Chapter 875
Special Players Management Team.
The new employee, Lee Tae-Sung, was watching the Food God on his monitor. At first, Lee Tae-Sung did not like the Food God. But after watching his battle with Helenia just recently, he was won over by his strong will, persistence, and tenacity, and became very fond of him. He was very impressed with him now.
“Amazing... How...” Lee Tae-Sung himself did not notice it, but he was growing increasingly into the Food God.
He was also very familiar with the Argalis Dungeon, which even the gods could not clear. What were the most critical items in the Argalis Dungeon? They were none other than the mushrooms, herbs, greens, and sprouts growing around the dungeon's entrance.
“The gods are proud and arrogant.”
However, if they could only let go of that arrogance even for a bit and looked around, they would have realized that the mushrooms, herbs, and sprouts were growing more abundantly around the Argalis Dungeon, an area where no crops could grow well. If they had realized that and harvested these ingredients, then they would have had the chance to know the power hidden within them.
“The Food God must have known about it. That’s why he harvested them.”
Lee Tae-Sung felt that he was truly amazing. How could he see something that even the gods overlooked?
At that moment, Lee Minhwa, who appeared behind him, opened her mouth and said, “The Food God must have harvested them because they look delicious, hmm?”
“...?” Lee Tae-Sung looked at Lee Minhwa in confusion. Of course, he had heard himself about the Food God’s almost crazed love for food. However, was it to the point where he would willingly harvest mushrooms growing on the side of the road?
‘No, wouldn’t it be faster just to buy some with money?’
“There’s nothing more delicious than eating the mushrooms that one had harvested on the side of the road. Fufufu.”
At this point, Lee Tae-Sung realized that Lee Minhwa had completely become ‘Food God-ified.’ Only then did he recall that Lee Minhwa was the type of person who would order the large serving without any hesitation in restaurants that served dishes with choices of small, medium, and large servings.
“Cough. So, there weren’t any intentions behind the move.” Lee Tae-Sung groaned lightly. He had only seen Minhyuk fight right when he joined the team, so he did not know the man too well. “More than that, can he break it?”
Argalis Dungeon was said to have the highest level of difficulty and quality among all dungeons.
Hearing his question, Lee Minhwa only replied, “Who knows?”
No one could predict the results of this challenge. Then, Lee Minhwa turned to look at Lee Tae-Sung and asked, “You know that the rewards that the Argalis Dungeon will give are mainly focused on what one wants, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then, do you know what would happen if the Food God reached the end of the dungeon while choosing rewards related to food?”
Her question tested how well Lee Tae-Sung had studied the materials provided by their company. And Lee Tae-Sung did not disappoint. He nodded. “One can reach and enter the Field of the Gods.”
“What exactly is the Field of the Gods?”
“It’s a place where any ingredient could grow and thrive. Everything from common vegetables and fruits to pork, beef, and chicken grow on those fields.”
“That’s right. And what are the effects of the ingredients that grew from those fields?”
Lee Tae-Sung pondered momentarily before answering, “Gold, stats, skills, HP, MP.”
The things that Lee Tae-Sung listed were all critical and essential effects for the players of Athenae.
“A place where you can get crops that will allow you to get that, that’s the Field of the Gods.”
***
When Minhyuk came near the Argalis Dungeon, he was delighted to be greeted with plenty of mouth-watering mushrooms, appetizing herbs, and sprouts. After he harvested all of the ingredients he could, he moved to enter the dungeon. However, he felt plenty of gazes falling on his body.
The gazes belonged to the gods. All of the gods, with the current God of Dungeons Bentley in the lead, mocked and laughed at Minhyuk.
“As expected, he’s truly a god that knows nothing except for eating.”
“He’s completely blinded by such ingredients even though he is standing before Argalis Dungeon. How can he act so vulgar like that?”
“There’s no way a god like that can clear the Argalis Dungeon.”
Minhyuk did not even bother to argue with them, deal with them, or say anything to them. All he needed to do was prove himself.
Unbothered by the stinging gazes of the many gods behind him, Minhyuk turned to enter Argalis Dungeon.
