CH 581

[Louvert Guild goes under the command of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

[Louvert Guild has a total of 3,211 guild members.]

[Louvert Guild is the best Chef’s Guild in Asgan Continent, an achievement only obtained by them.]

[People will come to visit the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom to taste the delicious food that the kingdom has to offer.]

Minhyuk, who was still sitting on his throne, absorbed the Louvert Guild with a wide and happy smile on his face. Based on Minhyuk’s standards, the Louvert Guild was a great guild. While Black was said to be egoistic and terrible at business, if one looked at his attitude in the perspective of a ‘guild master’, his business ethics were actually correct.

‘Turning Louvert Guild into the best Chef’s Guild is something that he should be proud about. He definitely spent a lot of money during the process.’

Meanwhile, Black was very curious as to what kind of role he would be given in Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. After all, he used to be the head of Louvert Guild, the best chef in Asgan Continent, and one of the top ten chefs in the world.

“What jobs should we take?”

‘Let’s see…’ Minhyuk rubbed his chin in thought. He had already thought of the perfect job for them.

On the other hand, Black and the Louvert Guild executives had no doubts whatsoever that talented people like them would be given important roles in Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

‘For sure…!’

‘I’m sure we’ll be given an extremely important task!!!’

‘We’ll definitely be given a position in Beyond the Heavens Kingdom that will gain the attention of everyone in the world!!!’

***

Thirty minutes later.

“…???”

“…???”

“…???”

“Wash this part over here.”

“…???”

“…???”

“…???”

“No, why are you so bad at washing the dishes?”

“S, sorry…”

The eight executives and Twilight Chef Black were all standing in line in front of Kaistra, the young African boy, master of the Divine Beast, and the ‘God of Dishwashing’, learning how to wash dishes under his supervision.

With the increase in the number of migrants and tourists visiting the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom to taste their dishes and specialties, it became hard even for Kaistra, the ‘God of Dishwashing’, to handle the influx of dishes that he needed to wash in a single day.

“…???”

Even as he continued to wipe the dishes clean, Black still could not understand what was happening, ‘Me… the great me is washing the dishes?’

Back when he was sixteen years old, Black started from the bottom in America by washing dishes and ended up reaching his position.

‘But that should not be the case now, right?’

Then, Kaistra cast his ‘God of Dishwashing’ skill, washing hundreds of dishes all at once without even using water.

“Wow…”

“Wow…”

“Wow…”

Black and the executives looked at Kaistra in awe. But Black immediately came to his senses, thinking, ‘Why are you making the great me do the dishes…!’ while trying to take off his rubber gloves. Just when he was about to slip them off and throw them away…

[You have gained 1 DEX.]

[As a chef, who has reached a high level, you have taken the initiative and set an example to others by going back to your roots.]

[Your cooking skill proficiency has slightly increased.]

“…???”

Black, who was already halfway through removing his gloves, slipped the rubber gloves back on and started washing the dishes again, accompanied by the loud clattering of plates. The same notifications rang in the ears of the executives. After all, they were also chefs that had reached a high level!

The notifications that rang in their ears made both Black and the executives shocked. For chefs that had risen to a high level, just like them, they would only be able to increase their cooking skill proficiency by 3% after working for ten straight days. That was already considered to be a tremendous increase. However, they had only been washing dishes for about an hour and already, their cooking skill proficiency had increased by 2%.

In fact, for classes like blacksmiths and chefs, those that had reached a high enough level would rarely be seen doing odd jobs like this. Hence, Athenae’s system that was revealed to them now came as a huge shock.

‘Oh my god! What incredible foresight…!’

‘The Food God must have known that this would happen, that's why he asked us to wash the dishes!!!’

‘He wanted us to increase our cooking skill proficiency! What a considerate man…!’

As they washed the dishes, Black suddenly asked, “What did the Food God tell us to do after washing the dishes?”

“He told us to go to Ares and help him with the field work.”

They did not shake and tremble like they did before after hearing what they had to do. After all, they finally realized that something amazing was waiting for them there.

