Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 493: The New Tower Masters

Fisherman’s Tower’s Eck was the best fisherman in the entire Asgan Continent. He started fishing at the young age of five and had always won an award at every fishing competition in Asgan Continent. Although incomparable to those legends of the combat classes, Eck’s commercial value far surpassed anyone. But right now…

“Is, is this a dream? Am I seeing this for real?”

“How in the world…”

Those that remained in the Fisherman’s Tower that felt frustration at the fact that they would have to follow a pirate, as well as the new disciples that Eck brought to flaunt his greatness as he smashed the proud nose of the new tower master, were all staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of them. They all could not believe it, despite witnessing everything with their own eyes.

“You’re not eating? I don’t know what you prefer so I just grabbed one of each kind.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Dragon Fishes of each color were flapping on the deck! And these were fishes that the man in front of them brought out because he did not know what they preferred!

‘Are you telling me that we can eat each kind of Dragon Fish if we stay with this person?!’

‘And that’s not all! This man is completely different from an ordinary fisherman! He’s the ruler of the sea himself! I want to learn his skills!’

‘In front of this person, Mister Eck is but a speck of dust!’

The remaining people in the current tower, as well as Eck’s new disciples all looked at Gorfido with eyes filled with longing. Did his identity matter? No. They might argue with him if he was just slightly better at fishing. But he was not. His skills were not just a little better, they were completely outstanding. His power was great enough for anyone to completely dismiss the fact that he was once a pirate.

Eck immediately realized that something was wrong. So, he tried to show everyone his newly found powers, “Actually, catching a Dragon Fish is not that special.”

What happened about the fact that he was worried about the shame that would come after catching the ‘Dragon Fish’ and getting attacked? He was spitting words that were completely contrary to his original thoughts. Despite his shamelessness, he continued to say, “This time, I’m going to show our dear fishermen the new power that I have acquired.” Eck smiled softly as he watched everyone’s attention turn back to him, “It’s none other than my Little Sea Creation.”

Blue light glowed from Eck’s hands as water started to flow in the skies above him. The water slowly gathered until it formed a little sea. Not long after, dozens of salmon appeared and jumped around, as his little sea stretched forward and turned into a ten meter long river.

“There, there’s actual fish inside?!”

“Uwaaaaaaaah…”

“If we have that ability, then we can just fish at home, right?”

“Ho~”

As their gasps of admiration entered Eck’s ears, he turned to Gorfido with a smug smile on his face. However, Gorfido was just wiping away the tears out of the corners of his eyes after a huge yawn. Then, as if finding the whole matter troublesome, he lazily stretched his hands out in the direction of the sea as…

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaa—

…a tremendous amount of seawater shot out of his hand. The small sea that Eck created was instantly destroyed from the force of the seawater as it spread widely in the skies above them. It stretched to an area of about a hundred meters and made everyone feel as if they were being sandwiched by the sea below them and the sea above them. The scene of the seas above and below them was both mystical and shocking. And what was more, inside the sea above…

“Aren’t those Dragon Fishes? There’s a lot in there.”

“Hiiiiiik!”

“Crazy! Truly and utterly crazy!”

At that moment, Eck finally tasted the true feeling of despair. Then, as if to nail that despair even further, his new disciples sneakily glanced at each other. When they thought about it, His Majesty Minhyuk had made it easy for them. After all, he made it so that they would easily be able to switch sides and determine who they could serve. Knowing this, they all quickly made their decisions.

“Please, please take us in!!!”

“We want to be with you!!!”

“We will even swear our loyalty to you!!!”

Hearing those words, Gorfido looked at the people that suddenly knelt down in front of him. Some of them were people that remained in the current tower while some of them were the new disciples that Eck had brought here. There was only one thing that Gorfido said to these people, “Keep this in mind. The one that you will swear your loyalty and sacrifice your life for, is not me, but His Majesty Minhyuk.”

“We will keep it in mind!”

“We will keep it in mind!”

At the same time, Minhyuk, who was sitting happily and relaxed on his throne, heard a series of notifications.

[873 Fishermen have decided to migrate to Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

[With the fishermen’s migration, the reputation of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will spread to other fishermen.]

[The Fisherman’s Tower’s fishermen’s loyalty to you has dramatically increased.]

