Gourmet Gaming

[Sluuuuuuuuuuuuuurp.] 

"Wow, he's really eating so deliciously." 

"I also want to eat some ramyeon…" 

"L…look at him eating that hot bar, Amazing…!" 

Everyone in the audience was watching the man eating inside the convenience store. Even the emcee, Jan, was in a daze after seeing the video.

[Jan, are you not going to do your speech?]

The voice that spoke in her in-ear piece stirred Jan from her daze. 

"Slurp!" Jan hurriedly sipped and wiped the drool off of her chin. She was currently on a diet, so she almost made a mistake from watching someone eat so deliciously. She quickly said, "Wow, everyone. Don't you think that he is eating so deliciously? Even I felt a little hungry!" 

"Kiheeeek!" The Wyvern King cried loudly as if to answer her question. It seemed like the both of them were truly hungry.

[Jan. He's the famous pro mukbang BJ from Isbin Village.] 

'Ah, him?' Jan thought, recalling the video that she saw not too long ago. Then, she said, "That player is the pro mukbang BJ who caused an uproar just recently!" 

"Wow... Somehow, I feel like I already knew it." 

"He's really the pro mukbang BJ." 

"No, what's the name of that pro mukbang BJ's broadcast?" 

"But, he really eats deliciously. Is he going to eat all of the food in the convenience store today?" 

This time, the audience watched as the man placed some dumplings in his beef bone ramyeon, before pulling out the hot noodles and dumplings, while chuckling. 

[This is the convenience store's dumpling soup!] 

Strangely enough, the audience felt warm when they saw the man smiling brightly. That was when the player named Bennett approached the man. The camera in the convenience store was installed behind Bennett, so the audience could not see their expressions as of the moment. The audience frowned, even Jan was feeling dissatisfied with Bennett’s sudden behavior. Then, Bennett sat in front of the man. 

[You're really eating deliciously. Can I talk to you...] 

[No. I have to eat this!] 

[Hey, don't say that, let's talk for a bit. Just a word...] 

"Boo!"

“Ah! What an attention-seeking bastard!”

“Bennett? Wasn’t he the one who hit a girl some time ago because he got drunk?” 

“Wow! He’s really disgusting! Is he trying to save his image or something?” 

“Boo!”  

The audience booed loudly whenever there was a gap in the comments.

[He's eating. Please don't disturb him.] 

[Even a dog should not be provoked when it's eating, what more a person! Why are you so focused on someone that you don't even like? If you want some attention, then go outside, take off your clothes and dance.] 

The people in the audience cheered when they heard the people inside the convenience store talk back to Bennett. Because of their tenacity, Bennett had no choice but to take a step back. Right at that moment, a bright light flashed, signaling the entrance of another person. 

"Finally. Our strongest contender for the title of champion in this tournament, Miss Lucia, has arrived!" Jan cried loudly, drawing everyone’s attention towards Lucia. They watched Lucia enter the convenience store right after logging in. The convenience store went quiet the moment this black-masked woman entered. Suddenly, Lucia stopped walking. Her gaze was currently fixed on one person.. 

"Ah, Miss Lucia also can't help but stop in front of the pro mukbang BJ. Maybe she can't walk away!" 

"Wahahahaha!" 

"Hahahahahaha!" 

But contrary to what they said, Lucia ignored the man and trudged towards an empty seat.

"Thirty minutes left before the start of the tournament!" 

***

Lucia was completely confused. She thought, 'Why did Minhyuk...' 

She was sure that he was going to participate in the production class competition. So, why was he here? However, the fact that he was here meant that he had passed the preliminaries. Regardless of her confusion, Lucia did not sit near Minhyuk nor talk to him.

'My enemies will target Minhyuk if I do that.' 

If it was revealed to Lucia’s enemies that Minhyuk was close to her, those who were present in this tournament would definitely go after him. That was why Lucia pretended not to know him. However, contrary to her beliefs and despite her careful actions, a group of players were already eyeing both her and Minhyuk. 

They were none other than the people from Bacallo Guild.

"Is that true? Those two came to Emperor's City together in a carriage?" Vlan asked, eyes narrowing sharply. He was currently the one leading the Bacallo Guild in this tournament.

"Yes. It's true. I definitely saw the two of them riding the same carriage and arriving together. I even saw that man waving goodbye to Lucia." 

"Hmm, I see." 

