Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 84: I’m Going to Tell My Noona About This

Ellie was just about to read a report about the Northern Continent, when the phoenix symbol on the back of her hand shone brightly. She frowned in worry. “...This…”

There was only one reason why the symbol would shine so brightly. It meant that the person with ‘Ellie’s Stigma’ was asking for her help. There was only one person who had this stigma. It was Minhyuk, her beloved younger brother and friend. Ellie looked at the light shining out of the symbol closely. Through the light, she could see where he was currently located. Ellie’s Stigma was, in a way, a link that was connecting him to her. Then, she slowly rose from her seat.

‘Barras Kingdom. Coordinate point K-51.’

Ellie nodded and called for Ruth, “Ruth, bring me a map of the Barras Kingdom.”

“Yes,” Ruth answered, immediately placing the reports down and moving quickly due to this sudden event.

The Barras Kingdom wanted to form a favorable connection with Empress Ellie of the Eivelis Empire. They wanted to be on friendly terms with the Empire. This showed how much strength and power the Eivelis Empire possessed. It was so attractive that the Barras Kingdom was like a child in front of the empire. The king of that kingdom, Richard, even had to bow his head whenever he met with Ellie!

She quickly looked through the map of the Barras Kingdom that Ruth handed over and said, “He’s located in the mines. Something must have happened there.”

Minhyuk was a playful and cheerful child. However, Ellie knew that Minhyuk had his calm, cautious and meticulous side. For such a child to request her help meant that he was faced with an incident that he could not deal with on his own. What was more, the child that was requesting her help was her only friend and younger brother. Ellie even promised him that she would run and come to him wherever he was whenever he needed help, right? Besides, there was a special warp gate in the palace that could easily teleport them to the Barras Kingdom.

“Ruth.”

“Yes.”

“It looks like Minhyuk is in danger.”

“...I see,” Ruth replied dumbly. He was not too pleased to recall the person who used the Empire’s Elixir to cook army stew, but he still nodded.

Then, Ellie gave her orders. She said, “Gather the Phoenix Knight Order within ten minutes. We will immediately head for the Barras Kingdom.”

“Yes!”

The knights of the Phoenix Knight Order were all masters that exceeded Level 350~400. They were also called the best knights in the whole continent. Those knights, together with the greatest Empress Ellie, started to move out.

***

Brony looked at all of his guild members gathered together. He asked, “The other mines were also blocked by a transparent barrier?”

“No.”

“As expected.”

Perhaps there were no miners that were able to reach out and press the button that would trigger the barrier in the other mines. Then, Brony looked over to the other side of the barrier, only to see Minhyuk bringing the miners further inside. He thought,?‘Who is that dumb bastard’s noona? He even led them further inside. Are they going to feed themselves to the monsters? Tsk!’

Brony grinned darkly as his guild members had started to attack the barrier with all kinds of skills and abilities.

[You have dealt 2,100 damage to the barrier.]

[You have dealt 1,813 damage to the barrier.]

[You have dealt 3,513 damage to the barrier.]

The transparent barrier that looked like it would not crumble at first, started to shake little by little. It seemed like it would take at least half an hour based on Brony’s calculations.

‘Will they die to the monsters first or will the barrier be broken first?’ Brony wondered with malice, thinking that the situation would work out well for him and his guild.

***

Minhyuk deliberately led the miners further inside the mines. He knew that they would be extremely terrified if they continued to watch the barrier get attacked. Of course, this would also be the case if the monsters kept on coming out just like what they said. He thought,?‘It seems like some people really don’t change.’

Minhyuk finally recalled the memories of his past. Lee Sangmin was someone who liked bullying his friends back when he was young, while Minhyuk was someone that was close to almost all of his classmates. One of his friends burst out in tears and told Minhyuk,?‘Lee Sangmin stole the money meant for my tuition fees!’

