Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 565: Battle of the Thrones (Middle)

[The 70,000-strong, tanker-focused troops advanced to destroy the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, but were completely destroyed by ‘Hanwoo’ even before they could do so.]

[The entire world is watching Beyond the Heavens Kingdom in shock.]

[We can expect more countries to join the alliance to keep the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s path to the Supreme King’s Throne in check.]

Breaking news of the same caliber began to pour out all over the world. The people from all over the world could only cheer for South Korea after witnessing how they slaughtered 15,000 enemy troops and pushed back the 70,000 troops that tried to capture their castle at the very beginning of the Battle of the Thrones. Even within South Korea, there was no place in the country that was not filled with cheers.

Meanwhile, at the Blue House.

One person trembled, his palms clenched tightly into fists. This person was none other than Kim Yeong-Soo, the current South Korean president.

‘Thank you. Thank you.’

Kim Yeong-Soo looked at the screen and watched as Genie raised her sword to the skies while the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom shouted in celebration of their victory. Right now, the entire nation was celebrating. He could see that the rankers of a game were doing what he, the president, could not do.

Of course, Kim Yeong-Soo had also invited several Athenae experts to stay with him and analyze the situation.

“What do you think about the situation that they will experience in the future?”

But unlike the fiery atmosphere that surrounded him and the entire nation, the expressions of the experts were cold.

“The battle that the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s members had fought was definitely good propaganda to raise everyone’s expectations. But the problem now is that there are more than fifteen countries that have formed an alliance.”

“The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom is the very first kingdom in the game. And now, the other countries are given a chance to build a kingdom and a castle through this event. And since Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was built first, everyone would try their hardest to break down their systematic kingdom, before proceeding to fight amongst themselves in this Battle of Thrones. On top of that, the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had just finished pushing back and eliminating 70,000 enemy rankers in one go. This meant that they are the very first in the contribution rankings and would definitely be the target of all the participating countries.”

“If the allied countries deploy 10,000 of their troops, there will be around 200,000 enemy troops that will attack the kingless Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. The worst part is the fact that this 200,000 strong troops is likely made up of Named NPCs and high-rankers.”

“…”

The report was tragic and disastrous.

“More countries will join the alliance. This time, they will not send a scouting troop but an entire army that will attack them. There is a huge difference between the top 10,000 players and the top 100 rankers. Top 100 rankers could easily face dozens of the top 10,000 players.”

“Although I do not want to admit it, our South Korea will be wiped out in today’s Battle of Thrones, Mr. President.”

Kim Yeong-Soo looked at the experts before shaking his head, “Nothing in this world can be completely predicted and calculated.”

None of the experts spoke even though they wanted to tell Kim Yeong-Soo that his desire and hope would not last long. Kim Yeong-Soo then made a phone call to none other than President Kang Taehoon. The moment the call connected, Kang Taehoon said…

[Mr. President, I sincerely ask for your understanding. I cannot and will not be able to tell you anything about how the Battle of Thrones will proceed.]

Kang Taehoon and Kim Yeong-Soo were quite close, but Kang Taehoon was someone with a firm and stubborn personality. No matter how close they were, he had no intention of informing Kim Yeong-Soo about any of the future trends that would happen in the Battle of Thrones.

“I know, I know. Just… I just want to know why the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom did something so reckless? Why does it seem like they are purposely attracting attention to themselves?”

As the real god of Athenae, Kang Taehoon’s view of the game and the plays inside of it was definitely superior to that of the experts that Kim Yeong-Soo had invited. All he wanted to know was why the members of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom used up all of their powers like that? But Kang Taehoon did not answer his question.

“Do we really have no hope anymore?”

Then, Kang Taehoon spoke quietly over the phone.

[In the Battle of Thrones, the country that acquires the highest contribution will receive special privileges.]

This meant that the more they hunt and kill, the stronger they would get, and maybe the better the rewards.

[Even if tens of thousands of flies swarm together, they will never be able to beat a lion.]

Kim Yeong-Soo’s eyes widened when he realized what Kang Taehoon meant.

‘Don’t tell me…!’

That was right. The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom started the Battle of Thrones by fighting against the other countries’ ‘bugs’. Right after that, 70,000 troops headed to Beyond the Heavens Kingdom and increased their contributions once more. In other words, they were now stronger and there was a chance that the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom would become ‘lions’.

‘Are you telling me that they are allowing themselves to be attacked?!’

It was a strategy that no one would even dare to think about nor even use it so easily like that.

“Is this what I think it is?”

[Who knows?]

A smile bloomed on Kim Yeong-Soo’s face. After he ended the call, what he did next was simple. He looked at the experts solemnly and said, “You guys can go.”

“…???”

“…???”

“…???”

“…???”

***

As of this moment, the only thing that was a sore sight in the eyes of the global top rankers was the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. They were from a small country in Asia and a small continent in Athenae, yet they destroyed their alliance’s army twice. Of course, even if they did lose, the number of troops that they have lost only amounted to a few thousands at most. But because of that, the temporary alliance was still required and could not be broken. This meant that they could not attack each other and all they could do was stomp their feet in their own castles.

While they were busy doing that, America was busy attacking the other countries that did not join the alliance and increased their contribution.

[Each country should send 3,000 more troops and one top ranker.]

The kings, who were sitting on their thrones, were spread out through a hologram projection and talked through their ‘alliance chat’. The one that made the suggestion was China’s King, Xu Jiaqi.

