Legend Guild was busy moving around in preparation for the outbreak of the great war. When the announcement came out, there were many new quests that were given to the players, ranging from low-leveled quests to high-leveled quests.

The following was what was written on Athenae’s official website:

Joy Co. Ltd. had divided the areas so players of varying levels could experience and enjoy the event. Of course, players that dealt with the mobs in areas B, C, D and E would not be able to be the first one to reach the Elven Forest.

‘What’s in the Elven Forest?’ Genie thought curiously as they continued their preparations.

Elven Forest was a new continent that had not yet been opened to the public. This was why many people were keenly paying attention to the first player who would be able to reach Elven Forest.

Legend Guild was preparing to take on a mission to carve out and explore Area A. Genie was sure that all of the local guilds would set their sights on Area A and gather there.

Deputy Lord Ben would stay behind in the territory to protect the estate, since plenty of their troops would be dispatched to the Elven Lands. This was to prevent other guilds from trying to use this opportunity to attack them.

Genie turned to look at a man from a distance. From what Minhyuk had said, this man was a paladin and was his second vassal. Minhyuk also took that time to express his regret that he would not be able to accompany them, since he was summoned by Empress Ellie.

Meanwhile, the vassal whom Minhyuk had left in the territory, Paladin Corr, was busy trying to plow the field.

Bang, bang, bang.

“Why is this not getting split up! #$$%@%%@$?"

“…Is he really a paladin? I think he’s more of a gangknight.” 

“What’s a gangknight?” Khan, who was busily moving next to her, asked.

“Gangster Knight.” 

“…Hmm.” 

Genie’s brows furrowed. She might not know it but thanks to Mihyuk’s ‘pointers’, Paladin Corr was able to be enlightened with his true calling. 

Paladin Corr plowed the field, planted the seeds, and watered the soil evenly. After doing all of that, he sat on the field and clasped his hands together in prayer. Then, he raised his body and bowed down as he cried, “Grow up, seeds!” 

The next thing he did was to pull out an instrument. The instrument was originally in the form of a castanet, but soon, the shape suddenly turned into a recorder.

Ppi, ppippi, ppi, ppippi~ 

Hearing a familiar tune, Locke could not help but mutter under his breath, “Edelweiss~ Edelweiss~ Isn’t that the song that we learned back in elementary school…” 

“Is the recorder the only instrument that he can play at that age?” 

“Kgghk! This fantastic sound!!! I’m sure no one in the world can play a recorder as good as me! Ha! I’m truly a man among men… there’s nothing I can’t do…” 

Corr was filled with emotion as he smiled after finishing his performance.

Locke and Genie’s eyes met. Then, Locke said, “…Isn’t he a crazy guy as well?” 

“Yeah… Looks like it.” 

Genie sighed deeply. Somehow, she felt that they had no normal vassals.

“Sigh.” 

***

Minhyuk had been summoned by Empress Ellie, so he went to her.

“How have you been, noona?” 

“Not that well.” 

“Huh? Why?” 

“I want to eat your food.” 

“This, this! Then, I have to make you something delicious!” 

Ellie smiled happily at Minhyuk.

She was a bit surprised when she learnt that Minhyuk was the descendant of one of the three Gods who entered a bet. The story about the three Gods making a bet in the past was not only passed down on Collodis Empire, but also in Eivelis Empire. The emperors of each Empire had to assign the tasks so that the God Classes would be able to fulfill their bets. Additionally, they had to be tasks that was suitable for the bet.

“The King of the Elves has a sole child. His name is Prince Argon.” 

“Yes.” 

“A few days ago, the demonic humans and other demonic races attacked the Elven Forest and kidnapped Prince Argon. Your mission is to lead 50 men from my troops and rescue him. Prince Argon is said to be currently held captive at Immortal’s Land.” 

The dreaded Immortal’s Land. Even existing high-leveled players were reluctant to go to there. One of the reasons was the insane amount of high-leveled mobs. That was not the only reason.

“There might be quite a few of the demonic humans and demonic monsters in there.” 

Aside from the high-leveled mobs, there would also be demonic humans and demonic monsters lurking in the area. There was something even more terrible.

“The Immortal’s Land not only has those monsters, there are also natural disasters that occur every minute. There are also plenty of penalties that will apply on anyone that enters the land, since Great Mage Arfield had placed a curse on the land in the past.”

Minhyuk nodded. In fact, this was something that he already knew.

“You will lead 50 men from the Phoenix Knights Order and head there. If you’re the first person to save Prince Argon, your God will be the most likely God to win the bet.” 

Minhyuk nodded in understanding when he heard Ellie’s words. He said, “I’ll do it.” 

He looked very determined. Then, the notifications rang.

[The God’s Bet has started.]

[1. You can achieve 100% enemies’ death if you carry out a complete subjugation with the Phoenix Knights. The stronger and more special the existence is, the higher the percentage of enemy kills that you will receive.]

[2. You can achieve 100% commanding ability if you build up favor and obedience with the Phoenix Knights. The higher the favorability and obedience, the higher the percentage of commanding ability that you will receive.]

[The God who wins the bet will be determined by their final contribution.]

Seeing Minhyuk’s serious and determined face, Ellie said, “Looking at you… You must be getting something delicious from this, right?” 

“Oh. How did you know?!” 

“I know just by looking at you.” 

Ellie watched him as he proceeded to meet with the 50 from the Phoenix Knights Order. Then, she said, “The other Gods have already arrived.”

***

The God of War, Eclei, and the God of Death, Bach, watched as the Collodis Army gathered before them. Each group had about 50 people.

“I wonder who it is.” 

“Oh. Here he comes.” 

The two of them had already greeted their troops.

The God of War, Eclei, said, ‘We are not going there to die. We’re going there and coming back alive! Well then, let’s go become heroes and save the world from the demonic races!’

