Leveling Up through Eating

Athenae: Korean War

It was a competition that would select the best user from the country. Each country from all over the world would find their very best through such a competition. One would await a huge prize and the title of Korea’s MVP if they claimed victory in this competition. And the users who would receive the title Korea’s MVP would be eligible to participate in the world competition as a ‘national representative’.

And in a conference room of the makers of Athenae, Joy Co. Ltd., a meeting was currently underway regarding this Athenae: Korean War. It seemed like what they were discussing was going to be never ending.

The Athenae: Korean War would first and foremost involve both the production and combat classes. And the currently ongoing meeting was discussing the ‘Production Class’ competition. The first on their list of discussions was the ‘Flag War’.

The team leader of the development team, Lee Seokhoon, began to explain the contents displayed on the screen.

“The Flag War’s rules are simple. The system will basically have the users team up in groups of three and the team that will take away the most flags will win. In addition, once the Flag War had started, the users will only be given the most basic and normal ranked artifact that was fit for their class. They will not be able to use their currently equipped artifacts.”

The reason why the users were not allowed to use their current artifacts during the Flag War was simple.

“If they were production class users then they can be self-sufficient. Think about it. Our country’s top production rankers will become self-sufficient and produce their own artifacts to fight. Our country’s users will grow crazy over them.”

President Kang Taehoon nodded his head at his words as he asked……

“What’s the percentage of our country winning a medal if the Flag War was done in Athenae: World War and not Athenae: Korean War?”

“……”

At his words, the entire conference room was filled with silence. They all knew that the probability of them winning in such a large scale competition was too high.

Hepas’ Descendant, Hyemin’sDad, was in their country but there was no guarantee that he would participate in the competition. And there were only a few of the production class users in the country that could rival Hyemin’sDad’s power. And what was more, the event required them to be in groups of threes. They might not be as good as Hyemin’sDad but they should at least be able to support him if they participated. It was hard to find such a user with that strength and power among the users in their country.

But among them, only Team Leader Park Minggyu thought of one user and one user alone.

‘……User Minhyuk.’

But there were some problems. How sure were they that User Minhyuk would participate in the Athenae: Korean War? In addition, how likely was it that he would receive the title of Korea’s MVP and become one of the national representatives?

User Minhyuk was a user that was still covered in veil. He did not want to show himself nor did he want to gain fame. More than anything else, he was a user who did not care about artifacts and was a person who would pursue something delicious or something that was more delicious. And with that, he was sure that his answer would be NO.

At that moment, one of the staff from the development team came inside. The staff looked like he was in a hurry as he tried to approach Lee Seokhoon to whisper something. But before he could do so, President Kang Taehoon suddenly interjected.

“Just say it out loud.”

“Athenae and our team of developers have added an additional event.”

“Hoo. Is that right?”

There were still events that were being made. The supercomputer Athenae would collect the opinions of the development team before it would create a corresponding sport or event. And finally, one of the events had been completed.

“Don’t you think that we will likely garner the most enthusiastic response if the production class users are placed in a ‘Monster Hunting’ competition, right?”

President Kang Taehoon nodded in agreement.

Production classes’ monster hunt!

Since they would hunt the monsters with their various special abilities, the world would definitely pay attention to Athenae.

“That’s right.”

“That part is already complete.”

“So, what’s the name of the event?”

When the staff heard the words ‘name of the event’ he hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth……

“It’s called ‘Eat Quickly Event’.”

The moment his words came out, Team Leader Park’s eyes widened as his fists clenched tightly.

‘Ea, eat quickly?’

I think that User Minhyuk will immediately jump at the opportunity and say ‘I’ll win first place!’ just by hearing the name, right?

“The name’s a bit…… right?”

“But I think the content of the event itself is very solid and fun.”

President Kang Taehoon nodded at his words as if to stop the development team staff from explaining any further.

“The Eat Quickly contest. Every time they run out of food, they have to hunt monsters.”

“Hoo?”

In the first place, the nature of monster hunting was not that blurred or hidden and when they run out of food they would go and hunt the monsters.

“And since it’s Athenae: Korean War, won’t it be good if we can showcase our country’s domestic food as drops, right?”

