Gourmet Gaming

Joy Co. Ltd.

The executives did not exchange words for a long time as they focused on the massive screen before them.

Gulp–

The only sound in the room was someone gulping their saliva. That was just how eye-catching the scene being displayed on their screen was.

[Next.]

It was just one skill. But with that single AOE attack skill that sent thousands of daggers spinning fiercely, all 1,024 enemies died and disappeared.

Meanwhile, Team Leader Park Minggyu, who had an earphone plugged into one of his ears, picked up his phone and checked the viewers' reaction to the broadcast.

[Guys! You can breathe now!]

[Fwaaaaaa! Wow. I forgot to breathe while I was watching.]

[+2222]

[+3333]

[He fought against as many opponents as he could without using much skill, and then he made more than 1,000 people disappear all at once.]

[What’s even more surprising is that Captain Rice and Alexander moved at almost the same speed. They only have around a 10 to 30-second difference.]

[This is interesting! This is really freaking amazing!]

[Who in the world is Captain Rice?]

[He’s definitely an unofficial ranker. Wow, there’s another ranker that’s on par with Alexander!]

[This is wild! I’m so glad I was born at this age. I can’t believe we can watch Alexander and Captain Rice’s battles on video!]

Team Leader Park pulled out the earphones and said, “The responses are great. ATV Broadcasting Station’s current viewership rating has exceeded 45%. Even the video we uploaded of Alexander and Captain Rice–no, of Minhyuk–on ZTube is recording a ridiculously high number of views.”

Joy Co. Ltd.’s move was brilliant. They broadcasted the videos of all players participating in the Infinite Battles together on one massive screen on game channels on TV. As time passed by, the number of Infinite Battle Defenders would decrease.

Once the number of defenders had decreased to ten, they immediately broadcast their videos on ZTube. This allowed the viewers to watch the battle of the player they wanted to see among the remaining ten participants.

Meanwhile, Alexander and Minhyuk’s videos were broadcast on the same screen. But the most surprising part was that Alexander and Captain Rice’s Infinite Battles live video received almost 97.4% of the views while the rest watched the other videos.

That was right. Almost everyone had tuned in to watch how the two fought and battled against countless opponents.

“I did not expect it to be this huge.” President Kang Taehoon was genuinely surprised and impressed.

But the most crucial takeaway was that the event Joy Co. Ltd. prepared this time was still ongoing. The ten defenders with the most defeated opponents would immediately be sent to participate in the Battle of the Stars. Unlike the Infinite Battles, the Battle of the Stars would have all ten players together.

“The ten remaining players would face all the challengers on the same battlefield.”

The thought alone was thrilling.

Then, President Kang Taehoon chuckled. “Everyone would pass out once they learned that Captain Rice is Minhyuk.”

***

After forcing to log out 1,024 people all at once, Minhyuk said, “Next.” before glancing at Alexander by the side.

Alexander seemed to share Minhyuk's thoughts that dealing with more than 1,000 people with little to no skill use was impossible. Like Minhyuk, he had also used a single skill to wipe out the 1,024 enemies before him.

Then, 2,048 people appeared. If it were someone else, they would have already felt numb just by facing 2,048 enemies. Most of these challengers had also tuned in on their broadcast to monitor the current situation on the battlefield. They knew they should not hesitate to give their all when faced with Captain Rice or Alexander.

It took only a short time for Minhyuk to be bombarded by attack skills. He used Shadow Steps to narrow the distance between himself and his enemies and to avoid the attacks coming his way. Everyone was shocked to see Minhyuk still able to narrow the distance between them despite the barrage of skills coming his way.

Minhyuk finally stood in front of his enemies and used the Intangible Sword. At that moment, a dagger flew toward the 2,048 enemies. The players snickered when they saw a single dagger flying their way.

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash–!

The players standing in the places that the dagger passed by were either stabbed or cut down so suddenly. Everyone looked confused by this unidentified and mysterious power that began to take them down.

The Intangible Sword unleashed hundreds of invisible sword lights and ignored the enemies’ defenses. This same Intangible Sword was transformed into an assassin’s skill and took down over 1,000 players who had gathered together in one go.

Minhyuk once again picked up his pace and continued to log out the players in front of him. He dealt with the players surrounding him solely with the power of Explosion. He believed it was better to deal with as many enemies as possible using a single skill at the beginning and deal with the rest with his strength and passive skills.

