Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 372: Turning the Tide of War

Fifteen minutes ago.

After eating the rice cake dumpling soup, Ali’s magical attack had increased by 40%, while his MP reserve had doubled. Even his chances of dealing a magical critical strike had increased by 300%. Ali even received buffs that strengthened his magic spells.

That was not the end of it. It was not only Ali that ate Minhyuk’s rice cake dumpling soup. Even Cereberus ate the food together with him, and received buffs tailored for them. The leftover marrow bone broth from the God-grade dish had a special ability that could increase the buff needed by those that ate it. And…

Shwaaaaaaa—

The moment the ‘Let’s Have a Meal’ barrier was released, thousands of Chinese players surrounded them with Arcas, the one leading them, moving straight towards Minhyuk.

‘Food God Minhyuk is Korea’s strongest ranker. If I can make him kneel down in front of me, my reputation all over the world will rise significantly.’

The Black Dragon Order had long decided not to live under the rock anymore. And if Arcas killed Minhyuk then he would most likely be hailed as a hero in China. Besides, he had already made his complete analysis of the Food God, and was confident that Minhyuk would never be able to beat himself. Whether it be his STR, AGI or skill, none of them could ever compare to his own.

[Player Arcas is moving towards Player Minhyuk the moment the ‘Let’s Have a Meal’ barrier is released.]

[We have to agree that Player Minhyuk is a player that we should be careful around. He showed incredible power during Athenae: Korean War.]

[But that was the Athenae: Korean War. There are still countless hidden and stronger players lurking all over the world.]

[One of them is none other than Arcas. He might have received plenty of harsh criticisms a few days ago over the Ellie hunt episode that they staged, but the fact that Arcas is one of the best and strongest people representing China, is undeniable.]

[This is a very dangerous situation for Food God Minhyuk.]

[From what we can see, the Chinese players and the members of the Let’s Eat Sect Guild are just watching and would not get involved in their fight.]

[This is a very interesting situation that even our broadcasting station’s ratings are increasing rapidly. However, I wonder if Player Minhyuk can endure Arcas’ fiery attacks?]

Meanwhile, the Chinese players that surrounded them…

“He’s walking to his own grave. Isn’t he a complete moron?”

“Arcas! Isn’t it enough for you to use one hand to deal with that little novice?”

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

“Guys, how long do you think Arcas needs to deal with the Food God?”

“Around two minutes?”

“I’m for a minute and forty seconds for 1,000 gold.”

“Hahahahaha! Oh! Me too, 1,000 gold!”

“Eyyy! I think it will last for two minutes. 1,000 gold for two minutes!!!”

Amidst the Chinese players mocking and cheering stood Arcas and Minhyuk. Arcas took a deep breath. Compared to the other players that completely mocked and ignored Minhyuk, Arcas remained calm. No matter how strong he was and whatever data he had in hand, the fact that the Food God was the strongest in Korea did not change.

“Haa!”

Arcas’ entire body expanded, before returning to its original size while turning rough and firm, like a turtle shell.

[Giant Dragon’s Armor]

[During the duration of the Giant Dragon’s Armor, your Physical Defense will increase by 300% while your Evasion Rate will increase by 150%.]

The Food God’s skill was extremely strong and it could even last for quite a while.

‘Is it Berserk?’

All Arcas needed to do was to be careful about that skill. No, he just needed to kill Minhyuk before he could use the skill ‘Berserk’. Arcas immediately prepared his Exploding Dragon Fist, the skill that he strengthened by reflecting it with Master Reflector Xu Jiaqi’s skill to attack Ellie.

If he hit Minhyuk square on his chest with the Exploding Dragon Fist, then Minhyuk would fall into a temporary stunned state. Once he was stunned, Arcas planned to use his ‘Pinnacle of Consecutive Attacks’ that he was proud of. In other words, he intended to kill Minhyuk without even letting him send out a single attack.

Arcas’ right arm began to swell. This was the tell-tale sign of the skill ‘Exploding Dragon Fist’ being triggered. Finally, Arcas made his move.

“Ohooooo!”

“So fast!!!”

“Kyaaaa!!!”

The Chinese players were in awe.

[Light Step]

[Narrow the 15 meter distance between you and your opponent in one go.]

The close combat dealers in Athenae had various skills that were similar to Minhyuk’s ‘Like the Wind’. Among those skills, Arcas had learned ‘Light Step’, a skill that allowed him to traverse a 15 meter distance between him and his opponent in one go. This was a very useful skill for Arcas, who needed to be within a certain range for his fists to have a strong effect. And with the addition of the Exploding Dragon Fist’s explosive power, the power of his fists was already close to becoming fraudulent.

As he used Light Step, the casting time for Exploding Dragon Fist ended and he arrived right in front of Minhyuk.

“It seems like he’ll die with his body exploding.”

“Aaaaaaaah! But it’s boring if you kill him all at once~”

The Chinese players had already predicted what would happen. Even the Chinese commentators were doing the same thing.

[Arcas narrowed the distance between him and the Food God in one go and is now going to send a powerful shot towards him.]

[The problem is that his move is too big!]

[Why is the Food God not reacting?]

Meanwhile, Arcas, whose Exploding Dragon Fist’s casting time had ended, threw out his fist. No, to be exact, he tried to throw it out.

“Exploding…”

“Pinnacle.”

Minhyuk murmured quietly as he watched Arcas approach himself.

“Sword of Absolute Death.”

Stab—

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

A moment of silence passed by the entire clearing. Minhyuk gently raised his sword and with a flash of light, the blade had already pierced through Arcas’ body. However, Arcas was the one that was most taken aback by the situation.

