Chapter 289: Dangerous Company

President Kang Taehoon did not leave the office of the Special Players Management Team. He just sat there and continued to monitor the situation on the screen.

It was not just him. Even the team leaders of various other teams, including the Episode Production team, as well as the Customer Center, were present. They were all here to witness Calauhel’s transfer to the Maestro of Destruction class. After all, once that happened, something earthshaking would happen in

Athenae

.

“What will happen if Player Minhyuk kills Diablo?” Lee Minhwa asked as he continued to look closely at the monitor.

Team Leader Lee Seokhoon, the one in charge of the development team, answered, “The rewards that Calauhel would get if he transfers successfully to the Maestro of Destruction class is something specific and in alignment with his class characteristics. On the other hand…”

Development team’s Team Leader Lee Seokhoon looked solemn as he continued to say, “If Player Minhyuk succeeds in killing Diablo first… then he will receive a reward that has nothing to do with his class. Instead, he might just be the fastest person with a territory to own a kingdom. He will be the owner of Atlas.”

***

Calauhel believed that having different artifacts, superior control, and overwhelming strength were the most important things in playing the game

Athenae

. Due to this belief, he had dismissed Minhyuk’s excellent cooking abilities as something insignificant. However, his thoughts were bound to change after witnessing Verogan bow deeply to Minhyuk.

‘How can a dish like that appear…?’?

This was something that shook him deeply, far more than any artifact or skill that he had. The others approached the dazed Calauhel.

“Calauhel, what’s the matter?”

“Calauhel…?”

Calauhel recalled the information of the samgyetang that he had just checked earlier.

(

Gigantic Samgyetang

)

Ingredients Grade

: SS

Requirements

: Can only be eaten by Giant Verogan.

Shelf Life

: 28 days

Preservation Time

: 28 days

Special Abilities

:

?Giant Verogan’s attack power and defensive power will increase by 26% and 25% respectively.

?Giant Verogan’s magical attack and magical defense will increase by 40% and 31% respectively.

?With Giant Verogan’s recovery, all of his stats will increase by 3%.

Description

: This was a gigantic samgyetang made by Chef Minyuk with all his might for the hungry monster, Verogan.

He could not help but murmur unknowingly, “…That…Want…”

“Yes?”

“What did you say?”

The others looked at him in puzzlement but Calauhel seemed not to hear any of them at all.

“I want to have him… that man…”

“…!”

“…!”

Everyone was caught by surprise. They knew Calauhel as a man that had always kept a straight face. However, right now, his face was showing a great ‘longing’ for something. Calauhel came back to his senses not long after. He continued to look at Minhyuk and Verogan.

***

Black Mage Ali started to speed up. The fact that Black Dragon had become the ‘First Royal Class’ when they began climbing the tower put pressure on him.

The condition that he had to meet to transfer to his Royal Class ‘Moldoron’s Descendant’ was to receive recognition from the giant snake called Predatory Snake.

While he was climbing…

[

Minhyuk

: Ali.]

He received a whisper from Minhyuk. Ali grinned as he sent a reply to Minhyuk.

[

Ali

: Yes, Minhyuk!]

.

[

Minhyuk

: By any chance, can you lend me a hand later?]

[

Ali

: Lend you a hand? I’ll definitely come whenever Minhyuk calls for me. We’re friends after all!]

Ali proceeded to listen to Minhyuk’s story. Then, after their long talk, Minhyuk said…

[

Minhyuk

: Can you tell this to my dad too?]

Ali nodded in agreement while thinking,

‘Blackstone.’?

***

Calauhel naturally approached Minhyuk after he finished clearing the Sixth Trial. Minhyuk was looking at the fragment of the broken blade.

“Now, please give me that blade. Will you?”

Everyone turned to look at Minhyuk.

‘Eight billion…!’?

‘I can live my whole life without worrying about money…!’?

