A Taste of the Abyss

Lee Se-yeon answered without a moment's hesitation. After all, Kim Tae-hyun's Abnormal Cooking was famous among those in the know.

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It was certainly a useful skill. In exchange for sacrificing taste, it granted massive stat buffs. For players who lived and died by performance, it was a skill that would make their eyes light up!

...But even so, it tasted far too horrific.

Even those who confidently stepped up, boasting, "Hey, I drink bitter herbal medicine all the time, how bad can this be?" would end up crying, "I'm sorry for being arrogant! I'm sorry!"

Ultimately, the people who sought out Abnormal Cooking were divided into two groups: high-level players who cared only about performance, and players who bought it to use for broadcasts or penalty games!

Lee Se-yeon belonged to neither. She wasn't so lacking in confidence in her skills that she needed to resort to eating abnormal food!

"You don't look like you're in a Lich state, though?" Tae-hyun asked.

"That's because this is my class-specific passive skill." Lee Se-yeon lied without batting an eye.

Tae-hyun stared at her suspiciously. Lee Se-yeon, of all people, was just casually sharing her class skills with him?

"Is it really okay for you to tell me that?"

"We're going to the World Cup together anyway. I should at least tell you this much." Lee Se-yeon answered smoothly, without a single stutter.

Watching this, Lee Da-bi was filled with admiration. It was her first time seeing someone hold their ground and lie so flawlessly right in front of Tae-hyun!

However, Tae-hyun had a countermove ready.

"Don't worry. I can make food that even Undead can eat."

"...That's impossible." Lee Se-yeon was dumbfounded. Was there really such a skill in this world?

...There was.

"...!!"

Lee Se-yeon blinked in disbelief as she watched a dish truly meant for the undead take shape before her eyes.

The high-level Doom Knights guarding Lee Se-yeon stared at the food, their eyes glowing intensely from behind their helmets.

Master! Are you going to eat that all by yourself?

"K-Kim Tae-hyun. My undead really want to eat it..."

"Don't worry, Se-yeon." Tae-hyun was surprisingly kind. He was actually a little touched that she had come all this way to help him. He could afford to show some generosity at a time like this!

Besides, the more they ate and drank here, the hungrier and thirstier the rival church NPCs would get.

"Then, can I share it with them?"

"No, there's no need for that. I'll make a separate batch just for them."

"Haha. No need to thank me, boys." Tae-hyun quickly built rapport with the undead under Lee Se-yeon's command. It was all thanks to Nebuchadnezzar's Blackmagic.

"So, you guys are Doom Knights?"

The knights nodded vigorously.

When Death Knights survived long enough and accumulated massive amounts of experience, they evolved into far more powerful entities—such as Abyss Knights, Doom Knights, or Nightmare Knights. And these were Doom Knights!

Tae-hyun was genuinely shocked that Lee Se-yeon was already summoning and commanding Doom Knights.

'Not only are they stronger than Death Knights, but I heard their skill pool is incredibly vast...'

Doom Knights were capable of using all sorts of unique, specialized skills!

Meanwhile, Lee Se-yeon squeezed her eyes shut and prepared to gulp down the soup.

"Urrgh... ugh... urrrgh..."

Thud! Thud!

Beside her, the Doom Knights downed their soup in a single gulp and stomped their feet in pure ecstasy.

"...Th-thank you..."

"Are you crying?"

"I-I'm not crying. The sunlight is just so bright that my eyes are watering."

"We're underground, though..."

— We have returned!

— Those pathetic warriors were no match for us!

The joint church forces quickly returned to the underground passage. It had been an incredibly one-sided battle from the start. No matter how powerful the Hungry Chaos was, a small band of corrupted warriors couldn't possibly stand against multiple Archbishops.

Tae-hyun clapped his hands.

"Wow! As expected of the Church Archbishops! You completely turned the desert upside down!"

"...That doesn't really sound like a compliment!"

"Now, now. You must be thirsty, Se-yeon. Drink this, it's juice. It's a special drink for the undead. The rest of the guild members can have some too."

"We'll just take regular drinks, please!"

"We aren't undead!"

"Oh, right. My bad."

Lee Se-yeon glared at her guild members in betrayal as they quickly abandoned her. Their guild leader was currently choking down undead-exclusive juice, and they dared to...!

"Um, excuse me..."

"?"

"Swap yours with this. You're not actually undead, right?"

At Lee Da-bi's kind gesture, tears welled up in Lee Se-yeon's eyes. To think there was actually one person with a functioning conscience among this crowd!

"*Sniff*... Thank you so much."

"A-Ah, no. Please don't cry over something like this..."

"I'm not crying. The sun is just... really bright..."

Lee Se-yeon made a solemn vow to herself. From now on, if anyone dares to look down on the Power Warrior Guild or its leader, I will personally crush them into dust!

As an impromptu party broke out in the middle of the underground passage, the late-arriving Church NPCs swallowed hard, their mouths watering.

— Ahem. Perhaps we could also...

Tae-hyun held out his hand. The Archbishop of the Phytos Church awkwardly reached out to shake it.

"?"

— Was this not a gesture of handshake?

