Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 181: Father’s Feelings

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The Ice Witch was estimated to be at Level 370.
It was only natural that the boss monster’s level did not exceed Level 400, since the island had a level cap and would not allow any players exceeding Level 400 to enter its premises.

[Britney’s Flame Blast.]

[A powerful blast of flame will extinguish the enemies in one breath.]

Hwaaaaaaaak!

Britney let out powerful flames that burned and devoured the ice monsters, including the yetis, burning them into ashes.
However, at that same moment, a blue light formed at the mouth of the Ice Dragon.

[Ice Dragon’s Wrath.]

[A cold force that could freeze everything.]

Shwaaaaaaaak!

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!

The area began to freeze.
Black Dragon kept on running towards the Ice Witch Javis, but he knew that the Dragon’s Wrath would reach him and turn him into a frozen sculpture.
Just then…

Bang!

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!

…Britney jumped forward and intercepted the Ice Dragon’s Wrath.
The Ice Dragon Wrath immediately created frost and ice on Britney’s body.

“B…Britney!!! This bastard…!” Black Dragon shouted.
However, when he made eye contact with Britney, Black Dragon could see that Britney was telling him to finish everything quickly and get what he wanted to get.

[Britney’s HP has fallen below 80%.]

[Britney’s HP has fallen below 70%.]

‘Nod.’

Black Dragon quickly dashed forward.

[Ice Spear.]

Shwaaaaaa!

Dozens of sharp ice spears flew towards Black Dragon.
However, despite the frost covering his body, Britney still unleashed a towering black flame.

Puhaaaaaa!

Britney’s powerful flames had pushed back some of the freezing power that was covering her body, while decreasing the speed and power of the incoming ice spears.
Black Dragon took advantage of the opportunity as he quickly and swiftly attacked the Ice Witch Javis.

[Merchant’s Sword Dance.]

[A swift and explosive sword dance that can easily deal damage to your enemies.]

Slash, slash, slash, slash!

Black Dragon’s sword dance unleashed swords that attacked Ice Witch Javis indiscriminately.

Clang, clang, clang━

“Kiiiyeeeeee!”

“Kyaaaaaaaak!”

Behind them, Britney and the Ice Dragon were locked in a fierce fight.

[Prison]

[A powerful blast of air that freezes everything.]

[Witch’s Mind Control]

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[Slowly makes you fall into laziness and indolence.]

Black Dragon was still attacking the Ice Witch when he suddenly felt the strength in his body being drained away.
For some reason, he felt like he did not want to do anything as the skill Prison started to cover his body with frost.

Crack, crack, crack, crack━

[Frost and ice are starting to cover your entire body.]

[Your HP is dropping at a rapid rate.]

Even though his body was being covered by frost and ice, Black Dragon did not move at all.
He felt like he wanted to just lie down and take a good long rest.
Just as he was about to close his eyes, the figure of his son, Minhyuk, flashed in his mind.
He was reminded of his son preparing him a meal with those delicious snow crabs just a few days prior.

Bang, bang, bang━

The ice that was slowly forming on his body began to break as Black Dragon once again stood up and rose to his feet.
He gritted his teeth and dashed straight towards the Ice Witch once again.

“Hyaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Black Dragon squeezed all of the remaining strength in his body as he cut down Javis.

Slaaaaaaaash!

***

Valhalla was a very small town with a population of 6,000 people.
Genie and the rest of the Legend Guild members had gathered and moved into this small town.

The stronghold that the players had acquired could be promoted with ‘Territory EXP’.
The guild could gain this EXP through a variety of methods like winning in guild wars, developing special products, or increasing the number of times the players entered their territory. 

Even though Valhalla was only a small town with a population of 6,000, it was still the first ever  territory to be granted in the newly pioneered Northern Continent, and it was meaningful in and of itself.
To be honest, even ‘small towns’ were extremely difficult to obtain, so this was already a huge achievement.
Usually, when players were bestowed with a territory they would only be given a ‘village’.
Only after a village had been promoted twice, then it would become a small town. 

In addition, the monthly taxes that they could collect from the 6,000 people and the soldiers that originally lived in Valhalla, as well as the monster drops and special products that they would develop and collect, would be able to give them profits.
Therefore, if they did well in managing their territory, they could expect a profit of 50 platinum or more every month, just from this small town alone.
However, this was only the case before the territory was promoted.
If they were able to promote their territory, they estimated that they would be able to gain double that amount of money.
This was why managing a territory was a very important matter. 

Right now, Legend Guild was trying to entice and attract the players to go to Valhalla.
Genie had been sitting inside the Valhalla’s Territory office while lost in her thoughts.

“It would be good if we had at least one summoner with good abilities and skills…”

Sadly, even though Legend Guild consisted of only the elites, there were no summoners among their ranks.
Summoners possessed the ability to control mobs, but most people with these classes were conspicuous and did not go well with their guild operations.
This was the reason why the guild did not have any skilled summoners among their ranks.
However, if they were able to have at least one skilled summoner, then they would be able to reduce the damages to the other guild members during guild wars.

