Chapter 238: Battlefield's Great Ruler

[Beanie is feeling grumpy.]

“Oink!”

Beanie hated the word ‘cute’ extremely, slamming the baton on the palm of its paws once more. Then, it cried loudly as if to order them, “Oink, oink, oink!”

Minhyuk translated his words for the rest of them.

“Roll forward!”

“Aha?”

The knight that called Beanie cute earlier, laid down in front of him.

“Oink, oink!”

“Roll to the left!”

“Hahahaha!”

“Oink, oink!”

“Roll to the right!”

“Hahahaha.”

Perhaps it was because Beanie’s behavior was just too cute, that was why the knight kept on laughing, even though he was lying on the ground and rolling. To some extent, the tension that hung strongly over the heads of the Rice Supplement troop began to alleviate.

“Well then, we should stop here. Beans, shall we find something delicious?”

“Oink?!”

Beanie’s eyes widened when he heard the word delicious. Then, its shiny pink nose began to twitch. Beanie moved quickly before pointing under the ground.

“Let’s dig the ground.”

Then, they started to dig the ground.

[You have acquired an Immortals’ Land Apple.]

[You have acquired an Immortals’ Land Tangerine.]

“…!”

The knights were all astonished when they saw food coming out every time they dug the land.

According to Minhyuk’s estimations, there was a high possibility that the food ingredients were concentrated in this area. The only way that they could be self sufficient was to either hunt the monsters, or pick the fruits by themselves, but the probability of finding small hidden berries that were usually in small quantities were pitifully small. If they left things like that, they would end up starving themselves.

Minhyuk continued to lead the troops in search of food. Not long after, they found a cave.

“Oink, oink!”

The moment they entered the cave, notifications rang in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have found the Legendary Meat Paradise.]

[You have gained 50 REP.]

[The first chicken, first cow, first pig and first sheep that you can get will have special powers.]

[Meat gathered from the Legendary Meat Paradise can be carried and will not be limited by the restrictions of the Immortals’ Land.]

“…!”

It was a discovery that Minhyuk never expected.

When they went deeper in the cave, Minhyuk saw a magnificent scene in front of them. Animals with meat that could be used for food were all over the place. Chicken, duck, pig, sheep, and so on. Their numbers were too many to count.

Minhyuk could not help but mumble to himself, “…I want to live here forever.”

***

Night was almost upon them.

Bendiaz approached Minhyuk and said, “We should dig a hole to get a good night’s sleep.”

“Hmm. That’s a good idea.”

Not long after, Minhyuk thought of a better idea. He said, “Let’s get some Gilderin's tree branches and some Gorman's vinyl leaves.”

“Huh? I will heed your orders.”

Bendiaz was quite curious about Minhyuk’s thoughts, but he still followed his orders. After all, every time he gave them some orders, he would show them amazing things.

Giderin's tree branches were quite unusual existences. They were usually hanging around, or lying down on the ground in a loose and relaxed way, but once someone slapped them with their palm, they would become as tight as the string of a taut fishing rod. Meanwhile, Gorman's vinyl leaves looked like plastic, but they were much tougher than regular plastic.

Minhyuk began to sew and weave the Gorman’s vinyl leaves that the soldiers collected. He could see a red mark in front of his eyes in every leaf, which helped increase his speed further.

‘He, he’s extremely fast…’

“Wow…”

“Are there other knights who know how to sew? We’re going to make a big tent before digging a hole so we can huddle up and sleep warmly.”

The knights who knew how to sew immediately began to sew according to his instructions. However, not long after, something surprising happened.

‘What’s this…?’

‘Have I ever sewn this well before?’

They were quite shocked. They thought that they would only be able to manage sloppily at best, since their skills were mediocre, but that was not the case at all. They even sewed at a fairly rapid pace.

***

“It’s because of the antarinium,” Team Leader Park mumbled as he looked at the monitor. Lee Minhwa’s head snapped up when she heard his words.

Antarinium.

It was an ore with endless, immense power. One of its advantages was precisely what they were witnessing. Guild members, party members or troops of those that owned the antarinium would experience a 20% increase in their special stats that could not be raised with bonus points. This was also the reason why the knights under Minhyuk were able to shoot their arrows exceptionally well earlier. Even their five basic stats would increase by 15%, which in turn had an enormous effect on their strength. The best thing was, there was no mana consumption nor cooldown restrictions.

Team Leader Park saw through the monitor that Minhyuk had finally finished creating a large tent from the leaves and branches that he was sewing and weaving together earlier. The tent looked extremely solid and sturdy.

“This is the power of 2,000 DEX…”

The power of the dexterity stat was so vast and versatile that Minhyuk was even able to create a huge tent in the wild. Since they were the ones that made that tent, they would be able to store that in their inventory and use it the next day.

