Chapter 166: The Temptress

“...!”

General, or Oh Changwook, had just logged out from?Athenae,?and was shocked to hear the conversation of the anchors on the TV.

[Wasn’t Legend Guild’s final reversal such a thrilling and exciting event?]

[Haha, it was definitely thrilling! But, some experts say that Legend Guild deliberately hid their power.]

[Deliberately?]

[Yes. They speculated that Legend Guild has always been confident in getting first place. It was likely that they would go under the 40-minute mark and get the SSS rank. It seems that Legend hid their strength in the beginning, only to turn the tables at the last minute. Maybe they wanted to keep everyone hanging, before relieving our country’s grievances against the world.]

When he searched for the real-time search terms...

[1st Place: Legend Guild’s reversal, challenging the Time Attack.]

[2nd Place: Black Swan Guild’s Julian’s method, re-examined.]

[3rd Place: Legend Guild’s Guild Master Genie Rumored to be President Kang Taehoon’s Daughter?]

When he looked through the articles on the internet…

[Korea’s a ruined gamer powerhouse? No, Korea’s a gamer powerhouse! - Blue Daily.]

[Black Swan Guild’s Julian fainted after bowing for a thousand times every day. Netizens: Still 2nd place. Sorry. - Happy Daily.]

[The Upcoming Athenae: Korean War. Public’s expectations are already soaring. - Sports News.]

“...Guild Master Genie? The president’s daughter? What the hell?” Changwook said, grinning.

The whole country is in a festive mood right now.?Athenae?might have just started as a simple game, but the world did not think that it was just a simple game now. Everyone saw this as a global competition, and the news gave the country cause for celebration, just like when they won a gold medal in the Olympics.

Then, Changwook thought,?‘Wait, don’t tell me…’

The?timings?of the attempts coincided with Minhyuk’s visit to the Dragon King’s Sea, and as soon as he came back, the results were suddenly reversed.

“Eyyy. No way, right~”

.

Minhyuk was only one person, and it was too ridiculous to say that the reason for the reversal was by just adding this single person. However, he hesitated.

“No. If I think about it, it doesn’t seem to make sense… Why?would Legend?Guild hide their power just to go all out in the end?”

The anchor just kept on telling his own version of the story, because he did not know Legend Guild. However, Changwook knew that these gamers were unlikely to risk their careers, just to enjoy a dangerous gamble. As the person closest to Minhyuk, to the point that he could be considered as an aide, he had heard a lot of stories about Legend Guild, so he could guess their circumstances to some extent.

‘Then, is it real...?’

Right on time, Minhyuk came out of his room to tell Secretary Park Munsoo that he wanted to take responsibility for his father’s birthday and set up a party for him. After he finished talking with Park Munsoo, Changwook approached him and asked, “Did you participate in Legend Guild’s attack for the Time Attack Dungeon?”

“Yes.”

“...”

Minhyuk looked at Changwook in confusion at the sudden question about the Time Attack Dungeon.

“Amazing! I feel like I’m meeting someone that won the Olympics Gold Medal personally!”

“Hyung. What about the millstone that you mentioned before?”

“Ah. Remember that person that uploaded the video of the fight between Rovan and yourself? We’ve recently come to an agreement.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Her nickname is ‘Joo-Ah’. I got information for our agreement. First, I’m sure that it’s a millstone, and that it’s not a regular millstone too.”

Minhyuk nodded. He had already guessed it to some extent when Changwook sent him a whisper. He knew that Changwook would not settle for just this information if it was just a normal millstone.

“First and foremost, when you grind beans in this millstone, you’ll be able to get more yield. I think it’s about twice as much?”

“...!”

Minhyuk’s body trembled in excitement when he heard those words. He said, “...OMG? Isn’t that better than winning the first prize in the lotto?”

“I don’t know about that. Aside from having twice the yield, eating the food from the first grind can also give you special abilities. In addition, the food made from this millstone will never go bad. Literally forever. Finally, the taste, it’s said that the taste is the most delicious in the world.”

“Wow...!”

Minhyuk clenched his fists tightly. He was already looking forward to it. He asked, “Where can I find the millstone?”

“Ructo’s Tomb.”

“Ructo?”

Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion.

“It’s a dungeon that’s mostly used by players between Level 300~380. It’s a dungeon that players at that level will most certainly want to attempt at least once.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s because no team has ever succeeded in clearing Ructo’s Tomb. The first floor of Ructo’s Tomb is quite similar to ordinary dungeons where you can hunt ordinary mobs. However, after you hunt the first floor’s boss mob, you’ll have to face six trials. These six trials have never been successfully cleared by anyone. According to Joo-Ah, the millstone will appear in the sixth trial. By the way, players have only cleared up to the fifth trial. It’s an extremely difficult and challenging trial that most players these days don’t even want to?tackle it anymore. That’s why I wanted to challenge it once.”

“Hmm...”

Minhyuk rubbed his chin in thought. In other words, getting it was simple.

“Then, are you sure that the millstone is in Ructo’s Tomb? Or are you still uncertain about it?”

“It’s pretty much confirmed at this point. According to Joo-Ah, there was a player with the hidden class ‘Devil Worshipper’ that had received a quest to clear the sixth trial in Ructo’s Tomb. The reward is the millstone. Furthermore, Joo-Ah said that she had heard about the millstone from an NPC.”

Minhyuk nodded his head while Changwook continued to speak, “Ah. Do you want me to drop the complaint against Joo-Ah?”

Minhyuk shook his head. He said, “We’re not yet sure about the information, and...”

His expression turned cold.