[If a top ranker dies, then it will be a greater loss than losing a thousand troops.]

Greece’s King shot back, while Calauhel piped up.

[However, no one from our enemy’s troops has the power to kill our top rankers and NPCs. Even their Named NPCs, Elpis and Gorfido, are probably on cooldown. On the other hand, our top rankers have yet to utilize their skills.]

[But the top rankers are also rankers. They will also lose their power little by little, right?]

[Then, how about this?]

Vietnam’s King, God of Archery and a lady, to be exact, Miáo spoke up.

[Let’s try to take them down with summoners and necromancers and have France’s Bastien lead?]

[That’s not a bad plan. It can also reduce the damage that our troops will receive.]

[Besides, France also has the ‘Lion King’ right?]

The Lion King was the master of Bastien, the number one ranker in the official global summoner rankings. Surprisingly enough, he was one of the Absolute Supreme NPCs that could stand toe to toe against Overlord Raldo and Continental Emperor Ellie.

[Then, everything’s decided. Each country will send a force with top rankers, summoners and necromancers. If we assess that there’s a chance that they will fall, we will send an additional 5,000 more troops.]

Their discussion ended there. It was decided that they would send their country’s strongest summoners and necromancers. Of course, a huge number of the troops that they will send out were NPCs. When they gathered, the total number of summoners and necromancers exceeded 60,000. But since they were summoners and necromancers, they could summon hundreds of monsters and increase their numbers even further.

“Keuhaaaaaaaack!”

“Graaaaaaaaa!”

Nearly 200,000 monsters and undead roared. Dozens of bone dragons and wyverns took to the skies. There were also rankers riding on top of the wyverns, ready to jump down on the walls.

At the vanguard stood a middle-aged man sporting a long beard. The man also had a lion head as his helmet. This man was Lion King Benrod. Benrod was different from the ordinary summoner. Even those that call themselves Absolute Gods would pale in comparison in front of the God of Beasts under his command. There were even legends about how one of his beasts destroyed several territories.

“The man that humiliated you is over there?”

Standing right next to Lion King Benrod was the global number one summoner Bastien.

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

“Keuhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!”

Then, hundreds of thousands of monsters and undead roared, as they charged toward Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

***

The skies above the walls of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were covered with black. This was because a huge number of monsters were charging toward them and covering the land and the skies.

Many of the Korean rankers that saw this scene on top of the walls choked on their breath as the air around them turned somber. Among them stood a woman by the name of Allein. The power that she could wield was on par with the rankers, but she was actually the lowest ranked among them. Allein was a Spear Knight and a rising star in Korea. However, she was left speechless at the momentum of the monsters. She could feel her legs shake. In fact, she badly wanted to run away. She was obviously one of the rankers to be envied. But the enemies were also rankers and standing in front of them, her side looked infinitely shabby.

“How…”

Why did the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom have to provoke them? Why were the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom not shaking and releasing a trembling breath as they looked at the hundreds of thousands of monsters rushing toward them? Then, someone placed their hands on Allein’s shoulder.

“Everything’s going to be alright.”

That someone was none other than Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s vice guild master, Genie. She was a woman that reigned over Korea’s top rankers and received the love of many people.

But even with her comfort, Allein’s body did not stop shaking. Their rankers no longer had their sure-kill skills and they no longer had a gigantic weapon in the form of Hanwoo. Of course, the Korean rankers were also able to gain benefits after sweeping away the 70,000 troops. They had received a 5% increase in all stats, a bottle of top grade mana potion, and top grade HP potion. But still…

“The number of enemies is too…”

“It has always been like this.”

“…!!!”

After hearing Genie’s words, Allein realized that, yes, this has always been the case for the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. This was the case when they fought against Demigod Asura and when they sealed Great Demon Verus. This was also the case when they cinched a very shocking victory against China during the Continental War. The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was always presented with a losing battle, but they always came out on top.

Genie was a ranker that was loved and idolized by many. And she had always endured the weight that accompanied being an idol.

“There are a lot of enemies, right?” Genie asked the Korean rankers.

Cold sweat dripped down from everyone’s foreheads.

“Everyone believes that we’re going to fall and collapse.”

Indeed, even they, the Korean rankers, thought the same. They had the confidence but they were just ordinary rankers. No matter how hard they thought, the number of enemies in front of them was just too much.

“But what if we take them down and claim the Supreme King’s Throne?”

At Genie’s words, one of the male rankers spat out shakily, ‘They will be shocked.’

Everyone at the scene shuddered.

“We can do it. Right now, we can break that damn alliance down, claim the Supreme King’s Throne and soar even higher.”

All of them spat out trembling breaths, their bodies shaking as goosebumps rose on the skin on their backs.

Then, Genie, who looked at the charging monster corps beyond their walls, the bone dragon corps, the wyvern corps and the gryphon corps flying above them, said, “Prepare for battle.”

Shwaa—

Shwaa—

Shwaa—

Shwaa—

The Korean rankers and NPCs, who unsheathed their weapons, looked very cool. And Allein stood by them and said, “It’s an honor to fight with you.”

At the same time, a huge bone dragon flew toward Genie, its mouth wide open and ready to bite her. Then, Genie’s whip wrapped around the Bone Dragon as if she was waiting for it to reach near her. And when she slammed her hand down, the Bone Dragon’s body got embedded on the ground.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—

As the dust rose behind her, Genie ordered, “All troops, attack!”

1. The Korean presidential residence.