Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 324: Start of the Continental War

Minhyuk saw Changwook, his dietitian Hyejin, and Jinhwan huddled together in front of the TV, while on his way to access Athenae after his daily exercise. He asked, “Are you watching a mukbang?”

“It’s not a mukbang, you punk. Today’s the day that they would broadcast the content related to Athenae’s large-scale update!”

“Ah… I see.”

A few days ago, Athenae had announced on their official website that they would broadcast a video related to the large-scale update. Minhyuk sneakily slipped between them to watch as well.

“It’s starting!”

“Oh!”

The scene in the TV flickered and showed the furious Ellie after seeing the Phoenix and the Minotaurus covered with blood. They heard her mumble…

[The start of a new war…]

As if prompted by her words, the scene in the screen changed, showing Emperor Asvon and Ellie sitting together in a discussion. Minhyuk exclaimed, “Oh! Isn’t that Ellie Noona and Asvon Hyung?”

“...Did you just call those two people Noona and Hyung?” Changwook asked as he shook his head in disbelief.

‘My goodness. You’re calling the two Emperors in the same continent as Hyung and Noona?’

It seemed like this punk besides them was truly an enigmatic person.

[Ellie. What do you think of this?]

[I think we need to wait a bit longer. But we can assume that this is caused by Black Dragon Vormon.]

[I agree. However, they might welcome this opportunity. Cairon Continent is much larger than the Asgan Continent, they have an overwhelming population, so they might want to plunder our resources. If we sit back and observe the situation just because their number overwhelms us, they might look down on us.]

[I know. We must first declare a state of emergency and start preparing for war.]

The two of them were discussing preparations for the continental war. Just then…

[We’re in trouble!!!]

[How impertinent!! How dare you enter without knocking…!!]

[A land of clouds has been formed between the Asgan Continent and the Cairon Continent.]?

[...!]

[...!]

Ellie and Asvon looked at each other after hearing the report of the vassal.

[Let’s finish this quickly and see the commotion.]

[I agree. Let’s do that.]

The scene changed quickly once again. The scene showed Ellie and Asvon standing together with 10,000 troops each standing behind them. What was surprising was the long stretch of clouds floating above the Dragon King’s Sea and connecting the land they were standing on to Cairon Continent.

[Th…this…]

[This land of clouds clearly looks like the Continent Cloud.]

[Did Vormon awaken the Continent Cloud?]

[That might be the case.]

There was only one thing that they could get from this video. They could use this land of clouds to cross over to each other’s continent. In other words, even if the two Emperors wanted to watch the situation for a while, this was a signal that the war was about to break out soon. However, that was not necessarily a bad thing.

[According to the legends, the Continent Cloud is something that the God of War, Argas, has created.]

[That’s right. Perhaps the appearance of the Continent Cloud is the better path for the people of the Asgan Continent.]

[The number of people that can enter the Continent Cloud every day is limited. And only those with the cloud ticket are allowed to enter the other continent.]

“Hmm? Only a limited number of people can enter the Continent Cloud everyday? And only those that can get their hands on a cloud ticket can go to the other continent? Why does it sound so complicated?”

“I know, right?”

Changwook, playing General, and Hyejin, playing AmazingHyejin, both looked confused. However, unlike the two of them, Minhyuk was in awe. He said, “Kgghk~?As expected of Athenae’s Development Team~”

“Huh? Why?”

“What do you mean, Minhyuk?”

“The difference between the number of players in China and our country is around ten times, right?”

“That’s right?”

“So, if all of the players from China came through the Continent Cloud, what do you think our odds will be?”

“...”

“...”

That was right. Just like Minhyuk had implied, it would be hard to find even a 0.1% guarantee that Asgan Continent would survive the moment the players from the other servers rushed to their continent. Having a large population meant that they had to compete among a lot of people to come out on top. The rankers of a country with such a large population was bound to be better than their country’s own rankers. So, what would happen even if there were plenty of resources at hand? It would definitely be a defeat.

Even so, if they could not achieve a perfect balance, what would happen if only a limited number of people were allowed to enter from both continents each day? A small percentage of hope would arise for their country.

