Leveling Up through Eating

48 The Tempter

“……!” 

General or Oh Changwook, who had just logged out from Athenae was left in surprise when he heard the anchors’ conversation on the TV.

[Wasn’t Legend Guild’s final reversal such a thrilling and exciting event?]

[Haha, it was definitely thrilling! But some experts say that the Legend Guild did not show their full strength on purpose.]

[On purpose?]

[Yes. They said that Legend Guild was already confident in getting first place. I think they knew that they would be able to get SSS rank once they get past through the 40 minute mark. However, they did not show their strength in the beginning and only turned the tables at the last minute as if to hang the hearts of our people and release our country’s grievances against the world.]

When he searched the real-time topics……

[1st Place: Legend Guild’s reversal, attacking the Time Attack.]

[2nd Place: Black Swan Guild’s Julain is reviewing how he has performed so far.]

[3rd Place: Legend Guild’s Guild Master Genie is President Kang Taehoon’s Daughter? Rumors.]

When he looked through the articles on the internet.

[Korea’s a ruined game powerhouse? No, Korea’s a game powerhouse! – Blue Daily.]

[Black Swan Guild’s Julian had fainted after bowing for 1,000 times daily. Netizens, still 2nd place. Sorry. – Happy Daily.]

[The Upcoming Athenae Olympics. Public’s expectations are already soaring. – Sports News.]

“……Guild Master Genie, the president’s daughter? What the hell?”

He grinned.

The whole country is in a festive mood right now. Athenae was just a simple game but the world did not think that it was just a simple game now. Just like when they won a gold medal in the Olympics, everyone saw this as a global competition.

Changwook thought about something.

“Wait, come to think of it……”

The timing overlapped with Minhyuk’s visit to the Dragon King’s Sea but as soon as he came back, the results were suddenly reversed.

“Eyyy. No way, right~”

Minhyuk was only one person and it was also too ridiculous to say that just adding this single person would reverse the rankings in one go.

But then, he hesitated.

“No. If I think about it, it doesn’t make sense? Why would Legend Guild hide their power just to burst in the end?”

The anchor just kept on telling his own version of the story because he did not know Legend Guild. But he knew that they weren’t people who would risk their lives just to enjoy a dangerous gamble. However, Changwook had heard plenty of stories from Minhyuk, the person closest to the Legend Guild, so he had guessed something to some extent.

‘Then, for real……?’

Just in time, Minhyuk came out from his room to tell Secretary Park Munsoo that he wanted to take responsibility for his father’s birthday and set up a party for him. After he finished talking with Park Munsoo, Changwook approached him and asked……

“Did you participate in Legend Guild’s attack on the Time Attack Dungeon?”

“Yes.”

“……”

Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion when he was suddenly asked by Changwook about the Time Attack Dungeon. 

“Amazing! Isn’t this the same as me having someone who had won the Olympics Gold Medal in front of me?”

“Hyung. What’s the thing about the millstone that you said before?”

“Ah. Remember about that person who uploaded the video of Rovan-nim and your fight? We’ve recently come to an agreement.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Her nickname is ‘Joo-ah’. I got information for our agreement. First, I’m sure that it’s a millstone and that it’s not a regular millstone too.”

Minhyuk nodded his head. He had already guessed it to some extent when Changwook sent him a whisper. He knew that Changwook would not settle for just this information if it was just a normal millstone.

“First and foremost, when you grind beans in the millstone you’ll be able to get more yield. I think it’s about twice as much?”

“……!”

Minhyuk’s body trembled in excitement when he heard his words.

“……OMG? Isn’t that better than winning the first price in lotto?”

“I don’t know about that. But I heard that aside from having twice the yield, eating the food from the first grind can also give you special abilities. In addition, the food made from this millstone will never go bad. Forever. And the taste, it’s said that it’s the most delicious in the world.”

“Wow……!”

Minhyuk clenched his fists tightly. He was already excited about this millstone.

“Where will the millstone show up?”

“Ructo’s Tomb.”

“Ructo?”

He tilted his head in confusion.

“It’s a dungeon that’s mostly used by users between Lv 300~380. It’s a dungeon that users at that level will most certainly want to try their hands on.”

“You wanted to challenge it yourself?”

“It’s because no team has ever succeeded in attacking Ructo’s Tomb. The 1st floor of Ructo’s Tomb is quite similar to ordinary dungeons where you can hunt ordinary mobs. But after you hunt the 1st floor’s boss mob then you’ll have to face six trials. These six trials have never been successfully cleared by anyone. And according to Joo-ah’s information, the millstone will appear in the sixth trial. By the way, users were only able to break through the fifth trial. It was an extremely difficult and challenging trial that users these days don’t even want to try and challenge it anymore. That’s why I wanted to challenge it once.”

“Hmm……”

Minhyuk rubbed his chin in thought.

In other words, getting it was simple.

“Then, are you sure that the millstone is in Ructo’s Tomb? Or are you still uncertain about it?”

“It’s pretty much confirmed to this point. According to Joo-ah, there was a user with the hidden class Devil Worshipper who had received a quest to break the 6th trial in Ructo’s Tomb and that the reward was the millstone. And she said that she had heard about the millstone from an NPC.”

Minhyuk nodded his head while Changwook continued to speak.

“Ah. Do you want me to drop the complaint against Joo-ah?”

Minhyuk shook his head.

“We’re not yet sure about the information, and……”

His expression turned cold.

“If we’re plucking one out, then it’s better to pluck them all out. If possible, it would be nice if we could negotiate and have her become our informer that will give us information about food for a long time……”

Changwook nodded his head in understanding.

