Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 124: Reunion

Varen and Root both looked like they were about to keel over.

“Huff, huff,” Varen tried to calm his breath, his body shaking in anxiety. He thought of the woman that accompanied them, and the chef named Minhyuk sacrificing themselves just to protect him. The woman, Genie, was clearly someone strong, but she would not be able to deal with a lot of enemies alone. And there was Minhyuk…

‘No matter how strong he is…’

The man named Kohei looked like he possessed a very strong ability. Varen could not help but bite his lips hard in worry.

“Please don’t worry too much. Your Highness.”

“...?”

“We, foreigners, are immortal. We can come back to life even if we die.”

“...Ah. That’s right!” Varen said, a small smile gracing his chapped lips.

‘I will repay them and do anything I can do for them if I ever make out of this alive!’

At that moment…

“Your Highness!” Root shouted, quickly flying to his side and protecting him as five arrows flew towards them. Root quickly whipped the dagger out of his waist and split the incoming arrows.

Slash!

Tak!

Bang!

However, one of the arrows flew towards Varen’s shoulders. Root hurriedly pulled Varen behind him.

Thud!

“Kgghk!”

“B, boy...!” Varen shouted. He felt distressed as soon as he saw Root groaning in pain. Root quickly snapped the arrow from his shoulders.

Spurt!

“Phew!”

Root knew that a fight was inevitable now. There were five soldiers right on their tail! He quickly pulled his bow out,?nocking?an arrow on it and glaring fiercely at the incoming enemies.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

The arrows flew in the air once more.

‘My MP is gone now.’

There was only one way left for them.

‘I only have my own skills and talents left...!’

Root pulled his bow hard as he shot his own arrow against the flying arrows.

Twang!

Bang!

Root’s arrow countered the first arrow! Then, he quickly took a step back, nocked an arrow again and pulled the strings of his bow!

Twang!

Bang!

An incredible hit rate and a quick reload!

Bang!

The remaining arrow struck one of the trees surrounding them. Root could easily and quickly analyze the trajectory of the arrows. He did not waste any breath on those that he deemed would miss or be easily broken by the wind. He never stopped nocking arrows on his bows as he ran.

Two arrows flew out at an astonishing speed…

Twang!

… one pierced through a soldier hiding in the thickets.

Stab!

“Keuaaack!”

And then, another one…

Twang!

Stab!

“Keuuaaaaa!”

Root easily shot two people in one breath. He calmly scanned his surroundings for more danger while Varen looked at him with surprise.

‘Root is someone who just came to us not too long ago.’

This was the reason why Varen did not know much about him and his skills. Although Root did not have a special class in?Athenae, he was someone that once had a splendid career in reality. He was a former gold-medalist in archery and was once a hopeful Olympic athlete. However, after an accident, he was left feeling like a dead man after being paralyzed from the waist down. He was only playing Athenae to feel alive once more. For him,?Athenae?was a different world that could allow him to let his arrows fly once more.

Twang!

One of the strongest arrows, the fire arrow, flew straight at them. The fire arrow was an arrow that was engulfed in blazing flames and could deal a lot of damage to any opponent. However, Root confidently pulled his bow and shot these arrows. The fire arrows were destroyed right in front of them!

Crackle!

The remnants of the fire arrow fell down uselessly. What an amazing ability! Root quickly nocked an arrow on his bow with a solemn and fierce look on his face.

‘My MP is only enough to use one skill. I should kill one with my skill and the other with just my sheer force.’

If Root used his skill to pierce the neck of his enemy, he could kill them in one breath.

[Vital Shot!]

[An arrow aimed straight at a vital point.]

The arrow whistled through and pierced the enemy straight on his neck!

Spurt!

The enemy could not even shriek before he died. As soon as one enemy died, Root quickly stretched his bow and aimed.

Twang!

An arrow flew once more. This arrow also skillfully penetrated another enemy’s neck.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, an arrow came flying straight towards Root’s head.

‘...Damn it! I can’t avoid this one.’

Root’s brows furrowed as cold sweat dripped down from his forehead. He said, “Your Highness, make sure that you return home alive!”

