The official announcement for the Battle of the Thrones was made four days before the server integration. This was a move that was completely different from what Joy Co. Ltd. usually did. The company would usually make an announcement for an event two weeks prior, to give ample time for players to prepare.
Due to the sudden and unexpected announcement, all of the players were now in a hurry. Guilds from all over the world started electing participants for the Battle of the Thrones and running around to choose which one would become their king. But, the same could not be applied to South Korea. After all, their king had already been confirmed.
That was not the only reason everyone was in a mad rush. The other factor was the ‘castle’ blueprint. Everyone was only given a four-day time limit to pass their plans. The governments of each of the participating countries even started contacting and hiring world-class architects.
Unfortunately, they were forgetting one thing. The castle that they had to build was going to be used for war. In reality, most fancy and glamorous architecture expressed the soul of the architect and the beauty they envisioned. Of course, outstanding and world-class architects would be able to produce better buildings compared to others. However, the fact that this castle would be used for war meant that they had to create something that would be able to support the people that would stay in it.
Just like the castle that Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had created under the collaboration of their own geniuses and talents.
Golden Hammer Dwarf Lant’s best disciple, Olger! He was a genius dwarf that Lant, an existence that was hailed as the king of the dwarves in the entire continent, cherished the most. They also had Athenae’s Roadol, the president of Ilhwa Constructions and a legend of the Korean construction industry, who had watched countless war movies and had designed many medieval architecture. There was also Hyemin’sDaddy, the descendant of the God of the Blacksmiths, and Knowledge Star, Tactician Jarod. These four people participated and designed the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s castle. The four of them spent days and nights, opting to forego sleep to finish the design that was due in four days.
“Everyone will be our enemy. All of them will target us,” Knowledge Star Jarod said while everyone nodded in agreement with his predictions. The four of them knew that the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom would be the target of all of the kingdoms participating in the Battle of the Thrones.
“I think a huge river surrounding the castle is a good idea. We can drop our enemies in the river and deal more damage at the same time.”
“If we’re going to have a huge river, then we have to build a nice and sturdy bridge that will serve as our passage into the castle.”
“The long bridge will also be able to stop the enemies’ mindless charge and limit the number that we have to deal with at the same time.”
“Let’s also add a system that will allow us to control the bridge freely from the safety of the castle walls.”
“There’s a limit to how many magical abilities we can add to the castle. In the first place, it is already impossible for such an ability to be infinite. However, even if we can do it, it will just hold us back.”
“If that’s the case, then let’s just place a huge shield and cover the king’s statue. Let’s also add an attack reflection magic on it.”
“We’ll have to be prepared for aerial warfare too.”
The castle that the four of them were creating was focused only on defense.
The castle was important to keep the enemies at bay, but more than that, Athenae promised great rewards for the kingdom that would create the best blueprint. The country’s server that would present the most outstanding blueprint within four days would be given a special siege weapon in secret. On top of that, their own territory would be available in front of their country’s kingdom for two hours.
Simply put, Athenae would not inform anyone which castle was chosen as the best castle and would just give these privileges to the country privately.
On the third day, Genie looked at the blueprint that was worked on by the brilliant minds, and said, “This is truly the best.”
She was completely fascinated by the building design, immediately sending a report to Minhyuk before submitting the design to Joy Co. Ltd.
Meanwhile, countless famous architects had gathered in Joy Co. Ltd.’s Event Hosting Team to review the blueprints and building designs that the participating countries had sent. Of course, Kang Taehoon was among them.
”The design that China submitted is larger and more beautiful than the Great Wall. But at the same time, it also poses a problem. Because they wanted to make it look cool and big, the practical effects of the castle have been greatly diminished.”
“America’s blueprint is definitely excellent. However, they are overestimating themselves far too much. Their castle is completely focused on attacking. They would have a hard time defending it. This is probably because of their pride.”
