Gourmet Gaming
Chapter 1331

Chapter 1331

Chapter 1331

Zearte was Chaos’s most beloved and cherished evaluator. There was only one reason: he did such an excellent job that Chaos did not even have to make a move. That was how outstanding Zearte was.

The current Captain Evaluator, Ruba, was at Level 1,260. As for Zearte? He was at Level 1,400. It was much higher than Ruba’s own and was already at a level that was far beyond common sense. There was a chance that Zearte was one of the candidates who could become a Pillar. However, like the other evaluators, Zearte also had no memory of the past. The only memories that he had were memories when he was still active as an evaluator.

For him, an empire made by a human was not worth seeing. Zearte thought that if he, the great evaluator, had his heart set on it, he could lay this entire empire to ashes in just two days. He was no different from Ruba in this regard.

And just like Ruba, the emperors and the kings would immediately kowtow to him and bang their heads on the ground when Zearte visited them. Zearte liked sitting on their throne and ordering around these bug-like emperors every now and then. He always took that time to enjoy himself and took a break. And if the emperor changed his mind even once, he would catch them and squeeze them dry.

And he enjoyed that. Especially the expressions of the emperor’s subordinates when he began to beat their master. There was this inexplicable pleasure and delight whenever he saw the ugly expressions on the faces of the bug-like subordinates who could not do anything to fight him, despite being humiliated deeply. That was how he treated an empire led by humans.

Of course, a very long time had passed since that time. Nevertheless, Zearte believed that nothing would change for these bug-like empires. There was little to see here. Zearte and his men were also there because they were ordered to dispose of Ruba and his group of evaluators.

“Hey. Do you want to die?”

Zearte frowned when he heard the words of one of the humans standing in front of him. He found it very ridiculous and said, “I believe I have heard you wrong? I’m an evaluator.”

As far as Zearte knew, everyone knew of their existence. It did not matter if they were an NPC or a foreigner; they knew about them. So, how dare this man say something like that to him? However, fulfilling Chaos’ orders urgently took precedence in Zearte’s mind. He did not need to put blood in his hands for something so trivial.

“Where is your emperor?”

“That’s me, you f*cking bastard.”

How dare an emperor say something like that to him?! Did he want his empire to be collateral damage? Once again, a fed-up expression appeared on Zearte’s face.

“Look here, emperor.” He looked coldly at his surroundings. “What’s the problem with calling bugs a bug? You are all bugs. I call you a bug because you will all die like bugs with just a single swing of my sword.”

Zearte looked at Minhyuk, his gaze filled with arrogance as he said, “We can always trample on bugs like you. Regardless, I’m feeling a bit merciful today.”

Zearte smiled as if he were gentle, merciful, and kind.

“I’m going to ignore all the bugs that bother and annoy me. Let me make things clear, though.” Zearte looked at the empire in contempt and disgust. “This empire and everything in it is nothing more than a bug. Sometimes, I will let annoying bugs like you go. I’m feeling kind today, so I will let this slide.”

Then, Zearte stepped inside the Beyond the Heavens Empire. The deeper he entered the empire, the higher the corners of Ruba’s lips curled up. Strange as it was, he still entered the empire as he pleased. Of course, Zearte’s team of evaluators did the same.

At that moment, the vassals standing behind Minhyuk began to move and surround them in all directions.

Zearte looked at them as if they were pathetic. He sneered, “This is what happens when your emperor is ignorant. Use mental magic and turn them crazy.”

Quite a few evaluators had the same powers as Arshad, the person capable of mental magic in Ruba’s team. Their power stretched toward the vassals of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. They believed their mental magic would work and continued releasing their power. Unfortunately, their magic suddenly stopped when it was about to seep into their opponents.

“...Our mental magic is not working.”

“We can’t control it!”

[Mental Control.]

[Your mental magic’s success rate has dropped below 50%.]

“...?”

Zearte looked surprised when he heard the sound not long after his men’s words rang. There was someone who restricted the power of the evaluators.

Then, an old man passed by Zearte. The old man stared at the evaluator holding a spear with a gentle smile and asked, “Is your weapon a spear? If you’re an evaluator, then how about evaluating me? Let this old man introduce himself. This old man is a bug that is good at handling spears.”

