Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 544: The Savior

Athenae was a game that greatly valued balance. However, even if they promoted and placed great importance on balance, the game would inevitably reach its limits when it came to such things.

As an example: even if a hundred Level 1 players gathered together, there was no way that they could defeat a single Level 100 player. In fact, a hundred Level 100 players would also have a hard time fighting against fifty Level 200 players. The same was true for a hundred Level 200 players fighting against twenty Level 300 players. This could mainly be attributed to the fact that each player had upgraded their artifacts, and learned stronger and more sophisticated skills the higher they climbed.

However, there was a way to ignore such restrictions for players fighting others of the same level, or even those that were stronger than them. That was to acquire more ridiculous and broken skills, artifacts and stats.

There was one person that had achieved all of these things, a person that could fight a large-scale battle alone. Was it Minhyuk? Not at all. It was none other than Death.

Death was a God Class player, as well as the idol of all the necromancers in the world. He was also the master of the Kingdom of the Dead and the summoner of countless undead. Of course, it did not matter how strong he was as a ‘God Class’, he also had his limits. Most of the Death Knights were born into existence using the bodies of legendary NPCs as their base. It was a known fact that they were infinitely weaker compared to when they were alive. That was a limit that Death had no way of overcoming before.

However, what about now? He had completely overcome that limitation. The method? Simple. Everything was thanks to Akhan’s drop, the ‘Death God’s Ruler’s Staff’.

(Death God’s Ruler’s Staff)

Rank: God

Requirements: Level 500 or higher, the one that received the Death God’s favor.

Durability: ∞ / ∞

Attack: 350

Special Abilities:

?All stats increase by 39%.

?Commanding Abilities increases by 200%.

?Passive Skill: God of Death’s Blessing

?Passive Skill: Berserk Monster

?Active Skill: One Man Army

?Active Skill: Death’s One Man Army

Description: The Death God, one of the Absolute Gods, has given his staff to his favored successor and has given him the authority to manage and lead the monsters.

Originally, the Death God’s Ruler Staff should have already been destroyed by the artifact destruction penalty when Akhan used the Death’s Army. However, Akhan had obtained a special parchment and changed the penalty. Instead of destruction, the staff would be sealed for three months.

They already knew that Akhan was extraordinary. However, Minhyuk and Death had something that was on par with Akhan’s excellence. And that was being rich. The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had gained more than 400 billion won in advertisement alone. With just a few billions off from that amount, Minhyuk was able to buy plenty of information, including a way to unseal a sealed artifact.

That was right. It was actually because of that information that they were able to unseal the staff. With the unsealing of the staff, Death was able to gain a 200% increase in his commanding ability stat, a stat necessary for a summoner to command his summons, and a 39% increase in all of his stats. It was literally ridiculous and out of this world.

With the 200% increase in commanding ability, Death was able to bring his Death Knights to evolve and grow stronger. Right now, Death’s Death Knights were not weaker than when they were alive, instead, they were now as strong as they were back then. The same was true for all of his undead summons. Death also gained a new power, True Death Knight.

“Is, Isn’t that Death?”

“Kingdom of the Dead’s Death…”

“Why, why is Death…”

The sudden appearance of Death and the fiercely rushing Death Knights made both the troops and the players scared and flustered. However, the cool-headed Legion Commander immediately shouted, “The Undead are usually weaker than when they were alive. We’re greater in numbers, don’t be scared!!!”

“That, that’s right! The Undead are definitely weake…”

Before they could even finish their sentence, one of the Death Knights had blown the head of the shouting Legion Commander into smithereens.

“Hiiiik!”

“Keheooook!”

Right after that, the undead rushed forward and swept the territory troops away.

“They’re, they’re not weak at all…”

“What the hell?! How can the undead use their own swordsmanship?!”

“Sh, shit…!”

The troops were both confused and flustered. Death’s undead were able to recall the swordsmanship, magic, and all the other techniques that they had in their lifetime. The strongest one-man corps was born to the world, and it was all thanks to Akhan.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab—

“Keuaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaack!”

“S, save me!!!”

Screams erupted in the entire closure as Death turned to look at Lu Bai. Death’s sharp, glinting eyes were enough to make anyone gulp dryly. Then, Death smiled at Lu Bai, albeit a bit awkwardly.

‘Don’t, don’t smile… it’s scary…’

Death’s smile was awkward. After all, he listened well to what Minhyuk told him. So, he practiced ways on how to get close with others, which now made him into the owner of a killer smile.