‘He really takes good care of his own interests……’

Minhyuk might not have been greedy for money but he would never lose money either. He would try his best to not lose out on whatever situation he was in.

He saw a devilish smile flash around Minhyuk’s mouth for a moment. When he saw such a smile, a thought passed through Changwook’s mind.

‘…….Dear me. I feel like he would make me do this for the rest of my life. I’m going to be his food shuttle till the end of days. Such a cruel punk!’

Then, Minhyuk asked him.

“Ah, that’s right. Hyung, my DEX is not increasing that well these days. Archer users also need DEX. Do you think hunting with a bow can help me increase it?”

Among all of the combat job classes, only the archer job class had a dexterity stat. So it was safe to assume that using the bow would definitely help increase the dexterity stat.

Changwook nodded his head as if to confirm this fact.

“The archer job class can increase their DEX like non-combatant class do.”

Minhyuk nodded his head as he turned to his phone to check on information about Ructo’s Tomb. A smile hung around his lips as he continued to read.

‘Ooooooh……!’

Of course, it was a matter of fact that he would not only search about the route and information about Ructo’s Tomb. His searches would most definitely include ‘This is delicious’, ‘Very tasty’, and ‘Oh! You should definitely try this!’.

Then, he saw a related quest.

‘Hiya…… The Moon’s Wheat that is comparable to the Sun’s Wheat……?’ 

He had read about an NPC who would give a quest for hunting monsters. The only difference is that the Moon’s Wheat would drop when the monsters were hunted during the quest period. It was also said that ‘Moon’s Wheat’ was strangely delicious if it was made into noodles. This was also the reason why the nearby village was well known for its noodles.

‘Noodles……’ 

Just thinking about it was making him feel happy. Noodles are delicious whether it was the 3,000 won cheap ones or the expensive ones priced at 5,000 won. And there were the more delicious types like banquet noodles and bibimguksu. Especially the bibimguksu, they taste extremely amazing when eaten with well-steamed dumplings.

‘Get the millstone and eat some noodles? Good, that’s good!’ 

It wasn’t that difficult since he did not need to go back to the NPC who would issue the quest. He would get the Moon’s Wheat as drops whenever he hunted the monsters and the quest would complete it by itself when he had hunted enough. And when he had collected everything he needed to collect, the buff effect reward would immediately be activated as a reward.

After he finished exercising with Changwook, Minhyuk immediately went back to Athenae to eat noodles.

***

A user with the nickname Rocard was a high level user at Lv390. He currently had his eyes closed as he gulped his saliva down while sitting in front of Javin.

‘Th, the day has finally come……’

He could feel his heart beating wildly.

His friends had called him Immortal Wizard. That Wizard who could call a meteor with just a wave of his hand! The reason why his friends had called him that was because he had never held a woman’s hands in his thirty five years of living in this world.

But that wasn’t the case now.

He had recently entered a cave with a woman who happened to accompany him in Athenae. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful, innocent and cute. It was the style that every man in the world would definitely crave.

Rocard couldn’t help but close his eyes when he saw her slowly approaching his face.

‘Kgghk. I wonder what a woman’s lips feel like…….!’

As soon as he imagined that soft touch……

Stab!

He felt a searing pain on his neck.

“Keughh……!”

A dagger stabbed straight through his neck. Rocard opened his eyes in shock. He saw Javin smiling at him innocently as she giggled.

“Oh my, oppa. Sorry.”

She grinned widely as she pulled out the dagger from his neck.

Rocard’s body slowly fell down on the ground.

“Keoheok, heok……!”

Javin slowly stood up from her position. She was a woman who would lure unsuspecting men in caves and PK them.

She smiled at him as she watched him slowly turn gray while being forced to log out and drop his artifacts. 

“Well, it’s not too bad.”

She shrugged her shoulders as she walked out of the cave.

Rocard’s body, which had not disappeared yet, was left behind. A tear fell down from Rocard’s eyes.

***

As Javin walked out of the cave, she thought……

‘I can only do it a few more times then I have to leave.’ 

Since she was doing her livelihood via PK, she was quite sensitive to rumors. And there were rumors spreading around recently about her.

This hunting ground was usually frequented by users at around Lv300~350 but it was a bit more difficult compared to other hunting grounds at the same level. The mob that mostly appeared in the area were Owl Bears.

Javin easily dealt with an Owl Bear near her.

‘Shit. Because of the Moon’s Wheat quest that I received earlier every time I kill a mob this thing drops……’ 

She had received the quest but she did not necessarily want to finish the quest since she did not like the rewards that much.

‘And there are no more pushovers anymore.’ 

Then, at that moment, she saw a user who was hunting for quite some time now. He was wearing a shabby looking outfit with a rapier hanging on his back while he was trying to use an arrow.

Her eyes widened when she saw him release an arrow.

Stab!

He swiftly struck the Owl Bear’s vital point in one single shot.

‘He clearly did not use any shooting skills…… But when he shot his arrow, it struck straight at a vital point. That’s literally a fatal blow.’ 

She was quite sure about something.

‘T, that’s definitely an epic item……! The item probably has an effect like ‘A sharp increase in the probability of fatal blows’ attached to it!’

She had quite a good understanding of epic items so she was definitely sure about it.

Then, she saw the man sullenly pick up the Moon’s Wheat that dropped.

“This is the final Moon’s Wheat…… Sigh……” 

He was almost on the verge of tears because it was the final Moon’s Wheat that he would ever acquire. But it was only just the Moon’s Wheat.

“He’s definitely a pushover, right?”

***