Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 155: The Great Mage Arfield

Ben immediately pulled Minhyuk behind him at the sudden appearance of another being. However, his expression turned skeptical when he saw the being that approached them. He said, “The Dragon King’s second child, Warrior Turtle.”

“Yes. You’re right. Hello! Land dwellers,” Raphael said, trying to smile as gently as he could.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk was quite surprised when the second child of the Dragon King appeared. This was right after he asked Ben details about the rabbit’s liver that he wanted to eat more of. The Legendary Chef had warned him that the children of the Dragon King were all strong. Of course, it was a given that even the Legendary Chef did not know about the exact strength and power that they had. However, the most important thing was…

‘The Dragon King knows the location of the Kong Qing Elixir!’

Minhyuk looked up and saw the expression of the turtle. He tilted his head wondering why the Warrior Turtle looked so happy.

Then, the turtle said, “It’s a great pleasure for us to have land dwellers visit our Dragon King’s Sea. I’m Radin, the Warrior Turtle and the second child of the Dragon King, just like what this gentleman had said earlier.”

“Oh. Is that so? That eye patch looks so cool. You’re like that pirate turtle from a game called Crazy Cade!”

“...T…there’s something like that?”

“There is. It’s a game with water balloons!”

“I see. Haha.”

Minhyuk started to play the role of an earnest glib tongue.

‘I’ll first increase my favorability with him so I can meet with the Dragon King!’

“Hiyaa. Your short stubby legs, wrinkled skin and back shell that looks delicious with rice... No, no, cool shell. You look really amazing!”

“Thank you,” Raphael responded, thinking that this would be an easy job after seeing the interest in Minhyuk’s eyes.

“Ah. By any chance, do you have any knowledge about the Kong Qing Elixir?”

‘So he was looking for it,’?Raphael thought. He had also heard about the Kong Qing Elixir. The problem was he did not know of its location.

‘I heard that it is black water that tastes like some carbonated drink and only accumulates after a long time since it only drops one drop at a time.’

That was the only thing that Raphael knew about and he was unaware of the location. As for the Dragon King? The Great Mage Arfield did not know of this information, nor did he have any interest in it. Right? However, Rapahel still smiled at Minhyuk and said, “I know. If you want, I can show you the way.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Hiyaa... Hmm...?” Minhyuk said, suddenly having a thought, ?‘I was told to be careful about people who buy and give me meat for no reason at all...!’

In fact, Minhyuk wanted to pave the way so that he could obtain the Kong Qing Elixir. He was prepared to put in some effort. However, Minhyuk had not done anything for the turtle, why would Radin offer to guide him to where the Kong Qing Elixir was? He suddenly felt cautious about the turtle’s intentions.

Seeing that Minhyuk had hesitated, Raphael got flustered.

‘I have to take this bastard alive...!’

So, he hurriedly tried to entice him by saying, “If you go with me to the Dragon King’s Palace, you will be able to taste delicacies that are only available there. In addition, I will also give you plenty of treasures!”

“De…delicacies that can only be tasted in the Dragon King’s Palace?!”

“Yes. Haha, they’re truly amazing!”

“Let’s go now!”

Raphael felt that it was quite easy to trick him. He only needed to mention food and his problem was already solved. Minhyuk was about to set off, but his movements halted as his eyes flashed with a cunning glint. Ghost Spear Ben was still with him, right?

Then, Minhyuk stopped and said, “Ah. That’s right. Before we go to the Dragon King’s Palace, can I go up on land for a moment so I can eat this salmon?”

Minhyuk promptly pointed at the Golden Salmon that was still tied to the rope that he was holding.

‘If that happens then we’ll be delayed...’?Raphael thought, pointing his fingers towards the Golden Salmon as a transparent bubble appeared and trapped it inside.

[The Golden Salmon has entered the Magic Aquarium.]

[The Golden Salmon will not die and can be kept in the aquarium for two days. The aquarium can also be placed inside the inventory.]