"No. Hand over the money."

— ...

— ...

The atmosphere instantly froze, turning colder than the desert night. Nearby, Lee Se-yeon and her guild members pretended to be completely absorbed in their food and drinks.

— Don't get involved.

— Absolutely! I'm not touching that with a ten-foot pole. Just watching is terrifying!

The Phytos Archbishop shouted in outrage.

— What! You demand money?! Did we not gather here to fight against the Chaos together?!

"The more urgent the situation, the more strictly we must manage our financial relations. That is a sacred principle handed down by our church... and since Lord Akisus personally decreed it, I have no choice but to comply."

Tae-hyun lied smoothly without a hint of shame. A brand-new church principle created on the spot! Since he was claiming his deity had ordered it, the Phytos Archbishop was left utterly speechless. What could he say against a god's command?

— Urgh... We have no more gold! We spent it all earlier!

"!"

Tae-hyun was surprised. No wonder they hadn't bought anything else. They had literally run out of gold?

— Ahem. Actually, we still have some funds remaining.

The Archbishop of the Henen Cult—a religious order composed of chivalrous thieves and outlaws—raised his hand.

— Didn't you say you were broke earlier?!

— Well, we thought we were, but upon closer inspection, we found some more. Pope, we're close friends, aren't we?

True to their rogue backgrounds, they were incredibly quick to grasp the situation. Tae-hyun nodded in approval.

"Of course we are close."

— Thank you!

The Henen Cult NPCs quickly handed over heavy gold pouches and various glittering treasures before rushing over to the food.

"......"

Tae-hyun stared at the Henen Cult NPCs in disbelief. These shameless bastards actually paid him with stolen goods...!?

'Well, I guess it's not like they have a regular source of income.'

Since their entire profession was stealing, it was only natural that their currency consisted of stolen treasures. But it wasn't a bad deal. Treasure was treasure, after all. Instead of returning them, he could just use them to decorate the Valley.

Even now, the Valley was granting him insane buffs thanks to all the rare art pieces and treasures gathered from across the world. The current state of his territory was incomparable to its humble beginnings!

Chomp! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Slurp! Gulp!

Letting the Henen Cult NPCs eat first turned out to be an excellent choice. They devoured the food and drinks with absolute gusto, making it look incredibly delicious.

'Wow. Are they possessed by starving ghosts?'

Watching the rogues feast like beasts, the holy knights of the other churches looked like they were about to lose their minds from hunger.

— Can we not purchase on credit?!

Finally, they resorted to begging for credit!

Lee Se-yeon's guild members watched the scene unfold, utterly amazed. Normally, when dealing with high-ranking NPCs of major religious orders, players would bow and scrape just to get a quest...

Yet here was Kim Tae-hyun, straight-up extorting them. Was he a player or a mob boss?

"On credit, you say... Hmm. Well, since we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are comrades on this expedition, my heart does ache to leave you out."

— Indeed! Indeed!

"Very well. In that case, I shall serve the Demer Church first."

Instantly, all eyes snapped toward the Demer Church. Glances filled with jealousy and resentment pierced through them!

— Ah, we... we can wait.

"Is that so? Then should I serve the Phytos Church first...?"

At Tae-hyun's words, the hostile glares shifted entirely to the Phytos Church. The Phytos Archbishop panicked.

— W-Why us first?

"What? You don't want to eat? Fine, don't eat then."

— N-No, that is not what I meant...

The Archbishops of the other churches began to whisper among themselves.

— Come to think of it, did the Phytos Church not have a private discussion with the Archisus Pope before the expedition began?

— There were also testimonies that the Archisus Pope wielded the power of Phytos...

— Are the two churches actually in league with each other?

For the Phytos Church, these rumors were enough to drive them insane. In league?! We aren't close at all!

But they couldn't even argue. They hadn't eaten or drank anything yet, and their holy knights were completely exhausted and desperately needed to recover.

As the contribution points rose, the atmosphere among the various churches became increasingly awkward and fractured.

Watching this from the side, the Demon Duke Gusirek was filled with awe.

'As expected of Archisus!'

The god's notorious methods hadn't changed a bit. Splitting the holy alliances apart with a single meal was nothing short of an art form.

'What kind of quest description is this?' Tae-hyun thought, bewildered.

Usually, system quest descriptions were neutral, but this one... almost sounded like it was pitying Gusirek?

While the Church NPCs were busy eating and drinking, Tae-hyun checked his inventory. The treasures from the Henen Cult were great, but there was something far more important—the items he had received from Nekanet-sal!

'Since he gave them to me under those circumstances, they must be incredibly important.'

"!"

While it was weaker than the top-tier weapons Tae-hyun currently possessed, the truly broken aspect of this weapon was that it had absolutely no level or stat requirements. Even a complete novice could equip it!

'But the moment someone equips this, they'll probably be forced to class-change into a servant of the Hungry Chaos...'

Tae-hyun moved on to inspect the next item.

"...!"

This was an incredibly dangerous item in its own right. An item that could summon the Hungry Chaos itself. He would have to make absolutely sure he never had a reason to use this... unless things went completely south!