Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 154: Grilled Clam

“Wasn’t Ghost Spear Ben supposed to only accompany him for two weeks as a reward?”

“...Yeah.”

Rewards might be marked as ‘???’ but they were still somewhat fixed and determined to a certain extent. The ‘???’ only meant that there might be some changes that the operators had not determined yet.

If it went along the original course, Ben should have been the one to lure and hunt the Clam Golem out with the Golden Salmon as bait. However, the one who hunted the Clam Golem was Minhyuk. Because of this, Ben’s favor had reached the highest level.

“The two-week reward was already huge...”

Two weeks accompanied by Ghost Spear Ben? Of course it was a huge reward! Ben was one of the Pinnacle Strong Men in the past. Of course, there might be unofficial and official rankers around the world that could rival him in terms of power, since he was only ranked last among the Pinnacle Strong Men in the past, but only a few among the hundreds of millions of?Athenae?players could rival him. Perhaps only 0.001% of the?Athenae?players could rival him. This meant that the player who received that reward would be able to ride on Ghost Spear Ben’s bus and go to high-level hunting grounds to get plenty of artifacts and increase their levels. This was an opportunity that no one could buy with money. However, Ghost Spear Ben had actually offered to be Player Minhyuk’s subordinate.

Then, they saw Player Minhyuk’s figure tremble through the monitor.

“Maybe it’s because he’s happy?”

“Well, this reward is too extraordinary after all.”

Then, they watched Minhyuk slowly bow down and hold Ben’s hands. He looked at the old man seriously and said…

[I understand how you feel, Grandpa. But it’s fine. You’ve been through a lot, so you should just let go of everything and live your life happily.]

“Eh?!”

“Gasp?!”

Lee Minhwa and Team Leader Park looked at each other.

However, Ben felt moved instead of just accepting his words.

[No. I will live my life for you. I will even do anything for you!]

[No. Grandpa. I hope you forget about that and live a very, very happy life!]

[N, No... Boy! I want to stay with you forever! I’ll even give you my life!]

[Oh my god, Grandpa! Go and live a happy life!]

[This is my happiness!]

[Please go!]

[I won’t go!]

[Go!]

[I won’t!]

Lee Minhwa looked at the monitor in awe. She said, “Player Minhyuk... is a really warm-hearted person.”

“I…is that so...” Team Leader Park murmured as he scratched his head.

My goodness! This was the first time that he had seen a player show such a warm-hearted approach towards an NPC! Player Minhyuk looked like he was truly and sincerely hoping for Ben to live the rest of his life happily. But, why would he reject one of the Pinnacle Strong Men so strongly?!

“...He’s a really cool guy.”

***

Minhyuk was going crazy.

‘No, perhaps it’s this grandpa that’s crazy?’

Grandpa Ben even jumped up and latched onto Minhyuk’s arms. He looked like he would not let go until Minhyuk took him along.

“I’ll do whatever you want me to do, I’ll be your sword or even your shield!”

Minhyuk pondered deeply after hearing his words. He realized that Grandpa Ben would not let go. Although it was a bit embarrassing to admit, this was his loss. Then, Minhyuk thought,?‘Come to think of it, there was that thing called vassals. Right?’

If someone was granted a title and a territory, they could recruit a vassal and appoint them to perform their duties in the guild.

‘I’ll just have Grandpa Ben run the territory...!’

However, Minhyuk wondered what he should make Ben do in the meantime? Looking back, Ben had become skilled in brewing coffee after Minhyuk had nagged at him.

Right. He should ask him to brew coffee for him while they traveled together. Minhyuk thought that it was also a good idea to have some tea time whenever he came back to the territory. Then, what?

‘Oh. I’ll ask Grandpa Ben to become a barista!’?Minhyuk thought. It was an extremely good plan.

“You’ll do anything?”

“Yes!” Ben answered as he nodded his head energetically. He could see Minhyuk’s eyes shining brightly as if he had thought of a good idea.

“Then, you should just brew some coffee. How can I let Grandpa Ben do something rough and dangerous like going on a monster hunt? Let’s live a comfortable life~ A very comfortable one~ So please make coffee~!”

“...”

Ben’s mind turned blank when he heard his words. He thought,?‘B…but I’m Ghost Spear Ben...?’

The words were stuck in Ben’s throat as he remembered the nightmare of making 200 cups of coffee in one sitting! Nothing was more embarrassing than that!

“You don’t like it?”

“N…no. Of course I like it...!” Ben nodded.

‘How happy I would be if I could feed this young man who’s like a son to me!’

It was quite hard to make coffee, but Ben still felt pleased whenever he saw that Minhyuk enjoyed the coffee that he had made. At this very moment, Ben had unknowingly signed the barista slave contract with Minhyuk.