Genie looked through the guild chat while thinking about this problem.

[Guild Chat | Minhyuk: I have arrived at Valhalla.
I’ll just go to my house and log out.
I’ll come back later.]

Genie stood up from her seat and saw Locke and Khan at the nearby hunting grounds after looking around.
She asked, “Where’s Minhyuk?”

“He’s at home right now.” 

Minhyuk was the viscount in paper and in name.
That was why they prepared a mansion for him in Valhalla.
The three of them all moved towards his mansion.
His mansion was large enough to cover at least 600 sqm of land.
Not long after they had arrived, a short boy opened the door for them.
They could tell by his looks that he was an African boy.

“Hello.”

“Ah.
Yes…”

The three of them looked at the boy in surprise.

“The house is a bit small, but I hope that the Viscount’s guild members will be able to have some rest once they arrive here.”

“Sm…small?”

“Minhyuk’s class…”

“Who are you?”

“Ah.
I’m…” The boy, Kaistra, stammered before falling silent for a moment.

‘How should I explain it?’

“Minhyuk took me in.
I’m following him around to do the dishes.”

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“Uhm…”

The dishes?

The three of them looked at him in confusion.
They were walking while having their conversations, but the moment they came inside the mansion, they could not help but be shocked.

“…!”

It was because there was a huge plastic basin in the middle of the place that was overflowing with dishes!

“The faucet is broken right now and this is the only place where water comes out…” The African boy said, shaking his head as he smiled bitterly.
Then, he squatted down as he began to clean the hundreds of dishes piled in the huge basin.

“…”

“…”

“…”

The three people looked at the African boy with pity.
Then, they saw the African boy tap his back as if he was having some backache.

“Hwaa…”

‘O…oh my…’

‘Don’t tell me, that punk Minhyuk?! Isn’t he being too harsh on his dishwasher?’

‘The child looks so powerless too…’

The three of them were shocked and speechless.

‘Why are you taking advantage of a child like this!’

However, Kaistra had a totally different line of thought from the rest of them, ‘Minhyuk told me that he would help me once he logged back on.
But, I don’t dare to let water get on Minhyuk’s hands.
Hoho.’

Kaistra liked Minhyuk very much.
When he ate with Black Dragon, he also went out and talked with him for a while.
Black Dragon had told him to take good care of Minhyuk, so he would fulfill his tasks to the best of his abilities.
Kaistra rested for a while.
He quickly rummaged through his inventory before taking some bread out.

Sniff━

He wiped the corner of his eyes with his sleeves, thinking, ‘Did I get bubbles in my eyes? Why does it sting too much?’

However, to Genie, Khan and Locke, his frail figure was akin to a boy that was filled with sorrow of doing hard work and washing dishes! 

Genie was looking at the boy pitifully.
Then, she asked, “B…by any chance…
How much does Minhyuk take care of you?”

“Are you talking about money?”

“Yes.”

Genie, Khan and Locke believed that Minhyuk would definitely pay him for his services based on his personality.

“He doesn’t give me any money.”

“…!”

“…!”

The eyes of the three widened in shock.

“Ah.
He sometimes gives me something delicious.
Minhyuk made this bread for me, it’s really delicious.
Haha.
Ah.
Why am I tearing up so much?” Kaistra said, his eyes reddening from the sting of the bubbles as he shed tears once again.

‘Dripping hot tears from an African boy!’

Genie, Locke and Khan felt a hot pain in their chest as they watched such a pitiful scene.

‘Such a powerless and frail child…!’

‘You’re just giving such bright and good kid food!’

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At that moment, Minhyuk accessed the game.

“Minhyuk, you’re really something.”

“Huh?” Minhyuk asked dumbly.
He had just gone down the stairs and did not know what was happening.

“Waaa! It really is so delicious.”

The ‘pitiful, innocent, and weak’ boy, Kaistra, smiled brightly, as he wiped his tears and ate the bread that Minhyuk made for him.

***

Black Dragon successfully stabbed Ice Witch Javis’ heart.
He was so excited after finally being able to hunt the witch!

[You have completed the Legendary Quest: Hunt the Ice Witch.]

[You have acquired the reward: Legendary Ice Dragon.]

[The Legendary Ice Dragon has now entered your summoning room.]

Black Dragon smiled in satisfaction as he temporarily sealed Britney on his left arm.
He felt very tired after fighting for quite a long time, but he still grabbed his pickaxe and started digging the white iceberg.
Two hours, four hours, six hours! He dug without taking a break.
And finally, he got through the end of the iceberg!

[You have acquired a Special Ice Fragment.]

