Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 322: Strengthening the Territory

Steam was blowing from the burning heat inside the smithy.

Fwoosh―

Steam once again rose from the red hot iron that was dipped in the water.

‘Within a month, I have to bring three or more blacksmiths to master level. I also have to equip the troops with the best armor and weapons.’

Golden Hammer Dwarf Lant was putting his all into his work today!!! The reason…

‘If I do that, then the Lord will…’

Originally, equipping the soldiers with armor and weapons was not a part of the rewards. But Dwarf Lant had made a promise with Minhyuk. However, if he fully equipped the soldiers, Minhyuk would make him ten cups of sweet and delicious watermelon and melon juice. What would it feel like if he drank a cup of cool, refreshing watermelon juice, or melon juice, under the steam of this hot and blazing place?

Gulp―

Lant already felt that it was awesome just by thinking about it. However, the problem was that he did not have enough hands to help him. He thought, ‘Can I really do this alone?’?No matter how strong Golden Hammer Dwarf Lant was, it would still be difficult for him to create weapons and armor for around 1,000 soldiers in just a month. Of course, it would be possible if he imprinted it like the ones in the factories. However, if he did that, that would be a stain to his name as Golden Hammer! At that moment…

“Hello. I was sent by the Lord,” A middle-aged man greeted him and entered the smithy. Dwarf Lant had already heard about his story before.

‘From what they said, he’s a very talented blacksmith from the place called Legend Guild.’

He was told that this man would be very helpful to him, but Lant did not have much expectations. All he needed was an assistant, right?

“Boy, I want to see your skills. I’m actually in the middle of making swords for the soldiers. Can you make a sword with these materials?”

Legend Guild’s financial prowess was quite huge. After gaining ownership of Atlas, they gained a ‘treasure warehouse’ located in the territory. Inside the warehouse were artifacts worth around 3,000 to 4,000 platinum. That meant that most of the materials used for these items were at the medium or upper-grade. Just like chefs, blacksmiths could also use similar materials, but produce artifacts with completely different ranks and performance.

“I understand,” The man answered as he immediately started working.

Clang, clang, clang!

Lant listened to the sound that his work was creating. He thought, ‘It would be a relief if he can create something rare but…’

Those who could master the current available materials could only produce rare items. Of course, even if the rank was rare, it would still have excellent performance. Time went by just like that.

“I’m done.”

“I see. Good work.”

The man brought the sword that he completed to Lant, who began to examine every nook and cranny of the sword.

‘Huh…?’?

Lant’s eyes widened in surprise at the sword’s even and smooth blade. When he dropped a piece of paper over the blade of the sword, the paper tore easily. Lant determined that the sword was admirable after inspecting the blade.

“You’re pretty good.”

However, he still had to closely inspect the substance and performance of the sword. Lant might not know this, but since Athenae?was a game, there were quite a few cases where only the attack of the weapon was high. Just like that, Lant checked the sword’s information.

(Atlas Soldier’s Sword)

Rank: Unique

Requirements: Level 300 or higher

Durability: 6,000/6,000

Attack: 599

Special Abilities:

?All stats +4

?Passive Skill: Sword Mastery +1

?Active Skill: Soldier’s Roar

?Passive Skill: Soldier’s Dash

Description: A sword created by the man that inherited God’s talents. A very special sword was completed using extremely normal materials.

“...!”

Lant was very shocked. The sword was comparable to the artifacts that he had made. He swept his hand on the flat of the blade as he said, “That…that’s surprising…”

Just when he was thinking about asking for the man’s name, he saw the letters that had been engraved on the blade of the sword.

“Amazing Hyemin?”

“That’s right. Hyemin is the best!”

That was right. The man was none other than Hyemin’sDad. Recently, he started adding the letters for ‘Amazing Hyemin’?on the artifacts that he made. True enough, he was the typical daughter-con father.

***

Genie, Locke, and the other guild members of Let\'s Eat Sect were all wandering around Atlas territory to map out the topography, discover the dungeons, and identify all the various elements inside the territory. In the process of discovering dungeons, they were able to increase their level up a bit. However, their strength was still lacking. No, perhaps it was because they saw Minhyuk’s ridiculous fighting prowess that they were still not satisfied with themselves.

“Should we keep looking for more hidden dungeons?”

“Do you think it’s that easy to find hidden dungeons?”