***

When Black and the executives arrived at the field, they were able to taste the ‘golden sweet potato’, an ingredient developed by the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

‘Th, this… What a surprising flavor…!’

‘D, delicious…! It’s so delicious that I can’t stop myself from crying…!’

Then, the farmer managing the field approached them and threw hoes on the ground in front of them. The farmer was none other than Ares, who made a name for himself by broadcasting live in his ‘Ares’ Country Diaries’.

“If you want to eat the golden sweet potatoes, then you have to dig it yourself.”

Black and his executives began digging for sweet potatoes without even saying anything. It was because despite being a simple ingredient, the sweet potato tasted divine.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

“I will eat… sweet potatoes…!”

“Golden… sweet potatoes!”

Their eyes seemed to be covered with laser-sharp focus as they continued digging. Then, additional notifications began to ring in their ears.

[You have gained 1 DEX.]

[As a chef, who has reached a high level, you have taken the initiative and set an example to others by going back to your roots.]

[Your cooking skill proficiency has slightly increased.]

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

They were still very much surprised. After digging up enough sweet potatoes to fill their quota, they were given their own rations. After some rest, they began eating their golden sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes that were not cooked, only steamed.

As for Black, he finally realized what the Food God wanted to tell them, ‘Yeah. All this time I believed that high-quality and priceless ingredients were more important…!’

Excellent dishes were usually a result of high-quality ingredients. But these sweet potatoes were just plain and ordinary ingredients. As a true, genuine chef, he should have known the importance of ingredients and learnt how to make the best dishes out of the ordinary. The Food God was obviously trying to enlighten them on this matter.

Of course, the truth was that Minhyuk only gave them those instructions because he was trying to increase the production of the ‘golden sweet potato’ so he could eat more. But they…

Gulp, gulp—

“Food, Food God… Thank you…”

“D, delicious…”

…all crouched down and ate the golden sweet potato bit by bit in one corner. Seeing them, Ares could not help but whistle. Their backs looked completely familiar to him. That was how people would look most of the time after tasting the golden sweet potato and getting addicted to its flavor.

Black could not wash off the smile of his face as he went to sleep after logging out of the game. The excitement that he was feeling was similar to when he first got a job at a hotel.

‘Fufu. I’ll work hard in washing the dishes and digging in the field tomorrow too. Can’t wait~!’

An exciting night passed by just like that. The next day, a set of notifications greeted Minhyuk when he entered the game.

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[Louvert Guild has expressed their loyalty toward the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

[Louvert Guild, despite only recently coming under the command of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, has only praises toward the kingdom.]

There was a ‘How is Beyond the Heavens Kingdom?’ survey plastered in the central plaza, where the guilds under the command of the kingdom could cast their votes and leave comments. In there, Louvert Guild’s master Black and the guild executives all gave a perfect score.

[You have been recognized as an outstanding monarch.]

[You have gained 20 CHA.]

“…???”

Recently, Minhyuk’s head was always filled with question marks.

***

Stars’ Path.

After all of the servers all over the world had integrated, the players could now traverse the Stars’ Path and travel to another continent. Prior to that, various special events, dungeons, and fields usually came together with the appearance of various races and tribes when the Stars’ Path opened. As an example, upon clearing a dungeon for the first time, the players would be able to receive double the rewards, EXP, or drop rate. That was why even though they could immediately go to another continent, quite a few people decided to linger in the Stars’ Path to explore and get the maximum benefits before the special events ended.

However, a strange phenomenon happened when the Stars’ Path opened. A number of players from China’s Cairon Continent started running somewhere and did not even hunt inside the Stars’ Path. The same was true for the players of America. Then, it happened for the players of Japan, Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Vietnam as well. This strange phenomenon happened in all of the continents. All of them ran and ignored the monsters prowling in the hunting grounds in the Stars’ Path.

[The players, as if possessed, gathered as quickly as possible and headed somewhere.]

[Many players have questioned this mysterious phenomenon.]

[They look like they are running a marathon, each country speeding up as if they are saying that they will reach there first.]

[Surprisingly enough, these players are all headed to Asgan Continent.]

