Gourmet Gaming

Black Dragon’s spear pierced through Henry’s chest.

[Your HP has dropped below 40%!]

[Critical strike! You are bleeding!]

[You will be in a very dangerous situation if you don’t stop the bleeding!]

Henry was shocked that Black Dragon was able to reach him despite the thousands of soldiers and rankers that stood between them earlier.

The Black Dragon that they knew of was a chuuni through and through. Now that they had made him upset, the gaze that he used to look at them was horrifyingly cold.

Shiver—

A chill ran down Henry’s spine. Black Dragon’s gaze was too sharp and cold for a mere merchant inside a game to handle.

“This is certainly very surprising. I never expected that I would be beaten by a mere summoner like you. Even if we fought 1:1, I believe I will still lose against you.”

Hansen, who had been stabbed by Black Dragon’s spear earlier, had finally come to his senses and was coming after him. “I believe you have just used an attacking skill, no? I’m pretty sure you don’t have a lot of that in your arsenal. So, it’s safe to say that you have already given your best, right?”

That was right. Black Dragon could win against Hansen or any of the rankers at the top 1,000 rankings in a 1v1 fight. However, the problem is that Black Dragon was currently up against a huge number of enemies.

“From what I can see, you’re thinking of showing us an overwhelming force from the very beginning to force us to retreat, no?”

When Hansen’s words ended, one of the ranker-class mages cast an Explosion right beneath Black Dragon.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—!

Black Dragon was sent flying by the tremendous explosion.

“Ugh!”

Taking this opportunity, the close-combat rankers immediately dashed forward, chasing after Black Dragon and putting immense pressure on the man.

“…Phew.” Henry sighed in relief. He had been completely overwhelmed by Black Dragon’s momentum that he momentarily forgot the current situation. Black Dragon would not be able to win against them.

“Kihyeeeeeeeck!”

“Kiiiiiiiiiik!”

“Graaaaaaaaaa!”

Despite ignoring the pains to continue biting their enemies fiercely, the Four Legendary Dragons still ended up being pushed back. They were growing more and more exhausted the longer they fought. On top of that, they were struggling from the pain of the countless gashes and injuries that littered their bodies.

“Hold on! Please, hold on a bit longer!” Black Dragon begged the Four Legendary Dragons to hold on with the last vestige of their strength. He was also doing the same, giving his all to prevent the close-combat players from gaining more ground.

“So, you’re the Dragon Lord’s candidate.”

At this moment, Henry and Rex took this opportunity to approach Luna. Although Luna was someone that they had to be very wary of, she was still just a small hatchling. She had not yet reached her full growth. They believed they could still deal with her.

“Kihyeee…?”

Luna might be the Dragon Lord’s candidate but she was currently a sheltered flower protected by a greenhouse. She had never truly felt what danger was and how it could threaten her life. That was why this situation caused Luna to be terrified.

“Kihyeeeee?” Luna inched backward, flapping her tiny wings as the two people approached her.

“Luna!!!” Black Dragon shouted. However, this momentary lapse in attention allowed the rankers the opportunity to cut him down with their swords.

“Kihyeeee…”

Luna did not know what this feeling was. She felt fear and her heart ached terribly.

Throb—

Luna’s heart thumped fiercely as an unknown and dull ache spread in her body. This was the growing pains of a legendary dragon. Luna watched as her dear uncle Black Dragon dragged his bloody and injured body just to run to where she was.

Drip, drip—

Tears slowly flowed down from Luna’s big eyes.

“Kihyeee…”

Luna was crying. She cried in fear as Rex, Henry and hundreds of troops approached her.

“Oiiiiiiiink!”

At that moment, a baby piggy stood in front of Luna.

This baby piggy was Luna’s ever-so-playful and mischievous second teacher, who cared for and loved her with all his heart and soul. Luna had not seen much of Beanie’s serious side in her young life. From birth, all she had heard her second teacher say was that he was hungry.

But at this very moment, Luna’s second teacher, the baby piggy Beanie, looked back at her with a small and faint smile on his face.

“Oiiiiink. (Luna.)”