Bacallo Guild participated in this tournament to kill Lucia. Lucia was a rising power and rumor had it that she would gather aces and create a guild, after she won the competition and learned Ellie's Swordsmanship. Everyone expected that guild to become famous. However, what would happen if Bacallo killed Lucia? 

'We can become even more famous if we kill her.' 

Of course, they would attack her with their group. That did not mean that they were not strong. In fact, Vlan had a secret class.

'Should we take a hostage? But this is just a game, can it really be considered a hostage?' Vlan thought. However, even if he could not take any hostages, he could still do something different.

'Should we break Lucia's composure by killing that person? Is he her lover? I think he’s her lover.' 

The man that they were watching had covered half of his face but Vlan could still see his handsomeness through that. From what he heard, Lucia also kept on looking back the moment that man disappeared after they said their goodbyes.

[The tournament will begin in ten minutes. Participants will be randomly teleported to different parts of Cork Island within ten minutes after leaving the convenience store! You can also come back to the convenience store to rest.] 

After hearing Jan’s words, the members of the Bacallo Guild began to prepare. With three minutes left in the countdown, almost all of the players had already left the convenience store. Well, except for one.

Chomp—

That player looked quite indifferent to the tournament and was busy just eating the convenience store's warm red bean bread. 

[The tournament has begun!] 

[Waaaaaaaaaah!] 

***

Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa were both on Cork Island in transparent mode. They entered the convenience store the moment the start of the tournament was announced. When they entered, Lee Minhwa saw Minhyuk eating ramyeon, without any shred of interest in the tournament.

Slurp— 

'Wow... Look at his proportions.' 

However, in reality, Minhyuk’s proportions were unimaginable. 

All of the operators could roam around Cork Island in transparent mode. As long as they marked a coordinate, they would be able to teleport straight to where the coordinate was.

“Looks like one of our important characters is still busy eating in the convenience store.”

"Yeah. He really doesn’t seem like he has any interest in the tournament." 

"I know, right?" 

The two of them grinned at each other. 

"32-A. Log the coordinates." 

"Yes, logging it." 

Then, Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa disappeared in a flash of light. Once the bright light that covered them faded, they saw Lucia.

Flash! 

Thwack! 

[You have dealt a critical hit.] 

They watched Lucia easily dispose of some of the players before quickly blending in with the trees in the forest. Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa both saw her go inside the forest but soon, they could not see her figure any more. There was a look of admiration on their faces.

"As expected of Lucia." 

"Well, it was within expectations. Teleport to K-31."

The two of them disappeared again in a flash. They were now looking at a man who was covered in a black robe from head to toe. 

"Another key figure. Jackal." 

"Yeah." 

Both of them nodded. There were a lot of important figures in this competition, and one of them was Jackal, a legendary class holder. 

'The Black Wizard's Descendant.' 

The Black Wizard's Descendant was a class with great magic attacks. However, the most problematic skill that this class had was its Mental Magic. They did not know what would happen if he used that magic. 

"He's not going to use that, is he?" 

"He's probably not going to use it. His level will drop back to Level 1 if he uses it." 

Would anyone be crazy enough to do that? The answer was probably no. Then, light flashed again as the two disappeared.

***

"Damn it."

The members of the Bacallo guild moved towards the convenience store to organize an operational meeting. Lucia had already forced out three of their members. They were trying to move to their agreed spot when they got attacked. Lucia already had six kills. Her track record was overwhelming. No matter how good a player was, they would be useless once they were logged out. 

Just then, Vlan hesitated. He noticed Lucia and the masked man inside. 

***

Lucia quickly subdued and overwhelmed the players before heading back towards the convenience store. A lot of people would definitely be gathered in the convenience store since it was a safe zone. People would usually deliberately induce a fight, but run away the moment they shed blood. That was why there were a lot of people here. Lucia immediately saw Minhyuk the moment she entered the convenience store. She stealthily looked around before approaching him.

Grin―

Lucia grinned and asked, "Is it delicious?" 

Chew, chew—

Just like usual, Minhyuk did not answer her. After all, he would not respond to anyone as long as he was eating.

"What are you doing here when you're a chef? I was surprised when I saw you," Lucia asked as she stared at the monitor. Thankfully, the monitor would not show their traces when they were inside the convenience store.

"Did you do a good job during the preliminaries? How long did it take you to clear the gates?" 

"29 minutes and 57 seconds? Don't talk to me!" 

"You barely managed to get in," Lucia said, grabbing a can of soda to moisten her throat. 

'Those Bacallo bastards are much more malicious than I thought.' 