“And once every day, Athenae will issue missions to each of the continents. The continent that clears the mission first will have a higher score, which will then increase the number of people that can enter the Continent Cloud. This is how it will work.”

“Then, what about the cloud ticket?”

“That’s simple. Cloud tickets will definitely have rankings. C-ranked cloud tickets for Level 150~250, B-ranked cloud tickets for Level 250~300. Like that. Imagine if twenty rankers from every 100 levels came to our country, what do you think would happen?”

“...They won’t even be able to make a sound. The players of the Cairon Continent will be wiped out.”

“That’s right,” Minhyuk said with a nod.

They would not be able to come over to their continent with just a few hundred cloud tickets. In other words, it was necessary for them to collect thousands or tens of thousands of tickets before they could do something.

“We can expect the Asgan Continent to be in a defensive position and the Cairon Continent to be in an offensive position. But, if our players start to fall behind inside the Continent Cloud, then the number of enemies that will enter the Asgan Continent will also increase. That’s why the outcome of this war will depend on how well the players of our country perform in the Continent Cloud.”

Based on what Minhyuk had said, the side that performed well in the Continent Cloud would be given a larger amount of cloud tickets. What would happen if there were more than 50,000 cloud tickets dispensed? The Asgan Continent would falter. As soon as the war started, the players of Asgan Continent would definitely not use their tickets. It was clear that their role should be preventing the Chinese players from getting more tickets.

[Then, let’s form a patrol squad so we can know what’s inside the Continent Cloud.]

[We should do that.]

After the patrol squad returned, Ellie and Asvon continued to have their discussions.

[It’s just like any ordinary continent… There are monsters as well as various defense and attack bases.]

[Dungeons also exist inside.]

One thing was for sure, during this episode, the players would compete against each other, inside this place called Continent Cloud, while hunting new monsters and fighting wars. Then, the words that appeared next on the screen were…

[Continental Wars’ Episode 1 has begun.]

[Take over as many attack and defense bases as possible inside the Continent Cloud.]

[You can also take away the attack and defense bases of players from Cairon Continent inside the Continent Cloud.]

[The total number of players that can enter a day is 10,000. 50 players at Level 470~500 or higher, 300 players at Level 400~470… Players should check the official announcement for other information. Tickets can be obtained through NPCs or monsters.]

[Players that will die inside the Continent Cloud will not be able to participate in the episode anymore. Access will also be restricted for 3 days.]

[Please check the notice for the cloud ticket system.]

The Continental War Episode had started. Meanwhile, Minhyuk thought, ‘Wow. There must be a lot of delicious food inside the Cloud Continent, right?’.?Minhyuk smiled slightly at the thought. He was already thinking about how he should talk his guild members into participating in this episode.

***

Three days after the start of the Continental War, Ares, the GM of Ares Guild, and Callian, the GM of Iris Guild were able to get a pretty good defense base inside the Continent Cloud. Since this was a continental war, none of the players of Asgan Continent would benefit if they fought against each other, so around five of the country’s leading rankers had worked together with Ares. All of them were competent players standing at the country’s top 50.

“Fortunately our country’s players and the Chinese players are just sticking to our part of the land when reclaiming bases.”

“That’s right. Also, that’s a relief.”

“What? Which one?”

“Legend Guild separating.”

“Ah. That one?”

In fact, when Legend Guild’s guild leader and name changed, most people believed that only the guild leader had changed. However, none of the members of Legend Guild had entered the Continent Cloud yet. Because of that, many of the people believed that the guild had gone their own ways, but were unaware that they were actually training a huge force of their own.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Huh?”

Callian turned to look after hearing Ares’ words. A player was walking forward, with players wearing black armor behind him. He stood at the very front, smiled deeply and said, “My name is Hu Yitian.”

‘Hu Yitian?’?

He was clearly a Chinese player. Seeing him, Callian turned to Ares and whispered, “Hu Yitian is the player standing in the fourth place of the Chinese Assassins’ Rankings.”

“Fourth… What’s his ranking in the Chinese Overall Rankings?”

“Nineteenth.”

“...Hmmm.”

