Leveling Up through Eating

The Black Mage Ali was the number 1 and most brilliant ranker in the country. He was currently exploring a dungeon. He was only exploring the dungeon because he had received a quest called ‘The Liberation of the Hero’s Curse’.

The quest that he had received was ranked SSS. He knew that the quests that were ranked SSS were definitely much more different than regular quests. First of all, the rewards were generous however it was not that easy to break. In fact, the number of people who had received SSS ranked quests were quite few but most of them were unknown. However, the problem was that no one succeeded in breaking and achieving success.

But if this SSS-ranked quest was cleared with a very high score, it would trigger a single system. The system was none other than the ‘Hall of Kings’ system. Once the Hall of Kings was activated and released, the users all over the world would be notified.

How much glory can I even get from this? No, it’s not just that.

‘Users who have cleared an SSS-ranked quest with a high enough score to trigger the Hall of Kings will be given immense rewards.’

An enormous reward. The typical example was the ‘Half-God’, it was a name that users made up. Currently, God Class users were trying their hardest to create ‘God’ ranked artifacts. However, there was not a single person who had successfully completed one yet. On the contrary, those who have successfully mastered the Half-God artifacts or Half-God skills could only be counted on one hand. To be exact, on three fingers.

The Half-God artifacts were originally ‘Legendary’ ranked artifacts. But these artifacts were a step ahead of the legendary ranked artifacts. This was the reason why the users had called them ‘Half-God Artifacts’ or ‘Half-God Skillbooks’.

‘And that thing right now……!’ 

It was a huge opportunity for the Black Mage Ali.

However, this SSS-ranked dungeon that he was trying to clear was extremely difficult to break so the Black Mage Ali was struggling. It was extremely tricky for him since the mobs had extremely high magical defense. However, after struggling and experiencing many twists and turns, he had finally arrived at the final boss room.

It was at that exact same moment that the notification rang in his ears.

[The Cursed Hero has appeared.]

A single man walked out from the shadows. His body was extremely daunting and muscular especially with the thick club in his hand.

‘It seems like the theme is Heracles.’ 

The dungeon was called ‘The Tomb of the Cursed Hero’ so it was only natural that a hero would appear in the final boss room. Then, without waiting any further, the Black Mage Ali began his fierce battle against the cursed hero.

As a high-leveled mage, Black Mage Ali had stored one 7th class magic, two 6th class magic and five 5th class magic in his wand and if other people knew about this, they would definitely be shocked. With those magic stored in his wand, Black Mage Ali confidently strode and explored this place. In addition, the higher the level of the mage, the lesser time they would need to cast a spell. They could even instantaneously cast 3rd class magic and below with little to no preparation.

“Fireball.”

Because of his high INT and WIS, the size of Ali’s fireball was three times larger than normal fireball. This huge fireball flew straight towards the cursed hero.

Slam!

However, what was surprising was the fact that the fireball disappeared easily after being hit by the hero’s club.

‘Shit……!’

Ali’s face distorted.

Bang, bang, bang!

The hero ran towards him.

“Fire Storm!”

“Fire Wall!”

Crackle!

A huge barrier made of flames blocked the way towards Ali while a huge fire tornado swirled around Ali as it grew larger and larger.

Shwaaaak!

The raging flames devoured and engulfed the area. However, as if it was nothing, a huge hand stretched out right in front of the flame barrier that was protecting Ali.

“Blink.”

Tap!

Ali increased the distance between them in an instant. Then, cold sweat rained down from his forehead.

‘As expected, this is not easy either. But I have to go. The Hall of Kings……!’

So far, there had only been nine names listed in the Hall of Kings. Among those nine, three of them remained unidentified with only one of them named as ‘Kenra’. The remaining six were named once. But what is most certain was that each and every single one of them were now representatives of their own countries. Meanwhile, there wasn’t a single user in the Hall of Kings that came from Korea yet.

Ali’s eyes turned frosty while his heart burned with raging flames. As a person who lives in this country and as someone who always looked up at higher places, the Hall of Kings was a place where he had always wanted to climb and reach.

Puhaaaak!

Puhwaaaaa!