“If we’re going to deal with one, then it’s better to pluck them all out. If possible, it would be nice if we could negotiate and have her become our informant to give us information about food for a long time...”

Changwook nodded in understanding. He thought,?‘He really takes good care of his own interests...’

Minhyuk was not greedy for money, but he would never let himself be in a losing position either. Then, a devilish smile flashed across Minhyuk’s lips. Seeing the smile, Changwook thought,?‘....Dear me. I feel like he would make me do this for the rest of my life. I’m going to be his food shuttle till the end of time. Such a cruel punk!’

Then, Minhyuk asked him, “Ah, that’s right. Hyung, my DEX is not increasing that well these days. Archer players also need DEX. Do you think hunting with a bow can help me increase it?”

Among all of the combat classes, only the archer class had DEX. Hence, it was safe to assume that using the bow would definitely help increase Minhyuk’s DEX.

Changwook nodded and said, “The archer class can increase their DEX like non-combatant classes do.”

Minhyuk nodded as he turned to his phone to check on information about Ructo’s Tomb. A smile hung around his lips as he continued to read.

‘Ooooooh...!’

Of course, what he was searching for were ‘delicious things’, ‘very tasty food’ and ‘Oh! This is a must try!’. Then, Minhyuk saw a related quest.

‘Eh... The Moon’s Wheat that is comparable to the Sun’s Wheat...?’

Minhyuk read on, and discovered reports of an NPC that would give a quest for hunting monsters. The only difference is that the Moon’s Wheat would drop when the monsters were hunted during the quest period. It was also said that ‘Moon’s Wheat’ was strangely delicious if it was made into noodles. This was also the reason why the nearby village was well known for its noodles.

‘Noodles...’

Just thinking about it was making Minhyuk feel happy. Noodles were delicious, whether they were the cheap, 3,000-won ones, or the more expensive, 5,000-won ones. There were other delicious types like banquet noodles and spicy mixed noodles as well, especially the spicy mixed noodles, they tasted amazing, especially when eaten with well-steamed dumplings.

‘Get the millstone and eat some noodles? Good, that’s good!’

The quest was not that difficult since he did not need to go back to the NPC that issued the quest. All he needed to do was hunt enough monsters, get the Moon’s Wheat drops, and complete the quota to clear the quest. When he had collected everything he was supposed to collect, the buff effect reward would immediately be activated as a reward. After he finished exercising with Changwook, Minhyuk immediately went back to?Athenae, with the goal of eating noodles.

***

Rocard was a Level 390 player, and was considerably high-leveled. He gulped as he looked at Javin and closed his eyes.

‘Th…the day has finally come...’

Rocard could feel his heart beating wildly. His friends had called him the Immortal?Wizard. The very same wizard who could call a meteor with just a wave of his hand! The reason why his friends had called him that, was because he had never held a woman’s hands in his thirty-five years of living in this world.

However, that was no longer the case. He had recently entered a cave with a woman who happened to accompany him in?Athenae. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful, innocent and cute. It was the style that every man in the world would definitely adore.

Rocard closed his eyes when he saw her slowly approaching his face.

‘Kgghk. I wonder what a woman’s lips feel like....!’

As soon as he imagined that soft touch...

Stab!

…he felt a searing pain on his neck.

“Keughh...!”

Rocard’s eyes widened in shock, only to see a dagger piercing his neck while Javin smiled innocently at him.

“Oh my, Oppa. Sorry,” Javin said. She grinned widely as she pulled the dagger from his neck. Then, Rocard’s body slowly fell down to the ground.

“Keoheok, heok...!”

Javin slowly stood up after dealing with Rocard. She frequently tempted and lured unsuspecting men into caves to PK them. She smiled as she watched the man slowly turn to gray, dropping his artifacts after being forced to log out.

“Well, it’s not too bad,” Javin said, shrugging as she walked out of the cave.

Rocard’s body, which had not disappeared yet, was left behind as a drop of tear slowly dripped down his cheeks.

***

Javin walked out of the cave and thought,?‘I can only do it a few more times before I have to leave this place.’

Since Javin PK-ed for a living, she was quite sensitive to rumors. She knew that rumors about her had been spreading around the area these past few days. This hunting ground was usually frequented by players at around Level 300~350, but it was a bit more difficult compared to other hunting grounds at the same level. The mob that mostly appeared in the area were Owl Bears. Javin easily dealt with an Owl Bear near her.

‘Shit. Because of the Moon’s Wheat quest that I received earlier, every time I kill a mob, this thing drops...’

Javin had received the quest, but she did not necessarily want to finish the quest since she did not like the rewards that much.

‘What’s worse, there are no more pushovers around anymore.’

Just then, she saw a player that looked like he had been hunting for quite some time. He was wearing a shabby-looking outfit, with a rapier hanging on his back, as he tried to?nock?an arrow on his bow. Javin’s eyes widened when she saw him release an arrow.

Swoosh!

He swiftly struck the Owl Bear’s vital point in one single shot.

‘He clearly did not use any shooting skills... But when he shot his arrow, it struck straight at a vital point. That’s literally a critical strike.’

Javin was sure about it.

‘T…that’s definitely an epic item...! The item probably has an effect like ‘A sharp increase in the probability of critical strikes’ attached to it!’

Javin was well-versed in epic items so she was very confident about it. Then, she saw the man sullenly pick up the Moon’s Wheat that dropped.

“This is the final Moon’s Wheat...?Sigh...”

The man seemed to be on the verge of tears because it was the final Moon’s Wheat that he would ever acquire.

‘It’s just Moon’s Wheat,’ Javin grinned and thought, ‘He’s definitely a pushover, right?’