Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 1143

Weapons and armor were different from the air that naturally existed in nature. These items did not exist in nature; they were made by someone.

Minhyuk could never forget the notifications he had heard when he had obtained the Sword of Aeon.

[The Sword of Aeon is the greatest sword among all the existing swords.]

The greatest sword in the world was none other than Minhyuk’s Sword of Aeon.

“I am the owner of the Greatest Sword.”

The frozen blacksmiths' shock grew even deeper when they heard Minhyuk’s words. Renz, who looked down at his already broken sword in two, thought that the young man’s words weren’t necessarily false.

“I’ll take you to Sir Leo,” Renz said as he hurriedly left the scene.

Minhyuk’s heart raced wildly at the very unexpected turn of events.

‘Are you saying I’m going to meet the one who made the Sword of Aeon?’

As the thought flashed in his head, he could not help but think about what had happened in this Pandemonium’s Country.

Not long after, a blacksmith appeared who was much taller–probably exceeding two meters–and had sharper eyes than the other blacksmiths.

“Get out of the way.” A voice rang loudly behind the tall man’s back, making him go to the side.

“Ah. I’m sorry, Sir Leo.”

When the tall man stepped aside, a very short yet imposing man appeared. What was more surprising was that this man was blind.

The man, who appeared to be in his mid-forties, stood in front of Minhyuk and said, “It’s true.”

Although he could not see anything, he seemed to see everything.

“I can feel the Sword of Aeon resonating from here.”

[You have met the maker of the Sword of Aeon.]

[The Sword of Aeon’s attack power has increased by 0.5%.]

“...?!”

Minhyuk looked at the man in surprise. It was true.

‘The man who made the world's greatest sword is standing in front of me.’

The man looked at everything.

“The armor that you have is very outstanding. I wonder who made that? Oh, the crown that you’re wearing is something that I made too. I can’t believe a human has two of the things that I made myself. Ho? What are those gloves? It has quite a lot of power.”

Minhyuk was left in a daze. The Most Radiant Crown could be said to be on par with the level of the Sword of Aeon. Why? Its ability allowed it to be overlapped with other items. This ability could strengthen artifacts that could no longer be reinforced and make them even better.

“Unfortunately, you have not yet released its final seal.”

These words were about the Sword of Aeon, and they were the truth. Minhyuk has not yet released the third and final seal of the Sword of Aeon. It did not matter how high Minhyuk’s level reached; the Sword of Aeon did not tell him any of the conditions to release its final seal.

“Of course, that’s only natural.” Leo chuckled. “Because I’m the only one who knows how to release the final seal of that sword.”

“...!”

Minhyuk looked at Leo in shock. This was indeed a very unexpected harvest for him. Perhaps his Sword of Aeon could receive another huge boost in power.

But before that...

“Why did you come to find me? And you don’t even have the stigma.”

Minhyuk handed over the Temporary Revolutionary Token that he had received from Gardin in response. Leo, who seemed like he could not feel anything unless it was a power from an artifact, fumbled around. He felt the crevices on the token and finally showed a surprised expression.

‘Temporary Revolutionary?’

Only those who did not carry the stigma could be appointed as a Temporary Revolutionary. They had to be very strong, too.

‘It will be very difficult to save that guy from prison.’

However, the fact that the man before Leo received this token proved that someone had recognized his abilities. Although weak, Leo could still feel someone’s power within the Temporary Revolutionary Token.

“Gardin told me to come to you, Leo, to listen to the next part of the story.”

Leo nodded. He said, “As you can see from our current situation, the stigma is now suppressing us more fiercely than ever.”

Minhyuk had also heard the notification earlier.

“If things continue at this rate, we will not be able to last for half a year. If that happens, most of the people of the Pandemonium’s Kingdom will die.”

Minhyuk could see that they wouldn’t be able to last long if things truly continued at this rate. But he was curious about one thing.

“You’re a great and amazing person, who has made the greatest sword, so why can’t you get rid of the king?”

The fact that Leo was the creator of the greatest sword in existence would mean that he was a man who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pillars of the world. Of course, it was hard to tell how long ago his era was.

“Most people who have come here came to find infinity, to make the impossible possible.”

There was no end to a being’s greed. It could go further and deeper than anybody could think of.

“And the same went for me. I know it’s impossible, but I came here to look for it.”

