Gourmet Gaming - Chapter 345

Chapter 345: Spectacular Recapture
After Minhyuk finished explaining how to make the Kharamis soldiers into their allies to Genie, the notification about the completion of the trial rang in his ears.

[You have completed the Fifth Monster Hunting Trial using a unique method.]

[You have received the recognition of the Innocent Hero.]

[You have gained +4 to all five of your basic stats.]

[Arakhan’s Sword Mastery Skill Level has increased by three.]

[You have gained 150,000,000 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Since the rewards that he could obtain from this trial were not mentioned in the beginning, Minhyuk had to carefully examine and read every notification. After all, he had completed it with a unique method, so there had to be something worthwhile for him. However, no matter how much Minhyuk went back and forth in the notifications window, no sight of his most cherished, most desired rewards could be seen.

‘There’s… there’s nothing that I can eat…?!’

In the end, all Minhyuk could do was sigh ruefully. This meant that he lost more than he had gained, since he had willingly filled the stomach of those wolves! However, Minhyuk had to admit that the rewards that he had received this time were tremendous. He had obtained +4 on all five basic stats, which was equivalent to gaining twenty stat points. In other words, it was like he had increased his level by four. Even Arakhan’s Sword Mastery had increased by three levels!

(Arakhan’s Sword Mastery)

Passive Skill

Level: 7

Effects:

•There will be a 14% increase in both basic sword attack and speed.

•There will be a 14% increase in basic attack when slashing and stabbing an opponent.

•There will be a 7% increase in attack for skills related to swordsmanship.

•There will be a 15% reduction of physical and skill damage of sword-related attacks.

There was even another special effect added to the skill! The additional effect simply meant that Minhyuk would receive 15% less damage from any sword attack, whether a skill or pure physical damage. Moreover, Minhyuk’s level had also increased by four. The amount of rewards that he had received this time was overall no different from a ten-level increase.

Minhyuk was wrapped in light once again. When he opened his eyes, he was already in front of Arakhan. Seeing him, Minhyuk grumbled, “I have something to do, so I’ll be right back…”

Min-disappointed-hyuk had appeared!

“Al…alright,” Arakhan said in confusion. However, he did not stop Minhyuk from leaving. After all, the Innocent Hero’s Trial was a trial that allowed the challenger to go outside after clearing the trial and come back once they were ready.

Just like that, Minhyuk left the Innocent Hero’s Trial.

***

Berdk Attack Base.

There were currently 770 Kharamis soldiers stationed at Berdk. They had lost around thirty people not too long ago during the sudden raid by the Korean rankers. There were also around four hundred players and more than six hundred ordinary NPC soldiers in the base. In total, they numbered close to two thousand!

The attack base was being guarded and led by a Chinese player by the name of Arohan. He was ranked ninth in the Chinese Rankings and was the owner of a fairly prestigious territory, although admittedly not as great as Nam Gungho’s territory. He also ranked first in the Chinese Archer Rankings, and was quite good in strategies and tactics.

“How dare these Korean rat bastards covet Berdk?! Keuhahahahahaha!” Arohan guffawed as he admired the greatness of Berdk.

They had been suddenly attacked by the Korean players a few days ago! In fact, the latter had even brought a considerable number of NPCs with them. However, Berdk was not hailed as the strongest attack base for nothing. The overwhelming siege weapons mounted on the walls of the base were enough to inflict enormous damage to their enemies.

That was not all. The general level of the Kharamis soldiers stationed in the base was above four hundred, far superior to Nam Gungho’s NPCs. The only disadvantage was the fact that they were NPCs that lived in the Continent Cloud. In other words, they would truly die if they perished here. The Kharamis soldiers were also very difficult to command. One had to have a decent REP and high CHA. This was the reason why Arohan had been unable to make them follow his orders when he had tried to recapture other attack and defense bases. They did not listen to him at all!

As such, they had decided to just let them stay here in Berdk. However, the power that the Kharamis soldiers had shown them a few days ago was beyond their imagination. They felt like they were holding a golden treasure after acquiring Berdk here in the center!

The Cairon Continent’s momentum was at an all-time high. Of course, it was only natural for their players to ride this wave and attack other bases around the center. With this, the gap between the Cairon and Asgan Continent had widened further. They even had a 6:4 ratio with just the base distribution alone.

Just as Arohan was smiling at the thought…

“C…Commander! There’s trouble!”

A soldier rushed to him. Arohan looked at the soldier in doubt as he asked, “What’s the matter now? Did you see signs of the Asgan bastards trying to attack us again?”

“Th…that’s not it. The, the food warehouse is… is on fire.”