[A lot of rumors are spreading wildly right now. There are rumors being spread, about how there is a parchment that would tell the players how to obtain a ‘god rank artifact’ located at the Asgan Continent’s entrance to the Stars’ Path. Some even say that all the countries are secretly plotting together and forming an alliance to fight against the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

[The rumors about how they are forming an alliance to strike Beyond the Heavens Kingdom sound more plausible.]

[Since they have formed an alliance to keep the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom in check during the Battle of the Thrones, it’s highly likely that these countries will cooperate to remove the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom from the annals of history.]

[In fact, we can’t deny that each country is feeling hostility as much as they are yearning to be a part of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

These wild and groundless rumors kept on circulating. And amidst the players heading toward Asgan Continents, many BJs and broadcasting stations blended into the mix, with the thought of broadcasting and filming how these countries tried to pick a fight with the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

***

Haze still could not understand what His Majesty had told her a few days ago.

‘We might not have received the material rewards but we will be able to get far bigger rewards than that.’

She still could not understand the meaning of those words. But then…

Vwooooooooooong—

The loud blare of the horns resounded all over the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. Haze immediately rushed to check what was happening.

“We’re in a state of emergency!!!”

“Prepare for war!!!”

“All troops assemble!!!”

‘A state of emergency?!!’

Haze could not hide the shock on her face. In just a moment, all of the troops had gathered in perfect order. Haze quickly followed along to listen to what happened.

“From what I heard, in the foreigner’s world, many of the foreigners were talking about an alliance to fight against Beyond the Heavens Kingdom?”

Haze could see the truth of the matter. She could tell that these rumors were circulating in the world where the foreigners live. So, they quickly prepared for war.

‘Damn it. Are we going to take damage again?’

Haze was a merchant, as well as the kingdom’s financial manager. Her mind had already drifted far beyond how they would overcome the war and was already lingering on the damages that they would sustain during the process.

Then, Minhyuk, who just logged in, showed up. He climbed on the walls and looked at Haze and the executives all lined up together there. As the sun began to set, the silhouette of millions of troops appeared in front of their eyes.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

This was a huge army never before seen. Such a number did not even appear during the Battle of the Thrones. They were holding flags representing each of their countries. America, United Kingdom, France, Russia, Japan, China, Taiwan… millions of troops that gathered from each nation marched toward Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. But Minhyuk did not issue any orders to attack.

“Your, Your Majesty…! Why are you not issuing an order to attack?!!!”

Haze could not hide her doubts and confusions. Even the commentators were looking at the scene in shock.

[Why is the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom not stopping the troops’ advance?]

Then, Minhyuk smiled, “Haze, look closely.”

Haze turned to look at Minhyuk in confusion. All she could see was millions of troops marching toward them, their shadows turning the ground black, blocking the light of the setting sun! The troops immediately gathered in front of Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s walls.

“This is our bigger reward.”

Then, people from the troops began to step forward and shout…

“I am America’s Cenrich! Beyond the Heavens’ King!!! Please accept us!!!”

“I am Japan’s Mandra! Beyond the Heavens’ King!!! Please allow us to enter and go under the command of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom!!!”

“Beyond the Heavens King!!! The Battle of the Thrones had a huge impact on me. Please let me join you!!!”

“…!”

Their loud and boisterous voices shook the walls of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the BJs and broadcasting stations that thought that these people came here to fight Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were all left flustered. In fact, all of this had been discussed during the King’s Banquet. Although it seemed like most of the things that happened during the King’s Banquet had been made public, everything that had been discussed, except for those posted in Ztube, during the banquet remained private. Millions of troops were actually asking to join Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.

Haze, who watched this scene, felt her heart thump wildly.

‘This huge army wants to enter Beyond the Heavens Kingdom… Goodness, will His Majesty really go beyond a kingdom and establish an empire? Or maybe he would go for a title with a power that’s beyond that of an emperor, a power that can rival a god’s?!’

Just as Haze was still reeling from the shock, Minhyuk uttered words that would bring far bigger shock to her and the rest of the world, “Your request is pending.”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

The whole world felt choked when they realized that the Food God was in a different class. After all, he had just put on hold the request of millions of people.