Bach, on the other hand, also contributed with wonderful lines. He said, ‘We’ll just hit them harder and stronger than anybody else. If you believe in me, you will definitely be given the most valuable glory in your lives.’ 

They were filled with confidence.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk was looking around his troop of 50 men. The Phoenix Knights Order looked at him, waiting for his speech that would rile them up. However, the man in front of them suddenly said, “Rice is the best medicine!!! Everyone already had their meals, right?” 

“…” 

“…” 

The two other God Class players were speechless.

Not long after, one of the members of the order spoke up.

“We haven’t yet.” 

“Noooo! How could someone commit such a felony? Did the palace forget to feed you?” 

“They gave us food.” 

“Why haven’t you eaten your free meals? Ha! This rice was grown by our people with their blood and sweat. You must eat rice. Well then, our slogan from now on will be ‘Rice is the best medicine’. There are a lot of people in the world who are starving because there’s nothing that they could eat! We will not leave until everyone is done eating!” 

“…Pfffffft!”

“Cough!” 

The two people burst out in laughter. 

‘We’ve won.’

They thought that they could easily rule him out for now.

‘What a stupid thing to do!!!’

He even fed the knights to their heart’s content. As the Phoenix Knights came out of the restaurant, they said…

“Did you see? The commander ate 50 servings…” 

“My goodness. Even a beluga whale can’t eat that much.” 

“Can we come back alive?” 

“…” 

“Keuhahahahahaha!” 

“Hahahahaha. I’m dying of laughter.” 

‘What kind of God is that?’

The two had no choice but to laugh.

‘Even the knights are on edge?’

They laughed their heads off, happy with their victory in sight.

Then, Minhyuk came out and said, “Hello! Have you eaten yet?” 

“Ah. Pfft! We already did. Ah. Yes.” 

They were very curious about his class, but the two of them did not even bother to ask. God Class players would not reveal their job classes usually.

Not long after, Eclei asked Minhyuk, “Have you eaten already?” 

“Yep! Although it’s a bit pitiful, it's still very good!” 

“Having 50 servings is still pitiful?” 

“I always like to drink at least 20 cups of coffee to moisten my dry throat.” 

“Ah. Hey. You’re really very funny.” 

“Haha. I’m a bit funny, right?” 

Eclei and Bach felt relieved. They were already at the top of the list of people who could lead the troops well. They believed that they did not need to worry about someone who acted like this.

Then, they told him, “We can accompany each other until Immortal’s Land Zone 2. Why don’t you support us from the rear, Minhyuk?” 

“The back?” 

“Yes. We’ll be hunting up front and Minhyuk can just support us from the back. You can shoot a bow, or something.” 

“Ah. Yes. I understand! But, you’re not going to say anything about us getting drops for nothing, right?” 

“Of course.” 

“Not at all.” 

“So if the item drops, can we get it too?” 

“Of course. If you have the acquisition rights, you should also be able to get it too.” 

Gold and artifacts or other drops that dropped from the hunted mobs had acquisition rights. Any member of a party could acquire drops from the monsters that they hunted regardless of their contributions. However, this was not the case for different parties. The person with the highest contribution would have the acquisition rights for the item. Only after a certain period of time had passed would the acquisition rights disappear. By that time, everybody else could pick up the dropped item.

Eclei and Bach laughed to themselves. They knew that being a support in the rear was literally staying behind the scenes. This meant that he would have fewer results in terms of the numbers he hunted, which would result in fewer chances of winning war points. In other words, he would be left behind. It would be hard for him to feel guilty about getting things for nothing, because he would strongly feel that he was being left behind.

Eclei grinned widely and thought, ‘This means that one of my competitors has been eliminated. Now, only Bach is left.’

Just like Minhyuk who would receive the Food God’s Kitchen Knife as a reward if he won the bet, Eclei and Bach would also each be given artifacts if they won the bet. In Eclei’s case, he would receive the Monarch’s Sword. The Monarch’s Sword was an artifact with the strength that exceeded the strength of a legendary artifact. There was one other thing that gave Eclei confidence.

‘Demon World’s ore, Viridite.’ 

He recently received this ore after finishing the episode quest ‘Hero’s Will’. Eclei happened to know about the use of this item. These were ores where Gremory had hidden her powers. It was said that the powers from these ores would only emerge when the land was overflowing with demonic energy. This was the perfect time.

‘The viridite in my hand is said to be the ore with the weakest power. I wonder what kind of power is hidden in this.’

However, the ore would only show its power indirectly. Perhaps he would be able to see some changes soon. Eclei recalled the information about the ores that he had obtained before.

‘The ore with the strongest power. Antarinium. Who the hell has that ore?’

Just as he was questioning himself…

“Everyone, we’re going to be in the back! Wow! You know how important the rear is right?!!!” 

“…” 

Eclei and Bach laughed. Then, Eclei spat out, “Moron.” 

Without realizing it, he had spoken in an unusually loud voice.

***

“Moron.” 

Minhyuk heard the words from behind him. However, he was still grinning. His father had taught him that one should not judge a person by their appearance. Minhyuk had realized this lesson early on in his life. 

‘You will never know what kind of person a man is until you meet him in person.’

Minhyuk had tested them step by step.

When he shouted ‘Rice is the best medicine!’, his opponents laughed at him. Of course he pretended to not notice them, but they also placed Minhyuk and his troops in the rear. This was to make sure that he would suffer losses. The morale of his knights were temporarily low, but he was willing to go through with the arrangements so he could assess their strength and power from behind.

In other words, everything was according to Minhyuk’s plans.

‘They judged a person by their appearance. And that moron…’ 

Minhyuk scoffed. They still did not know what kind of performance he and his troops would make from the rear.