“Japan’s castle…”
Surprisingly enough, quite a few countries had decided to rely on the ‘Athenae Produced Castles’. These countries believed that only three to four days of time to create a blueprint was not enough and had decided that it would be better to just rely on the castles created by Athenae. Just one look at the blueprint that China presented and one would understand. The castle might look beautiful, but it was lacking compared to the castles in Athenae.
“Who should we award the Noble Castle Blueprint Award to?” President Kang Taehoon rubbed his chin in thought.
Of course, they had sent the announcement in a hurry but considering that they were true rankers, they believed that they would be able to come up with a genuine and solid blueprint in that short amount of time. Besides they only asked for a blueprint, and not for them to build the castle.
Then, at that moment…
“South Korea’s blueprint has come in!”
All of the architects rushed to check the blueprint. They looked at it solemnly and silently for quite a long time.
“How is it?”
Kang Taehoon was a game developer, not an architect. As someone with only a superficial knowledge on architectures and buildings, the blueprint that Korea sent in was no different than the blueprint for America’s castle to his eyes. But…
“This is very amazing. It’s to the point where I have to wonder if this is a design that one could truly come up with in just three days.”
“The ways they’ve utilized the terrain and their arrangement of the siege weapons in their castle walls… truly meticulous and outstanding. It’s like we’re looking at a blueprint of a castle made by genuine medieval architects.”
“It’s very hard to find any cons to this design. I believe no other castle can catch up to this at all.”
President Kang Taehoon felt proud of the castle created by the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. This was a fair judgment for all of the servers; there was no discrimination at all. And the fact that South Korea had completely taken the lead in terms of architectural design was enough to make him feel proud.
“Then, the Noble Castle Blueprint Award will be awarded to South Korea.”
It seemed like South Korea was fully prepared.
Just then, Team Leader Park Minggyu suddenly entered the room, “President, the problem that we were worried about has happened.”
“Is it what I think it is?”
“That’s right,” Team Leader Park’s expression was very solemn, “The kings elected by three countries have expressed their intentions to participate in the middle of the Battle of the Thrones.”
“Which countries?”
“France, Japan and…” Team Leader Park Minggyu, with a bitter smile on his face, finished his words, “…our very own, South Korea.”
“…”
The Battle of the Thrones was expected to begin in a few days. In fact, the formal announcement was made just three days ago. Of course, players that were currently engaged in important quests, hunts, and important tasks had no choice but to give up and decline participation, especially if one was in the middle of a quest. After all, they risked failing the quest if they suddenly left midway.
One might then wonder, would everything work out if they could just extract the player from the quest? Yes. But that was impossible. If they did that, then Athenae’s flow might collapse. This was a loophole that they could not do anything about since they prepared the Battle of the Thrones in a hurry.
All they could do was do the next best thing, allow them to participate midway.
“Kings that participate later will be less exhausted and would not need to worry about their skill cooldown. We can expect a lot of backlash from other players if we allow this.”
“Then, are they supposed to elect a new king to replace their initially chosen king?”
That would also be very difficult to do. The kings that were currently chosen and elected by their countries had symbolic meanings, doing so would reject this in the first place.
“Just like what I said before, for kings that will participate in the middle of the event, they will receive less privileges than the kings that participated from the start.”
Kings would, of course, actively seek more power than usual. And for kings that would participate in the middle, they were bound to get less benefits. In other words, Minhyuk, Asgan Continent’s chosen king, will receive lesser benefits compared to other kings. In fact, it would definitely be considered a loss for them. Still, doing so appeases those that might clamor about why some kings participated in the middle. But…
“It would be a different story if they would become strong enough to ignore the penalty of participating in the middle.”
***
Thanks to the chicken soup that Minhyuk cooked for her, Arlene’s power had been unsealed. And just like she said before, all of this was so she could cook for someone. Arlene then instructed Minhyuk to gather the ingredients on her behalf. Minhyuk had been climbing cliffs and fighting monsters for days on end to collect and harvest the ingredients that she needed.
‘This cranky old hag…’
Minhyuk thought that Arlene was just making things hard for him. But even if he thought that way, Arlene was the only solution that he had to unseal his Absolute God’s Secret.
