Chapter 318: The Territory’s True Owner

Black Dragon smiled slightly at the notification window that popped up in front of him. He thought,

‘My son will become the king of a kingdom.’?

This was something that Black Dragon had personally heard from Minhyuk himself. Besides, didn’t he receive two quests before? The quests

‘Monarch’s Qualifications’?

and

‘Monarch among Monarchs’.?

The Monarch’s Qualifications quest was literally a quest that asked him to prove his qualifications as a monarch by building a kingdom. The quest would give him the reward

‘Dragon Monarch’s Armor Set’.?

On the other hand, the Monarch among Monarchs quest was a quest where he needed to designate someone else as the monarch and help them build a kingdom. The quest would give him the same reward as the other quest. No matter what path he chose, he would still receive the same rewards.

Chairman Kang Minhoo, or Dragon Monarch Black Dragon, was a man with enough fame and reputation to his name that would allow him to climb the throne and become a king. However, this very same man was faltering between these two choices. He pondered over the two choices for a long time before finally making a decision.

[Of the two quests, you have chosen the Monarch among Monarchs quest.]

Black Dragon chose to undergo the Monarch among Monarchs quest. The quest that tasked him to help others, not himself, become king! He thought,

‘My?son becoming?king…’

Black Dragon wanted to see his son become king, a position that no one had achieved yet in

Athenae.?

Besides, Minhyuk had only hidden himself from people’s view because of his

eating addiction,

but he was still the person that would lead Ilhwa Group in the future. Black Dragon wanted to see his son become king, and show the world that Minhyuk was capable of this. And as his father, he wanted to provide endless support for his son. After Black Dragon made his choice, additional quest windows popped up in front of him.

[The Class Quest: Dragon Descendants has been created.]

[

Class Quest

: Dragon Descendants]

Rank

: SS

Requirements

: The one who chose Monarch among Monarchs

Rewards

: Dragon Warriors, Dragon Monarch’s Armor Set

Penalty for Failure

: Unable to obtain Dragon Monarch’s Armor Set

Description

: As one who chose another monarch to become king instead of yourself, you are a Dragon Monarch with a class of the same title. Awaken the slumbering Dragon Descendants. Successfully awakening the Dragon Descendants will reward you with the Dragon Warriors. Go to Parden Village and meet with the Dragon’s Child.

‘Dragon Warriors?’?

According to the quest description, Black Dragon would be able to receive the Dragon Warriors once he successfully cleared the quest. According to the description , it was a power that could give strength to the person that he chose as king. So, Black Dragon stood up and began to move.

‘I have to go to Parden Village.’

Since Black Dragon wanted to see his son, Minhyuk, sit on the king’s throne, he had to work hard in

Athenae.

***

All 200 soldiers vowed their

‘

pledge of eternal loyalty

’

! This fact made Minhyuk completely heartbroken. However, he felt relieved after a moment. Thankfully, no one noticed his bout of embarrassment. Minhyuk realized that the soldiers were not under the vassal category, rather, they were under the soldier category that belonged to the territory. If that was the case, then, he did not need to share any food with them, even if he took them under his wing. According to the notifications, the soldiers should disappear after the trial, but they did not disappear and became an additional reward. Then, the additional notifications rang.

[The Death Corps’ 200 soldiers now belong to Atlas territory.]

[The Death Corps’ 200 soldiers have learned the Skill: ‘The One who Returned from Hell’.]

‘The One who Returned from Hell?’

Each and every soldier of the Death Corps had learned the said skill. Minhyuk immediately checked the skill’s information.

(

The One who Returned from Hell

)

Passive Skill

Level

: None

Mana Required

: None

Cooldown

: 160 hours

Effects

:

?In the event of death, they will be revived with 40% HP.

?All of the abilities will increase by 20% in the revived state.

?The physical defense and magical defense will both increase by 40% in the revived state.

?A mirror of the revived person’s body would be created upon revival. Death during the revived state would mean permanent death.

?If the revived person did not die after revival, the body will return to their human form within an hour.

‘Ho…’

Minhyuk rubbed his chin in thought after reading the information. Simply put, even if the soldiers’ HP became zero, they would still be revived. If they did not die in that state, their body would return to their original human form in an hour. Just when he finished checking the skill, another wave of notifications rang in his ears.