Since they were special force soldiers, their tactics and strategies were unusual. Lucia realized that it would not be easy for her to narrow down their area of operation and stop them from doing a siege. At that moment, Lucia felt the presence of other players. She hurriedly distanced herself away from Minhyuk. 

Creeaaak—

The door opened and the members of the Bacallo Guild came inside. 

"Oh, so you're here. Lucia." 

"..." 

Lucia did not answer them and just continued to finish her drink. Then, Vlan approached Minhyuk. He checked his monitor and quickly inspected the pile of cup ramyeon on the table.

Slap—

The cups of ramen fell down on the ground. 

Splash—

Ramen soup splashed on the floor of the convenience store. 

"..." 

For the first time in a long while, Minhyuk turned to look at the people around him.

"Oops, my mistake. But you should be ashamed of yourself. Is it fun to eat and get the attention of others?" Vlan said, throwing Lucia a side glance in provocation. However, she ignored them. ‘No’, Vlan thought, ‘she’s just pretending that she doesn’t care.’

'If she stops me, then it means that they know each other…' 

Minhyuk hurriedly drank the soup in his cup noodles while Vlan stepped on the ramyeon that he slapped on the ground.

Splash! 

"Kukuku!" 

"Hahahahaha!" 

Vlan and the rest of his members laughed. Vlan said, "Let's go out and have a chat." 

Just as they were about to go out…

"Oi, war freaks." 

…a cold and frigid voice stopped them. Vlan turned his head and saw Minhyuk. 

"Clean this up before you go." 

"...You clean it up, you f*cker," Vlan said as he ushered his group outside. 

Lucia was shocked to see what happened. However, she was more shocked to see Minhyuk’s reaction. She thought, 'His, his eyes…'

Minhyuk quietly stood up with a hot bar in his mouth. 

Crack— 

Crack—

He cracked his neck and loosened up his stiff muscles, before moving to leave. Seeing this, Lucia hurriedly asked, "W… where are you going?" 

"The tournament. I’ve finished eating so it's now time for me to start moving," Minhyuk said as he grabbed an armful of chocolate bars from the counter.

"I thought you weren't interested?" 

"I didn't care as much before. But Lucia, do you know what's the worst thing in the world?" 

"...?" 

"Bastards who mess around with food,” Minhyuk’s voice dropped coldly, before he dashed out of the convenience store.

"Why don't you come with me...!" Lucia called out, but before she could even finish, Minhyuk had already disappeared. The first time that any player went out of the store, they would disappear and be summoned randomly on the island. 

Lucia was worried. 

'29 minutes and 57 seconds… He just barely got in…'

It was already very surprising for a chef to pass the preliminaries. However, a chef would still be far below in level to the others in this tournament. Lucia’s eyes suddenly gleamed coldly. "Those damn bastards." 

***

Vlan exchanged a cold look with the members of the Bacallo guild. He said, "She's alone. Once she is in a certain range within the tactical field, we will spread out and lock her in!"

"Yes!"

Dash, dash, dash, dash!

Dash, dash, dash, dash! 

Bacallo Guild had found Lucia running around in the forest. She had attacked them fiercely the moment she caught sight of them. Vlan immediately signaled his team the moment she entered his tactical field. Vlan had the secret class 'Iron Blooded Commander'. He could command and create a tactical field together with the people that had the class 'Brave Warrior'. Once the tactical field was deployed, Vlan would be able to control the entire area and stop their prey from going out. In addition, he and the Brave Warriors would have a 20% increase in abilities within the field.

Shwaaaa—

"Aaaaargh!" 

"Kill her! Now's the best time!" 

Another member of the Bacallo Guild was forced to log out. Fortunately, the members of the Bacallo Guild were already on their way to their respective positions. This meant that the tactical field was already on its way to completion.

'Good, this time…' 

Pooof! 

Lucia disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. 

"This damn…!" Vlan shouted, his face crumpling in anger. 

'No, she won't be able to use that very often.' 

Lucia had disappeared from their tactical field. The tactical field covered an area of 500 meters, and teleportation of that range would definitely be limited at Lucia's level. 

At that moment… 

Step, step, step, step—

A man walked right inside their tactical field. 

"...You little bastard," Vlan said, smiling viciously. He was thinking that they met at the perfect time. He was boiling with rage from Lucia’s disappearance, but this was practically a godsend. He was very certain that Lucia and this man knew each other, it was just that Lucia did not respond to his provocation. The man right in front of him was none other than… Minhyuk.

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