Gourmet Gaming - Chapter 323

Chapter 323: Start of the Continental War
Crusoe was on his way back with the Death Corps after a grueling week of special training. He thought, ‘Four levels? We’ll see.’

When Minhyuk gained ownership of Atlas territory, the additional 700-strong troop given to him were all at Level 370. Considering that normal territories only had troops at around Level 200~250, the level of the troops given to him was suitable enough for the legendary territory.

But would their levels rise by four after a week? The answer was most definitely NO. This was what Crusoe wholeheartedly believed, knowing that they were being trained by those strange and weird people! It would definitely be impossible. Perhaps they could only increase the troops’ level by one at most. And the worst possible outcome?

‘I hope it’s not the case, but they might have just wasted their time doing nothing.’

If that happened, then Crusoe would definitely unleash his wrath. Just as they were trekking the road that led to the entrance of the territory…

“One, two! One, two! One, two! One, two!”

…Crusoe saw the troops running in a straight line. When he turned to look at the training grounds, he saw the soldiers well-versed in swords practicing their swordsmanship, while the soldiers well-versed in spears training in spearmanship. Every single soldier was doing their best in their personal training.

‘Ho?’

Crusoe looked at the troops in surprise. They were working much more diligently than what he had thought. This meant that the instructors had trained them strictly. He recalled the status of the Atlas’ troops that he saw last week.

(Atlas Troops’ Current Status)

•Average Level: 381

•Average Swordsmanship Level: Intermediate 1

•Average Spearmanship Level: Intermediate 1

•Average Archery Level: Intermediate 1

•Average Horsemanship Level: Intermediate 1

•Average…omitted…

•Weapon and Shield: Good

•Average HP: 2,135

•Average MP: 1,031

•Soldiers’ Satisfaction Level: Satisfaction unable to determine as they’re only getting to know Atlas.

•Soldiers’ Attitude Towards Training: Passion unable to determine as they have yet to start training.

‘If there’s no growth, or the growth is just insignificant…’

Crusoe would definitely dismiss the instructors. So, Crusoe immediately checked the troops’ status. What he saw made him tilt his head in confusion.

‘Huh…?’

Then, he closed the current status and opened it again.

“Oh…?”

What he saw was a reality. Centurion Park saw his expression and spoke solemnly, “From your reaction… It seems like they did not improve.”

Crusoe just shook his head absentmindedly at Centurion Park and said, “N…No. That’s not it… Th…this is just too unbelievable. You know? It’s because the troops have become significantly stronger…”

“Pardon?” Centurion Park asked, wondering what Crusoe meant. Meanwhile, Crusoe checked the troops’ current status again.

(Atlas Troops’ Current Status)

•Average Level: 400

•Average Swordsmanship Level: Intermediate 3

•Average Spearmanship Level: Intermediate 2

•Average Archery Level: Intermediate 2

•Average Horsemanship Level: Intermediate 3

•Average…omitted…

•Weapon and Shield: Very Good

•Average HP: 2,341

•Average MP: 1,093

•Soldiers’ Satisfaction Level: With the help of their excellent instructors, they have improved their swordsmanship, spearmanship, archery, horsemanship and physical strength in a short period of time. They might feel like they were in hell during training, but they are extremely satisfied.

•Soldiers’ Attitude Towards Training: They are ready to jump into hell to follow their instructors’ orders. Because of that, their satisfaction towards Atlas had significantly increased and reached a new level.

•The talents of the outstanding knights have been awakened! They have discovered five soldiers with outstanding talents in a week. This was because their new instructors have recognized their talents and have trained them intensively.

“…This is crazy,” Crusoe said. He could not believe what he saw. The description even depicted that the troops were willing to jump into hell at their instructors’ orders. That meant that the level of trust and reliance the troops had for their instructors was as much as themselves and their comrades. There were even five soldiers that awakened their talents as outstanding knights! In Crusoe’s eyes, these soldiers looked like ‘outstanding knights’, but to players like Minhyuk, they would see them as ‘hidden NPCs’. People like that were not easy to find. Somehow, they were able to unearth five such talents.

‘It seems like Atlas territory will become ridiculously powerful…’

Crusoe could not even imagine the extent of the changes that Atlas would undergo during this month.

***

The Four Hyenas had become rankers with levels exceeding Level 500. In the first place, they were overgeared and overpowered unofficial rankers. Then, there was Great Mage Moldoron’s Descendant Ali, whose strength was comparable to Minhyuk! All of them asked to join Minhyuk’s guild. Of course, Minhyuk happily accepted them.

[A new guild member has been added to Let’s Eat Sect.]

[Ali(Mage) is now a member of the guild.]

[Bez(Fighter) is now a member of the guild.]

[Killei(Mage) is now a member of the guild.]

[Roadol(Trap Specialist) is now a member of the guild.]

[Smooth(Poison Expert) is now a member of the guild.]

Minhyuk welcomed them with open arms and a bright smile at their request to join him. He looked at their classes and said, “Huh? Uncle Taesik, you’re a Trap Specialist?”

Taesik, or Roadol, was Ilhwa Construction’s chairman. He said, “That’s right! It’s because of the illegal buildings in our country! I made bombs in Athenae while thinking of those buildings and ended up changing my class to the legendary class ‘Master Trapper’.”

“…You made bombs while thinking about illegal buildings?”

“It’s because I can’t tear them down in reality! Hahahahaha!”