A relaxed smile formed at the corner of Minhyuk’s mouth. However, it was immediately replaced with a frosty expression as he thought, ‘You want to try me? I will take everything of yours and bring you down to your destruction.’

Those that tried to bring down and touch the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom would face frustration and helplessness soon.

***

The truth was, there was no way for the Tower of Knowledge’s new tower master Jarrod and the Commander’s Tower’s former tower master Annod to compete. They were paired up mainly because Jarrod, as the new tower master, took in the commanders that Annod had raised before. Annod asked sharply, “I cherish and love this tower deeply. It is to the point that I can safely say that I and this tower share the same life. But you changed it to the ‘Tower of Knowledge’. This means that you are very confident enough to take that name. What strategies and tactics do you have for this tower and its future?”

At Annod’s questions, the people that remained in the now Tower of Knowledge also turned to Jarrod wondering about his plans. In fact, they were already wondering if they should leave this tower because it was no longer the Commander’s Tower. Then, Jarrod answered, “It’s actually simple. I plan on teaching both foreigners and guardians alike about the attack patterns and methods of whatever they wanted to deal with. Of course, they’ll either have to pay or do me a favor for them to get this knowledge.”

It was literally knowledge about quests. In other words, the tower would become one that solves quests. However, did they need to come to the tower for something like that? There were plenty of quests all over the continent and for this method to succeed, the solutions and methods that they had to give should be excellent enough to charm people to flock to their tower.

But then, a notification rang for the players currently in the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

[The Commander’s Tower has been changed into the Tower of Knowledge!]

[Star Tactician Jarrod has been appointed as the Tower of Knowledge’s Tower Master.]

[You can acquire the method of attacking a quest, monster or dungeon that you can’t complete from Jarrod in these three days for free!]

As soon as the notifications rang, the players without any money and still had quests at hand flocked over upon hearing the words ‘free for three days’. Annod snorted. How could this man contribute to the country’s development if he only gave advice? Annod was someone that had raised commanders! At this point, Annod firmly believed that this new tower would definitely lose popularity soon. On the other hand, Jarrod greeted one of the players and listened to his story.

“There’s this bastard called Steel Monkey, you know? It’s very hard to land an attack on it. As long as I can hunt it or pass it, I can complete my quest. But I haven’t been able to complete my quest for thirty days because of that bastard. Is there any other way for me to complete my quest?”

Jarrod rubbed his chin in thought while Annod looked at the two of them incredulously, ‘So he’s out of his mind. This guy’s power is definitely not enough to finish the task. No matter what happens, it will be hard to complete that quest.’

As for Jarrod, he just said, “That’s simple. You know about the snake called Tail Rattlesnake, right?”

“Yes, I know about them. I used to hunt them from the hunting ground that I came from before.”

“If you collect the 50 ‘Tail Rattlers’ from the Tail Rattlesnakes and make it into a large tail rattler and shake it in front of the Steel Monkey, it will run away. That guy is scared of loud sounds.”

“Re, really?!”

“Yes. Well then, next please.”

The people continued to line up in front of Jarrod. Up until that point, Annod was still relaxed. No, in fact he was denying the truth of the reality in front of him, ‘Helping someone overcome their insurmountable hardships with just a few words? Is that even possible?’

Alas, just four hours later…

“I, I was the person that couldn’t complete the quest because of the Steel Monkey earlier. I came here to thank you. Thank you Tower Master, it’s because of you that I was able to complete my quest safely!”

“I also got back after finishing my quest!”

“I was able to hunt the Swift-footed Lizard that I could not hunt until now!”

“The, The Tower of Knowledge is tried and tested! It’s real!!!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!”

The reason why Jarrod was equipped with those facts was because of the tremendous knowledge and information that he had gathered during his time as a strategist. With that, rumors would start to spread among the players and they would begin seeking him out to find ways to complete their unfinished quests, or kill those difficult boss monsters. Once the free-trial period ended, the people would have to pay a huge amount of money to receive advice from Jarrod, which would in turn reap tremendous benefits and profits for the Tower of Knowledge.

“…!”

Annod, who watched everything, was aware that all of the pieces of advice that Jarrod had given, were completely spot on.

‘At this rate, even emperors will seek him out for advice, right?’

