Gourmet Gaming

[The greatest and strongest sword that can split the world has appeared.]

Athenae, the game loved by the people from all over the world, was turned upside down because of a single world message that rang in everyone’s ears.

[We have never heard of a world message like this before, right?]

[That’s right. It seems like someone anonymous has acquired a God-rank sword! I have only heard about notifications like this but this is the first time that I have seen one myself!]

[Wow. Sht. Who is it? So jealous…]

There were a lot of guesses and speculations.

[Maybe it’s Alexander? Didn’t this notification ring shortly after Alexander reached Level 600?]

[Omg? That’s really possible… Maybe he got the greatest sword out of all of the god-rank swords as a reward for reaching Level 600?]

[That sounds really possible?]

[But what if it’s not Alexander? What if it’s another player? What if it’s Akhan or the Food God?]

[Hmm… But if you obtained a god-rank sword then you should either be in a hunting ground or doing a hidden quest, right?]

[Yes, that’s only natural. If you stayed in a village, then there’s no way for you to get a god-rank sword.]

The players’ guesses and theories definitely seemed plausible. After all, one could only possibly obtain god-rank artifacts if they obtained great achievements or did something that others did not before.

[Players, please tell us where the high rankers are currently at.]

There were plenty of Athenae players in the world. In fact, there were so many that their numbers reached the billions. Since the faces of the famous high rankers were well-known, it was not that difficult for the players all over the world to determine their locations. Everyone received several tip-offs from the billions of Athenae players that were inside the game.

[Akhan is logged out. It’s been three days since he last logged in the game. I don’t think it’s Akhan.]

[How about Alexander?]

[Alexander’s location is out! He has been staying in the Supreme’s Plains for months now.]

[The Supreme’s Plains? Isn’t that a place that only those above Level 580 can enter?]

[It’s a place where only the Supremes can enter. Maybe he got it by hunting boss mobs there after reaching Level 600?]

[Isn’t Kentaro in the Supreme’s Plain too?]

[Huge info about Asura Ascar is out too! I think she’s been doing some class quests these days. Maybe she got it as a reward for her class quest?]

A lot of guesses came out. Even Food God Minhyuk’s location came out.

[We have also confirmed Minhyuk’s location.]

[He’s attending the Continental Conference in the Eivelis Empire, hehe;;]

[Ah, so it’s not the Food God.]

[There’s no way that one can obtain a sword while attending the Continental Conference, right? Hahahahahaha.]

[There are a lot of players that have confirmed that they have seen Player Minhyuk attend the Continental Conference in the Eivelis Empire. At this point, we can confidently say that it’s not Player Minhyuk.]

[Yep, yep. It’s definitely not Player Minhyuk. Also, from what I heard, Player Minhyuk did not do any hidden quests or special quests these past few days.]

[But what if it’s Minhyuk? As everyone here knows, Our Lord the Food God takes all the good rewards.]

[You sht. Hahahahaha. Use your head a little. Do you think someone in the Continental Conference would go to Minhyuk and say, ‘Here’s the supreme sword, take it.’ or something? How can you even get a god-rank sword during a conference? Get it now?]

[Ah… uhmm… I see… So, who’s the one that got it?]

Both true and false information was being tossed around among the players, bringing in more speculations and guesses among them. However, there was one thing that was certain. All of the Athenae players were extremely jealous of whoever the player that obtained the sword was.

***

Minhyuk hurriedly rushed out of the Continental Conference’s conference hall.

‘What a relief.’

He actually did not expect that a world message would resonate. Fortunately, the Continental Conference was held in a place with tight security, which contained the white light that burst out from the sword.

Besides, most of the people that attended the conference were trustworthy and reliable. Minhyuk was assured that none of them would be talking about this to another soul.

After returning to the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom with a single warp, Minhyuk quickly checked the notifications that rang right after the world message.

[The first seal of the greatest sword, the Sword of Aeon, has been lifted.]

[You can now see the changes in the abilities and effects of the Sword of Aeon.]

[The conditions for lifting the second seal of the Sword of Aeon will now be released.]

(Sword of Aeon)

Rank: God

Requirements: God, the One that Lifted the First Seal

Durability: ∞/∞

Attack Power: 1,814

Special Abilities:

•Increase all stats by 18%.

•Reduce all skills’ cooldown by 20%.

