Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 525: Inside the Overlord’s Dreams

Notifications swarmed Minhyuk’s head the moment he tried to access Raldo’s dream.

[You are now peeking at Raldo’s dreams. By doing so, you will now follow what he wants to find.]

[You can now view and feel part of Raldo’s life and emotions.]

[With ‘Dreams of Truth’, you will receive a penalty if Raldo does not have anything that he wants to find. The penalty will depend on your opponent’s stats, skills and achievements.]

[Raldo is the one hailed as the Warrior God! He has left countless achievements in his wake!]

[If Raldo does not have anything that he wants to find, you will be fined with death, a 2% deduction in all of your stats, as well as no game access for 3 days.]

“…”

The penalty was so damning that Minhyuk could not help but groan. The worst part here was that he was not able to know what penalty he would get unless he tried to enter the dream.

‘Please…’?Minhyuk desperately hoped that there was something that Raldo wanted to find. Then, a man’s voice rang from within the pitch-black darkness. The voice was a low baritone and was very alluring.

“I killed my father and coveted his secret scroll.”

“…!”

Minhyuk recognized the owner of the voice to be Raldo, the Overlord. But, he coveted his father’s secret scrolls and even killed him? The words brought great shock to Minhyuk. This was because Raldo was known to be an extremely benevolent king, to the point that he was hailed as a ‘Sacred Monarch’.

One of the main reasons why the Warrior’s Nation was able to get strong was because of the people’s faith. This was because Raldo graciously embraced his people and ruled with great benevolence.

But that very same Raldo killed his own father? It was something that was not recorded in the annals of history.

‘Did he want the throne?’

Minhyuk shook his head. It was too early for him to make a decision. Not long after, the darkness made way to show the first scene. A bulky middle-aged man and a young boy, both wearing shabby clothes, were panting as they stood at the peak of a steep mountain. From what it looked like, the two of them climbed the mountain. The young boy had the word ‘Raldo’ above his head.

“Father! I’m definitely going to be a great knight, just like you!”

“Hohoho. Raldo, what are you talking about? What do you mean by that? Becoming a great knight? You shouldn’t be a knight.”

“Eeeeeeeeh?”

Raldo’s father smiled kindly as he placed his large hand on the head of the confused boy.

“Raldo, you must be the king of this land. And this father of yours will make sure that it will happen.”

Along with that, a notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[Ravanberg, the fifteenth king of Lumae Kingdom, was born between a mother of lowly birth and the king. Despite being a part of the royal family, he was pushed out by the other princes from the successor battle and had been living in the outskirts of Lumae Kingdom, while raising his son, Raldo, by himself.]

The notification was explaining the scene that was currently being displayed in front of Minhyuk.

[Ravanberg was a good father to Raldo. Raldo, a person with countless dreams, was a son that respected and looked up to his father.]

The scene changed, showing Ravanberg carrying Raldo on his shoulders, the two smiling happily while descending the mountains. Then…

Swoosh—

The two people turned into smoke and disappeared in the air.

[Ravanberg’s father, the king, was a tyrant. He imposed high taxes and unfair policies on his people, just so he could feed the nobles and make sure that they lived an extravagant life. He even went so far as to wage wars against other nations, all the while using and exploiting his impoverished subjects. The other princes greatly resemble their father, both in their looks and the way they handled matters. Many cried as the death toll increased in the kingdom. In the end, rebels appeared and began to move.]

The scene changed and showed a now twelve-year-old Raldo running as fast as he could in a wide field. Finally, he arrived on the battlefield where Ravanberg was desperately fighting. There were only around 20,000 rebel troops, while the kingdom troops had around 300,000 men. No matter who looked at it, the rebel troops were inferior in terms of numbers. However, Ravanberg just raised his sword high up in the sky and shouted, “Get rid of the rotten king! Save the nation!!!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

The rebels’ shouts shook the grounds and pierced the skies as a powerful force appeared and surrounded Ravanberg’s sword.

“It’s, it’s the Overlord!”

“It’s Overlord Raldo!!!”

‘Overlord?’

Minhyuk immediately focused. He believed that the power of the Overlord’s secret scroll should have definitely been beyond this world. Ravanberg looked at the rushing enemy troops, his sword covered with blazing black flames. And the moment he brandished his sword…

Shwaaaaaaaaa—

…an explosion bloomed, shaking the ground and devouring all of the enemies that rushed to him. Then, something surprising happened. The explosion created by the black flames created a huge wave that devoured 30,000 of the enemy troops, turning them into ashes and extinguishing them in one go.