***
[You have entered the Argalis Dungeon.]
[Argalis Dungeon is the masterpiece the God of Dungeons Evas created!]
[You cannot use items like potions and parchments inside the Argalis Dungeon.]
[You can only revive for a total of three times inside the Argalis Dungeon.]
[There is a strange feeling washing over you!]
[You are the Food God.]
[The First Food God, Ravier, hates the God of Dungeons Evas, the creator and maker of the Argalis Dungeon!]
[The most outstanding God of Dungeons Evas is laughing and jeering at the appearance of the shabbiest and humblest god!]
After creating something like this, Evas could also be considered a master craftsman. It seemed like the soul of Evas, the master craftsman who created this masterpiece, was embedded deeply inside this dungeon.
Minhyuk, who watched Evas and his dungeon laugh and jeer at the Food God, thought, ‘...I have decided.’
Minhyuk decided the path that he was going to take regarding this matter. Even if Minhyuk died, he intended to punish the god that mocked and jeered at the Food God.
‘How funny.’
There were various jobs that people could choose from. Some might have jobs that were harder than the rest, while some might have jobs that made them earn less than others. But it was also because of that that one could buy and eat whatever they wanted to eat or drink even if they did not go outside of their homes. Yes, that was right. The balance of the world could only be maintained because everyone had their own job.
However, the behavior of the God of Dungeons Evas indicated his arrogance, feeling of superiority, and blatant disregard for the Food God. Because of that, Minhyuk needed to trample on whatever this dungeon had to offer. At the same time, he would take advantage of all its benefits and take it for himself.
But before he could take a few more steps, a series of notifications rang in his ears.
[You can receive an HP Recovery Effect from the Thick Shiitake Mushroom (3).]
[You can receive a Skill Enhancement Effect from the Korean Thistle (2).]
[You can receive an MP Recovery Effect from the Blue Water Parsley (2).]
[...Stretched Bean Sprouts.]
[...Abundant Shepherd's Purse.]
[The effects you can acquire from all of the items you have harvested in front of Argalis Dungeon will only take effect inside the dungeon.]
‘Ho?’
Minhyuk might be restricted from using potions and parchments, but the ingredients he had harvested before the dungeon had made up for this and even taken on their role. When he checked the Thick Shiitake Mushroom, Minhyuk saw it could help him recover his HP to 100%. With these ingredients in hand, Minhyuk realized that his chances of successfully attacking the Argalis Dungeon had increased.
Minhyuk walked deeper into the dungeon and stopped when he saw a man with long blond hair fluttering under his helmet and a spear in hand upfront.
[Spear God Evoque.]
When Minhyuk saw the man, he felt familiar. ‘Why does he look so familiar? Ah, right...!’
In the Banquet of the Gods that Minhyuk had seen through Ravier’s memories just recently, Evas was not the only one mocking and laughing at the first Food God. There was a man among them who had been drinking wine with a sneer on his face.
[You are Food God Ravier’s successor!]
[You can feel Ravier’s wrath washing over you!]
Minhyuk could tell that the video he had seen and the creation of the Argalis Dungeon were around the same time.
‘Many gods must have helped Evas and have participated in the production of this dungeon.
The current Spear God, Ben, had become Minhyuk’s vassal. However, Ben had inherited the position of the Spear God from Aerdes. The Spear God standing before Minhyuk was most likely the previous generation Spear God.
Evoque approached him with an arrogant smile and said, “Are you his successor?”
Even now, Minhyuk was not sure if he could win against Spear God Ben in a fight. However, he thought he could make it possible by borrowing the power of his buff dishes.
“The image of him scampering off after being scared away by the gods is still vivid in my memories.”
If they were talking about memories, Minhyuk clearly remembered that Ravier never ran away. They dragged him out. Ravier had always remembered and promised to get back at them in the future. And that future was now in the form of Minhyuk. If Minhyuk could see through the end of this dungeon, he would be able to reveal what Ravier had prepared for them.
“Why aren’t you running away just like he did?”
The only thing that Evoque knew about Minhyuk was that he was the Food God’s Descendant. He knew nothing of his growth process or the hardships that he encountered. Based on what the gods knew, the Food God was a god who only knew how to eat and knew nothing of fighting.