Back then, the child was in a very bad situation and was living poorly. However, Lee Sangmin still took money from the child. It seemed like the boy from back then had grown up to become more of an ass and a bully.

“W…what should we do now?” Ruwan asked.

Minhyuk just grinned and said, “Don’t worry. No one in this place is going to die.”

“No, if what those bastards out there said is true, then monsters will really come out from the inside...”

“Then, Ruwan and I will have to do our best,” Minhyuk said as he pulled out his utensils and started to cook.

“W…what are you... Is now really the time to cook?!”

“I have to cook because I’m in this situation. My job is a chef, you know.”

Minhyuk took out a carrot that was as big as his arm from his inventory. He had received this carrot from one of the sealed fruits when he reached Level 90. This was the Fruit of Carrot! Minhyuk had realized that the Food God’s Cooking skill’s buff amount was largely dependent on the type and grade of the ingredient that he used. From what he had observed, the number of buffs tended to increase significantly depending on the effects and special abilities attached to the ingredient itself. Of course, the fact still remained that the special abilities and effects of the ingredients would not be obtained permanently.

Minhyuk started to slice the carrot thinly. After preparing his ingredients, he started making fried rice.

Shwaaaaa!

Onion, carrots and ham. Even with just these three ingredients, the fried rice would still have an excellent flavor. The miners and Ruwan could not understand Minhyuk’s reasoning, but they continued to watch him cook.

Minhyuk added the highest amount of buff that he could add into two bowls of fried rice while he set the buff normally for the rest of the servings. One bowl of fried rice with the highest amount of buff went to him, while the other went to Ruwan. The rest of the fried rice with normal buffs was distributed to the miners.

“Wow... Really... You’re still in the mood to eat while all of us are shaking in fear,” Ruwan said, sighing as he looked at the already munching Minhyuk.

“As expected! Fried rice is still delicious even if I just used these simple ingredients! If I put ripe kimchi on top of it then... Ah!”

“...”

‘This person is really relaxed and comfortable.’?Ruwan thought as he started to eat his portion of the fried rice to fill his fullness stat. Then, he stopped and thought,?‘...It’s really delicious.’

The fried rice was so delicious that Ruwan closed his eyes in bliss. It was just a bowl filled with stir-fried rice, onions, carrots and ham, but he had to admit that it was really excellent. It was impossible to be bored of the taste. Ruwan’s spoon did not stop moving.

“De…delicious...”

“It’s like the tension in my body is gone.”

“It’s really delicious!”

The miners started to eat with great vigor. They ate like there was no tomorrow. After all, they were also quite hungry since they did heavy work earlier. After eating, Ruwan suddenly heard a notification in his ears.

[You have eaten Fried Rice.]

[Your stats will be increased for 10 hours: attack power +14%, defensive power +15%, STM +40.]

“Gasp...!” Ruwan gasped loudly in shock.

Meanwhile, the miners felt that their body was filled with strength.

“Oh, ooooooooh...!”

“I just ate fried rice but my fatigue has disappeared!”

“H…how can this be?!”

Everyone started to exclaim in surprise. Ruwan looked at Minhyuk in awe, unable to see through him. Minhyuk, on the other hand, looked at his almost empty bowl and sighed sadly, “I already ate it all... That’s too bad...”

The Fruit of Carrot would give him a permanent +20 boost in his STM. However, it was changed into a buff effect. So, instead of a permanent boost in his STM, it turned into a temporary buff effect with a double increase in STM. It might not be permanent, but for the short term, especially in their current situation, it was a huge boost in their strength.

Thud!

Thud, thud, thud!

Just then, monsters started to appear one by one, like what their enemies said earlier. This time, what appeared were Iron Golems, monsters that were at Level 170. They broke through the walls of the mines and appeared in front of them. Minhyuk quickly finished his meal and attacked the Iron Golems.

[Rampant Sword.]

[A flurry of rampant swords with additional 30% attack power will be created for 5 seconds.]