[Ben swears his eternal loyalty to you.]

[Ghost Spear Ben will only accompany you for 2 weeks.]

[In order to fully use and see all of Ghost Spear Ben’s attributes, you will need a title that is above his own.]

[A skill has been created for Ghost Spear Ben. Skill: ‘Minhyuk's Fan’]

Then, the notifications rang! Minhyuk realized that everything had been set in stone now. It was not that there were no players that became nobles, but it was quite rare for an NPC to be a player’s vassal. NPCs that became vassals to players usually were only at Level 100 or below.

‘That’s right. From what I heard, one needs to be granted peerage if they want a high-leveled NPC or a special NPC as a vassal.’

At the very least, one had to be a Viscount. Viscounts were a rank above a Baron and had more influence. In fact, players that received the title of a viscount were considered to be among the best in the world. Just then, Minhyuk remembered something.

‘...Didn’t Genie send a whisper to me about being a noble?’

At that time, Minhyuk was having fun catching fish so he could not check the message. Minhyuk opened the whisper window and clicked on Genie’s whisper. She asked Minhyuk if he wanted to become a noble and also explained the reasons why. Back then, he had no intentions of being one, but he was still very thankful that Genie had thought of him and their friendship.

[Genie:...You don’t have to and I’m not forcing you if you don’t want it. I support your goals of having a "Let’s Eat Life"!]

She had believed that having a title and a territory could be a stumbling block to Minhyuk’s happy eating life. However, once he thought about it carefully, Minhyuk realized that it would only be beneficial to him.

‘Sometimes, people in the territory would also offer grains to the nobles. Right?’

Minhyuk nodded resolutely, then sent a whisper to Genie.

[Minhyuk: I understand. I’ll get the title. I think the grandpa who makes good coffee for me can make a good vassal.]

[Genie: Genie has logged out.]

“Hmm...” Minhyuk hummed.

‘Well, she’ll see it later when she logs in.’

Then, Minhyuk checked Ben’s status window. It seemed like he was wondering about the effects of the skill ‘Minhyuk's Fan’.

(Ben)

Rank: Former Pinnacle Strong Man

Type: Temporary Subordinate

Level: 509

Attack: 4,959

Defense: 2,683

Special Abilities:

?Passive Skill: Minhyuk's Fan

?Active Skill: Ghost Spearmanship

?Active Skill: Ghost Defense Arts

Potential: 137

Experience Value: 13%/100%

(Minhyuk's Fan)

Passive Skill

Level: None

Effects:

?10% increase in all abilities when within a 10-meter radius of your liege, Minhyuk.

?You will feel temporarily better if you received a sincere compliment from Minhyuk.

?You will have an unwavering spirit to serve and follow your only liege, Minhyuk.

?I love Minhyuk, Minhyuk is so good.

“...”

Minhyuk stared at Minhyuk's Fan skill skeptically. He knew that if the favorability between a pet or a subordinate was raised to the max, then a skill like this would be created. However, it was not possible for all NPCs or pets. They had to be a special person for such a skill to be created.

‘And he has such a high level too...’?Minhyuk thought happily.

Grandpa Ben had a high level and potential, although not as high as Beanie’s potential. He thought,?‘I’m sure that he’ll quickly learn the art of making coffee. Yes!’

Minhyuk was aware that people with higher potential tended to have a faster and stronger learning ability compared to others. Minhyuk felt happy about this. Then, a thought flashed through his mind. He turned to Ben and asked, “Ah. Do you know anything about the Rabbit’s Liver?”

“Rabbit’s Liver?”

“Yes. It’s very, very delicious, you know. So I wanted to find more of it to eat. I found one somewhere inside the cave, in another entrance inside.”

“I’m sorry, but this is the first time I have heard of it.”

The two of them talked about the Rabbit’s Liver, not knowing that there was an unknown creature stealthily approaching them from behind. The creature was none other than a bipedal turtle.

***

One hour ago.

Raphael, Great Mage Arfield’s subordinate that took over the body of the bipedal turtle, Radin, was tasked to recruit foreigners on land. The only problem was that no foreigner had reached the vicinity of the Dragon King’s Sea yet. Because of that, they had no way of entering the cave where the rabbitman Jevis had hidden herself in.

‘Perhaps the rabbitman Jevis has already been eaten by the predator?’

Great Mage Arfield and Raphael did not know everything, after all, they had just entered and forcefully taken over the bodies through soul exchange. Entering the body through such a method did not allow them to read through the memories of the body’s owner. So they did not know much about the Dragon King’s Palace. The knowledge that they knew were things that they have only heard from others.