Of course, it was not only the fragment of the blade that was worth eight billion, it was also Diablo. In a way, once Minhyuk handed over that blade fragment to Calauhel, their situation was already no different from having achieved the best ending. Everyone was now looking at Minhyuk nervously.

‘What if this punk knows?’?

‘Did we make any mistakes?’?

Perhaps they had accidentally acted like they were still players and talked about stories in their reality. When everyone was focusing their attention on him, Minhyuk stood facing Calauhel.

“If you give me that, I will fuse the pieces and destroy the Sly Devil Diablo.”

Minhyuk nodded as he handed the piece of the broken blade to Calauhel.

[You have collected all six fragments of the broken blade.]

[You can now fuse it to form the Dagger of Mortality.]

Calauhel felt delighted. He finally got closer to the throne that he had desired for so long. He quietly mumbled and let the pieces fuse together.

[The fragments of the broken blade have now fused.]

The six fragments of the broken blade emitted a dazzling light as they floated and hovered in the air while merging one by one. Then, the ‘Dagger of Mortality’, a curved red blade, appeared in front of him.

[You have acquired the Dagger of Mortality.]

“Thank you,” Calauhel said, smiling lightly. At first, he wanted to kill Minhyuk after making use of him. But now, he did not have to.

‘I can just hunt Diablo before doing that.’?

This trial required and needed considerable faith from the monarch’s subordinates. If someone else broke the trial and did not hand over the fragment of the blade, the trial would not be cleared. That was why he was not sure whether they would go back to square one if one person died. If that happened, then everything that they had done would be all for nothing.

Then, they began to advance. After a bit of a walk, they arrived in front of a huge iron gate. Just standing in front of the iron gate was giving them a great sense of pressure.

Creaaaaaak―

Calauhel pushed the iron door and was met with a huge altar. A man was currently standing on top of the huge altar. The man looked pure and innocent, with skin that was as white as snow. The handsome man looked like a human, except for the horn stretching out from his forehead and the bat-like wings folded behind his back.

[You have met with the Lesser Demon?Diablo.]

[You have gained 200 REP.]

[Those who successfully hunt Diablo will receive rewards.]

Then, Assassin Amber accidentally made eye contact with Diablo.

[Diablo’s Momentum.]

[Diablo’s momentum has placed a huge pressure on you.]

“Urgh!” Amber groaned as she fell down on one knee and gasped for her breath.

‘W, what the hell. This is a game…!’?

Diablo’s eyes looked wretched and creepy. Amber did not fall on her knee just because she was simply frightened. It was clearly because of Diablo’s skill.

‘Amazing,’?

Calauhel thought, smiling as Diablo gazed at them from above the altar.

?

The existence in front of him was so superb that his body shivered from the chills that ran down his spine.

Then, Diablo took one step forward.

Step―

And another.

Step―

He tried to step down from the altar but Calauhel did not let the opportunity go. He quickly took out the Dagger of Mortality as he used the ‘Mortality’s Stun’ that the dagger possessed.

[Mortality’s Stun]

[Stun any target for three seconds.]

The majestic Diablo suddenly stopped. He paused in his movements just as he was about to go down the altar.

“Finally…!”

Calauhel felt delighted. He quickly grasped the Dagger of Mortality as he pulled out a fan from his inventory. He unfolded the fan before throwing the dagger with all his might.

Shweeeeeeeeeek―

The Dagger of Mortality flew straight towards Diablo’s heart. Everyone felt happy at the sight.

‘This is eight billion!!!’

‘Calauhel is finally going to become the king!!!’

A smile was also painted on Calauhel’s lips. He would become the first King in

Athenae

, he could even become the Emperor!

Then…

Claaaaaaaang―

…a kitchen knife suddenly dropped down and intercepted the Dagger of Mortality. And along with that, a huge spear stabbed Diablo’s heart from behind.

Someone suddenly poked their head out and said, “Oops? It’s about time I stop pretending that I don’t know, right?”

“…!”

“…!”

