Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 550: Minhyuk’s Revenge

Articles that published the actions and behavior of public figures had a huge impact on them. Famous celebrities were usually left behind in the dust once news about their use of drugs were publicized. There were even times when high-performing companies had seen their stock prices fall, once news about their corruption was released to the public.

That was why one’s image was very important to a public figure.

But, who in their right mind would create the image of a lunatic in the first place? Was there a problem with this image? No, of course not. There would definitely still be people that idolized and respected such a lunatic.

That lunatic was none other than Akhan. As someone that held great power, Akhan accomplished things that other players could not do so. Because of that, many people supported him. In fact, there were a lot of viewers that felt their heart throb after hearing Akhan’s sad story earlier.

But what would happen if that story turned out to be a lie, one that went completely out of line?

[He tried to get out of this situation by lying that he had a daughter that died? That bastard had gone completely out of line. Damn lunatic…]

[I thought Akhan wanted to destroy Athenae because of that sad story but in the end he’s just a f*cking madman.]

[The Food God is so cool! That was refreshing!]

Even if he could not see the discussion on the internet, Akhan could already tell that a huge number of people have witnessed the lie that he weaved and he had now truly become a ‘lunatic’. From this point on, the people would only see Akhan as a f*cking lying bastard and would never view him as an object of fear anymore.

Akhan gnashed his teeth as the sword dug deeper in his chest, ‘How did things get to this point…?!’

What benefits would Akhan gain from Athenae’s collapse? The answer to that was: a lot. He was already talking with some companies in preparation for the release of another virtual reality game. But what would happen after this? Akhan was sure that all of the companies that he had a discussion with would abandon him.

And the main culprit of his misfortunes?

“You bastaaaaaaaaaard!!!” Veins popped up Akhan’s temples, his face turning red from anger. But no matter how angry he was, Minhyuk’s sword was still lodged deeply into his chest. The worst part? The black sorcerer that sealed Minhyuk’s active skills had already died. This meant that Minhyuk would now be able to use his full arsenal of skills. Minhyuk’s hand immediately reached and pressed on Akhan’s shoulder when Akhan tried to get up.

Crack—

“Keuaaaaaaaack!”

Akhan was originally a summoner. This meant that his HP volume and defense power were on the lower side. In fact, just a simple grip from Minhyuk’s hands and his shoulder had already suffered huge damage.

Thud—

Minhyuk, who forced Akhan to get down on his knees once again, looked down at him with a layer of frost in his eyes, “This is the price that you have to pay for attacking my Beyond the Heavens Kingdom and taking away someone precious from me.”

Twist, twist—

Minhyuk twisted his sword deeper into Akhan’s chest under the watchful gaze of the world. Akhan’s eyes rolled, his voice turning hoarse as he screamed from the pain. However, Minhyuk did not show him any mercy as he uttered, “Sword of Absolute Death.”

“…!”

Minhyuk, with his sword still lodged deeply in Akhan’s chest, triggered his strongest pinnacle skill, Sword of Absolute Death. Using this skill at this distance would also damage Minhyuk. However, that did not matter. After all, Minhyuk had the ‘Monarch’s Armor’ which he immediately swapped with his current armor the moment he triggered the skill.

Then, Minhyuk said, “Die, you f*cking bastard.”

It was only at that moment when Akhan realized that the player that he ignored, belittled and mocked, the very same player that became the king of a kingdom, was someone that he should not have touched.

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

A huge explosion bloomed starting from Akhan’s heart, ripping his body into pieces. Then, as if to further mock him, the penalty notifications from the Judge’s Dagger rang in Akhan’s ears.

[You have been forced to log out while still under the effects of the Judge’s Dagger.]

[According to your sentence, you will receive twenty times the normal penalty for forced log out.]

[Your level has dropped.]

[Your level has dropped.]

[…has dropped.]

[Lanvin’s Gloves’ durability has received a huge amount of damage. The item will now be destroyed!]

[You have dropped Affro’s Gem Necklace.]

[You have dropped 23,111 platinum.]

[You have died during the Great Demon Verus’ Ritual.]

[You have received Great Demon Verus’ Wrath.]

[You have been bound by Great Demon Verus’ Curse.]

[Your EXP volume will fall by 10%. All of your stats will decrease by 5%.]

[All of your skill levels have dropped by 1.]

If the ritual honoring Great Demon Verus was successful, it would bring great honor to the one that initiated the ritual, to the point that they could gain the favor and trust of the great demon himself. However, if the ritual failed, the one that initiated the ritual had to bear all of the penalties and repercussions that the ritual entailed. And that person was none other than Akhan. Just the -1 in all of his skill levels was a fatal blow to him.

