Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 503: The One that Became a Demigod

In the first place, Akhan aimed to bring down the entire Athenian worldview. He also wanted to show the world how weak ordinary players were during the process. That was why Lucio turned on his broadcast. He believed that he would be able to show the Korean players how the old man called Ghost Spear, a person that had overcome several obstacles and adversities, would die in vain. But the result was…

“Ah…” Lucio let out a sigh. His heart was pounding fiercely, his breath was ragged and even his head was spinning. He felt like he was going to burst into tears. In fact, if he had not caught himself in time, he would have already applauded the old man.

The old man, all by his lone self, desperately broke through the 40,000 strong enemy troops.

For a moment, Lucio wondered if the old man in front of him was truly just an artificial intelligence that was created by humans. Looking at the old man invoked empathy from deep within Lucio.

‘Get yourself together!’

But he was Akhan’s follower, that was why Lucio did his best to control his emotions. However, he could not stop the people watching his broadcast. Among the hundreds of thousands of viewers that watched his stream, many watched Ben with admiration, marvel, and applause.

[It’s like a movie… Ghost Spear Ben is really cool…]

[How many people can jump into the fray and fight against tens of thousands of enemies to save Haze and the hatchling?]

[Don’t you think the white snow falling at this time is like the skies honoring him?]

[Get up! Get up, Ben! Ghost Spear Ben, stand up!!!]

[Get up, Ben!!!]

[Get up, Ben!!!]

Despite the people’s hopes and expectations, none of them could deny the fact that Ghost Spear Ben was unable to move anymore. Ben’s heart was already torn apart, blood gushing down the ground. The skies rained down white snow on Ben, turning his body colder by the second. The only sign that he was still holding on to his life was the slight twitch in his body.

“Grandpa! Grandpaaaaaa!” Haze screamed. The knights immediately blocked her path while turning to look at Renzie. When Renzie nodded slightly, the knights opened up a path for Haze. Haze immediately ran to Ben, checking his body all over. Ben’s body was riddled with holes, his flesh already torn and falling apart. It was obvious that he would not be able to move anymore with the state of his body. But Ghost Spear Ben still moved.

“Grandpa, don’t die! Please! Don’t die!!!”

Haze did not care about her own death. But she knew the reason why Ghost Spear Ben moved so recklessly and desperately. That was why she was both sad and torn. Renzie trudged in front of Haze, who was holding Ghost Spear Ben close to her, and raised his fist on his left chest. He was paying his respects to the true warrior in front of him.

Thump—

Thump—

Thump—

Thump—

The tens of thousands of soldiers immediately followed right after and paid their tribute to Ben. This was a final courtesy to their enemy that showed great tenacity, will and abilities.

[F*ck… Ghost Spear Ben is dead. Ah, I’m crying. He’s really cool… ??]

[Even though he was their enemy, the troops still admitted Ben’s prowess. Chivalry is cool.]

Everyone stood still for a moment in honor of Ghost Spear Ben and the path that he chose. Without saying a word, Renzie turned around. He needed to do what he had to do.

Haze just hugged Ben and sobbed. She whispered hoarsely to Ben’s ears, “If you go like this then… If you go like this, then His Majesty will be sad. You know that you can’t go like this…!”

Renzie nodded at the knights as the knights immediately rushed to separate Haze from Ben.

“Noo! Noooo! Grandpa! Grandpaaaaaa…!”

Then…

Twitch—

Ben’s fingers twitched.

***

Ghost Spear Ben felt comfortable. He was now able to put down all the weight that he carried his entire life and fall into eternal rest. As his body slowly cooled down and his consciousness started to blur, the life that he lived started to flash in his eyes. At the end of his life’s story, Minhyuk stood with a bright smile on his face.

‘Your Majesty…’

To his sorrow, Ben collapsed after seeing the bright smile on Minhyuk’s face replaced with tears. Minhyuk wept as he looked at him.

‘Why are you crying like that…?’

Haze’s voice pierced through his blurring consciousness, “If you go like this then… If you go like this then His Majesty will be sad. You know that you can’t go like this…!”

