Chapter 23: 23

A large body fell to the ground.

Thud!

The sound was proportionate to the body’s large size.

“Keuh… Grrr…” The Mutated Tiger gasped for air. It was still breathing, but it had no more strength to stand up.

“I won, you bastard… Haa… Ha…” Siegfried huffed and puffed. He was currently a bloody mess. The wound he had sustained from fighting the Mutated Tiger was one thing, but the real mess was his bloodied face.

“Ugh… My teeth…” he moaned while massaging his chin.

A human’s teeth were weak, and their jaws were much weaker compared to an animal’s jaws. However, Siegfried used his teeth to bite through the tiger’s thick hide doing his best to make a tear, so his teeth would obviously hurt.

Every single one of his teeth was shaking, and it was a miracle they were still there.

At the end of the day, this was still a virtual reality game, and he could simply drink a few bottles of potions to recover.

[Siegfried]

[HP: ⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜]

He only had ten percent of his HP left, and he would have probably lost to the Mutated Tiger if it weren’t for his innate endurance and competitiveness.

“Let me get you out of your misery now.” Siegfried gripped his steel rod tightly.

“Grrr…!” The Mutated Tiger let out a low growl in response, but it did not show any signs of resistance as if it knew that its time had come.

“Goodbye, it was a good fight. Let me send you off in one clean strike,” Siegfried said before smashing his steel rod into the tiger’s skull.

Pukeok!

[You have successfully hunted a Mutated Tiger!]

[Experience Points +1,000]

[You have leveled up!]

[You are now Level 11!]

Siegfried obtained a huge amount of experience points thanks to hunting an enemy with a higher level than him, and the Rune of Insight at the back of his left hand let out a bright glow to signal that he had leveled up.

***

Thud…!

Siegfried sat on the ground before grumbling, “Ah… This is killing me…”

He won against the Mutated Tiger, but it hadn’t been an easy fight since he ended up becoming a bloody mess, but it was undeniably a tremendous achievement. A normal Level 10 player would have to team up with at least three other Level 10 players to hunt a lone Mutated Tiger after all.

“Hahaha! Hahahaha!” Siegfried laughed… like a moron.

He was laughing really loud to express how much fun he was having.

‘Alright, I can say that I have tested my abilities out. My physical abilities are… pretty good. It’s better than what I had expected,’ Siegfried thought.

Without relying too much on the Debuff Master’s skills, he was able to test the limits of his physical prowess through the battles he fought against the Mutated Wolves and a Mutated Tiger.

The result was truly surprising.

‘Master’s quenching and tempering process combined with the Ogre… Those two things completely changed me. I’m no longer the old Tae-Sung… I’m Siegfried!’ he thought while clenching his fists.

Siegfried could feel that he was no longer the old Elemental Mage Tae-Sung. He had become a different person.

He also realized something else...

‘Strength is very important, but my Stamina has to support me as well. It won’t matter how good I am at controlling my body if my Strength and Stamina could not keep up with it. My control also became pretty much useless the moment my stats failed to keep up. The basics are important… But I need to make sure that my Stamina can keep up with me.’ 

He arrived at this conclusion after personally experiencing what a lack of stats could do to someone, and he was absolutely right.

Why?

It did not matter how much his mana and skills could amplify his damage since the percentage increase depended on the initial attack’s damage. A person with more Strength but less mana was bound to deal more damage than someone with more mana but less Strength.

“I should continue to focus on my Strength for the time being—” Siegfried muttered.

“Hey! You were awesome!” Betelgeuse interrupted Siegfried’s thoughts with his loud praises while walking toward the latter.

“You seem to be reflecting on the battle even though the battle has just ended. My, my, I can’t believe how diligent you are! Hohoho! I have taken a liking to you! I like you! You truly deserve to become my disciple! Ahuehuehuehuehuehue!” Betelgeuse let out a strange creepy laugh.

“No, I—” Siegfried muttered.

However, he was interrupted by Betelgeuse once again. “What is your name? It seems that I still haven’t asked your name yet!”

“My name is Siegfried,” Siegfried replied.

“Siegfried!” Betelgeuse exclaimed and nodded in satisfaction. “You’re mine!”

“What…?” Siegfried muttered, seemingly flabbergasted by the old man’s words.

“I will force you to become my disciple no matter what!” Betelgeuse declared.

A message suddenly popped up in front of Siegfried.

[The Sword Emperor Betelgeuse is currently Obsessed with you!]

