Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 243: Prince Argon and the Royal Shop

After Eclei and his spirits were wiped out, the notifications rang continuously in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have earned 400,000 Contribution Points and the Elven Heart for being the first person to successfully hunt the Fire Demonic Human.]

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The soldiers of the Iron Blood and Reapers all tilted their heads at him in confusion.

“Ahahaha!”

“Y…you… lied about your strength,” one of the knights suddenly said as Minhyuk laughed awkwardly. Not long after, all the knights burst out in laughter.

“Wow! Our commander is so strong!”

“We admire you!”

Fortunately, their favor with Minhyuk had reached the peak, and they would not be fazed nor be disappointed with his lies.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk smiled as he admired his new skill. He thought, ‘Wow, the Rain of Kitchen Knives is so strong…’

He was surprised. Having an additional 200% damage was truly a tremendous ability to have.

Lightning Hell, a skill attached to a disaster artifact, had exerted 120% of additional damage. Even the Fluttering Sword had a similar effect. However, the Rain of Kitchen Knives literally dealt 200% additional damage. It was a formidable addition to his strength.

Minhyuk checked the Food God’s Kitchen Knife once again.

(Food God’s Kitchen Knife)

Rank: Demigod

Restrictions: Minhyuk’s attributed artifact

Durability:?∞ / ∞

Attack Power: 817

Special Abilities:

?All of the special abilities can be used just by having the artifact in your possession.?

?All stats +8%.

?Buff capacity x2.

?Active Skill: Food God’s Blessings.

?Active Skill: Rain of Kitchen Knives.

Description: Made with the amazing ores that the Food God found on his journeys, the Food God’s Kitchen Knife contains a surprising amount of power. It is an artifact with tremendous strength that can show off its strength even without equipping it.

Even though Minhyuk had seen the information earlier, he was still quite amazed by it. The first special ability listed would allow him to use the artifact’s special abilities just by owning the item. In other words, Minhyuk could use all of the special abilities of the item, even if he was using Baracca’s Sword, or the Saint’s Sword. This was definitely a broken ability to have. Food God’s Blessings was also a skill of great value.

(Food God’s Blessings)

Artifact Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: 1,000 per hour of use

Cooldown: None

Effects: Two Food God’s Kitchen Knives with 817 attack power will appear to protect the owner or attack the enemy at any time.

Just like what the effects had said, there would be two black kitchen knives that would appear and surround Minhyuk’s body once it was activated.

After checking the Food God’s Kitchen Knife again, Minhyuk went ahead and checked his contributions too.

[Total Contributions. 841,311]

The 400,000 Contribution Points that he had received this time had played a big role in the increase of his Contribution Points. Eclei had literally worked hard, only to feed Minhyuk in the end, and Minhyuk enjoyed his meal thoroughly.

Then, he checked the Elven Heart. It was like a hard stone when he took it out.

(Elven Heart)

Special Abilities:

????

????

Description: This can be used in villages, towns, small cities, large cities or any territory that has been taken over by demonic humans, demonic races or demonic monsters. This can be used for defensive wars.

‘Hm?’?Minhyuk hummed in thought.

According to the Guild Chat, Legend Guild had successfully recaptured one territory and had entered a defensive war. However, it seemed like the results were proving to be pretty bad. Legend Guild, which was a guild filled with an elite minority, was less likely to play a crucial role in the large-scale battle in Elvenheim. Minhyuk could see how disastrous the Legend Guild’s state was through the guild status.

(Legend Guild Elvenheim Participation Status)

[1st Place. Iris. 391,313 guild Contribution Points. Completely recaptured 2 villages and 1 small town. Recapturing 1 small town.]

2nd Place. Artheon. 341,417 guild Contribution Points. Completely recaptured 1 village and 1 small town. Recapturing 1 small town.]

…

…

[27th Place. Legend. 94,130 guild Contribution Points. Completely recaptured 1 small town.]

It was not an ideal situation. However, it was also normal. In large-scale combat warfare, guilds with larger numbers of players would always have an advantage, and Legend Guild, with their measly number of 20 people would not have any advantages. Their strength would not be enough to fight against hundreds in terms of warfare. They might be doing well now, but it was unlikely that they would continue to do so in the future.

While looking through the status, Minhyuk found something surprising.

[20th Place. Black Mage. 130,104 individual Contribution Points. Completely recaptured 1 small town.]

‘Black Mage? I’m sure that’s Ali though?’?

It was surprising. Even the Black Mage Ali was racking up his individual Contribution Points.

‘I need to hurry and sort things out so I can help them.’

First of all, Genie had readily agreed to Minhyuk’s expedition where he could eat something delicious. Participation in the war was based on one’s free will, so it was still safe for him to be late.

Minhyuk quickly picked up the artifacts that Eclei dropped. Among them, there was an ore that was emitting a subtle blue glow that looked as odd as the antarinium that he received before.

