Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 1057

Chapter 1057

Tens of millions of monsters poured out from the net that Lord of the Monsters Barbarian spread out. The worst part? The players’ time slowed down while the monsters remained unaffected. Because of this, chaos befell the entire battlefield.

At that time, the players tried to drink the same potion Ali had drunk earlier. It was a potion that the Beyond the Heavens had given them. But in the end, they couldn’t drink a single drop of the potion. They ended up being forced to log out before they could do so.

[What’s that net? It can hold tens of millions of monsters?]

[Seeing the net get thrown out like that and the monsters pouring out all at once looks intimidating.]

[Before this, didn’t he use the net to hide and protect the monsters?]

The viewers were watching the entire situation from Minhyuk’s perspective. They thought that Minhyuk would lead the troops of the allied forces, who were stuck in a slower time, once they returned to normal. Suddenly, a noise resounded on the viewers' screens.

Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt–

[The broadcast has ended.]

While the people wondered what happened and where Minhyuk had disappeared, the battlefield was thrown into chaos once again.

“What the hell?!”

“Where did Minhyuk go?!”

“Heok!!!”

Everyone was left puzzled. The number of casualties of the allied forces increased from the monsters pouring down on them from the sky. At that moment, two men stepped forward.

One of them was Alexander. Alexander said, “I will command the players while Minhyuk is away!”

As for the other man, he might have lost one of his arms, but his momentum as he stood there was overwhelming and frightening. The man was none other than Nerva, the former emperor of the Luvien Empire.

‘Where the hell did he go?’

Everyone present could not understand why Minhyuk suddenly disappeared.

***

Minhyuk’s mansion.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A loud alarm blared from within the capsule. Lee Jinhwan, who was in charge of Minhyuk, and Oh Changwook, who also participated in this war, immediately logged out and ran to see what was going on with Minhyuk,

Fwiiiiiish–

Minhyuk, was still inside the opened capsule, drenched in cold sweat and unconscious.

“Minhyuk!”

“Minhyuk!” Lee Jinhwan shouted as he checked Minhyuk’s condition.

‘I think it’s correct to say he has fallen asleep.’

This was what Lee Jinhwan concluded. However, although no specific abnormalities were found in his body, Minhyuk had been in a precarious state these past few days.

‘Every since the death of the man named Beradon, Minhyuk had been pressing down on his fatigue and was only being fueled by his anger and responsibility.’

He had also been on a fierce battlefield until a few moments ago. Basically, Minhyuk has been in a repeated cycle of tension and relaxation. The stress, pressure, and fatigue all piled up and resulted in this.

“He’ll be fine after a bit of rest.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief.” Oh Changwook breathed a sigh of relief. Still, he could not hide the concern on his face as he glanced at the TV. “Then, he can log back in...”

“Changwook.” Jinhwan’s voice was tinted with anger. “What is more important in this situation? The game?”

Of course, Jinhwan was correct a hundred or even a thousand times over. Changwook said, “For Minhyuk, Athenae is a second world.”

“Hmph...”

It was not as if Jinhwan did not know what Changwook was worried about. Regardless, they could not wake him up just like that.

“Once he wakes up, we should check his condition and status before allowing him to log back in.”

“You don’t know when that will be, right?”

It was a given that Jinhwan did not know either. This was because Minhyuk’s fatigue had accumulated. In such a situation, it wouldn’t be strange for him to sleep for two full days.

Changwook put Minhyuk on the bed. He could not help but worry as he organized his now disheveled hair and listened to the commentators' loud and excited voices.

[More than ten million players have been logged out already.]

[Monsters are running all over the place...]

Changwook turned off the TV. Why? Because he wanted Minhyuk to be at least a bit more comfortable in his sleep.

***

[Barbarian’s Blessings.]

[Monsters who received Barbarian’s Blessings will forget their fear and run wild!]

