Leveling Up through Eating

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

PR: MattForgenti

37 Evolved Ellie’s Swordsmanship

A blood-stained man was fighting fiercely against some bandits. The spear in his hand slowly began to rotate until it was spinning at a speed that was so fast you wouldn’t be able to follow it with your eyes.

[Tornado Spear.]

[The thrown spear will pull the enemies and brutally attack them.]

He threw the spear with almost all of his strength. The bandits that were blocking the way were suddenly pulled along the thrown spear, it was as if they were sucked by the spear. Their defenses were easily torn apart and the road was cleared.

“Keuaack!”

“Ugh, ahhhhh!”

“Y, you damn rat……!”

It was the bandits’ boss. In fact, the bandits’ boss was a Lv370 boss monster. The bandits’ boss was quite shocked. The person easily dealt with and killed dozens of Lv200 bandits alone without ever letting them lay an attack on him.

When the man reached his hand out, the spear that was thrown far away flew right back into his hands.

[Spear Boom.]

[A strong energy will be concentrated at the end of the spear.]

The man immediately stabbed the bandits’ boss with a lot of strength.

Spurt!

Vwooom!

Splatter!

The bandits’ boss’s body exploded and the remains fell down in a splatter.

[You have killed the bandit’s leader, Jan Becker.]

[You have gained 5 reputation points.]

[You can receive a reward.]

He shook the blood off of his spear.

This man was Crow, a bounty hunter. He was not listed in the official rankings but he was listed 2nd in the Spearman’s Rankings. In fact, his strength was similar to the number one in the rankings, the ‘God of Spear’ Verden.

Just as he was about to return to turn in his bounty…

Piii! Piii!

A siren-like alarm rang in his head.

‘Huh? Did the Master declare a state of emergency?’

He was quite taken aback. Usually, alarms like this would only be rang by the guild master whenever there was a guild war or a quest involving all of the guild members were given.

Crow laughed and let out an interested ‘Hoo~’ as he looked at the guild chat.

[Guild Master Genie: 

URGENT NOTICE!

Right now, Genie is in Raven Village escorting a King from the Northern Continent, Varen. He is supposed to meet with Ellie’s soldiers. Varen is currently being chased by unknown pursuers. The rewards that will be given by King Varen are expected to include titles, territories, quests and countless other rewards. Guild Members, please gather right now. Those who will not be able to participate will be excluded from the compensation and rewards list.]

“Hoo?”

Crow chuckled in interest.

A quest to escort a King? And they are in Raven Village.

Genie also added their coordinates in the message.

Crow quickly returned to the city and entered a building that their guild used as a hideout. When he opened the door, there were already some of their guild members who were waiting. One of the guild members, a short man with blazing red hair and a mysterious straw hat, stood up to welcome him.

“You came, Crow?”

“Oh, Firefist. Did you find a girlfriend?”

Firefist Ace. This was his self-proclaimed name. However, his real codename was Red Flame Fighter. He had the legendary class Fighter but he was also one of the unofficial rankers in the Fighter Rankings. He was known for his flames that erupt fiercely whenever he struck an opponent. But he was always trying to look for a girlfriend everyday.

“Sigh. I’m already giving up on the Nami-type of girlfriend. Right now, I’m into the Robin-type. My type has changed into an intellectual woman.”

“This hyung told you not to speak to me informally right?”

“Eyy! Even though I look like this, I’m the Firefist Ace of Eunpyong Elementary! I recently won against the gum boys too!”

“Ah, yep yep. You’re amazing~”

When he heard those words, Crow grinned.

This was another ranker. It was a woman with two swords. This was the Goddess of the Battlefield, Ascar.

“How about Locke and Khan?”

“Well, I heard that they were going to the tower. They probably did not see the GC.”

“Let’s leave as soon as everyone has gathered.”

They were all reclusive masters. It was time to show them what they have got.

Then, the Fire Flame Fighter, Ace, suddenly spoke…

“Crow, it seems like it would be a lot of fun. Right?”

Crow grinned at him and nodded.

“Quite literally.”

***

Ares received a report from one of his guild members.

“GM-nim. We are sure that the king stayed for quite some time in Raven Village.”

“And then?”

“Yes. Cospo followed the scent of his blood and found an inn. I asked the owner of the inn and he told me that the man stayed in their inn for quite a while. But……”

His brows furrowed in concern.

“At first there were only two of them, but when they left there were four people who left together. The two additional people were a user wearing a frying pan on his back and an extremely beautiful woman.”

“They joined with foreigners?”

He immediately understood. In the end, Varen was an NPC that could give quests.