‘Crazy…?!’

Thirty thousand troops died in an instant. And the emotions of the young boy, Raldo, who was watching everything from a distance…

‘Father…’

…flowed into Minhyuk. Raldo felt both respect and immense love for his father. As a young boy of twelve years, the fact that he ran to the battlefield in case his father was suddenly put in danger proved how much Raldo cared for and loved his father. The scene scattered into thin air, replaced by a new one. This time, Ravanberg was wearing a bright and colorful crown while looking at the people of Lumae Kingdom below him.

“His Majesty Raldo! Long Live!!!”

“May you live for a thousand years, Your Majesty Raldo!!!”

The people heaped praises at Ravanberg, shouting with all their might. Ravanberg just smiled as he placed the crown on his head on his son, Raldo. Raldo rubbed his nose and smiled shyly at his father. The scene stopped as Raldo laughed happily while the people praised them.

[Lumae Kingdom finally regained its peace and stability. Ravanberg was a benevolent monarch who uplifted the lives and healed the wounds of his impoverished subjects. Because of that, the Lumae Kingdom grew stronger by the day. Their territory might be small, but their growth was nothing short of amazing. Other empires and kingdoms tried to aim for them and knock them down a peg but none of them won the war against Lumae Kingdom. Even Raldo’s growth was tremendous.]

Ravanberg, who put the nation back on the right path, and his son Raldo.

[At the young age of sixteen, Raldo was able to surpass and reach the stage that Ravanberg had reached when he was twenty nine. By the age of twenty, no one in the kingdom could defeat Raldo. Just like his father Ravanberg, Raldo served as Lumae Kingdom’s pillar and worked as a benevolent ruler. However, when Ravanberg reached his fifties, he began to change.]

The scene that stopped earlier moved once again. This time, Raldo, now a young man, was rushing somewhere. However, a shockingly ridiculous scene greeted him the moment he opened the door. Ravanberg, who was sitting on his throne, looked at his bloodstained hands in disbelief, surrounded by the dead bodies of his loyal subjects that cared for him.

“Your Majesty…”

“…Raldo.”

Minhyuk felt Raldo’s feelings at this moment. He was very confused and conflicted. The sacred and benevolent monarch, the kind King Ravanberg had killed his loyal subjects with his own hands. Raldo left without looking back at his father. But as time went by, more and more people died in the hands of Ravanberg.

One day…

“This…”

Raldo was both shocked and in disbelief after seeing the knights that his father loved and cared for, dead in the garden under his balcony. Raldo rushed to meet with his father.

“My royal father, in the end, you have also been possessed by the God of Death!!!”

“Raldo…”

Ravanberg was sleeping soundly despite the blood covering his hands. However, he was looking at Raldo sadly. Raldo had heard about the God of Death. Ravanberg’s mother knew that he was bound to be abandoned even before he was born. So, his mother sold her soul to give Ravanberg the power of the God of Death. The power of the ‘God of Death’ was none other than the Overlord’s Power. And the God of Death, one of the absolute gods, was known for his viciousness and his penchant for traps.

“Raldo… I… I…”

“Father, I hate you!!!”

Raldo left the Royal Family. As time went by, rumors about Ravenberg going crazy ran rampant in the kingdom. In the end, the vassals loyal to the Royal Family came to Raldo and said, “His Majesty Ravanberg is a tyrant. We need you, Prince Raldo. Please correct the Lumae Kingdom’s straying path!”

“Prince Raldo. It's time for you to take the throne.”

“I can’t do that. I’m sorry,” Raldo refused.

The ones that came to find Raldo were the ones that were there since Ravanberg's rule came to be. However, even these people were saying that Ravanberg had become tyrannical and crazy. Nevertheless, Raldo still refused. He had sweet and loving memories with his father and Raldo hoped that he would return to how he was in the past. But then, the next day, all of the vassals that came to find him turned into cold corpses. The people’s resentment reached an all time high and Raldo’s thoughts finally changed.

‘How can he kill them…? Did the God of Death make him kill them?! Those are meaningless deaths!!!’

Ravanberg no longer used the Overlord’s Power, but the other empires and kingdoms were still afraid of his power and dared not attack the kingdom. That was how powerful Ravanberg was. However, Raldo already possessed power that far surpassed his father.

The scene changed.