“What did you say?” Arohan asked, jumping from his seat in shock.

Berdk’s food warehouse had been filled with enough food to last them two months when they had first recaptured the base. But the soldier was telling Arohan that it was now on fire?

“Let’s go and take a look,” Arohan said, rushing there only to see a huge fire devouring the food warehouse.

“What are you all gawking about?! Still not putting out the fire?!!!”

‘Is this an error on our side or an enemy attack?’

Arohan did not know which of the two was the answer, but what he knew was that they needed to put out the fire as soon as possible. It would become very troublesome if the food in their warehouse was completely devoured by fire.

That was right. Arohan thought that this matter was just ‘something troublesome and annoying’. After all, all they needed to do was transport a new batch of food supplies here.

The mages rushed forward and tried to use their magic to put out the raging fire. But then…

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

The food storage warehouse was suddenly engulfed in huge explosions.

“What, what the hell…?!”

By now, Arohan had already come to the conclusion that this was their enemy’s trick. Based on the results, it was highly likely that they had set up this trap to explode the moment they used magic to put out the fire.

Black smoke continued to rise from the burning warehouse. Knowing that this was an enemy trick, Arohan quickly informed the other rankers about the situation. Players from the same country were in an alliance inside the Continent Cloud, which gave them a separate chatroom to discuss tactics and plans.

[Arohan: Berdk’s food warehouse is currently on fire.]

[Koden: It’s on fire?]

[Kaius: If it’s on fire… is this done by Asgan Continent?]

[Arohan: That’s most probably the case.]

[Koden: It seems like they want to starve the soldiers of Berdk before launching an attack.]

Arohan completely agreed with Koden’s words. If that was the case, then they needed to deal with it quickly. The gears in his brain turned as he pondered over this matter.

[Arohan: The enemy will probably be split into two teams. One team will block our food supply route while the other will prepare to take down Berdk.]

[Koden: I think so too. Let’s first send food to Berdk from the attack and defense bases in the vicinity. Berdk should also heighten its defenses.]

Arohan ended the conversation with a grin. He said, “They’re all doing the same thing. Why do they keep on using methods that won’t work anymore?”

Then, Arohan unfolded the Continent Cloud map that showed all of the places that had been pioneered and explored. He thought, ‘There are three possible routes.’

Just like what Arohan thought, there were three routes that the players of the Cairon Continent could use to send food rations to Berdk. However, the chances of the enemy troops trying to concentrate their strongest forces on a single route were almost zero. They were most likely just trying to intimidate them. After all, none of their forces would be able to return to the Continent Cloud in the event of their death.

‘The NPCs from the Soldiers’ Great Battle?’

Arohan recalled those NPCs, but he thought that they would most likely be spread out, since they were going to divide their forces between those that would attack Berdk and those that would block their supply routes. If they truly split their forces, then there was no way that they would be able to stop the Cairon Continent forces. In other words, this tactic of their enemy was completely meaningless in front of their overwhelming forces.

Arohan giggled to himself, completely unaware of the impending disaster.

***

The Chinese divided their troops into three to deliver the food rations to Berdk. They moved along three separate routes. The person in charge of the troops aiming to take the third route, which was the fastest to Berdk, was none other than the talk of the town, Hu Yitian, the Ranker Destroyer.

As they moved, the Chinese commentators began to talk.

[The players of Cairon Continent are telling us that they won’t show any gaps.]

[The moment Berdk’s food warehouse got burnt down, they immediately deployed their troops to transport food. There are 2,000 troops on the first and second routes, and 3,000 troops on the third route.]

[From what I heard, the troops will be stationed in Berdk after transporting the rations, in case of emergency.]

[It seems like the Korean players will block their supply routes.]

[But if that’s the case, then the players from South Korea will be split into two groups. One to attack Berdk and another to block the supply routes.]

[I think it’s a meaningless tactic. If Berdk’s food storage warehouse was burned down, then it’s only natural that the players of Cairon Continent would send supplies. As is the case right now.]

[This tactic shows how foolish the players of Asgan Continent are.]

Yes, this was the natural response after seeing the Koreans’ tactic. If the food warehouse was set on fire, then the players of Cairon Continent would most definitely transport food to Berdk. And once they transported the food to Berdk, the troops that transported it would be able to strengthen and enhance the defenses of the base.

‘What can they even do with this strategy that’s so easy to disrupt?’

And there was also another thing. The players of Asgan Continent did not have the power to stop the players of Cairon Continent. That held even more true if their forces had to be split in two. So, why did they do something this irrational?

