Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 246: Territorial Defence (Top)

“Wow. He’s really weak. How can he die with just one stab? Maybe he lost all his abilities when he got demoted to a middle-class demon?”

“…”

Argon’s mouth closed and opened, like a carp blowing bubbles in the water. Then, Minhyuk approached him.

“No. Can you look for the keys… please?” Argon asked, unconsciously being polite.

“Ah. That’s right. You said that I should remove those with a key, right?”

Minhyuk, who had just tried to pull out the nails, turned around to approach Baran again. Suddenly, a loud "thud!"?rang loudly in the room.

“Huh? But I thought that it can’t be pulled out?”

“…Huh?”

Just to make sure, Minhyuk touched the other nail that was embedded in Argon’s other hand. The nail came out just like a chopstick that was stuck in between rice.

“Huh? This came out too? Eyyy. Wait. Did they nail it loosely? The demons are too sloppy. Tch!”

Argon’s mouth was once again shut in silence!

Then, the notifications began to ring in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have saved Prince Argon.]

[You have acquired a ticket to the Demon World.]

[You have gained 400,000 Contribution Points.]

[You can now upgrade your shop to a Royal Shop.]

[You have acquired 3,000,000 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Then, footsteps rang nearby.

“Catch it!!!”

“Catch that!!!!”

“Prince Argon is escaping!!!”

Prince Argon looked at Minhyuk and asked, “Do you happen to have a bow, or something like that?”

“Yes.”

“Let me borrow it.”

Minhyuk handed his Abyss Bow to him. Argon pulled the string taut and aimed it towards the wall. Then…

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh—

…hundreds of invisible arrows passed through the wall and pierced through the demons that were running behind the wall. It looked just like a machine gun firing its bullet.

However, a few demons were still able to escape and enter through the door.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!

Argon’s arrows pierced through their foreheads with great accuracy.

“…Wow.”

Argon felt that he had exerted more force than what he had estimated that he could use. His forehead crumpled as he groaned in pain.

“Keuheuk. I have been tied up for a long time,” Argon said, looking down at his palms. He was very bold to shoot those arrows, despite knowing that his palms were wounded.

“Please, drink this.”

Argon’s eyes widened in shock when he saw Minhyuk handing him the ‘Elf’s Full HP, MP Recovery Potion’.

“This potion… Did you upgrade to a Rank A shop?”

“Yes.”

“…A…amazing.”

Argon knew more than anyone how difficult it was to upgrade and access the Rank A shop. He quickly gulped down the potion. He quickly felt the effects of the potion and the wounds that littered his entire body started to recover.

“Please upgrade my shop to the Royal Shop.”

“…Yes?”

Argon tilted his head in confusion. The upgrade to a Rank A shop was already surprising, but he was telling him to upgrade it to a Royal Shop? To upgrade to a Royal Shop, he needed to have an additional one million Contribution Points. However, before he could even offer him a piece of advice, Argon heard the notifications.

[Requesting to open the Royal Shop after taking 1,000,000 Contribution Points.]

“…!”

Argon’s eyes widened further as he looked at Minhyuk in surprise. The Royal Shop was a shop that was created by the three great elves. It contained the most outstanding items that the elves had ever created, and was filled with things that Argon was not even aware of.

Argon readily nodded in agreement. In the first place, the chance to open the Royal Shop was one of the rewards for rescuing Prince Argon, so he had no complaints there.

At that moment, the notifications poured in on Minhyuk’s side.

[You have purchased an Elven Shop upgrade.]

[You have used 1,000,000 points.]

[Your Elven Shop will be upgraded to the Royal Shop. Members of ‘Legend Guild’ and your allied guilds can use Prince Argon’s Royal Shop.]

[All items in the Elf Shop will be available to you at a 70% discount.]

On top of that, just like what Cania did, Argon also handed him a treasure chest.

[You have received Prince Argon’s Treasure Chest (SSS) as a reward for being the first to access a Royal Shop.]

Minhyuk started to read the notifications as they continued to ring.

[The Food God’s Shop has opened.]

[You have reacquired 1,000,000 Contribution Points.]

[You have acquired an SSS-rank Limited item.]

[You have acquired the Elf’s Character HP, MP, Skill Cooldown Reset Parchment. (2/2)]

[You have acquired the 60% Skill Casting Time Reduction Parchment. (5/5)]

[You have acquired an Elite High Elven Troops Summoning Parchment. (1/1)]

[You have acquired a Mass Teleport Parchment. (2/2)]

Minhyuk’s surprise grew at every notification that rang in his head.

‘60% casting time reduction? Character skill cooldown reset and HP and MP restoration?’

Of course, it went without saying that they were all items that could be used in a war. Looking at these items alone, he was sure that once he went to Elvenheim, they would have a tremendous effect.

However, the thing that piqued Minhyuk’s interest the most was this…

‘Food God’s Shop?’?

Minhyuk quickly opened the detailed description.

[Food God’s Shop. A benefit to the player who opened the Royal Shop. Created by Valencia, one of the three Great Ancient Elves. He was an Ancient Elf Mage that was comparable to Great Mage Arfield in strength. Items inside the shop are listed according to the class of the player who opened the Royal Shop.]

‘I can access items that are fit for my class?’

Minhyuk quickly went through the information with more care and anticipation.

[Food God’s Shop]

You can view items 1 to 3 in order.

“…?!!!”

Minhyuk pondered for a moment, but soon understood what it meant. The items listed in the Food God’s Shop were said to be tailored for the player’s class. This meant that the items suitable for the Food God was none other than ‘Food’, and hidden within those dishes were excellent rewards.

