Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 526: Inside the Overlord’s Dreams

“We have to make the first move on Prince Raldo! There are even rumors that Prince Raldo is aiming for Your Majesty’s position. Please quickly convict the prince of treason and protect your throne!”

Then, the explanations rang.

[The God of Death whispered about slaughtering his men in Ravanberg’s ears. However, Ravanberg’s willpower and mental strength was so great that even the God of Death was helpless against it.]

Minhyuk was very surprised to hear the notifications.

‘His willpower and mental strength is strong enough to make the God of Death helpless?’

Ravanberg’s subordinates kept on urging him.

“Your Majesty! Please quickly condemn and convict Prince Raldo!!!”

“You have to kill him so you can live, Your Majesty!!!”

“Shut up!!! No one can ever dare touch a single hair on my son’s body!!!”

When his subordinates pushed him to kill his own son, Ravanberg, who was fighting against the God of Death with his willpower and mental strength, ended up succumbing to the whispers in his ears and slaughtering his subordinates.

Ever since then, he continued to hear the voices of his subordinates urging him to kill Raldo, making his blood boil and forcing him to open the restrictions that he placed upon himself. One day, he even overheard that his knights planned to raid Raldo in his room and kill him without his consent. When he learned of this, Ravanberg immediately ran and fought against them. But that was not all. He killed everyone that plotted and threatened to kill Raldo.

I will kill everyone that threatens my son’s life and protect him from them.

It was not too long before people started to call him a tyrant. However, even if that was not the truth, Ravanberg could not bring himself to tell Raldo. He could not tell his son that he killed those people because they were trying to kill him, just because he posed a threat to his own father. Ravanberg knew that this would bring great pains to his son. That was why he decided to carry all of the baggage himself.

Ravanberg was also aware that his vassals had visited Raldo, who left the kingdom, and told his son to kill him. However, when Raldo refused them, it came to Ravanberg’s attention that these very same vassals decided to just kill Raldo instead, since they could not convince him otherwise. Ravanberg also killed them with his sword.

The night before Ravanberg died, he had been told that the rebels had gathered under Raldo’s command. Knowing that his son would come to him, Ravanberg stood by his window and waited. He watched as his son sneaked into the garden to enter his bedroom.

“Son, remember me as a tyrant. Don’t miss me, instead, hate me and my very existence and live as a true and genuine king,” then, Ravanberg laid in his bed, pretending to sleep as he whispered the words, “I love you, my son.”

Ravanberg did not even budge when he heard his son lift his sword.

‘Raldo. I have to die so you can live.’

Then, Raldo’s sword stabbed into Ravanberg’s abdomen.

Stab—

At that moment, relief washed over Ravanberg. With his death, Raldo’s life would not be threatened anymore.

This kingdom will become even stronger and greater after my death.

However, there was one last thing that Ravanberg wanted to tell his son. The secret scroll. Ravanberg knew that the curse of the God of Death would be passed down to his son upon his death. That was why he did not use it. He wanted to leave it for Raldo’s use. Ravanberg reached out a trembling hand and rubbed Raldo’s cheeks as he tried to convey his words.

“Raldo…”

Alas, he could not finish his words. His breath did not last that long. With that, the entire scene disintegrated and turned into dust.

“…”

Minhyuk was left speechless.

Ravanberg is not a tyrant.

Minhyuk’s emotions were agitated.

Ravanberg was the unfortunate king that chose to die at the hands of his own son. The king chose not to use the secret scroll until the very end, so his son could be freed from the curse, which would be passed on to his son, that plagued him all his life. He was a supreme king but he chose to become an ordinary father, choosing a path that would allow his son to live.

At the same time, the pain and emotions that Ravanberg felt swept through Minhyuk’s entire being. The emotions made Minhyuk mumble unconsciously, “Ravanberg is not crazy… he did it so… he could save… Raldo…”

Then, the notifications rang.

[You will now awaken from the Dreams of Truth.]

***

The crying Minhyuk opened his eyes just when Evan and the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s delegation approached him out of worry.

“Hoo,” Minhyuk breathed out, wiping the tears in his eyes before looking at the sleeping Raldo. Everything that Ravanberg wished for had already been achieved. Raldo remembered his father, the figure that he respected and loved in the past, as a mad tyrant and loathed him down to his core.

“Are you alright?” Evan asked, his question both an inquiry to Minhyuk’s well-being and the answer that they wanted to find.

“Yes, I’m fine. I believe I have found a way,” Minhyuk said. Then, he turned to the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s troops and gave them his order, “Go to Mount Emerald and dig under the rock that looks like two heads. There is a book there. Go and fetch it for me.”

“Yes, sir!!!”

The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s executives immediately moved according to his orders. They did not take long since Mount Emerald was in Lumae Kingdom.

Khan, who came to Mount Emerald with the troops, stood in front of Minhyuk and handed him a decrepit box. Minhyuk slowly opened the box to see an equally decrepit secret scroll inside. A notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears the moment he took out the secret scroll.

[You have acquired the Secret Scroll of Liberation.]

He immediately checked the information of the item in his hands.

(Secret Scroll of Liberation)

Material Rank: God

Special Effects:

?You can be liberated from any God’s Curse upon usage.?

?You have to face great risks if the curse that you received is from a contract with a God.

There were two cases where one would receive a God’s Curse. One, the person was cursed because of a God’s Wrath. Or two, the person was cursed because they signed a contract with a God, hence they were shackled with the curse for a very long time to bind them to that God. According to the secret scroll, the latter would be accompanied by great risks. It was only natural.

‘You prayed to get God’s power because you wanted to obtain it but you don’t want to pay the price? It’s ridiculous.’

That was why one had to experience great risks to remove these shackles that bound them.