Root firmly believed that he would be forced to log out once he finished his words to Varen. Then…

Crackle, fwoosh!

…A huge flame burned the arrow that was flying straight at him.

“...Gasp?!” Root gasped in surprise. It was because the blazing flame that stopped his arrow was a man.

Not long after, the fire that engulfed the man slowly diminished until the fire was put out. The man turned around, raised his straw hat with the tip of his index finger and grinned at him. The man said, “Ooooooooooh! I was like the real Ace just now!”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is that really our Ace?”

Mysterious and unknown people slowly began to emerge one by one. They were wearing a dazzling array of artifacts. Then, the man who looked like he was a fighter said, “Wow. Hey, aren’t you very talented with the bow? You’ve only used your skills once. How did you do that?”

“I agree. That was really cool.”

All of them were praising him and giving him admiring glances.

“Ah, aaaaaah. Yes. Th…thank you,” Root said, not letting his guard down.

‘Who in the world are they? Are they our enemies or are they our allies?’

This was the question that was running through his head. Then, the man who looked like a fighter, Khan, spoke once more, “Where’s Genie?”

“Genie?” Root asked in confusion.

‘Genie? Who is Genie?’

He did not know of anyone that went by that name, but there was a player with a similar nickname around him.

“Are you talking about Ronny?”

“Yes. The one who laughs a lot and will like you if you throw her something to eat. The crazy lady with the whip.”

“Ah… The crazy lady with the whip... It seems like it really is Ronny but...”

“Ronny is the Genie that I was talking about.”

Genie would always use the nickname “Ronny” whenever she wanted to hide her identity. Root finally understood. He thought,?‘Are they Genie’s comrades?’

He just heard it in passing a while back, but he did hear Genie tell Varen that she would call her guild members!

“Ah. What about the guy with the frying pan?”

“Ah. Are you talking about Minhyuk?”

“Yes. That damn… No, that friend.”

When Khan smiled at him, Root pointed behind him and said, “He’s fighting with Kohei over there.”

“Aha!”

Then, another man spoke up, “A friend of mine just sent a whisper to me. They said that Minhyuk just won against Kohei?”

“...Is that the truth?!” Root reacted first instead of Khan.

“For real?!”

“Ah. Yes.”

Root smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as the man nodded to confirm the news.

‘I…I can’t believe Minhyuk won against Kohei...!’?Root thought, clenching his fists tightly

Then, Khan said, “Please wave your hand over here and say hello.”

“Yes? Are there more enemies?”

“No. We’re doing a live broadcast right now.”

“Ah. Right. That’s right. Wait...”

Root wanted to have his face mosaiced but since the situation was very urgent and hectic, he completely forgot that they were in a live broadcast.

“I think the real-time comments are going crazy right now.”

“Why?”

“I’m pretty sure all 20 million?Athenae?players across the country will be amazed with your superb archery skills.”

Root felt a bit confused but Khan’s words was the truth. The comments section was really all over the place.

[gaddl3: Wow. Did you see him shoot those arrows? That was so sick...!]

[ChubbyBrothers: Kya! Have you seen him hit that Level 300 soldier class boss at the neck and kill them instantly?!]

[HeavenlyArcher: ...How can he even counter and offset those arrows by hitting them with his own arrows... So cool...]

However, Root just looked around blankly as he asked, “But, when are the rest of your guild members going to arrive?”

“The rest of our guild members?”

“Ar…are these all of you?”

“Yes,” Khan answered him confidently as the others behind him piped up.

“Ah. Are there too many of us?”

“I think ten of us are enough. I’ll take a nap so wake me up when you need me.”

Khan grinned and said, “Ah. Don’t worry. We’re good enough.”

“What’s your guild name, by the way?” Root asked, wondering if they were one of the top guilds since they were confident with their strength.

Then Khan said, “Legend.”

“...!”

***

Team Leader Lee Taejin almost shrieked out in excitement. The live broadcast was spreading through the internet and his view counts were rising rapidly. It was because of what the King of Fists, Khan, said a while ago.

[Legend.]

It was a word that created huge waves. It was an even greater wave compared to when all of the Ares Guild refused to mosaic their faces. All of the members of the Legend Guild also refused to mosaic their faces!

