Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 422: Lesser Demon Diablo

[Heok! A, a God-grade dish has appeared in the competition!]

[Right now, the entire world is watching Player Minhyuk!]

[Almost all of the cameras broadcasting all over the world had zoomed in on the pillar of light that fell from the sky.]

[Minhyuk and Diablo are both at the center of attention.]

It was not only ATV’s cameras, almost all of the cameras from all of the broadcasting stations in the world had zoomed in on Minhyuk and Diablo. They all watched as Diablo accepted the tonkatsu and sat side by side with Minhyuk. Just in time, another dish created from Minhyuk’s ‘Joy of Eating Together’ skill appeared in front of him. The entire world watched as the two of them ate their tonkatsu happily.

The first thing that Minhyuk tasted was the warm instant soup.

‘It really whets your appetite.’

A small smile curled at the corner of Minhyuk’s lips as the soft yet thick, salty soup entered his mouth. He drank one sip, two sips, three sips of the delicious soup. Diablo, who sat beside him, copied him down to the T.

And the entire world that was watching them…

[Aaaaaaaaah! I know the taste of that soup very well!]

[It’s just some instant soup, but the taste can really whet your appetite. It’s a flavor that will definitely make you come back for more.]

After tasting the soup, Minhyuk grabbed his fork and knife and cut a piece of tonkatsu covered with the thick scarlet sauce. He placed the piece in his mouth as a…

Crunch—

…a loud crunch resounded. Each of Minhyuk’s bite was accompanied by a loud crunch that stimulated the ears of everyone watching. Despite being soaked in sauce that Minhyuk had poured in advance, the God’s Tonkatsu remained crunchy. It was both a mystery and a miracle. Minhyuk could not help but smile as he gulped down the meat in his mouth.

[He took a bite! Player Minhyuk has taken a bite out of the tonkatsu!!!]

[He’s the one that’s chewing but I feel like I’m the one tasting it. It’s definitely making my mouth water!]

[Ah! That smile…! That’s definitely a smile that we make when we eat something delicious! Right? It’s definitely that smile!!!]

[Right now, the number one search term is tonkatsu. ‘Tonkatsu’ has taken over the global portal sites!]

[I think I’ll get some tonkatsu for dinner later.]

But Minhyuk and Diablo’s mukbang was not yet over. Minhyuk mixed the apple dressing with the salad. The salad, with its sweet flavor and crispy texture, was the perfect dish for a change of pace whenever Minhyuk felt tired of the crunchy texture of the tonkatsu. The thinly sliced cabbage and its crisp, fresh texture was a delight to the mouth.

Then, there was the corn. The savory flavor of the corn, with the occasional burst of sweetness, would spread inside his mouth in every bite.

Scrape, scrape—

The sound of Minhyuk’s spoon scraping every last bit of the sauce on his plate rang loudly! His firm determination to not leave a single drop of sauce and a single grain of corn was perfectly displayed at this very moment!

[Player Minhyuk is literally licking the plate clean.]

[He’s not letting anyone else know what he ate on his plate! That’s the true spirit of a mukbang BJ!]

After their peaceful mukbang ended, Diablo began to twitch. The players that were hunting named monsters near them began to retreat after realizing that an unusual situation was about to unfold.

“Keuheok!” Diablo roared to the sky as black demonic energy poured out of his open mouth.

Puhaaaaaaaaaaa!

Vast amounts of black demonic energy shot up and shrouded the entire stadium in darkness, until it eventually took on the shape of a demon’s head.

[Once again, you… interrupt… trifling… human…]

The demon was none other than Great Demon Verus. The entire world watched with bated breath. Great Demon Verus was an existence that appeared in all of the servers and was a figure that struck fear and terror to everyone. According to the information that Athenae had published, Great Demon Verus’ main body was a supreme being that none of the current players could confront right now.

However, Minhyuk just looked up at the Great Demon Verus and said, “It’s time for you to get lost.”

As if on cue, Verus’ figure slowly dissipated. Minhyuk’s intuition was telling him that this incident would definitely lead to an episode one day. Then, the notifications rang.

