Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 196: Hall of Kings

As soon as Valen and his team entered the other dungeon, Kaistra quickly pushed the bread into his mouth. Grandpa Ben also moved to step inside after confirming that Minhyuk had finished drinking his coffee. Both Kaistra and Grandpa Ben entered the dungeon together. The thoughts that were running through their heads were on the same wavelength.

‘We need to quickly clear this dungeon so that our foodie Minhyuk can become stronger.’

‘Maybe we can do it faster than them too.’

Kaistra and Grandpa Ben saw through the two squad members at a glance. They knew that they were not that strong, so Valen was as good as going into the dungeon alone. On the contrary, the three of them were all strong. Minhyuk, Ben, Kaistra. These three people made up their party.

“The Largehead Hairtail sounds delicious!” Minhyuk said excitedly. This was the next reward that he would receive.

As for Kaistra and Grandpa Ben’s, they both received a different rewards list. For Grandpa Ben, it was ‘Demon World’s Pork Ramyeon Ingredient’. As for Kaistra, it was ‘Demon World’s Mandarin Chocolate’.

‘It’s for Minhyuk! For him!’

As soon as the three of them entered the dungeon, they decided to do their very best. Along with their firm determination, the sound of the notification rang in their ears.

[All of your skills that are currently unavailable due to their cooldown will now be available. You can now use all of your skills.]

This meant that they could use their skills that were currently on cooldown. For example, the Lightning Millstone. It had a cooldown of 480 hours and could only be used after 20 days in the game. However, inside this place, the cooldown of the Lightning Millstone had been lifted. Of course, this still did not mean that Minhyuk could use his skills continuously. Nonetheless, he would still be able to use it once, and he believed that it was more than enough.

“Kaistra, can you kite the mobs?”

“Yes. Penrus has an ability among his special skills called ‘Temptation of Thick Blood’. With this ability, every monster will follow me wherever I go.”

Minhyuk nodded. Then, the space in front of them was torn apart as Penrus leaped down from the void. Kaistra gently climbed on top of Penrus.

[Temptation of Thick Blood.]

[The monsters will be agitated by the smell of blood coming from Penrus.]

“I’ll go ahead and kite the mobs.”

Dash!

Penrus dashed forward while Minhyuk and Ben hurriedly followed along.

“Keuhaaack!”

“Kkiiieeeeck!”

“Groooooowl!”

The mob in front turned towards Penrus and followed the scent of blood that was coming from Penrus’ body. The monsters’ aggro was firmly grabbed by Kaistra. These monsters unknowingly followed Penrus and gathered around the middle of the open area. Then, Minhyuk activated Roves’ Ring.

[Roves’ Wave]

[A seven-meter high tidal wave will engulf and devour all of your enemies. This magic cannot be nullified.]

Since the dungeon had a high ceiling, Minhyuk was quite confident that there would be no problem even if a seven-meter high tidal wave appeared inside.

Shwaaaaak!

“Kiiiiiieeeeek!”

“Keuaaaaack!”

“Grrrrraaaaack!”

The monsters shrieked and floundered as they got swept away by the huge tidal wave. As soon as the tidal wave disappeared, Minhyuk spun his Lightning Millstone.

Turn, turn, turn!

[Lightning Hell]

[Powerful lightning strikes will indiscriminately strike down within a 20-meter radius and deal 120% damage for one minute.]

Lightning began to rain down from the clouds that formed in the air above them.

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

The monsters were unable to come back to their senses after being flooded and soaked by the huge wave. Before they could even take a breather, they were already dying one by one. To be honest, the dungeon was not that high-leveled. It would probably be difficult for the normal Level 340 players. But Level 340 Minhyuk had almost the same strength as someone at Level 450, so it was a piece of cake to him. In the end, the monsters that were?kited?all died from Lightning Hell.

Then, Penrus began to draw the mobs’ aggro once again. This time, it was Grandpa Ben who dealt with the gathered monsters by using his ‘Ghost’s Dance’.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab!

After dealing with more than 200 monsters easily, the three of them reached the entrance to the boss room.

“Splitting Sword.”

“Penrus’ Breath.”

“Ghost’s Blow.”

All three of them used the most powerful attack in their arsenal. In just four seconds, the turtle-shaped boss monster had disappeared in smoke. After the three of them finished attacking the dungeon, they leisurely went out.