‘I… I didn’t see it coming? No. I didn’t even see any sign that he was using his skill…’

Arcas was unaware, but Minhyuk had long been waiting for him. He banked on the fact that Arcas would approach him and made proper use of his skill ‘Save’, a skill that allowed him to use one of his skills without any casting time.

However, the notification that came after caused Arcas to be both stunned and terrified.

[Your HP has dropped below 60%.]

[You will remain in a stunned state for three seconds.]

“…!”

The drop was very enormous. After all, Arcas’ strength and defense were far beyond that of any ordinary ranker. However, despite his overwhelming power, he still received this much damage.

The Sword of Absolute Death was Minhyuk’s most powerful skill. It was a sword skill that he had acquired from Aerod, the God of Disasters and Abilities. It was also his sword skill that had reached the complete, and absolute, Pinnacle. Then, the notification rang for Minhyuk, the one that triggered the Sword of Absolute Death.

[Sword of Absolute Death]

[The first sword strike will hit your enemy with a 100% chance and an additional 700% damage as long as they are within four meters of you. The opponent that received the first sword strike will receive seven consecutive attacks with 500% additional damage and will fall into a stunned state for three seconds.]

[Hundreds of blades with 200% additional damage will shoot out and dance around to destroy and devour your enemies. A direct hit will cause a powerful explosion that will deal an additional 500% damage.]

Yes, that was right. The Sword of Absolute Death was the strongest single-attack skill and AOE skill. It was a skill that combined the advantages of the Sword of Frenzy, Heaven Tearing Sword, and Sword of Tempest.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping—

“Keuaaaaaaaack!”

The first sword strike was immediately followed by seven consecutive attacks with additional 500% damage, an effect that took full advantage of the stunned state that Arcas was placed in. On top of that, thanks to the buff effects of the ‘marrow bone broth’, Minhyuk had received a 30% increase in his skill attack power and a 300% increase in his critical hit rate. Arcas could not do anything at all.

Fall—

“…”

“…”

“…”

The silence continued to pervade the surroundings. Minhyuk only used one move to deal with Arcas. He only took four seconds to make him fall down on his feet. And it did not end there. Minhyuk’s sword even sent out hundreds of sword lights that destroyed the enemy troops concentrated behind Arcas.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping—

The sword lights cut off plenty of enemies and even exploded whenever they landed directly on their bodies.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

In a blink of an eye, the number of enemy troops that Minhyuk had either forced to log out or incapacitated, was more than 700.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The players that had been grinning mockingly just now all fell silent. Even the Chinese commentators had their mouths shut. In fact, Minhyuk was confident that he could kill Arcas even if he did not use his Sword of Absolute Death. However, Minhyuk had used the Sword of Absolute Death to show China, Black Dragon Order, and the rest of the world, that even though he played this game to eat, he was now the master of a guild and he carried a huge responsibility for his members as their guildmaster. That was why he performed such a showy attack.

Then, Minhyuk said, “It’s a piece of cake though?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“What, what?! R…right… I, I guess you’re right…”

The Chinese players all collectively took a step back the moment Minhyuk took a step forward. Minhyuk’s gaze turned sharp as he looked around.

‘Is he coming back to life? As expected, it’s not happening.’

Minhyuk had watched Ellie’s battle video more than a dozen times. From the video, he had learned that the man named Anox was the one that revived Da Zhuang and the Black Dragon Order. Since Anox was not around, Arcas was not coming back to life, which simply went with Minhyuk’s expectations. Just like how Ellie had found how they came back to life, Minhyuk had also found the reason.

The Chinese players immediately took another step back as Minhyuk took another step closer to them.

“Ugh…ugggghhhh…”

“Mon… monster…”

Some of the players even fell down on their butts in terror, after seeing a power that was far beyond their reach.

Minhyuk turned to look at Ali and said, “I’m going to Berdk. Please take care of the rest.”

Minhyuk firmly believed in Ali and his guild members. Ali nodded his head in answer. Besides, they had all eaten his food, which allowed Ali to temporarily cross that imaginary line to the next stage. Ali immediately summoned a fire arrow the moment Minhyuk disappeared.

“What are you even going to do with that Fire Arrow?!”

The Chinese players snorted and mocked Ali. However, it was not just a simple Fire Arrow.

Baaaaaaang—

One of the players was instantly forced to log out the moment Ali’s Fire Arrow made contact with his body.

“…?”

“…?”

Today, the Chinese players’ faces were all filled with incredulity. Ali’s magical attack power and even his critical hit rate had increased dramatically.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Even his MP reserve had doubled, which allowed him to constantly send out magical attacks, slaughtering and massacring thousands of Chinese players. Then, Ali flew high up in the sky and casted his most powerful skill, Meteor.

On the other hand, Crazy Priest Locke had completely received Jeffrit’s power. His power and abilities had received a dramatic increase, after also eating the rice cake dumpling soup earlier. Then, he sent Ali a buff.

[Jeffrit’s Glory]

[Increases Magical Attack by 30%.]

[Decreases MP consumption by 20%.]

Ali’s Meteor fell down gobsmack in the middle of the thousands of Chinese players below him.

Baaaaaaaaaang—

In just one move, hundreds of players died. Locke’s ax was also showing off a different momentum from earlier. It did not end there. The Incarnation of Light…

Flaaaaaash—

…Kaistra climbed on Penrus’ back and flew high up in the sky. The Breath of Light that the Incarnation of Light sent out immediately devoured and devastated the surroundings.

Baaaaaaaaaaang—

They were only a little over ten people, but they started slaughtering thousands of Chinese players. This was the moment when the Chinese players finally realized terror. And this was what the Chinese said about this incident, “The Koreans might have just eaten a meal to power up, but it was a really scary power up.”