Ben immediately tried to gather his slipping consciousness as he moved his cooling hands.

Twitch—

Ben was only able to gather enough strength to move his fingers. But that was enough. Ben slowly, ever so slowly, pulled out something from his pockets. It was the thing that Elpis had handed over to him before.

‘Grandpa Ben, you’re training very hard every night because you want to become stronger, right? Here, Brod left this gift before he left the territory.’

The item was none other than the ‘Demigod Training Parchment’. Elpis had told him that he could die if he used the parchment recklessly. But Ben did not want to see his king cry sadly because of him.

Riiiiip—

Ben squeezed the last of his strength to grip the parchment and rip it apart. And then…

Thump—

…his arm fell down as his mind turned blank.

***

Riiiiiiiip—

“…?!”

Renzie turned to look back in shock. It was because Ghost Spear Ben squeezed that last of his strength and tore something apart.

‘What the hell…?!’

The old man had brought them one shock after another. And just when they thought everything was over, the old man shocked them once again. All of them wondered why Ghost Spear Ben was that strong.

Renzie could not figure out what the parchment that Ghost Spear Ben had torn apart. At that moment, Dragon Elder Velach, a dragon that had lived for thousands of years, said, “Isn’t that a Demigod Training Parchment?”

“What’s that?”

“You should know that many strong people covered the continent a long time ago.”

The proud Renzie had no choice but to admit it after hearing Elder Velach’s words. The past and the present were completely different. The past might mean tens of thousands of years ago, perhaps even more than that, but the present was just that, the present.

The Continental Empress Ellie was also hailed as a slightly remarkable legend in the past.

“But among them, a small number of talented, strong people transcended the general strength and reached a higher level. They were people that despised the limits created by their human bodies and decided to challenge the harsh trials and tribulations, walking the path of a ‘Demigod’, a being among the Continental Gods that is half human and half god.”

The Continental Gods’ prime examples were Sword God Valen and the Food God. The Continental Gods were gods that socialized and interacted with humans on earth.

“I am aware of the existence of the Continental Gods, but I am not aware of the Demigods.”

“That’s only natural. Demigods are absolute existences. Less than hundred of them are born in tens of thousands of years. I have no idea on how many demigods have been born in the Asgan Continent. But each of the demigods in their own fields have created a path for their descendants to inherit their skills. That is the Demigod Training Parchment.”

“…?!”

Renzie immediately turned to look back at Ben in shock. But Ben’s body was still in the process of turning cold. In fact, the snow was already piling up on his body.

“That’s a relief. It seems like there’s still a lot of Demigod Parchments scattered around in the continent. However, none of the challengers have ever succeeded in completing these trials. That’s just how painful and difficult these trials are. That human’s disposition and temperament are excellent, I admit that. However, he would not be able to inherit the Demigod’s Path like that. He’s just hastening his death.”

“…Does that mean that old man, who looks to be dead, is undergoing a trial?”

“He must be facing a demigod that fits him. The time inside the trial and the outside world is different. Perhaps ten or a hundred days have already passed inside but to us it’s just a few seconds or minutes.”

“…”

Renzie could tell that the old man was trying to grab at last straws. But listening to Velach, he knew that it was impossible for the man to inherit that path. Ghost Spear Ben was a truly outstanding and respectable figure. However, compared to the geniuses of the present era, his power was not enough.

“It’s snowing a lot,” Renzie noted bitterly as he recalled the man that tried to protect his precious loved ones until the very end while watching the falling snow.

***

President Kang Taehoon noticed that the meeting room was in turmoil.

“Ghost, Ghost Spear Ben… he’s for real. He’s an existence that went beyond the limits of artificial intelligence and players and connected them together!”

“Ghost Spear Ben is the prime example of someone breaking down the wall that separated the NPCs from the players. I can feel my heart pounding just by watching this scene.”

“President Kang Taehoon had always hoped that the NPCs and the players would become true friends. It seems like it’s now a reality.”

But President Kang Taehoon could not smile. This was because Ghost Spear Ben, the old man that Food God Minhyuk loved and cherished, was slowly turning into a cold corpse. Even the others felt sorry for Ben.