Puhaaaaaaaa!

Dozens of magic formed around him.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Half an hour later, Ali staggered down as he finally won his long and arduous battle.

‘Please, please……’ 

He desperately begged for a good outcome.

Please let me climb in the Hall of Kings!

At that moment, the notifications rang.

[You have completed the Hidden Quest: Liberation of the Hero’s Curse.]

[Your rewards will be given based on your score.]

[You have gained 2, 000, 000 EXP.]

[You have acquired the Robe of the Cursed Hero.]

[You have acquired the Skillbook: Diss]

[You have acquired the Mineral: Cartinium.]

[The Episode Quest: Hero’s Will has been created.]

“…..Goddamnit!” 

Ali’s face was filled with disappointment. He had failed to climb the Hall of Kings. But even though he was disappointed, he knew the reason why he failed.

‘I’m short of mana.’ 

Short of Mana, in other words, his MP was not enough. If other users knew of his MP, they would say that it was enormous. However, he still felt that it was still lacking. The MP was usually filled through natural recovery or through the use of potions. However, the cooldown after using a mana potion was much longer than when using a STM potion. In addition, natural recovery was also slow since it was a step by step process.

But what if my MP was already high to begin with before I entered the dungeon? Then I would have cleared it more clearly with a stronger and more powerful magic.

He felt great regret at failing to climb the Hall of Kings. But he only regretted it for a while before sighing. Then he laughed gleefully. The artifact and the skillbook were still satisfactory to him.

Diss was a skill that would summon a giant spear from the sky that would attack the enemy. It could easily penetrate through the tanker’s defences and deal a lot of damage all in one attack. What was even better was the robe. It was a legendary ranked artifact! And that was not all, there was even an episode quest and a mineral among his rewards.

‘What’s this?’ 

All of the information in the Episode Quest was listed as ‘???’ and even the Demon World’s mineral was described as ‘Unknown mineral with unknown use’. While expressing his doubt and confusion, another thought was formed in Ali’s head.

‘I should first increase my mana.’ 

What about that thing?

‘The thousand-year-old ginseng. They said that if one ate it then they will be able to get a 1.5x increase in their mana, right?’ 

***

[You have completed the first trial.]

[Would you like to challenge more trials?]

Minhyuk nodded his head to answer the notifications.

“Challenge more.” 

[You have accumulated 200,000 EXP.]

[The Demon World’s Black Pig Samgyeopsal will be saved.]

[Gremory’s Second Trial will now begin.]

[For the Second Trial, you can proceed together with the user and the vassal that you came with. To complete the trial you need to clear the dungeon in front of you.]

[Sword God Valen together with two of his squad members that he had picked will enter a different dungeon.]

[The trial will fail if you have more than a 20-minute gap from the time that Sword God Valen and his squad members clear their own dungeon.]

[If you successfully overcome the trial, you will be able to acquire the Demon World’s Cooking Ingredient ‘Demon King’s Largehead Hairtail’.]

[However, please take note that if the trial fails then all of the rewards that have been listed and accumulated will disappear.]

[You are required to either overcome the trial or reach the end of the hidden temple to receive the rewards that you have earned.]

Minhyuk was in awe. As soon as he read the notifications he could tell that the ingredients that he could get from these trials were ingredients that were famous in ‘Jeju Island’.

Especially the Largehead Hairtail! If he placed the plump and steaming flesh on top of a spoonful of hot rice and placed it in his mouth then he would be able to taste the savoriness and sweetness of the fresh fish! It would definitely bring a smile to anyone’s face!

Valen, who was thinking about passing on his sword skill to him, was left stunned when he saw Minhyuk gulping down his saliva.

‘……It must be difficult.’ 

Up until now, he thought that they would be able to overcome the trial because of Minhyuk’s performance earlier. But when he saw the vassal and the user that would participate with him he thought that they would fail.

“Hiyaaa. This bread is really delicious!” 

“Bread addict. Are you eating another bread?” 

When he saw Kaistra who was eating the bread happily together with Old Man Ben, he couldn’t help but shake his head. Of course, he thought that they were also a member of Minhyuk’s ‘optimized party’ but they still seemed unready for battle.

