Gourmet Gaming - Chapter 375

Chapter 375: Turning the Tide of War
The press and media all over the world were practically exploding. Breaking news and articles were constantly published on the internet in each and every country.

[The desperate Atlas has been resurrected from their despair with the miraculous appearance of Food God Minhyuk and his dish.]

[Black Mage Ali creates a new legend with Minhyuk’s dish.]

[Locke has changed classes and became a dog tamer? He has shocked the world with his excellent and tacit cooperation with his pet dog.]

[Atlas has slaughtered all of their enemies and flew high up in the sky. Perhaps the reason why Atlas has not flown so far is because of the restriction, ‘When there’s an enemy in the territory’.]

[The collapse of Berdk Attack Base, and the appearance of Black Dragon, along with the new species ‘Dragon Race’.]

[Korea’s Fighter Khan flies swiftly like a butterfly but stings like a bee. A lot of rankers have been forced to log out under the assault of his fists.]

[The former Legend Guild master Genie. Who even remembers her by that name? Genie, the Whip Warrioress, that’s who she is.]

[Genie’s cool words directed to Black Dragon Order’s Xu Jiaqi: ‘It’s a meal power-up. B*tch!’]

[The world is left in shock after seeing Korea put up a good fight.]

[Black Dragon’s catchphrase: ‘The being in my right hand is going to go berserk’ spreads like wildfire in the world. My writing skills are going to go berserk!]

[South Korea is still enduring and holding on in the battle against China, the third in the powerhouse rankings in Athenae. How far can they go?]

[The Koreans are cheering. College students spotted in Gwanghwamun Square running around and waving their flag.]

[They only have a brief moment of joy. The Korean Defense Base is on the verge of collapse.]

[Korean Defense Base?

This is a base created by several Korean rankers and guilds, with around 15,000 troops stationed inside. However, Cairon Continent has staged a siege against them by sending 70,000 strong troops. Most of their bases have been pushed back.

The rankers that represented the Korean Defense Base are Artheon Guild’s Master Alicia, Emperor of the Sword Carr, Informant Abel, Ramyeon Boy Conir, Best Selling Author Aruvel, and Terrius-haired Spear Master Ben.]

[The Korean Defense Base has the largest concentration of their troops. If Korea loses this defense base, then Korea’s defeat would be a given.]

[Food God Minhyuk has disappeared once again. Where did he go?]

***

Alicia had changed classes from the Witch of Agony to the Knight of Agony. She raised her sword and said, “Thunder sword!”

Crackle, crackle, crackle, crackle!

The moment she swung her sword down from the walls of the Korean Defense Base, a huge sword made of lightning and thunder stretched out to a length of ten meters, sweeping away the enemies that were rushing in front of them. However, that was the end.

‘I don’t have any more MP.’

On top of that, Alicia was already exhausted.

[Your Stamina has reached its limits.]

[All of your stats have been reduced by 20%. Your skill cooldown has been extended.]

Then, at that moment…

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—

A rain of arrows fell down from the sky and poured towards the walls of the base. Alicia did not have the chance to escape. But then, a woman flew in front of her and blocked the arrows that were aiming for Alicia.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

“Nickel!!!”

Nickel was a mage player and a ranker under Artheon Guild. Alicia bit her lips tightly as she watched her guild member die under the onslaught of arrows.

Alicia had been dreaming a new dream these days. Minhyuk made her realize that games were created for people to have fun. So, she played the game and had fun to her heart’s content. While doing so, she found out the reason why she enjoyed the game. It was all thanks to her guild members.

Alicia was an orphan. Ever since she was young, she did anything and everything that could be done to survive. And this virtual reality game had become a small haven, a brief respite, to a girl like her that had been living a life like that. With her life experiences, the name ‘Alicia the Witch of Agony’ naturally resonated with her.

The cold and aloof Alicia started to chat and laugh with her guild members, as much as she could inside the game. That was when she knew that she truly liked and cared for her guild members. She felt like they were her family. And that included Nickel, who sacrificed herself and died on her behalf, just a few moments ago.

“Nickel…”

Even though they were inside a virtual reality game, the fact that she sacrificed herself for Alicia remained true. Alicia had the dream of making Artheon the best guild. This was the dream that she had recently dreamt of. But she was aware that this was impossible now. Artheon might be one of the four major guilds in the country, but they were already on a major decline. In fact, she wondered if they could still be considered to be one of the four major guilds with the current state that they were in.

Alicia thought, ‘To become the best then…’

To reach her dream, she thought that perhaps it was better if she joined someone else’s side. And that someone was none other than the person that she was thinking about now.

‘I wonder when Minhyuk will come here?’