But Minhyuk was not satisfied yet, he opened his mouth and said, “The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will provide the ‘Food God’s Dish’ at epic grade and above as a reward to anyone that kills Akhan.”

[…!]

[…!]

[…!]

It was a very shocking proposal, especially since the greatness of the Food God’s Dishes had already been proven through Minhyuk’s broadcasts. If this was true, then the person that could kill Akhan would be given an epic grade or perhaps an even higher grade dish by Minhyuk and Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. This was no different from Minhyuk giving orders to the entire world to kill Akhan.

Meanwhile, the viewers and commentators were very shocked to see the spoils of war that dropped from the elders and Akhan scattered on the ground around Minhyuk.

[Hey, that thing over there. Isn’t that the Ogre’s Tears Necklace? The amazing legendary artifact that can increase one’s STR by 10%?]

[I can also see Aenos’ Great Bow in that pile. Aenos is a legendary archer from a hundred years ago. I can’t even begin to imagine how much that artifact is worth.]

[The artifacts that dropped in that place are things that no ordinary Athenae player could get their hands on in their life.]

[Food God Minhyuk has killed Akhan and taken the spoils of war. Ah, he has everything!]

Many viewers and even the commentators expected Minhyuk to gather the items that dropped right away. But Minhyuk did not act according to their expectations. The first thing that he did was to approach the women and the little boys and girls that were tied up among the flock of sheep. These people had realized how strong Minhyuk was from the battle that took place earlier, that was why all of them turned vigilant.

But Minhyuk slowly knelt down in front of a little girl and said, “You don’t have to be scared anymore.”

He gently swept the girl’s hair as he looked her right in the eyes. The girl slowly nodded her head after seeing the soft and gentle smile on Minhyuk’s lips. Then, Minhyuk stood up and declared, “I promise you as the King of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, I will take responsibility for all of you here, who have been taken by Akhan, escort you safely back to your own homes and help you get back on your feet.”

[Beyond the Heavens’ King Minhyuk has given his order!]

[Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will take responsibility for the people that Akhan had hurt!]

Faith and trust grew in the hearts of the people present after hearing the power and dignity in Minhyuk’s voice.

“Be, Beyond the Heavens Kingdom…”

“Th, thank you.”

“Long live Beyond the Heavens Kingdom!!!”

“Long live Beyond the Heavens Kingdom!!!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Even their own empires and kingdoms could not come to their rescue. No, it was not that they could not come but that they did not come. But the king of another nation promised to help them get back on their feet? That promise was already enough to buy their loyalty and trust. Also…

[Wow… the Food God… his personality and character is on an entirely different level…]

[He’s the same Food God from earlier, right? Wow. He’s strong against the strong and weak against the weak. He’s really a king…]

[If we lived in the middle ages and the Food God is the king of the kingdom where I’m living, I think I would have been very, very happy…]

A+TV’s ratings had reached an all-time high.

The words of Minhyuk and the actions that he did had given the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom a better, greater image. The results of such actions would definitely be priceless.

And Minhyuk? After promising the people here their safety, he gave them a cup of warm coffee made from Barista Ben’s coffee beans that never ran out. This was so he could calm them down and stabilize their bodies and minds.

As for his own drink? Minhyuk made himself some cold Iced Americano. Of course, he had also prepared some tiramisu in advance. The sweet tiramisu and the bitter iced americano were a match made in heaven! The women and the children looked at the Beyond the Heavens’ King strangely when they saw him sit down all of a sudden and unfold a tea table in front of him. However, they did not truly care about what the man did.

“Kyaaa~! Cake and americano after a hard day’s work is the best!!!”

Actually, what surprised them the most was the boy-ish smile on Minhyuk’s face. Minhyuk laughed happily as he sat in front of his tea table before looking up at the skies, ‘Are you watching me?’

Minhyuk looked up and recalled the face of the man that always declared that he would never back down and would always fight for him.

‘This time, I fought for you.’

Minhyuk fought for him, just like how he always stood in the vanguard and fought for him. Minhyuk lost him and now, he finally avenged him. But Minhyuk believed that the man would come back soon.

As if to answer Minhyuk, sunlight began to pour down in this otherwise dark and dreary place.

“It’s already the morning.”

“The sun is up.”

The pouring sunlight illuminated the fluttering leaves of the cherry blossom tree that was hidden in the dark and created a very beautiful landscape. As he looked at this picturesque scene, Minhyuk stretched his fork and took a bite of his sweet tiramisu. The sweet tiramisu slowly melted in his mouth. The sweetness healed his exhausted mind and body and instantly made him feel better.

