Chapter 164: Gorac's Aging Jar

Department Head Kim Dae-Il watched the scene on the monitor, his hands covered with sweat. The others were also on the edge of their seats as they watched Minhyuk’s second run. When it ended…

[South Korea’s Legend Team: 37 minutes 24 seconds. Rank: 1st.]

[America’s Black Swan Team: 43 minutes 38 seconds. Rank: 2nd.]

…President Kang Taehoon jumped up from his seat in joy. The depressing silence that pervaded the meeting room had finally disappeared as they all rejoiced at the outcome.

“First! Our South Korea is number one!!!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

“Who said that our country is a ruined gamer powerhouse?! Look at this!”

They might be the developers and operators of the game, but they also valued and treasured their country deeply.

“Every team should eat beef for dinner today, right? Yeah? It’ll be on me!”

“Waaaaah!”

“That’s good!”

Team Leader Park smiled lightly. He thought,?‘You’ve been making us watch a mukbang everyday, making us hungry, and you’ll only feed us with beef just this one time?’

Grin━

Then, Kim Dae-Il suddenly said, “Once they break through the 40-minute threshold, they will be given an SS rank rating. Does that mean that surpassing the 35-minute threshold will grant them an SSS rank rating? What will their rewards be then?”

Team Leader Park answered, “The rewards for the 1st~3rd place of the Time Attack Dungeon are still unannounced. It’s because the rewards are entirely dependent on the ranking that the teams will receive. The artifacts that we can check and confirm on our side are only up until the SS rank.”

“Then… does that mean that we will not be able to check the SSS-rank artifact until they receive it?”

“Yes. We don’t know what artifact will come out.”

Then, Kang Taehoon also piped up. He said, “However, there’s one thing I’m sure of.”

“One thing that you’re sure of?”

Kang Taehoon nodded as he continued to say, “Artifacts that are tailored to the player’s class and gaming style will definitely appear.”

***

Khan, Locke and Genie were still in a daze. Genie was currently checking the comments on?Athenae’s?official website. The number one article on the website was currently?‘Legend SSS rank, let’s goooooooo!’?and was sitting firmly on top of the other articles. The number of views quickly exceeded 300,000 and there were even plenty of comments that were cheering under the article.

[Raj: I’ll listen to my mom and dad from now on, so please get an SSS rank!]

[Kaora: I’m watching it. Do it, Legend.]

[Baro: This is a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I wish for my parents to live long and healthy, please give me a girlfriend. And please let Legend get an SSS rank, so that we can give the world a big fat f*ck you.]

[Caruman: South~ Korea! Clap, clap. Clap. Clap, clap! South Korea! Clap, clap! Clap, clap!]

[Ace: Wow. As expected of Legend. But, did you guys know? There’s a cool, short and cute guy in Legend. He’s very sexy too. Ah, wait. He’s also looking for a girlfriend. He won against Red-footed Jeff just recently too! A girlfriend who looks just like Robin! ******]

“...That’s Ace. I really should give a round of applause to Ace.”

“If you’re going to talk shit then you should have done it right. What the hell Ace, you’re really Ace.”

They all smiled at Ace’s silly antics. Then, Khan, Locke and Minhyuk entered the dungeon once again. This was their final attempt, and it would determine whether they would achieve an SSS rank or not.

In the first area, the three of them dashed forward, luring the cursed dragon and killing it quickly. Then, 50 meters away from the second area, Minhyuk used?Gryphon’s Cry and drew the aggro of twenty monsters immediately. Khan and Locke already received buffs from the skill, so the only thing left to do was to draw the aggro of the monsters that were blocking the second spot.

Minhyuk swiftly ran around drawing the aggro of dozens of monsters, kiting them around until they were all concentrated in the middle of the clearing. Khan and Locke dealt with the monsters that ran a bit too closely to Minhyuk. Once the monsters were all gathered neatly in one place, Minhyuk activated his Blooming Sword.

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

“Nice!”

On their second try, even when they were able to steer the mobs into one place, Minhyuk still missed four of them, so they had to waste some time hunting them. This time, they were lucky enough to solve all of them at once.

After dealing with the mobs, the three of them quickly ran forward again. The next obstacle was the lava river. As soon as the frying pan became huge, Locke handed Beanie the rope that he had prepared in advance. Then, Beanie flew to the other side immediately. After that, they threw the frying pan on the lava river, threw some cooling potion in it, jumped inside and pulled themselves to move to the other side.

