Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 444: A Bet with the Gods. And Cooking.

However, President Kang Taehoon had explicitly told them that they did not need to report anything if they judged that it would interfere with the Athenae player’s play. Also, the walls had ears. On the off chance that the executives and employees heard his report and relayed it to the guilds that they have connections with, then the enemies might reverse the situation and stop the advancing troops that came to help Let’s Eat Sect. So, Park Minggyu decided not to report it.

Even Kang Taehoon, the president, was no exception to this. And this was one of the qualities that the president liked about Minggyu.

“…Miracle?” Kang Taehoon asked in doubt. Minggyu just pointed towards the monitor as if he did not need to say anything to explain.

The cameras that were broadcasting the scene hurriedly shuffled around to try and find the owner of the arrow. After moving around for quite a while, they finally closed up on a distant hill around three kilometers away from Loki. There, on top of that hill, stood a white warhorse carrying a man with pointed ears, long elegant hair, and an aloof, noble gaze. Everyone looked at the man in admiration.

[El, elf…?!]

One of the commentators shouted in shock. However, the shocking events did not end there. Thousands of white warhorses, all carrying elves, appeared one after the other behind the man that shot the arrow. And the identity of the man that shot that arrow was…

[It’s Elf King Gorn!!!]

[Prince Argon, the elf that has reached the level of archery that no player could ever achieve, and the son of Elf King Gorn, has also appeared!!!]

President Kang Taehoon jumped up from his seat the moment he heard the shocked voices of the commentators ringing loudly in the room.

At the same time, in another place.

It was abrupt and sudden, but fortunately, one of the broadcasting stations’ cameras, the camera that was filming the battle from the sky, captured the scene of unidentified men piercing through the enemies’ ranks from the other side of the path that the members of Let’s Eat Sect were desperately trying to create. These men were all wearing dark robes and asura masks that covered their faces. The most noteworthy part? All of them were wielding spears and using spear arts that had transcended the level of any regular knight.

The troops could not hold out against them and were forced to back down and make way for them. The scene looked exactly like Moses’ miracle with how quickly they separated to let these spearmen pass through. This group, led by Spear Master Marquis Brad, was composed of either disciples that had learned spearmanship from Ghost Spear Ben, or spearmen that dreamt of meeting him. They all stood in front of Ghost Spear Ben as Spear Master Brad’s spear cut through the air and pierced through Loki’s already pierced chest and forced him to vomit blood and collapse. They passed by the collapsed Pinnacle Strong Man and created a defensive circle with a slam of their spears, protecting Ghost Spear Ben and the members of Let’s Eat Sect.

At this moment, the chests of all of the viewers watching this scene, especially Know-it-all Dictionary’s viewers, felt their hearts burn ablaze. The scene even catapulted Know-it-all Dictionary’s viewers to an all-time record-breaking high.

Then, the elves, led by Elf King Gorn, began to unleash their arrows.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh—

The arrows that the elves shot were eerily accurate, despite being thousands of meters away from the kingdom troops. They easily shot the troops’ eyes, necks, and other vital points, wiping them out. Additionally, when Elf King Gorn and Crown Prince Argon released their own arrows…

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack—

…their single arrow turned into hundreds of arrows and accurately pierced through the necks of their enemies.

Then, Elf King Gorn, who was sitting mightily on his horse, pulled out his sword and shouted, “For Let’s Eat Sect!!!”

“For Let’s Eat Sect!!!”

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—

Bathump, bathump—

Know-it-all Dictionary felt his heart beat wildly at the sight of five thousand elven troops rushing towards the 130,000 enemy troops. The moment Elf King Gorn’s troops clashed with the enemies…

Slaaaaash—

…they immediately dug through the enemies’ gaps, fighting fiercely to push them away.

Know-it-all Dictionary took this time to say, “Are you guys seeing this?! Right now, a miracle is happening in front of us! That’s Elf King Gorn! It is a well-known fact that Player Minhyuk had saved Prince Argon during the Demon World Invasion Episode. And now, Elf King Gorn, the great and noble king of elves, stepped forward with his brethren to fight for Minhyuk!”

Know-it-all Dictionary shared the information that he had in his hands to enhance the thrill that the viewers were feeling from watching his stream.

[Wow. I can feel my heart flutter. Did he come here to repay the favor from back then?]

[But, aren’t elves very hostile towards humans?]