“Haa... Haa...” Minhyuk started to gasp as time continued to pass by. He, who had slaughtered countless enemies alone, almost stumbled on his feet when he finally stabbed the final player in the chest with his dagger. But he still said, “Next.”

As soon as his word fell, 4,096 players appeared. Now, he had to deal with almost 5,000 enemies. Minhyuk flew to the skies, swapping his dagger and throwing it at the center of the group of players.

Crack–

An unknown golden dagger stabbed straight into the ground. This dagger was none other than the Continent Destroyer Sword. Why was it in the form of a dagger? Because once a weapon was transformed, it would remain in that form whenever its owner was inside the Infinite Battlefield.

Then, with the Continent Destroyer Sword at the center, a violent earthquake spread and wreaked havoc. The Continent Destroyer was the AOE attack skill attached to the Continent Destroyer Sword, and it released hot molten lava to devour a considerable area.

Baaaaaaaaaang–!

The power of the Continent Destroyer, in the form of flowing hot lava, transformed into lava explosions that erupted from deep within the ground and devoured Minhyuk’s enemies. The Continent Destroyer’s power alone forced all 4,096 enemies to log out.

“Next.”

[You have defeated 4,096 opponents!]

[Summoning 8,192 opponents!]

Minhyuk slumped down as he tried to catch his breath. The new players who have appeared on the battlefield gained hope when they saw the sight.

“He’s exhausted!”

“We can win against him!”

“Let’s gooooooo!!!”

But then, at that moment, they saw a black dagger flying toward them.

Swoooooooosh–

Everyone could still remember this skill clearly. This was the very same skill that sent thousands of fiercely spinning daggers that tore apart and made 1,024 people disappear without a trace.

“...This is impossible!”

They could not believe this power was activated again, even though only less than twenty minutes had passed.

Rip, rip, rip, rip, rip, rip–!

All 8,192 players were forced to log out without a trace.

“Next.”

[You have defeated 8,192 opponents!]

[Summoning 16,384 opponents!]

Minhyuk, with renewed vigor, charged toward the new enemies who appeared before him.

***

Alexander also had to deal with 16,834 opponents alone. Based on his estimates, several high-level players should also be among the enemies.

Turning to look at his side, he saw Minhyuk leaping to the skies and falling in the middle of the enemy ranks while unleashing his skill. The skill sent daggers engulfed with blazing flames toward the ground and unleashed explosions that swept away the area around him. The number of daggers covered with fire and explosions that were enough to devour and slaughter tens of thousands of people was too much.

‘Is that the Sword of Absolute Death?’

That was Minhyuk’s representative skill. Initially, it involved countless lightning bolts falling from the sky and simultaneously killing all the enemies around him.

At this moment, Alexander realized: ‘He’s reaching his limits.’

Minhyuk's taking out of his Sword of Absolute Death was a testament to this. However, Alexander also had few AOE attack skills left. Even so, he had a faint smile on his face.

‘This should be the first time, no?’

He still had a power that he had not revealed to anyone. His showing this power while competing with Minhyuk proved that he was also giving it his all. He wanted to use the skill to recognize Minhyuk’s strength. That was just how outstanding and powerful his competitor was.

“Weapon Corps,” Alexander said, exhaustion evident in his voice.

At that moment, a sword was summoned and appeared right in front of him. The appearance of a gigantic greatsword and a pair of katanas followed it. Various weapons–including crossbows, bows, iron maces, multiple types of spears, and many others–appeared in front of Alexander with a flash of light. The weapons floated in the air and lined up neatly. This was the skill that Alexander had acquired after he had won 100 consecutive matches in the Infinite Battlefield.

[Please give us your orders.]

The enemy players immediately grew cautious when they saw the weapons, which surprisingly possessed basic ego, pop out.

Alexander looked at the weapons before him and said, “Slaughter them.”

Fwooooooosh–!

One of the swords floating in front of him turned around and flew straight toward the heart of one of the players. The bows nocked arrows, pulled their strings on their own, and eventually shot the hearts of the players. The various types of spears also jumped to the sky and flew fiercely toward the other players.

Just like the troops of an army, the hundreds of weapons with egos of their own charged forward and slaughtered the enemies.

‘Now, it’s only a matter of who will last longer.’

It was no longer a competition of who hunted the enemies faster. Their situation had changed. They now needed to last as long as possible and kill as many players as possible. The one with the most kills would win the competition.

