Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 1158

Everyone hurriedly groped their faces as their bodies, which were turning transparent, returned to their original form. The girl, who realized that she had not disappeared, turned to look at Minhyuk in a daze. Up until this moment, everyone had cursed Minhyuk.

Take his head. Kill him right now.

The Storyteller might have been their creator, but he was an irresponsible man who tried to abandon them now that he no longer needed them.

Despite their desperate cries, Minhyuk told them ‘No.’ and continued to power through his way. Of course, he might have expected that Gardin already had this power since he knew he was the Storyteller. Yet, this persistence allowed them to obtain the best solution.

“I will devote my entire life to the Happiest Country. It’s fine if you want to point your fingers at me or not to respect me as your king for the rest of your lives.”

Gardin, the creator of Happiest Country, would definitely give them so much and help enrich their lives. The girl, who realized this, looked at the young man, who was only three or four years older than himself.

“I can see how you became an emperor.”

Why did the revolutionaries choose him?

“He... is our benefactor.”

The girl was just sixteen years old. She was still an immature child who did not know anything yet. Still, she did what her heart told her to do. She, who had watched Minhyuk ever since he appeared up until this moment, slowly knelt on both knees and said, “Happiest Country’s benefactor...”

The girl smiled as she showed her courtesy. Then, her father knelt. After that, a man who was watching them also knelt. The sight of the hundreds of thousands of people filling the entire capital of Happiest Country kneeling down in unison was quite spectacular.

The soldiers dropped their weapons while the knights sheathed their swords. Even the commanders removed their helmets and silently put them on their knees.

“Benefactor.”

“Benefactor.”

Those faraway territories were aware that they had almost disappeared. Even those living in small villages in the mountain valleys had heard everything through the story. And all of them, the millions of citizens of this kingdom, worshiped him and said, “Benefactor.”

Even Bharal, Leo, and the crying Gardin knelt before Minhyuk. The expression on Minhyuk’s face as he looked at them was neither excited nor expressionless. He just stared at them with a tiny smile curling at the corners of his lips.

He did not exchange grandiose words, promise help the next time, or congratulate them for the revolution\'s success. All he said was, “Enjoy your freedom.”

He stood silently amidst their crying and sobbing figures and did not wish for anything. He did not want anything from them.

[All of the citizens of the Happiest Country will remember the name ‘Minhyuk.’]

[This is unprecedented.]

[Usually, the emperor will receive only hate and resentment for helping a kingdom win a war.]

[Even if the emperor led and commanded his people well, he would still receive blame and contempt.]

[At this moment, all of the citizens of the Happiest Country showed respect and gratitude to you.]

Ring!

[You have acquired the Title: Happiest Country’s Savior.]

(Happiest Country’s Savior)

Unique Title

Title Effects:

•The name ‘Minhyuk’ will hold great power in the Happiest Country.

•The friends of their benefactor will be their friends. Everyone related to you will be treated with utmost care whenever they visit the Happiest Country.

•The enemies of their benefactor will be their enemies. Everyone with a bad relationship with you will be treated with contempt, disgust, and hate whenever they visit the Happiest Country.

•You will become a myth in this land.

•Even a three-year-old child will be made aware of your name.

•All of the citizens of the Happiest Country will praise you.

•You can visit the Happiest Country whenever you want.

•The citizens of the Happiest Country will give you anything you want.

It was a very good title. After checking the title, Minhyuk looked at the distant mountains. He could see the grass and trees growing in the mountain, which looked more like a hill than a mountain. And it wasn’t just that. Crops, grains, and fruits were also growing. Even the livestock were appearing all over the place.

Of course, Minhyuk still had to receive a reward. Bharal approached Minhyuk.

[The Territory Reinforcement will evolve to the 3rd Stage.]

[The Territory Reinforcement has reached and completed its final evolution.]

Minhyuk, who immediately checked the detailed information on the final stage of the evolution of the Territory Reinforcement, was left shocked.

***

While Minhyuk was away from the Beyond the Heavens Empire, the entire world was abuzz. They were discussing two topics.

The first topic was the image of the greatest blacksmith crying while kneeling before Minhyuk. Speculations ran rampant, with most people thinking that the greatest blacksmith had decided to pledge his loyalty to Minhyuk.