‘Kiari seems to have started doubting our identities...’?Raphael thought with a frown as he recalled about the Dragon King’s first child, Kiari. All he had to do was find the Rabbit’s Liver and find out how to retrieve it.

‘If Jevis has been swallowed by the sea’s predator...’

Then, the liver could be extracted from the predator’s body. If that was the case, there was still a way since the Great Mage Arfield could perform unimaginable feats through dark magic. The problem was that they had to capture the predator and bring it back to Arfield. Black magic could exert a lot of power whether the opponent was alive or had just died.

However, it still had to be done by a foreigner and right now, there were no foreigners present. Raphael had to go back to Arfield and report so they could think of other methods to retrieve the Rabbit’s Liver.

Splash!

He quickly jumped back into the sea, swimming at a frightening speed. Just as he was swimming back to the Dragon King’s Palace…

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

…a powerful shockwave shook the sea.

‘This...?’

Raphael’s eyes widened in shock. The origin of the shockwave was from the cave that only foreigners could enter. Although he was far away from the cave, he was still able to swim there in an instant since he was the fastest in the sea.

Shwaaaa!

Radin saw an old man bawling his eyes out in front of the cave the moment he arrived. He thought,?‘He’s not a foreigner.’

His eyes narrowed sharply, waiting to know the reason why the old man was crying in front of the cave.

“A weak chef like you, huhuhuhuhu, went overconfident! You’ve overdone it, huhuhuhuhu, now you’ll die just like this...!”

‘A chef...?’?Radin thought in confusion. He watched the man cry loudly until a man walked outside of the cave. The man was a foreigner! At last! A foreigner that he had been looking for. He stealthily approached them as he listened in on what the two of them were talking about. He could see the surprise in the old man’s face as they talked.

‘Hoo? That stranger hunted the predator, the Clam Golem...? Then what about Jevis...?’

As he pondered about their words, the two of them started to shout loudly at each other.

“Go!”

“I won’t go!”

The man looked quite shabby and humble with his rough helmet and armor. He was refusing the old man intently. The old man even begged the man, telling the man that he would support him in any way.

‘Well... looking at it, he’s just an old man without any strength at all.’

Of course, no one would like to bring an old man like him along. That old man did not even look like he was good at anything, right? However, the young man was someone whom he was interested in. The Clam Golem was not that strong, but it could still pack a punch.

Raphael laughed derisively. He thought,?‘It’s fine.’

His original body was considered to be on par with the Pinnacle Strong Men. However, now that he was in the body of the Dragon King’s second child, he was unable to unleash all of his power. The turtle, the Dragon King’s second child, was well-versed in stealth and assassination. So, Raphael was confident that he could kill that foreigner in a single blow

Then, he heard the foreigner say, “Ah. Do you know anything about the Rabbit’s Liver?”

Raphael’s eyes widened, his ears perking up to listen attentively.

“Yes. It’s very, very delicious, you know. So I wanted to find more to eat. I found it somewhere inside the cave, in another entrance inside.”

‘...!’

Raphael’s eyes widened further.

‘Je, Jevis...!’?Raphael thought, finally realizing that Jevis had the power to remove her Rabbit’s Liver from her own body, unlike the turtle or Kiari. In fact, there was nothing that could definitely prove that a rabbitman has to die for them to retrieve the Rabbit’s Liver. This method was not even shared among the people within the palace walls. Raphael believed that Jevis was aware of the power that her Rabbit’s Liver had. After all, she was the only one who could communicate with Sea God Roves. She must have hidden that fact from them.

Based on what he heard, he would interpret it as,?‘I don’t know why she wanted to hunt the predator, but she must have taken out her Rabbit’s Liver as a precaution in case she did not survive the battle...’

In addition, what else could he infer from this foreigner’s words?

‘He ate the rabbit’s liver...!’

It was clear to Raphael that the Treasure of the Seas was inside that cave and that this man had eaten it. However, he still had a chance right now. The Great Mage Arfield could perform black magic that could retrieve whatever a monster ate.

Plenty of sea creatures may die, but we have a chance to get that rabbit’s liver from this human!

However, there were conditions that should be met. To remove the Rabbit’s Liver, he had to at least arrive at the Dragon King’s Palace alive. He should be alive when meeting with the Great Mage Arfield. In other words, Minhyuk had become?the?rabbit.?And according to folk tales, the poor rabbit was tricked into the Dragon King’s Palace by a turtle, right? Raphael finally made his decision as he approached them.

However, Raphael was unaware that the folktale had an unfortunate ending for the turtle. He did not know that the rabbit, that was deceived by the turtle, managed to escape the palace successfully while leaving a big pile of shit as a present for them.