“Oh!” Minhyuk let out a gasp of surprise as he followed Radin to where the Dragon King’s Palace was. On their way, Minhyuk kept pestering Radin about information and methods on obtaining food in the seas. He learned that there were quite a few places in the Dragon King’s Sea where there was no water and you could walk freely.

Once they entered the place, Minhyuk quickly made long arm octopus sashimi by chopping up an octopus. As soon as he chewed a piece, the savory flavor of the sesame oil, as well as the sweet and soft flavor of octopus spread in his mouth. The texture of the wriggling octopus even added a blissful harmony to the cacophony of flavors.

Ben watched Minhyuk and said, “Oh my. You’re eating so well. My goodness. You eat so well~ Hohoho!”

Ben was smiling at Minhyuk, the way a grandfather would smile at his grandchildren and tell them, “That’s right! Go on, have some more!”.

“Here’s a shot of soju! If you spill it, then it’s over.”

“Oh my, my bab... Does our Minhyuk know about this too?”

“Of course!”

“You’re all grown up, you’re a big boy now! Hohohohoho!”

Raphael shook his head as he watched the two of them carry out this charade. He thought,?‘To think that he’s speaking like that to a grown up, he’s definitely a senile old man. The other guy too, he’s definitely a strange man that’s crazy for food. Tch... This work is easier than what I had expected.’

Raphael grinned. Was it not a good thing that he caught some morons? After Minhyuk finished eating some long arm octopus sashimi, they all stood up and made their way to the Dragon King’s Palace again.

***

As soon as they arrived inside the palace, Raphael immediately dropped them off at a restaurant. Bipedals and land dwellers could walk inside the palace. In addition, there was no water inside so they could breathe freely.

Minhyuk sat down inside the restaurant with great expectation and said, “Hehe! I’m so excited! We’re going to eat food from the Dragon King’s Palace!”

Raphael grinned widely and said, “I have already told the chefs. They will serve you a feast soon. After that, I’ll take you to look around the palace, then we’ll go and find the Kong Qing Elixir.”

“I understand,” Minhyuk said as he nodded fiercely. Ben sat next to Minhyuk, nodding along.

“I’ve never seen the Dragon King’s Palace before. Although the situation of the palace is favorable to land dwellers, I didn’t expect you to show us around,” Ben said. This was also one of the reasons why Ben came inside with Minhyuk. In fact, he was still vigilant and on guard against Radin.

On his way out, Raphael walked to the chef, a bipedal shark, and told him, “Add Baida’s Poison on the dishes.”

The shark was also one of the undead under the command of the Great Mage Arfield. When the shark went inside, Raphael could hear a voice excitedly crying out, “Gasp... I…I’m sorry. But, will you be angry if I ask you for some of your fin?”

“...Really a moron!”

The gentle smile on ‘Radin’, the turtle, had disappeared. He immediately went to gather his troops. Of course, it would be easy since they would be poisoned with Baida’s Poison, but he still had to make some additional preparations, just in case.

Baida’s Poison was an extremely deadly poison. As soon as it was consumed, the person’s vision would instantly blur and their body would become paralyzed. However, after an hour, the effects would disappear entirely, and he would then be able to bring him alive in front of Great Mage Arfield.

After gathering the troops, Raphael came back. He listened to the sound of munching and chewing. After quite some time, the sound gradually started to slow down and recede. The sound of the two people that were talking and laughing also slowly disappeared.

Before realizing it, the elite knights of the Dragon King’s Palace had already gathered in front of Raphael. The elite knights of the Dragon King’s Palace were all originally at around Level 350, but all of the knights gathered here were undead. All of them had undergone soul exchange. In fact, this was also the case for almost everyone in the palace. The palace was already almost taken over by Great Mage Arfield’s minions.

‘My strength keeps on getting weaker...’

Raphael looked down at his clenched hands. Radin’s body was not worth caring for. However, just like Raphael, Arfield was also starting to get weaker the longer he stayed inside the Dragon King’s body. This meant that the soul exchange had finally reached its limits.

‘However, isn’t it all over now that we have him?’

Raphael smiled deeply and said, “Shall we give those foolish land dwellers a taste of hell?”

