This was the second time that Minhyuk had entered a legendary dungeon. Whenever one entered a hidden dungeon, hidden field, a new city, a new frontier, or a legendary area, they would naturally receive rewards. However, in Minhyuk’s case, he was just temporarily sent here by Balzarc to choose his monster. That was why his reward ended at the 50 REP increase. Even so, the 50 REP was already a huge benefit since this was the average REP that Level 100 players have.

Minhyuk looked around his surroundings. He said, “Oh. It seems like there are a lot of delicious-looking kids in here.”

He was in awe. There was a monster that was silently floating in the air above him. It was none other than a giant monkfish. Minhyuk licked his lips. He was already thinking about spicy steamed monkfish! Whenever he went to a restaurant that served this dish, he would always order it.

‘Should I eat the monkfish or the bean sprouts first?’

If he ordered a spicy steamed monkfish, there would definitely be a heaping amount of bean sprouts in the serving. However, such a dish was extremely expensive. Even so, Minhyuk believed that such a dish was worthy of its price. The monkfish would definitely be plump and juicy, just like chicken meat. If he added some of the spicy sauce together with the crunchy bean sprouts, the taste would definitely blow his mind away.

Minhyuk could not tell what kind of monster the giant monkfish was. To eat something delicious, he had brushed up his knowledge and studied about different monsters, but there had been no information about such a monster at all. In other words, this was an undiscovered monster. As for whether he would choose it as his pet… Minhyuk shook his head.

‘I can only check the information twice!’

Looking around, he was able to see plenty of monsters that he had never seen before. This meant that most of the monsters residing in this place were undiscovered monsters. Just by taking a look at the most common monsters in this place… it seemed like they were almost all at least of the epic and legendary ranks. Minhyuk quickly moved in search of his pet.

***

The moon shone brightly over the forest as crickets chirped loudly.

“Huff, huff.”

“Haaa, haaa.”

Rough exhales rang loudly in the clearing as the player named Root sighed in relief. He looked behind him and thought, ‘I think they finally left us alone. Phew...’

Root was a pretty high-leveled player. Even though he was not at the top, he could still say that he was part of the list of top rankers with his Level 365 character. He was an archer, the character with a bow behind their back.

Root looked at the man standing next to him. He said, “Your Highness, I think we’ve lost them for now.”

Root hurriedly bowed his head to avoid the man’s gaze. He was currently tasked to escort and deliver this man to safety by someone. The man next to him nodded. This man was none other than Varen, King of the Northern Continent’s Valkyrie Kingdom.

The Valkyrie Kingdom in the Northern Continent! The Northern Continent was still an unexplored land swarming with monsters. It was a land that had not yet been pioneered at all. This land was located between the Eivelis Empire and Collodis Empire.

Currently, both empires were giving their all to enter and carve out a place for themselves in the Northern Continent. In that process, they discovered an amazing kingdom in the Northern Continent. That kingdom was none other than the Valkyrie Kingdom, a kingdom that was blessed by the God, Juis, protecting them from the monsters that swarmed all over their territory. Because of that, they were able to stand firmly and resolutely despite vicious monsters teeming around them.

However, not too long ago, the soldiers of the Valkyrie Kingdom encountered the subjugation forces that were sent by the Eivelis Empire while they were patrolling outside. The Sword Emperor Ellie was greatly amazed by the fact that a kingdom existed in the Northern Continents. Varen realized that his kingdom would be facing the danger of collapsing even if God Juis protected and blessed his people, so he decided to reach out to the Eivelis Empire and went out with his troops. However, the moment they entered the borders of the Eivelis Empire, they were suddenly ambushed! After the ambush, only Root and Varen, the king and a member of the royal court, were left!

‘Ah. We’re f*cked,’ Root thought with a frown. Even if they were left alone for now, they would still be cornered once their enemies continued their siege.

“I’m parched.”

“Here, have some water. Your Highness,” Root said, handing over a water bottle to Varen.

‘Damn. I’m sure that the players from the other empire have also received these quests.’

Perhaps they were players from the Collodis Empire, the enemy of the Eivelis Empire. There were a large number of players in that ambush. It may be because they did not want the Eivelis Empire and the Valkyrie Kingdom to join hands. In any case, one thing was for sure, they wanted to capture King Varen alive!

