Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 564: Battle of the Thrones (Top)

A wide, deep lake surrounded a huge, majestic castle. There was only one way to enter the castle, and that was through a two hundred meter long bridge. As they returned to their castle, Genie felt her heart thumping wildly, ‘The enemies will be coming soon.’

The battle that would ensue would be different from what happened earlier. The battle earlier was a strategy that Genie, Knowledge Star Jarod, Minhyuk and Haze had devised. They had known that their enemies would come and hit them anyway, so since they could not avoid it, they thought: ‘Why not enjoy and have fun during the process, right?’

Genie immediately took out a top grade mana potion.

[You have recovered 30% of your MP.]

According to the announcement made by Joy Co. Ltd., kingdoms that would be ahead of their competitors would receive special privileges during the Battle of Thrones. Since they destroyed the 15,000 enemy troops, the members had received quite a lot of special items.

[You have acquired a Top Grade Mana Potion.]

[Your HP volume will temporarily increase by 3%.]

[As the King’s Agent, you will receive special rewards.]

[You have acquired the Special Power: ‘King’s Staff Sergeant’.]

What is a King’s Staff Sergeant?

After checking the information of the power, Genie could not help but be amazed. According to the King’s Staff Sergeant's detailed description, she would be able to borrow her King’s Power once for a few minutes, depending on whatever circumstances they were in.

‘I guess this is a reward for those whose kings are participating in the middle of the event?’

Being able to take out and use one of Minhyuk’s powers was not a bad reward. However, there was also a problem.

‘Even if we can bring one of Minhyuk’s attack skills into the open, there would not be that much impact in this war.’

What if she brought out Minhyuk’s cooking skills? Well, even if they brought it out, no one would be able to express that since none of them could express that much cooking ability.

‘Then, what should I bring out?’

Left without any solution even after thinking hard, Genie opted to send a whisper to Minhyuk.

[Genie: About the King’s Staff Sergeant… What do you think is the best way to use it?]

A long pause ensued. It seemed like Minhyuk thought long and hard before giving Genie his instructions.

“What…?” Genie mumbled in doubt after hearing Minhyuk’s answer. No matter how hard she thought about it, it was still a very ridiculous solution, right? In fact, what Minhyuk said was completely ridiculous.

[Minhyuk: Having Hanwoo is more than enough. Trust me, Genie.]

‘Why is he suddenly talking about Hanwoo?]

But after hearing the words ‘Trust me.’ from Minhyuk, Genie recalled the past. Although the way he talked about his methods was unreliable at times, they never really lost money whenever they trusted Minhyuk.

[Minhyuk: Summon Hanwoo on the bridge…]

[Minhyuk has entered an area where whispers are restricted.]

Genie bit her lips as she looked at the wide Stars’ Path. Hundreds of thousands of enemy troops that would attack Beyond the Heavens Kingdom would soon fill that area.

“Let’s try it.”

***

Calauhel was one of the kings that had chosen to participate in the middle of the event. He actually participated in the Battle of the Thrones just a few hours after it started.

He had accumulated a huge amount of funds for the Battle of Thrones and equipped all of the participating French rankers with outstanding artifacts. Because of this, he received a made-up title, ‘God of Wealth’, among the French community.

And this very same Calauhel gave orders to the French rankers that believed in him.

“Five thousand of our troops will advance toward Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.”

But that was not all. From the original fifteen countries that formed an alliance, another two countries joined in. And all of these allied countries were sending five thousand of their troops to Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—

The ground shook and trembled from the steps of the huge army. At the vanguard stood America’s Alex, the official number one mage in the global rankings. America did not join the alliance but to appease them, they sent Alex. Even though Alex was the only one sent to battle, he could easily deal with dozens of rankers all by himself. On top of that, Alex was a master tactician.

As 5,000 troops of each country joined in, there were easily more than 70,000 troops gathered. Alex looked at the castle in the distance and said, “Tankers advance on the bridge with their huge square shield. Close combat players will move behind the tankers, followed by the archers and mages. The advancing mages will form a huge shield on top of the tankers’ shields.”

Although it was the easiest strategy, it was a sure-fire one.

“The core members of Beyond the Heavens are morons. They used up all of their power. Which means that our tankers here will be able to withstand their attacks.”

That was right. Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, without the power of their core members, was only a 50,000-strong army. Also…

“The fact that they only have one bridge means that it is impossible for them to retreat. They have already ‘isolated’ themselves and dug their own grave.”