•Passive Skill: Double Basic Attack Damage

•Passive Skill: The Greatest Sword

•Active Skill: Skill Transformation

•Active Skill: The Annihilator’s Sword

Description: Aeon. This is a sword that has been sealed for so long that one could not remember when it was first sealed. Only its first seal has been lifted, the sword still cannot exert its full power.

“…”

Minhyuk groaned lightly.

“This is the power of a sword with only its first seal lifted?”

The Continent Destroyer Sword had been used by the Absolute Gods’ Sword Brod. It was a god-rank sword that was bestowed upon Brod by the God of Death for killing millions with his blade.

When both swords were placed side by side and compared with each other, there was no doubt that the Continent Destroyer Sword was better. After all, it was a sword that Minhyuk had reinforced to +5. The Continent Destroyer Sword had around 2,500 attack, a 41% increase in STR and AGI, as well as overpowered effects like 60% increase in cutting power, 60% increase in piercing power, and 70% increase in critical hit rate.

However, the reason for Minhyuk’s surprise was because of the potential of the sword. There were many artifacts that could only be used after one had met a condition. Of course, there were also those where one needed to fulfill a second condition too. Artifacts like that would usually only exert around 55% of its total power after their first seal was lifted. What would happen if the second condition was met?

‘Of course, the remaining 45% of the power would be added back.’

If Minhyuk followed a simple formula, once the second condition was met, the attack of the Sword of Aeon would probably increase to around 2,600.

‘It’s even in an ‘unenhanced’ state?’

That was right. Back when the Continent Destroyer Sword was still in an unenhanced state, it only had around 1,800 in attack. But if Minhyuk was able to completely unseal the Sword of Aeon, then he would be able to increase its attack to be equivalent to a sword that had received +5 reinforcement.

“Crazy. If I can meet the condition and lift the second seal, then I will be able to get around 3,000 in attack power, right?”

—Enemies will melt with this much damage dealt!

These were the words that commentators usually used whenever they compared the damage dealt by the basic attacks of the strong. It might sound impossible but the Sword of Aeon’s attack could probably make it possible.

But that was not all. Even its special abilities were all overpowered. The Sword of Aeon’s ‘Double Basic Attack Damage’ had a 45% probability of being triggered, while the ‘Greatest Sword’, as seen before, had the power to render all artifacts useless for a moment. Even the Skill Transformation and the Annihilator’s Sword were both very good skills.

‘Are you telling me that all of these skills would become even better once I meet the conditions to lift the second seal?’

Minhyuk was speechless. With trembling pupils, he turned to look at the conditions to lift the second seal. However, he frowned when he saw it.

‘Huh…?’

[Go to the God of Death and find the conditions for lifting the Sword of Aeon’s second seal.]

“Of all people… why the God of Death?”

***

Special Players Management Team.

Employee Lee Minhwa looked bitter.

“Player Minhyuk looks a bit flustered with this…”

“Understandable. Among the Absolute Gods, the God of Death is the trickiest and most dangerous god. On top of that, he has to go to hell to meet with him.”

“Player Minhyuk going to hell… Come to think of it, aren’t there a lot of delicious things in hell?”

From what Lee Mihwa knew, that was truly the case. Hell was a place where all of those that did not enter the cycle of reincarnation after dying were living. It was a land filled with many hidden items. It also housed plenty of delicious and amazing ingredients and dishes.

However, disregarding the food, would Minhyuk even be able to receive the blessing of the God of Death on the Sword of Aeon?

“Team Leader, what do you think?”

“Who knows? I also don’t know what will happen this time. However, there’s something else that I know of.”

“Something else?” Lee Minhwa looked at Park Minggyu in confusion.

Then, Team Leader Park opened his dry lips and said, “The Sword of Aeon has three seals in total.”

“…!” Lee Minhwa jumped up from her seat. “No… No way…!”

The Sword of Aeon with its first seal lifted was already that strong. Once its second seal was lifted, it would already become stronger than the Continent Destroyer Sword. What would happen if the third seal was lifted?

“The true Supreme Sword will be born to the world.”

After leaving those words, Team Leader Park Minggyu moved to the conference room. The Jade Emperor and his envoys had released the quest not too long ago. Today was the day that they would release the video related to the quest to all of the players.

***

Minhyuk felt very flustered when he realized that he needed to go to Hell and meet with the God of Death to know the conditions for lifting the Sword of Aeon’s second seal.

Among the people that he knew, Ascar probably knew how to get to Hell. However, just when he was about to send a whisper to Ascar, there was the notification of the new episode.