Since entering the dungeon, 28 minutes had passed. The three of them ran faster until they arrived at the final boss’ room. When they were almost there, Minhyuk started preparing his Splitting Sword. The moment the Dullahan King fell down from the sky…

Shwaaaaaak!

…A bright red light shone from Minhyuk’s greatsword. Minhyuk swung his sword fiercely as the red crescent sword light slashed through the air.

[Foolish... Huh? Keuaaaaaack!]

The Dullahan King shrieked in pain as its wrist was cut off the moment it appeared. It quickly summoned other Dullahans, but Khan, Locke and Minhyuk just activated their skills and attacked the summoned monsters.

“Cursed Angel’s Ax!”

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash!

“Raging Fist!”

Punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch!

“Rampant Sword!”

Puhaaaa━

Puhaaaa━

Puhaaaa!

The Dullahans disappeared without seeing the light of day.

[...]

The Dullahan King looked dumbfounded.

Stab!

Minhyuk triggered Sword of Fury as he stabbed straight through the Dullahan King’s body.

Bang!

The Dullahan King died just 50 seconds after its appearance. The three of them all looked up at the clearing time flashing on the top left corner of their visions…

[34 minutes 28 seconds.]

“Yes!”

“Hey, hey!”

“I’m hungry.”

Minhyuk left both Khan and Locke as they jumped around in excitement as he took out some Choco Huim from his inventory. He quickly placed the chocolate snack on his frying pan and used ice magic, before eating it quickly.

Crunch━

The cold chocolate slowly melted in Minhyuk’s mouth with every bite of the crunchy wafer. Minhyuk smiled happily at the taste.

“Minhyuk is really not interested in anything else except for eating.”

“I know right.”

Since the Time Attack Dungeon was about to end, both Khan and Locke waited for the notifications. Minhyuk paid them no heed as he ate twenty Choco Huim’s in one go.

“Just one...”

“No, no!”

“...Fine,” Locke said, sighing sadly. He knew that he would receive an immediate refusal, but he still tried his luck.

After two minutes, the notifications finally rang.

[The Time Attack Dungeon has ended.]

[1st place. South Korea’s Legend Team. SSS rank.]

[2nd place.?America’s Black Swan Team. S rank.]

[3rd place. China’s Thousand Li Team. A rank.]

[Congratulations. Legend Team has achieved SSS rank.]

[You have acquired 300,000 EXP as a reward.]

[You have acquired 200 REP.]

[A personalized treasure chest will be awarded to the highest contributor, Player Minhyuk.]

“Th…th…th…three hundred thousand EXP?!!!”

“Waaaa!”

Then, a series of notifications rang in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Minhyuk leveled up four times in a row. He had also gained additional EXP prior to that while they were rushing the Time Attack Dungeon. His level had risen from Level 291 to Level 294 during the process, and with the four level-ups from the most recent clear, his level has reached Level 298.

“My level increased by one!”

“Me too!”

Compared to Minhyuk, it seemed like Khan and Locke needed a lot more EXP to raise their levels. Then, Minhyuk looked at one of the notifications earlier.

‘A personalized treasure chest?’

Minhyuk slowly approached the treasure chest that appeared in front of him. The treasure chest looked like it was extremely old and battered.

“Open the treasure chest.”

Clack, clack━

Clack, clack━

The treasure chest began to shake on its own for a while. It only opened after the shaking had stopped, revealing a huge jar.

“...Huh?” Minhyuk hummed in confusion when he saw a huge jar appear out of the treasure chest. Khan and Locke who were excitedly anticipating the contents of the treasure chest were also quite taken aback.

[You have acquired Gorac's Aging Jar.]

“An aging jar?” Minhyuk said, interest suddenly piqued. He quickly checked the information?of the?item.

(Gorac's Aging Jar)

Set Artifact

Rank: ???

Requirements: None

Durability:?∞ / ∞

Special Abilities: Food will be aged and matured to best maturation as soon as you place food inside.

Description: This is a jar that has been buried underneath the ground for a thousand of years and has been quietly waiting for its owner.

“...!”

Minhyuk’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw the special ability of the item that he had received.