Leo smiled bitterly as he pointed to his eyes. He wanted to find two eyes that could help him see the world.

“The moment we came to this place... a heavy and overwhelming power forced the stigma on us. And you must have heard about it, right? The original power of those who had received the stigma would weaken.”

Minhyuk nodded. From what Gardin had told him, those marked with the stigma could not use their power as they pleased.

“I did not receive the stigma when I came here.”

“That’s because there has been one successful revolution before. That one successful revolution had stopped the forced engraving of stigma on someone entering Pandemonium. Now, they have to come and engrave the stigma themselves personally.”

Minhyuk nodded in understanding. “Then, what can I do for you?”

Gardin told Minhyuk that helping the revolution would help him get closer to the territory he wanted.

“Go to the Prison of Repetition and save the prisoners. The prisoners trapped inside the Prison of Repetition were the remaining revolutionaries who participated in the first revolution. They are being forced to live in pain and suffering. If you go there, you will meet my dear friend, the Army Revolutionary Bharal.”

Ring!

[You have completed the Quest: The Start of a Revolution.]

[You have gained 100,000,000 EXP.]

Ring!

[Linked Quest: Rescue Those Who Have Been Imprisoned in the Prison of Repetition.]

Rank: SSS

Requirement: Those who have met Leo.

Rewards: Evolution of the Transcendental’s Armor. Engraving the Brand of Recognition in the Temporary Revolutionary Token.

Penalty for Failure: Removal of your qualifications as a Temporary Revolutionary.

Description: Destroy the Prison of Repetition and save all the revolutionaries imprisoned.

Minhyuk was quite shocked when he saw the rewards. He thought, ‘He’s going to evolve my Transcendental’s Armor?’

The Transcendental’s Armor could be said to be the best and greatest armor among all of the armor in existence. It was a masterpiece created by Nekk, who was comparable to or even greater than the God of Blacksmiths, with all his heart and soul. Its defensive power was higher than any other God-rank armor, and its special abilities were close to being cheat-like.

Leo smiled faintly as if he had read Minhyuk’s mind. “Didn’t you know? There are no limits and restrictions in Pandemonium.”

Then, Minhyuk asked, “But... is this the greatest sword in the world? I’m sorry if this question sounded rude.”

It was only natural for him to be curious about things like this as a player.

Leo chuckled softly. “Nothing lasts forever in the world.”

Minhyuk instantly understood what he meant by those brief words. ‘With the updates, a sword superior to the Sword of Aeon will appear one day.’

Then, Minhyuk said, “By any chance, can you evolve other artifacts? Of course, I’ll do it in exchange for something you want.”

Leo pointed at his eyes as he said, “This is the only thing I want.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.” A bitter taste lingered in Minhyuk’s mouth.

Leo said, “I just want to see the world once. If you can do that for me, I will do what you want once.”

“You said that the stigma has sealed your powers. How can you evolve the artifacts?”

“Boy, you have a lot of questions. Huh?”

Minhyuk smiled awkwardly.

“It’s not as if we haven’t prepared that much. We can use our full powers once on the day of the revolution. And, of course, the stigma will disappear if the revolution successfully ends.”

After Minhyuk had satisfied his curiosity and asked all the questions that he wanted to ask, Leo handed over a key and a secret map.

“Follow this map and open the door. Once you enter that door, you can enter the Prison of Repetition.”

Minhyuk immediately left for the Prison of Repetition after accepting the items.

Renz slowly approached Leo and asked, “Can he do it?”

“It won’t be easy.”

“Sir Leo, are you the only one who can release the seal of the Sword of Aeon?”

Hearing that question, Leo said, “It has already been unsealed.”

“Yes?” Renz said in confusion.

Leo left him behind and murmured to himself, “He just can’t see it because that shell still covers it.”

***

Army Revolutionary Bharal was again witnessing a repeat of what he had seen before. Hundreds of thousands of prisoners wearing their armor and holding their swords moved to protect the castle.

There was only one way out of this prison, and it was very simple. All they had to do was win this battle.

Unfortunately, the charging prisoners were easily torn apart by the Repetition Monsters. Sometimes, they would be turned into prey and devoured whole. Either that or they would give up and commit suicide with helpless and desperate looks on their faces.

Ultimately, the castle fell, and Bharal’s neck twisted strangely.

Blink–!