‘What the heck…? What do you mean by obsessed? It hasn’t even been that long since we met…’ Siegfried thought.

He had to focus on getting stronger, so even a beautiful woman throwing herself to him would be nothing but an annoying distraction for him, but to think that an old man was trying to force himself on him…

“I have told you before that I am not interested,” Siegfried said with a strict tone. His voice seemed like he was drawing a line between them.

“Whyyy? Don’t be like that and just give it a try… Pwetty, pwease?” Betelgeuse acted cute and added, “Just become my disciple, pweash?”

“I refuse,” Siegfried replied.

“Come on, think about it. Becoming a Grandmaster won’t be just a dream if the skills I dedicated my entire life to and your talent were combined…” Betelgeuse said.

However, Siegfried directly ignored and walked past him to continue harvesting the hides and fangs of the Mutated Wolves.

“Hey! Are you ignoring me?! Ha? Is that it?!” Betelgeuse shouted.

The Sword Emperor tried to sound as threatening as he could, but Siegfried continued to ignore him.

Seuk… Seuk…

Siegfried was fully immersed in harvesting the hides and fangs. After all, they would be his main source of income for now.

‘It’s better to ignore a barking dog,’ he thought.

Other people would be astounded if they found out what he was thinking, but Betelgeuse was nothing but a barking dog to Siegfried right now. After all, his one and only master was the Level 999 Hidden NPC, Deus.

***

On the way back to town…

“Hey, Siegfried. Answer me will you? Pweasshh! What did I do wrong? Just tell me what I did wrong, and I will apologize for it,” Betelgeuse pleaded while squirming and acting cute.

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“…”

“Do you want to go eat something yummy, my lovely Siegfried?” Betelgeuse asked in a nasal voice.

“…”

“Or do you want me to buy you an item? I’m pretty rich, you know?” Betelgeuse said with a smirk.

Siegfried almost replied when the Sword Emperor offered to buy him items, but he soon snapped out of it and decided to continue ignoring the old man.

‘I’ll eventually earn money anyway. I can’t betray my master over spare change,’ he thought.

It seemed that he could resist the temptation of items thanks to his never-ending reverence and loyalty toward his master, and the fact that his future was basically guaranteed under Deus played a huge role in it as well.

“Don’t be like that and just hear me out. Just an hour will do—no, thirty minutes will do…!” Betelgeuse said as he persistently followed Siegfried on the way back to town.

“Let’s go and have a drink somewhere nice—no, a cup of tea will do since we are going to be seriously discussing our future together,” Betelgeuse pleaded.

“Ah, I said, please leave me alone and go,” Siegfried curtly replied.

It seemed that he was reaching the limits of his patience as well. He tried to put up with the old man’s stubbornness, but it seemed that he had to draw the line right there and then.

“I have no plans of learning anything under a weakling like you, old man. Go and become a Grandmaster at the very least, if you really want me to even consider it,” Siegfried said.

“W-Weakling…? Who? Me?” Betelgeuse was stupefied.

“Yes, I might consider it if a Grandmaster personally came and begged me, but a Master? Ha… please don’t make me laugh… sheesh…” Siegfried grumbled to himself, but his voice was a bit loud in hopes that the old man would hear his grumblings.

‘Just go away… damn it…’ Siegfried thought, hoping that his words had hurt the Sword Emperor’s pride enough for him to leave.

Surprisingly, his plan seemed to be working…

“A Grandmaster… Grandmaster…” Betelgeuse mumbled to himself with a dark expression, and then he continued mumbling, “Hehe… a Grandmaster… Grandmaster…”

The realm of Grandmaster was a realm the Sword Emperor strived for his entire life.

Betelgeuse wasn’t alone in front of that wall. There were countless other Masters in history that had their growth stunted by that insurmountable wall, and this was the cruel reality for those aiming for the pinnacle of strength.

‘Since when did I get so discouraged that I abandoned my goal of becoming a Grandmaster…? That was my lifelong dream and my reason for living…’ Betelgeuse thought.

All of a sudden Siegfried’s harsh words seemed to have made the Sword Emperor realize something as the latter started to self-reflect.

‘That’s right… I somehow ended up giving up on it without even realizing that I gave up on it. Where did my burning passion from my younger days go? How did I end up giving up on my dream so easily…?’ Betelgeuse thought while staring at Siegfried with a strange expression.