“Pfft!” Zearte giggled at the old man’s arrogance.

They called themselves bugs to mock him, but the only thing they did was sound ridiculous. Even the evaluator holding a spear almost laughed at the old man’s face.

“Come, bug. I’ll beat you to death with this fly swatter!”

Sparks appeared as the evaluator’s spear clashed constantly with Ben’s spear. The evaluator’s relaxed expression slowly turned ugly the longer they clashed. He dared not comment on the old man, whether it was his proficiency, experience, or elaborate spearmanship. After clashing spears with him a thousand times over, he realized he could not gain an advantage. Why? Because Ben’s spear was weak when it needed to be weak and strong when it needed to be strong.

Thud!

The evaluator fell as Ben’s spear stabbed his chest. Ben looked at the fallen evaluator and asked, “If I’m a bug that’s good at handling a spear, then what are you when you can’t even wield your spear as well as I?”

“...?!”

Shame almost devoured the evaluator right there and then. Meanwhile, the dozens of evaluators watching the scene finally realized the unusualness of the situation. They immediately rushed forward to stop the rushing vassals.

“I’m Conir! Conir’s a bug that is good at handling swords!”

The sword of the ‘bug’, good at handling swords, easily overwhelmed the sword of the evaluator in charge of evaluating swords. Zearte’s expression grew ugly when he saw the evaluator screaming as his entire body got torn apart by one slash of the young boy’s sword.

“I’m the Supreme bug! You are?”

“...?”

“I’m the Great Demon bug.”

“I’m the pirate bug.”

“I’m... just a bug!”

Zearte’s eyes darted around. The evaluators were not completely defeated, but they were, at the very least, on par with each other. This left Zearte in rage. He growled, “These f*cking bug-like bastards!!!”

At that moment, something very unexpected happened to Ruba.

***

Ruba and the other evaluators had intended to help out the vassals of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. Alas, Ruba suddenly stopped in his tracks just as he was about to move, because fragments of his memories began to flash before him.

–You have to come back alive, Ruba.

–I will come back. No matter what.

These fragments of memories unlocked the floodgate that kept his memories at bay. Just like that, his memories flooded back into him.

Ruba, a commander in the empire, was saying goodbye to his pregnant wife, Harran.

After hearing reports that a group of monsters had suddenly invaded an empire nearby, Ruba led the troops. The monsters were so strong that they could sweep away his soldiers instantly. Nonetheless, Ruba had to survive. His wife was still waiting for him. So, Ruba weaved among his allies and desperately fought against the monsters slaughtering them.

He fought and fought, the days bleeding into the next until he forgot how long he was fighting. He continued to fight even if he no longer had the power to lift his fingers. In the end, Ruba was able to kill all of the monsters. He survived. Even though he stumbled on his feet, Ruba still laughed happily.

–Just wait...

–Wait a bit more. Just a bit more and I will be back home.

He told his wife they would think of a name for their child together once he returned. He considered naming their child Luce if it were a girl and Luhan if it were a boy.

Like that, the sun slowly rose and made the darkness disappear. Ruba walked like a corpse, stumbling as he stared at the rising sun on the horizon. At that moment...

[Become an evaluator.]

Chaos, in the shape of a ladybird beetle, appeared in front of him. He did not give any information; he just said those words.

So, Ruba said...

–I don’t want to. I have my family waiting for me. I have to go back to them.

Alas, Chaos was cold-blooded and cruel.

[You don’t have a choice.]

Ruba fell into despair. Anger clouded his mind, and he lunged toward Chaos. Not long after, his memories were taken away from him. Perhaps this was no different from dying. Tears began to stream down Ruba’s eyes.

His memories were stolen from him. As ridiculous as it might sound, he was forced to become an evaluator. Yet now, these people were telling him they would be disposed of and thrown away. Everything he had done and endured all these years was in vain. Ultimately, they were forced into this position and thrown away when they were no longer needed.

Ruba looked to the side. He saw his men crying and calling someone’s name out.

