Leveling Up through Eating

Translators: ChubbyCheeks

Kerry’s heart thumped wildly. He was only a hair’s breadth away from winning in the preliminary round.

That blunder. If it weren’t for that mistake then I could have proudly participated in Athenae: Korean War.

However, that mistake had turned him into a nominated candidate. But right now, he was given the opportunity to participate. He was quite happy but on the other hand he was also quite worried. Mainly because Minhyuk, the user who would participate with him, was unfamiliar. But nevertheless, Kerry could still feel the burning heat that was flowing through his veins. He had a shot to get the title of the best user in the country, the MVP that everyone dreamt of! It was an opportunity that he had grasped!

Meanwhile, Hyemin’sDad personally knew Kerry.

“Come to think of it, you don’t know Minhyuk. Right?”

“…..You know him?”

“I know him. I know him very well. Ah, I remember that you said that you don’t believe in the world miracle, right Kerry?”

“……There’s no such thing.”

“Even though you have entered the competition just like a miracle?”

“This is just luck! Luck!”

“Haha. Well, whatever. But I think you’ll soon see the first miracle in your life soon.”

“Yes?”

Hyemin’sDad just grinned at him as he refused to say anything further. Just in time, Minhyuk arrived in the player’s waiting room.

To be honest, Kerry did not trust Minhyuk at all.

‘…..I’ll do well. Trust me, Kerry!’

At that time Minhyuk bowed politely at him while Kerry just roughly greeted him with a bow.

Not long after, the voice of the commentator came.

[Players, please enter.]

Kerry and Minhyuk started to move to enter. Along with their steps, they could hear the ridicule and mocking cheers from the audience. The ridicule that came pouring down on them made Kerry’s expression harden. However, Minhyuk who was standing next to him just said……

“Hiyaa. Market food. Just imagining it is making me excited. The same is true for Nim, right?!”

Can I really do this together with this strange person?

A question arose from the depths of his heart.

***

[The game will begin in 30 seconds!]

As soon as the voice of the commentator fell, the coliseum suddenly transformed and turned into a vast land.

Dozens of users who participated in the competition appeared on the vast fields. The Eat Quickly contest had a transparent barrier set between the users so they could not attack each other. Each team was assigned to an area that was 100-m wide. Then, 250 sticks of candles slowly rose behind the users.

Kerry gulped in nervousness. He could feel the tension in his body.

“Hiyaa. Just imagining it is making me happy. Cooking on a flat grill that was greased with oil while the market lady sends out a perfectly grilled bindae-tteok to the front. What if you dip it in soy sauce? Wow, it sounds really delicious.”

Gulp?

He could hear the sound of someone gulping down their saliva. Kerry looked at him fiercely.

Please! Show a little nervousness!

Kerry looked to be about the same age as Minhyuk. He only had one reason as to why he did not believe in miracles. That was because his father died in illness. He often went out with his father to go fishing. Those were his fondest memories with him. However, his father suffered from ‘pancreatic cancer’, a cancer that was well known for its terrible survival rate. But regardless of his illness, his father had always told him ‘I’ll get well soon so I can go fishing with you again!’ with his loud voice and laughter. Kerry believed that such a day would come since his father was quite vigorous and healthy even though he was sick. But his fiery and energetic father eventually turned cold and lifeless. Kerry wanted to win the MVP award so he could dedicate it to his father.

He had such a solemn and grave dream but the man in front of him looked so different from him. He looked so laid back and carefree.

Then, Minhyuk turned to him with a bitter smile.

“Actually, my mother has already passed away. When I was young, I often went to the market hand in hand with my mother and it’s something that I still can’t get over with. I still remember my mom feeding me with some vegetable pancakes gently. Ah, I was so happy.”

Minhyuk smiled softly at the memories. He did not know why he said such a thing. Perhaps it was just because he remembered those things and wanted to tell it to someone.

“……”

Kerry turned to look at him for a moment. He could see a soft and sad smile that was similar to what he usually had on his face.

“Now, I feel like I am back in that ‘market’.”

“……What the hell are you saying. So annoying.”

However, Kerry still looked at him strangely and unhappily

Crackle!.

Then, red flames lit up from the hundreds of candles.

[The Eat Quickly Contest begins now!]

Kerry then blew one candle. The number of candles that would get extinguished could be controlled by the player’s will. However, the light of the candle could only be extinguished by blowing on them personally.

As soon as the candle extinguished, three Lv200 monsters appeared in front of them. The monsters were none other than Reki. Rekis were bipedal monsters that could wield a spear.

“For now, let’s do it together.”

Kerry turned around and told Minhyuk as he started to run. Then, he could hear the voices of the commentators echoing.

[Oh! All the participants blew around 3~5 candles!]

[Wow. The 3rd team’s Twilight Sculptor Lucan has started slaughtering the monsters with his sculpting knife. He blew out five candles as soon as the competition started and is trying to hunt the monsters all at once!]

[There are already more than three teams that have extinguished three candles within a minute of the game. But it seems like there are still teams that have not yet started their hunt?]

[It seems like Team 11 still has not started yet.]

[That’s weird. There’s even the strongest favorite group right next to Team 11. It must be a bit ominous to be compared.]

Then, something extraordinary happened. Minhyuk raised his sword……

Swoooooooosh!

Kerry and the commentators were all left wide-eyed when they saw the scene that followed. They saw him swing his sword horizontally over the candles which resulted in about 70 candles being extinguished all at once.

“……!”

[Ah!!! Team 11!!! What in the world are you doing now!!!]