After all, they also received a quest. And this quest was…

[Imperial Quest: Capture King Varen!]

Rank: S

Restriction: Favorability with Marquis Athman.

Rewards: Territories, Titles and King Varen’s Skill: Evolution

Penalty for Failure: Favorability with Cordis Empire’s NPCs will drop significantly.

Description: You have received a shared quest from a person from Cordis Empire. King Varen is a man with great capabilities. He has the ability to further evolve and strengthen the skills that a person has. In addition, if you were able to capture King Varen alive, the Cordis Empire will be able to take over Valkyrie Kingdom and you will be able to receive territories and titles according to your contributions!

During the Quest’s Progress: The user will not get a Temporary Chaotic or Chaotic state even if you PKed other users.

‘Keuhuhu!’

It was such an unexpected Imperial quest.

This was a quest shared by Callian. He was the guild leader of the Iris Guild, one of the 4 top guilds.

Ares was clearly a person under the Eivelis Empire and the Eivelis Empire was at odds with the Cordis Empire. The users were even divided between those who started in Eivelis Empire and those who started in Cordis Empire.

And Iris Guild was a guild in the Cordis Empire. However, both Ares and Callian always kept in touch with each other even though they were players of opposing empires. One of the reasons why Callian contacted Ares for this quest was because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to reach this place quickly.

They quickly mass teleported and brought in a 50-people troop to this place. They had told him that they were the best of the best. The levels of these elite soldiers had all exceeded Lv300. And most of them who came here were those that were deprived of their titles in the Cordis Empire.

Among them was the past Imperial Sword, Rumad.

In the current Athenae worldview, Rumad was considered to be one of the Strongest Men. It was a title that could only be given to the strongest of the strongs between NPCs. Even though Rumad was only the weakest among all of the Strongest Men, he was still the former leader of the widely-known Crimson Savage Mercenaries.

‘It’s kind of reassuring.’

What would he be afraid of if he had a super powerful comrade with him? Besides, their enemies were only four people.

‘Who the hell did they recruit?’

He was quite curious about their choice.

Then, the guild member who was reporting earlier spoke once more.

“We will continue to chase them with the help of Cospo.”

Cospo was a monster leopard with a good sense of smell and they were chasing them with its help.

‘He must be captured before he meets with Ellie.’

Once they met with Ellie, then it would be a big problem for them. If that happened, even if they had Rumad in their ranks, they wouldn’t have a chance to make a move. 

There was only one reason why they were trying to risk their lives just to capture their target…

‘The King’s power……!’

Ares could tell just from the contents of the quest that King Varen possessed an extraordinary power.

‘It’s definitely a reward that is as amazing as Ellie’s Swordsmanship!’

What was written on the rewards section was the skill Evolution. He might not know what exactly it meant by Evolution however he was sure that he would understand it once he read through the detailed description.

Ares had received a skill named Valkain’s Swordsmanship. It was a unique skill, however, it never rose from Lv1. He was thinking that Evolution would allow his skill to progress further and turn the unique skill into an epic skill.

‘The king is really like a huge vein of gold!’

Ares grinned at the thought.

***

Clack, clack, clack━

This was the sound of the carriage carrying the King of the Valkyrie Kingdom, Varen!

The King who had millions of people under him and was sometimes deemed as the ‘Cold-blooded Ruler’ was now licking his upper lip in hunger and was grabbing his stomach pitifully.

The foreigner, Minhyuk, in front of him brought something out. It was none other than a boiled egg.

“As expected, boiled eggs and cider are the best when travelling.”

Tak!

He cracked the boiled egg on his head as he laughed happily. Then, he peeled it off in a blink of an eye.

“Huh? Won’t you give me one? Will you be so cheap as to eat alone?”

“Hmm…… Ronny-nim gave me a croquette.”

Minhyuk gladly gave her a boiled egg.

‘It, it’s maekbanseok eggs……!

As he looked at Genie and Minhyuk eating their boiled eggs happily, Varen couldn’t stop himself from drooling.

I haven’t eaten for two days!

However, a King had a sense of pride and dignity that he needed to uphold that was why he couldn’t beg for one.

He watched Minhyuk dip the egg in the salt and took a big bite out of it.

‘If it’s maekbanseok eggs, it will definitely be chewy. And if you take almost half of it in a bite, you will definitely taste the harmonious flavor of the white and the yolk.’

Varen nodded his head in agreement with his thoughts.

Then…

Fwish!

Minhyuk opened a can of cider and gulped it down. As Varen watched Minhyuk’s throat move as he gulped down the refreshing cider, he thought…

‘It must be really cool and refreshing. The droplets on the can proves that it’s definitely ice cold. That’s right! You have to gulp it down all at once!’