It was Minhyuk. Then, Diablo leaned forward and fell down to the ground. Everyone could tell with just one glance that Diablo was killed. All of the people present in the room fell into shock.

The first thing that they felt was confusion. The question ‘How?’ floated in their heads.

‘What the hell?’?

‘How did Diablo…?’?

From what Calauhel had learned, the power of the Demon King or the power of Ankhassad’s Judgment was needed to kill Diablo.

‘Does this mean that this bastard has Ankhassad’s Judgment?’

The second feeling was being taken advantage of. They were wondering how they got fooled.

‘How did he know?’?

All of their meticulous plans with the help of Great Thief Elion had fallen apart. It was even them that got hit on the head.

Then came the anger and rage. They had been preparing for a long time. It was not only Calauhel, but all of them that had sacrificed their blood, sweat, and tears, just to reach this point. In the end, everything was ruined by this guy.

What was worse was…

“Yayy! This is a crazy level up!!!”

He was mocking them. Just like that, Minhyuk had received surprisingly shocking notifications.

[You have acquired 1,113 platinum.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have learned the passive skill: ‘Momentum’ after successfully hunting Diablo.]

[You have acquired Diablo’s Blade Fragments.]

[You can now become the owner of Atlas after successfully hunting Diablo.]

A notification about the territory Atlas rang in Minhyuk’s ears, but he did not have the time to check about it. Then, the notifications rang for Calauhel too.

[You have failed to meet the transfer conditions for the Royal Class ‘Maestro of Destruction’.]

Meanwhile, Minhyuk spoke as brightly and as cheekily as he could, “

Woooooooooow!?

Look at all these level up notifications! This is a big catch! A big catch!!! And these rewards!

Wow! Wow! Woooow!!!

”

It was the final straw for Calauhel, whose temper and reasoning snapped after hearing his mocking words. This was the first time in his life that he felt this furious.

Calauhel was someone who had everything. And this was a man who had stolen his things. What was worse was that he was even mocking him.

“Die!!!!!” Calauhel snarled loudly.

The worst that could happen was them being forced to log out of here, so everyone took their position and launched an attack on Minhyuk.

Calauhel’s fan was engraved with the skill ‘Hurricane Wind’ so when he fanned it, huge blades of wind immediately assaulted Minhyuk.

[Wind Blade]

[A wind blade that can cut anything. Has additional 220% attack power.]

And that was not the end of it. Even Assassin Amber had her speed boosted by three times as she launched her attack.

[Vital Strike]

[The speed of your movement has increased by x3. You will be able to attack a vital point. Successful hits will give you an additional 180% attack power.]

Just like that, their attacks poured down on Minhyuk.

However, at that moment, Minhyuk took out and tore a parchment in his hands.

[You have used the Guild Member Summoning Parchment.]

[Only the Guild Master and the Lord of the Guild Territory will be able to use the Guild Member Summoning Parchment.]

[The Guild Summoning Parchment is a special parchment that can also summon members of your allied guild if you were given their explicit approval.]

Several rays of light appeared in front of Minhyuk.

The man who appeared in front of him quickly moved as his left arm changed into a dragon’s head momentarily. The dragon’s head immediately nullified all of the attacks that were pouring down on Minhyuk. It looked like the dragon devoured their attacks.

“…!”

Calauhel was shocked. Dispel or attack nullifications would only be possible if the levels of the enemies were lower than the caster. The man that stood in front of them nullified all of their attacks. And…

“I’ll give them back to you.”

Shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa―

Calauhel stared at the wind blade that had been returned to him.

‘This is ridiculous…!’?

But their shock and dismay did not end there. The other members of Blackstone were also hit by the skills that they had used on Minhyuk.

Clash―

Stab!

Bang!

“Urkkk!”

“Kggghk!”

“Ugh!!!”

Shrieks rang loudly in the area. By now, Calauhel could tell that the man in front of them was the first Royal Class in existence, the Dragon Monarch.