Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 138: Legendary Dish

Genie, Khan and Locke entered the dungeon sporting solemn expressions on their faces. This was the dungeon that they had failed to clear not once, not twice, but six times in total! And today was their final chance to clear this dungeon. Shortly after they had entered the dungeon, the huge form of the Cursed Dragon appeared in their sights.

The Cursed Dragon! This was a Level 450 monster that had its body rotting in many places. However, having a rotten body did not mean that it was weak. After all, it was still supposed to be a dragon. A sword could not even penetrate its thick skin and its powerful skill, Breath could deal a huge amount of damage to players. It could even bring the players under an ‘abnormal state’.

Puhaaaaaa!

The monster fired out its disgusting and horrendous green Breath! Genie, Khan and Locke quickly moved aside to dodge the incoming Breath.

Shwaaaaaaa!

Genie immediately struck her whip towards the Cursed Dragon.

[Your attack has failed.]

However, it was something that she had expected. Its skin was too thick to be penetrated with just one whip attack. Then, the King of Fists, Khan gathered a powerful energy on his fists.

[Battering.]

[A flurry of punches with additional 40% attack power.]

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

[Your attack has failed.]

[Your attack has failed.]

“Kiiiiiyeeeeeeeh!” The Cursed Dragon roared. Some of Khan’s attacks might have failed to go through, but it did not mean that all of his attacks did! The Cursed Dragon almost reeled in place after it allowed three attacks to land on its massive body. However, its skin still looked solid, without any hint of a scratch or a dent on it.

“Keuhahaha! Go to hell! Go to hell!”

Locke kept on slashing at the Cursed Dragon with his ax.

[Your attack has failed.]

[Your attack has failed.]

Slash!

Locke finally landed a hit on the Cursed Dragon’s tough skin. Then, he quickly used that opportunity to cast his Crazy Priest’s Heal on it.

[Crazy Priest’s Heal.]

[Continuous bleeding will be triggered. In addition, there is a 20% probability of triggering various abnormal conditions.]

Spurt!

“Kiiieee?”

The Cursed Dragon finally realized that something strange happened to its body. A long time had passed, but there was still rotten blood spurting out of the injury that it received from the ax earlier. It did not even end there, as the area surrounding the injury began to rot faster than normal.

[The Cursed Dragon has fallen under the abnormal condition ‘Limited Abilities.’.]

[Breath is temporarily unavailable for use.]

“...!”

Locke was caught in surprise when he heard the notifications. He said, “It…it said that Breath is temporarily unavailable since it has fallen under an abnormal condition!”

“Gasp...!”

“...!”

Khan and Genie’s eyes both widened in shock. They kept looking at him as if they could not believe what he had just said.

‘Locke’s Crazy Priest’s Heal can also cause bleeding!’

In the past, his skill did not have much of an effect on the Cursed Dragon. However, right now in front of them, the Cursed Dragon was bleeding profusely. Furthermore, the Cursed Dragon even had its abilities restricted by Heal. The +3 Heal effect was truly something that truly could not be ignored. The skill that they had previously seen was completely different now after acquiring that +3.

Puhaaaack!

Puhaaaaaaack!

The Cursed Dragon suffered from their attacks and finally collapsed on the ground. Its insides were a mess and it could not use its Breath. Its body even started to rot at a speed visible to the naked eye, restricting its movements further.

Thud!

The Cursed Dragon fell with a thud.

Genie trembled in excitement. She thought,?‘If this video gets out in the world...!’

They would definitely be able to get a huge response from the public! They continued raiding the dungeon at a rapid pace. They wanted to finish this as fast as they could, with as much flair as possible.

Finally, they arrived in front of the boss monster. It was none other than the knight of the dead, the Death Knight, which was equipped with a white sword and a golden armor, its body bathing in red light!

“Keuk!”

“Ugh!”

.

Genie and Khan both let out groans of pain as they blocked Death Knight’s attacks.

Then…

Stab!

…A blade ran straight through Genie’s chest.

“Ugh!”