“Kyaa!”

“Kgghk……!”

Varen, who was imagining himself to be in Minhyuk’s position, exclaimed at the same time as Minhyuk did. Varen felt a sense of shame and turned his head away to hide his embarrassment.

‘Bastard! A man will definitely offer an egg at least once!’

His subordinates and vassals always recommended food to him first, then he would taste it first before they could eat. As he was thinking about his vassals and his life before this pursuit, Minhyuk spoke.

“Your Highness, do you want some maekbanseok eggs and cider too?”

Being starved for two days, he felt that he really needed a cool and refreshing cider right now. But he was a king so he needed to save his honor.

“It’s fine.”

He wanted to refuse his first proposal and pretend to accept it reluctantly once he tried to give it to him a second time.

“Is that so? Well then…”

‘Why won’t you ask a second time?! Why! Why!’

You should know that all requests, suggestions, recommendations and proposals should be done three times!

“But Your Highness, you must be hungry so you should at least have one.”

Genie suggested.

What a relief.

‘I’m definitely going to give this woman a good reward!’

Just as he was thinking about that, he heard Minhyuk interject.

“Eyy. I don’t think His Highness likes this kind of food.”

“I, is that so……? But……?”

Genie pondered deeply before nodding her head in agreement.

There’s no way that a King of a Kingdom would like these maekbanseok eggs.

‘I’m doomed……’

But he was really dying for some food deep inside!

Why are you stopping her from giving me some food, why?!

At that moment…

Grooooooowl!

Varen’s stomach growled loudly.

“Ahem. Ahem!”

He coughed loudly to hide his embarrassment. Minhyuk and Genie’s eyes both turned to him.

“Although I don’t particularly like maekbanseok eggs and cider, but…”

The two of them nodded their heads in unison.

“But I haven’t eaten for quite a long time so I’m a bit hungry now. And because there are people waiting for me, I don’t want to give up and I want to survive through this difficulty.”

Minhyuk and Genie nodded their heads again when they heard his words.

“So I’ll eat those eggs for my people and regain my energy.”

“So in conclusion, you want to eat eggs. That’s it, right?”

Varen nodded his head.

“Y, yes.”

Minhyuk nodded his head and handed him some eggs willingly.

Varen quickly took an egg and held it carefully.

‘You have to break the eggs on your head……!’ 

Before he could do so, he stopped himself from cracking it on his head. There were still two people watching him so he had to act with dignity. He lowered the egg on the floor, and cracked it before peeling it and taking a bite.

“Hoo. Aah.” 

A sigh of relief unconsciously came out once he had some food. He had been starving for quite some time so having food was really a relief. And the maekbanseok eggs were truly delicious to taste! He dipped it in salt and took a bite while he cracked another one.

Tak!

Fwish!

He opened a can of cider and gulped it down fiercely.

“Kkkgggk!”

He couldn’t help but exclaim. Then he started to chomp on the maekbanseok eggs with vigor. Just as he was trying to eat another one, he saw Genie watching him and he couldn’t help but choke on the food in his mouth.

“These maekbanseok eggs are not that bad. Ahem, ahem!” 

He cleared his throat and began to eat again with much gusto.

“I grew up eating Rald’s satisfying dishes, you know?” 

“Rald?”

“Yeah. He’s our Kingdom’s chef. I heard that he was called a legendary chef outside of Valkyrie Kingdom.” 

Minhyuk was suddenly interested.

The legendary chef knew about the pure extract. In addition, he also wanted to taste the dishes made by a chef that was deemed to be legendary.

“Rald’s dishes are truly excellent, they’re really delicious. No one in the world can cook as good as him. He also has one dish that he specializes in. And this dish is what he cooks the best.”

A dish that he is most excellent with.

Minhyuk focused intently and waited for his next words.

“It’s a dish named sushi.”

“……!”

***

Food Discussion Corner

Maekbanseok Eggs (맥반석 계란) – Elvan stone baked eggs. Eggs baked on top of an elvan stone. So an elvan stone is a stone found deep under the Korean sea. They are used to line the hotsprings and saunas in KR. Elvan Stones are known for their various health benefits and has plenty of minerals. Eggs baked on these stones are brownish in color (like eggs braised in soy sauce) and has a nutty-ish flavor. It seems that it’s more expensive than regular hotspring boiled eggs because of the health benefits of the elvan stone. I also read that it takes at least 3 hrs for an egg to be baked on top of an elvan stone.

Report mistakes and chat with us at: https://discord.gg/Q3dStgu