[zkkdl3: Legend?! Th…they really came out!]

[blkad313: What’s this? Will Ares and Legend play against each other? Sounds fun. Hehehehe.]

[LegendNumberOne: OMG, OMG? Aren’t the two of them at odds with each other? The GM of Ares was so anxious to catch and kill off Legend, right.]

[Enjoyable: Wow... One of the Four Greatest Guild’s Ares vs. the Unofficial Rankers Guild...! This is gonna be sick!]

Then, Team Leader Park said, “But, why are you so quiet?”

“...What?”

“We bet on coffee for a month, so Team Leader Lee should buy us a cup of coffee for a month starting now.”

“OK. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee for a month. But, is that even important right now? Look at everyone’s reactions!”

This was the victory of the Frying Pan Killer that no one even expected! And the archer’s brilliant talent, ability and skill in archery! At the same time, the guild members of the Legend Guild appeared one after the other! He believed that this would bring forth a huge promotional effect for them. Right now, there was only one real clash that was left. Team Leader Lee Taejin’s eyes swiftly turned towards the monitor. The monitor was showing the Ares Guild and their guild members along with the troops from Cordis Empire surrounding Genie.

***

Ten minutes ago.

Genie was collecting the blood of all of the hidden archers and players swiftly. Her speed was so fast that no one could even keep up with her even if they were using the terrain as their cover.

Swish!

Her whip lashed off, splitting and hitting several soldiers hidden behind a bush in one fell swoop.

Slash!

Slash!

“Keuaaack!”

“Ugh, aaaaack!”

At that moment, her guild chat popped out.

[Guild Chat | Khan: We’re almost there.]

[Guild Master Genie: Come quickly. This Noona is dying!]

[Guild Chat | Locke: Noona? Did you say Noona? Which one?]

[Guild Master Genie: Oppa^^ can you please come quickly?]

[Guild Chat | Locke: Y…you must really be in a hurry. We get it. We’ll be right there. But more importantly this is live. Do you want us to reveal who we are?]

Genie thought deeply after seeing his message. In all honesty, she did not expect them to suddenly have a live broadcast for the update. But she believed that this was an opportunity.

‘It’s an opportunity to show the people what Legend Guild is made of.’

Of course, it was still a double-edged sword. If they fail, people might laugh at them and say…?‘Ah, Legend? They weren’t much, huh?’. However, if they succeeded, they would be able to garner a huge amount of respect and a great response towards their guild.

[Guild Master Genie: Reveal. Let’s show them who we are.]

[Guild Chat | Khan: OK. Huh? I think we found King Varen. And he’s together with an?archer player. I think we have to save them first before we come to you. We’ll be right there.]

Khan ended their guild chat after leaving those words.

‘Our guild members will take good care of Root and His Highness Varen.’

It was a relief to see them work. Then, she suddenly realized something.

‘Where’s Minhyuk?’

Root and Varen were there, but where did Minhyuk go? Just as she was about to move forward, she saw a huge force blocking her way. Genie quickly triggered her skill and her whip was covered with a bright white glow.

[Sword-like Whip.]

[Your whip can cut down your enemies in one fell swoop.]

Swish!

Swoosh!

“Keuaaaack!”

“Aaaack!”

The people that had been slashed by her whip fell down with blood spurting from their bodies. They looked like they were slashed by a sword with the injuries that they sustained.

Right at that moment…

Bang!

…A man suddenly appeared out of thin air and fell down right in front of Genie. The impact when he landed was so powerful that the ground even cracked. Genie was so startled that she could not help but take a step back.

The man was at least two meters tall, with short hair and a shaggy beard. He was wearing leather armor and a rusty greatsword on his back. As soon as the man landed, a notification rang in her head.

[The Pinnacle Strong Men. Rumad has appeared!]

[You have met one of the Pinnacle Strong Men as your enemy.]

[Abnormal State. Extreme Fear has been triggered.]

[Extreme Fear has reduced all of your stats by 20%.]

[Extreme Fear has reduced your attack hit rate by 20%.]

[Whoever hunts and kills one of the Pinnacle Strong Men will gain plenty of rewards.]