They were currently back in the territorial castle taking a break. As they chatted, Locke said, “I want to become stronger…”

Everyone fell silent at his words. They felt like they had become stagnant while Minhyuk continued to move forward. Then, suddenly…

“Strength is truly a good thing.”

Their heads turned to look at the person who suddenly talked. There, they saw a man from the demon race wetting his finger with his tongue to flip a page of his book. The man was none other than Great Sage Aruvel. Of course, they had heard about his name too. He was the man hailed as the Great Sage in the Demon World! From what they heard, he was extremely strong. However, he only kept on reading books the moment he arrived here. In fact, there was no problem with reading books. The problem was the type of books that he was reading!

‘His Majesty the Emperor’s Clandestine Stories.’

‘The Maid Leipi and the Passionate Bed.’

‘Your Highness, You Can’t Do This!’

“...”

“...”

“...”

Aruvel looked at them with a solemn expression on his face as he said, “Human’s love is truly splendid.”

“Ah. Yes…”

“That person, no, that demon is weird…”

“Why are all of the people here weird…? It seems like I’m the only exception.”

“You’re the weirdest one here, Locke.”

Everyone shook their heads at Locke as they moved slightly away from him. Then, the man slammed his book shut and stood up as he turned to them and said, “So, this is the end of all of the wonderful books left here. Ah… I want to read the third volume of ‘Your Highness, You Can’t Do This!’”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Everyone was left speechless.

“Your Highness, You Can’t Do This! is a story about how a cold and strong prince fell in love with an innocent and pure maid… mumble, mumble…”

Strangely enough, everyone present was perking their ears up and listening attentively to Aruvel’s words! Then, Aruvel said, “But, it turned out that the maid was Loudee, the princess of a fallen kingdom!!! She was the person promised to the prince for marriage from before!!!”

“My goodness! How can that be?!”

“Wow! This is thrilling!”

“Kghhhk~~”

Drama truly was crazy and thrilling! They unknowingly admired the work as they listened to Aruvel. Then, Aruvel continued to say, “But, this is the end of the second volume. How can this be…”

“It was cut off here?”

“That’s why I’m asking you, can you guys get it for me? If you can get me the third volume, I will show you the path to become strong.”

Ring!

At that moment, a notification window popped out in front of all the guild members present.

[Hidden Quest: Find the Third Volume of Your Highness, You Can’t Do This!]

Rank: A

Requirements: Aruvel’s favorability

Rewards: The path to High Class. Power.

Penalty for Failure: Aruvel’s favorability will drop sharply

Description: Aruvel was known as the Demon World’s Great Sage! Right now, he wants to read the third volume of Your Highness, You Can’t Do This!. Get him the third volume.

“...!”

“...!”

Everyone was shocked at the sudden turn of events. First, the reward listed ‘The path to High Class’. Second, they only needed to get the third volume of an adult book to get the enormous reward of High Class!

Genie recalled a notice posted on Athenae’s?official website not too long ago. They had issued a sentence after a lot of players began making complaints about the ‘Royal Class’ and ‘God Class’, saying that the balance had been broken. Words like ‘I don’t feel like playing this anymore’, or ‘Who wants to play something like this?’?or ‘The balance of this game is extremely bad’?had already spread widely on the internet.?

The notice said, ‘Athenae already has a set measure prepared for cases like this. We have always aimed for a ‘clear and fair balance’. Of course, it will only be available for the best and worthy players.’ Currently, all of the members of the guild were around Level 500 or higher. It was like those words were aimed at them. And from how they said it…

‘Don’t tell me the path is…’

‘Awakening?’

In RPGs, awakenings were usually divided into first awakening, second awakening and third awakening. With every awakening, the player would gain overwhelming power, as well as new skills and stats. Although they were not sure yet, it seemed like that was the case here too. So, they started to move quickly.

When everyone left, Aruvel whistled happily as he opened his book again. But then, a man, Locke, came back again and said, “By any chance, can I borrow the first and second volumes of Your Highness, You Can’t Do This!?”

“...?”

