A Picky Judge and a Shifting Dungeon
Meanwhile, Tae-hyun was receiving a whisper from Lee Da-bi.
— Tae-hyun. Tae-hyun.
— ?
— Did you happen to post something on the community board?
— What post?
— A post saying you're currently hunting in the Magic Tower Dungeon.
— ...No. I've never posted anything like that.
— Then I think someone you're with posted it. You should be careful. Looking at the number of comments, a lot of other people have probably seen it too.
Tae-hyun immediately understood what Lee Da-bi meant.
If those bastards who were currently itching to catch him saw this, they would definitely make their move!
Stop.
Tae-hyun halted in his tracks and turned around.
"?"
The mages tilted their heads in confusion at his sudden stop.
"Whoever was brainless enough to post on the community board that they're hunting with me, raise your hand."
"..."
Silence fell. A cold chill swept through the air.
After about ten seconds, one of Baher's friends hung his head low and slowly raised his hand.
"I-I'm sorry. I was just so happy to be hunting with you..."
"It's fine, it's fine. I understand completely."
"Tae-hyun!" the mage cried out, deeply moved by his warm words.
"Now, get to the front."
"Huh?"
"I said, get to the front."
"..."
Gadel and Gazen welcomed the mage with eyes that said, Welcome to the club.
By now, everyone knew exactly what that position meant!
I should absolutely never go up there.
I need to watch my step from now on.
Tae-hyun's party suddenly exhibited razor-sharp focus.
More importantly, if my location has been leaked, they'll be waiting for me at the entrance...
After sending the three mages ahead, Tae-hyun fell deep into thought.
An ordinary person would think, Come on, would they really cause trouble in a major city like this? There are guards, knights, and even the Magic Tower's mages here.
But Tae-hyun wasn't that naive.
After all, if he were in their shoes and got pissed off, he wouldn't care about the location either—he'd just attack!
Hmm... What should I do?
They hadn't even cleared the dungeon yet, but the list of things to worry about was already piling up. He also had to perform a magic show in front of the Magic Tower's mages...
While Tae-hyun was running the Magic Tower Dungeon and the Guild Alliance was moving toward the Magic Tower, an event was taking place in the royal capital.
It was, of course, the birthday celebration event for the King of the Erangs Kingdom.
"Excellent work, Baron Terand. To think you caught those Sadiq bastards trying to tamper with the food. I shall ensure your contribution is not forgotten."
"It is an honor!"
Seeing the Captain of the Royal Guard praise Baron Terand, the players whispered among themselves.
"Did the Sadiq Order do something again?"
"Is there a quest coming up?"
"By the way, who is that Baron? I don't think I've ever seen him before."
"They say he's a gourmet."
"Then it's useless unless you have a chef class."
"Well, the current event is for chefs. Oh, look, the chefs are coming out."
"But where did the Restaurant Guild go? Why aren't they here?"
Boom, boom, boom—
To the beat of drums, the chefs began to march out, holding their dishes in their hands!
"Chefs, present your dishes!"
The food couldn't be served directly to the King. First, the noble gourmets would taste them, and only a select few chefs would be chosen.
In other words, this was the preliminary round!
Since high-grade ingredients are scarce, I should save them for later.
Ugh, I want to save my ingredients, but if I get eliminated in the preliminaries because of that...
Countless chefs were eyeing each other, trying to formulate a strategy.
"Hmph. Ju Hyeon-yeong. Looking at you, it seems you've managed to secure some decent ingredients."
Paz, a top-ranking chef, wiped under his nose with a finger, looking thoroughly pleased.
The dish Ju Hyeon-yeong brought out was clearly made with high-grade ingredients. Its appearance and color were on a completely different level compared to what the other chefs had prepared!
With his chef skills, Paz could immediately analyze the ingredients used in Ju Hyeon-yeong's dish.
"To make a paella using top-grade rice and various sauces! As expected of the chef I acknowledged. A truly outstanding chef brings out the best in fine ingredients without relying on cheap tricks!"
The other chefs gasped in admiration at Paz's words.
As expected of Paz! He can tell the ingredients and the dish just by looking at it!
However, Ju Hyeon-yeong tilted her head and asked, "Huh? This is fried rice, though?"
"..."
Paz froze.
Seeing this, the other chefs who had just been admiring him began to whisper.
— Didn't he just say that with so much confidence?
— I know, right? If I were him, I'd log out immediately.
"I-It must be a dish heavily influenced by paella... Yes, a variation..."
"No, not really."
"A-Anyway, Ju Hyeon-yeong! I shall repay my defeat from last time. I don't plan on losing so easily today!"
"Ah, yes. But last time wasn't really your fault..."
"Not my fault, but because you were just that good? Hmph. Yes, I know."
"No, that's not what I meant..."
"Enough! No more! I will not let my resolve be shaken by your provocations!"
Ju Hyeon-yeong wanted to kindly explain the situation, but Paz covered his ears, refusing to listen.
She decided to drop it. That wasn't what was important right now anyway.
— Is that chef Ju Hyeon-yeong?
— Yeah, they say she defeated both the Restaurant Guild and Paz last time.
— Wow. She doesn't look like much... and her gear is pretty basic, isn't it?
— Right? She's not even in a guild. Where did she get those ingredients?
— There's a rumor that she's a highly successful chef in real life.
— I heard her family is incredibly wealthy.
— So she probably bought all those ingredients with cash.
Thanks to that, the rumors continued to inflate!
Without her even knowing, Ju Hyeon-yeong had become a "highly successful chef from a prestigious family, capable of slapping Paz in the face with her culinary skills."
Thud!
"Here is my dish!"
Paz confidently presented his creation.
The noble judges took a bite and tasted it.