[Yo, who in the world are those men holding spears? Are they a spear unit?]

[There are tens of thousands of enemies trying to pierce through the spearmen’s defensive circle but they can’t pierce through. Are they for real? Hahahaha.]

The spearmen were as active as the elves in this battle. They were protecting the members of Let’s Eat Sect while maintaining the perfect defensive circle. That was when the notification window suddenly popped up in front of Know-it-all Dictionary.

[MinhyukOppaILoveYou has sponsored you with 500 Moon Balloons]

[WhenWillAruvelReleaseHisNewWork has sponsored you with 1,000 Moon Balloons.]

[BeanieCutie has sponsored you with 800 Moon Balloons.]

The Moon Balloon sponsorship rate of Know-it-all Dictionary dramatically increased. Unlike other BJs, Know-it-all Dictionary used a first person perspective in all of his live broadcasts which gave the viewers a different feeling, as if they were there and watching it themselves.

[FoodGod’sSupporter has sponsored you with 1,000,000 Moon Balloons.]

[FoodGod’sSupporter has sponsored you with 1,000,000 Moon Balloons.]

[FoodGod’sSupporter has sponsored you with 1,000,000 Moon Balloons.]

[FoodGod’sSupporter has sponsored you with 1,000,000 Moon Balloons.]

[FoodGod’sSupporter has sponsored you with 1,000,000 Moon Balloons.]

The unknown and mysterious FoodGod’sSupporter sponsored Know-it-all Dictionary with ninety million Moon Balloons in one go and made him achieve a phenomenal record.

“Haaaaa?” Know-it-all Dictionary’s breath stopped for a moment.

He had been given offers and scouted by countless guilds so that he could broadcast for them. After all, he was the best BJ in Ztube, PaprikaTV, and many more live streaming platforms. However, he had never been bought over by money.

But at this moment, he decided, ‘Let’s Eat Sect. That’s where I’ll go, that’s where I belong!’

However, the things that could make his veins thrum in excitement were not yet over. The Barras Kingdom’s troops, who were flustered and in chaos from the sudden appearance of the elves and the spearmen, were slowly coming back to their senses. Just as he was watching how the troops were about to form an attack formation to break through the elves and the spearmen’s defensive circle…

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—

…an unknown and mysterious tidal wave suddenly appeared in Know-it-all Dictionary’s sight.

The twenty meter-tall tidal wave carried bipedal beastmen, two rabbitmen and one turtleman, on top of it. The three beastmen looked like they were surfing on the huge tide, a sight that was so shocking that even Know-it-all Dictionary could not take his eyes off of them. In a blink, the huge, twenty meter-tall tidal wave crashed down on the ground and engulfed tens of thousands of the kingdom troops in one fell swoop.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—

***

Everything, whether it was man or architecture, was powerless in front of a natural disaster. What more when faced with a twenty meter-tall tidal wave that was packed with a very strong momentum?

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—

Quite a number of the soldiers of Barras Kingdom’s troops drowned and died on the spot from the sudden appearance of the tidal wave, while the rest of them were left in a daze and unable to come back to their senses. Surprisingly enough, the tidal wave left the elves, the spearmen and the members of Let’s Eat Sect alone.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh—

The mysterious rabbitmen and turtlemen, who stood on top of the tidal wave, also fought fiercely as they dealt with all of the soldiers that they passed by.

“Ugh!” Duke Yverone, who finally pulled his head out of the water, gasped for breath.

“Gasp, gasp.”

Yverone looked around him in confusion. However, what greeted him was a two meter-tall being, with the face of a catfish and a long whitebeard wearing a golden king’s robe and holding a trident in his hand. This being stood atop a giant crab, while hundreds of sharkmen warriors stood beneath him.

‘Dragon, Dragon King?!’

The man was none other than the King of the Seas, the Dragon King.

Yverone could not understand why the king of the seas and the king of the elves stepped forward to protect Minhyuk, when they had never interrupted and joined in any of the conflicts that arose between humans before.

Puhaaaaaaaaak!

Jets of water sprang up from the ground and pierced through the hearts of the soldiers with every swing of the Dragon King’s trident.

‘He’s really strong…’

Each of the soldiers that these kings have led were far more powerful than any ordinary soldiers. But what was more surprising was…

‘Who in the world are those spearmen?!’