However, the moment he opened the door, a sword was immediately aimed at his neck.

“...?!”

Raphael’s eyes widened in surprise.

Minhyuk stood in front of him with a cold expression on his face. Behind him stood the senile old man with a spear hanging ominously behind his back.

***

Minhyuk was notified as soon as he ate the food that was served to him.

[You have eaten Baida’s Poison.]

[You will experience dizziness and restriction of body movements due to paralysis for one hour.]

[You have an invincible body that can ignore and resist all abnormal states.]

[You have resisted an abnormal state.]

Minhyuk immediately grabbed Ben’s hands and stopped him from eating the food. Ben immediately understood the situation, and promptly and swiftly knocked out the chef. Minhyuk waited by the door for ‘Radin’ to come inside.

Raphael was taken aback but he regained his calm and laughed crazily at them, saying, “Keuhuhuhu. Haha! This is driving me crazy. It’s really interesting!”

“The sumptuous feast and the Kong Qing Elixir were all lies, right?”

“Isn’t the sumptuous feast spread over there, right now? And the Kong Qing Elixir? How would I know about that?” Raphael said. He was confident. He believed in his strength and the strength of the troops behind him. Besides, they were also superior in numbers. There were even assassins lying in wait from the backdoor.

As soon as Minhyuk heard those words, his body could not help but tremble in rage. He thought,?'My Kong Qing Elixir... My sumptuous feast...!'

He had even dragged himself here and acted as bait! In the end, it turned out that everything was a lie?

"Just now, you admitted that you lied to me about food?" Minhyuk asked. There were three things that Minhyuk hated the most in the world. One, wasting food. Two, playing with food. And three, lying about food.

"What's your reason?"

"That Rabbit's Liver that's in your belly now. Our Dragon King needs it, so I will take it out of your belly and present it to him."

"...Ah. Why do I feel so annoyed right now?" Minhyuk said, a smile adorning his lips.

However, Raphael suddenly felt that winter had arrived, with how cold Minhyuk’s smile was. He even felt a little impressed with how intimidating Minhyuk was at the moment. He thought,?'It seems like he knows how to look fierce.'

Minhyuk was already seething with anger. This guy wanted to split his stomach and take what he had already eaten? ?Minhyuk had decided not to show any mercy towards this unscrupulous bastard. As soon as he moved his sword…

Dash!

…the flower crab knights that were standing behind Raphael immediately made their move. In response, Ben, who had ben standing behind Minhyuk leisurely, also made his move. This was the first time that Ben had used his spear to attack others in quite a long time.

The Ghost Spearmanship had three chapters. At that moment, Ben displayed the first chapter as he pulled his spear back and stabbed forward. Raphael wanted to quickly deal with this crazy old man. Unfortunately, the moment he wanted to move, Ben’s power manifested.

[Ghost’s Dance]

[The spear dances freely like a ghost as it tramples upon its enemies.]

Crack, crack, crack!

The shells of the flower crab knights behind Raphael cracked and shattered as the spear stabbed straight through their hearts.

Stab, stab, stab!

Plop—

Plop—

Plop—

.

More than ten knights behind Raphael fell down in an instant. At the time of their death, the black souls that overtook the body during soul exchange floated above the knight’s heads and shrieked loudly.

"Keuaaaack!"

"Aaaaaaaaaack!"

Flames engulfed these black souls, turning them into ashes that scattered in the wind. Ben’s brows furrowed at the sight. He thought,?'This ability...?'?It seemed like he knew what this ability was in just a glance.

"Gasp...?!" Raphael gasped, eyes widening in surprise. He tried to deal with the pest by pointing a sword at his neck by gripping the hilt of the katana from his back.

Clang!

At that moment, Minhyuk heard a series of notifications in his head.

[You have encountered an undead.]

[Your Holy Power Special Privilege will be implemented.]

[Pandora's Helmet's special effect has doubled your Holy Power. Your attack and defense against the undead have increased by 100%.]

1. A parody of Crazy Arcade, an online multiplayer game where you have to pop balloons