The truth was Alicia was still feeling conflicted. She did not know if Artheon should affiliate itself with Let’s Eat Sect Guild to become the best or not. At that moment, the desperate chats in the alliance chat group suddenly appeared.

[Carr: The enemies have taken over Binark Base. The survivors are currently heading over your way. Please send cover.]

The Korean Defense Base was a hexagonal-shaped base built after combining six bases together. Each of the bases included in the formation played a very important role. Defense, attack, transport, and support. With the collapse of Binark Base, the base playing the defensive role, more enemies would flock towards them. Their original 13,000-strong troops were already down to just around 4,000. Alicia saw the surviving 400 troops from Binark Base running towards them.

“Fire!!!”

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

They covered their allied troops and squeezed the last of their strength out. Once the survivors had entered the base, they immediately closed the gates.

Thuuuuud—

“Haa, haa.”

Both Alicia and Carr, who finally reached the ramparts, were gasping as they tried to catch their breaths. Lucia even vomited a mouthful of blood the moment she climbed on top of the ramparts.

“Urk!”

Everyone was already exhausted. Their enemies were still around 50,000. Considering the fact that the numbers were more than 70,000 earlier, it could be said that their performance was already good. This was all thanks to one woman, a mysterious woman wearing a mask! And this was what the others called this woman…

“Miss Bread Shuttle! Please give me a buff!”

“MP all-in!!!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…That… that girl is Minhyuk’s bread shuttle?”

“Y… yeah. I think so?”

Bread Shuttle. They did not know who she was, but they knew that she was an amazing bread shuttle. She was faster than anybody else, carried buffs well, and healed like a perfect bread shuttle! Of course, she did not defeat the 20,000 troops all by herself.

Meanwhile, a man from the demon race stood on top of the ramparts.

“Attention everyone!!!” The man’s voice, which was laden with mana, rang loudly in the surrounding area. This man was none other than the best selling author, Aruvel. Not long after he spoke, something very surprising happened.

[The Great Author’s voice has drawn the attention of the masses.]

The thousands of enemies flocking towards them halted for a moment to listen to him. Not too long ago, Aruvel, from being the best selling author, had grown further and became a ‘legendary’ existence. NPCs also had the concept of notifications and new class growth. In Aruvel’s case, his combat stats and skills did not disappear upon his growth to a new class. Simply put, his new class gave him additional effects.

“The unfinished story of Why Did the Prince Go Out Tonight?. The prince fought and knocked down the knights sent by the emperor. He took her away and fled to a faraway place, a place beyond the seas. The two of them swore their eternal love in front of the sunset by the seashore as they sat on top of a small cloth, until the sands beneath them turned sticky!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“I’m… I’m so freaking curious!!! Sticky?! What do you mean by sticky?! Was it their sweat that became sticky?!”

The curious and raging crowd turned silent as Aruvel lifted one of his hands and said, “But when the prince woke up… The only thing he saw was a letter that Benjamin left him. ‘You can’t just throw everything away for me.’ At the same time, in the palace, the emperor began a thorough investigation of Benjamin. He had learned a lot of things about her. She was…!”

“She… she was?”

“She was!!”

“She… she waaaaaaaas?!”

“She was what?”

Even Lucia, who had vomited blood and collapsed on the floor, had mustered the energy to turn her head to look at Aruvel with rapt attention, gulping dryly in anticipation.

“She was the abandoned daughter of the person that he had taken in as a concubine!!!”

The enemy soldiers that came to attack the ramparts were in chaos.

“Ugh!! Aaaaaaack!” Someone screamed while grabbing his head, while another grabbed his chest.

“Keheok! Morning drama stories are very, very fun and interesting!!!”

“The… the next part… What happened next?”

“A… aaaaaaaargh. I’m so damn curious!!!”

On the other side, Aruvel gestured secretly to the soldiers behind him. Right now, these were the notifications that rang for Aruvel:

[Your enemies have been seduced and distracted by the contents of the novel.]

[The confused and distracted enemy troops have turned their focus on you and have fallen into a defenseless state.]

[Their Physical and Magical Defenses will decrease by 40%.]

Thousands of soldiers crouched behind the railings of the ramparts as they prepared their magic spells, arrows and stones. Meanwhile, Aruvel looked at the enemy troops that had turned into his fans and said, “You will get a 50% discount if you buy ‘Why Did the Prince Go Out Tonight’ right now, for a price of 20,000 gold from the original 10,000 gold!!!”

“Why did the price increase?!!!”

“Author!!! Please give us a spoiler!!!”

“Please!!!!”

Then, the arrows, magic spells and stones rained down on the defenseless enemy troops.