Judge Count McKell is impressed by your dish.
Judge Bardo of the Storm is impressed by your dish.
Judge...
Hehe. Of course.
Paz stood tall, radiating confidence.
He didn't have a single doubt about passing the preliminaries. This was merely a formality. The real battle would take place in front of the King.
"Magnificent!"
Naturally.
"I have never tasted anything like this before!"
Of course you haven't.
"This dish is rather mediocre."
Since I made it, it's only natural... wait, what?
Paz snapped his head up.
Baron Terand was speaking with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.
"I-Is my dish not to your liking?"
"It's not that it's bad... but it's not particularly good either... It's just mediocre. Ahem."
Baron Terand looked somewhat awkward and embarrassed, but Paz was too shocked to notice.
"I... to think I couldn't even satisfy a preliminary judge...!"
It felt like a physical blow.
While Paz was trembling from the shock, other chefs presented their dishes.
"Not bad."
"Quite delicious."
"A little more effort and it would be perfect."
"This dish is truly terrible."
"!!!!"
Baron Terand was the only one enforcing an absurdly strict standard!
Only after several chefs had passed did the players finally realize what was happening.
"Whoa, that guy is incredibly picky."
"The difficulty is insane. What do we do?"
"No, it's fine. Look, everyone is getting rejected by him anyway. We just need to satisfy the other judges. The other chefs are getting turned away too."
"Now that you mention it, that's true."
Baron Terand sat there with a sullen expression, practically wearing his "I have extremely fastidious taste" attitude on his sleeve.
Next up was Ju Hyeon-yeong's turn.
"Is that Ju Hyeon-yeong?"
"Even if it's her, that noble is just..."
Everyone watched with expressions that said, No matter who it is, they won't be able to please that noble.
But then...
"This is absolutely delicious! A truly magnificent dish! I feel as though I am learning something completely new today!"
"?????"
Baron Terand was clapping, jumping up and down, and making an incredibly loud fuss!
While Tae-hyun was temporarily unable to use his Archisus's Blessing due to being lost in thought, the Magic Tower Dungeon began to shift once more.
Rumble— Clank!
The boss monster of the Erangs Kingdom Magic Tower Dungeon, Guardian Golem, has appeared!
⚠️ Beware of the energy bombardment fired by the Golem! ⚠️
"It's a boss monster!"
"Ah, seriously, this Magic Tower...!"
The party members scrambled in panic.
The sudden shifting of the corridor to connect directly to a boss room was a bizarre phenomenon unique to the Magic Tower Dungeon!
This was exactly why they couldn't afford to let their guard down for even a second.
Thud, thud, thud—
A golem made of white stone glared at them, its eyes glowing with a cold blue light.
"In... tru... ders... e... li... mi... nate..."
KABOOM!
Before the golem could even finish its sentence, it was sent flying sideways.
"?!?!"
You possess the Advanced Engineering skill. You receive an additional damage bonus when facing Golems.
The Guardian Golem has been incapacitated!
Energy Drain
"Man, I'm glad it's an inanimate object. Heuk-heuk, go absorb it."
Tae-hyun pointed his hammer at the golem.
Thanks to being an inanimate object, the golem had taken a single, devastating blow and collapsed. Although it wasn't completely destroyed, it was stuck in a stunned state, unable to get back up.
"..."
Everyone except Jeong Su-hyeok stared at Tae-hyun, completely dumbfounded.
To take down a boss monster in a single hit!
— Master! Thank you!
— Yeah, you should be grateful. Grow big and strong.
Tae-hyun nodded with a pleased expression.
There was no need to share the experience points. He could just have Heuk-heuk use the Energy Drain skill right before the monster died!
Rumble—
The boss monster of the Erangs Kingdom Magic Tower Dungeon, Golem Mage, has appeared!
⚠️ The Golem Mage is enraged! ⚠️
"Which of you bastards is absorbing my golem's power?!"
Once again, the walls shifted, and a robed mage burst out, accompanied by four golems.
"Argh! It's the Golem Mage!"
"What? Is he famous?"
"If we don't take him down quickly, he'll keep summoning more golems!"
The boss monster that had appeared was quite notorious.
It was a troublesome boss that players running the Magic Tower Dungeon desperately hoped they wouldn't encounter.
"Who designed this dungeon?" Tae-hyun grumbled.
To think another boss would appear before they had even finished off the first one. He could finally understand why the Magic Tower Dungeon was so heavily criticized.
With so many variables, it was incredibly difficult for most players to adapt or even attempt a systematic clear.
Tae-hyun grumbled as he delivered the finishing blow to the fallen Guardian Golem.
You have acquired an item.
You have acquired an item.
"Cain!... Oh, right, he's not here. You, then!"
"Huh? Me?"
"Yeah, come here."
Tae-hyun called Gazen over. Gazen approached him, looking thoroughly confused.
"Why?"
"Nothing major. Just stay still like this for a second."
Living Bomb
"???"
"Everyone, buy me some time!"
Who would dare disobey his command?
At Tae-hyun's words, the other party members quickly began pouring magic spells onto the enemy.
However, the Golem Mage was no pushover. He used his golems as shields, blocking most of the incoming attacks.
If it had been Tae-hyun, he would have closed the distance and attacked directly, but the mages here didn't possess that kind of physical capability.
"An attack is coming!"
Crash, crash, crash!
The massive stone golems scattered and began charging across the room.
The mages shrieked, casting defensive barriers and scrambling to get out of the way.
However, because they had been focusing on attacking, their timing was off.
One player, realizing they were about to take a direct hit from a golem, squeezed their eyes shut.
Archisus's Blessing
Evasion successful!
Evasion successful!
"?!"
"Now, go! Charge!"
"What? Me?"
"Yeah, you!"