“Right.”

“And with the consensus between the supercomputer, Athenae, and our development team we have already decided which food will be dropped.”

It was as if the staff of the development team was telling them that it was something to look forward to.

“It’s ‘market food’.”

“That’s interesting?”

“It’s good.”

Everyone let out a small sigh. But President Kang Taehoon knew why the food was good.

“Our country has its own unique flavor. When I was young, I used to go to the market with my parents. But these days, the huge supermarkets have already overtaken the markets and.”

“That’s right. And you can really taste a lot of market food in this event. In addition, it will be an opportunity for our country to introduce to foreign media about our market food and culture. With this, we can naturally attract tourists.”

President Kang Taehoon nodded while Manager Kim Daesik spoke up.

“What’s the market food?”

Team Leader Park Minggyu’s ears perked up as he gulped his saliva. His mouth couldn’t help but water at the thought of such food. Right now, he was imagining himself as User Minhyuk.

“Sugar-coated kkwabaegi, chapssal donuts filled with red beans, bindae-tteok, japchae and nude gimbap combination which is the current hot issue in Gwangjang Market, market chicken, market jokbal and noodles.”

Team Leader Park’s mouth was overflowing with his drool. Even President Kang Taehoon gulped as if his mouth was watering too.

“It’s a combination of food that will make your mouth water, right? Haha!”

A thought flashed through Team Leader Park’s mind.

‘User Minhyuk will probably be drooling once he hears this.’

Then, he shook his head as he smiled.

***

[You can acquire the Active Skill: Storage.]

[You can acquire the Active Skill: Dark Fire Storm.]

[You have a total of three skills that can be saved using the Eccentric Food Fighter’s Skill.]

[You can either delete one from ‘Earthquaker’ or ‘Absorption’ or only select one of the skills that you have successfully acquired.]

He had successfully acquired two skills but Minhyuk had only two options. He could either delete his existing skills or give up one from his newly acquired ones. Before making his choice, he first checked the information of the skills.

(Storage)

Active Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: Depends on the skill

Cooldown: 72 hours

Effects: You can store one of your active skills in your weapon. The skills stored in a weapon can be used immediately regardless of its cooldown.

The first skill was the skill ‘Storage’.

‘Isn’t this very useful?’

It’s concept was literally storing one of Minhyuk’s active skills in his weapon. For example, if he used ‘Rampant Sword’ then he would consume his MP and the cooldown time would start. But if he activated the ‘Rampant Sword’ that he had stored in his weapon then he would be able to use the skill again without waiting for the cooldown to finish. In a way, it was similar to the way mages store their magic in their staffs, parchments and wands. The higher their level, the more magic the mage could store in their artifact which could sometimes make it seem like they were not restrained by cooldowns. But no matter how outstanding the skill ‘Store’ was, it’s cooldown was still too long. Which meant that he could only store one skill within three days.

Next, he checked Dark Fire Storm.

(Dark Fire Storm) 

Active Skill

Level: 6th Class

Mana Required: 400

Cooldown: 1 hour

Effects: A storm of dark fire will engulf and devour your enemies within a radius of 6m dealing a damage of 600~1,000 per second.

It was a wide-area of attack skill that might not be comparable to Blooming Sword or Lightning Hell but what was most important was that it was a 6th class skill. The amount of users who could reach 6th class were few and far in between. In addition, it was much more superior to his currently saved skill ‘Earthquaker’.

After looking through the skills, Minhyuk finally decided.

“Delete Earthquaker.”

[Are you sure you want to delete Earthquaker?]

Minhyuk nodded his head as an answer.

[You have deleted the skill Earthquaker.]

[You have acquired the Active Skill: Storage.]

[You have acquired the Active Skill: Dark Fire Storm.]

Then, without hesitation, Minhyuk used the skill ‘Storage’.

[Please choose the skill you want to store.]

[You have stored the Blooming Sword.]

Minhyuk nodded his head in satisfaction.

‘Well then, let’s do it again……’

It was time to hunt Bachran Guild again.

***

Crone was already on the verge of tears.

