“Hey bastard! We’re just going to force you to log out first. Don’t worry, this hyung will make sure that it won’t hurt,” Belo snarled, pulling his sword out and slashing it down towards Minhyuk. In contrast, Minhyuk looked sloppy as he grabbed his own sword with both hands, but he somehow stopped Belo’s sword.

Clang—

[Player Belo committed an act of poor etiquette.] 

[Player Belo is in a Temporary Chaotic State.] 

[If you initiate an attack, you will not receive any penalty.] 

'One man down,’ Minhyuk thought. Still, he faked his fall and showed a terrified expression as he cried out, "This, this f*cker… w… why is this game so scary?!" 

"These hyungs are trying to kill you painlessly so stop moving around," another player said as he shot an arrow towards Minhyuk. 

"Hiiiiiiiiik!" Minhyuk shrieked. He might look terrified, but his eyes were actually following the trajectory of the arrow. Once again, he made a huge show out of parrying the attack in a sloppy manner.

[Player Dooms committed an act of poor etiquette.] 

[Player Dooms is in a Temporary Chaotic State.] 

[If you initiate an attack, you will not receive any penalty.] 

"Lucky Bastard!" 

"Bwahahaha! Look at him trying to run away.”

Then, another player, a warrior, tried to slam his ax down on Minhyuk as he snarled, "I'll split your head in two!" 

Woosh!

And the final parry…

Clang! 

[Player Aras committed an act of poor etiquette.] 

[Player Aras is in a Temporary Chaotic State.] 

[If you initiate an attack, you will not receive any penalty.] 

After he confirmed the notifications, Minhyuk’s grip on his sword changed. He removed one of his hands from the sword, slowly pushing the ax away as he stood up confidently.

"Huh...?" Aras asked dumbly. He was a warrior player that focused on raising his STR. Aras could not help but stare at his ax being pushed away easily in confusion.

'What? Wasn’t this guy shaking like a scared puppy just a few moments ago?’

The sudden change in Minhyuk’s stance and disposition made him distracted. Because of this, he failed to understand the situation that he was in. Then…

Clang! 

Minhyuk used his strength to push the ax away, forcing Aras to take three steps back. Then, clenching his fist tightly, he dashed forward and narrowed the distance between him and Aras. He then executed a clean and strong uppercut!

Punch! 

Aras’ body floated in the air temporarily before falling down with a loud thud.

Thud! 

"Ah. See, I told you f*ckers to stop. For real." 

"Ugh, aaack..." Aras groaned. He had received a direct hit to his jaw that made his body paralyzed. That was when he realized…

'W… what kind of hit was that?! I, it was just one punch, but my HP...' 

More than 40% of his HP had disappeared from Minhyuk’s punch. Could a chef’s punch be that strong? No. This much power would still be absurd even for a warrior class at Minhyuk’s level.

"T… this is ridiculous…" Belo stuttered, his eyes widening in disbelief. 

"Hey, you, that big head Maplestory character[1]. Come over here," Minhyuk said, gesturing towards Belo. 

[Bardy Swordsmanship] 

[All 5 basic stats have a +12 increase for 6 minutes.] 

[Haste] 

[Your movement speed and attack speed have increased 1.3x for 10 seconds.] 

Minhyuk had been practicing diligently and his skills proficiency increased steadily. In the end, he was able to level up his Bardy Swordsmanship, resulting in an additional +3 stats increase, as well as an additional one minute duration for the skill.

Bang! 

Minhyuk dug his feet on the ground and dashed forward.

"What?!" Belo shrieked, eyes widening even further at Minhyuk’s speed. He could see that Minhyuk was faster than him, a Level 40 player. 

[Warrior's Fury] 

[There will be a +10 increase in your STR and STM for 1 minute.] 

Belo activated his warrior skill in haste. In the blink of an eye, their swords collided.

Clash! 

Fwoosh! 

Flames suddenly shot out of Belo’s sword.

[Salamander's Blaze] 

[The attack will inflict continuous damage to the enemy.] 

However, the flames did not help with the pressure on Belo at all. In the end, Belo was left helpless as his sword got pushed down to the ground. Then…

Slash! 

Minhyuk slashed Belo’s waist.

"Ugh!" 

[Three Consecutive Quick Assault] 

[Your attack will strike three times.] 

One of the sword’s afterimages cut Belo’s flank deeply.

Slash! 

[Your HP has dropped below 20%]

"N, no…" Belo said, but before he could even finish his words, the last afterimage of the sword arrived and slashed further through his flank.

Slash!

A bag of gold and a ring artifact dropped upon Belo’s death.

Dash, dash, dash, dash!

Minhyuk easily handled the mage and the warrior that collapsed earlier, forcing them both to log out. He also dealt with the remaining player neatly and quickly. After dealing with the players, Minhyuk turned his attention towards the drops, picking them up quickly.