Then, the two people who would accompany Valen to attack the dungeon appeared. They were two of the squad members that he personally led before. They were less capable in fighting compared to Valen. After all, Valen boasted enough power that was worthy of the name ‘Sword God’. This was also the reason why his squad members were not able to show much of their prowess. But even if it was only Valen who had entered the dungeon, his dungeon clearing time would still be extremely fast.

‘The trial is mainly concerned about choosing ‘him’. That’s why I can’t let Minhyuk do that.’ 

Valen would do his best to clear the dungeon as quickly as he could but he still worried for Minhyuk.

Then, the two teams walked towards their respective dungeon entrance.

“My Lord, let’s have one more one shot before going inside.” 

“Bread’s delicious!” 

Then, Valen thought.

‘They don’t have any signs of nervousness at all. Sigh.’ 

Valen sighed as he entered the dungeon. Then, he began to move forward. Lv350 monsters began to flock in front of them.

In the case of the map, it was something that could only be unsealed at Lv340. This was the reason why the mobs that existed inside were between Lv340~Lv500.

“Flutter. Wind (Dance).” 

Shweeeeeeeeeeek!

A slight wind started to blow around Valen’s body. Then, it began to grow in size as it started to flutter and blow fiercely. Then, it flew straight towards the incoming monsters.

Chik, chik, chik, chik, chik, chik!

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

The strong wind blew away everything that was in front of them. Even the mobs that were blocking the way were torn to pieces.

Plop, plop, plop, plop, plop!

Monsters died in every place that they passed through. Then, they reached the final boss room.

Shwaaa!

Inside the boss room, Valen was able to hunt and kill the boss monster in just under three minutes.

‘I took about 20 minutes.’

In other words, Minhyuk together with the other user and his vassal would need to clear their dungeon within 40 minutes to pass the trial.

Then, Valen and his squad members slowly walked out of the dungeon. As soon as they got out of the dungeon, he couldn’t help but tilt his head in surprise.

“……What’s happening?”

Right outside the dungeon, the three people were sitting around. They looked like they did not even leave their places earlier.

“Wow. Minhyuk-nim. Chocolate cake and Americano are so delicious!” 

“Kaistra, you finally know the taste!”

“Hohoho. Our Bread Addict finally knows the taste of coffee!”

Valen’s brows furrowed in thought.

‘Don’t tell me?’ 

He knew that he would lose so they did not go inside in the first place? Was Minhyuk this weak? He wouldn’t even try even if he knew that he would lose? He knew that I was the Sword God so is that the reason why he collapsed before it even started? I’m so disappointed. Is it fine for the three of you to just sit there and play tea time just because you couldn’t challenge it?

Valen could see that Gremory was also there. But he was overcome with anger that he couldn’t stop himself from speaking out. He was so angry that he even failed to realize that Gremory’s pupils were shaking.

“Minhyuk.” 

“Yes, Instructor!” 

“I’m so disappointed in you, boy!”

“……Yes?”

“How can a man like you not even try?! Weren’t you the one who was smiling brightly while striking on scarecrows just to get ten loaves of bread? My goodness! You know that you’re going to lose so you did not even try?! I have seen you wrongly, boy!”

“What are you saying……?”

“You did not even go inside the dungeon and tried, did you just sit here and chat with them. Huh?!!!!”

Minhyuk couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion when he heard his words.

“But we went inside and got outside, Instructor!”

Valen looked at him incredulously.

What kind of nonsense are you saying? You went in and got out?

This meant that they cleared it faster than him. Valen thought that he was lying through his teeth and his anger rose to the top of his head.

“If your words are true then you will be the instructor from now on, I will be the trainee!!!!!”

At that moment, Gremory slowly turned her head. She couldn’t stop the tremble in her voice as she spoke.

“Val, Valen……” 

“……”

The fuming Valen turned his head to look at her. And it wasn’t long before she said…

“……They really cleared the dungeon ahead of you guys.”

***

TL’s corner!

It seems like the prologue is now coming. Samgyetang, here we go! Also… Why does Minhyuk always get misunderstood like this? Huehuehue.