Minhyuk had felt it long ago. He knew that his uncles were all pleasant and kind people, with their own quirky personalities too. Then, there was Smooth, the Poison Expert. Minhyuk asked, “Why did Uncle Wooseok become a Poison Expert?”

Smooth was the chairman of Nottogi. He said, “It seems like I’m extremely talented at making poisons. It’s as much as my talent for cooking.”

“…”

Minhyuk just nodded. From what he heard, Smooth also had a legendary class ‘Poison Master’ and he could produce extremely potent poisons, to the point that those assassins whose sole focus was poisoned attacks would pale in comparison to his poisons.

‘It would be amazing if we can install traps and poisons around the territory. Fufufufu.’

Minhyuk smiled happily at the thought of strengthening Atlas even further. However, he still found one part very disappointing.

‘It seems like I can’t eat food outside these days.’

Of course, the crops that grew in Atlas were much better than the crops grown on normal land, thanks to the Small World Tree’s power. Soon, Minhyuk decided to let go of his disappointment in not being able to eat food from the outside, as he put his heart and soul into strengthening the territory. After all, strength and power is essential for him to eat deliciously.

***

A month quickly passed by in Athenae. Minhyu’s Atlas territory had grown rapidly over the course of that month. His troops’ average level had reached Level 433. And that was not the end of it. Golden Hammer Dwarf Lant and Hepas’ Descendant Hyemin’sDaddy joined hands to produce armor and weapons, enough to equip the more than 900 soldiers of the territory. Because of that, all of the troops were wearing equipment comparable to rare, ranked artifacts. This was something amazing, since ordinary territories would only give their troops around thirty rare artifacts.

The surprise did not end there. More than half of the guild members, including Genie, Locke, Khan, Informant Abel and Ascar had changed their class to High Class. The guild members that changed into High Class politely asked for PVP with Minhyuk. Minhyuk agreed and was surprised to see their improvement.

‘They’ve become really strong…?’

Minhyuk felt like their strength had gone beyond his imagination, as if they had taken two steps at a time on the steps of improvement. The gap between their strength and Minhyuk’s strength had narrowed quite a bit. That was when articles began to pour out on the internet.

[Lucia. She has transferred to the High Class Assassin of the Moon. She’s rapidly pursuing the 1st place in the assassins’ rankings.]

[Ruwan. He has transferred to the High Class Blacksmith of Steel. His combat videos against Ares, the 13th in the Domestic Rankings with his amazing sorcery has become a hot topic. He even defeated Ares by a narrow margin. But what’s more surprising is the fact that he’s a blacksmith!]

[Royal Classes and High Classes have already appeared all over the world. But the Let’s Eat Sect, which received the attention of the public, has remained silent. Are there no High Classes in the Let’s Eat Sect yet?]

The Let’s Eat Sect did not announce when a High Class had been born under their banner. That was the case even after more than half of their guild had changed into a High Class. Their only reason was to keep this as their ace in the hole. Genie and Informant Abel had already predicted that there would be a large-scale update coming their way soon after knowing that the players of the Chinese Server had started to cross over their continent. Sure enough, those predictions came true.

***

Rumble!

Crackle!

It was a rainy night. Thunder and lightning ran rampant outside the safety of the walls. Ellie, the Sword Emperor, sighed as she looked over the window. It seemed like she could not fall asleep.

‘The pinnacle of swordsmanship…’

Erod, the God of Abilities and Destruction, had eight pinnacle attack skills that landed on earth. One of these was Ellie’s Swordsmanship. According to the legends, only Ellie and her ancestors failed to reach the pinnacle among the eight skills. Recalling the story brought a bitter smile to Ellie’s face.

‘Am I not good enough?’

Including her ancestors, Ellie was known to be the strongest woman in this world. Yet, this woman was blaming herself for being weak. Since sleep had long eluded her, she was taking a walk to relieve her bitterness and boredom. Then…

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The sound of the thunder and lightning banging outside the walls grew louder. Along with those sounds, Ellie suddenly felt an unknown murderous intent. She always carried her sword with her, even when she was sleeping, hence, she quickly grabbed the hilt of her sword and ran towards the location where she felt the murderous intent.

Dash―

‘This place…’

She arrived at the place where the Empire took care of and served its guardian deities. It was the place where the statues of the Phoenix and the Minotaurus were located. Ellie slowly opened the door.

Creak―

“…This…”

What appeared in front of her was something completely shocking. The gigantic statues of the Phoenix and the Minotaurus had blood flowing down their bodies! This meant that the actual bodies of the Phoenix and Minotaurus living in the world of the guardian deities, the utopia, were also bleeding! Ellie hurriedly grabbed the summoning stone of the guardian deities and called for them.

“Kiyeeeeeeeeck!”

“Grrrrrrr!”

The two guardian deities appeared in front of Ellie, covered in blood, almost on their last breath.

“Wh…who… Who did this to you?!!!” Ellie shouted, realizing that they were already beyond saving.

Ellie could communicate with both the guardian deities, the Phoenix and the Minotaurus. That was when she heard that they were in this situation because of the guardian deities of the Cairon Continent. It was not only the guardian deities of Eivelis Empire, even the guardian deities of Cordis Empire were attacked. Hearing their words, Ellie could tell that this was similar to the continental war that happened in the past, and more importantly, the memory of Black Dragon Vormon. She muttered…

“The start of a new war…”