Black Dragon smiled happily as he took out a return scroll.
The return scroll that he had obtained by hunting the Ice Witch Javis, would move him to the place where he stood before entering Callame’s Island.

Shwaaaaaak!

[You have been warped to the place right before Callame’s Island.]

Black Dragon was very excited.
He thought, ‘I have to go back quickly…!’

However, before he could do so, his movements stopped.

“Yo.
Uncle Black Dragon!”

“Wow…
For real? Callame’s Island? You really are crazy…”

There were more than ten people waiting for him.
It was the Bachran Guild.
The people in front of him included Baren and the party that he had seen last time.

‘I’m in trouble.’

Britney had just suffered from a serious injury, while the Ice Dragon needed to recover for a period of time.
Black Dragon quickly tore the parchment that was on his hands.

[You have used the Commodity Protection Parchment.]

[When attacked by a Chaotic player, one item or artifact will never be dropped.]

Black Dragon did not delay any further. 

‘Special Ice Fragment.’

[The Special Ice Fragment will not be dropped even if you are forced to log out.]

Black Dragon could bear to lose any artifact, money, or even everything that he had on his body, except for this.
Then, he drew his sword out.

Swooosh━

Black Dragon dashed forward.
However, the results were still disastrous.
The number of the members of Bachran Guild that were after the tired and exhausted Black Dragon was too much for him to handle.
Unfortunately for them, no artifacts dropped from Black Dragon.

‘Damn.
I don’t think it’s possible to steal that if there’s no summoner…’

Just in case, they had brought the ‘Plundering Tamer’.
The Plundering Tamer was a secret class that could steal and loot other people’s tamed monsters.
The Plundering Tamer was a tamer associated with Bachran Guild.
However, according to him, the tamed monster that Black Dragon had was a species that could not be looted at all.

‘Well.
We should just continue to kill him, right? Hehehe.’

If they did that, then sooner or later, Black Dragon would drop a good artifact.
Baren smiled wickedly, completely unaware of the impending storm that was coming their way.

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***

“You brat!”

“How can you do such a thing to a child?!”

“He’s a pitiful and weak child! You’re worse than my face!” Locke shouted as he grabbed Minhyuk by the collar.

“Huh?” Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion as he looked at Khan, Locke and Genie all huffing and puffing in rage.

“How could you do that to a powerless and weak child…”

‘Powerless…
who?’

‘Are they referring to Kaistra? He said that he’s ninth in the unofficial global rankings though…’ There was a high chance that even if the three of them worked together, they would still not be able to fight against him.
Minhyuk explained to them what happened.

“Ah…
th…then, so it was not like that.
That boy wanted to follow you because you and your father helped him before?”

Minhyuk nodded.

“There’s another mouth to feed.
Why do people always want to follow me! I have already told Kaistra not to follow me again and again, but he still followed me! And sometimes…”

Minhyuk burst into tears.
Once in a while, Kaistra would smile and look at him innocently before saying, ‘Please give me something delicious.’. 

This was why Kaistra was in charge of the dishes! He even often made bread for him.
Every time he logged out to go to bed, his body would shake and his pillow would be wet with tears, because he always gave Kaistra food before he went to bed! Also, Minhyuk had continuously told Kaistra that he could just play the game comfortably, but he said that he wanted to stay beside Minhyuk.
He even thought of giving him a mission soon just to keep him away from him for a while.

“I see…”

“Uhm…”

The three of them nodded.

“Do you understand what I’m feeling?” Minhyuk asked, crying sadly.

‘I already have two more mouths to feed! One is Ben and the other is Kaistra!’

Then, he suddenly thought about what his father and Kaistra had talked about after the meal a few days ago.
If he asked Kaistra, he was sure that he would not get an answer.
Minhyuk had no choice but to ask his father.
He was lucky that today was his father’s day off.
Minhyuk thought that he should go and log out to ask about what they had talked about.

“I’ll be out for a while.”

“Yeah.”

Minhyuk immediately logged out.
As soon as he logged out, Khan, Genie and Locke looked at each other before speaking.

“Sigh…
It seems that the poor boy doesn’t have anything, he doesn’t even have much strength so he’s trying to do the dishes somehow.”

“Yeah…
So let’s be nice to that boy.”

“Yeah.”

In the end, Minhyuk had left out something important.
He forgot to tell them that Kaistra was stronger than anyone in Legend Guild.

***

Minhyuk headed straight to his father’s office after logging out of the game.
He thought, ‘Did he eat already?’

He felt extremely happy because he felt like the relationship between him and his dad had become a lot closer after they had eaten a meal together not too long ago.
Just as he was about to knock on the door…

“Bachran Guild?”

“Yeah.
I think they’re after Britney who’s sealed in my left arm.
They found me just so they could PK me.
In the end, I died.”

‘…?!’

Minhyuk paused, his hands that were about to knock on the door remained hanging in the air.

‘My dad was PK-ed…?’