[You have acquired 7,580,000 gold.] 

[You have acquired Owl Bear's Warrior Armor.] 

[You have acquired Salamander's Double Ring.] 

[You have acquired Werewolf's Mane.] 

[You have acquired Map of the Golden Land.] 

Minhyuk was a bit surprised when he saw the items that the four players had dropped. The guy before that had tried to PK him, Roy, did not even drop any gold, but this Belo guy today dropped a lot of gold. There was a 1-80% rate of gold drop from killing players. 

If the player’s REP was high, then the probability of items and gold dropping would decrease. However, if the player was in a Half Chaotic State or a Temporary Complete Chaotic State, the probability of items and gold dropping would significantly increase.

Among the items that dropped, Minhyuk was drawn towards the Salamander’s Double Ring. Ring artifacts in Athenae were divided into several categories within their rankings. The most ordinary was the normal ring. Then, there was the double ring, a ring that was better than the normal. And the triple ring, the best among all of the rings within that rank. From what Minhyuk had heard, a double ring was worth around 1.5 million won in cash, something that should not even be possible for a novice. This meant that the item was worth around 30 million gold if the price was calculated in gold. Minhyuk checked the artifact's information. 

(Salamander's Double Ring) 

Class: Unique

Requirement: STR 60 

Durability: 1,625 / 3,000

Defensive Power: 78

Special Abilities: Salamander's Blaze

Minhyuk read the description of the skill, Salamander’s Blaze. From what he read, a small flame would burst out whenever the player attacked or defended. It also said that the flame would inflict continuous damage on enemies. This skill was the reason why a flame suddenly burst out of Belo’s sword when their swords clashed earlier. In a way, Salamander’s Blaze could be considered as a magic attack. Because of this skill, the artifact could be considered useful, especially since novice players did not have any magical defensive power yet. Besides, the fact that it was a double ring made it worthy enough. 

Minhyuk decided to equip it himself. Then, he also quickly checked the Owl Bear’s Warrior Armor, a rare item that was worth around two million gold, before turning his attention towards the map.

"The Golden Land?" Minhyuk asked, tilting his head in curiosity as he clicked on the map.

(The Map of the Golden Land) 

Requirement: Level 130

Description: Currently in a sealed state. 

The Map of the Golden Land was still sealed because Minhyuk had not reached the required level yet. After checking the items, Minhyuk looked up and saw the four other players turn into a gray light before disappearing. He patted the ground happily and decided to log out.

"I'm going to sell the things that I don't need, then I'm going to buy something delicious~" Minhyuk hummed as he logged out of the game. 

***

Ahn Seoktae was a member of the Connection Guild that was participating in the subjugation quest. He was the player that had no other choice but to log out earlier.

"Playing games all day! If that's the only thing that you can do, then just get out of the house!" 

"Shit. What's the problem with you?!" 

Seoktae was a third-time exam taker and was once again embroiled in a huge qaurrel with his mother. He sighed as he picked up his mobile phone.

“Every day it’s bastard this, bastard that. Get out of the house! Why don’t you get out?!” Seoktae grumbled. However, he did not have the courage to do that. All he could do was endure. So, he just looked at his phone. But what he saw made him confused.

"Huh?" 

The group chat of the guild members that joined the Goblin Subjugation Troops was going wild. There were even more than twenty missed calls and messages from Belo, aka Lee Sungmin.

[Sungmin: Ah, f*ck. I'm so pissed off. My double ring dropped.] 

"T, this…?" Seoktae asked dumbly, letting out a gasp in surprise. Judging from the messages in the group chat, it seemed like the members were all forced to log out after trying to PK the chef player. It seemed like Sungmin had also dropped the expensive artifact that he always bragged about every day, the Salamander’s Double Ring. 

The Salamander’s Double Ring was an artifact with low requirements and had a fire-attribute attached to it. That was why it was more expensive than other double rings. From what Seoktae had heard, it was worth around four million won in cash.

'This f*cking bastard. You bragged about it every day. Serves you right.' Seoktae thought, giggling at Sungmin’s misfortune. However, his brows furrowed after seeing the contents of the chat. The members that took part in the subjugation quest were all currently logged out and could not access the game. They were all busy discussing about this matter.

[Sungmin: Ha, f*ck. Whatever we do, we should beat that bastard up. We should clear his level down to zero.] 

[KimHyeseok: (emoticon)]

Hyeoseok, one of his friends, only sent a green duck emoticon that was turning over in the group chat. He did not know what to say to make them feel better. And then…

[Sungmin: Seoktae, you bxtch. Why are you not saying anything when you're checking the group chat, don't you know that the one who doesn't reply with even one letter is a scumbag?] 