[You can now view the video of the new episode: ‘Edea, the Land of the Forgotten Heroes’!]

[Would you like to watch the video?]

Minhyuk murmured, “Yes.”

Immediately after that, the scene in front of him changed.

The Jade Emperor and his envoys were currently gathered together in the world in the clouds.

Flash—!

The Jade Emperor, who was sitting on his golden throne, frowned. This was because a silver-haired man appeared in front of him in a flash of light. The man was someone that everyone in Athenae knew. He was none other than the ‘Battle God’.

“God of Edea, why is a god trying to exterminate those poor and pitiful humans?”

The surface on which they were stepping on, the clouds, parted in the middle and showed the residents of Edea flocking together under the banner of the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal.

The Jade Emperor snorted. “And why is the god of another continent trying to meddle in our affairs?”

“This place might be different from the land that we rule but the price of life remains the same. Doing this will tear down the order, and bring chaos and destruction to the world.”

The envoys immediately grew wary when they saw the Battle God take a step forward.

The Battle God was the greatest of the Absolute Gods. No matter how many envoys there were, they would still be unable to win against him. However, the situation would be different if the Jade Emperor teamed up with the envoys. But the Jade Emperor was not a fool. If he chose to fight the Battle God right here and now, then the other Absolute Gods would definitely come to the Battle God’s aid.

“They are criticizing and denying my existence as god.”

“That is something that us gods have to bear with.”

“Pffft. Are the gods on your side that weak?” Envoy Viel burst into laughter.

“Shut up.”

Rumbleeeeee—!

“Keuaaaaaack!”

With just a snort, Viel was knocked down by the force that shot out of the Battle God’s body.

The players that watched the video knew that Viel was the one that slaughtered tens of thousands of players not too long ago. However, even someone like him was helpless in front of an Absolute God like the Battle God.

The Jade Emperor clicked his tongue at Viel, who had collapsed on the ground, then he turned to look at the Battle God once again, “Then, how about we do it like this?”

There was a grin on the Jade Emperor’s face as he looked at the Battle God with narrowed eyes.

“Aren’t you gods obsessed with ‘fairness’? Shall we leave it to the foreigners then? I will task the foreigners to clean up and drive away the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal. As for those that were of different opinion, they can align with Sun Wukong.”

The Battle God’s brows furrowed.

“Everything is up to them. You can’t say that it’s not fair, right?”

The Battle God was silent. That was right. It would not be someone else’s choice. Everything would be up to them. It was their own free will to choose what side they wanted to stand on.

However, the Battle God knew full well that there would not be that many people that would stand on the side of the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal. Still, this was better than having the Jade Emperor and his envoys intervene directly with the affairs in the human world.

After pondering for a moment, the Battle God nodded and said, “What a shallow trick.”

“…”

In the end, the one that was left gnashing his teeth was the Jade Emperor.

“I know that you are fully aware of what kind of situation would unfold.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The Jade Emperor pretended to be none the wiser in front of the Battle God.

However, the Battle God said, “If that’s the case, then we should coordinate our opinion and draft an agreement.”

They finally drafted an agreement. There were various clauses and conditions written in the agreement. For one, only the Jade Emperor’s envoys were allowed to descend to Edea. There was also a clause that prohibited the Jade Emperor from giving aid to the foreigners that wanted to drive out the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal.

On the other hand, the Battle God had his conditions.

“I will provide aid to a brilliant and excellent warrior. It’s fine, right?”

“Alright. Let’s do that.” The Jade Emperor sneered.

Basically, those that could cut down many enemies would receive special privileges and preferential treatment from the Battle God.

With that, the agreement was drawn up. However, it seemed like the agreement was completely unfavorable to the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal. Well, it was only natural. In the first place, Edea was the land ruled by the Jade Emperor. As someone from another land, the Battle God could not recklessly interfere with the affairs of their own world.

After finishing what he came here for, the Battle God turned around to leave. However, just before leaving, he said, “Ah, did you know?”

The Jade Emperor and his envoys looked at the Battle God in confusion.

The Battle God smirked as he continued, “The man that you are thinking about? He is my successor.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

The eyes of the Jade Emperor and his envoys grew wide, their jaws dropping in shock.

Then, the video showed a close up of the handsome face of the Battle God as he said, “My successor, the Battle God’s Descendant…”

All of the people watching the video watched with bated breath as they listened to his voice. Not long after, the Battle God showed a bright smile.

“He will soon have all of Edea in his hands.”