“Heh…”

‘Don’t, don’t smile… You look like a murderer!!!’

“Hey, are you alright?”

Nod, nod, nod, nod, nod—

Lu Bai nodded so fast it looked like he nodded a dozen times in just a short span of a second. Then, Death reached forward and removed the handcuffs that bound him.

Meanwhile, Lu Bai turned to look at Minhyuk. He could see that Minhyuk was not being pushed back despite the thousands of members of Slaughterer’s Eye Guild that were flocking to him. In fact, it looked like he was overwhelming them completely. Then, Lu Bai looked behind him where the undead that Death had summoned were running rampant and sweeping away the troops that arrived.

That was when something flashed in Lu Bai’s head.

[Hungry: It’s really simple. All you have to do is take away the territories, the dungeons and the hunting grounds that the Slaughterer’s Eye Guild have monopolized.]

That was what the Food God said on the community site.

“Did he really mean what he said in the community site? With just two people…”

Death tilted his head when he heard Lu Bai’s words. He said, “There’s three of us, though?”

Lu Bai looked down at his hands when he heard that. Was he one of them too?

“Minhyuk sent me a whisper and told me that you changed your class to an Absolute God Class.”

“…”

That was right. Lu Bai was the very first person to change his class to an Absolute God Class. It had been a result of his tenacious will to not give up on his Savior Class. Death turned around and said, “Since you became the first Absolute God Class, there has to be a reason for that.”

Lu Bai once again looked down at his hands. He was someone that never got recognized despite doing good deeds. In fact, he already admitted the fact that he was too weak to hold the Savior Class.

But now… Lu Bai drew his sword. He was the first Absolute God Class. A very special Absolute God Class that did not receive any level-down penalty, despite his class changing from a legendary class to a god class.

Lu Bai’s eyes shone with surprise after confirming his new skills. A small smile curled at the corners of his lips as he took a step toward Minhyuk.

***

Baaaaaaaang—

“I, I can’t deal any damage to him!”

“What kind of ridiculous bastard is he!?”

The members of the Slaughterer’s Eye Guild were truly flustered after realizing that none of their attacks went through at all. When they successfully landed an attack by chance, a small, translucent red shield would pop up around Minhyuk’s body and prevent the attack from going any further and dealing any damage.

This was actually the Slaughterer’s Armor’s passive skill: ‘Asura’s Shield’. On top of that, even if Minhyuk’s HP fell, he could just use ‘Slaughterer’s Absorption’ to replenish it.

‘The Slaughterer’s Armor is truly a ridiculous artifact especially when it comes to large-scale battles.’

Just when the thought flashed in Minhyuk’s head…

‘Ah. Lu Bai is truly a good person.’

Minhyuk personally wanted to have Lu Bai under his command. Lu Bai was someone that was firm in his beliefs and was genuinely good overall. On top of that, he was the first player to change into the Absolute God Class.

However, more reinforcements began to flock inside the execution grounds while Minhyuk was lost in his thoughts.

“Keu, keuhahahahahahaha! I asked for reinforcements from another territory! You damn bastards! This will be your end!!! You’re done for!”

Minhyuk zipped through the gaps of the enemy troops and punched Borg’s mouth right away.

“Keooook!”

Despite successfully shutting up the man, Minhyuk’s face still turned ugly.

“There are more than 10,000 troops in this small space…”

It was extremely awkward and embarrassing to admit but if Death was not here then Minhyuk would not be able to deal with them all on his own. Then, at that moment, a notification rang in his head.

[‘Lu Bai’ has sent you a party request.]

“…?”

Minhyuk did not take too long to decide, and accepted the request.

[You have joined ‘Lu Bai’’s party: ‘Saviors’.]

“Those that committed murder, those that stole, those that sullied another’s body…”

Minhyuk turned to look at the source of the voice. It was none other than the ‘Savior’. The Savior was holding a book in one hand with a sword in the other, it was quite a good look.

“…Repent.”

Then, a bright light burst out of the book in his hand, spreading and covering the entirety of the small and narrow execution grounds.

[The Savior’s Penitence has started.]

[Under the Savior’s Penitence’s effects, players that are not Chaotic will deal an additional 200% in their attacks.]

[Under the Savior’s Penitence’s effects, Chaotic players will receive additional damages. % damage received will depend on the chaotic level that they possess.]

The bright, beautiful, and brilliant light began to burn everyone inside this small space. They looked like they were vampires exposed to the sun, their skins burning strongly.

“Keuaaaaaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaaaack!”