“We know for sure that there would be people strong enough to challenge the Demigod Training Parchment in two years. But right now? It’s absolutely impossible.”

“In the end, Ghost Spear Ben is just one among the many legendary NPCs, fallen and scattered in the world.”

“It’s a pity, but what he’s trying to do is impossible.”

“This is sad.”

All of them said the same thing. In fact, even President Kang Taehoon thought the same. But just in case, he still asked Athenae, who was linked to his mobile phone.

[Athenae. What’s the probability of Ghost Spear Ben successfully inheriting the power of the Demigod?]

[The highest probability that he can get is 0.2%.]

The probability that Athenae calculated was dependent on Ghost Spear Ben’s power and potential. The fact that the highest probability was 0.2% meant that Ben’s chances of succeeding were lower than that.

Perhaps he only had less than 0.1% of chances if things did not go his way.

President Kang Taehoon had already expected this answer, but he still could not help but rub his face in exasperation. News about the death of a Named NPC, an event that occurred several times a day, would be reported to the NPC Management Team. The NPC Management Team was similar to the Special Players Management Team, but instead of managing players, they were managing NPCs.

“What’s the situation in Baroque Kingdom’s capital?”

No matter how sad the situation was now, Kang Taehoon did not have the leisure to feel sadness. But just when he asked that question…

Clack—

The door slammed open as the NPC Management Team Leader entered.

***

The snowstorm was getting worse by the second. Finally, Elder Velach was able to see the dragon, Luna.

“Kihyeeeeeeee! Kihyeeeeeeeee!” Luna cried sadly as he looked over to where Ghost Spear Ben was.

“My King, you should not waste your tears for such an insignificant human. Now that I’m here, you don’t have to worry about anything.”

“Kihyeee! Kihyee! Kihyeeeeee!”

But tears kept on falling down Luna’s cheeks. Luna was growing steadily and was able to completely understand the feeling of sadness, as well as Ben’s hope to protect them. She felt deep sadness in her heart. And…

“Kihyeeeee!!!” Luna cried out as she struggled out of Velach’s hold. She spread her tiny wings and fluttered to where Ghost Spear Ben, who was now completely covered in snow, was.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeee!”

Luna’s tears continued to drip down. The knights and the soldiers that were concerned about Luna’s movements immediately gathered around her.

“I’ll do it,” Renzie said as he walked forward to try and separate Luna from Ghost Spear Ben. But then, at that moment…

Swoooooooosh—

“…?”

An incomprehensible phenomena suddenly appeared in front of Renzie. The white snow that covered Ghost Spear Ben’s body began to melt. As…

Baaaaaaaaaaaaang—

…a huge pillar of light fell down from the sky into Ghost Spear Ben’s hands.

“Kghhhhhhk!”

“Keoheok?!”

“Ugh! Heooook?!”

All of the humans present were forced to kneel down from the absolute power that fell down from the skies. None of them could go against it at all. In fact, it was so powerful that even the Dragon Elder, Velach, was reeling from the aura that surrounded them. The pillar of light was extremely blinding that all of them were forced to close their eyes.

Renzie, who gradually regained his vision, saw an unbelievably ridiculous sight in front of him. The thing that they assumed was a pillar of light was in fact a spear. It was a spear made of light and it was slowly falling down from the skies to where Ghost Spear Ben was.

Ben’s left hand was gently placed on top of the crying Luna’s head while his right hand stretched toward the skies, reaching for the spear of light.

Graaaaaab—

The moment his hand caught the falling spear of light…

Shwaaaaaaaa—

…it burst out in another flash of blinding light. It was so bright that it was comparable to the sun that lit up the entire world. And Ghost Spear Ben, who everyone believed was already dead, opened his mouth and said, “Aerdes’ Spearmanship Chapter Four.”

Ben’s hoarse yet firm voice made Renzie, Dragon Elder Velach, and even the rest of the troops tense up from both nervousness and pressure. Then, the snow that was falling on the ground suddenly stopped mid-air.

“Spear of Destruction.”