Chapter 655 - V57C2P1 – Doomsday (1/2)
V57C2P1 – Doomsday
Hegel, Bella, Rumi, Celcia.
The students of the Virtual Reality program brought a bunch of new recruits to Morata.
“As you all know already, this is the birthplace of the Arpen Empire.”
Hegel raised his chin and began his speech.
“The 2-3 meter radius around the Black Giant Star? Yeah, this is a historical site. This place existed since the days of ruins; it was one before it became a developed city.”
The 80 freshmen of the VR program were listening with glistening eyes.
Many of them knew a lot about the city, having started Royal Road in Morata but they had alternative goals.
Paella with long waving hair past her back raised her hand.
“You there, go ahead.”
“Hegel sunbae-nim, does it mean we can see Weed sunbae-nim today?”
“Uhh… About that.”
Hegel hesitated to answer.
It was true that he was acquainted with Weed and took cla.s.ses together, but now it was difficult to get in touch with him.
‘Seriously, I call him every day and leave texts, but he never answers them.’
Weed’s worth skyrocketed and even the broadcast stations contacted him with care.
Producers could not dare contact him even with urgent business and, instead, the job had to be escalated to the board of directors. Hence it was difficult to get a hold of Weed.
The truth was that Hegel’s constant calls and messages already got him blocked.
“Tsk-tsk. You had it coming.”
“We haven’t seen oppa in so long too, so how can you bring a crowd of newcomers and ask him to spare us some time when the war is tomorrow? Let’s just tour around Morata and leave it at that.”
Bella and Rumi scolded him and tried to wrap up the situation, but Paella raised her hand yet again.
“Then… Can we see Nide sunbae-nim?”
“Nide?”
Hegel was rather thrown off at the mention of his friend’s name.
“What about that guy?”
“He’s like so famous nowadays!”
“That idiot?”
“Yeah. I want to see Nide sunbae-nim!”
Nide was the famed heroic thief who robbed Kaybern’s lair along with Weed.
Weed was a legendary individual in the eyes of the freshman and so were his comrades.
“You really want to see Nide? No joke?”
“Yes! Sunbae-nim.”
“Does everyone else want that too?”
“Of course! I really want to meet him.”
“We want to see him!”
The freshmen were shouting in unison. Hegel sighed deeply and whispered to Nide.
“Where you at?”
– Nide: Hmm? I’m in Morata for the fight against Kaybern tomorrow.
“Come to where I am.”
– Nide: Where? Are you in Morata too?
“In front of the Black Giant Star. I’m wearing a s.h.i.+ning winged armor so you will notice me right away.”
– Nide: I’ll be right over.
Hegel kept on exhaling, feeling an uncomfortable tightness in his chest after the conversation.
It was like he had been robbed of something that was meant to be his.
Moments after, Nide walked out the entrance of Black Giant Star.
“Hegel!”
“Kyahh!”
“It’s really him!”
The freshmen were in joy seeing him walk from a distance.
The cloak worn by Nide surprised not just the freshmen, but Hegel as well.
It looked like it was made from a mystical material, flocking on its own and stealing the crowd’s attention with its obsidian gloss.
Hegel felt like he shouldn’t ask but he wanted to relieve his curiosity.
Nide was a higher level than him to begin with and being a thief granted him great equipment, but he was curious about this new cloak that he saw for the first time.
“What’s that cloak? I have quite a bit of gold saved up. How much is it worth?”
“Price? It’s not for sale.”
“Then where did you get it?”
“I got it from Weed-hyung after helping him out on the lair raid.”
“Ho.”
“I picked it because it was alright, but it turns out this thing attracts quite a bit of unwanted attention. Still, it boosts movement speed and has a flight skill. Its defense and magic resistances are high too.”
“Could it be that this was made from…”
“Yep. It’s made of the Black Dragon’s scale.”
Nide’s honest words smacked the back of Hegel’s head.
“Sunbae-nim!”
“Can we get some autographs?”
“Can you tell us some of your adventure stories?”
The freshmen that had looked up to Hegel were leaving his side for Nide.
***
“We have today’s special dish. Let’s use all of the expensive ingredients of Morata!”
“Woahh!”
Chefs gathered at the town square.
Barberota on the full course, Mihael on the seafood, Sanjelly on roast meat and Moku on the desserts.
They were all experts in their own fields and it was tough to say who was the best. Nonetheless, the famous chefs over the continents all a.s.sembled at Morata.
Continental Cooking Compet.i.tion
Hosted by the Arpen Empire.
Sponsored by the Mapan Council, Gamong Council, Undefeated Council, Anything Cheap Council.
It was a so-called cooking tournament.
The winning prize was 5 million gold and promotion to a lord seat of the Arpen Empire.
There were countless cooking compet.i.tions in the past run by judges of questionable tastes, but the rules were simple for this tournament.
– The tournament will commence the night before Kaybern’s attack.
The tournament will begin after sunset and continue until the next morning.
The guests served with a dish can give a rating between 1 and 5.
The chef with the most points will be the winner!
All the chefs had to do was cook delicious food with the provided ingredients.
“So, all it takes is to just cook all night long and get the most votes?”
“Yeah. But it is better the more you sell, so I think it comes down to popularity.”