“I became an evaluator for no reason at all...”

“I am not someone who was created out of nothing.”

“All of my people had died.”

“I couldn’t even see my child’s face.”

“I couldn’t do anything.”

They could not do anything. Nothing at all. How dare they do something in front of the great Chaos? They were nothing but mere tools in his eyes. And the people? They would sing praises and hail this god as the greatest.

“No one will know who I am. I am just a tool used and hidden beneath those praises.”

Ruba gripped his sword tightly. There was this unbearable pain wracking his entire being as his memories seeped in. It hurt too much. He felt as if his reality was hell, and he could not help but fall deeper and deeper into despair.

There was nothing else he could do in this quagmire of despair. Ruba raised the sword in his hand and pointed it at his neck. He thought that it was better for him to kill himself before he was disposed of so easily. At the very least, he would not meet his end by being disposed of.

“No one will know. That’s how this story will end,” Ruba muttered as his hands moved swiftly to deal the final blow.

Just then, someone reached out and grabbed the hilt of his sword. Then, a hand landed gently on his shoulder.

“I’ll remember.”

“...?”

“I’ll remember your story.”

Ruba’s bloodshot eyes met the kind gaze of Minhyuk.

The moment the memories they were searching for began to return, a quest appeared for Minhyuk.

Ring!

[Sudden Quest: The Evaluators’ Past.]

Rank: SSS

Requirements: Someone with Ruba’s favor.

Rewards: Ruba and the evaluators.

Penalty for Failure: The disposal of Ruba and the evaluators.

Description: The evaluators were not given any choice. They were forced to become evaluators solely because Chaos needed them. There was someone who was just enjoying their peaceful life, someone who had just crossed the finish line, someone who had obtained an extraordinary power, but all of them shared the same fate. Their lives were completely taken away from them.

You will be able to glimpse some of their memories, the memories of the lives taken away from them. Stop their disposal. If you can, the evaluators will live their lives for your sake.

The evaluators’ memories flashed in front of Minhyuk’s eyes. From the day Chaos found them, they were forced to live the life of an evaluator. For what? For Chaos’ own need. And now, they were told they would be disposed of because they no longer proved helpful. Honestly, Minhyuk felt his anger flare when he saw those memories.

‘There’s a way.’

Although it seemed impossible to complete, there was still a way to clear the quest. However, Minhyuk did not choose to do it right away. Why? Because he was weighing both sides. And finally, all of the weighing and the calculations were over.

“Don’t die. Survive. Live on. Only by living will you be able to get your revenge,” Minhyuk said, his voice gentle yet powerful.

“...”

Ruba could not escape Minhyuk’s gaze. As he continued to look at Minhyuk, his hand holding the sword began to shake.

“Are you going to let your men be disposed of just like that?”

“...?!”

Ruba’s reasoning returned with those words. His men were just like him. They were also tools whose lives were taken away for no reason.

“Why do you think that there’s nothing that you can do? Point your weapons at Chaos.”

Yet Ruba felt weak and unsure. How could he dare to do that? How could he point his finger and aim his weapon at Chaos when he was not even confident he could deal with Zearte over there?

When Minhyuk saw Ruba shrinking in on himself, he spoke like a grandfather. He said, “Hoho. My dear grandson.”

Then, he took out his cooking equipment from his inventory. Ruba’s mouth fell open when he saw Minhyuk preparing a dish.

“How about trying the dish that this grandfather of yours is going to make?”

An awkward smile hung on Ruba’s face as he answered, “Yes, grandfather. I will try it.”

Then, Ruba looked at Zearte. This man referred to the people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire as bugs. Ruba said, “Let me wriggle and writhe desperately. My desperate wriggling will start with me killing that bastard over there.”

Ruba’s gaze focused on Minhyuk’s back as he started to cook. There was no mischief in the smile that the young man had directed at him.

“If I survive this, then...”

Minhyuk looked back at Ruba. It seemed like Ruba had finally created a new goal for himself. Now that he had a goal, he could no longer be considered a tool that someone used.

Once again, Ruba said, with a face filled with vigor and energy, “Can I live for your sake?”

This was his new goal.