Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 389: Dragon’s Lair

Minhyuk looked at the people that lined up and knelt down in front of him. The first thing that he did was to urgently assist Ellie up. Ellie was expressing her gratitude to Minhyuk for giving her a new lease in life with his ox bone soup. She had shown the world how close she was to Minhyuk, and was demonstrating that she would not let a single one of them go, if they ever dared to touch Minhyuk.

Then, Minhyuk looked around at the people that knelt in front of him. He thought, ‘The mouths that I have to feed are going to increase in groups now…?!’

His line of thought and concern were the same, as usual. However, it finally occurred to Minhyuk that he was now truly the leader of a guild. Not only did he have to pursue and make his personal ambition come true, he also had to take into account and bring benefits to his own guild as well.

The Let’s Eat Sect Guild would no longer be a small guild of elites. Even though they were elites, the fact that they were still a small guild would sooner or later restrict them and their ambitions. So, Minhyuk nodded to their requests.

Alicia and Lucia were women that Minhyuk had known for quite some time now. Alicia’s Artheon Guild was mainly composed of mages, and was considered as one of the four great guilds in their country. They also had significantly fewer members compared to the other three major guilds in the country. The fact that a guild with such small numbers compared to the other major guilds, and yet could climb up to become one of the four great guilds, was a very surprising achievement. This meant that Artheon Guild was a guild teeming with highly talented mages.

On the other hand, Lucia’s Light Assassin Guild was a newly established guild. Ever since its establishment, it had already caused a huge fuss. Although they were an assassin guild made up of only 100 people, every single one of them were poised to become elites.

Simply put, Minhyuk had gained a tremendous boost to the magical side and the hidden shadow side of his guild. There was only one more group left. This group was none other than the group of Chinese players. There were around 200 Chinese players kneeling down on one knee and waiting for his approval.

Among these players was Huang Xuan. This person had brought a huge surprise to the players of Cairon Continent.

Who was Huang Xuan? Huang Xuan was hailed as the ‘Roaring Beast’?and was ranked fourth in the official Chinese rankings. The reason why he was called the Roaring Beast was because he could change into various animal forms while fighting. He was clearly a man that stood at a high place in China, but he wanted to work under Minhyuk’s banner. Huang Xuan was confident in himself and his ability to read others. He had an eye for outstanding people, and he knew, ‘This player will stand at the apex.’

Huang Xuan had witnessed a battle involving one of the Summit Five. The scene back then caused his blood to boil with passion. Every member of the Summit Five each had power that was comparable to an entire kingdom. However, this thrill had grown exponentially after he met Minhyuk. And he had always believed and sided with his instinct and senses.

Minhyuk finally stood in front of them after talking with both Genie and Mei Wei. He said, “You already know this, but we are from different continents.”

“It doesn’t matter to us!”

“It may not matter to you, but it does for us.”

“…!”

“…!”

Minhyuk’s voice was very firm and dignified. Huang Xuan looked at him with a bit of surprise. He thought,?‘He’s quite different from what I heard.’

According to what Huang Xuan has heard, Minhyuk was a very bright, pure and naive man. However, his solemn and dignified voice was firm enough to make him, the person that ranked fourth in the Chinese rankings, shudder and flinch.

“With Mister Huang Xuan as the representative, I hope that you can meet our conditions to join the Let’s Eat Sect Guild.”

“What do you mean by conditions?”

“Yes, you don’t like it?”

Huang Xuan and the rest of the Chinese players shook their heads when they heard Minhyuk’s words. Conditions to enter a guild? Of course these things existed in each and every guild. And since they were from different countries, these conditions were bound to be even greater.

Huang Xuan thought, ‘What conditions does the Let’s Eat Sect Guild, a guild that dreams of becoming a kingdom, want? Do they want us to give them outstanding artifacts? Or proof of hunting a legendary monster? Maybe they want us to hand over the ownership of an undiscovered dungeon?’

As the thought passed his head, Minhyuk said, “Doesn’t China have some of the best cooking ingredients in the world? Bring me S~SS grade ingredients.”

Huang Xuan was stunned as he looked at Minhyuk and asked, “Cooking ingredients?”

“Yes.”

“…???”

Huang Xuan turned suspicious for a moment. Then, Minhyuk said, “That… Don’t bring in those that taste healthy, but make sure to bring those that taste unhealthy. Understand? Also, bringing the ingredients doesn’t mean that you will be accepted easily. Your entry to our guild will also depend on our guild’s own assessment of you.”

“…Yes. Alright. We understand.”

No matter what, it was strange. A healthy taste basically meant that it was not tasty, while an unhealthy taste obviously meant that it was supposed to taste good.

“Mister Representative, Huang Xuan, we will appreciate it if you can write down the names of those that will participate and take the opportunity to lead them.”

“I understand,” Huang Xuan obediently answered, which came as a bigger shock to all of the Chinese players. This just showed how much he wanted to join the Let’s Eat Sect Guild.

And with this, the Continent Cloud Episode had ended.

***

Countless rumors began to circulate all over the world. The rumors were all related to ‘Mage Ali’.

[Is it true that Mage Ali has returned to Level 1? There are rumors saying that all of the magic that he had learned had disappeared, you know?]

[It’s true. Mr. Rupert, the Legend Seeker, had discovered Moldoron’s archives quite some time ago. According to the records that he found, Moldoron’s successor could temporarily awaken Moldoron’s incredible and tremendous power. However, whoever awakened this power would receive punishment. It is said that God will take away all of their powers. And according to a player eye witness, they have recently spotted Ali in a novice hunting ground.]