[You have completed the Food God’s Trial. You can now receive the rewards of the other trials without undergoing them.]?

[Atlas territory will now be filled with the power and strength of the Four Legendary Figures.]

[Sword and Shield Crusoe will become a member of Atlas Territory for one month. He will disappear after helping the soldiers train.]

.

[During Crusoe’s stay in the territory, all the soldiers’ EXP acquisition rate will double.]

[Except for the players, all troops will have a 5% increase in their defensive power and attack power.]

[Golden Hammer Dwarf Lant will become a member of Atlas Territory for one month. He will help train and nurture outstanding blacksmiths. In addition, Lant’s descendant, Dwarf Olger will now belong to the territory.]

[During Dwarf Lant’s stay in the territory, the probability of increasing the artifact rank will double.]

[Dwarf Lant will nurture and produce at least three master-rank blacksmiths within his one month of stay.]

[Priest Louis will become a member of Atlas Territory for one month. He will train outstanding priests,]

[With Priest Louis’ ‘God’s Decree’, three Athenian Priests from the Athenae Temple will migrate to the territory.]

[Strong holy power covers the entire Atlas Territory thereby doubling the territory’s residents’ natural recovery abilities.]

The notifications were all about the changes in Atlas territory. Then, the notifications for Minhyuk’s personal reward began to ring one after the other.

[You have acquired the Monarch’s Armor.]

[Absolute Demigod Artifact.]

[Only ten of this artifact type exists in the world. This artifact is the closest to the God-rank.]

[Among the ten artifacts, the lower the number of the Absolute Demigod artifact, the better the artifact will be.]

[The Monarch’s Armor is the first among the ten.]

[You can now receive the beef rib eye, chuck flap tail, and hanging tender from cows that were raised in Heaven’s God Runia’s farm.]

[The Heavenly Cows raised in Runia’s farm grew up eating only clean grass that can purify the body. The beef ribeye, chuck flap tail and hanging tender have effects similar to medicine.]

[Artifact closest to God. You have received the first Demigod Artifact.]

[The notification about you, the person who received the artifact closest to God, will spread to the entire world.]

Mei Wei standing next to Minhyuk was shocked to hear about the notification. She thought,

‘Artifact closest to God…?’

The notification that rang for her went like this..

[The player who received the artifact closest to God has been born.]

Mei Wei was certain that the player that the notification was pertaining to was Minhyuk based on their current situation.

‘The artifact closest to God… it will be nice if he can check it out soon.’

Although the artifact was not theirs, anyone would be filled with excitement and anticipation to see the player who received the artifact with the strongest attack or strongest defense.

‘It seems like what Conir said is true. He really is an extraordinary person,’?

Mei Wei thought. But instead of checking the artifact immediately, Minhyuk pulled out a stone grill.

“

Eh?

” Mei Wei cried strangely. She had only seen and interacted with Minhyuk for a short few hours, so she just looked at him in confusion.

***

Minhyuk definitely received the notifications about the first absolute Demigod artifact, the Monarch’s Armor. However, the notifications did not register in his mind at all. He was already thinking about grilling and eating beef, together with the dishes and ingredients that he had stored in his inventory and food storage inventory in advance.

Boil, boil―

The dish, soybean stew with chopped Cheongyang chili peppers, was boiling inside a pot while pickled garlic leaves, scallions in red pepper powder and sesame oil, kimchi, and lettuce and chives were all placed in bowls next to it. There were also ordinary fine salt, salt in sesame oil and spicy dipping sauce in front of Minhyuk.

“Are…are you not going to check the artifact that you received?” Mei Wei asked carefully. But Minhyuk just turned to look at her to shush her.

“Shhh! We have to be reverent during this time.”

“...”

Mei Wei was left in a fluster! However, Minhyuk did not pay her any mind. He just went to check his chuck flap tail.

‘Look at this color, this marbling…’?

The color of the meat, a red that was much deeper and stronger than any regular meat, contrasted brightly against the red and white branch-like stems spreading on top of the meat. Minhyuk carefully lifted a piece of the meat with his tongs and slowly placed it on top of the well-heated stone grill.

Sizzle―

The thrilling sizzle of the meat rang loudly in the area. Minhyuk immediately counted up to ten in his head before flipping the piece of chuck flap tail.