Team Leader Park could not help but sigh. He said, “…He’s going to cook now.”

Lee Minhwa nodded solemnly. She said, “Thanks to the effects of antarinium, their five basic stats had increased by 15% and their special stats had increased by 20%. To top it off, they will even have a food buff effect…”

Lee Minhwa looked at the monitor blankly. She continued to say, “It’s like one versus 100. That’s not too bad of an estimate…”

“Yeah.”

Team Leader Park also nodded in agreement. Then, Lee Minhwa suddenly thought of something, before turning her head to look at Team Leader Park.

“What if the individual contributions exceeded the normal numbers and approach the ridiculously impossible numbers?”

Team Leader Park grinned at her question. He said, “That’s why it’s ridiculous… In order for the individual contribution to rise to that level, he must have a monopoly on the score against Bach and Eclei. But having a monopoly over the scores means that even their knights would go under Minhyuk’s commands. That doesn’t even make sense, you know?”

“Ah. Well…”

Lee Minhwa smiled in relief.

However, it seemed like things would not proceed as expected again.

***

Minhyuk saw his commanding ability soar to 40%. However, he did not want it to end there, so he used his ‘Create a Recipe’ skill for every single member of his Rice Supplement company.

The ‘Create a Recipe’ skill would eat away at his buffing ability whenever he used it, so he would not be able to feed them all at once. However, thanks to his artifacts, titles and skills, his buffing ability had permanently risen. If he planned well and divided them accordingly throughout the three meals in a day, he would be able to feed each and every one of them with the ‘Create a Recipe skill’. His probability of getting a higher grade dish had also doubled.

Upon deciding on the division, Minhyuk first used his ‘Create a Recipe’ skill to cook for Bendiaz and the other key figures in the company. He also enlarged his legendary frying pan as he cooked stir-fried pork while cooking dozens of servings of rice.

“Shouldn’t we be the one to be doing this?”

“Who does it or who doesn’t do it, is it that important? I just want everyone to end this war in comfort with a full stomach.”

The company members were all thrilled with Minhyuk’s lip service, which led to an increase in favor. As a result, the percentage of his commanding ability also increased.

“But, will it be delicious?”

“Who knows…”

The entire company was left in wonder as Minhyuk distributed some spicy stir-fried pork, lettuce, perilla leaves and rice to each of them.

Among the knights, Knight William was known for his picky and fastidious taste in food. He often quarrelled with his wife back home because of that. Even the rice served in the Imperial Palace did not suit his taste. Because of that, he did not have much expectations of the food that was served to him.

Knight William quietly scooped a spoonful of rice before placing it in his mouth. He said, “The rice is not that bad.”

It was made just right, not too tough, nor too sticky.

Then, he took a lettuce and placed another half a spoonful of rice together with some spicy stir-fried pork. He also did not forget to pick some garlic, before dipping it in some ssamjang and placing it on top of his rice. He then wrapped everything up neatly and placed it in his mouth.

Chew. chew.

Knight William’s eyes opened wide as he chewed on his wrap. For a moment, he seemed to have heard a heavenly harmony in his head, just like what happened with Priest Kenneth in the past.

“H…how can this be…”

Surprised at the flavor, William kept on eating his spicy stir-fried pork. The spicy and sweet flavor of the dish quietly spread in his mouth, as the juices of the meat overflowed in his every bite. The meat was so tender that it seemed like it was melting away whenever he chewed on it.

“D…delicious… It’s very delicious…!”

“Wow. It’s really delicious!”

“My goodness! I can’t believe that I’m out here in the wild eating something like this!”

“Wow!!!”

What was the most awaited time when someone was working? Wherever one was in the world, the answer would definitely be lunch time. People would even work desperately hard just to eat something delicious. After all, most would feel like they would be able to do all of their work once they had a good meal. That was what everyone was feeling right now.

Meanwhile, Bendiaz ate the dish that Minhyuk made for him using his ‘Create a Recipe’ skill. After tasting the dish, he could not help but eat everything in a hurry. When he finished everything, he was caught in shock by the notifications that rang in his ears.

[You ate a dish from a recipe specially made for you.]

[You won’t be able to eat another dish from a recipe specially made for you for a month.]

[You can’t receive any duplicate buffs during the duration of the buff retention period.]

[Beef Bulgogi.]

[You have received an increase of 10% for all of your stats and a +2 on your Phoenix Order’s Swordsmanship for 20 days.]

“…!”

Bendiaz could not believe what he had heard. Even the soldiers that were sitting all over the place were shocked.

“

Gasp…

! All stats… increased by 7%…!”