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

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!

Aruvel swung his spear strongly and said, “Shut up! There will be no spoilers!!! Demonic Dragon’s Spear Arts Chapter 3, Exploding Spear!”

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

Aruvel showed his white teeth, smiling widely as hundreds of his enemies died in an instant.

“…”

“…”

‘Bread Shuttle and the Great Author Aruvel… Is there even a normal person around Minhyuk?’

Then, Alicia saw the cold and always stiff-faced Carr tremble. She thought, ‘With Carr’s personality, it seems like he’s getting irritated after hearing the story?’

Of course, it was thanks to Aruvel that they could bring chaos and confusion to the enemies, which allowed them to hunt plenty among their numbers. But in a way, this method could also be considered to be repulsive.

Then, Carr grabbed his hair. He looked like he had been contemplating something as he said, “Shit… It’s, it’s so interesting…! That author is a genius!”

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

Carr, the ever frigid and arrogant one, had a bright sparkle in his eyes. The gaze that he was using to look at Aruvel was similar to the gaze of someone looking at their idol.

“…”

Alicia was dumbfounded as she looked at this scene. When she thought about it, there was one more special and unique person among them.

The person was none other than Ramyeon Boy Conir. Alicia was very worried about Conir. After all, he had been cutting down the enemy soldiers as the vanguard. She was very worried about him, since he was just a young boy, but the truth was he was the highest contributor among them in terms of enemy kills.

She saw Conir in the base’s rear. Conir was crouching by himself and eating something that looked delicious. In front of Conir was a mysterious and unidentified man. The man was currently holding a hoe and digging for the vegetables growing in the base’s rear.

“…”

Alicia tilted her head in confusion. Meanwhile, the man smiled broadly as he pulled out what seemed to be aster scabers[1]

“Mi… Minhyuk?” Alicia asked in confusion after seeing Minhyuk dig for vegetables in the middle of a war.

***

An hour has already passed by since Minhyuk began digging for herbs and wild vegetables around the Korean Defense Base! Conir was also eating the rice cake dumpling soup that he brought in front of him.

“Hyung! The rice cake dumpling soup that you made is very delicious!”

Minhyuk smiled softly as he looked at Conir.

‘Conir, you will temporarily awaken your true strength.’

Minhyuk had heard the story about his existence from the real Conir, not the young boy Conir in front of him. And the rice cake dumpling soup that the young boy Conir was eating right now would awaken him to his original form, even for a moment.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk continued to dig for herbs and wild vegetables.

[You have acquired an Aster Scaber.]

[You have acquired a Lettuce.]

[You have acquired a Perilla Leaf.]

He felt extremely lucky. He did not expect that there would be such a large garden in the vicinity of the Korean Defense Base. For some, Minhyuk’s figure right now might look just like someone crazy for food. Of course that was true, but he was doing this for a reason. Minhyuk concentrated hard as he kept on digging for the herbs. That was when the notifications rang.

[You have triggered the Skill: Will.]

[All of your stats, skills, and abilities, including DEX, will temporarily increase by 28%.]

[You have gained 1 Will.]

He finally heard the notification that he was waiting for. These were the specs that he would show his enemies:

‘Half Pinnacle Skill.’

‘Rice cake dumpling soup’s buff.’

‘Skill: Will’s buff.’

Currently, the players considered to be the best dealers were already on the move. On top of the rice cake dumpling soup buff given to Conir, Minhyuk also broke a black gem in front of him.

Crack—

Then, a black light covered Conir’s entire body.

***

Meanwhile, on the ramparts.

Aruvel tried to take a rest. He looked extremely exhausted. But at that moment, a ranker that was fairly good with the sword approached him. The ranker’s eyes were filled with deep emotions.

‘His eyes look similar to the eyes of my fans… no… my extreme fans.’

His eyes were filled with longing, love, and anticipation! Then, the man excitedly said, “I’m… I’m your fan! Can I please get an autograph? Over here, on my armor?”

The man turned around and showed his back to Aruvel. His voice was trembling like a young fangirl that just met her idol.

Then, Aruvel asked, “Boy, what’s your name?”

After all, an autograph would become memorable if the other’s name was signed on it too. The man’s voice became more excited as he said, “It’s Carr!”

That was right. He was the Emperor of the Sword. This was the moment that Korea’s number one official ranker, Carr, became Aruvel’s huge fan!

1. 취나물 (Chwinamul) Doellingera scabra: a perennial herb under the family Asteraceae usually found in the wild mountain regions of Korea, Russia, China and Japan. Generally used in Korean cuisine and can either be blanched, steamed with rice to make rice cake, used as a ssam (wrap) and many more. ☜