Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 270: Curse of Baldness

[Aruvel has written a one-week pledge of allegiance to Player Minhyuk.]

Silence prevailed in the special players management team’s office. President Kang Taehoon, Team Leader Park Minggyu and Lee Minhwa did not know what to say.

The first one to break the silence was President Kang Taehoon.

“Ha, hahahahaha, hahahahahaha!”

Then…

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

“Ho, hohohohohoho!”

They all started laughing incredulously.

What kind of nonsense is this? A player seduced an NPC?

“The Let’s Have a Meal skill was not supposed to be used that way…”

However, Minhyuk made use of the skill and made it into his own, turning it into a divine move. Player Minhyuk had used the ‘Let’s Have a Meal’ skill, a skill that made him invincible inside the barrier, to talk to the other person. This allowed him to have a peaceful conversation with Aruvel. In short, a completely divine move.

“At this rate…”

Even though they were able to patch his monstrous Holy Power, Player Minhyuk might just be able to create greater effects from this point on. After thinking for quite some time, President Kang Taehoon finally opened his mouth and said, “Come to think of it…”

Team Leader Park Minggyu and Lee Minhwa turned to look at him.

“Player Minhyuk will still need to go and climb the top of the Demon World’s Tower one of these days.”

“That’s right.”

Team Leader Park nodded. They all agreed with this statement.

“After all, the tower has the way to unseal Gluttony’s Incarnation.”

***

TTBC’s reporter, Go Eun-Ah, had received an important task from the broadcasting station. Her task was to scout for one player that would be able to make it to Athenae’s ‘Hall of Fame’ this year.

‘Hall of Fame.’

Those that could enter the Athenae’s Hall of Fame meant that their videos had received the highest number of hits, views, or recommendations. In short, it was the best-played video of the year. The Hall of Fame was something that was hosted on the official Athenae website once every year. The players that ranked from 1st~10th would also receive rewards. In addition, the players that ranked 1st~10th were those that had generated huge profits from their videos.

Meanwhile, Go Eun-Ah was already grumbling. She thought, ‘Eyy! You bald eagle bastard!’

It was because the director had pecked her so hard. It was almost the end of the year, and there was still no video that had appeared in South Korea that was worthy enough to be in the Hall of Fame this year. On the other hand, the US already had two, China had three, Japan had one and France also had two. What was worse was that the director was a fervent and ardent patriot.

‘Does it even make sense that our country doesn’t have any Hall of Fame video this year? Regardless of the means and conditions, you have to recruit players who can challenge the Hall of Fame this year. No, it’s not players who can challenge; find players who will be in the Hall of Fame this year!’

Go Eun-Ah had already rubbed her hair up in frustration.

‘You’re telling me to find a user who can be in the Hall of Fame this year at this time? I’m just a reporter, not a shaman, do you think I can do that so easily? And there are more than 20 million Athenae players in Korea. How can I know if they can be in the Hall of Fame this year?’

She was starting to pick out the people that would be able to have the highest views when filming a video.

[Food God Minhyuk]

[Crazy Priest Locke]

[Crown Prince of Sword Carr]

[Dragon Taming Master Black Wagon]

[Hunting God Vercar]

“Ah, that’s right. It wasn’t Black Wagon, was it Black Dragon?”

Using her ballpoint pen, she crossed out Black Wagon and scribbled ‘Black Dragon’ beside it. Plenty of people had recognized him as Black Wagon instead of Black Dragon, due to the commentators’ misinterpretation back then.

Go Eun-Ah’s problem was that, aside from Carr and the Hunting God Vercar, she did not have their code number so she couldn’t send them a whisper. Legend Guild’s Genie’s code number was only available because the broadcasting station had it. In other words, she could only contact them through Genie, their guild master.

After thinking things through, Go Eun-Ah quickly wrote a proposal and sent it to Genie. She had delivered it to Genie, but the latter did not reply. She rewrote her proposal and sent it again, but after trying a few times, it was like her message just sank into the deep sea.

“Don’t tell me…”

‘Is it really impossible?’

She wrote another proposal, thinking that this would be her final proposal. Her final proposal was for ‘Food God Minhyuk’. She had already sent him dozens of proposals, but he had not responded to any one of them. She felt exhausted knowing that nothing would come out of it, but she still started writing with the last of her strength and confidence. Then, she finally finished it.

[Hello! I’m TTBC’s Reporter Go Eun-Ah. I don’t have any other reason… omitted… it would be nice if we can talk over a meal. My treat. Please contact me.]

30 seconds later, the phone beside her rang. The call was from an unknown number.

“Yes, this is TTBC’s Reporter, Go Eun-Ah.”

[Hello. This is Minhyuk. I’m contacting you after seeing the proposal that you just sent to me.]

“…!”

Go Eun-Ah’s eyes widened in shock as she tried to control her thumping heart. To be honest, Go Eun-Ah was Food God Minhyuk’s fan. She even became one of the managers of Food God Minhyuk’s fan cafe. The fan cafe was named ‘Eat Until We Die!’ and their numbers had exceeded 500,000. They were trying to diet together every day, but they failed every time. Even the founder failed to do so. In other words, this was how their fan cafe worked:

‘I exercised very hard. Ah~ I’m so proud of myself for working hard today. I’m going to order some chicken!’

Yes, a lot of the people from their fan cafe did this on a daily. The fan cafe was exactly like Minhyuk.

Then, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

‘What’s so special about the final proposal?’

No, I’m sure there’s nothing special. The conditions that I have listed so far have been the same as the previous ones. So, why did he react this time?

[The proposal says that you will give 50% of the revenue generated from the video. Right?]

“Yes. That’s right!”

Then, Minhyuk said…

[If I’m going to shoot a video that will challenge the Hall of Fame, then I will demand 90% in return.]