‘Even if they block the supply routes with their rankers, they will just be forced to log out, never to set foot on the Continent Cloud.’

‘What the hell are they thinking?’

The troops continued to march, lost in their thoughts, when they were suddenly plunged into a buzz.

“What? Black Mage Ali? Four Hyenas?”

“Yes! Black Mage Ali, the Four Hyenas, Lucia, Carr and Alicia are blocking the first route.”

“Why are there so many rankers?”

Whisper, whisper, whisper—

Hu Yitian’s brow furrowed at the voices of his troops. He thought, ‘Have they lost their minds, what the hell?’

From what he heard from their conversation, there were also a lot of troops stationed on the first route. Hu Yitian had also heard that the combined number of NPCs and players was around two thousand. Even the top rankers stationed there numbered quite a few. Then, what about the second route? The third route?

Then, another commotion broke out among their ranks.

“Hey, they said that the members of the Let’s Eat Sect are blocking the second route. Is that true?”

“Let’s Eat Sect? Ah, the former Legend Guild? But, Genie is the only one that transferred to High Class among them, right? Can they even show their power there?”

Hu Yitian’s brows furrowed deeper at the words of the people around him.

‘What in the world are they thinking?!!!!’

Based on the current situation, it seemed like the enemy had concentrated a huge amount of their troops and forces on the first and second route. Hu Yitian decided to check the alliance GC for news. However, as he opened the window, he could see that the chat was in a huge uproar.

[Hai Lou: The Korean rankers must have gone crazy! There’s a huge number of rankers on both route 1 and route 2!]

[Caddy: Crazy…! Isn’t that completely dumb? Don’t they know that they’ll eventually get pushed back if they do something like this?]

[Hamen: That’s definitely a stupid strategy. They placed most of their rankers on the first and second route? Why? To stop the food transport?]

Hu Yitian also agreed. It was definitely idiotic. Even if they fought for the transportation routes, they would eventually be pushed back and destroyed once the additional troops from Cairon Continent arrived. In the first place, the players from Cairon Continent were far superior to the Asgan rankers. This meant that the Asgan Continent was in a very disadvantageous situation.

‘It seems like they have given up on the Continental War…’

Just then…

[Keidi: The second route!!! More than half of the troops in the second route have been wiped out!!!]

[Gallen: More than half of the members of the Let’s Eat Sect have transferred to High Class!!! They’re monstrous! We’re helpless against them!!!]

“…!”

The eyes of Hu Yitian and the other players from Cairon Continent widened in shock.

“M… more than half of the Let’s Eat Sect have transferred to High Class?”

“Is… isn’t that something… impossible?”

“The… the troops going through the second route are currently being wiped out by the Let’s Eat Sect!!!!”

“…”

Hu Yitian gritted his teeth and thought, ‘They… tried to bait us…?’

He could tell the reason why they had hidden their power. They wanted to catch their enemies off guard and create a huge impact. Just like that, the troops sent out in the second route had been wiped out. However, it did not end there.

[Arven: The first route!!! The countless rankers including Black Mage Ali have begun to push back our troops! There are also dozens of mines that exploded and engulfed our people!!!]

[Kordna: The troops going through the first route are on the verge of being wiped out due to a powerful poison!!! Even the old man that killed White Lion and the paladin has joined the fray!!!]

‘What kind of strategy is this…?!’

Hu Yitian could not understand, because he had only thought of one possibility. He had assumed that the other party was aiming to block the supply routes, starve the soldiers in Berdk, and recapture the base with the rest of their forces.

The problem was the Asgan Continent’s action did not comply with their assumed strategy. What they did was use most of their forces to control the supply routes. Their actions only meant one thing…

‘They never intended to attack Berdk…? No, that’s also weird.’

If that was the case, what benefit could they gain from that? Increasing their casualties? Showing off their hidden cards? No matter what they did, there was no benefit that could be reaped from this. So, why were they doing this?

Then…

“O… over there!”

“Hu… Hu Yitian!!!”

The troops that accompanied Hu Yitian began to shout.

The third supply route was the most dangerous route. This was because the troops had to brave through a route winding through canyons. Even so, it was the shortest and fastest route to Berdk. That was the reason why Hu Yitian and several of their strongest rankers were among the troops that were trying to pass through using this route.

The soldier was pointing at the top of a canyon wall. When Hu Yitian looked over, he saw a man with his sword raised high, brimming with a powerful aura.

“M…Minhyuk!!!”

“It…it’s the Food God!!!”

“It’s South Korea’s top ranker!!!”

This was the first ever appearance of the Food God in the Continent Cloud.