The second topic was related to the ten barren territories that the Beyond the Heavens Empire had suddenly purchased. Most of the territories were like wilderness, barren and surrounded by monsters. Not even a single blade of grass or tree stood in these lands. Even if the empire owned these lands, they were useless. Their only use was to brag about having a huge territory like that.

At this time, mindless BJs, with no concepts and were crazy about money and attention, had come out to play. Broadcasting Jockeys, or BJ, was a profession that fed on provocative content. Fortunately for them, only a few troops were deployed in those territories. Even though they were barren and useless land, they were still a territory that belonged to the Beyond the Heavens Empire. By taking over these territories, they could create stimulating and provoking content. And this content would attract people and become money.

With that idea in mind, tens of thousands of Athenae BJs had flocked to the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s newly acquired territories. Regardless of where they came from in the world, mindless BJs were the same.

One such mindless BJ gathered other BJs to join him. It seemed like he wanted to create provocative content by telling them, ‘What if we take over the territories of the Beyond the Heavens Empire?’ Ironically, many of them were at a high level. When talking about high level, it meant around Level 610.

Just like that, BJs from all over the world gathered.

BJ Kondo was a BJ with at least 2.5 million subscribers. He was a Level 660 player ranked among the top 10,000 players in Athenae.

[You’re pretty brave. How did you come up with the idea of touching the territory belonging to the Supreme?]

[Are you going to do that f*cking shit today again?!]

[This shit is crazy. Lololol. Look at the number of viewers.]

No concept, nonsense, mindless, these words did not mean anything to those who enjoyed watching BJ broadcasts. All that mattered to them was having fun.

‘Alright! Today, our goal is to increase the number of our global subscribers and raise our ZTube global ranking.’

They have only dispatched minimal troops to protect these useless wastelands. If he could take the Beyond the Heavens’ first territory and move on to the second territory, his subscribers would skyrocket. That would also result in his views exploding.

Even if he became the empire’s enemy, it did not matter. After all, his audience was already big. And if they added up all of the viewers of the BJs that have gathered in this place, perhaps it would be easy for them to reach ten million views. That was just how much the people loved and enjoyed Kondo’s Shitshow.

He did not plan on stopping here. After taking over the territory, Kondo planned to launch content with the idea of ‘How long can we protect the territory once the Beyond the Heavens Empire comes to reclaim it?’

The group of BJs finally reached the first territory, Kravok Territory. Many of the BJs hesitated to attack when they arrived in the territory because of the two Beyond the Heavens guards standing in front of them.

“Kondo, is what we’re doing okay? I heard that Minhyuk cares for his NPCs like real people.”

“Come on, aren’t they just mere soldiers? They’re only two out of nearly a billion soldiers under his command.”

“That’s true, but...”

“How much fuss will they make? After all, we just hit two artificially intelligent NPCs.” Kondo looked at the BJ as if he was pathetic while clicking his tongue. “Alright. We’re at the entrance.”

Their method of taking over the territory was simple. All they planned to do was to subdue the troops and lock up all of the civilians. But Kondo decided to start with something light at the entrance.

It was pretty hilarious to see how easily they subdued the guards. All Kondo did was approach them, force them to the ground, and break their arms.

Crack, crack, crack–

“Ugh!”

“Ack!”

Strangely, the guards’ reaction after getting their arms broken was quite strange.

“My arm got broken again.”

“Hanson, why are our arms always getting broken?”

The two guards were Hanson and Logan. They were the same guards who got their arms broken by Captain Evaluator Ruba before. The two, cradling their broken arms, looked at Kondo with a gaze filled with disappointment and pity. They did not even scream.

In the past, Captain Evaluator Ruba was beaten by Brod, Ben, Conir, Minhyuk, the Transcendentals, and many more for breaking their arms.

Hanson blinked at Kondo. “Will you be alright?”

‘What the hell is he talking about?’

Kondo and the rest of the BJs left behind the two guards, cradling their broken arms and speaking calmly, and stormed into the territory. Kondo was delighted to see the rapid increase in his donations once they entered deep into the territory.

They saw several people from the Beyond the Heavens Empire inside the territory. It seemed like the hundreds of people who were carrying something were the ones who came here to help build the territory.

“Tie them all up!” Kondo shouted.

At his orders, the irrational and ridiculous BJs ran forward. Seeing them charging at them, the people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire began to scream in fear. The troops, who had heard the commotion, had already come running to help. But their numbers were too small.