***

A male player wearing ragged and worn out clothes was smiling brightly inside the Tomb of the Giant King. He had successfully cleared the tomb of an ancient king and acquired the treasure that was hidden beneath it.

“I finally got one!”

The player’s name was Lark. He was a player with the class ‘Legendary Explorer’, and had a special ability that allowed him to discover great ruins. What he dug out inside the tomb was a meat chopping board that could support any cut and slice of meat. Although the chopping board was old, Lark still looked at it in awe.

‘I can’t believe I finally got one of Gorac's Artifacts...!’

Gorac’s Artifacts were a set of artifacts. A single artifact from this set would not be able to exert its true power and could only be able to use one of the unique abilities attached to it. One of the unique abilities of Gorac’s Chopping Board was…

[You can cut and slice any uncut material or ingredient to your desired shape and size.]

Although it looked like it was just a cooking artifact, it was not as simple as that.

Gorac was a demon, one that had hidden the artifacts he created all over the world of?Athenae.?These items were all disguised with humble appearances, and could only exert their true powers once two or more of them had been gathered by the same person.

It took Lark roughly five months just to find this one artifact. If he was able to find another one of?Gorac’s?hidden artifacts, he would be able to wield a tremendous power. A power that could go beyond that of the strength of a legendary artifact. Of course, there was still the God Artifact that existed beyond legendary, but God Artifacts were artifacts that were exclusively for God Class players. However, disaster artifacts like these, even though they were not recognized as an official ranking, definitely had the strength somewhere between the legendary and the God rank.

Then, at that moment, a pigeon flew inside the desolate dungeon. The pigeon was delivering a letter. This was a method for?Athenae?players from different countries to communicate with each other. Since the servers were still not yet integrated, the only way that they could contact other people from a different country was through a letter.

Lark took the note from the pigeon’s feet. He grinned when he saw the contents of the letter.

[South Korea’s Legend Team has ranked first place in the Time Attack Dungeon. ‘Black Stone’ members in Korea wanted to let us know about this fact. And Lark, what happened to Gorac’s artifact?]

Black Stone was an organization that had its roots spread in every corner of the world. The owner of this group was Calauhel. Black Stone was not a guild. However, in some parts of the world, Black Stone acted and moved like a guild. They were as secretive as Legend Guild in the past, but their members were mostly made up of Dark Gamers. Dark Gamers were players who made money through games.

As for Calauhel... Lark had no doubts about his abilities. From what he heard,?Calauhel?had recently reached Level 542. He was definitely the best in the world. No one knew about his identity or what he did in reality. The only thing that they were sure of was that he was the world’s number one in the unofficial global rankings and no other player could keep up with him. They were sure that he was a huge tycoon.

Lark sent a letter to Calauhel before sending a whisper to another member of Black Stone.

[Lark: Kaistra, I finally found the first disaster artifact.]

***

Minhyuk’s body trembled as he looked at the item in front of him. He looked like a boy that finally got his hands on a new toy car after saving every penny that he had. Minhyuk wanted to try the jar quickly and see its performance.

‘Ah, right. I have that thing!’

“Soy sauce marinated crabs...”

Minhyuk had used the poison of the Giant Toad King to marinade and ferment the snow crabs that he had received from the Dragon King when he stopped by the sea. The waiting time was pure, endless torture. However, from now on, that would not be the case anymore!

‘Fufu... I can eat it right now!’

“Minhyuk?”

“Hey. Why aren’t you answering us?”

Minhyuk’s friends kept on calling his name, but he could not hear anything at all. Such tremendous concentration! Minhyuk quickly pulled out a huge barrel from his inventory. This barrel was what he used to house the soy sauce, marinating the crabs. Then, he swiftly placed the barrel inside Gorac’s ‘Aging Jar’.

‘That man named Gorac definitely must have been a chef... I can’t believe that someone made something this innovative!’

To be honest, no one would do a double take to take a look at such an insignificant artifact. After all, it was just going to age and ferment things right away, right? However, Minhyuk was different from them! He had no interest in the best nor strongest artifacts!

Then, a whisper suddenly popped up in front of Minhyuk.

[General: Minhyuk. This hyung of yours got you some good information.]

However, Minhyuk did not bother to reply as he picked up the lid of the jar to close Gorac’s Aging Jar. As if sensing that Minhyuk would not answer him immediately, General sent another whisper.

[General: Millstone.]

1. Parody of Choco Heim