“Huh? I don’t think Instructor Valen is done yet. Let’s have our tea time first!”

Were they supposed to just sit around while waiting? Not at all. Hence, the three of them sat down and had some relaxing tea time. Then, Demoness Gremory appeared. The three people were wary and cautious of her at first, but they soon realized that she was the master of this trial. She could not help but stare at them quietly as they had their tea time.

Then, Valen came out. As soon as he saw their leisurely posture, Valen began to rage and shout at them. Gremory turned to him while trembling and said, “...They really cleared the dungeon faster than you guys.”

“...!”

Valen’s eyes widened in shock. It was a ridiculous, unbelievable story. The trial itself was a place where only Level 340 players could challenge. Normally, the players at that level would need to be extremely lucky to receive a peerage. Even if they received a noble title, the level of their vassal would only be at most around Level 200~Level 300. Yet, Gremory was telling him that they cleared the dungeon that quickly?

‘Crazy...’

This meant that the vassal, as well as the foreigner boy, were quite unusual. Then, the notifications rang in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have completed the Second Trial.]

[Would you like to challenge more trials?]

One of the reasons why this trial was so frustrating was because of the system. It would propose the challenge of another trial, but they did not know what it was that they needed to challenge. Even so, Minhyuk still nodded.

“I will continue.”

[You have accumulated 400,000 EXP.]

[The ‘Demon King’s Largehead Hairtail’ will be saved.]

[Gremory’s Final Trial will now begin.]

[For the Final Trial, all the stats of the vassal, the player, and yourself would be temporarily changed to the most basic stats.]

[Please check your temporary status window.]

[All of your skills will be restricted and your artifact’s special abilities will be unavailable.]

[The skills of Sword God Valen and his two squad members will be matched to the challenger.]

[A 1:1 PVP showdown will now take place.]

[If you successfully overcome the trial, you will be able to acquire the Demon World’s Cooking Ingredient ‘One of the Demon King’s Black Pigs’.]

[If you successfully overcome the trial, you will be able to gain 1,000,000 EXP.]

[However, please take note that if the trial fails, then all of the rewards that have been listed and accumulated will disappear.]

[You are required to either overcome the trial, or reach the end of the hidden temple, to receive the rewards that you have earned.]

‘...Demon King’s Black Pig?’?Minhyuk thought, his intuition already telling him that this was something extremely delicious.

Besides, this trial was similar to the first trial. The ability and skill of the opponents would change and would be equal to theirs. In that state, they would fight 1:1 against each other. For them to win, they had to win the first two fights. In other words, Minhyuk would not be able to win just because he was good at fighting himself. Even if Minhyuk won his fight, the trial would still be considered a failure if Ben and Kaistra were defeated.

“I will be your opponent.”

The opponent that matched with Minhyuk was none other than Valen. He was already notified earlier that Valen was the ‘Sword God’, so he knew that he would not be an easy opponent. Minhyuk nodded in agreement, as Grandpa Ben and Kaistra stood beside him. Their opponents did the same.

After standing in front of each other, Kaistra and Minhyuk were notified together.

[The trial will now begin.]

Slash!

At that moment, Valen’s sword swung straight at Minhyuk.

‘I’m sorry Minhyuk, but this is going to be hard.’

Valen was hailed as the Sword God. Although he found it surprising when Minhyuk easily hunted the two Orc Warriors, he was a class beyond them and would be a difficult opponent for him.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk, who saw the flood of incoming swords, thought,?‘He’s fast. Then... I’ll have to do my best.’

In fact, Minhyuk still had not shown everything of his. He had dealt with the Orc Warriors in just three attacks. He was quite lucky that he had killed them with just those three attacks. However, it was still a fact that Valen had only seen just a tiny part of his fighting skills and prowess.

Claaaaaaang!

Minhyuk blocked the sword. However, Valen suddenly stopped just as he was about to swing at Minhyuk again.

“Keuaack!”

“...!”

Valen glanced to the side. There, he saw his squad member lying down in front of Grandpa Ben. Then, he heard Grandpa Ben say. “This damn punk! You carry a sword with just this kind of skill?!”

‘What?! It’s only been three seconds?!’

The rules of the game would allow Minhyuk, his vassal, and the African boy to win if they landed an attack on their opponents. The same was true for Valen and his squad members. However, it seemed like his squad member was not even allowed the gap to attack and instead, was the one left lying down on the ground.