‘The biggest problem here is that we still don’t know what the risks and dangers are yet.’

Just as the thought flashed in Minhyuk’s head, another notification rang in his ears.

[You have completed the Hidden Quest: Sleeping Warrior God Raldo.]

Ring!

[Linked Quest: Warrior God’s Curse]

Rank: SSS

Requirements: The One that found out the reason why Raldo is asleep.

Rewards: Overlord’s Technique

Penalty for Failure: The Warrior God will go berserk.

Description: To escape going berserk because of the God of Death, Raldo, the king of Lumae Kingdom, decided to enter a deep sleep. Free him from his curse and help him awaken.

“…!”

There was only one reason why Minhyuk was shocked after seeing the linked quest.

‘Did it say Overlord’s Technique?!’

Inside the dream, Minhyuk clearly saw the power of the Overlord’s Technique. It was a completely broken attack skill that could wipe out almost 30,000 troops in one fell swoop. To think the quest said that he could acquire such a skill?

However, it was accompanied by an equally shocking penalty upon failure, the Warrior God going berserk. Of course, there was a high chance that the troops that Minhyuk brought with him could stop the berserk Warrior God. However, that meant that they had to kill him the moment he went on a rampage. If that happened, it was likely that Beyond the Heavens Kingdom and Minhyuk would be subjected to various factors and variables that would be detrimental to them and their growth.

‘I also don’t know about the Secret Scroll of Liberation’s risk.’

Another problem was the fact that he did not know about the risks stated in the description of the Secret Scroll of Liberation. Minhyuk would be able to gain a lot of things once he overcame everything and freed the Warrior God from his God’s Curse. Even so, Minhyuk could not hastily make a decision.

Seeing the unusual look on Minhyuk’s face, Evan said, “Beyond the Heavens’ King, we will not resent you, whatever may happen.”

“…I’d appreciate it if you really do think that way,” Minhyuk said, smiling softly after hearing Evan’s words.

Even the people of Lumae Kingdom that were present here seemed to sympathize with Evan’s words. After all, they knew that Minhyuk was not trying to wake Raldo up for his own sake. It was all thanks to Evan and these people that Minhyuk was able to make a decision.

“I will use the Secret Scroll of Liberation. However, there are great risks involved in using this.”

“You’re unaware of the dangers involved in using the scroll?”

“That’s right,” Minhyuk nodded. Evan and the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom immediately went on alert as Minhyuk slowly stepped towards Raldo.

[Would you like to use the Secret Scroll of Liberation on Raldo?]

Minhyuk nodded in answer to the Secret Scroll of Liberation’s question.

“Use it.”

Then, a bright light burst forth from the Secret Scroll of Liberation. The book then fluttered until the bright light engulfed the area before getting sucked into Raldo’s body. And Raldo, who had been sleeping with his head bowed down, suddenly lifted his head and looked straight ahead.

Blink—

The white of his eyes were gone, covered by pitch black darkness.

Shwaaaaaaaa—

Then, a black stream surged out of Raldo’s body.

“Don’t tell me…” Minhyuk uttered, thinking that the worst ‘risk’ was about to befall them. The worst case scenario was them fighting against Warrior God Raldo.

Then, the notifications rang.

[Cursed Overlord Raldo has awakened!]

[With the use of the Secret Scroll of Liberation, the curse of the God of Death has taken control over Raldo.]

[You will only be able to free him from his curse if you can make Raldo give in by himself.]

[The only one that can make Raldo give in is the one that used the secret scroll.]

Immediately after the notifications, everyone inside the room got sucked away.

“Keuaaaack!”

“Heoook?”

Even Evan, the Overlord’s teacher, failed to resist the power and got sucked away.

“M, Minhyuk!!!”

“Your Majesty!!!”

“Beyond the Heavens’ King!!!”

Everyone desperately called for Minhyuk after being trapped outside of a transparent and sturdy wall. Meanwhile, cold sweat dripped down Minhyuk’s forehead as he looked at the situation he was in.

Then, another notification rang in his ears.

[If you can subdue Raldo, you will be able to get half of the Overlord’s Technique and Raldo will get the other half.]

***

Team Leader Park Minggyu and Employee Lee Minhwa were both watching the confrontation between Minhyuk and the Warrior God Raldo inside the Special Players Management Team. Both of them had sweat in their hands.

“Team Leader, why will they be able to share the Overlord’s Technique?”

“The logic here is simple. Overlord’s Technique is a power that can only be used if you pray for God’s power. If you divide the power in half, they would be able to use the Overlord’s Technique without the penalty. Of course, the power of the Overlord’s Technique would be weaker but the penalty would be gone, so it’s a win-win.”

“But even just half of the Overlord’s Technique can display a tremendous power, right?”

“That’s right. It is still a stronger power than any other skill in a player’s repertoire.”

Park Minggyu gulped dryly, an awkward smile painted on his lips. He grabbed a bottle of water, drank a sip to moisten his throat and continued, “However, Minhyuk here might gain something far greater than the Overlord’s Technique.”

“Something greater?” Lee Minhwa asked. She could not understand what Minggyu meant. Minhyuk would be able to gain a power that was far greater than the Overlord’s Technique?

Team Leader Park looked at Raldo on the monitor and said, “What do you think will happen with Raldo, who will now be able to use the Overlord’s Technique, even though it only has half of the power?”

“…!”

Lee Minhwa’s eyes widened. When she thought about it, Raldo had inherited the Overlord’s power but he had never ever used it. Then, it only meant one thing.

“Raldo will become an Absolute Supreme NPC?”

“That’s right. And…”

Lee Minhwa perked her ears up and listened intently to Park Minggyu’s next words.

“…he might just become another of Player Minhyuk’s friends.”