Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 1013

Xu JIaqi was the king of the Qingdao Kingdom, which had the largest territory and population. With the love and care of billions of Chinese citizens, she successfully built a kingdom bigger and stronger than the kingdoms created by NPCs in such a short period.

Because of that, Xu Jiaqi believed she was a tiger among men. But the moment Minhyuk grabbed her by her neck, she realized she was nothing but a fox pretending to be a tiger.

She also knew she had tried to hurt Minhyuk’s father, Kang Minhoo. Anyone who witnessed their family being hurt would definitely be overcome with anger.

Baaaaaang–!

Xu Jiaqi could not even resist. She was helpless as she got slammed on the ground.

Seeing their king suffer, the millions of soldiers of the Qingdao Kingdom immediately surrounded Minhyuk. But the cold look in Minhyuk’s eyes did not even waver. He stood there looking all noble and majestic.

Minhyuk murmured something to Black Dragon as he approached and helped him to his feet. Then, bright white light flooded Minhyuk’s body. This was the manifestation of one of the skills that Xu Jiaqi had obtained as the Master Reflector.

[Unbreakable Shield]

The Unbreakable Shield was no different from an ordinary barrier. It could protect the skill user for an hour. However, it also prevented the skill user from using attacks or skills.

Although barriers granted absolute invincibility to its user, there were some exceptional cases where these barriers could be broken. This was usually the case for beings in the realm that no one could comprehend. This was where the Unbreakable Shield was different. It was impossible to break it even if someone was in that realm. Not only that, it could also protect a chosen person aside from the skill user themselves. The one that Xu Jiaqi had chosen was Sima Qian, the Qingdao Kingdom’s tactician.

Seeing Minhyuk glaring coldly at the soldiers around him, Sima Qian, hiding behind the barrier, warned, “Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor! Do you think you will be able to deal with us?! We have obtained Dragon Land through our powers. Don’t you dare think that you can attack us and take it away from us just because you have stronger power! There are hundreds of cameras recording right now!”

Sima Qian was very clever. He was trying to turn the current situation into a situation where the weak were bullied by the strong. If the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s army arrived and swept them away, then that would be the strong taking away something the weak had struggled to obtain.

And just like he said, there were hundreds of cameras recording and running at this very moment. The moment the Beyond the Heavens Empire appeared and attacked the weak Qingdao Kingdom, then it would all be over.

But something unexpected happened. Minhyuk, with no expression on his face, looked at Sima Qian and said, “I am alone.”

“...!” Surprise colored Sima Qian’s face. “What...?”

“My army will not come here.”

Sima Qian was rendered speechless. What kind of nonsense was that? Millions of Qingdao Kingdom troops had occupied Dragon Land. But Minhyuk said that he was going to fight them alone?

Then, Minhyuk spat out more shocking words.

“You said that there were hundreds of cameras? That’s good.”

He asked them in return, “Fighting millions of kingdom troops alone. How do you think the world will view this situation?”

“...”

Sima Qian was no fool. Minhyuk said that this would not be the strong bullying of the weak.

‘Even if he is the supreme, the fact that millions of troops attacked a single player is still far too much.’

Even their fellow Chinese would not be able to defend them against this.

“What if I kill you all?”

This was a very shocking idea. But what if this idea became a reality?

‘The fact that he took down the Qingdao Kingdom, the largest kingdom, by himself means that he could take a huge leap forward.’

Goosebumps rose all over Sima Qian’s body.

In just an instant, Minhyuk had finished all the calculations and simulations in his head. Then, he said, “In front of these hundreds of cameras, I promise you.”

Minhyuk’s expression was frigid and sharp.

“Right now, I am not the emperor of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, but the son of the player named Black Dragon.”

Minhyuk said the words that anyone could relate to and sympathize with. After all, anyone would do anything if they learned their father was left in a perilous and desperate situation. These words would definitely garner sympathy from the masses.

“Right here and now, I declare the destruction of the Qingdao Kingdom.”

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

A commotion broke out among the kingdom troops. And Sima Qian and Xu Jiaqi? The two of them made eye contact. That was bullshit. How could a single player destroy an entire kingdom?

BOOM!!!

A massive pillar of flame shot out from Minhyuk’s sword and devoured over 100,000 Qingdao Army troops.

“...”

This shocking display of power left Xu Jiaqi and Sima Qian speechless.

“U– Uwaaaaaaah!”

“Charge!”