Locke quickly used heal on Genie after watching the situation from behind.

[Heal.]

[You have a 20%~30% probability of recovering the HP of your target.]

The blood spurting out of Genie’s gaping wound slowly trickled down until it stopped. Even her HP slowly filled up, making her body fill with energy and warmth.

“I have never seen Locke look this pretty before, really!”

“Pretty...? That’s not...”

“Keuhahaha! The pretty Locke is coming through! Die! Die! Keuhahaha!” Locke laughed happily, literally flying all over the place. He did not forget to deal a huge amount of damage to the enemy. Of course, he also did not forget his role as a healer of their party. It was truly an amazing sight.

Finally…

“Keuaaaack!”

…The knight of death, Death Knight, was fiercely struck by Khan’s fists and fell down with a shriek. The Death Knight’s sword flashed brightly as huge amounts of gold and artifacts dropped after its death.

[You have leveled up.]

After finishing the Death Knight off, the party took off with great achievements and rewards. They were even able to increase their levels by one.

Everyone was aware that it would become harder to accumulate enough EXP to level up the higher their levels became. In fact, it was already difficult for Level 400 players to even increase their level by one in three days. This was also the reason why rankers were only separated by one level. However, even if the difference was only a single level, the difference was truly substantial. It was like the difference between heaven and earth, be it in terms of strength, attack, or defense.

“We did it!”

“Yay!”

“Keuhahaha! It’s all thanks to this body!”

Khan and Genie both shook their heads at his remarks.

“It’s all thanks to Minhyuk,” Locke laughed crazily, but he still admitted the truth.

It was not because they were overgeared, but simply because he ate an amazing dish! Since this amazing dish had brought about such results, he was definitely going to be Minhyuk’s firm believer! Just then, messages popped out in front of them. It was a totally unexpected set of messages too.

[You are the first group to have conquered a Time Attack Dungeon.]

[You have gained 20 REP.]

[You have acquired +3 on all your basic stats.]

[Time Attack Dungeons will now be opened to the world.]

[The Time Attack Dungeons can only be accessed for 2 weeks.]

[The possible number of attacks per day is 5.]

[Your attack time is limited to 2 hours. If players fail to clear the dungeon, then they will not be allowed to enter the dungeon again.]

[After 2 weeks, the three highest-ranked parties will be given special rewards.]

Time Attack Dungeon!?It was an event dungeon. This event dungeon ran on the rule of?‘the shorter the attack time on boss mobs, the higher the EXP rewards.’.

‘Don’t tell me that the dungeon that we had just cleared was the start of the time attack dungeons?’

What was more surprising was…

‘The Time Attack Dungeons will be open to the world?’

In other words, people from all over the world would be competing for the Time Attack Dungeons. What would happen if their names appeared on that list?

‘We can show them that our country is not dead yet!’

And in order for them to do that?

‘Right now, we can cut our target time to fifteen minutes. So, once we can get out of here and eat Minhyuk’s food, then...?’

Perhaps they could shorten that time even more, and clear the dungeon in less than fifteen minutes!

***

Minhyuk finally received the blessings that Eidni had promised to give him.

[You have received a blessing from Eidni.]

[You have gained 100 points in Holy Power.]

[You have gained +5 in all of your stats.]

[You have gained 10 REP.]

[You will now have 5% additional damage against undead monsters.]

The priest's Holy Power!?Minhyuk even received 100 points directly after obtaining the Holy Power. Along with this blessing, he also received a notification about Varen’s quest.

[Kingdom Quest: Make a Legendary Dish for Goddess Juis!]

Rank: SS

Requirements: Varen's Favor

Rewards: Sushi made entirely with S-grade ingredients, Ballad’s Cup

Penalty for Failure: Your favor with the citizens of Valkyrie Kingdom would drop and you won’t be able to enter the Northern Continent anymore.

Description: Due to the wrath of Goddess Juis, Valkyrie Kingdom and the rest of the Northern Continent is now in a crisis. Goddess Juis wants to taste a dish that is much more delicious than what is usually served to her. Cook for her!