The reason why Valen’s squad members were weaker than him was because they lacked power. In addition, they also received less power from Gremory. However, if one compared them with others, they were still as good and as strong as the knights of a kingdom.

Valen had not yet gotten over his shock at his squad member’s easy defeat when he was stunned once more. This time, his sight landed to his left.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

Kaistra was easily pushing back his squad member as he slashed at him with his scimitar.

‘His moves are sharp, it’s not superfluous and his every move is efficient!’

Valen’s eyes widened in shock. He might not know this, but the African boy Kaistra had been hunting to survive ever since he was a little boy. He was such an outstanding hunter that the people in his village even expected him to become ‘Africa’s Greatest Warrior’. In addition, he even had a pet leopard in his village. The sight of him hunting on top of a leopard with a wooden spear in his hand was shocking even to the adults of his village.

Even though Kaistra was young, his skills were outstanding. What would happen in a situation where he and Valen’s squad members were of equal strength? This meant that Kaistra would not be pushed back with strength alone.

‘It looks like they’re going to lose... ’

Just as Valen was thinking about this…

Shwaaaaaaaa!

…a sharp and glinting sword ripped the air and flew straight towards Valen’s vital point.

Clang!

After he deflected the attack, Valen heard Minhyuk say coldly, “Instructor, are you really taking your eyes off of me in this situation?”

“...?!”

Valen felt a chill run down his spine. He had always seen Minhyuk as someone who was playful and with a bright and sunny smile on his face. However, the eyes of the young man in front of him were completely different. Valen recalled how he became fond of the foreigner named Minhyuk. It was because Minhyuk was the most serious and most diligent person when striking against the scarecrows.

“Let's do this properly.”

Shwaaa!

Valen stretched out his hand that was holding his sword. Then, he started to rush towards Minhyuk.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Minhyuk tried to find a gap while he was blocking Valen's quick consecutive attacks. However, he could not see any gap at all.

‘Then, let’s just make one,’?Minhyuk thought as he took a step back.

Tap!

Valen followed his steps closely. Seeing that Valen was still tightly following him, Minhyuk deliberately attacked Valen on his waist.

Shwaaaaa!

Clang!

Valen skillfully twisted his sword to block the attack. However, it did not end there. Minhyuk continuously attacked his sides.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

‘Break the balance.’

If he attacked continuously. there would be a short gap when the balance was broken. That was the opportunity that he needed. Therefore, he continued with his fierce attack.

Stab!

Valen pierced Minhyuk’s shoulders with his sword. In response, Minhyuk only continued to attack his sides. Anyway, he would win this fight if he succeeded in attacking just once.

Shwaaaaa!

“Crazy...!”

Valen was left in shock when a sword stabbed through his shoulders. He moved urgently to dodge to his side.

Stumble.

At that moment, the precarious balance that they had maintained was broken. Valen staggered back and Minhyuk did not miss his chance. He twisted his wrist.

Shwaaaaa!

His sword followed his wrist’s movement as it fiercely moved towards Valen.

“...!”

Valen hurriedly moved his sword to defend, but he was a step too late.

Stab!

Drip, drip, dri─

***

Lee Seokhoon, the development team’s team leader, was exhausted from drinking too much last night. He quickly pulled out a cup from the coffee machine, brought it to his nose, and savored the scent of the coffee. That was when he saw some of the staff from the customer center department running in a hurry.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

They were running to the Special Players Management Team’s location. Not long after, someone that was running in the same direction caught sight of Lee Seokhoon.

“Quick!”

“If you miss this moment, you’ll regret it forever!”

“...?”

Team Leader Lee Seokhoon tilted his head in confusion. He felt that something strange was happening. Then, he roughly set aside his coffee cup before running towards the same direction.

He silently greeted President Kang Taehoon when he saw him also moving urgently in the same direction. President Kang Taehoon waved his hands at Lee Seokhoon roughly in response, as the latter opened the door and entered the room.

As soon as they entered the room, Lee Seokhoon saw countless teams’ team members gathered inside the Special Players Management Team's office. Just in time, Team Leader Park, who was sitting in front of a monitor, glanced at them and said, “...President.”

“Y…yeah. What happened!”

Team Leader Park focused on the monitor again with a wide grin on his face.

“Our country’s first king has appeared.”

“...!”

“...!”

“....!”