The millions of soldiers who charged at Minhyuk standing by himself were now going to pay the price for hurting his father. With every bolt of lightning that fell from the sky, countless Qingdao Kingdom’s army soldiers disappeared without a trace.

Minhyuk looked at Xu Jiaqi and Sima Qian and said, “Even if I get logged out here...”

“...”

“...”

“I will log back in again and kill every single one of you. I will continue to do so until I reach the Qingdao Kingdom.”

“...”

“...”

“I will continue to come after you even if you have already died once, twice, or thrice. I will continue to do so until the Qingdao Kingdom declares its destruction.”

Would the Qingdao Kingdom fall just because Minhyuk said so? Of course not. But after witnessing more than 500,000 of their army die at Minhyuk’s hands in just twenty minutes, their thoughts completely changed. It seemed possible. After all, millions of people from the Qingdao Kingdom would die while Minhyuk would only lose a single life.

The Qingdao Kingdom finally realized they could not handle Minhyuk, who could kill millions alone. He was like a human trampling over tens of thousands of ants.

No matter how many ants there were to bite the human, there was no way for them to win and kill such a monstrous being. On the other hand, a human could easily kill all of the ants. All he needed to do was scatter oil and light them on fire.

The problem was even if they killed this person, this person would continue to haunt and attack their kingdom.

At this moment, Xu Jiaqi realized she had touched Minhyuk’s reverse scale. What would happen if Player Minhyuk constantly attacked their kingdom? They would be buried alive at the hands of the proud Chinese people.

Xu Jiaqi immediately said, “P– Please... Please stop. We were wrong. We’ll step back now, so please stop.”

She needed a way to break through this situation. She had risked everything for the sake of the Qingdao Kingdom. If the Qingdao Kingdom fell, she would also fall into the abyss both in-game and reality.

Then, Minhyuk said, “I will never go back on my words.”

“...”

“The only thing I feel toward you right now is overwhelming wrath. Let me ask you this...”

“...”

“What did these dragons do to you? How many people have asked you the same thing? How many asked, ‘Please, I beg you, stop.’?”

“Ee– Eeeeek...!”

That was right. The kingdom that Xu Jiaqi created was built through countless exploitations. How many people had they trampled and robbed to develop their kingdom to this level? How many had suffered just as much as the dragons of Dragon Land?

“You, of all people, do not deserve to say those words.”

“Aah...”

A teardrop fell from Xu Jiaqi’s eye.

At this moment, Sima Qian felt like he had been doused with a basin of cold water. He thought, ‘If things continued at this rate, then the only choice we have left would be to walk the path of destruction.’

An entire kingdom destroyed by a single player? How could the Chinese people accept something so shameful? The worst part? Xu Jiaqi could not see the situation in front of her eyes right now.

Sima Qian, who had regained his cool, analyzed the entire situation.

[Sima Qian: Get back to your senses! We haven’t lost yet.]

Xu Jiaqi, standing there with a blank expression, mechanically turned her head to look at Sima Qian.

[Sima Qian: We still have the Ruler of Range Lamber on our side. We also have twenty Level 600 rankers who have not yet clashed against Minhyuk.]

[Xu Jiaqi: ...!]

The Ruler of Range was a member of the newly created God’s Children. And he possessed the power called Absolute Range. Absolute Range was a ridiculous skill that could reduce an enemy’s stats, skills, and abilities by 30% as long as they were within the range of the skill.

[Sima Qian: Player Minhyuk is at Level 650. Considering his ridiculous titles and stats, his power would be around Level 800. If his abilities and stats are reduced by 30%, he would be similar to someone at Level 600.]

This was true. The despair slowly melted away from Xu Jiaqi’s face, immediately replaced by a greed-filled smile. It was a truly grotesque sight.

[Sima Qian: Do you think the elite rankers of the Qingdao Kingdom will not win against him?]

They believed that it was possible. Sima Qian had already started to devise another strategy.

[Sima Qian: From now on, the Qingdao Kingdom’s BJ will turn on their live broadcast. The title of the broadcast will be ‘Hunting the Supreme.’]

Xu Jiaqi immediately understood what Sima Qian meant. Even if the Qingdao Kingdom would face criticism for using millions of troops to deal with a single player, the result would not change.

‘The Qingdao Kingdom will be known as the country that hunted the Supreme.’

That fact alone would be enough for them to garner the support and praise of other countries. What would happen if Minhyuk continued to come for the Qingdao Kingdom in that situation?

‘The narrative would be different. His continuous attacks would now be seen as revenge for being forced to log out.’