“Huh?”

[You have acquired the Demon World’s Ore, Viridite.]

Minhyuk tilted his head in thought. When he checked the information, everything was also set to private just like when he received the antarinium ore.

He continued to run forward with his troops and before he knew it, they had already entered Zone 3. As soon as they stepped foot in Zone 3, the notifications rang.

[You are the first to step foot into Immortals’ Land’s Zone 3.]

[You have gained 200,000 Contribution Points.]

[You have gained 200 REP.]

At the same time, they heard a voice from somewhere.

“Aaaaaaah! The expedition to save Prince Argon!!”

Then, the woman that screamed stood in front of Minhyuk. It was none other than a High Elf. Then, more notifications rang.

[You have met NPC Cania as a special reward for reaching Immortals’ Land’s Zone 3.]

***

Cania continued to wait for the man that would fulfill the hundred-year promise between the elves and humans!

Through that human, they would rescue Prince Argon from the hands of the demons that started their invasion and kidnapped the prince from the gaps in their defenses.

Cania was the finest, highest-ranked woman among the High Elves and she was in possession of a special ability. She could hear the voices of Prince Argon and his captors, allowing her to determine where they were. From what she heard, the demons were going to try and kill Prince Argon if they did not get what they wanted. In other words, they did not have much time.

Thankfully, the humans arrived just at the right moment.

“Aaaaaaah! The expedition to save Prince Argon!!” Cania shouted. She was delighted to see the faces of the people that she was waiting for.

Without waiting for them to greet her, she quickly said, “We have to hurry. They’ll be holding the execution ceremony soon. Before that, we need to use the elves’ sacred item.”

Cania was a special NPC. She was the NPC for those that first set foot in Immortals’ Lands’ Zone 3, so that they could purchase items that could help them in their expedition. She thought that it would be surprising if they would be able to purchase a Rank A upgrade in the store, but she already suspected that it was impossible to purchase such an upgrade. Still, it was an iron rule that they needed to follow, even if the prince’s life was in danger.

The Contribution Points, or the points themselves, indicated just how many enemies the humans defeated and fought for the elves.

Not long after, the human commander muttered under his breath, “Rank A upgrade…?”

“Yes. That’s right. But, Rank A is ridiculously expensive.”

It was special, but she knew that reaching Rank A was unattainable.

“Ho? Right now, do they sell the Elf’s Delicious Honey?”

“Yes. Elf’s Honey is available for Rank D shops, and increases the defense against demonic energy by 1%.”

“Then, we’ll have to upgrade to Rank A. I will be able to find more delicious food by then.”

“…Huh?”

Cania tilted her head in confusion.

‘You want to upgrade to Rank A?’

Rank A required 600,000 points. However, that did not mean that he could just buy the Rank A upgrade quickly! No. He needed to first purchase Rank C for 100,000 points, then Rank B for 300,000 points, and finally Rank A for 600,000 points. He needed a total of one million points just to get that point.

She believed that this human could not have that many Contribution Points. However, the very next moment, Cania’s eyes widened in shock.

[Foreigner Minhyuk had used 100,000 points and upgraded the shop to Rank C.]

[He can now purchase all items at a 10% discount from you.]

[Foreigner Minhyuk had used 300,000 points and upgraded the shop to Rank B.]

[He can now purchase all items at a 20% discount from you.]

[Foreigner Minhyuk had used 600,000 points and upgraded the shop to Rank A.]

[He can now purchase all items at a 50% discount from you.]

[Foreigner Minhyuk is the first user to reach Rank A.]

[Please give him an Elven Treasure Chest.]

“…Im…impossible.”

She was astonished.

***

“…Im…impossible.”

“???”

Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion when he heard her words. However, he quickly threw that thought out of his mind as he hurriedly looked through the Rank A shop.

“Oh…?”

There were plenty of rare, amazing and powerful things in the Rank A shop. There were even 3,000 Elven Golden Arrows available. Those arrows had an additional 30% on the attack power against beings from the Demon World. The price was also not that high. Of course, the only reason why he thought that it was not expensive was because the operators had already calculated to make them cheap, and the items were discounted at 50% as a reward for the first person to upgrade to Rank A.

“Do you always sell such good things?”

“N…no…”

Cania looked at him in confusion as Minhyuk tilted his head to look at her.

“It’s because it’s Rank A.”

There were a lot of rare and precious artifacts in the shop. What was more surprising was the fact that there were many legendary artifacts in the Rank A shop.

As Minhyuk looked through the shop, he thought, ‘This must be some kind of reward, right? Once you reach Rank A?’

In addition, Cania also handed a chest to him.

[You have acquired the High Elven Treasure Chest (S) as a reward for being the first to access a Rank A shop.]

The notifications started coming in as soon as Minhyuk read that.

[You have regained 500,000 of your Contribution Points.]

