking a deep breath, Siegfried walked up to the Adventurer.
“Hey, I’ll give you two and a half billion. That’s gotta be much more than the item—”
“Good luck with that, buddy. Not selling.”
“Three billion. That’s my final offer.”
“Pfft! Just three billion for this? Haha! Good luck finding another seller!”
“Hey, come on, man. Three billion for just an item is already quite a good offer. Don’t be unreasonable.”
“Don’t buy it if I’m being unreasonable. Why are you whining?”
“How am I supposed to decide on an offer if you don’t give me a figure? I really don’t want to spend more than three billion won.”
“Then don’t buy it.”
“…”
“I might consider it if you offer twenty billion won. We can talk from there.”
With that, the Adventurer turned and walked away again.
Siegfried was so furious at the absurd haggling that he nearly lunged forward and strangled the man.
‘Fine. I’ll just pay. I’m not broke anyway,’ he thought, calming himself down. Then, he stopped the guy and said, “I’ll give you twenty billion won. Done. Just sell it and be done with it.”
The Adventurer flashed a smirk and jacked up the price. “Make it twenty-five billion.”
‘I’ll just kill this fucker.’
Siegfried was so pissed that he grabbed the Adventurer by the scruff of his neck, as he felt that beating the Adventurer to a pulp was better than letting the absurd price gouging continue for another round.
Ding!
A notification popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.
[Alert: Kleptomania has activated!]
As luck would have it, Siegfried accidentally triggered Kleptomania after grabbing the Adventurer’s collar.
***
The Adventurer swatted Siegfried’s hand away and growled at him, “Get your hands off me. Are you trying to pick a fight with me now?”
The only reason this guy could speak to Siegfried like this was due to the Metamorphosis Mask. Even if he scanned Siegfried with the Rune of Insight, all he would see was just a fake name and bogus stat window.
Only Grandmasters could see through Siegfried’s stats with the Rune of Insight.
Thus, the Adventurer thought that Siegfried was some random pushover and looked ready to throw hands right there.
If he knew that the man in front of him was the Siegfried, then he would have jacked up the price even more, but he would never dare to pick a fight.
“No, no,” Siegfried said, chuckling. He shook his head at the hostile vibe. Then, he raised both hands and said, “It’s not like that. You were just leaving too quickly, and I wanted a second of your time, that’s all.”
“It didn’t look like that to me…”
“No, it is.”
“Is that so?”
“Anyway, let’s keep it simple. Thirty billion—no more, no less. That’s the highest I’ll go.”
“Deal.”
The Adventurer snapped up the offer so fast at the mention of thirty billion won that it was a stark contrast to how he acted a while ago.
‘What a dumbass! Kekeke! This idiot’s actually paying up! What a dumb sucker!’
He was practically cheering inwardly, looking like he had hit the jackpot
Truth be told, the price he actually wanted was around three billion won. If push came to shove, he would even let it go for one billion. However, he played it cool and kept jacking up the price just to see how far Siegfried would play along.
“How do you wanna pay for the thirty billion won?”
“I’ll pay in gold.”
The Adventurer flinched and exclaimed, “G-Gold?! All of it in gold?!”
Who the hell had thirty billion won worth of gold lying around?
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that works too. Let’s do it.”
The Adventurer opened the trade window, but Siegfried did not put any gold in it.
[Alert: You have stolen Coral Cardinal’s Pants!]
Siegfried had already stolen the item he wanted the moment he grabbed the guy by the collar, and it was all thanks to Kleptomania.
‘Kekeke!’ Siegfried cackled inwardly before placing thirty billion won worth of gold in the trade window.
On the other hand…
“Wait… What? Where the hell did it go? What the fuck…?”
The Adventurer’s face twisted. He frantically checked his Inventory, flipping through every slot in panic.
However, he couldn’t find the Coral Cardinal’s Pants no matter how much he looked.
Why?
It was all because Siegfried had already stolen the pants.
“Where is it?! My item! What the fuck?! Where is it?!”
The Adventurer looked like a lost child and was on the verge of tears as he searched through his Inventory.