[You have freed Lesser Demon Diablo from the demons’ demonic energy.]

[Diablo’s frenzied state has been lifted. His sanity has returned.]

Then, a quest notification popped up in front of Minhyuk the moment Diablo looked at him.

Ring!

[Unexpected Class Quest: Diablo’s Request.]

Rank: S

Requirements: Food God

Rewards: ???

Penalty for Failure: Diablo’s favorability will drop.

Description: Thanks to you, Diablo is finally freed from the demons and their hold on him. But he has a favor to ask of you. Please help him find his mother’s whereabouts.

“Of course. I will find her for you,” Minhyuk nodded.

Diablo smiled lightly. Then, Minhyuk took out a sword from his inventory. The sword was none other than the Devil Judge’s Sword, an Absolute Demigod artifact that was originally owned by Diablo. Diablo slowly reached his hand out to take the sword. This scene made the players and the viewers realize…

‘Diablo and Minhyuk will cooperate.’

‘This competition is now heading to an unknown route.’

‘We can’t guarantee our victory or our defeat now.’

All of the players had gathered enough data on Minhyuk. They were aware that the buffed dishes that he could make carried a supreme and absolute power that was far beyond anyone’s imagination. If Minhyuk’s normal dishes were already that powerful, what about the dish that Diablo ate? That was a God Dish!

On top of that, he even gave Diablo a strange-looking sword.

“Our ratings are rising quickly!”

“The competition’s ratings have increased dramatically!”

The broadcasting officials shouted in joy.

There were two main reasons why their ratings were increasing dramatically. One, just an hour ago, an article revealed Minhyuk as the sole successor of his father, the chairman of Ilhwa Group, one of the top ten global companies, Ilhwa Group.

Two, Minhyuk liberated the supreme and absolute named monster, a never before seen existence, from his frenzied state and returned him back to being a Named NPC. The said NPC even had a great bond with him. All of this combined could pique anyone’s interest. Those that were looking at the real-time search results,, those that were listening to the discussion of the people around them, and those that were watching from their mobile phones and TVs all rushed to watch the competition’s live broadcast.

Diablo and Minhyuk stood up and walked side by side to the place where Diablo originally appeared. The two of them looked at the crowd of players around them. The players, who were hunting named monsters just a few moments prior, all stopped in their tracks and looked at Minhyuk and Diablo warily with sweat dripping down their foreheads.

“Our, our highest viewership rating since the start of the World War has been broken!!!”

The ratings of the broadcasting stations from each country were slowly rising to reach and surpass their highest ratings. This was all thanks to Minhyuk. He often created shocking and big situations, ones that could increase his already astronomical value even further.

‘Daehan Group, the one that dared to attack me, will no longer be able to chase after Ilhwa.’

Simply put, not only would he win this fight, he would also win his fight in reality. And the fact that this game was a time-limited game played a very important role. What would happen if the players were logged out in the middle of the game? Then, they would not be able to raise their scores anymore. Everyone was nervous because they already knew that fact.

Then, Minhyuk leapt forward and aimed for his first target. His first target? It was none other than Calauhel. Minhyuk already knew that Calauhel’s Merciless Hero’s Armor, the armor that helped him reach the ‘Summit’s ranks’ was destroyed. After all, he was the one that destroyed it. Without the protection of that armor, it would be easy for Minhyuk to deal with him. Minhyuk had judged that Calauhel, who was hostile to him, should be dealt with first. But before Minhyuk could use Like the Wind to reach Calauhel with his God-rank sword…

Clatter—

…a strange sound rang loudly in the stadium.

The players all turned to look at the direction where the sound came from. What greeted them there was a black scythe connected to a chain flying fiercely towards Calauhel. The power packed behind the flying scythe was so strong that it could dig up the ground and create rubbles that flew all over the place.

Crack, crack, crack—

Calauhel failed to counter Diablo’s attack and was forced to fly back the moment his sword collided with the scythe. However, Diablo did not let him go so easily, his scythe continued to fly after him to try and completely destroy him.