“What the hell is this?”

“N..no way!”

All of them were shocked! They could not believe that such delicious food had given them such a high buff. It was not even for just one or two people. All 50 soldiers had received at least a 5% increase in all of their stats.

“R…really amazing.”

Minhyuk smiled when he heard their words, and said, “Do you believe me now?”

“Yes!”

The eyes of all the knights present shone brightly. At the same time, Minhyuk's commanding ability increased by another 20%.

“At this rate, you will all be able to eat dishes made from my skill by tomorrow. We’ll stay around this area.”

“If we do that, won’t we be late?”

“It’s fine.”

Minhyuk had also received information about the Immortals’ Land, which came from the Informant Abel, allowing Minhyuk to make a plan based on what he had received.

He knew that Eclei and Bach would definitely move on as fast as they could. However, they would definitely be tired because of the weather, and because of hunger. On the contrary, the Rice Supplement company would be fully prepared. Their stats would increase dramatically, their stomachs would be full, and they would be able to beat the cold. By that time, they could easily catch up to them in a heartbeat.

The very next day, every member of Minhyuk’s company was able to eat dishes made using his ‘Create a Recipe’ skill, and receive buffs specially tailored for each of them. Only then did Minhyuk decide to speed up, and the soldiers ran just like that.

‘According to Abel…’

There would be a number of mobs around here that they could pierce through.

“I’ll pull an AOE aggro so don’t worry too much.”

“Yes? A…AOE ag…agg…!”

‘My goodness! No matter how strong we have become, an AOE aggro?! In the Immortals’ Land?!’

Bbiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii―

However, before they could even protest, the Gryphon’s Cry had already whistled out of Minhyuk’s mouth and hundreds of ogres began to flock around them.

“L…Lord…”

“Commander… I don’t think this is right.”

“No matter how strong we have become, this is too…”

They thought that Minhyuk was just a talented chef that was good at shooting the bow. Beyond that, he had not shown them anything else. Everyone was extremely shocked and thought that they were going to die.

At that moment…

Turn, turn, turn, turn, turn―

…Minhyuk took out his millstone, before sitting down and turning it around.

‘O…our Commander is a little weird!!!’

‘Ah, for real! Sometimes I feel like he’s really a madman!!’

‘OMG…?’

There were hundreds of ogres coming right for them, but Minhyuk just ground his millstone in front of them, turning it nonchalantly. Then…

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

…dark clouds suddenly appeared above the ogre’s heads as hundreds of lightning strikes fell down on them.

[Lightning Hell]

[Powerful lightning strikes will indiscriminately strike down within a 20-meter radius and deal 120% damage for one minute.]

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

“Keuaack!”

“Aaaaaaargh!”

“Gruwooooo!”

The ogres were struck down by lightning and they could not even get their act together. Then, silver leaves started to fall down as a breeze blew gently. While waiting for the skill’s casting time, Minhyuk shouted, “Shoot them with your bows!!”

The knights quickly pulled out their bows. At the same time, the Fluttering Sword’s skill casting time also ended.

“Fire!”

Minhyuk also swung his sword as hard as he could. Fifty arrows and hundreds of falling leaves shot straight towards the ogres.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh―

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud―

The Lightning Hell skill that was still falling, the sword-like leaves, and the rain of arrows. With all of these attacks raining down on the mobs, they truly could not get their act together. Then, the knights pulled their bows once more.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh―

After the Lightning Hell’s duration ended, what appeared in front of them were the dead corpses of the monsters.

“Isn’t this… too easy?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

All of the knights were left speechless for a moment, while Minhyuk smiled happily at the rapidly rising percentage of his enemy kills. He also saw that his commanding ability had already reached 96%.

After doing all of that, Minhyuk continued to run forward with his troops. Not long after, they were able to see Eclei and Bach’s troops that were ahead of them.

“H…hungry…”

“I think I’m going crazy…”

“An…anyone. Does anyone have any beef jerky or nuts left?”

Minhyuk tried to pass by them, but he saw Eclei and Bach staring bitterly at him. So, he greeted, “Hello!!!?”

“…Shut up.”

He did not know why they were irritated at him. Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion. He then turned around and saw the soldiers under Eclei and Bach complaining of hunger. A bittersweet smile hung around the corners of his mouth.

“Bendiaz.”

“Yes?”

“Those knights, shall we lead them to the OE Religion…”

“What’s OE Religion?”

“N…nothing. It was a slip of the tongue! Ehehehe!”

Minhyuk chuckled awkwardly, but a devious smile crept up his face while he muttered under his breath, “I think I found a way to bring them to my company.”

1. ??-Over Eating (OE), I believe this is a reference to Overgeared.