Although Annod was still teaching his disciples, he was someone that had not yet migrated and swore his allegiance to any kingdom. He was actually still testing the waters. With this, he realized, ‘I can’t leave this place. I must stay close with this man!’?Only then would he be able to break through his limits.

Annod immediately abandoned his arrogant attitude as he knelt down before Jarrod, “Please, please forgive my impertinence! I don’t care even if it’s a deputy tower master position, please, I beg you! Take me back!” He realized that he could grow stronger if he stayed with this man.

“You should pledge your loyalty to His Majesty Minhyuk and not me,” Jarrod said. He believed that it was not bad to take Annod in. This was because he would be able to bring in the ones that dreamt of becoming commanders if the tower master of the Commander’s tower was placed as the new tower’s deputy tower master.

Annod, together with his new disciples and the remaining members of the previous Commander’s Tower, swore their allegiance, making the notifications ring in Minhyuk’s ears once again.

[571 Officers of varying commanding positions have decided to migrate to Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

[With the commanding officers’ migration, the troops of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will become 5% stronger.]

[The commanding officers’ loyalty to you has dramatically increased.]

The smile on Minhyuk's face widened even further. What about the others?

“I, I lost…” Grein, the former tower master of the Painter’s Tower, said.

Elise had decided to compete by painting in front of thousands of people. As for the canvas they used? There was none. The two of them painted in the air. Elise painted the beautiful scenery of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. There was originally supposed to be a vote, but Grein fell into frustration the moment he heard the notifications.

[You have seen Elise’s ‘Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s Night’.]

[The ones that have witnessed the painting will gain a 15% VIT, 10% INT, 5% STR and 5% STM increase.]

Just looking at the painting would give a person a buff that would remain for the day. Elise’s painting was both ridiculously beautiful and powerful. And just like the others, Grein also said, “I want to learn more about painting from you. Please allow me to stay by your side!”

[571 Painters have decided to migrate to Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

[With the painters’ migration, the artistic value of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will improve by 10%.]

[The painters will draw murals all over the capital every day. More people will come to visit Beyond the Heavens Kingdom and spur its tourism.]

Then, another notification rang from another place.

[811 Sculptors have decided to migrate to Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

[With the sculptors’ migration, the artistic value of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will improve by 8%.]

[The sculptors will create various sculptures every day and sell them all over the continent. You will be able to take in huge profits from the tax collected from the sales.]

Finally, Minhyuk looked at the terrified diplomats around him.

‘The tower masters that came with us either went back to their towers or were defeated.’

‘How will I face His Majesty like this?’

‘We can’t even complain since we made an agreement with the Beyond the Heavens’ King!’

?“I already know what you were planning.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

The fact that the diplomats and the former tower masters came here to steal their talents was something that Minhyuk was already aware of. That was why he instructed the Stars, ‘Act like fools.’

So, the Stars acted more foolish than usual and even deliberately appeared in front of them without changing their ragged clothes. The Five Stars were existences that had reached the summit not only in their own continent or the Asgan Continent, but the entire world. With their prowess, they were able to take back the talents that left, and even the treasured existences of each kingdom, turning them into assets for the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

The diplomats could only bow their heads in silence as their bodies shook fiercely from both anger and shame.

“Tell this to your kings. Every time you try to shake my Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, our kingdom will only become stronger. Every time you try to take away from my kingdom, we will only grow further. And if you keep on trying to stop us then we will keep on going ahead of you,” Minhyuk said, his eyes glaring sharply at the diplomats.

“Ughhhhh…”

“Huh…”

Then, Minhyuk with his dignified voice declared, “We will destroy all of the enemies that try to go against us.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

His bold remarks shocked the diplomats. Those were words that a new king of a newly established kingdom should not say. However, even if they had two or ten mouths, they could not retort.

Just as they were trying to leave, they could not help but stop in their tracks. This was because Marquis Arna did not move from where he was kowtowing. Seeing his state, the diplomats were shocked.

“He, he did it again…!”

“The Bed Wetter Arna strikes again!”

“I can’t believe it! He fainted…!”

The diplomats, with Marquis Arna on their backs, rushed out of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom as if they were being chased down. Just like that, the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom began to grow more exceptional as the days went by.