Alexander’s Weapon Corps was considered an overpowered and cheat-like skill because each weapon possessed the same attack and defensive power as a player. The best part was that it lasted one hour.

Alexander smiled. Of course, he knew that Minhyuk was the Battle God’s Descendant, and as such, he undoubtedly possessed several summoning skills.

‘It will only last for a few minutes.’

During the recent Succession Ceremony, Minhyuk had summoned five unidentified soldiers. The soldiers were powerful and had enough power to pressure the gods. But from what Alexander could see, Minhyuk could only summon them for five minutes at most. And in these Infinite Battles, a short summoning time of five minutes would be of little help.

‘If he genuinely has a summoning skill, it would be a different story. But as far as I know, Minhyuk doesn’t have a skill like that.

Minhyuk had the advantage of being the emperor of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. However, that was not his class. If Minhyuk could use his advantages as an emperor and summon his vassals, things would unfold in a different direction.

Alexander was also very conscious of Minhyuk and had studied a lot of information and data about him. From what he recalled, Minhyuk could only summon his vassals using the Almonds of Subordinates. And they could only use consumables in the Infinite Battles if it was a particular case. So he would not be able to summon any of his vassals. In other words, the only advantage that Minhyuk had over everyone here was his advantage as the Food God.

Alexander's weapons took only a short time to force the more than 16,000 enemies to log out. Of course, Minhyuk had also moved on to the next level.

[You have defeated 16,384 opponents!]

[Summoning 32,768 opponents!]

Over 30,000 opponents appeared before Alexander, who had already predicted his victory.

***

Minhyuk continuously fought against more than 30,000 enemies. Although he was exhausted, he still had enough AOE attack skills left. However, he judged that there was a better time to use them.

Baaaaaaaaang–!

“Keuaaaaack!” Minhyuk screamed, his body flying away from the players’ overwhelming attacks.

There were just too many enemies. Even though Minhyuk had the Slaughterer’s Absorption with him, its recovery could not keep up with the damage he received.

“Haaa... Haaa...” Minhyuk’s breathing gradually grew labored.

The players immediately charged forward when they saw him staggering on his feet. The scene was enough to make cold sweat drip down anyone’s back.

[Good job Captain Rice.]

[We acknowledge your strength and power, Captain Rice.]

[Wow. To think that he can fight against that many. The best. You have my recognition.]

[He’s reached his limits. Look. His body is shaking and trembling.]

[He’s someone who’s on par with Alexander. I can’t wait for what’s next!]

Everyone praised Captain Rice. From what they could see, no one except Captain Rice could fight on equal grounds with Alexander.

Then, at that moment, the player who was hailed as the world-renowned skill analyst appeared in the comments. He had declared before that he would analyze the skills of Captain Rice, who was on the rise these days.

[Hello, everyone. I am Skill Analyst Ekkan.]

[Oh! Did you find out who Captain Rice is?]

[Are you done analyzing Captain Rice’s skills?]

[As you guys know, when someone chooses a class other than their own in the Infinite Battlefield, their skills are modified and transformed according to that class. Following that principle, we have selected hundreds of players with skill sets similar to those displayed by Captain Rice.]

Everyone held their breath. Was Captain Rice a famous ranker? Or was he a reclusive master whom Ekkan did not even know about?

[We further narrowed our selection by finding players with many AOE attack skills. After comparing various conditions and numbers, the results showed that only one player fits the conditions.]

The entire world focused on Ekkan’s words. The fact that only one player met the conditions meant that Captain Rice was a well-known player.

[This player is none other than the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor, Minhyuk.]

[Eh? That’s impossible.]

[Minhyuk? Why did you suddenly mention Minhyuk?]

[I call bullshit. Nope. Nope.]

[We request a reasonable analysis. The Food God doesn’t use daggers.]

Baaaaaaaaang–!

At that moment, Minhyuk was sent flying away by the bombardment of the players’ pinnacle skills. The players had surrounded him, ready to send another bombardment of their most lethal pinnacle skills. Cornered, Minhyuk gasped heavily. His path of survival was no longer accessible. In other words, he was in a situation where his Slaughterer’s Absorption could no longer be used.

But when the players were about to send their skills, Minhyuk muttered a single word.

“Friend.”

At the same time, a white-haired old man appeared from above in a burst of white light.

[Everything that Vassal Ben possesses will lower to match your level!]

As the old man fell from the sky, he said, “Absolute Pinnacle Spear.”

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