[You have acquired a Rank A Limited Edition Item.]

[Elf’s All Skills Cooldown Reset Parchment 2/2]

[High Elves’ Troops Summoning Parchment 1/1]

[Elf’s HP, MP Full Recovery Potion 3/3]

“…?!!!”

Minhyuk was left in a trance when he saw the shocking rewards.

Then, Cania said, “We don’t have much time. The commanding officer, Baran, is about to start the execution.”

“Execution?”

Minhyuk tilted his head as the notifications rang once more.

[There are 6 hours left until Prince Argon’s execution.]

[The sooner you rescue him, the higher the contributions that you will get.]

Then, a timer appeared in front of Minhyuk.

[5H 59M 59S. 5H 59M 58S. 5H 59M 57S…]

“This place is still under my power. I can prevent the beings of the Demon World from detecting our invasion into Zone 3. But as soon as you leave this place, you will encounter low-ranking demons and demonic monsters.”

When Minhyuk looked around more carefully, he saw that there was a subtle blue glow emitting from a magic circle surrounding them from a distance of about five meters from where he and Cania stood. The 150 soldiers under him had not yet entered Zone 3, so they were still out of range.

Cania continued, “You need to hurry up and buy the supplies that you will need.”

Minhyuk looked around the shop as he asked, “By any chance, is there a higher rank than Rank A shops?”

There were definitely plenty of delicious things in the shop, but Minhyuk could faintly guess that even though the ‘Elf King’s Gorgonzola Pizza’ was available in the shop, there would still be more delicious things if there was a higher-ranked shop.

“Yes. There is. But, Prince Argon is one of the only two who can open the Royal Shop.”

“Are there many delicious things there?”

“…?”

For a moment, Cania had to think about the meaning of his words.

‘You’re not looking for excellent artifacts but for something more delicious?’

However, since they did not have the time, all she could do was answer him as quickly as she could. She said, “Yes. There are many, many, many things! The Ancient Elves had left a lot of delicious things there!”

The pitch of her voice became higher due to the pressing time. Minhyuk nodded.

‘That Royal Shop. Let’s open it!’

“Men, forward!!!” Minhyuk shouted.

***

The intermediate demon, Baran, with his dark skin and black horns, was tasked to take Argon’s ‘Royal Shop’ right here.

They needed to take these steps since there was a powerful force that sealed them and drove them out from there. However, no matter what they did, the punk did not want to turn over the Royal Shop to them. He was still stubbornly holding on to the Royal Shop, even though he was threatened with death. Hence, Baran decided to execute the bastard.

The intermediate demon Baran was one of the most powerful demons that were able to squeeze through the gates to the Demon World.

He was just a single mob, but his mere presence could rival that of a Level 480 mob. That was just for the demons in Elvenheim. The lowest among the demonic monsters and demons that passed through the gate and terrorized Elvenheim was around Level 400~440.

Baran laughed his head off. Prince Argon had both his hands nailed to a large cross, and he even had a blindfold on.

“Are you still going to be stubborn about not opening the Royal Shop?”

Argon did not answer. He knew what Baran's words meant, but his thoughts were focused only on one thing.

‘If I die…’

If Argon died, a half-filled Royal Shop would be forced to open, and the items and powers in there would be corrupted with demonic energy, which would become their most powerful weapons.

The Royal Shop was a shop where the three ancient elf chiefs hid the force and strength that they had created with the Elven Heart. They were now at risk of losing those powers.

Then, Baran suddenly saw his map burst in a black light. He was the owner of the map of Zone 3 of the Immortals’ Land, and he could clearly see the events happening in the zone through this map.

“The humans have invaded.”

A smile settled around his face. Not long after, a low-ranked demon named Caron rushed to where they were.

“The humans are here!”

“I know. The 3rd Army’s search team and the 3rd Army’s attack team are close to them.”

Baran was able to monitor the movements of the troops through the map. This demonic tribe was composed of 100 individuals. Although they were low-ranked demons, they were still given special training and were different from the ones dispatched in Elvenheim.

‘Those weak humans are about to die. Keuhahahaha!’

Baran looked back at Argon and said, “In the end, you still chose to die. They will not be impressed by your glorious death and your reputation will be ruined, Prince Argon.”

Just as he was glaring fiercely at Argon, Caron, who just went out for two minutes, rushed back again.

“C…Commander!!!”

“…What happened? Did you forget something?”

He was back within two minutes, looking like he still had something to report.

“…That’s not it. The 3rd Army’s search team and the 3rd Army’s attack team have been wiped out!”

“…?!”

Baran thought that he was talking nonsense for a moment, and he twisted his lips in annoyance.

“Bastard, I’ll tear you to death.”

He decided to check for himself. In doing so, his eyes widened in shock. The map showed that all 200 of his men had died.

‘I…in just 2 minutes?!!!’