“Food God’s Swordsmanship.” Power surged within Minhyuk’s body.
However, Evoque just stood leisurely, one of his hands holding his spear and the other resting on his back. His stance showed how much he ignored Minhyuk.
Vwooooooooong–
Minhyuk, who triggered Like the Wind, appeared right before Evoque in the blink of an eye.
“Ho...” Evoque exclaimed in amazement as Minhyuk’s sword swung at his neck. However, Evoque still had not made any moves. At that moment, a strange sound rang from behind them.
Clank, clank, clank, clank–!
Driven by instinct, Minhyuk stopped his attack and swiftly rolled to the sides.
Swiiiiiiiish–
A chain sickle stopped just right before Evoque, the same weapon that attacked Minhyuk out of nowhere.
‘Wasn’t he the Spear God?’
Wasn’t Evoque the Spear God? So, what was this chain sickle doing here, then? Minhyuk’s eyes quickly followed the chains connecting to the sickle and saw that it was fixed to the walls with a hard and sturdy pin.
[Win against the ‘Ego Chain Sickle’ and ‘Spear God Evoque’ at the entrance of the Argalis Dungeon.]
“...” Minhyuk gulped dryly. He probably had a high chance of winning if he was just fighting against Spear God Evoque. But now, he also had to guard against the ambush of the Ego Chain Sickle.
“Hmm.” Evoque chuckled.
Nervous and tense, Minhyuk hurriedly ran to where the Ego Chain Sickle was connected. Then, he quickly hit the hard pin that pinned it to the walls.
Claaaaaaaaaang–!
A loud and jarring noise echoed inside the dungeon. However, the pin remained pinned on the walls.
[The Ego Chain Sickle’s durability has dropped by 0.4%.]
“...”
At this moment, Minhyuk realized it would be almost impossible to destroy the Ego Chain Sickle while dealing with Evoque.
Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash–!
Of course, Evoque did not stay still. He swung his spear at Minhyuk’s body, against which Minhyuk defended by triggering the Intangible Sword.
Staaaaaaab–!
The first strike stabbed Evoque in the chest. However, Evoque remained unperturbed, rushing swiftly toward Minhyuk while easily evading the invisible swords of the Intangible Sword.
‘This is nuts...’ Minhyuk could not hide how flustered he was. However, he was still able to find a gap in Evoque’s defenses. ‘Now...!’
Clank, clank, clank, clank–!
Just when he was about to trigger the Sword of Frenzy and stab his sword at Evoque’s heart, the chains of the Ego Chain Sickle wrapped around his ankles and destroyed his balance, forcing his sword to penetrate nothing but air. Before he knew it, Evoque was already right in front of him.
“I’m honestly surprised.” Evoque was quite impressed with Minhyuk.
The Ego Chain Sickle was something the guy had created by gathering the power of the gods. Minhyuk might not have been cut by the weapon yet, but Evoque could confidently say that the damage it could deal was leagues beyond his own. Most gods suffered at this point, unable to get through this first hurdle.
Minhyuk had obviously overcome their misconceptions and prejudices about the Food God and was a strong individual. But...
“Rampant Spear.”
Stab– Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab– Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab–!
In one swift motion, Evoque stabbed his spear at Minhyuk’s body dozens of times over.
[Your HP has dropped below 86%!]
[Your HP has dropped below 77%!]
[Your HP has dropped below 71%!]
[Your HP... 41%!]
[Your HP... 30%!]
[Your HP... 12%!]
[Your HP... 6%!]
[Your HP has dropped to 0!]
[You can now use one out of the three opportunities for revival inside the Argalis Dungeon!]
[If you choose to give up the challenge in Argalis Dungeon, you will receive a forced log-out penalty and have one of the randomly chosen ‘skills possessed by the Food God’ deleted.]
[You will not receive a forced log-out penalty if you choose to use a revival opportunity. However, if you use up all three of your opportunities for revival, your penalties will be multiplied by the number of times you have been revived and resurrected in the dungeon!]
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