‘What the heck? What’s wrong with him? Was I too harsh on him…?’ Siegfried thought.

The Sword Emperor suddenly stopped and stared at the sky.

‘It seems that being harsh worked. That’s why you should have left when I said that you should… tsk…’ Siegfried thought.

He then decided to ignore the old man standing in a daze and go on his way after successfully getting rid of the latter.

That was what he thought….

***

Unfortunately, it seemed that Siegfried didn’t successfully get rid of Betelgeuse.

Siegfried had left long ago, but Betelgeuse was still standing alone in the middle of the road.

“A Grandmaster… Grandmaster…” Betelgeuse continued to mumble to himself.

“That’s right!” Betelgeuse suddenly exclaimed, seemingly realizing something.

“Just you wait and see, punk!” Betelgeuse shouted while pointing in the direction where Siegfried had disappeared before saying, “I will work my butt off to become a Grandmaster! Then, I swear that I will force you to become my disciple! Let’s see what happens, then! Hehehe…! Will you be able to act so haughty by then? I will tie you down once I become a Grandmaster!”

The Sword Emperor was straying from the normal path and was descending to madness without even realizing it himself. After all, his renewed vigor and reason for striving to become a Grandmaster was all because of some young greenhorn.

Siegfried’s words seemed to have rekindled the embers of passion in the old man’s heart, and the realization the old man had gained today seemed to foreshadow something.

“Hehe… Hehehe… I will do whatever it takes to force you to become my disciple. I will become a Grandmaster, and then… Ehehehehe… Huehuehuehue!” Betelgeuse laughed creepily.

Oh, his eyes seemed bloodshot for some reason as well.

“Hmm… where should I go now? I should go to a place with fresh air and crystal clear water if I want to train…” Betelgeuse muttered before he suddenly thought of the perfect place. “Ah! That place! That place will be a fitting training ground for me. Alright! I will definitely come back as a Grandmaster… and then… Siegfried… hehe… my lovely Siegfried… hehehehe…!”

The Sword Emperor of the Five Star Heaven started his journey to becoming a Grandmaster.

***

Thud!

A heavy pouch landed on the counter table, and it was a pouch filled to the brim with gold coins.

“Here you go,” Jericho said, and then he added, “You really did a great job today.”

“You are praising me too much,” Siegfried replied.

“I heard that you managed to kill a Mutated Tiger as well.” Jericho pointed out.

“Ah, yes…” Siegfried nonchalantly replied.

“Amazing… I knew from the start that you weren’t an ordinary novice. I can see that your name will spread all over the continent in just a few years,” Jericho said.

“Ah… there’s no way that will happen,” Siegfried said.

He was pretending to be humble while thinking, ‘I hope so, too.’

He was hoping that Jericho’s words would come to fruition.

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“Then, what do you plan to do now? Take a break?” Jericho asked.

“Yes, I plan to rest for a while,” Siegfried said while nodding in response, and then he added, “It was a tough day after all.”

It had truly been a tough day.

Fighting against a pack of Mutated Wolves had mentally exhausted him, but he immediately fought to the death against a Mutated Tiger.

“Alright then, thank you for your hard work today. See you tomorrow,” Jericho said.

“Yes, thank you for your hard work, too,” Siegfried replied. He took the pouch filled with gold with him and logged out.

***

The next morning, Siegfried went back to the Mercenary Guild after getting enough rest. His plan was to basically clock in at the Mercenary Guild every day from now on since he wanted to focus on raising his level.

“Oh, you’re here? Good morning!” Jericho welcomed Siegfried before asking, “Isn’t it too early, though? You could have gotten more rest.”

“I still have a long way to go,” Siegfried replied.

“Oh… To think that you are diligent on top of being talented. Haha! You are truly a difficult-to-find young man in this day and age. Alright, let me see if there’s any work I can give you today…” Jericho said as he went through the stack of requests.

All of a sudden, the Mercenary Guild’s door swung open.

Bam!

A blood-soaked man rushed into the building and shouted, “I-It’s an emergency!”

“Hmm?” Siegfried looked at the blood-soaked man and muttered when he recognized the latter, “The hunter…?”

The bloodied man was none other than one of the hunters guarding Grandpa Bukati’s ranch.

“Y-You’re here!” the hunter exclaimed.

“Yes, I am…?” Siegfried replied, seemingly confused.

“It’s an emergency! Something bad happened!” the hunter shouted at the top of his lungs.

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