What Absolute Nonsense... Stop Talking Rubbish.

"What absolute nonsense... Stop talking rubbish."

Ah.

The Phytos Church was not easily shaken. Distrust built up like a fortress! Such deep-seated suspicion was not easily dissolved, even with the Highest-grade Eloquence skill.

Hmm. Was it too much?

"...But what exactly is this special treatment they are supposedly receiving?"

"......."

Tae-hyun wore a pleased expression. As expected of the Phytos Church!

"I heard that once the Tyran Church completes their quest, they've been promised twice as many temples built compared to the Phytos Church. They even get special privileges when recruiting players."

A relationship of trust thinner than a sheet of paper! The churches joined forces in the face of crisis, but they were originally rivals. If one grew, the others would inevitably weaken.

Having sown the seeds of doubt in the Phytos Church, Tae-hyun went to the other churches to do the exact same thing.

"Tyran Church. I heard the Phytos Church said your order is so full of brainless warriors that you're impossible to deal with."

"That makes absolutely no sen... Actually, it sounds exactly like something they'd say! Those damn bastards!"

The church of Tyran, the God of Warriors, was far more simple-minded than the Phytos Church. Which meant they were much easier to trick!

"They were saying warriors are just a budget version of paladins. They claimed warriors are just losers who couldn't make the cut as paladins. It was so embarrassing to listen to, even for me..."

"!!!"

Tae-hyun accurately poked at the complex of the Tyran Church warriors. A common internet debate!

Warriors were undoubtedly a strong class, but compared to Paladins, those disadvantages were real.

"Those bastards have always looked down on us...!"

"My, my. I've never looked down on warriors myself. The Phytos Church is really too much, don't you think?"

Affinity at rock bottom, trust buried deep underground. Yet Tae-hyun still raised affinity under such extreme conditions! Truly, bonding over badmouthing someone else is the ultimate human nature.

"Compared to the Phytos Church, our order treats warriors incredibly well. Even that famous figure was actually a warrior."

"Oh..."

"And my subordinates are all warriors too."

"Wait. Aren't those names a bit strange...?"

Every single name sounded ominous! Tae-hyun hit and ran before the Tyran Church NPCs could question him. He had said everything he needed to say!

"Demer Church. Did you know the Ahjulak Church was badmouthing you?"

"Well, I suppose that could happen."

"...The Phytos Church also badmouthed you..."

"Ah. We are aware of that."

"......."

Tae-hyun quietly backed away. The Demer Church was a no-go!

Since they were such gentle souls, trying to sow discord simply didn't work on them.

"But this should be enough, right?"

"Yes. It seems more than enough."

Before Tae-hyun arrived, they were united in their hatred for the Archisus Church. Now, they were eyeing each other with deep suspicion. He had torn them apart with just a few words. Truly, the God of Discord!

"So, can I go in now?"

Tae-hyun spoke confidently. Normally, they would have banded together and shouted, "No! The Archisus Church must stay back!" But now, they just stared at each other.

"Whew. Now that I have permission..."

As Tae-hyun spoke, the church NPCs tensed up. What was he going to do? Patrol the area and hunt monsters? Build additional structures? Or launch a bold preemptive strike? But they didn't even know the enemy's location...

"Shall we wander around ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and do some cooking?"

"Let's do that!"

"Argh."

Lee Se-yeon gasped in horror at the message window. What a nightmare... An evil god's cult would have been better. At least you could talk to them and negotiate. But the Hungry Chaos was a completely different beast. A mindless pack of ravenous predators that devoured everything in sight! Once swallowed, you lost your mind and became a thrall of chaos. Knowing that such monsters were coming from beyond the desert made her incredibly tense.

I thought the Asvian Empire would be a bit easier...

"First, we return to the fortress! We need to deliver this information to the Allied Church Forces."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Lee Se-yeon ran across the desert with her guild members. Fortunately, a decent number of the Allied Church Forces had gathered at the fortress. From priests to paladins, their numbers were substantial, so they should be able to hold them off to some extent.

"...?? Wait. What's with the atmosphere in the fortress?"

Something was off.

Yes!

Out of the three skills, cooking was the first to reach Highest-grade. Unlike singing or magic, the amount of time he had poured into it was on a different level! Plus, it was the easiest for Tae-hyun to level up.

No!

Tae-hyun flinched at the message. Anyone else would have gone, "Wow! My skills are getting even better!" but not Tae-hyun. Once converted into Archisus's Authorities, the skills became incredibly difficult to use. Just leave them alone, please!

Skills popped up one after another. Tae-hyun breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't the worst-case scenario. In fact, they had actually improved.

Are these specialized skills?

