Gourmet Gaming

Minhyuk was forced into an unconscious state, his body collapsing toward the ground. Aegaeon immediately used his power and sent him flying back.

Baaaaaaang—

Aegaeon watched the unconscious Minhyuk roll helplessly on the ground. Cold sweat dripped down his back followed by a spine-numbing chill. Aegaeon never imagined that the man would try to kill Aegaeon, let alone make him kneel in front of him. However, it was all the more reason why Aegaeon wanted the man more.

Looks delicious. Aegaeon’s Gluttony whispered in his ears.

Meanwhile, Obren, who was inside the Puzzling Seasoning Jar, realized that Minhyuk was facing the worst possible scenario. He had realized when they entered that this land was owned by Aegaeon. He assumed that someone had temporarily awakened Aegaeon in this place. When Minhyuk was dragged to the place where Aegaeon was, Obren was dismayed.

—What I’m worried about has now become a reality.

Almost all of the Eight Pillars were looking for Minhyuk. They wanted to nip him in the bud. Minhyuk was able to avoid the pursuit of the Eight Pillars thanks to Obren’s powers. However, Minhyuk still ended up facing one of them.

Obren, who knew that Aegaeon would devour the boy right away, had given Minhyuk a small piece of advice.

‘Either run away or kill him. Do one of the two somehow. The bastard is currently in a weakened state. Perhaps you might be able to kill him.’

However, Obren had been mistaken. Even though Aegaeon was in a weakened state, he was still a being that Minhyuk could not even dream of facing. Of course, that was not Obren’s fault. He had given Minhyuk the choice, and it was Minhyuk who chose to try to kill Aegaeon.

“Interesting.” Aegaeon grinned as he looked at the handsome man who was sprawled and unconscious on the ground with an expression filled with interest. Then, not long after, he began to laugh in a crazy manner.

“Fufufufufufu. Hihihihihihihi. Ahahahahahahahaha! Interesting!”

Just like a devil, he whispered, “I have to eat him, right?”

Aegaeon licked his lips as he took a step toward Minhyuk. His Gluttony could take away and devour all of his opponent’s power. Aegaeon was sure that he would somehow be able to regain some of his lost power as long as he preyed on this man.

Of course, Minhyuk was completely unconscious at this moment. Obren’s voice sounded completely muffled, as if it was covered with a thick haze, to him.

‘Damn it, Minhyuk. Minhyuk!!! F*ck!!!’

Slowly, his voice began to break through his consciousness.

‘Ah… yes… quickly…the path… open…!’

However, Minhyuk’s consciousness was still completely in the dark.

***

Joy Co. Ltd.

Beeeeeep—

Beeeeeep—

Beeeeeep—

[Warning.]

[Warning.]

[Warning.]

The busy employees of Joy Co. Ltd. all froze in their tracks when they saw the warning messages sent by Supercomputer Athenae flash on the screens of their computers. This was the first time that Athenae had directly announced a crisis in the form of a ‘warning.’

“Team, Team Leader!!!”

“Team Leader!!!”

“Can you check what’s going on?!”

The members of various teams hurriedly called out to their team leaders. Unfortunately, they also did not know the current situation. So, the various team leaders all jumped up from their seats and ran toward the conference room.

Everyone gasped for breath the moment they arrived in the conference room. The same was true for Kang Taehoon. Among the team leaders was Team Leader Park Minggyu, who had already been briefed by Lee Minhhwa. Team Leader Park quickly explained the ins and outs of the situation to President Kang Taehoon.

“Did you just say Aegaeon?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“How did it come to this…?”

“It’s quite complex, and there are a variety of reasons. One, there were a few dungeon explorers that discovered the ‘Tomb of the Kings,’ a place that they should not have been able to find right now.”

Indeed. The players of Athenae had always exceeded the expectations of the developers.

“Second. Someone temporarily awakened Aegaeon’s power.”

A groan escaped President Kang Taehoon’s mouth.

“Third. Food God Minhyuk has sparked Aegaeon’s greed.”

“…”

“…”

Everyone was left speechless. They did not expect that Aegaeon, one of the Eight Pillars, to grow greedy for Minhyuk. However, these various reasons combined into a complex problem that would now create an ‘error’ that should not have existed in the first place.

“What would happen if Aegaeon devours Minhyuk?” Someone asked.

Team Leader Park Minggyu answered, “Aegaeon’s power is literally what it says, gluttony. The power to devour everything and take away the power and abilities of his opponent. Once that happens, Minhyuk will lose his class, and he will revert back to Level 1.”

“…”

“…”

Silence engulfed the conference room for a moment. The world’s best ranker returning back to Level 1? This would completely subvert what President Kang Taehoon had always advocated and preached about Athenae, that it was a world that also flowed the same way as that in reality.

Who would even want to play the game once they were forced back to Level 1? What if the player who had the admiration of the people and could bring hope to other players was the one who experienced that?

Even if he truly got devoured then, they had to help him recover somehow.

“Speak. Suggest other methods.”

“First, we can forcefully delete Eight Pillars Aegaeon. If Aegaeon absorbed the Food God’s power, he would have the power of both the Food God and the Battle God’s Descendant.”

“Then, we will restore it through Food God Minhyuk’s saved data.”

“Also, I believe that we have to give Food God Minhyuk some kind of compensation.”

“But if we do it like this, we will face quite a lot of problems. The previous Eight Pillars would suddenly become the Seven Pillars. On top of that, can we guarantee that we will be able to fully recover Food God Minhyuk’s data? Also, what kind of compensation should we give to Player Minhyuk?”

President Kang Taehoon’s heart felt heavy. In fact, he knew it all too well.

“It’s impossible to fix.”

