Conir grabbed his sword and swung it as hard as he could, causing dozens of black sword lights to rain down on the guild members.

“Ghost’s Protection!”

“Jeffrit’s Giant Shield!”

“Whip Shield!”

The members of Legend Guild hurriedly activated their defensive skills. Dozens of ghosts appeared and blocked the way to Ascar with their shields, while Locke slammed a huge red shield into the ground. Genie’s whip created a hexagram in the air as it formed a barrier in front of her. Each of the guild members gave their all to defend themselves.

However, something shocking happened. The sword lights that were heading straight towards the guild members suddenly changed directions, and the person that they targeted was none other than Ali.

“…!”

“…!”

Everyone was shocked.

‘A sword that changes its trajectory? This is the first time that I’ve seen something like this.’

In addition, they thought that Conir was just a ‘mindless chimera’, but it seemed like that was not the case at all. He even went so far as to aim for Ali first, the most dangerous person to him. This was because Ali’s one-shot attacks were much more powerful than Minhyuk’s, since Minhyuk’s Holy Power could not exert its full effects. The sword lights instantly appeared in front of Ali’s barrier.

Shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa, shwak!

The black sword lights began to strike at his barrier. Ali looked on in horror at the scene in front of him. Conir immediately followed up, kicking off the ground and dashing forward.

Dash—

[Failure’s Slaughter]

[A sword filled with tremendous frustration and setbacks.]

Shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa, shwak!

Blood spurted out from the bodies of the guild members that were in Conir’s vicinity.

“Keuaaaaaack!”

“Ack!”

The guild members received severe damage from Conir’s light swings. Minhyuk quickly narrowed the distance between them and activated Sword of Fury. His sword was surrounded by a bright red light, as he aimed straight at Conir’s vital point.

Shwiiiiiiiiiik—

At the same time, Conir slammed his sword down on Minhyuk’s sword.

Bang—!

[Sword of Fury has been offset.]

“…!”

It was a skill offset. Then, Conir’s sword quickly stretched towards Minhyuk. As soon as Minhyuk twisted his body to avoid the strike, the sword snaked around, before digging into his sides.

Stab—

“Keuheuk! Too strong!”

Minhyuk was not at the peak of what he could do as of yet. However, he clearly had the potential to be a true athlete. He even won against the Olympic gold medalist Carr. Unfortunately, even he was helpless in front of the Slayer of Frustration, Conir.

Shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa, shwak!

Minhyuk was easily pushed back by Conir’s fast attacks. Then, the Slayer of Frustration suddenly lowered his entire body, as he twisted his toes before spinning and brandishing his sword. As soon as he moved, dozens of blades spun wildly, creating a slight storm in the area.

Spin, spin, spin, spin—

“Rampant Sword!”

Minhyuk quickly used his Rampant Sword to counter and fight against the storm of blades that was in front of him. Dozens of afterimages clashed against the storm of blades, but Conir did not even miss a beat as he launched another attack. The tip of his sword was aimed straight towards Minhyuk’s chest.

“Mi…Minhyuk!” The guild members shouted in alarm. Then, two black kitchen knives suddenly popped out from behind Minhyuk.

Hwaaaaaaang—

The two black kitchen knives formed a cross and protected Minhyuk’s vital point.

Clang!

Thanks to that split second of reprieve, Minhyuk was able to execute ‘Like the Wind’ to increase the distance between them. Then, he hurriedly took out a chocolate bar from his inventory, in order to use his ‘Absorption Conversion’ to restore his physical strength and HP. He had the potion that he received from the elves that could instantly fill his HP and MP back to 100%, but since he had used it earlier, a cooldown was imposed.

Then, at that moment…

“Grrr?”

The Slayer of Frustration reacted strangely.

“…?”

Conir’s eyes widened when he saw Minhyuk placing the chocolate bar in his mouth. His eyes only went back to normal when Minhyuk put down his hand holding the chocolate bar.

‘Shall we try to put it in my mouth again?’

“Grrr?!”

“…”

‘Then, take it out again.’

“Huwoo…”

Then, Minhyuk opened his mouth again as he bit on the corners with his front teeth.

“Grrr…?!”

Tears started to well up in the Slayer of Frustration’s eyes.

“Huwoo…”

“…”

Minhyuk was left speechless.

‘I guess he’s really hungry…’ 

It would have looked like a funny situation to others, but Minhyuk could understand him and his situation more than anybody else. Those that tend to suffer from extreme hunger would react just like that. Besides, he could tell something from the look in Conir’s eyes.

‘I don’t want to have just one bite. I’m willing to give you everything so please give me something good to eat.’

Minhyuk did not know about Conir’s situation. However, as someone that had all the money in the world but still could not eat what he wanted, he could sympathize with him. He felt sad at the thought of someone else feeling that hunger.

Then, Abel shouted loudly, “I…I thought of a way!!!”

“A way?”

“Yes. Let’s lure him away with food!”

“…”

However, Minhyuk did not like that at all. First off, he did not like the thought of playing around with food. Second, he did not want to take advantage of that hunger.

‘But even if I don’t like it…’

Minhyuk knew that he could not let everyone die here. His dad was even here.

“…I…am…hung…ry…pl,pl…ease…” The Slayer of Frustration muttered slowly with his broken words.

Minhyuk first placed the chocolate bar in his mouth.