The reason why the Named Monsters were very tricky to deal with was because their attack power, defensive power, and HP were much higher than ordinary monsters at the same level. That was not all. High-level monsters also possessed their regenerative abilities.

This was why players could solo ordinary monsters at the same level as them, while they could only create a team of five to hunt a single Named Monster at their level.

The problem with the monsters under Barbarian’s command was that they weren’t only Named Monsters but also 40% stronger than normal. The worst part? The Named Monsters also possessed “special characteristics,” abilities similar to a player’s one-shot kill skill.

These monsters constantly reduced the number of troops in the allied forces. That did not mean the allied forces were the only ones suffering.

“Keep on pushing them back! Duke Laghman and the Swords of the Gods would reduce the stronger monsters as much as possible!”

Although it might sound a bit too bitter, the ordinary soldiers and knights still moved to prevent the enemies’ attacks, while the stronger ones, like the Swords of the Gods, would attack the Named Monsters and reduce their numbers as much as possible. The players also used the same tactic.

Slash–!

Blood spurted and covered Alexander’s body as he moved past the monster that he and the other Level 650 players attacked.

‘Four hundred seventy-six.’

‘Four hundred seventy-seven.’

Alexander, who counted the number of monsters he had hunted, looked around. He could see the Beyond the Heavens’ world-renowned high-rankers and outstanding vassals moving swiftly to attack and reduce the number of Named Monsters.

‘If this war turns into a war of attrition, it will be in our favor.’

Why did Alexander think so? This was because the players could log back in again once the access penalty was lifted.

Just like that, the allied forces, which the enemies were pushing back, continued to engage in this fierce and tense battle.

“Hohoho.” Barbarian chuckled.

‘There’s a lot of strong humans here.’

Barbarian was surprised.

Most of the strongmen he had seen carried the symbol of a fork and knife crossed together. Of course, there were many strongmen carrying the symbol of the Luvien Empire, too, though the ones who posed a real threat to them were those carrying that symbol. The most prominent among them was the man resembling a wolf and an old man with black glossy hair, completely different from Barbarian.

‘I’m so jealous...’

Ah. That was not the point. Barbarian, who had been staring at the old man’s black hair as if he were possessed, felt that these two were truly very threatening. Of course, he was also very curious about the extent of their powers.

“Kyaaaaaack!!!”

“Kihyeeeeeeeck!!!”

“Kihiiiiik!”

With one wave of Barbarian’s finger, the Named Monsters gathered around Brod, who looked like a wolf, and Ben.

Barbarian watched as Brod and Ben stood back to back and faced against his gigantic centipede.

[Hell Centipede. Level 875.]

The centipede was a tricky opponent. Not only did it emit poison that could melt everything, but its thick carapace was also impossible to break.

Crack–!

Brod easily tore apart the centipede. Immediately after that, he jumped out and began to slaughter the Named Monsters coming their way.

Slash–!

With every swing of his sword, a Named Monster would collapse helplessly. As for the old man behind him? Spear God Ben was fending off the Named Monsters with his skillful spearmanship.

‘Ho. That’s marvelous.’

Barbarian was in awe.

‘We have to remove them. They spell danger. And they have the Origin Authority on their side.’

The man named Akhan obtained an extraordinary power. They couldn't attack him. Of course, Barbarian also wondered if the Origin Authority: Regress could be activated at any given moment.

‘That’s impossible. Hoho.’

It was just an assumption. Barbarian could not help but wonder if there was some kind of restriction, like activating it for at least ten minutes after one’s death. What if there was actually a time limit like that?

‘Then, it’s possible to kill them. Hoho.’

Barbarian, convinced that he should kill the man who looked like a wolf, finally found a way.

‘There is a way!’

One strong man was equivalent to a million troops. That was exactly the type of strong man the wolf-like man was. Although he felt the trick he had in mind was a waste, he still threw his net once again.

Those who had experienced the power of the net immediately moved the moment they saw the net spread out. And Brod? He immediately sensed the danger when he saw the net stretch toward where they were and immediately pushed Ben away.