Then, Minhyuk took a sip of his bitter americano, and said with a smile, “Ah, what nice weather.”

***

After finishing his business inside, Minhyuk immediately went to where Death and Lu Bai were.

“…???”

However, he had no choice but to look at the scene in doubt when he arrived. This was because Death was sitting on one of the tree’s branches with his thumb and index finger tapping his nose and an expression that looked like a complete carbon copy of Terrius’ expression. Right below Death was a scene of carnage.

However, the most shocking and bizarre part was the group of people gathered around him.

“So, so cool…”

“Kghhk! Even though he’s acting narcissistic, he’s still cool!!!”

“Mister Death, please sign me an autograph…”

“Ahahahaha! It seems that I’m quite popular!”

“…”

Minhyuk was left speechless when he heard their words. Based on their discussion, it seemed like they would establish a power called ‘DLC’ with all of the people present at the center. It was at this moment when the Kingdom of Death established a solid foundation.

After everything was over, Minhyuk, Death and Lu Bai started discussing their overall settlement. An overall settlement meant that they would combine all of the spoils of war that they had gathered from the Slaughterer’s Eye Guild, this battle here, and the fight against Akhan and the fourteen elders, and divide it among the three of them.

All three of them had use for the spoils. Minhyuk, for his kingdom. Death, for his followers. And Lu Bai, for the good deeds that he would continue to do in the future.

“Shall we start calculating and settling the accounts?”

***

Haze was deeply troubled. With their publicity stunts, the number of immigrants moving to Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had increased significantly. However, as their population increased, the need for more buildings, housing and attractions rose. Of course, it also resulted in an increase in the number of people applying for their troops, which meant that the cost for nurturing the troops and the military would also increase. There was also the cost for providing the troops with sufficient artifacts and weapons. Because of this, the huge amount of platinum that Minhyuk received not too long ago was now lacking. They did not have enough funds to expand their territory as of the moment.

‘Where should I get the funds to fill this part up?’

According to Haze’s calculations, their kingdom would need at least 100,000 platinum in funds to expand further. It was a huge sum of money, but for a kingdom this amount was not that big.

‘His Majesty is currently outside trying to take down Akhan.’

The fact that this revenge did not bring their kingdom any benefit still remained true. However, Haze immediately shook her head when that thought flashed in her head, ‘I have to respect His Majesty’s opinion on this matter.’

Haze did not think that this revenge was a mistake. After all, all of Minhyuk’s choices and decisions had always been correct. However, as His Majesty’ aide, she could not help but massage her throbbing head from thinking about ways to help their kingdom expand further. It was to the point that she felt like her head was going to shatter.

‘The funds that the guild members are bringing in are still limited…’

Phew—

Haze let out a deep sigh. However, the sigh was immediately replaced with joy when she heard of Minhyuk’s return. She immediately ran to where Minhyuk was.

The thought of Minhyuk’s safe return was enough for Haze to be grateful and so happy, that even the thoughts of financial difficulties that they were having were thrown out of her head. After running out of the room, Haze met Minhyuk.

“Haze, is everything going well?”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I’m very glad that you were able to come back safely.”

Minhyuk smiled at Haze’s words. Then, as if he recalled something, he shouted, ‘Ah!’ before saying, “Haze, I actually got some spoils of war from this battle.”

‘As expected of His Majesty,’?Haze thought, smiling bitterly. She could tell that Minhyuk also knew that the kingdom’s finances were in dire straits. After all, he left his seat for a while and did not work for the kingdom. Just as she expected, Minhyuk could see through everything. Then, Haze thought, ‘I wonder how much the value of the spoils of war that he got?’

Minhyuk continued, “We divided it equally into three parts so the amount had decreased by a lot. Let’s see. The platinum is…”

Haze expected the value of the spoils of war to be on the lower side since it was divided into three parts. Although she did not know who the other person was, she was sure that the other part of the spoils went to Death. Still, a smaller portion was still a smaller option and she did not have great expectations.

“…around 156,000. There are also 15 legendary artifacts, 701 epic artifacts, 7,624 unique artifacts and around 15,311 rare artifacts?”

“…???”

“Ah. There are also around 20,000 reinforcement stones, around 20 tons of ordinary ores and a ton of high-grade ores, I think?”

“…???”

“I also got a lot of potions and abnormal state resistance potions. I think there are around 10,000 for the low and intermediate grade ones and around 20,000 for the top grade ones?”

“I love you, Your Majesty!!!”

“H, huh…? Y, yeah. But you’re my subordinate and I’m your king!!!”

Today, Haze found another reason to admire Minhyuk.

1. ??? - ?????? or Death’s Love Club