“Kihyeeeeeee…”

“Oiiiiink. (Don’t cry. Oink.)”

“Kihyeeeeeeee…”

Beanie showed a bright and wide grin to the terrified Luna. At that moment, warmth gushed inside Luna’s body as she felt her heart flutter.

“Oiiiiiiiiiink!”

Beanie drew his Food God’s Kitchen Knife.

Flaaaaash—

A golden crown and golden full-plate armor appeared and covered Beanie as he stood in front of the crying Luna. Then, he made his move. Beanie could use the power of the Predator’s Authority, a skill with enough force to kill everyone in this place.

Crackleeeee—

And now, the power that he preyed on began to boil. Black flames crackled to life from the blade of Beanie’s kitchen knife.

Crackleeee—

Beanie glared sharply at the enemies that approached them. He wanted to protect his dear and precious Luna.

Predator’s Authority not only copied another’s skill but it could also replicate its state when it was copied, including all of the buffs and enhancements during that time.

Beanie unleashed the power of Minhyuk’s Overlord’s Technique that had been under the effect of ‘Double Skill’. In other words, the skill was twice as powerful.

[Overlord’s Technique.]

[The Overlord’s Fire, with an additional 10,000%~16,000% attack, will engulf everyone within a 120~160 meter radius.]

Beanie swung his kitchen knife, the overwhelming power of the Overlord’s Technique bursting toward his enemies as the black flames roared to life.

Rumbleeeeeeee—

The fire was so intense that it could melt anything and everything that it passed by, shaking the heavens and the earths.

“Oiiiiiiiiiink!”

Cold sweat broke out of Rex’s and Henry’s foreheads as they watched the blazing flames devour the area.

‘Shit…’

‘He’s going to be able to melt down and kill thousands of our troops if things continue at this rate.’

However, the two laughed in relief not long after. They had hidden several mages that were capable of casting high-class magic among their troops. These mages had been lying low and waiting for such a moment. They immediately cast a barrier that was absolutely invincible.

Vwoooooooooong—

A dome-like barrier spread out and prevented the fire from doing any damage to their troops.

Crackleeeeee—

As for the troops that failed to hide inside the barrier, they all turned to ashes and disappeared. However, there were still well over half of the troops that survived the catastrophe.

“…Oink.”

Beanie’s face turned ugly at the unexpected outcome. Rex and Henry had been wary of Beanie’s ‘Predator’s Authority.’ Because of that, they had prepared a countermeasure in advance. The expression on Beanie’s face was grave when he turned away from Luna.

“Oiiiiiiink…!”

Beanie decided to jump right into the enemy ranks. It was the only way he could prevent them from reaching Luna.

“Oiiiiiink.”

Swooooooosh—

Beanie wielded his kitchen knife skillfully as he flew toward the enemy. He made use of his small stature to cut down his enemies one after another and cast his artifact’s skills at the perfect moment.

[Rain of Kitchen Knives.]

[Hundreds of strong and powerful kitchen knives with an additional 200% damage will fall down from the sky and crush your enemies.]

The skill caused numerous knives to fall from the sky and stabbed through Beanie’s enemies.

“Keuaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaaaaaack!”

“Kghhhhhhhk…!”

Slaaaaaaaash—

“Oiiiiiiiink…!”

One of the rankers cut down Beanie, who was weaving through his enemies and the rain of black kitchen knives, sending him crashing to the ground.

Beanie might be able to deal a huge amount of damage, but his HP and defenses were very low. He staggered on his feet, struggling to stand back up and fight once more. However, a bombardment of magic fell upon him.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—!

“O, oiiiiiiink…!”

Notifications about his summoning being recalled constantly rang in Beanie’s ears as the bombardment devoured and threatened to rip apart his body. However, he ignored the notifications.

‘No one will be able to protect Luna if I disappear here. Oink.’

Black Dragon also realized that the situation was going downhill.

[‘Player’ Minhyuk has received your message through the black hawk. He is currently writing a reply.]

[You can now communicate and exchange letters with each other through the Crisis Hawk.]