[Guild Chatting: Hayac-nim has left Bachran Guild.]

[Guild Chatting: Carcass-nim has left Bachran Guild.]

[Guild Chatting: Hekhek-nim has left Bachran Guild.]

[Guild Chatting: Downpour-nim has left Bachran Guild.]

[Guild Chatting: Robin’s butt-nim has left Bachran Guild.]

[Guild Chatting: Damn-nim has left Bachran Guild.]

His guild members were constantly withdrawing from the guild.

The Four Hyenas, the Frying Pan Killer, and even Legend Guild had slaughtered them. The massacre only lasted for four days but the damage that the guild had incurred was extremely severe.

A few days ago, Pharaoh moved to meet with the nobles to find a different way to break through but he went straight to prison.

‘It doesn’t make sense!’

The nobles suddenly turned their backs against them and Pharaoh was imprisoned. And it was not only that, there was a great warrant placed against Bachran Guild in the empire.

One of the noblemen told him…… ‘Why would you even dare to touch that……’ was what he said.

Who the hell is behind the Frying Pan Killer?

There was even a post in the official bulletin board.

[We will pay 10 million gold for information about the guild members of Bachran Guild.]

This was the reason why no matter what they did, users still tried to ‘find Bachran’. And in the end, the guild members could not endure the hunt anymore. They started leaving Bachran Guild one after the other.

Right now, some netizens were still commenting.

[gadad31: But wasn’t the one who started this first the Legend Guild? Legend’s Ace killed a user for no reason at all, right? Or, is that not the case? Anyway, Bachran Guild is a rude mannered guild so no one’s going to tell them off if they killed them~]

[cbcvb: I feel like that too. But Bachran Guild is not entirely filled with trash…… To be honest, is this a witch hunt or not?]

[baddadd313: Yeah~ No~ It was manipulated by Bachran Guild. Ladies and Gentlemen, it was obviously rigged so Bachran can make a name for themselves.]

Very few believed in the validity of their reason for attacking. However, Crone was already on the verge of losing everything. Crone was someone who quit his job, ran a guild with all the money that he got and made a fortune! If everything kept on going like this then he would definitely be ruined. So in a desperate attempt, he posted on the official bulletin board so they could reach an agreement.

‘Frying Pan Killer, please contact me.’ 

And he got a call from the real Frying Pan Killer.

With his trembling heart, Crone met with him at a luxurious restaurant that sold the most expensive food in Eivelis Empire.

He was wearing a helmet while looking at Crone with a frosty expression. Meanwhile, Crone looked bitter. He felt like he was as bitter as those sinners in prison. Even right now, his guild members were either being captured by the Imperial Army or by the other bounty hunter users.

Then, Frying Pan Killer said……

“Are you paying for the meal?” 

“Ah. Of course! Eat as much as you like!” 

Right now, Frying Pan Killer is party ‘A’ while he was party ‘B’.

How much do I even need to pay for his food?

And when Frying Pan Killer heard his words, he drove the wedge to make sure.

“You’re really paying for the meal? You shouldn’t complain later then.” 

Then Crone burst out laughing.

“It’s alright even if you eat here for 7 days and 6 nights!” 

“……Is that so. Well then.” 

The corner of Minhyuk’s lips lifted up in a smirk.

***

Footnotes

[Party A and Party B] ‘갑' or party A and ‘을' or party B. This is used when there is a contract between two people. A would have superiority over B in this contract. Think about Boss and Employee contract. Something like that. 

Food Discussion Corner

Kkwabaegi ( 과배기 ) – Twisted doughnuts

Chapssal donuts ( 찹쌀도넛 ) – glutinous rice donut, I think it’s similar to mochi donuts.

Bindae-tteok ( 빈대떡 ) – vegetable pancake made out of ground mungbean, vegetables and some meat.

Nude gimbap ( 누드 김밥 ) – also called as the inside out gimbap. The rice is outside while the seaweed is inside.

Market chicken ( 시장 통닭 ) – sijang-tongdak, deep fried chicken usually sold in the market.

PR’s Corner!

He’s paying for Minhyuk’s meal? Oh his poor wallet. Might as well file for bankruptcy.