Ping, ping, ping, ping—

Of course, as someone that reached the Summit Five, Calauhel had fantastic control. Despite being sent flying back by the impact of Diablo’s attack, Calauhel was still able to try and defend himself from the scythe’s irregular attacks. However, no matter what Calauhel did, Diablo’s scythe was like fish in water. A flick of Diablo’s wrist and it would fly up, down, left, right while ripping and tearing apart every part of his body. And the worst part…

[Your enemy’s sharp attack has broken a string of muscle in your body.]

[The movement on your right leg will be severely restricted.]

[The movement on your left wrist will be severely restricted.]

Diablo’s scythe was a long-range weapon. It gave him more freedom and fluidity than when he was using a sword.

‘It seems like Diablo and the Devil Judge’s Sword is the perfect fit. Huh?’

Even Minhyuk was amazed with how amazing Diablo was using the sword. He landed on the floor and quickly used ‘Like the Wind’ to dash to where Calauhel was. Then, he used Scattering Sword, with an attack power that was several times higher than normal with the help of Continent Destroyer Sword, on the severely restricted Calauhel.

Baaaaaaaang—

Calauhel slowly disappeared from view as he slammed straight into the ground. It only took six seconds for Minhyuk and Diablo to deal with Calauhel. Recalling his death in the Penalty Shoot-out event before and watching him die pitifully in less than ten seconds during this Named Monster Hunting Event gave birth to an idea in everyone’s mind.

‘Is Calauhel born to become Player Minhyuk’s second fiddle?’

The idea that appeared in their heads made them even more shocked. After all, Calauhel, although known to be the weakest, was still a part of the Summit Five.

Claaaaaaaang—

The Hunting King sent out a black energy from his sword and attacked Minhyuk.

Shwaaaaaaak—

Minhyuk flew back from the impact of the attack. However, he was able to quickly center his balance and land stably on his feet. Then, he looked around. He could see that the other players have realized the most important thing that they needed to do in their situation right now. This was especially the case for the Hunting King. He quickly gathered the players around him.

“Hunter’s Roar! Graaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” A strange roar, akin to that of a tiger’s roar, broke out from the Hunting King’s mouth. Tremendous force surrounded the Hunting King and the players that surrounded him. These were the notifications that they heard right after…

[The Hunter’s Targeted Prey’s great power has been activated.]

[You will be able to temporarily gain the same power after hearing the Hunter’s Roar.]

[If you successfully land an attack on your prey, the damage that you will receive will be reduced by 50% and your evasion rate will increase by 500%.]

[The buff’s duration is thirty seconds.]

That was right. The Hunter’s Roar was the renowned skill that placed the Hunting King in the summit of monster hunting. It was also a skill that exerted more power when triggered and applied to his allies. This was because the skill would give the same power to his allies. But the most shocking part was…

‘That’s crazy! We’re not even in a party but it still worked on us?!’

‘So this is the power of the Hunting King…?’

This was the strongest monster hunter.

Dozens of players, who realized that this was their only chance to hunt Diablo, rushed forward.

Slaaaaaaaaash—

Diablo’s scythe swung fiercely to stop them. But with a swing of Gravity Master Lupin’s hands, Diablo’s scythe was forced to stop in mid-air. Seeing this, the players continued to fiercely dash forward.

“God’s Revelation!”

Shwaaaaaaa—

A gigantic sword made of light shot straight towards Diablo.

“Fist of Death.”

Baaaaaaaaaang—

An Indian close-combat class player by the name of Vyanjan sent a fist containing a tremendous force towards Diablo. Dozens of attacks were sent towards Diablo.

Diablo immediately retrieved his scythe and turned it into a sword. Then, he stopped for a moment before splitting the sword of light that was stretching towards him with a swing of his sword.

“…!”

The sword that split the sword of light did not stop there. It stretched forward and even split the Fist of Death along with several other skills, effectively offsetting every attack that was coming his way.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Despite seeing everything up close, the players still could not believe their eyes.

Diablo was an absolute genius with a talent that could shock even the great demons. That was why they gave him the name…

Lesser Demon Diablo.