Yverone was someone that stood on par with Marquis Brad as the continent’s Spear Master, so he could tell that the spearmen that appeared to protect the members of Let’s Eat Sect had reached a shocking level in terms of spearmanship.

In just an instant, 20,000 of his troops had died. However, Yverone’s shock and fluster only lasted for a moment. Even if 20,000 of his troops had died, they still had a little over 100,000 left. Right now, they might still have the momentum, but once their MP and STM ran out, then they would just be ducks waiting for the slaughter. There was also the damage to their weapons.

“Don’t back down! They will eventually fall under our hands!”

Rather than fear, Yverone felt that this was his chance. Simply put, he was thinking that this was their chance to swallow the land of the elves and the dragon king’s palace.

‘And if we take the kings as our prisoners of war then…’

He could not even imagine the value of what they would be able to gain from that. Just like that, the surviving Pinnacle Strong Men immediately stepped forward to keep the Dragon King, Elf King Gorn and Argon in check. They were also aware that they would be able to gain a lot of benefits if they won this battle.

Just when these thoughts flashed in Yverone’s head, something black suddenly dropped down from the sky. The moment it descended, hundreds of troops disappeared. It was as if a meteor had descended upon them.

“…?!”

Yverone turned to look back in doubt, only to see Black Dragon getting up slowly.

[Black Dragon has made his appearance!!!]

[Black Dragon! It has been a long time since we last saw him but he finally appeared!!!]

And with his appearance…

Kiyeeeeeeeee!?

Kieeeeeeeeeeeeck!

Graaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Thousands of members of the dragon race descended from the skies. They were the Black Dragon Legion, a legion composed of the scattered dragon race warriors. They were now far stronger and greater than they were before. And…

“Fufufufufu!?Wallow in despair. You all should drink this poisoned wine!”

“Fufu! How dare you measly humans try to deal with people born like us?”

…their chuunibyou-ness had also reached its peak. On top of that, the power that they possessed was far more overwhelming than their previous appearance.

With their addition to the fray, the troops that Barras Kingdom had led here to deal with the Let’s Eat Sect started decreasing rapidly. The commentators were quick to relay the sudden change in the battlefield’s situation.

[Black Dragon, Elf King Gorn, Dragon King and the unknown spearmen all appeared to help Let’s Eat Sect.]

[However, the fact that they are inferior in terms of numbers in this ‘battle of attrition’ would not change. We can assume that the alliance that came to protect Let’s Eat Sect will eventually be pushed back.]

[That might be the case, but this is still a battle featuring four different races. I don’t think we’ll be able to see anything like this again, even if we want to see it in the future. This is a great battle that will leave its mark in Athenae’s history.]

[How many enemies will Let’s Eat Sect be able to kill in this battle? I think that’s also a very important question to consider.]

The commentators, who were gushing in admiration, suddenly stopped in confusion as they focused on Elf King Gorn. This was because the king of the elves was smiling subtly towards someone. Even Argon, who was standing next to his father, was smiling too. The cameras also captured the members of Let’s Eat Sect turning towards this someone. And Ali…

“Frieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend!”

…called out passionately. Of course, the cameras immediately turned and followed the direction that they were looking at. The commentators shouted in excitement when they saw who it was.

[He has appeared!]

[Let’s Eat Sect’s King, Korea’s, no, the world’s strongest player has appeared!]

[He has not made an appearance earlier but it seems like we can finally see him in action!]

Everyone, both Koreans and people from all over the world, that were tuned in on the broadcast focused on the figure of the man. At long last, he has made his appearance. He jumped on top of the fortress’ walls and brought disaster upon their enemies.

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack—

When he slammed his sword on the ground, a violent earthquake erupted and swallowed more than 5,000 troops in one go. The man rushed forward through the disaster that he released and handed something to the members of Let’s Eat Sect and the NPCs. The members of Let’s Eat Sect bawled out, but the man ignored them. He looked like he was in a hurry. Not long after, the man put something in his mouth and…

Crunch, crunch, crunch—

[???]

[???]

The commentators were all perplexed as they watched the man, who appeared miraculously in front of the exhausted members of Let’s Eat Sect, chew and swallow something. And with a smile of relief, the man called out, “Elpis, Brod.”

In a flash of light, two figures appeared. They were Let’s Eat Sect’s Sword and Shield.

1. A parody of star balloons, the sponsorship system of AfreecaTV