Special Players Management Team.

Team Leader Park Minggyu, who had returned from Washington D.C., was watching the monitor with Employee Lee Minhwa. The two looked at the screen with blazing eyes.

“Compared to the World War, Player Minhyuk will definitely give his all for the Rocard Kingdom in this Dragon Lair.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Lee Minhwa nodded furiously.

Dragons were the greatest existence in this worldview! And those that hunted an existence like that would definitely be rewarded greatly! Especially for players that were undertaking the Kingdom Building Quest, they were likely to receive special rewards. The problem was that the rewards had to be obtained from Queen Iris.

“He might obtain the King’s Authority.”

The King’s Authority was a special power that could only be obtained by kings, or those that would become kings! However, the only one that could grant this power was none other than Queen Iris, the mad queen.

But since this was Food God Minhyuk, there was a way for him to restore Queen Iris’ sanity. The key was whether he would notice it or not.

Then, Lee Minhwa said, “There’s also Mercenary King Brod, he’s one of the candidates for the Absolute Supreme NPCs, right?”

Team Leader Park nodded. There were only eight Absolute Supreme NPCs that existed in the entire world. Six of them had been confirmed, while the other two were NPCs that still had to grow further to obtain this status. One of the candidates was Mercenary King Brod.

Mercenary King Brod was a Supreme NPC. He had fought around and played an active role in a place called ‘God’s Empire’. Legend has it that he was a man that took on 70,000 strong men by himself. This very same Brod served and followed the command of Queen Iris. It was impossible for him to move, unless he received the orders from Queen Iris.

Suddenly, Team Leader Park thought, ‘Ah, come to think of it…’

There was another important reward hidden in the Rocard Kingdom. No, rather than saying that there was a hidden important reward, it would be safer to say that for Minhyuk to obtain the reward, he had to do his very best. The reward was none other than the residents.

Rocard Kingdom was bound to leave this territory after this war. If they remained there, plenty of people would continue to attack them. Simply put, if Minhyuk did his best, they might become a part of his power. However, this was something that Minhyuk had to figure out and solve by himself.

“How will he win the hearts of the people?” Team Leader Park mumbled curiously as he watched Minhyuk through the screen.

***

Beth’s pupils were shaking wildly. He watched as Ramyeon Boy Conir kicked the wall and flew away! Conir took the opportunity to cast his skill and let it loose towards the hundreds of undead below him.

“Child’s Tempest!”

A roaring tempest came out of Conir’s sword. Sword blades flew fiercely from the tempest and slaughtered the undead below him. Conir had the requirement to hunt 10,000 undead in order to grow further. At that moment…

Slaaaaash—

Beth turned his head again. He clearly saw the three-headed pet dog ripping apart and devouring one of the hydra’s heads.

‘Crazy…!’

Hydras were monsters that were considered to be the crystallization of poison. Just a slight touch from their bodies would melt their opponent’s body. But that pet dog ate one of the hydra’s heads! In fact, they did not stop there. One of Cerberus’ heads shot out a powerful cold breath that turned the root of the head frozen, preventing it from regenerating. Cerberus leapt away from the hydra, while another of its heads shot out a strong burst of flame.

Puhaaaaaaaa—

“Kihyaaaaaack!”

“Kiyeeeeeeeek!”

“Graaaaaaaaak!”

The hydra’s snake heads shrieked loudly, while the skeleton mages fired hundreds of magic towards Cerberus. But then, Cerberus' central head opened its mouth and shot out a white light that dispelled the hundreds of magic spells that flew in the air.

“They… they’re very strong… D… don’t tell me?!”

Beth finally realized that the dog that he thought was an imitation of Cerberus, turned out to be the real deal. It was literally Cerberus, Hell’s Gatekeeper. For a moment, Beth felt chills run down his spine.

‘A… a demonic beast from hell is, is following this human?!’

Just when Beth was wondering if something like that was truly possible…

Flash—

…his eyes caught sight of the old man that was checking the place below the cat’s tail when he appeared. He was fighting against the Founder of Spearmanship, Evon!

Ghost Spear Ben clashed with Evon, who skillfully used his spear technique to stab at Ben’s chest, but Ben was able to twist his body and escape his stabbing spear.

Stab! Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab!

Dozens of spear strikes were exchanged in their short clash!

“…!”

Beth’s breathing turned labored. Evon, the Founder of Spearmanship, truly had an outstanding spear technique. Beth had never seen anyone wield their spear so skillfully like that! But someone had appeared who could actually use the spear better than Evon! And that someone was none other than the current Ghost Spear Ben.

Evon was famous for being the ‘founder’ of spearmanship. However, over the course of time, the spear technique that he had created gradually evolved and developed further. The being that stood at the pinnacle of this evolved and developed spear technique was none other than Ghost Spear Ben.

Then, Evon casted his spear technique: “Ivory Spear Arts, Chapter Two. Exploding Spear.”

Beth had seen dozens of his own people die in a single go under the gruesome display of that Exploding Spear. The attack was completely unstoppable and unavoidable. Dozens of spears flew forward, but Ghost Spear Ben triggered his own power.

“Ghost’s Attacking Spear.”

[Ghost’s Attacking Spear]

[Dozens of spears will stab through the enemies’ vital points.]

Ghost Spear Ben used a similar skill! His spear shot down Evon’s Exploding Spear in the air. Upon Evon’s casting of his Exploding Spear, he would be left defenseless for two seconds. However, Ghost Spear Ben was completely different. Just like what was said, Evon’s spearmanship was the root and foundation of spearmanship. This meant that the technique had plenty of loopholes and disadvantages. However, Ghost Spear Ben’s ‘Ghost Steps’ complemented his skill and covered up the holes and disadvantages.