Indeed, the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom having only one bridge was a very effective method for having a good defense. However, it could also pose a weakness to them.

“Forward!!!”

“Charge!!!”

“Tankers! Forward!”

The 70,000 strong troops began to advance toward Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

***

[Over 70,000 troops are gathered in front of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

[The Korean rankers standing on the walls of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom look nervous as they face the 70,000 strong enemy troops.]

[However, I’m sure Beyond the Heavens Kingdom knows this well too. Even if they stop this 70,000 strong troops, the allied countries will immediately send more than 70,000 troops again.]

[We can expect a more systematic attack here. It seems like there will be no more surprises from the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom anymore.]

The 70,000-strong troops, mostly consisting of tankers, began to go into formation. The tankers, with their gigantic square shields, began to line up and form a large mobile wall. It was quite a spectacular view. On top of that, the tankers used their skill ‘Sky Guardian’ and cast a transparent shield over their heads. With tens of thousands of tankers gathered together, the size of the shield was enormous, even on par with the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s walls. Of course, they were also followed by tens of thousands of troops.

“Charge!!!”

At the cry, the tankers took the lead and charged toward the bridge. Magical attacks and arrows immediately rained down from the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s walls.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—

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

Explosions erupted as the shields and the long-range attacks collided. However, something very shocking happened.

[Did you see that? With tens of thousands of tankers gathered together, even if the magic bomb slammed on them, it didn’t leave a scratch on their shields.]

[If Elpis or Gorfido did not use their AOE skills, then they might have been able to deal with those tankers.]

[The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s foolishness is now ending in a catastrophe.]

The tankers were as much a ranker as the others. This meant that they were in perfect coordination and order. Then, a gap opened between the walls created by their gigantic shields. Plenty of rankers sent a tremendous amount of AOE attack skills toward the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

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

“Keuaaaaack!”

“Ack, aaaaaaaack!”

“Keoheooook!”

“Urkkkk!”

The people stationed on the walls screamed as they fell down under the onslaught of magical bombings. At the same time, the walls began to receive massive damage.

“Attack!!!” Genie, who was standing on top of the wall, shouted loudly. But despite fighting back, the enemy troops just shut the gap that they created and…

Shwa, shwa, shwa, shwaa—

…continued to advance.

[They won’t be able to do anything. They can’t stop the charging shield and the enemy troops.]

[The war will basically be over the moment the allied troops enter the castle.]

The enemy troops had already charged fifty meters of the 200 meter long bridge. Meanwhile, inside the walls of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s castle stood Twilight Chef Black and Iris Guild Master Callian. They hid behind the safety of the walls, gnashing their teeth in anger.

“Genie!!! What the hell?!!! Why are you allowing the enemy troops to charge forward?!!!”

“Order our elite troops to charge forward now!!! If things continue at this rate then the castle will fall!!!”

“Wait.”

“Hiiiiiiiik…!”

But, reality was different from what they thought. Genie deliberately placed the lowest level rankers in the vanguard and allowed the tankers to charge forward. That was the main reason why they could not breach through the shield. And now, the enemy troops were just forty meters away from the walls.

At that moment, Callian finally made a decision, “Iris Guild members! Prepare to attack!!!”

“Yes!”

Callian ignored the orders given by Genie, the King’s Agent, and tried to make the troops charge forward. Following him, the tens of thousands of Korean rankers stationed inside also tried to move. But then, the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom immediately pointed their weapons at Callian.

“What the…?”

“Are you crazy?!”

“Genie, what the hell are you doing?!!!”

The South Korean rankers turned furious. Even Callian’s face turned red in anger, “I am a citizen of South Korea. I can’t just look on and let our country be stepped on so easily. Many of the rankers here will receive harsh criticism from the people that believe in us just because of your foolish and moronic tactics!!!”

Many of the Korean rankers present agreed with Callian the moment he shouted loudly. They just could not understand why they were allowing the enemy troops to advance, especially since they had enough power to stop or slow down their advance.

“No matter how strong the members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom are, this just would not work!”

“Genie! Hand over the command to Callian!!!”

“If you don’t put away the weapons you’re using to point at Callian, then we will attack you without any hesitation!”

A rift had been created. An unmendable rift was happening among the participants of South Korea. But then, Ares suddenly stepped forward, “Callian and the rest of the rankers. Please believe us, just this once.”