“Keuaaaaaaaaack!”

Wherever the light passed by, an enemy would fall and disappear. Whether the players had low chaotic levels or high chaotic levels, it did not matter. All of them fell down under the Penitence’s effects. Well, in the case of those high-leveled chaotic players, they were able to endure for a bit before succumbing to their death.

[You have been deprived of your vision in accordance with the Savior’s ‘Penitence’.]

[You have fallen into a stunned state in accordance with the Savior’s ‘Penitence’.]

[Your HP will continue to decrease in accordance with the Savior’s ‘Penitence’.]

[Your body will solidify and turn into stone in accordance with the Savior’s ‘Penitence’.]

There were different types of abnormal states that were placed on the enemies, all of their effects beyond ridiculous. However, there was something far more surprising than that…

[The EXP that Party Leader ‘Lu Bai’ has received from hunting will now be distributed.]

[The Savior Class is a class that can acquire EXP by hunting chaotic figures. The amount of EXP acquired will depend on the chaotic level and the level of the opponent.]

[You have gained 1,323,000 EXP.]

[You have gained 1,644,110 EXP.]

[…gained 3,131,117 EXP.]

[…gained…]

[…gained…]

[…leveled up.]

[…leveled up.]

“…”

“…”

Minhyuk and Death both stopped in their tracks for a moment, their mouths gaping open at the scene that unfolded in front of them. Lu Bai’s ‘Penitence’ had wiped out nearly 7,000 of the enemy troops. The other 3,000 players fell while still in battle.

Gulp—

At this moment, Minhyuk and Death were shown that the Absolute God Class was a class that could not easily be dealt with. Of course, they had not seen all of Lu Bai’s skills, but still, this one skill alone was enough to convince them about that fact.

‘Can… Can I even win against that?’

‘I don’t think I can beat that with my own power?’

That was just how crazy the class was.

Of course, the class’ advantages were shining right now, but there might come a time when Lu Bai would also display poor results. After all, it was easy to display those advantages especially with their enemies, both players and NPCS, all coming from a murderer guild and having extremely high chaotic levels. On top of that, all of them were gathered in this small, narrow space.

Then, Lu Bai took a step forward as he pointed his sword at the shrieking troops and said, “Death Sentence.”

Baaaaaaaaaaaang—

“Death Sentence.”

Baaaaaaaaaaaang—

“Death Sentence.”

Baaaaaaaaaaaang—

The moment Lu Bai raised his sword and passed his sentence, an explosion would erupt within a seven meter radius, and extinguish anything and everything within the area, leaving no trace behind.

“…”

“…”

Minhyuk and Death stood in a daze, their eyes blinking blankly as they stared at the figure a few distance away from them. Minhyuk was also very shocked to see that his level increased by four when all of the people died.

Then, Lu Bai said, “You can take the things here.”

“…”

“…”

Minhyuk and Death both nodded blankly at Lu Bai’s words. More than 10,000 people died in this place and they were even Chaotic. Of course, when chaotic figures died, they would receive a huge penalty, together with a drastic increase in their item drop rate. The items that dropped on the floor and the EXP that they gained in this place alone were out of this world!

‘This, this is the luxury bus that I’ve only heard of…!’

Lu Bai was practically a premium luxury bus that took Death, the king of the Kingdom of the Dead, and Minhyuk, the king of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, two of the world’s top rankers around!

But what was more surprising was…

“You see…” Lu Bai scratched his cheeks in embarrassment, “…I’m an awkward and overly nice person. Just like you said before, I’m someone that can’t leave an old grandma selling on the street alone.”

Lu Bai talked about the things that he lacked as he looked at Minhyuk and Death, “I’m also very timid to the point that I can’t even ask the bus driver to stop, even if I passed by the stop where I should get off at. And because of my extremely introverted personality, I also can’t contact others first.”

Mutter, mutter—

The two stood still and listened quietly to Lu Bai’s rambles.

“I’m someone that has never been in a relationship in my life and a fool that believes that he’s an apostle of justice.”

That was right. That was the kind of person Lu Bai was. Even though he would gain nothing, he would still continue to fight for others. Yet, he was the first person to change to an Absolute God Class.

“Compared to the two of you, I’m still very immature but…” Lu Bai smiled brightly, showcasing his white teeth, “Will you be my friend?”

Today was the day when the three of them became friends. Unfortunately, they realized that the three of them had something horrible in common. Death’s eyes reddened as he said, “All three of us are… single since birth…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

At that moment, their friendship grew stronger.