***

Black Dragon had met with the Dragon Race’s child and had arrived at the ‘Forgotten Dragons Land’, the place where the dragon race was residing. The moment he arrived, he received the quest?‘Dealing with the Infected Dragon Race’. He received the quest from the Dragon Race’s King Broque, a hidden NPC living as the king in the Forgotten Dragons Land. If he completed this quest, he would be able to receive the recognition of King Broque. The dragon race had been infected by an unknown poison and had become ferocious. The infected dragon race was then forced to quarantine themselves off inside the Forgotten Dragons Land. The time limit for the quest was only three days.

[You have hunted an infected member of the dragon race.]

[Total Number Hunted: 513/513]

[You have successfully hunted all of the infected members of the dragon race.]

[You have completed the Quest: Dealing with the Infected Dragon Race.]

Black Dragon nodded in satisfaction as he listened to the notifications. The dragon race was at an average level of Level 430, but they were not as strong as he thought. After finishing the quest, he recalled that the Dragon Race’s King Broque said that he would wait for him three days later at the entrance to the infected land.

“Kiyeeeeek!”

“Kiyeeeeeek~”

The quest was fairly easy so he still looked relaxed. Even the three legendary dragons were playing around among themselves nearby. Then, Black Dragon rubbed his chin. He thought, ‘The dragon race is not as tolerant and generous towards me as I thought.’?In fact, the dragon race was even wary of them. Of course, it could have been because he had not finished his quest yet. However, Black Dragon believed that if he used his situation well, he would be able to get the best reward possible, and even increase his favorability with them.

“Ah…!” Black Dragon exclaimed in excitement as his floating thoughts came back to him the moment he found the best plan.

***

Dragon Race’s King Broque was pondering deeply. He thought, ‘Dragon Monarch… If he successfully clears all of my trials, he will be able to awaken the Forgotten Dragons Land once again.’

But before that, he wanted to confirm and check what kind of existence the Dragon Monarch was. Besides, the Dragon Monarch was a human. This was the part that the Dragon Race’s King Broque was very doubtful about. After all, the former Dragon Monarch had used the dragon race as his own weapon of mass murder. Because of them, many died and plenty were left in grief. And right now, he was waiting in front of the infected land. Not long after, he saw them coming from afar.

“He’s here!!!”

“He’s coming.”

Broque narrowed his eyes to look at the arriving figures. But what he saw made him frown.

‘What’s this?’

The Dragon Monarch’s condition was a bit unusual. Blood was dripping from his mouth and right arm. He was even limping as he held his right arm tightly with his left hand.

“Kki, kkiyyyeeeeeck…”

Even the dragons were in a sorry state. The dragons were all covered in blood and looked like they were going to collapse anytime soon. The black dragon that was flying in the sky even fell down from exhaustion. Broque heard him say, “Hang, hang in there, Britney! Hang in there! We’re almost there!”

“Ki, kiyeeeee…” Britney cried as he struggled to raise his body up while Black Dragon tried to cheer him up. The other dragons also staggered forward to help the black dragon named Britney. And the moment they left the infected land and stood in front of Broque, Black Dragon…

“Aaaah…”

Fall―

…collapsed and fell down on his knees.

“What, what happened?!”

“The…the enemies were too strong… But Broque doesn’t trust me so I wanted to prove myself… Cough!”

Then, he bit his own cheek, causing blood to burst out of his mouth, before saying, “I knew that it’s a bit too much for me… but I did it. With these children…”

Black Dragon sent a glance towards Destiny and the other dragons.

“Kiyeeeeee…”

Thud―

Starting with Destiny…

Thud.

Thud.

…the dragons began to faint one after the other. Just like that, Black Dragon scammed and tricked the dragon race together with the four legendary dragons. Broque, unaware of their act, felt his heart warm. He said, “If you knew that you couldn’t do it, then you should have run away! Why…why did you do something this reckless…!!!”

“That’s…” Black Dragon smiled as he continued to say, “...because Broque asked us to do it.”

Thud.

Leaving those words behind, Black Dragon also fainted on the spot. In their fainted state, Black Dragon and the four legendary dragons all had sly and wicked smiles on their faces!!!

“H…Hey!!! Help me bring the heroes back!”

“Y…yes!”

“Ah!!! How can this be…!”

“My goodness! Dragon Monarch!!! He really fits the name of Monarch!!!!”

Notifications about the increase in favor constantly rang in Black Dragon’s ears. That was right. It was because of Kang Minhoo, that Minhyuk was a natural at scamming and tricking people, learning it all from his father. They were the embodiment of Like Father, Like Son.