When Bharal opened his eyes, the situation he had seen in the beginning appeared in front of him again. Just as he appeared on the wall, the other prisoners appeared one after another. At the same time, he drew a stick on a paper that he had always kept close to him.

‘This is already the 1.33 millionth time.’

They had been dying repeatedly in this place.

The first 1,000 times were excruciating for them. They could only scream in pain as they felt the weird sensation of their body being torn apart, chewed, and swallowed by the monsters. And when they got crushed and trampled under the feet of these monsters? They couldn’t even let out a sound.

After the 1,000th time passed, they slowly became numb. Perhaps it was expected that they would go crazy.

‘Those damn Supreme Army bastards!’

The Supreme Army King Bul’ark had made it so they would not go crazy in this prison. Every repetition that they experienced would automatically heal their minds.

By the 2,000th time, they had found a way to escape this prison. By the 5,000th time, they were left in frustration. By the 10,000th time, they had already returned to trying to find a way.

They just kept on repeating this day over and over again. And now?

‘Please. I want this to end. Just kill me!’

They just wanted it to end. The pain of being ripped and torn apart every single day was just too much. Alas, no matter how much they begged, this day would just repeat over and over again.

They had changed their strategy thousands of times, but they always ended up leaning toward one strategy in particular. In the beginning, they needed to save as many allies as possible. As for the allies charging forward, they continued to charge forward without any hesitation, even though they would just be swept away in the end.

‘It seems we’re holding out quite well this time.’

Based on their tally, this was the 4,133rd time they have endured this well.

When half of the prisoners had already died, the bastard finally appeared.

[Repetition’s Ogre]

The opponent was just an ogre, but inside Pandemonium, a simple ogre like this could be considered an apex predator. The moment it fell down, it immediately swept tens of thousands of prisoners off their feet. Even though they gave it their all, their weapons could not pierce through its steel-like skin. This has always been the same.

“Charge!”

Bharal jumped off of the walls of the castle. He charged toward the Repetition’s Ogre along with the other survivors. Bharal and his men had died 1.2 million times trying to stop this bastard.

The moment the ogre’s axe landed on the ground, the ground shook and twisted, forcing thousands to die. Whenever it released a roar, thousands more would faint with their ears bleeding non-stop.

Bharal unleashed all of the attacks that he could use. Yes. Everything was just as always.

‘Nothing changes no matter how many times we repeat this day.’

Bharal poured everything that he had inside this horrendous prison. But just like always, the bastard’s HP would still have a third of it left. On the other hand, Bharal, whose body was already bleeding all over, was already exhausted.

“Ahhhh. This will be the 1,330,001st repetition,” Bharal murmured as if it was already a done deal. Even the other surviving prisoners were just waiting for the next repetition.

The ogre’s axe slammed straight into Bharal’s body.

BANG–!

Bharal, who was sent flying to the walls, twitched as his consciousness started to grow hazy. And just when the Repetition’s Ogre was about to open its mouth and roar to kill the surviving prisoners...

Thump, thump, thump–

Someone came running toward them.

“...?”

Bharal’s eyes flashed with confusion. The man running toward the prisoners was dressed in different and unfamiliar clothing.

‘A fork and knife?’

An unfamiliar pattern on the white cape fluttered behind the running man. And a completely different scenario unfolded in front of them for the first time in a million times.

“Overpower.”

Slash, slash, slash–!

The ogre’s movements were immediately restricted. Then, two swords appeared and slashed at its body more than sixty times in a second.

“Heavenly Sword.”

Hundreds of swords fell from the sky and tore apart the immobile ogre.

“Absolute Defense. Annihilator’s Sword.”

With a flash, the sword in the man’s hand cut through the body of the ogre and made it spurt blood all over the place. This development was completely different from the scenarios that had unfolded for them in the 1.33 million times they had repeated this day.

The man stood before the Repetition’s Ogre’s wrecked body and said, “Absolute Monarch.”

THUD–!

The ogre, starting to stand up, was forced to kneel again. The man raised his sword. Then, he swung it fiercely toward the Repetition’s Ogre.

Slash–!

For the first time, Bharal witnessed the collapse of the Repetition’s Ogre, which left him stunned.

There were two reasons why he was left shocked. The first reason was that they could now move forward. As for the second one...

‘Why does this man have my crown?’

The Absolute Monarch was an ability attached to the Most Radiant Crown, a crown that once belonged to Bharal.