Starting from 4, 5 and 6, the items listed were ingredients. When he checked them, he found out that they were all SS-grade ingredients. Minhyuk looked at the shop in satisfaction.

Now that he had rescued Argon, they continued forward to join his forces. According to Argon, he would continue to stay with Minhyuk in the meantime. Of course, this was only natural since the Royal Shop was only available through Argon.

Not long after, Minhyuk regrouped with his forces. Then, he heard another set of surprising notifications.

[You have successfully completed the quest to rescue Prince Argon.]

[You can select one knight each from the Iron Blood, Reapers and Rice Supplement Company. They can be hired to work in Valhalla Territory.]

It was a slightly different concept from vassals. It was because they were not NPCs under Minhyuk, but literally a military force under his command. Hence, Minhyuk selected one from each of the companies. Of course, he selected the leaders that led them. When he checked, he saw that their levels averaged at Level 440~470. Minhyuk smiled happily. Then, he purchased the first dish listed in the shop, the ‘Fantastic Chinese Cuisine Set’.

[You have used 400,000 Contribution Points to purchase the Fantastic Chinese Cuisine Set.]

***

Valhalla Territory.

Farmer Bardan was heading towards his field holding his pickaxe just like any other usual day. He was only in his mid-30s, but due to the curse of baldness that was passed down in his family, his hair had mostly fallen out. He also heard that they had presbyopia in the family.

‘How can I grow my hair while I farm again today?’

While thinking about that on his way to the field, Bardan heard Corr, the rumored new vassal, shrieking loudly with his recorder.

“Grow up seeds! Seeds!”

“Tch, tch!” Bardan clicked his tongue.

‘I hear that he was a pretty successful paladin for a saintess, but why has he been like that for a few days now? Is what he’s doing normal for seeds to grow?’

As a professional farmer, he could not understand the logic in what Corr was doing. Then, at that moment…

“Huh?”

…he felt a warmth rubbing slightly against his bald forehead. Before he could confirm it, the warmth had already disappeared. Not long after, he looked up at the sky.

“Is it because it’s sunny today?”

He moved on without much thought. After Bardan finished plowing his fields, he came straight home. Then, the next morning… he was left stunned as he looked at the mirror.

“…!!?!?!”

Just like a desert, his head previously did not have a single blade of grass on it. It was so shiny that no hair could be found at all! However, a few strands had already started to sprout from his shiny head. The hair was so short that it looked like the prickly hairs of a newly grown beard!

Bardan recalled the warmth that he had felt yesterday.

‘D…don’t tell me?!!!’?

Today, he went to the place where Paladin Corr was staying.

“Grow up seeds! Seeds!!”

Just as Bardan expected, he felt the warmth on his head again. And the next morning…

“…Gasp!”

Bardan was thoroughly shocked. It was because his hair grew longer compared to yesterday.

***

When Legend Guild left for Elvenheim, Deputy Lord Ben was left in Valhalla Territory mulling over ways to increase the finance of the territory. Then, he heard stories about people singing strange songs in town. The song they sang went on like this…

“Talmor Fati~ didididi~”

“Grow, grow hair! Grow, grow hair!”

“Talmor Fati! Ddiddiddi!”

Deputy Lord Ben ended up sending some of the soldiers to investigate. From them, he discovered that the people that sang the song were mostly men in their 40s and 50s.

“What the hell is Talmor Fati?” Deputy Lord Ben asked aloud, wondering about what it was when another report came in.

“The people that sing this song often go to the field where Paladin Corr is. In fact, they go there every single day.”

“Really? Let’s go and look.”

Grandpa Ben quickly moved. He could not help but be stunned when he saw the scene in the field.

“Sir Talmor!!”

“Sir Talmor!!”

The field was jam packed with hundreds of people, as a man stood in the middle of it all, looked around seriously and said, “Do you believe?”

“We believe!!”

“Do you desire it?”

“We desire!!”

“We want black hair!!!”

“We want it!!”

“Then, let’s drop it down!!!”

Then, Paladin Corr took out the Frightening Instrument and turned it into his favorite instrument, the recorder. As soon as it transformed into a recorder, he blew into it.

The rhythm and beat of the notes that he played were exactly that of the Talmor Fati, the song sung by all those men in town.

Ddiddiddiddiddi~?

“Talmor Fati!”

“Talmor Fati!!!”

“Aaaaaah! My head is getting warm!”

“Aaaaaah!”

“It’s growing! It’s growing! Soooob!”

They looked like they were praying as they clasped their hands together. Then, they suddenly burst out in tears! Not long after, they raised their arms high up in the sky as they shouted…

“Grow, grow! Hair, hair!!”

“Grow, grow! Hair, hair!!”

“Grow, grow! Hair, hair!!”

Then, a shocking thing happened at that moment. Ben clearly saw that the hair of some of the people present started to grow at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Due to his age, Grandpa Ben was also experiencing hair loss these days. He felt some warmth on his head. That was when he thought of a way to increase the finances of Valhalla Territory. That was right…

“Talmor Fati!!”

‘Paladin Corr will definitely make Valhalla Territory rich!’

Following Minhyuk Religion, another religion was starting to emerge. This was the story of the birth of the Talmor Religion.

1. It’s a parody song for Amor Fati (another KR song) you can search it as ??? ?? (Talmor Fati). The song is about loving and accepting their fate for having hair loss. ??(Talmo) means hair loss and adding the r makes it sound like the amor in amor fati. Basically it’s a parody song about accepting their baldness. It’s a funny song if you happen to listen to it. You can listen to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSV6Dwkj960