An SS-ranked quest!

“Ballad’s Cup? Is it a wine glass?”

“...Cough.?W…wine glass,” Varen coughed in surprise when he heard Minhyuk compare it to a wine glass.

“Ballad’s cup is a God’s treasure. Its size is in fact larger than the regular size of a goblet, but the water that is held in Ballad’s Cup is said to be holy. It is said that drinking water from the cup will give you a different level of power, comparable or even more powerful than whatever the best medicine can give you.”

“Ho? Is the water in Ballad’s cup much more delicious than normal water? Hiyaaa,” Minhyuk said, eyes glittering in excitement. He even licked his lips and gulped his saliva as he imagined the taste.

Varen was speechless. For some reason, he could not afford to look at Minhyuk right now. He said, “Oh... Uhm... I…I think so?”

“I’m going to make a legendary dish!”

“...”

Minhyuk’s will was burning brightly, not for the kingdom’s sake, but for the sake of delicious sushi and water from Ballad’s Cup!

‘God...!’?Varen thought as he looked wordlessly up in the sky.

“Ah, right, before I start cooking, can I see Goddess Juis?”

“...It’s possible if we ask.”

“I can only cook for her once I have seen her.”

Varen nodded as he called for Eidni. Eidni, who had been called again, prayed and prayed for days to call for Goddess Juis. After a few days, he came out covered in sweat and said, “You can now go inside. However, the only person that she allows in is Minhyuk. Your Highness... she doesn’t wish to see you.”

Varen felt extremely sorry when he heard those words but he still begged Minhyuk, “Please, I’m begging you. When you go inside, don’t say anything like, ‘I’m hungry.’, ‘What does the water in the Ballad’s Cup taste like?’ or ‘Can I just lick it once so I can taste it?’! Please don’t!”

“...Gasp?! My god. Then, can I ask Goddess Juis about what’s delicious?”

‘I knew it! I knew it!’

Varen’s expression hardened. He said, “My goodness! Don’t ask Goddess Juis about what’s delicious! I was just about to ask you to not do that!”

Varen and Eidni both exasperatedly said at the same time.

“P...please don’t say anything weird...”

“We’re begging you, please don’t say anything weird...”

“Eyy. So disappointing,” Minhyuk said, clicking his tongue in disappointment. Even though he felt that it was disappointing, there was nothing that he could do but agree, since they were begging him so loudly and desperately.

“When you get inside, just keep your head down. Don’t raise your head at all. And please, be as polite as possible. The future of our kingdom depends on it!”

“I understand,” Minhyuk said, nodding his head as he entered the temple.

***

Goddess Juis finally agreed to answer the prayers of Priest Eidni after he prayed to her for days. In fact, she could answer him right away but she did not want to do it.

‘You need to go through a bit of trouble!’

She only went down to eat delicious food once every year. In fact, she truly enjoyed having the delicious meal that was served to her rather than that long and boring ritual. However, this time, she discovered that her food was covered in poison. She always hated whenever her meal was compromised, so she had no choice but to show her wrath.

Not long after, the person that would cook for her entered the temple. He tactfully bowed his head as soon as he entered and said, “I greet Goddess Juis!”

His head almost touched his stomach from the stance that he was taking. However, When Goddess Juis looked at his figure, she was so surprised that she even took a step back.

‘W…why is he here?’

This question floated in her head, her slim figure trembling. Then, she took a deep breath and calmed herself down. There was a huge shadow hiding behind Minhyuk. This shadow was in the shape of a baby pig. Juis could not believe her eyes. However, as soon as she tried to open her mouth and ask about the pig…

[The God of Athenae is imposing sanctions on you.]

Juis bit her lips hard to control herself. The?God of Athenae?was the absolute authority. He was the ultimate god among all of the gods. She could not go against his orders, even if she was a god herself.

When Juis turned her attention towards the bowing man, she realized that something was strange. Although still weak, she was sure that the man was emitting a very familiar aura.

‘A god...?’

The power and aura that the man was emitting was definitely the power of a god.