A sigh escaped from his lips as silence enveloped the entire conference room. Since Athenae had been made to be as realistic as possible, things that exceeded their expectations would often happen. This time was no different, but the consequences were dire.

All they could do was drown in the despair brought forth by the depressing silence as they watched Aegaeon, who was about to devour Minhyuk, walk toward the man on the TV screen.

The scene in front of everyone turned white. At the same time, Team Leader Park received a text message from Lee Minhwa. He could not help but read the content of the message out loud, “Athenae has opened a path…?”

***

Aegaeon’s eyes almost turned green from greed as he walked one step at a time and approached the unconscious Minhyuk.

‘Looks delicious,’ Aegaeon licked his greedy lips and whispered to himself. Then, he stopped in front of Minhyuk. However, just when he was about to reach for the man’s head, a cold voice rang from the side.

“Hey.”

The voice belonged to a handsome dark-haired man. This man was none other than the Evil God, or so the people called him. Another one of the Eight Pillars, Obren, looked at Aegaeon and spoke coldly, “If you touch this child, I will make sure to find all of your fragments scattered all over the world and tear them to pieces.”

Aegaeon felt strange. He did not expect that the Evil God, one of the Eight Pillars, was protecting a human king. However, even if that was the case, with how Evil God Obren was currently, there was no way that he could stop Aegaeon.

“What can you even do when you’re that weak?”

However, Obren just chuckled coldly, “I never said that this child is alone.”

“…?”

Aegaeon looked at Obren in confusion.

[The Greatest God, Athenae, has opened up a path that connects the entire world.]

[Goddess Athenae is summoning those who know Minhyuk from every corner of the world!]

Aegaeon frowned, wondering what Athenae was thinking. It was absolutely ridiculous. Why would she open up a path just for a mere human king? Besides, who would even come here to go against one of the Eight Pillars?

A path made of light spread out and extended from the sky.

“Then, shall I tear up all of your fragments hidden in the east?”

A man wearing silver armor and a very somber expression on his face appeared and stood in front of the unconscious Minhyuk, blocking Aegaeon’s path. This man was the ‘God that Rules and Commands the Greatest Army’.

“Then, let me tear everything in the west.”

Immediately after that, a beautiful woman appeared, staring fixedly at Aegaeon with a cold and sharp glare. This woman was none other than the ‘God that Loves Cooking’.

“The North.”

She was immediately followed by a man with a gloomy and dreary expression. He spoke briefly and bluntly, as if to prove his taciturn personality. This was the God ‘that Never Backs Down’.

“Gods, will you leave the south to this humble human? I will make sure to tear all of the fragments until they can no longer be recognized.”

This time, a woman wearing a red full-plated armor that carried the mark of the phoenix, the symbol of the Eivelis Empire, and a sword on her shoulder appeared. This was none other than Sword Emperor Ellie.

“Hoho. For someone that dared to harm His Majesty, I do not plan on stopping after I tear his fragments to pieces.”

Then, an old man with a very cold expression appeared. This old man currently held and wielded the greatest spear in existence.

“Did you just try to touch His Majesty’s body?”

The Fallen and Wretched Emperor, who almost ruled the greatest empire, appeared.

“You must want to die.”

Dark demonic energy spread out from the body of the newly born Great Demon, also known as the Shield of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. The demonic energy turned into a shield that protected Minhyuk.

“Graaaaaaaaaa!”

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

“Rooooooaaaaaaar!”

Although they looked quite insignificant and trivial compared to the others that had appeared here, Love, Hope and Happiness still ran forward fiercely and roared loudly to protect their master.

There were also players that responded to Athenae’s summon and appeared in this place.

“F*ck! Who dares to touch my boyfriend!!!” Genie shouted as she slammed her whip on the ground.

“I’ll make sure to break an arm,” Right beside her, Khan declared as he put on his gloves and looked beside him.

“Then, I’ll go for the legs. I’ll make sure to cut them to pieces.” Asura Ascar held her bloody-red sword tightly.

“Is that even necessary? It’s not a bad idea to throw him and make him the food for my undead, right?” The King of the Dead, Death, looked at Aegaeon arrogantly.

“Let’s blow him up until there’s nothing left of him.” Golden Mage Ali smiled.

Then, another player said, “I’ll turn him into an eunuch.”

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

For a moment, everyone turned to look at Locke, who was the source of the statement. Of course, they immediately turned back to look at Aegaeon again. However, Locke grabbed his axe tightly, as if he was very serious about what he said.

The truth was, everyone that appeared here was very nervous. None of them could estimate the power of one of the Eight Pillars.

Aegaeon unknowingly took a step back. The legends of this era gathered together just for the sake of a mere human king? It was truly beyond his understanding.

In a blink, a crowd of powerful people gathered and surrounded Minhyuk in a protective circle. Then, at that moment, a middle-aged man’s voice rang loudly from beside Minhyuk, who had been hidden by the crowd.

“You are mistaken.”

The crowd parted and opened up a path for Aegaeon to see who was talking. At the end of the path was a middle-aged man. He gently placed Minhyuk’s head on his lap and swept his hair away.

This man had responded to Athenae’s summons, even from hell. His name? Sword God Valen.

Valen looked at Minhyuk, who slept like a baby, with a soft smile on his face and said, “This child’s greatest strength does not lie with the powerful sword that he wields. Nor does it lie with the excellent dishes that he produces, or the amazing abilities and outstanding artifacts in his possession.”

Valen looked up at Aegaeon and continued with a cold voice, “To be loved by all.” Valen held his sword tightly after making sure that the boy’s head was gently placed on his lap and spoke with great emphasis, “This is this child’s greatest strength.”