“You...!”

Ben, sent flying away, managed to escape the encroaching net.

Not long after, the vast net sucked in the monsters within the range of the net and the scattered monsters in the vicinity.

[Monster Field.]

[Those dragged into the net along with the monsters will not be able to receive any help from the outside.]

[The moment the Monster Field is activated, any attacks from the outside cannot reach the monsters.]

[On the other hand, if a non-monster is sucked inside the Monster Field, their HP, MP, and skill cooldown will all be restored every four minutes.]

[Monster Field can be activated for a total of twelve minutes. It can be canceled whenever the caster wants it to be.]

Shwaa–

Barbarian, who watched the monsters, players, and NPCs pour out of the spread-out net, laughed.

‘This power is not made for this purpose.’

It was a power originally meant to train humanoid-type monsters. If humanoid-type monsters could stay inside the net for more than four minutes, their injuries, mana, and skill cooldown would recover. But it was a very suitable power to kill wolf-like men while stopping any interference from the outside.

“We can’t attack?”

“This is crazy...!”

“What the hell is this?!”

“Heok! Sir Brod! Sir Brod is in there!”

The Beyond the Heavens Empire also realized the direness of the situation.

Genie hurriedly called Akhan and asked, “Akhan, can you use Regress?”

“I can’t.”

When they heard that, the faces of all the people from Beyond the Heavens Empire grew ugly.

“What about after the effects of the Monster Field disappear? What about after twelve minutes...?” Genie asked, desperately hoping for a positive answer.

Akhan shook his head. “Regress has to be triggered within five minutes of the target’s death.”

“...”

Genie fell into despair.

“No matter how strong Sir Brod is...”

Genie’s expression grew solemn. Yes, some pretty strong rankers were caught in the net, too. The problem was that the attacks would definitely be focused solely on Brod.

“Even if it’s Sir Brod, there’s no way he could endure the attacks of tens of millions of monsters all at once.”

Genie felt her vision grow dark.

Meanwhile, Barbarian cackled. “Hohoho. You must be the current era’s strongest men, huh?”

Seeing Barbarian, who had already lost a few teeth, grin and cackle as if he was enjoying the situation was quite grotesque. Yet none of them could deny his words. After all, Brod was sitting proudly in the number one position of the most outstanding and strongest NPC selected by players in Athenae.

“No matter how strong you are, dealing with all these monsters alone will be tough. Hohohoho!”

Brod’s face grew ugly at Barbarian’s laughter, which was increasingly getting stranger and louder. This was because Barbarian, who only had a few yellowed teeth left, looked very dirty and disgusting.

Brod frowned and said, “That flap of yours is disgusting...”

“Shut it.”

Someone else finished Brod’s words.

“...?”

Everyone turned to look in the direction the voice came from. Amidst the monsters, NPCs, and players thrown inside the net, a man with only his right arm left appeared. The man had his sword slung on his shoulder. The moment he appeared, a commotion broke out among the allied forces.

“Th- this is crazy...!”

“I never expected to see this pair together in my entire life...”

Everyone sighed as they watched the man stand right next to Brod.

Until recently, this man stood in the number one position of the strongest NPC, as selected by players. However, he lost an arm and willingly left the emperor’s throne. Because of that, he was pushed down to second place.

The man, Nerva, tightened his grip on his sword and drew a line that divided the area within the net. Then he said, “Don’t you dare cross this line, Brod?”

“Nerva...” Brod gritted his teeth. He loathed this man. Nonetheless, this was not the time to argue and deal with him. “You should say that to yourself. Don’t cross that line. I’ll kill ten million of them on my own.”

“Then, I’ll kill fifteen million.”

The two growled at each other. Then, both Nerva and Brod turned toward the monsters.

The viewers and the allied forces' troops watched the backs of the two most outstanding NPCs of the current era as they charged toward the monsters.