[Don’t tell me you can deal with the monsters that come out after extinguishing 70 candles?!]

[Ah, that’s too much! Too much!]

[I can hear the ridicule of the people. What’s the point of doing such a thing?]

[They’re done for. Done for! One person’s arrogance has led Team 11 into the abyss!]

[We can’t blame them for being nominated candidates. But now, it seems like they should have been better off not playing in the first place!]

“You! Are you crazy!”

Kerry rushed towards Minhyuk as if he wanted to push him back. But as soon as he approached him, he could feel something brushing by his cheeks.

‘Wind?’

***

At the small pub located in Ilsan, Yoo Jimin, or more commonly known as user Javin, was sitting and watching Athenae: Korean War with her friends. She was the user who died while trying to stab Minhyuk in the back at Ructo’s Tomb.

She couldn’t help but widen her eyes when she saw the baby pig appear on the screen.

‘That, that baby pig!’

She was sure that the pig was definitely the Frying Pan Killer’s pet. But to make sure, she still went and checked the Athenae official homepage.

When she typed in ‘Baby Piggy’ hundreds of related search words appeared on her screen. ‘Adorable Baby Piggy ㅠㅠ.’, ‘How to have a baby piggy.’, ‘Will Santa give me a baby piggy if I asked him for it?’, and ‘When will Kongie’s doll be released?’ were one of the few related search words that popped on her screen.

As she looked over dozens of articles, one article had caught her attention.

[Isn’t that baby piggy the baby piggy that the Frying Pan Killer always carries around with him?]

There were some users who knew that the Frying Pan Killer carried a baby pig with him. More importantly, almost all of them were Bachran Guild’s guild members. Then, the testimonies related to the Frying Pan Killer suddenly began to pour out.

‘What’s this. It seems like I don’t need to post anything.’

Anyway, it was easy to say that the Frying Pan Killer had participated in the competition. After all, his identity would be revealed soon.

At that moment, she heard her friends swear loudly when the replacement of players were announced.

“Wow. What’s this about Team 11? Is this some kind of Three Stooges?”

Jimin listened to their clamor and stepped up.

“They did it because they deserved it. In fact, the main purpose of the competition is to select players that will participate in Athenae: World War.”

“……What are you saying? What’s wrong with you?”

“Which team do you think will be the MVP?”

Her friends confidently answered Jimin’s question.

“Of course it’s the team with Vhad.”

“That’s right. He’s a real bastard that looks like he’s unlucky enough to go back to art school. But I saw a video of him in Ztube a long time ago and he was so awesome.” 

Jimin then opened her wallet, pulled out a 50,000 won bill then placed it on the table as she tapped her finger on it.

“I think it’s Team 11.” 

She smiled at them.

“Wow. For real? Aren’t they too weak? I’ll do 50,000 won too. I’m Team Vhad!” 

“Me too! I’m for Vhad!” 

Her friends thought that this was an opportunity so they willingly bet 50,000 won. They foolishly believed that they would get some free money. However, Javin just grinned at them widely.

‘No, that person will surely get the victory.’ 

When she tried to stab him in the back, she never expected that to happen.

Meanwhile, the screen showed him blowing out 70 candles all at once. People started to heap plenty of ridicule on him.

***

A cool breeze began to blow around him. Behind them, the cries of the monsters came roaring loudly.

Shwaaaaaaaaa─

The breeze that blew around them slowly gathered towards Minhyuk’s sword. Not long after, the wind began to pick up as it started to blow harder.

Shwaaaaaaaaa─

The grass and the leaves of the trees began to shake and sway with the strong wind.

At the sudden appearance of a strong wind, the players all turned to look at Minhyuk. Then, hundreds of silver leaves fluttered and fell. The falling leaves strangely resembled snow falling from the sky.

“P, pretty.” 

“Waaaaaaa! The leaves look like falling snow.” 

These were the remarks of one user among the audience that were watching the screen with rapt attention.

Then, hundreds of monsters ran straight towards Kerry’s back. Even a huge harpy was spotted swinging its arms to attack. A blade of wind was created and aimed at his back.

“Yo, you……” 

Kerry’s eyes widened in shock.

When Minhyuk saw the incoming blade of wind, he recalled what he had learned about controlling the wind under Valen’s tutelage. Valen would always say this to him……

‘That’s not how you control the wind.’

He also took a step forward as he raised his sword. Then, Minhyuk slowly opened his mouth.

“That’s not how you control the wind.” 

Shwaaaaaak!

When Minhyuk moved his sword, the strong wind that was concentrated on his sword incorporated the hundreds of falling leaves. Then, the leaves flew at a speed that was almost faster than the speed of light as they headed towards the monsters that were rushing behind Kerry.

Fwish, fwish, fwish, fwish, fwish, fwish─

Kerry heard the sounds from behind him. He couldn’t help but slowly turn around. As soon as he turned around, he could see all of the monsters slowly falling down on the ground.

Then, the score began to appear on the electronic display. The scores on the display reflected the amount of candles that were extinguished and the amount of monsters that died.

[2nd place, Team 3, 6.]

[1st place, Team 11, 71.]

[……!]

[……!]

[……!]

[……!]

The audience and the commentators as well as the people who said that the Food God’s level was too low and that the nominated candidates formed a team and were like the Three Stooges were all silent. All of the people who mocked them fell silent.

And Kerry…… He had seen a miracle, right there and then.

***

PR’s corner!

Ah, the sweet sound of the audience’s stunned silence. That’ll teach them to underestimate our boy Minhyuk!