Sizzle―

The part that was first in contact with the grill was cooked perfectly and deliciously. The meat’s juices were also dripping tantalizingly down the meat while being grilled. The key to preserving these juices was turning the meat over properly and quickly.

‘Beef does not taste good if it’s cooked too much.’?

Minhyuk lifted the chuck flap tail that was cooked according to his standards. The charm and beauty of beef could be tasted by eating it purely without any salt or sauce. Minhyuk rolled the piping hot piece of meat inside his mouth to cool it down a bit before chewing it. The phrase

‘the meat melts in your mouth’?

fitted perfectly for this situation. The taste brought a smile to Minhyuk's face.

“This is the taste,” Minhyuk said happily as he placed a few more pieces of chuck flap tail on the grill.

Sizzle―

Once the meat was cooked perfectly again, Minhyuk picked a piece and dipped it in salt. The salt perfectly balanced the bland and greasy flavor of the beef. Then, he dipped the next piece in oil before taking a bite.

“Hahahaha! This taste alone can rival a gold medal!”

Then, Minhyuk grabbed a lettuce leaf, placed a piece of beef on top, some garlic with dipping sauce, some scallions seasoned with red pepper powder and sesame oil, before wrapping it all together and placing the entire thing into his mouth. The wrap was so big that his cheeks became plump from chewing on it. The crunchy lettuce brought the flavors wrapped inside it into perfect harmony. To balance everything, he quickly scooped up a big bite of rice and a spoonful of soybean stew. The spoonful of soybean stew was filled with zucchini and tofu, which added another great harmony to the flavors rampaging in his mouth. The taste of soybean stew in barbeque restaurants was much deeper and spicier. It made one want more.

“

Kgghk~

”

So, Minyuk tried another spoonful. Then, he lifted another piece of beef, placing it on top of a spread of chives, before adding a bit of wasabi and wrapping it together to take it in his mouth.

“

Kgghk

~ This is wagyu, wagyu!”

His next bite of beef was topped with seasoned scallions.

“

Hahahaha!

”

Minhyuk’s following bite was beef wrapped in lettuce and kimchi.

“Delicious… Ha… Thank you very much, Food God!”

The Heavenly Beef that he was eating right now was considered to be the best among the best when compared to all of the beef that he had eaten. After finishing the chuck flap tail and hanging tender, Minhyuk turned his sights to the large beef ribeye. The ribeye’s marbling was blooming perfectly like a flower.

Sizzle―

Steam rose from the ribeye the moment it made contact with the grill! Then, Minhyuk skillfully turned it over to prevent the juices from escaping, before cutting it into bite sized pieces with his scissors. Minhyuk clamped a piece and took it into his mouth. The juicy ribeye felt softer than any meat that Minhyuk had ever tasted. Its flavor was fantastic by itself. When he finished eating the ribeye, Minhyuk took out a bowl of banquet noodles from his inventory.

‘The dessert is noodles!’

In a meat restaurant, there were times when people would crave banquet noodles, not cold noodles or lunch boxes, as dessert in barbeque restaurants. This was also the case for Minhyuk. He even prepared it in advance just for this situation. The thinly chopped kimchi, zucchini and carrots were floating perfectly in the soup. Minhyuk quickly stirred the noodles with his chopsticks before taking a big bite. Minhyuk’s one big bite was enough to take half of the noodles in the bowl into his mouth.

“

Sluuuuuuuurp!

”

Minhyuk did not forget to place a piece of kimchi in his mouth together with his big bite of noodles.

Crunch, crunch―

The spicy and sour flavor of the crispy kimchi added a burst of flavor to the banquet noodles. He could not stop himself from slurping the noodles! After finishing off the noodles in his mouth, Minhyuk lifted the entire bowl, blew on it to cool it down, before drinking the remaining soup.

Sluuuuurp―

“Oh! This is very refreshing!” He shouted before inhaling the noodles once again.

Sluuuuurp!

Just when Minhyuk licked his smiling lips after drinking the last drop of soup of his noodles dessert…

Gulp―

Someone beside him gulped. The person was none other than Mei Wei.

‘...Did I just gulp?’?

She thought. As a person suffering from severe anorexia, she felt shocked by her own subconscious deed.