With hundreds of different dishes, it was only natural to have specializations. Just as mages chose to specialize in fire or ice magic, chefs did the same. Specialized dishes that gave massive buffs to Luck or Holy stats made perfect sense. No player had higher Luck and Holy stats than Tae-hyun. And what about his titles? It was completely natural to unlock luck- and divinity-specialized cooking.

But...

What on earth is 'Cooking for Demons'?

Are you insane?!

It really was cooking for demons! No, but seriously, why did a skill for cooking for demons even pop up?

— Master... why didn't 'Cooking for Dragons' unlock...

— Master...

— It would have been better if 'Cooking for Undead' had unlocked instead...

Before Golgol-i could even finish his sentence, Cooking for Undead was added.

At that, Yong-yong and Heuk-heuk felt even more neglected. Why were dragons the only ones left out?!

"I-I'm sorry, guys."

— It is fine, Master...

— No, it's okay...

Tae-hyun actually felt apologetic for once. But there was nothing he could do. The skill simply hadn't unlocked!

I guess I've fought enough undead and demons to unlock the skills and earn titles, but I haven't dealt with dragons that way...

He would have had to fight a lot of dragons for it to unlock!

"Tae-hyun, please cook some more!"

"No. I just maxed out my skill, so I was thinking of stopping..."

"Tae-hyun! Please! Just for us!"

"You selfish bastard! What do you mean 'just for us'? You should say 'just for everyone'!"

The gathered players cried out in anxiety, realizing Tae-hyun was about to close shop. When else would they ever get to eat such food in this desert!

"...What are you doing here??"

Lee Se-yeon spoke, her face a mask of utter bewilderment. She had wondered why the fortress was in such a state, only to find a very familiar face running a business in the middle of the plaza. She had wondered if some famous ranker chef had arrived, but...

It was Kim Tae-hyun!?!

Tae-hyun looked absolutely delighted to see Lee Se-yeon. For a split second, her heart skipped a beat at his expression. Why was he looking at her like that?

"Ah, Se-yeon! I'm sorry! The Asvian Empire is your territory, and here I am running a business without your permission!"

"No, this fortress is your land that you built..."

"I guess I have no choice. Let's wrap it up here."

Tae-hyun quickly gave a signal. Lee Da-bi closed the lid of the cauldron and packed everything neatly into the wagon. True to its nature as an engineering food cart, it packed itself away ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the blink of an eye.

"???"

Lee Se-yeon stood there dazed, still unable to grasp the situation.

"Sorry, everyone! I have to close!"

"...Se-yeon!! Why are you doing this to us!"

"Isn't this too much?!"

"...Hey!"

Lee Se-yeon's temper flared. Did you just use me as an excuse to close your shop?!

However, Lee Se-yeon didn't stay angry for long. Because she had a quest she needed to do with Tae-hyun. She was in a very, very desperate position!

"By the way, do you have a quest?"

"!"

Tae-hyun read her mind before she could even speak!

"Is it a quest that needs my help?"

"...!?"

D-do we have a spy in our guild?

"A younger guildmate of yours who's close to you was acting strangely polite, so I figured you wanted something from me. No need to look so shocked."

"Ah, so that's what it was..."

Lee Se-yeon let out a sigh of relief. She was about to speak, but curiosity got the better of her.

"But what are you even doing here?"

"Ah... it's a long story. I've been working hard to level up my cooking skill."

"......."

She couldn't comprehend what kind of circumstances would drive a top ranker like Tae-hyun to grind cooking skills. Surely it wasn't a class quest...

What is this guy even doing...?

While everyone else was pushing past level 300 and racing ahead, he was leisurely leveling up his cooking skill!

"Of course, I didn't come here just to level up cooking."

"I figured as much."

"I also came to level up my singing skill."

"......."

Lee Se-yeon's expression grew increasingly bizarre. Lee Da-bi nudged him.

"Tae-hyun. I don't think that explanation is helping her understand."

"Ah, really? I also came to level up my magic skills."

"......."

Da-bi was left speechless. That didn't help either...!

"Anyway, it looks like something is happening around here. What's the quest? Tell me quickly."

Tae-hyun urged her. Seeing how she had gathered the churches here, she clearly had a lot of information that he lacked. He would squeeze the quest details out of her, and if it seemed useful, he'd tag along!

It seems connected to Alexeos's quest too. If things go well, I can just coast along.

Since Lee Se-yeon had set the stage and done all the preparation, Tae-hyun felt he could comfortably leech off her quest for once. Honestly, he deserved a quest like this! Did he always have to be the one scraping the bottom of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the barrel, finding helpers, and gathering people?