If he was ranked 19th, then they would be enough to take him on. No, more precisely, they could win. Ares had recently finished changing his class to High Class. Although Ares had been trampled all over the place, he was still one of the rankers competing for the top rankings in South Korea! Ares asked, “What’s going on?”

“I want to have a match with you.”

“A match?”

This was a battlefield in the first place, so Ares and Callian could not understand why he was asking them politely for a match.

“I heard that the top users of Korea are here.”

“That’s true.”

“I know. Of course.”

Ares and Callian both laughed after hearing his words. However, Hu Yitian’s next words were shocking. He said, “I want to fight against the five best rankers here by myself.”

“...?”

“...?”

Ares and Callian looked at him at that moment, wondering what bullshit he was saying. Ares believed that he could probably win against him alone. No, he would definitely win. He was now a High Class player. But then, Hu Yitian provoked them further by saying, “If you win, I will hand over three of our defense bases and three of our attack bases. But, if you lose, I want you to step back from this base.”

‘Three attack bases and three defense bases…?’?

‘Gasp..!’?

The bases that they currently had in their hands was just this defense base. But, the opponent was willing to give up six bases? If that happened, then their position would definitely increase sharply.

‘This is an unexpected windfall!!!’?

‘We will definitely benefit from his arrogance!’?

Callian and Ares laughed happily. So, five Korean rankers stood in front of the lone assassin Hu Yitian.

“Please take care of me!”

“We’ll crush that pride of yours!!!”

Their duel began and before they knew it, Ares, Callian and three other rankers were defeated miserably. They could not even land a huge blow on Hu Yitian.

“As expected, you’re just around this much?” Hu Yitian said, laughing as he watched them disappear after being forced to log out.

***

[As expected, you’re just around this much?]

Sword Emperor Ellie was leading the wars inside the Continent Cloud with Asvon. She was able to watch the situation on the battlefield in real time. Since Ares and Callian were quite important figures, Ellie and Asvon handed over a video crystal ball to them.

“Pinnacle…?”

Ellie’s eyes shook. That man was clearly a foreigner, and yet, that assassin had clearly displayed a dagger technique that had reached the ‘pinnacle’. His dagger technique pierced through the rankers and crushed them completely. Asvon saw it too. After all, he was standing next to her.

“...From what I heard, that person is going around the entire Continent Cloud looking for the strongest people from Asgan Continent and defeating them. If this continues, the tide of war will turn in favor of Cairon Continent. We might personally…”

Ellie shook her head after hearing Asvon. She said, “That’s not possible. You must not forget that we are the pillars of Asgan Continent, Asvon.”

Ellie had been speaking politely before because she was more comfortable doing so. Still, she and Asvon were equals. And right now, she was speaking coldly. She knew that the two of them must never get hurt, or die.

“Then, who will defeat that person using the Power of Pinnacle?”

At Asvon’s question, Ellie said, “You and I both know him.”

“...?”

Asvon looked at Ellie strangely wondering who she was talking about. Ellie said, “Minhyuk.”

Hearing her words, Asvon’s expression turned serious as he nodded. Then, he said, “I’m sure my younger brother will definitely be able to defeat him. I understand your thoughts. It seems like you want him to have the Pinnacle Awakening.”

“That’s right. By the way, what do you mean by younger… brother?”

“Minhyuk and I are very close. I treat him as my younger brother and he treats me as his Hyung. You didn’t know?”

Hearing his words, the veins on Ellie’s forehead popped up. She said, “Hohoho! Whatever do you mean? Minhyuk and I are like blood-related siblings! He even wants to stay by my side everyday! Hohohoho!”

“Hahahaha! Ellie, you don’t know anything. Minhyuk likes me more, you know?”

“Not at all. I taught Minhyuk swordsmanship, you know?”

Right now, the two Emperors were fighting a war of nerves against each other. They seemed to be asking, ‘Do you like Dad?’?or ‘Do you like Mom?’ despite the severity of their situation. In any case, the expressions that the both of them were sporting were very serious.

“I drank tea with Minhyuk!” Asvon said.

Ellie just grinned and said, “But, we had a meal together?”

“...”

Asvon's face twisted in defeat while Ellie smirked, ‘Fufu. I won.’

For some reason, the two Emperors looked very cute today.