[Seoktae: Ah, Sorry. I was doing something.] 

[Sungmin: I see that you're still alive. No, I'm going to make a call.] 

Not long after, Seoktae saw his phone ringing. The caller ID was listed as 'The Greatest B*tch.' 

'Ah, what the hell is wrong with this bastard?' Seoktae thought, clicking his tongue in annoyance. If it were not for Sungmin’s money, he would not even get along with such an arrogant prick. He answered the phone reluctantly, "Hello?" 

[Oh, hey. Do you want to hear about the amazing plan that I have in mind?] 

'Ye, yeah. Sure,' Seoktae thought as he roughly agreed with Sungmin’s words. 

"An amazing plan?" 

[Uh-huh. You know that there's an Orc Village two kilometers away from the camp, right?] 

There really was an Orc Village nearby. It was a hunting ground for players at the same level as Seoktae.

[And you're a thief player, so go and kite those bastards and make them attack the subjugation bastards.] 

"Huh...? What are you talking about?" 

[Eyy. You're a frustrating rascal. We've lost our hidden dungeon anyway. So let's just raid the subjugation force so we can beat that chef bastard to death along the way. Ah, no. Won't the orcs kill them?] 

'Wow, look at this sneaky little shit…' 

The plan was not that bad. Seoktae was a quick and light-footed thief. Besides, orcs were mob monsters that usually attacked first, so it would be easy for him to kite them and lead them to where the subjugation troops were. A single haste skill was enough for him to take those orcs to the subjugation troops’ camp.

'But what about the other players...' 

But before Seoktae could even wonder about the welfare of the other players, he heard Sungmin say… 

[If you succeed, you will get the original promised money, including the share of the others. I will also add an additional 200,000 for you.] 

"R… really?!" 

[This hyung is a man, you punk. I will naturally not take back what I said. Will you do it or not?!] 

"Oh. I'll do it!" Seoktae answered enthusiastically as he nodded in agreement. It was not a difficult job. He quickly threw his conscience to the gutter and turned a blind eye to the guilt of potentially causing the deaths of the other players, just because of his greed. The call ended there.

"Bwahahahaha, I can get around four million won!" Seoktae shouted in joy. 

"Are you still not sleeping?!" His mom's angry voice rang loudly.

Caught off-guard by his mother’s intimidating shout, he answered back in a small voice, "I, I will go to sleep now..." 

Of course, Seoktae had to obey and go to sleep right away.

***

Oh Changwook woke up early and came out to get some water. He and a few other staff were living together in Minhyuk’s 500 square meters house. He was checking the Athenae official website as he went to the fridge. This was a smartphone addiction! Changwook had the habit of checking the trending posts in the Athenae’s official website the moment he woke up. Then, Changwook saw Minhyuk come out of his room.

"You're awake?" 

"Why did you get up this early?" 

"Hohohoho," Minhyuk chuckled, his smile meaningful. He planned to eat something inside the game early this morning since he finished off Belo and his backstabbing friends last night. 

"You'll be offended if you know. Hoho…" 

"I'm getting offended just by looking at your face," Changwook snapped back in annoyance. Then, he paused at one of the articles posted under the trending posts. 

'What's this?' 

This was what was written… 

[A low-leveled chef's normal tonkatsu.] 

"Normal tonkatsu?"

Minhyuk's expression turned strange when he heard Changwook’s words. Oh Changwook laughed after checking the post. He said, "This must be fake, it is probably made by a Master Craftsman. Sigh. What bullshit...?" 

"Normal tonkatsu?" Minhyuk asked as he approached Changwook, who held out his smartphone to him.

"Hey, look at this. Did you see? They said that this was made by a Level 20 Chef. The attack and defensive power increased? Sigh. Seriously, these guys are just attention-seekers." 

Minhyuk looked at his smartphone and saw the third trending post. There were over a thousand comments under the post, which had an attachment of a screenshot, showing the buff notification that appeared after they ate Minhyuk’s normal tonkatsu.

"Is this really unbelievable?" 

"Look at the comments." 

Minhyuk turned his attention towards the comments section. 

[sfkkf62: It's clearly fake. It's annoying and I’m tired, so let's have a calm and quiet night.] 

[MemilkunsLove: Hahahahahahahahaha. Why? Why don’t you just say that you’re the colonel? Or are you a cancer? Is your father the president that when you fart the doctor will come running to you and diagnose you with just the smell alone?]

[gsffdfl3: This isn't real, right?]

[jvfgncvmll: I'm currently a chef player. I can tell you that that's impossible. Even the number one chef player in the country, Kim Seokhyun, said that the number of buffs is too high, and that it's completely fake.]

1. Minhyuk is referring to Big Headward ☜