Raldo, who was wearing a mask, walked ever so slowly to Ravenberg’s bedroom. Raldo looked at his slumbering father, holding the sword that Ravenberg held before.

‘Father, the king must die!’

Raldo stabbed the sword in Ravenberg’s abdomen without any hesitation.

Stab—

No sound or scream escaped from Ravanberg’s mouth. All he did was slowly open his eyes, his body trembling as he called softly, “Raldo.”

Ravanberg raised a trembling hand. He held Raldo’s cheeks and rubbed it affectionately while smiling gently at his son.

“Ah…”

Raldo could not understand why his father, Ravanberg, could still show that gentle and fatherly smile at him, despite him stabbing him with his own sword. When Ravanberg’s body slumped down, a powerful force erupted from his body, turning into a bloody current that got sucked into Raldo’s body.

Swoooooooosh—

‘The, the Overlord’s Power?’

Only when the Overlord’s Power entered his body did he finally realize that he killed Ravanberg, his own father. Raldo ran, ran as far as he could, as if he was running away from this truth. A few days later, Raldo ascended to the throne.

‘I will protect this nation.’

Despite ascending to the throne, Raldo could not bring a smile to his face. Minhyuk, who was watching everything, felt all of Raldo’s raw emotions. The pain, regret, and despair brought about by the fact that he killed his own beloved father. To forget his father, Raldo strived to become a benevolent and holy monarch, and turned Lumae Kingdom into a powerful nation. He also never used the Overlord’s Power.

However, once he reached his fifties, the same timeframe when his father turned crazy, a strange voice began to ring in his head.

‘Am I also going to be a tyrant, just like my father?’

Raldo could only remember his father as a mad tyrant.

‘If I can only find that secret scroll that grandma had talked about before…’

If he could, then he would be able to escape the path that would turn him into a mad tyrant. But no matter how hard he tried, Raldo could not remember. After all, he was only around three or four years old when he heard about the location where it was hidden. Raldo spent the next few years searching for the location of the secret scroll madly.

Alas, it was to no avail. It was said that the secret scroll could lift the curse that the ‘God of Death’ had cursed them with. In the end, all Raldo could do was sit on his throne and stab the ground with his greatsword.

“I will never become like you.”

Raldo hated his father down to his very core. He never wanted to become a tyrant like him. He chose to put himself in a deep sleep that no one knew when he would wake up from.

‘Raldo chose to fall into this deep sleep on his own…’

Raldo’s final emotion that got transmitted to Minhyuk was hatred. The hatred for a crazy tyrant. At that moment, Minhyuk witnessed how a person that someone cherished, respected and loved more than anybody else, had turned into an object of loathing and hatred. Then, the effect of Dreams of Truth, the effect that Minhyuk had been waiting for, was triggered.

[Raldo’s childhood memories contain the location of the Secret Scroll.]

Then, the voice of an old lady rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

“It’s hidden under the boulder that looks like two heads in Mount Emerald. Ravanberg, when you become the king later, make sure to use that Secret Scroll and free yourself from this curse.”

That was the location where the secret scroll was hidden, the place that Raldo had heard about, when he was a child while staying by Ravanberg’s side.

‘Found you.’

Minhyuk’s eyes sparkled brightly at the information. However, he noticed something strange.

‘Raldo was young when he heard it so it makes sense that he would have a hard time remembering it. But Ravanberg was not. He should definitely remember where the secret scroll is hidden.’

No, it was not just that. Minhyuk was sure that Ravanberg’s mother had told this fact to him several times so there was no way for Ravanberg to forget about this. So, why did Ravanberg not use the secret scroll? Then, another set of notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[The Dreams of Truth’s special ability has been triggered.]

[You can view Ravanberg’s past to find the truth.]

[Would you like to view it?]

The moment Minhyuk nodded, the scene changed once again. But this time, it was from Ravanberg’s point of view.

***

Lumae Kingdom’s Guardian Evan as well as the executives and troops of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom looked at Minhyuk worriedly. He had been asleep for quite a long time and there were no movements at all.

“Why is he still sleeping? A long time has already passed, hasn’t it???”

“It’s because His Majesty has started to look for another truth.”

“Another truth?”

“I actually don’t know about it either.”

Everyone became frustrated when they heard Kimaris’ words. All of a sudden, Minhyuk, who was still sleeping, began to cry.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

All of them were shocked. They immediately turned their attention to Minhyuk as his mouth started to open slowly, “Ravanberg is not crazy… he did it so… he could save… Raldo…”