Daaaaash—

Only Ghost Spear Ben’s afterimage was left behind after he used his Ghost Steps. Just one step and he was already standing in front of Evon. Then, Ghost Spear Ben stabbed Evon in the head.

Crack—

“Keuaaaaaack!”

Evon screamed! And with a crack, Evon’s body started to crumble and disappear. At the same time, a notification rang in Minhyuk’s head.

[Ghost Spear Ben has won against Death Knight Evon, the Founder of Spearmanship.]

[Death Knight Evon has acknowledged Ben’s strength. A portion of his power will be absorbed by Ben.]

At that moment, a black strand of soul separated from Death Knight Evon’s body, before flying towards Ghost Spear Ben. The black strand of soul disappeared inside Ghost Spear Ben’s body.

[Ghost Spear Ben has become more powerful.]

[His skill level has increased by +2.]

[His HP and MP reserves will increase by 1.4x.]

[Ghost Spear Ben has gotten a step closer to becoming a Supreme NPC.]

A Supreme NPC! Before Ellie awakened her latent powers, she was one of the Supreme NPCs. After she released her seal, she had established herself as an Absolute Supreme NPC. At the same time, no one would deny the fact that Supreme NPCs were NPCs that could use tremendous power.

The knights that Minhyuk had let loose were putting on a shocking display of power and skill. The member of the demon race that kept on panting while using a whip was speaking to the undead, whose ears were perked up and listening intently. There were roughly around two thousand undead listening to his majestic and captivating voice.

“Arcapel, the commander of the Imperial Knight Order, had been told that his wife had been killed from one of the undead’s raids a few years ago. Even though he was grieving, he had no choice but to make his stand and fight for his empire. One day, the emperor told him that the ‘Immortal Queen’ had appeared. With the appearance of the Immortal Queen, Arcapel marched with 20,000 troops under his command. The battlefield remained fierce and unforgiving as the never-ending war between the undead and the humans continued on! But in the end…”

The skeletons all turned to look at him as they vibrated from excitement and anticipation. Their eyes were even shining brightly!

“The Immortal Queen that Arcapel had marched forward to confront was none other than his wife that died years ago! Aaaaaah! What should he do?! Why was fate so cruel?! Why did God play a trick like this on him?!”

“Keuaaaaack!”

“Kiyeeeeeck!”

“Keuhaaaaack!”

It seemed like the undead enjoyed this crazy drama as they shrieked while wrapping their skulls with their bony hands. All of them were dying of curiosity. What choice would Arcapel make? Why did his wife become the Immortal Queen?!

“You’re curious? Then, attack them!” Aruvel said. Hearing his words, the undead suddenly turned around and attacked their own troops.

“Keuaaack!”

“Kiheeeeeek!”

Crack, crack—

The undead showed their firm determination and strong will to hear the ending of the story. This was the power of the best-selling author! He could even attract and fascinate the undead!

Meanwhile, Corr, who was wielding a sword covered in white light, slaughtered the undead, one after the other. In fact, the one that had the greatest advantage against the undead was Corr. Corr was a paladin. He was a paladin of the Athenae Religion, which meant that he would have an increase in attack and defense against the undead.

“Ho…”

Beth was really impressed. He turned around.

“Everyone is doing well. Hang in there a bit more!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Thank you, my lord!”

“Haha!”

Minhyuk encouraged his 1,500 Atlas troops that were working hard to attack the enemies. Then, not long after, Minhyuk said, “I’ll make you some delicious food after this war ends!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!”

Minhyuk’s words brought a huge impact to the fighting troops. Each and every single one of the 1,500 troops felt excited, their faces filled with anticipation and firm determination.

“My lord, you’re the best!!!”

“My lord, you’re the coolest!!!”

“Oooooooooh!”

The Atlas soldiers were also growing rapidly as they continued to fight.

[Centurion Park has leveled up.]

[Soldier Randolph has leveled up.]

[Soldier Hekain has leveled up.]

[Soldier…]

“We’re quickly getting stronger!”

“We can be of much greater help to our lord!”

“Hahahaha! That’s good! Ah, so great!”

The Atlas soldiers kept the undead at bay and stopped them from stepping foot inside the walls. Since they could just use their arrows and magic to hunt the undead that were clinging to the walls, the Atlas soldiers were literally riding an ‘express bus’.

Meanwhile, Beth and the people of Rocard Kingdom, who saw them smiling while fighting, finally realized something.

‘It’s because everyone believes in him.’

Beth’s thoughts about Minhyuk were finally refreshed. The same was true for the citizens of Rocard Kingdom.

‘I wonder how happy we would be if we also had a lord like that?’

‘I feel a bit jealous. How can they smile like that when we’re in this situation?’

‘That man over there is a noble but he truly cares for his people. It seems like he knows the name of each of his soldiers!’

Meanwhile, the people of Rocard Kingdom recalled their very own nobles.

‘They told us to open the gates, despite knowing that all of us would die if we did so.’

‘They cut down our path to retreat with their own hands.

‘The worst part is that they even hide in the rear, the safest place on this battlefield.’

‘He’s different! They’re completely different from us!!! I’m so jealous!!! Very, very jealous of them!!!’

At that moment, another set of notifications rang for Minhyuk.

[You have received favor from the people of Rocard Kingdom.]

[You have received favor from the people of Rocard Kingdom.]

[A special event will be triggered if your favor with the people of Rocard Kingdom reaches a certain level.]

Minhyuk stared at the notifications in confusion and doubt.

‘A special event will be triggered once I reach a certain level?’