King Varen was a master when it came to the geography and topography of the Northern Continent! In addition, the exact location of the Valkyrie Kingdom was still unknown, therefore they would definitely capture him alive and try to get huge rewards from him.

Right now, Root was looking at his quest window.

[Kingdom Quest: Bring Varen, the Valkyrie Kingdom’s king, to the place where he is supposed to meet with the Imperial Army of the Eivelis Empire!]

Rank: S

Requirements: Varen’s Favor.

Rewards: Receive the title of a Baron, a territory, and a chance to go to Varen's Treasure House.

Penalty for Failure: Favor with everyone in the Valkyrie Kingdom will fall. You will also be banned from the North Continent, never allowed to set foot in their land again.

Description: Run away with King Varen and meet with the Eivelis Empire’s Imperial Army safely! You will be able to increase your favor with King Varen!

During the Quest’s Progress: The player will not get a Temporary Chaotic or Chaotic State even if you PKed other players.

Originally, his quest was not like this. It had just been a general quest where he would accompany the king and he would be able to receive plenty of EXP and gold. However, the quest suddenly changed and the rewards had become enormous.

‘A nobleman’s title! And even a territory!’

This much reward was enough to make one’s eye grow the size of saucers. The tax that anyone could collect in just a small town was simply enormous. In addition, with the title of a Baron, Root would be able to receive plenty of support. He would also be able to use Varen’s treasure house once he increased his favor with the king! With the Northern Continent still not yet pioneered, the territory itself was worth a fortune.

Root bit his lips. This time, the quest even had a special entry that showed ‘During the Quest’s Progress’. The words written under it said that the player will not get a temporary chaotic state or become a chaotic player even if they PK-ed others. This meant that the usual penalty that would be imposed on the player originally would not be imposed whether you kill others or not. This also meant that they were expecting plenty of players to attack them in the course of the quest.

‘I won’t be able to do this by myself...!’ Root thought as he sighed to himself.

He was originally someone who was bad at making friends in reality. People like him who only liked to play games and had no friends were usually called game addicts! Root did not even join any guild and only played the game solo. However, he also could not just post this information on the official website and say ‘Is there anyone out there who can help me?!’. If he did that, then his rewards would definitely be divided up. No, it might also be possible for people to kill him and take the quest away.

‘But, if I share it with just one or two people... Are there any strong men out there?’

Just as Root was thinking about that…

“Root.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Where did you say the village we were supposed to go to was?”

“It’s Raven, the Chef’s village.”

“Chef’s Village...” Varen said, smiling bitterly.

“I should try and find some foreigners there.”

“Foreigners? I’d rather ask for help from the village’s vigilantes...”

“The vigilantes in this neighborhood will be of no help to us, they are too noisy and hard to deal with. On the contrary, the foreigners are stronger and much easier to deal with.”

“...Is that the case?”

They would definitely be easy to handle. Once he said, ‘This is a Kingdom Quest!’ most of them would jump up and say ‘Me! Me! Me!’. He would bet that people would line up just to help him. To put it simply, Kingdom Quests were so rare that it was like striking the lottery. It was extremely difficult to obtain quests like these that they had to rely on luck just to get a glimpse of it. Furthermore, the current quest was on another level, since a king’s life depended on it.

“I’ll lend you this sword for a moment.”

“Yes. Your Highness!”

Root felt that the king was now truly in a hurry. The sword that he lent him was the sword that was used for the knighthood ceremony. It was a sword that only the King had and could wield. Root knew that this sword could determine the player’s “reputation”. With this, he would be able to find strong players. After all, high-leveled players usually have high REP.

“I’ll get us a carriage once we arrive at Raven. Although it’s a bit shabby for you, please stay in the inn for a while, Your Highness. Then, I’ll try and pick out the foreigners that could help us at that time.”

“Yes,” Varen said. He nodded his head as the two of them hastened their steps to reach Raven faster.

***

Minhyuk looked at the monsters. This place was teeming with monsters just like the first Monster’s Paradise. All of them were high-ranking monsters. Minhyuk picked one among these monsters. The monster was curled up and growling. And he could tell just by looking at it…

‘A Hatchling!’

The greatest existence in the world, a dragon! However, this was not a fully grown dragon and would not leave its growth stage. Minhyuk thought that it would be easier for him to eat delicious food if he took a dragon as his pet. They were naturally strong, so the dragon would definitely help his journey in eating delicious food in the near future.