“…!”

Go Eun-Ah’s eyes widened in shock.

No, but shouldn’t broadcasting station employees make a living?

To be honest, getting into the Hall of Fame meant that they would generate huge revenue from advertisements. But Minhyuk continued to speak.

[If you think it’s not favorable, then I will turn down your proposal.]

“N…no! Please wait!”

As she thought about it deeply, this player was able to push ATV, a rising broadcasting station, to the forefront. So even if TTBC excluded the video transmission and advertising fee, it would still gain enough profit and value if this player was able to join the Hall of Fame. Also, it would be their job to announce and spread the name of TTBC so they would not incur any loss. However…

‘He really does not lose out…’?

Minhyuk was trying to create as much profit as possible from them. Minhyuk continued to speak.

[I also want you to send me the edited video first after the recording. I will review it, and you have to accept it if I don’t want you to upload a part of the video. If you agree to this, then I will seriously consider this contract. And there are additional conditions too.]

Go Eun-Ah gulped dryly as cold sweat beaded her forehead.

Minhyuk just continued to speak.

[Once I entered the Hall of Fame, I want you to take the responsibility to give me information about ingredients, specialties, and excellent dishes that I am satisfied with.]

Go Eun-Ah was obsessed with dieting. However, whenever she watched Minhyuk’s video, she always failed to control her appetite.

‘Aaaaaaaah! As expected of our Minhyuk! What a straightforward guy! Eating is greater than artifacts! Eating is greater than skill books!’?

Of course, just because Minhyuk was just asking for something that he could eat did not mean that they were not losing any money. Just like a bunch of elixirs and medicines, they were usually worth more than artifacts, since there were permanent stat benefits that they could get from the food.

“I will go and talk with my director for a moment!”

When she went to her director, Director Park Daehoon hugged her tightly. He said, “I was wondering why you were ordering late-night snacks every night, but it was because you wanted to cast Player Minhyuk. I’ll give you my word!”

She had been given approval, so she immediately let Minhyuk know about this happy fact. After informing him about the status of his conditions and the contract, Go Eun-Ah asked where he was since his every move right now was very important, “Where are you right now?”

[I’m going to the Demon World’s Tower.]

“…!”

It was a scoop! There were not many Korean players who had entered the Demon World as of now. Yet, he was going to the Demon World’s Tower!

‘I don’t know but maybe we will really get to the Hall of Fame?’?

Then, Minhyuk asked her…

[But you know, about what you said in the proposal earlier?]

‘The proposal…?’?

Go Eun-Ah tilted her head in confusion as Minhyuk continued to speak.

[That we will have a meal if we had a talk? When will you treat me to a meal?]

Among the countless conditions that she had listed in the proposal, the condition that made Minhyuk contact her was finally revealed.

***

The Demon World’s Tower had 50 floors in total. In addition, each level of the Demon World’s Tower was like a microcosm of the Demon World. Not only was the Demon World’s Tower filled with monsters that players had yet to hunt, there were also trials, mobs, tricks, traps and even villages, towns, cities and other territories that had yet to be explored.

Currently, three men were standing in front of the Demon World’s Tower. They were members of Blackstone. They had received instructions from Calahuel long before he reached the 28th floor.

Their orders were simple.

‘Observe and kill the players who attempt to climb the Demon World’s Tower.’?

Observing and killing meant that they should kill those players that could possibly set a new record, while leaving the rookies and youngsters alone. The only reason why this order was possible was that the three players standing in front of the tower right now were high-leveled players that specialize in killing. They were also top rankers from France, Russia and China.

The three of them were getting rid of the players that were most likely going to be a threat to Calahuel. In addition, they were also able to get artifacts after they trampled and destroyed these players. Most of the players who came to the Demon World’s Tower were at least of the upper or middle of the rankings. Hence, they were very happy and eager to perform this job.

France’s Rochan started to move after hearing a report.

Before anyone could arrive at the Demon World’s Tower, they had to pass through a place called ‘Demon World Shelter’. It was a place where they could form parties or receive quests related to the Demon World’s Tower.

Right now, the report had stated that a new player had appeared in that place, so Rochan was currently on his way to check the player out. Of course, if things did not work out the way he wanted to, then he would just kill the player and get the artifacts that he would drop.

France’s Rochan was a Level 489 debuff hunter. He was well-known for slaughtering his enemies after he debuffed and downgraded their abilities. Russia’s Ruben was one of the few players that used a gun. However, he could easily pierce through the players’ backs. Finally, China’s Jing Chao was someone that had an assassin class. He was also someone that flitted between the first and second rankings in China.

The three of them moved towards the Demon World Shelter. When they entered the area, they saw a boy.

“I’ll succeed this time!”

The innocent-looking boy squatted down on the ground and said, “I’ll definitely make it this time, for sure!”

“….”

The three people knew at the same time that this guy was underdeveloped in terms of mental capacity. He was even presumed to be an NPC. They did not know how he arrived here, but he was just annoying. He was a mentally incapable child and what was worse was that he was in front of the Demon World Shelter. They just wanted to clean him up.

Rochan kicked the gas burner and the pot that was blocking the way to the Demon World shelter.

Clang!

“Go play over there, filthy brat.”

“Don’t be so mean. You have to embrace the disabled and shower them with love. Keke.”

“Kekekekeke. You’re going to cry now, aren’t you?”

Unfortunately, Rochan would kill the child if he really did cry. Then, at that moment, the boy stood up with the chopsticks in his hand.

“I’m so angry! I’m very upset!”

“Puhahahaha!?So what if you’re mad?”

“Are you going to stab these uncles with those chopsticks?”

They laughed loudly, while the boy just asked them, “When cooking ramyeon, do you put the noodles first? Or the soup?”