“Keuwooo…”

Tears welled up in Conir’s eyes again. However, Minhyuk ate it all up to heal and recover.

Fwiiiiiish—

Along with that, the wounds in his body started to heal up and disappear.

[Guild & Alliance | Genie: Everyone, prepare for another attack.]

[Guild & Alliance | Locke: Then, I’ll throw him something to eat, Minhyuk doesn’t have to be the one to throw it.]

It was true that Minhyuk did not need to be the one to throw the food. Others could do it.

Everyone stood firm on their places as they prepared for another attack. Then, Conir’s sword began to draw a circle in the air. The circle that he created turned out to be a moon that was stained with blood. It was quite a strange sight. However, what everyone was certain about was the fact that they had to do something before this attack was unleashed.

Then, Genie gave the signal. Locke quickly took out some food from his inventory. It was none other than sweet red bean bread.

‘Ugh… Throwing that delicious red bean bread…’ 

Minhyuk felt frustrated. However, he was still preparing his Scattering Sword for the attack.

“Guwoo?”

Conir quickly threw himself on the ground where the bread was going to fall. As he jumped, the bloodied moon that was hanging quietly in the air slowly disappeared.

Then, they let out a rain of attacks.

“Diss!”

Spears of light.

“Giant’s Howl!”

Consecutive punches with additional 180% attack power.

“Hell’s Red Flames!”

Exploding horses straight from hell.

A variety of skills flew straight towards Conir. However, not long after, notifications suddenly rang out to everyone who sent an attack on Conir.

[The conditions for triggering a quest have been met.]

[The Hidden Quest: Hungry Children has been created.]

[Only one person is allowed to do the quest.]

[You have successfully hunted Conir the Frustration.]

[You have acquired the skill book Frustration’s Sword Dance.]

[You have acquired 2,616,751 EXP.]

Right at that moment... Conir, who died at that same spot, suddenly appeared again in front of them.

“Gasp!”

“K…Kill!!!”

“What the hell!!!”

It was clearly Conir that appeared in front of them. However, it was just a spiritual body. Then, Conir opened his mouth.

[Me… too… Help… Child… ren… save…]

“…”

“…”

“Wh…what’s happening?”

Everyone present in the area felt flustered. When he heard his words, Minhyuk quickly looked at the quest window.

[Hidden Quest: Hungry Children]

Rank: SSS

Requirement: Someone that hunted Conir

Rewards: The Essence of Flavor

Penalty for Failure: None

Description: The strongest among the chimeras was the Slayer of Frustration. The chimeras that Rufel led were all made from and created by humans. They were created from extreme and terrible hunger. Listen carefully to Conir’s story.

‘Th…the chimeras were created from extreme and terrible hunger? What the hell?’ 

Hunger? Minhyuk did not know what they were hungry for. However, one thing that crossed his mind. The humans had used hunger to create these chimeras.

‘What kind of bullshit…’ Minhyuk thought, brows furrowing.

***

Asvon was the current Emperor of Collodis Empire. He was known as the most powerful Emperor in the history of the empire, and was said to be only second to Ellie.

If Ellie was known to be a sword genius, Asvon was known for his strong punches and sharp kicks. In fact, he was someone as talented as her and could go toe to toe against her in a fight.

Emperor Asvon had everything that he could have, but, there was one problem.

“…Goddamn,” Asvon cursed as he peeled off the wig that covered his head, only to reveal a shining, bald head. The top of his head looked like a dry desert when compared to the luscious prairies on the side of his head.

Asvon’s biggest issue was none other than his baldness. His father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather and his ancestors were all bald. However, all of them had worn wigs to hide this fact. The same was true for Emperor Asvon.

The absolute problem that none of his ancestors had solved for hundreds of years, was none other than ‘baldness’!

There was no useful method at all. Asvon had already applied the blood of a troll on his head, and even rubbed a phoenix’s feather gently on it, but not a single hair had grown at all.

At that moment, his aide, Haroman, came inside. Haroman was the only other person that knew about this secret.

Fortunately, Haroman’s lips were sealed tightly. After all, Asvon would have already slit his throat if he had heard him say, ‘His Majesty, the Emperor’s head is smooth, shiny and bald~’.

“Y…your Majesty…!”

“You did not even knock… What a shame. Do you want to lose your head?”

‘Even if Haroman is my aide, don’t I still need to protect this part of me?’

Asvon was furious. However, Haroman had brought urgent news, so he hurriedly opened his mouth. He said, “Y…your Majesty! I’ve found a way to cure your incurable disease!!!”

Of course, the incurable disease that he was talking about was Asvon’s baldness.

“What?!!!!”

This was the curse that had been passed on for hundreds of years!

‘You’re telling me that you have the solution for this goddamn curse?’

Haroman continued to say, “It’s the Talmor Religion.”

“Talmor?”

For some reason, he felt that the name was quite unpleasant. However, Emperor Asvon heard about the miraculous story of a small town located in the Northern Continent.

Hearing that it was a small town, he did not look worried at all. He was already gracious enough to let the town lord and his town serve him. After all, they were not the people from Collodis Empire.

“Quickly, send an invitation to the Lord of Valhalla and to that man named Talmor, and bring them to me in person!!!”

“Yes!!!”

Haroman moved quickly.

Emperor Asvon’s mouth twitched in joy at the thought of finally having the cure for his baldness.