What if she suddenly decided not to unseal it?
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So, he had no choice but to continue to collect the ingredients and of course, and it took quite a lot of time. On top of that, the Battle of the Thrones was set to start tomorrow. Of course, Minhyuk had already expressed his intentions to participate in the middle to Joy Co. Ltd. Still, he had to immediately go there the moment he unsealed his Absolute God’s Secret.
“Thank you for your hard work. Ah, now all you have to do is cook this dish and give it to him and you’ll unseal the secret that those bastards sealed, right?”
Arlene was aware of everything including the reason why Minhyuk found her.
“I should probably start cooking now, then.”
“Of course,” Minhyuk nodded, his expectations soaring.
‘I’ll be able to personally witness the God of Cooking cooking?’
This was a very emotional moment for a Food God like him. And not only that, she was also the previous Food God’s master.
“But you know what?” Arlene said, her lips curling up into a smirk. She was a very ill-tempered and mischievous woman. However, this time, the prank that she was going to play was a well-meaning one, “I believe this dish is something that you should cook, not me.”
Minhyuk looked at her, bewildered. When cooking, the chef would pour their heart out on the dish that they were making. Simply put, it was more meaningful if the chef cooked for someone precious to them. But Arlene suddenly said that she would not cook for ‘him’ and even asked Minhyuk to cook instead?
“Why? Isn’t he your precious person? Why are you asking me to cook instead?”
Also, Arlene’s seal had been truly hard to unravel. But she completely ignored that fact and even asked him to cook in her stead?
“You’re the one that has to do it. He’s more precious to you than me,” Arlene said, waving her hand in the air. Suddenly, the translucent figure of an old man and a woman appeared right next to Arlene.
Minhyuk felt his heart stop when he saw the old man’s figure. Oh, how much he missed this man, how much he missed hearing his voice. Minhyuk recalled how the old man gently patted his shoulders with his rough hands and said, ‘Your Majesty, I’m with you. Please don’t worry. Hohoho!’ This person had been a huge part of Minhyuk’s life, someone that sacrificed his own life and even went so far as to sell his soul to the God of Death just so he could protect the people precious to Minhyuk.
Then, the notifications rang.
[The God of Cooking, one of the Absolute Gods, is narrating the story of a king and his retainer.]
[The retainer fought hard to return to his king’s arms to the point that even the gods grew afraid of him.]
[The retainer collapsed thousands of times but every time he would stand up and hold on to his spear to protect his king and his promise.]
[The retainer longs for his king, looking forward to the day when he would return to his side.]
[Despite the countless wounds and injuries littering the retainer’s body, he always declared that he would never back down.]
Arlene said, “Cook using my unsealed powers.”
Then, another set of notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears.
[God of Cooking Arlene is lending you her powers!]
[With God of Cooking Arlene lending you her powers, you will be able to use some of the God of Cooking’s power when you cook.]
[Caution! If you use a portion of the power of the God of Cooking, you will receive a five times higher penalty and be forced to log out if you can’t get a ‘God Grade’ dish!]
After the retainer’s story ended, the king’s story began.
[There was not a single day that the king did not remember his retainer.]
[The wheels of fate turned and the king unknowingly chased after his retainer.]
[The king misses the coffee that his retainer makes.]
[The king… his retainer…]
[The king… his retainer…]
The notifications continued to ring but Minhyuk’s eyes were only trained on Ben’s figure. He watched as Ben was pushed back by a woman holding an unidentified spear, as Ben hacked and vomited a mouthful of blood and tried to get up once again. He looked like he was about to collapse but he held on to his spear and stood up with all his might.
Minhyuk gritted his teeth, his hands clenched tightly into fists. He did not care about the five-fold penalty. All he wanted to do was fight for Ghost Spear Ben.
So, he said, “I accept. I will use Arlene’s power to cook a dish for Ben.”
At that moment, Arlene began to narrate a new chapter of the story of the king and his retainer.
[The king declared that he would fight for his retainer.]
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