He was on the verge of having a panic attack, as thirty billion won was about to vanish right before his eyes.
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you putting the item up?” Siegfried asked, sounding as innocent as possible.
“W-Wait! Just give me a minute!”
“Hm?”
“No, I had it. I swear I had it just now!”
The Adventurer combed through his entire Inventory again, top to bottom, left to right, but the item he was looking for was nowhere to be found.
“Where is it? It was right here… It was just here…”
“Hm? You don’t have the item?”
“W-Wait! Please, just wait!”
The Adventurer panicked and even looked around on the ground, just in case he had dropped it somehow.
Unfortunately, his efforts were futile.
“Hey, what gives? I thought we had a deal?”
“Hold on! Just hold on!”
“Nah, I’m done. Forget about it,” Siegfried grimaced and grumbled, turning away.
The Adventurer grabbed Siegfried’s arm and cried out, “W-Wait! I’ll find it! I swear! Just wait a second! Please, just wait!”
“Nope. Sorry.”
“You can’t be serious! Come on! Can’t you be patient for a few damn fucking minutes?!”
“Have a nice day.”
With that, Siegfried vanished, teleporting away in an instant.
“M-My money… My thirty billion won… my thirty billion won…”
Long after Siegfried disappeared, the Adventurer just stood there, rummaging through his Inventory like a man possessed. He kept on mumbling to himself like a broken record.
Who would not lose their minds when an item worth thirty billion won had evaporated right in front of their very eyes?
***
“Ha! Serves him right for trying to mess with me,” Siegfried scoffed, thinking of the poor guy whose mental state was probably in shambles now.
If that fool had just agreed to Siegfried’s offer of twenty billion won, then he would have been living large right now, just like winning the lottery.
Not that an Adventurer capable of coming to the Coral Planet would starve to death, but twenty billion won was still a lot of money. Instead, the fool pushed his luck and mocked Siegfried, so he ended up with nothing.
He deserved every bit of what he had coming for him.
Either way, Siegfried now had the item that boosted Karma Flare’s level by a whopping twenty levels, all for free.
He skipped happily back to the command center while whistling a tune.
Meanwhile, the Proatine Empire was finally at peace.
Despite the countless wars and battles that broke out in recent years, not once had its borders been breached.
If one asked anyone on the continent which nation was the safest and best to live in, then their answer would be obvious—the Proatine Empire.
Even the mighty Marchioni Empire had taken blow after blow from wars and battles, but the Proatine Empire was the only place left that could truly be called a utopia.
However, even this so-called utopia had a small disturbance brewing.
Thud, thud, thud…
A man walked through the imperial palace of the Proatine Empire, as if he owned the place, and his footsteps echoed throughout the halls.
His appearance looked so shabby that he would make beggars look good. His long hair resembled the unkempt mane of a wild horse, and he was wearing a blue outfit that looked just like a prison jumpsuit. Heavy black shackles locked his limbs as well.
Anyone could tell at a single glance that he looked exactly like an escaped convict who had just broken out of prison.
However, despite his appearance, the man walked through the imperial palace without being disturbed.
No one tried to stop him, and no one could stop him. Every single one of the imperial guards who tried to stop him was knocked unconscious, leaving a trail of guards lying on the ground in his wake.
In other words, this man had just strolled into the Proatine Empire’s imperial palace all alone, yet nobody could stop him.
“Halt.”
Oscar arrived with a squad of Proatine Force members and blocked the man’s path.
“This is the imperial palace of the glorious Proatine Empire. How dare you defile these halls with your insolence?”
“This puny palace is not my destination. Do not stand in my way, knight,” the man replied calmly.
“I said, halt.”
“And I said I’m merely passing through.”
“Passing through the imperial palace? And where exactly do you intend to go, stranger?”
Oscar was already wary, as she could sense the sheer pressure radiating off of this man who looked like an escaped convict. She could tell at a glance that he was easily in the realm of Masters or even higher.
Thus, she chose to resolve things through words rather than picking a fight with this mysterious individual.
“I…” the man muttered under his breath. Then, he continued in a hushed voice, “…Am on my way to see my master.”