Of course, Kondo did not stay idle. He immediately threw a rope to catch the woman standing closest to him.

Swoosh–!

The rope flew out, ready to bind the woman. Just then, something strange happened.

“...?”

The rope could not reach the woman. It fell limply on the ground, unable to bind its intended target.

[Did... did anyone see that?]

[What’s going on?]

Kondo was just as perplexed as his viewers. It was as if there was a barrier protecting the woman as the attack failed to reach her. But this bizarre phenomenon was not exclusive to the woman. When Kondo looked around, he saw that the other BJs were in a similar situation. None of them were able to bind their target.

Then, a sound rang in their ears.

[The Territory Reinforcement has been applied to all barren territories.]

Rumble, rumble, rumble–

The ground began to shake and tremble as if there were an earthquake. At the same time, thousands of holographic images of buildings and countless other architectural elements appeared.

“Wh-what the...?!”

Steel bars began to squeeze from beneath the ground by the images displayed in the hologram. After the steel bars were set in place and the foundation was done, finely carved bricks appeared and piled up on their own. In just a few seconds, the beautiful structure of the architecture appeared in front of everyone.

“What the hell is this?!”

The BJs were flustered. Nonetheless, it was not yet over. Eerie sounds began to ring in their ears.

Clack–

Clack, clack, clack–!

[The Territory Reinforcement has evolved into the 3rd Stage. Everyone inside the territory who is recognized as the enemy will be annihilated.]

The eerie sound ringing in their ears was the sound of iron hitting each other.

At that moment, BJ Kondo saw hundreds of huge cannon shells falling from the sky. The falling artillery then split into hundreds of fragments. It was as if they were afraid that they would harm the citizens and troops of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, so they split into smaller pieces.

Swoosh–!

Then, BJ Kondo saw hundreds of red dots on his and the other BJs’ bodies. After marking them, the tens of thousands of fragments of heavy artillery began to shoot toward them.

Bang, bang, bang–!

Kondo, who received the artillery bombardment, found the attack to be quite bearable. However, the nonstop bombardment forced his HP to go down.

“Keheok! Haa... haa...” Kondo gasped, his body falling into his pool of blood. At that moment, a very unwelcome and terrifying notification rang in his ears.

[Loading...]

[Loading...]

[Loading will be completed in two minutes.]

“Hiiiiiik!”

When Kondo looked around, he saw that none of the people and soldiers of the Beyond the Heavens Empire were harmed. Not even a single scratch was on their bodies.

‘No way! Are you saying the territory is protecting its people and troops?

Kondo had never heard of such an absurd ability in his life. The worst part? Most of the BJs that have gathered had already died just because they were recognized as an enemy of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

Meanwhile, the channels of the hundreds of BJs that have appeared in Kravok Territory were receiving these comments from the viewers:

[I’m going to move to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!]

[I’m going to move to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!]

[I’m going to move to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!]

Of course, these comments were also plastered on Kondo’s chat window.

[The Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor has issued a bounty on those who have invaded his territories.]

[The Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor has issued a Kill Order on those who have invaded his territories.]

Kondo felt so frustrated. At that moment, the Food God entered his channel. When he appeared, the entire comments section was frozen.

And Kondo? He fawned over him with tears in his voice. He said, “I-I know I did something wrong. Even so, isn’t this too much? You haven’t even been wronged.”

The worst part? More than ten million people saw his broadcast, and as this video was spread, hundreds of millions more could see it.

“Besides, aren’t you benefitting from us?!” Kondo’s shamelessness began to show. “I will never dare to touch a territory belonging to the Beyond the Heavens Empire again. I will also give you all of the profits from this broadcast. So, please...”

[Food God: From what I heard, you broke our guards’ arms?]

“...?”

At this moment, Kondo recalled the words one of the guards told him at the entrance.

–Will you be alright?

The words, ‘After you broke our arms?’ were unsaid.

Kondo cried out, “Wait! I just broke mere guards’ arms...”

[Food God: Mere? You crazy bastard. GG.]

[Food God has left the ‘Taking Over the Supreme’s Territory’ Broadcast.]

[The Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor has issued an infinite bounty on you.]

[The Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor has issued an infinite Kill Order on you.]

“...”

[Loading complete.]

Kondo wept when he saw the cannon shells again appearing in the air.

“F*ck...”