Black letters began to appear one after another in front of Black Dragon.

[I’m already warping to the location that you have mentioned.]

Black Dragon struggled to read the letters that were being written in front of him as he continued to fight a fierce battle. He looked around in exhaustion.

[How long do you think it will take?]

The reply came shortly afterward.

[Around ten minutes.]

[That’s far too late…]

Black Dragon’s expression turned dark. The fact that Minhyuk was arriving here in ten minutes meant that he rushed here the moment he received the message. However, the problem was that they were not sure if they could even last for ten more minutes. Beanie was already struggling to stay on his feet, his body covered with injuries. Even Black Dragon was in a pinch. His HP had already dropped below 15%. There was no guarantee that they could last for that much time.

[Is there no other way?]

Black Dragon wanted to protect Beanie and Luna, one way or another. Then, Minhyuk’s reply was branded in the space in front of him.

[Father, Beanie…]

Black Dragon doubted his eyes for a moment when he saw what was written in front of him. He turned to look at the groaning Beanie, who had collapsed on the ground once again. Then, he read the message once again.

[…might be the most powerful being in the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.]

***

“Kihyeeeeeeee! Kihyeeeeeeee!”

The sadness that Luna felt almost overwhelmed her when she saw Beanie struggle to stand up after collapsing on the ground over and over again. He was even using his kitchen knife to support himself.

“Oiiiiiink…”

Luna’s heart ached terribly as she looked at him. It was a strange and unfamiliar emotion for the young dragon.

“Kihyeeeeeee…”

Tears flowed from the hatchling Luna’s big eyes. Luna wanted to tell Beannie to stop struggling and not to push himself anymore. However, she realized soon after that the reason why Beanie was not backing down was because he was protecting her. This realization made her cry even louder.

“Oiiiink…”

However, despite the injuries and gashes that covered his body and littered his face, Beanie still looked at her with a small smile. Beanie was the Supreme Divine Beast. However, recently, he felt like he was not growing as much as he wanted.

‘I also want to be as strong as Brod, Elpis and Spear God Ben so I can protect Luna. I want to be stronger so that Minhyuk will not worry about me and he will summon me more. I want to be stronger than anybody else so I can save my master, Minhyuk, whenever he’s in danger.’

Beanie hated the fact that he was weak, despite having the title of Supreme Divine Beast. Tears streamed down his face. He wanted to protect Luna and of course, he also wanted to live and survive. He hoped to watch his beloved Luna grow from a hatchling to an adult dragon and become the king of all dragons.

Baaaaaang—

However, Beanie was helpless. One of the players kicked him and sent him flying back. Although he struggled to stand up once again, he could no longer prop himself up. Beanie tried to force his eyes to remain open somehow, but in the end they still closed. Along with that, his body started to droop.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeee!”

Luna roared, her heart-rending scream drawing the attention of everyone present.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeee!”

Beanie had always lovingly stroked her back while calling out to her with an ‘oink.’

—I’m so full, oink!

Luna recalled how Beanie smiled brightly while patting his bulging belly. She cried loudly as she desperately flew to where he was. Beanie, the one that always smiled at her, the one that always protected her, the one that loved her with all his heart.

***

[On that day, my second father, the baby piggy, sacrificed his life for me. I flew desperately to where his gradually cooling body was while the enemies scrambled to wield their weapons, magic and arrows to kill me. However, I saw none of them through the sadness and despair that enveloped my entire being as I desperately flew to where my father was.]

[Rumbleeeeeeee—!]

[Crackleeeeeeee—!]

[Shwaaaaaaaa—!]

[Then, my father enveloped me in a warm hug.]

[With an oink, he gave me his usual smile as he shielded me from all of the attacks that came my way with his body.]

[I was young back then and all I could do was stare at my father. At that moment, I witnessed my father awaken the power that had been sleeping in his body.]

[Plenty of people in that place died with a single swing from my father’s blade.]

[On that day, the figure of my father that was reflected in my eyes looked greater than anyone else in the world.]

Great Dragon Luna’s Autobiography (Excerpt)