Rumble!

[You have dealt a critical strike.]

Rumble!

[You have dealt a critical strike.]

Crumble!

One solid and imposing Iron Golem fell with a thud and along with its death…

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

…Minhyuk’s level rose. Ruwan also joined the fray and fought against the monsters. Even though his level was much lower compared to the monsters, the buff from Minhyuk’s dishes had excellent effects. Of course, it was only to the point where he could protect the miners from the monsters’ clutches, and from getting hurt or injured.

‘He looks like he’s the one at Level 170...’?Ruwan thought. He wondered how Minhyuk’s stats could be so high despite his low level. At the same time, he also thought that they would be able to hold out until Minhyuk's mysterious noona arrived and rescued them. But…

‘Who the hell is his Noona?’

This was Ruwan’s greatest concern. Then, he thought,?‘I think the barrier is going to break soon...’

Although he was hunting and killing off the monsters in front of him, Ruwan was still thinking about what would happen to them once the barrier was broken.

***

Kald was inside the Bretley Mines. Since he was wearing a mask, even the members of the Horden Guild could not recognize him. He had followed the other guild members into the different mining areas. He thought,?‘It’s not here either.’

The person who used the black key was the only person who would be able to see the entrance. However, there was no passageway or entrance in the first to the fourth mining area. The only area left that he was not able to check was the fifth mining area.

Kald sent a whisper to Brony, who said that he was in a difficult situation due to the players in the fifth mining area. However, he also said that the transparent barrier was going to break soon. So, Kald prepared to exit the fourth mining area. He thought,?‘I’m sure that the entrance is in the fifth mining area.’

Then, he started walking towards the fifth mining area. However, the member of the Horden Guild who was walking in front suddenly came to a stop.

“...”

“What’s the matter?” Kald asked, tilting his head in confusion.

One of the guild members also tilted his head as he looked towards a certain direction and said, “I…I don’t understand the situation right now.”

“Yes?” Kald asked in confusion again as he followed him out of the mines. The moment they got out of the mines, he finally saw the situation that they were in.

Troops armed with bright and impressive plate armors bearing the mark of the phoenix were marching from afar. A woman, wearing bright red armor marched at the very front, with her long blonde hair tied tightly with a string, and her sword gleaming brightly on her waist. Anyone, even if it was a one-year-old child connected to?Athenae, would be able to recognize who this person was. No one in?Athenae?would fail to recognize the empress of the Eivelis Empire. The woman hailed as the Sword Emperor. Ellie.

Right now, there were people moving quickly around her. The imperial mages were already moving to prepare to cast their magic while the soldiers aimed their bows towards them and waited for Ellie’s orders.

Step, step, step, step━

Ellie slowly looked around the mines until her eyes met with Kald’s.

‘Gasp...!’

Kald might have connections with the kingdom’s Marquis, but Ellie was a different matter altogether. If the Marquis was a cat, Ellie was a tigress that could lead a group of full-grown tigers, despite tigers being known to be solitary creatures. Her sharp gaze made Kald flinch. Then, she opened her mouth and said, “So, you’re a blacksmith.”

“...!”

Kald knew that his identity was exposed just with Ellie’s words alone but he still kept his mouth shut since he did not know what to say. Ellie continued to say, “And you’re the culprit behind this mayhem.”

Ellie was talking about the corpses of the Barras Kingdom’s soldiers scattered all over the place. Kald gulped, his throat turning extremely dry at Ellie’s words. Then, Ellie waved her hand as she declared, “Let’s see your mug.”

Crack, crack, crack, crack!

Kald’s mask cracked and shattered, revealing his face.

Crumble━

“...!”

“Ka, Kald...?”

“The Blacksmith Kald? The second in the Blacksmith Rankings?!”

The guild members of the Horden Guild quickly realized who he was once his mask was removed. It was then that Kald realized the situation that he was in. He thought,?‘I’m f*cked...’