Ares was a great ranker, albeit a bit arrogant. And although he was the master of Ares Guild, he still willingly came under the command of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. He was someone that could not understand and could not bring himself to believe the actions that Beyond the Heavens Kingdom took once or twice before, but now, they had his complete trust. Everyone also knew that Ares and Callian had a close relationship.

“Ares, why are you siding with these f*ckers…” Callian asked. He truly could not understand. He was fully aware of how stubborn and how distrustful of a player Ares was.

“Please wait just a bit more. Please,” Genie said, bowing to all of the rankers present. The clamoring crowd turned quiet for a moment. Right after Food God Minhyuk, Genie was the next most powerful figure in the Korean Server. And this person was bowing her head to them as she continued to plead, “Within twenty meters. If the enemies enter the twenty meter range, the game will change.”

Although Genie was saying this, even she could not understand what Minhyuk meant. In the end, Callian turned around and yielded.

“If we fall here, then our entire country will blame you for the rest of your lives.”

The members of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom immediately withdrew their weapons. At the same time…

“Thirty meters!!! The enemies have entered the thirty meter mark!!!”

Genie immediately ran forward. The Korean rankers immediately followed right behind her.

“Twenty five meters!!!”

And Callian, who turned around and yielded, rushed to the walls once again. Even if their castle was captured, they would fight until the bitter end. And…

“Twenty meters!!!”

Genie immediately used the ‘King’s Staff Sergeant’, the special power that she received before.

[You have cast the King’s Staff Sergeant!]

[You can now use one of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s King Minhyuk’s power!]

Genie looked around for a moment before spitting out the word that Minhyuk told her.

‘Why does the name… have to be…’?Embarrassed, she mumbled very quietly, “Hanwoo…”

[You will be able to borrow the power of ‘Hanwoo’, someone under Food God Minhyuk’s command, for five minutes.]

Blink!

Baaaaaaaang—

With her words, a lightning bolt fell down from the sky as a cow appeared on the bridge.

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

The tankers, who were only twenty meters away from the wall, could not hide their confusion as they watched an unidentified cow kick the ground with its hind legs. And above the cow appeared the name ‘Hanwoo’.

“Hanwoo…?”

“What does Hanwoo mean?”

“It’s the name of a cow native to Korea.”

“Sounds delicious…”

Then, Hanwoo immediately dashed across the bridge.

“Minhyuk, what in the world…”

Even until now, Genie still could not understand what Minhyuk intended to do. At that moment, she saw Hanwoo dash forward.

“Moooooooooooo!!!”

Hanwoo’s loud cry immediately suppressed the power of the tankers charging on the bridge as his body started to grow from five meters, to seven, then to eight, then to ten, then to fifteen, until it reached twenty meters in size. Hanwoo turned bigger than the walls and immediately covered the entire width of the bridge with his body. The cow, to be exact, the sealed Bull Demon King, had grown to the size of a mountain, as it charged toward the tankers that blocked his path. It had to be known that the Bull Demon King had a ridiculous charging power that could even bring Food God Minhyuk’s HP to zero instantly. And finally…

Baaaaaaaaaaaaang—

…Hanwoo collided with the tankers’ wall-like shield. Shockingly enough, the huge cow was able to crush the tankers’ shields and even trample on the rankers that were stationed behind them.

“Aaaaaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaarghhhhh!”

“Keuaaaaaaack!”

“S, stop iiiiit!!!”

“Urrrrghhhhhh!”

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—

The rankers that marched on the bridge fell down and disappeared under the depths of the lake. Those that remained on the bridge were trampled to their deaths. It was just an instant. But Hanwoo, who just charged once, took out 40,000 out of the 70,000 troops that were advancing on the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

After running to the end of the bridge, Hanwoo immediately turned around and charged forward once again. This time, another 20,000 of the enemy troops were crushed. No amount of bombing from magical attacks, or arrows, grazed or even nicked Hanwoo’s hide.

Callian, who watched everything unfold, was left speechless.

“….”

Then, he thought, ‘As expected, beef should really be Hanwoo.’

At that moment, the word ‘Hanwoo’ was plastered all over the portal and community sites all over the world. It was a very unexpected, but welcome, promotion for Hanwoo.

1. As mentioned before, Hanwoo is a type of cow native to SKr and is now used for meat, hence the confusion.