Legend Seekers were people that chased after legends by digging up old documents and ancient records. The rumors about Ali were spreading like wildfire locally and even internationally, because Rupert’s claims were 90% correct.

[South Korea has lost one gold medal in Athenae: World War. Mage Ali had truly become a ‘legend’. He became a legend with nothing else left to his name.]

[In the Athenae: World War a month later, I wonder how many medals Korea will win?]

[Four bronze medals? Hehehehehe.]

[I think four bronze medals are a bit too much, I think one bronze medal, hehehe?]

[The truth is, with Ali back at a low level, Korea doesn’t seem to have any chances of winning.]

[What is he doing right now?]

[He’s probably killing some rabbits in the novice village.]

At that time, Mage Ali was actually located in the Ogre Mountains. Him being found in a novice hunting ground was just some baseless rumors. According to Rupert, someone had spread false rumors. However, it was true that his level back then was at Level 1, although his level was currently at Level 45. An ogre, which could easily cross Level 100, was running in front of him.

“Keuaaaaaaaack!”

Ali stretched his fingers out.

[Wind Cutter]

[The Dragon’s Mana Heart is expressing its power.]

[Your Magic Damage has increased by 50%.]

[You have ignored your opponent’s Magical Defense.]

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash—

Ali’s Wind Cutter produced wind saws that were six times larger than those that ordinary mages produced. This skill of his easily tore the ogre into pieces in just one go.

Thuuuud—

The ogre collapsed into a heap.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Just one magic shot and it took the ogre down. Ali felt pleased. His level might have fallen all the way back to 1, but these were the notifications that he heard, after they had successfully hunted Black Dragon Vormon not too long ago.

[Black Dragon Vormon’s Mana Heart has resonated with you, the one that used the most powerful magic.]

[Black Dragon Vormon’s Mana Heart has chosen you and has seeped into your body and your body’s power.]

[The more you level up, your WIS and INT will increase by 500 and the more you will be able to open up Black Dragon Vormon’s magic Book.]

Ali smiled a bit. He had to work a bit harder until the Athenae: World War.

***

Athenae: World War was just a month away. However, the problem was that everyone believed that Ali, who they had expected to win at least one gold medal in magic, had returned back to Level 1. And right now, all of the branch managers from all over the world had gathered.

“We will be holding our very first Athenae: World War and it will become the world’s hottest issue.”

“That’s right. We can expect that the finalists will be ‘America, Russia and Japan’.”

“What will Korea’s ranking be?”

“Hmmm…”

“Uhmm…”

Even though the branch managers from all over the world had gathered together like this, they had to be cautious of their words. They could not speak with any ill will.

“To be honest, I’m not sure if they’ll be able to win any gold medal.”

“It’s a pity, but I think so too.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Currently, the Food God still hasn’t made clear if he intends to participate, so it’s still undecided. Of course, he can choose to join later. I expect him to do a great job as a non-combat player.”

The person that spoke did not seem to care much about the Food God.

“Meanwhile, Mage Ali has returned back to Level 1, while the Emperor of the Sword, Carr, has only temporarily awakened that strange power of his. They’re not enough when it comes to a fight against the world’s rankers. To be blunt, South Korea lacks players that are on par with Carr.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Athenae: World War might have individual battles but there are many events where a lot of people need to join forces. Even if one person can be equivalent to ten people, they would still be no match against their opponents who are in a group of around six to seven members. I don’t think a single person can do much about it.”

The person that uttered these words was none other than America’s branch manager, Robert Duval. All of the other branch managers agreed with his statement.

“Hoo,” A man let out a sigh.

Everyone turned their attention to this black-haired Asian man. The man took off his horn-rimmed glasses for a moment, before sweeping his bangs up. His eyes were very impressive and intimidating. They glinted sharply like that of a hawk looking at its prey. This man was the only ‘Team Manager’ among all of the ‘Branch Managers’ here.

Then, the man wore his horn-rimmed glasses once again, before looking at each and every single person present with his hands folded to his chest.

“Since you are very generous with your praise of South Korea, we’ll just have to meet your great expectations and take home four gold medals.”

These were sarcastic words. Each of the branch manager’s faces were filled with laughter as they looked at him. Even Robert Duval looked at him in amusement.

Team Leader Park Minggyu was a graduate of America’s Harvard University. He was a man that refused the olive branch that Apple+, America’s top company, had reached out to him to become their branch manager. Plenty of people had waited for him to accept the offer, but he came back home to work at a game company where he could only be a team leader at best.

These were the words that he said in an interview, ‘It’s because that’s what I want to do.’

That was right. Team Leader Park Minggyu was the only person in this room that had a low rank, but he was not inferior to any of them. Also, knowing his brilliant and flexible mind, there were rumors about him being a man with tens of billions of assets in stocks and investments.

Robert Duval smiled in amusement at his words. Then, he said, “Do you have any evidence to support that claim?”

The mouths of all of the people present were stained with a mocking sneer. However, Team Leader Park Minggyu just smirked at them as he crossed his legs and folded his hands together. He said, “Because I believe in them.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

All of the branch managers sneered at his ridiculous statement. Even a few of them ridiculed him. But then, Team Leader Park Minggyu countered, “Does everyone here not believe in their own country? That’s quite a shame.”

A blush of shame spread widely on the faces of all of the branch managers present in this meeting.