(Hatchling)

Rank: Legendary

Race: Pet

Unable to evolve.

Attack: 3,135

Defense: 3,367

Special Abilities:

•All stats +20%.

•Fire Resistance +80%

•Skill: Hatchling’s Breath

•Can use Fourth Tier Fire Magic

Potential: None

The race of the Hatchling was written as a pet. Usually, the attack and defense of the monster would be shown every time someone summoned a monster. However, pets were different. Although they were huge, most of them would become small upon summoning. From what Minhyuk remembered, potential was extremely important for pets. The higher the potential, the more likely that the pet would grow. The potential dictated how much its level would increase, as well as its abilities and skills.

In the case of a Hatchling, evolution was not possible since it had already achieved its full growth. Even though it was not yet a fully grown dragon, such a pet could not be ignored easily, since its attack and defense were overwhelmingly high. In addition, the skill Hatchling Breath could melt away opponents and deal a high amount of damage. Together with the ability to use Fourth Tier Fire Magic, these skills and abilities would exert great power for the player. Furthermore, there was even an owner buff effect.

However, contrary to everyone’s expectations, Minhyuk’s thoughts were still very consistent. He said, “I want to try and eat it.”

Screech!

The Hatchling woke up from its sleep and tilted his head to look at Minhyuk. Then it snorted and glared at him. Minhyuk walked away and pondered. He only had one chance left. He continuously kept an eye on all of the monsters that he had encountered. This way, he would be able to at least know a bit about them. As he kept on walking, Minhyuk suddenly saw an animal.

“A pig?”

It was literally a pig. A little baby piggy that was as big as his fist! The little white pig sniffed around, picked something out and ate it. Then, it smiled happily as it bent and stretched its knees as if it was dancing to a rhythm.

“Oink, oink!”

It looked like it was saying ‘Delicious food is the best! Oink!’.

Minhyuk looked at it strangely. He muttered, “What’s this? Why am I so happy to see it?”

This was strange. Why was he feeling so happy just by looking at the pig? Then, Minhyuk smiled softly and…

“What the hell... I’m smiling like a dad... gasp!”

Was he perhaps feeling a sense of kinship with the pig? Minhyuk quickly denied the reality in front of him.

“I’m not fat anymore, I’m just chubby? Why can I feel a deep sense of camaraderie with a pig?!”

This was the new Minhyuk, who firmly believed that he was already in the chubby category since he went from 170 kilograms to 160 kilograms! 

He turned his head away without any hesitation and quickly walked away. He continued to travel as he laughed happily and took out food from his inventory since he was hungry. It was a hotdog with ketchup and mayonnaise on it!

“Delicious!”

It was a combination of crispy bread with sausage hidden in it and sweet fry sauce[1]! Minhyuk opened his mouth wide and bit on it. At that moment…

“Oooink?”

“...?”

Minhyuk was quite taken aback. He had decided to increase his speed by using Ellie’s Swordsmanship to look at the monsters since his time was limited. He even used Step to cover a large distance. However, the baby piggy was also extremely quick. Despite Minhyuk covering that huge distance, it was still able to arrive in front of him. Right now, it was looking up at him with large, bright eyes. It cried, “Oink...?”

The baby piggy looked at Minhyuk pitifully as it blinked its eyes at him. It was like it was telling him, Please give me just one bite. Oink… Just like that.

Minhyuk grinned. He said, “What a cunning piggy! I won’t give you food just because of that!”

The baby piggy might not know it but Minhyuk really would not easily give his food just because it was cute. Soon, the pig looked a bit sullen and depressed. It bowed its head and cried sadly, “Ooooiiiiink...”

Minhyuk’s heart shook for a moment. This was because he understood a hungry man’s heart more than anybody else! However, he laughed and said, “My god! A baby piggy is trying to hook the world’s greatest pig Kang Minhyuk into giving him food!”

In the end, Minhyuk still admitted to being a pig. He said, “I won’t give you!”

Then, he bit on the hotdog until there was only half left. At that moment, the pig that was a bit sullen suddenly stood up. The tears that were making its eyes shine had suddenly disappeared.

Twitch!

It glared at Minhyuk as it cracked its neck sideways, as if loosening it. Its expression was also telling him, ‘So this doesn’t work, huh? Oink.’

“...”

Minhyuk was completely dumbfounded.

1. ketchup + mayo mixture ☜