The smile that slowly spread on Xu Jiaqi’s once servile expression completely showed what kind of person she was. She was the type who would beg when cornered but would grow arrogant once she realized that she had the upper hand.

Sima Qian immediately gave the orders to all BJs who belonged to their kingdom.

[Sima Qian: Start broadcasting now. All of the BJs should say that this situation was caused by Player Minhyuk being the first to attack us.]

[Sima Qian: Except for the Named NPCs and rankers at Level 600 or higher, all the troops must step back.]

They would receive criticism if they sent millions of troops flocking toward a lone enemy. The scene of fifty strong people trampling on Minhyuk would definitely spread to the world soon.

Lamber immediately stepped forward and triggered his Absolute Range skill. At the same time, the cameras of the BJs belonging to their kingdom turned on and began broadcasting.

***

As mentioned before, the Qingdao Kingdom had the largest territory and population. With their large population, it was only natural that they had many talented people. And among them was a world-renowned BJ and player named Demacia. With his unreserved words and glib tongue when hosting his broadcast, Demacia could be considered one of the top ten BJs in Athenae.

When Demacia turned on his broadcast with the title Hunting the Supreme, many viewers began to enter and flock to watch what he was streaming.

‘Hunting Player Minhyuk, who has become 30% weaker, will definitely be a huge topic.’

Even if he was the Supreme, there was no way that he could deal with more than twenty Level 600 rankers and dozens of Named NPCs when he was already 30% weaker.

‘Lamber’s Absolute Range has a slightly different concept from debuffs.’

It was highly likely that Minhyuk’s invincible body would not be able to exert its effects fully.

The viewers began to enter his broadcast.

[What’s going on?]

[Hunting the Supreme? This is a very provocative title.]

The viewers were left surprised when Demacia told them about the key points of this broadcast.

[Heok?! Isn’t that the Qingdao Kingdom and Minhyuk?!]

[OMG! Is the Qingdao Kingdom going to kill Minhyuk?]

[But is that even possible? Considering Minhyuk’s level and equipment, it would not be easy to deal with him even if millions had gathered to kill him. It’s like how a Level 1 player would be unable to pull down a Level 100 player’s HP no matter how hard they attacked.]

Demacia, who completely omitted the process as to how the situation reached this point, said, “The Qingdao Kingdom plans to hunt Player Minhyuk after their pride, God’s Child Lamber, casts a debuff that would reduce all of his stats and abilities by 30%!”

[Shit!]

[The Supreme will become 30% weaker?!]

[Oh... Even if he’s the Supreme, if he grows 30% weaker, he wouldn’t be able to deal with them.]

[And what’s more, all those who stepped forward from the Qingdao Kingdom’s army are their elite high-rankers, no?]

[Their strong NPCs also stepped forward?]

[Is the Supreme going to face a crisis...?]

In the viewers’ eyes, it seemed obvious. Even if Minhyuk was the Supreme, he could not easily deal with Level 600 rankers and NPCs as long as he was 30% weaker.

Demacia rationally and objectively analyzed the situation. He thought, ‘Perhaps the Qingdao Kingdom will rise to the top just by hunting the Supreme.’

Starting with Demacia’s broadcast, the other BJs who belonged to the Qingdao Kingdom also began their broadcasts. And their viewer counts had already exceeded millions.

Demacia, who watched the scene, saw Minhyuk frown slightly when he finally stepped inside the Absolute Range, and the high-rankers of the Qingdao Kingdom immediately surrounded him.

One person was the first to move toward the Supreme.

‘Fire Spear Leguy.’

He was a famous spearman among the players. Leguy leaped forward and tried to stab Minhyuk through the heart.

Bang–!

“...?”

But the moment Minhyuk raised his sword, he sent Leguy flying away. Then, a lightning bolt fell from the sky and struck the spearman. Minhyuk approached the man, who had fallen on the ground and struck his shaking body three times in a row.

Bang, bang, bang–!

Lightning bolts fell from the sky and struck Leguy once again. And after four seconds, Leguy was forced to log out.

[...?]

[...?]

[Didn’t you say that Minhyuk has grown 30% weaker?]

[What the hell...?]

[Is the Qingdao Kingdom just weak, or is Minhyuk just too freaking strong?]

Silence enveloped the entire area. And Minhyuk? His lips twisted into a sneer as he spoke with a voice that sounded like he was reading a Korean textbook. He said, “I’m already 30% weaker, but... will you even be able to kill me at this rate? Aren’t you guys much weaker than I expected?”

He mocked them blatantly.