Leveling Up through Eating

61 Delicious Grilled Eel

Another flash went straight towards Minhyuk’s body. However, the buffering time for the Fluttering Sword had finally ended. Five falling leaves flew towards the rapidly approaching ray of light.

Flash─

The two powerful forces met in the air and disappeared.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping─

Then, lights flashed and bursted out at a high speed from the eight greatswords. However, Minhyuk’s falling leaves flew rapidly and extinguished the flashing lights in the air.

‘He still used his most powerful skill.’ 

With this, he wouldn’t have any more powerful skills left. The only thing that he had left would be the Dark Fire Storm that he had used back then. Dawoul believed that it was ridiculous for someone like Minhyuk to confront him with just that one skill.

At that moment, the falling leaves started to attack the eight greatswords directly after extinguishing the flashes of light. 

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Crack!

The eight greatswords started to crack and break one by one. 

Clatter!

Then, one sword broke and faded away in a burst of light. It was at that moment when Minhyuk heard a notification in his head.

[You can now get out of the skill.]

“Like the Wind.” 

Then, he stabbed the ground with his sword as if he was already planning on doing this from the very beginning.

“Blooming Sword.” 

Shake!

Carr felt the ground beneath him shake and tremble. He suddenly felt great danger. Without any hesitation, he swung his sword that was glowing with a golden light.

[Sword of Extinction.]

[You can nullify the enemy’s skill. However, you will be left defenseless for 0.3 seconds.]

The effect of the Blooming Sword suddenly disappeared.

‘I can only use Sword of Extinction thrice.’ 

It was quite surprising that he still had other skills aside from Fluttering Sword. But he thought that he wouldn’t have any more skills. No, he strongly believed that he had no more skills left in his arsenal. But at that moment……

“Splitting Sword.” 

Swoooooosh─

Vwoooooooooong─

Minhyuk swung his sword twice in the air as two crescent sword lights flashing a dangerous red were fired straight towards him.

[Sword of Extinction.]

[You can nullify the enemy’s skill. However, you will be left defenseless for 0.6 seconds.]

Using the Sword of Extinction would result in instant penalties, just like having 0.3 and 0.6 seconds of defenselessness. It was only a short period of time, but in a fight with rankers that have monstrous speed, such a short amount of vulnerability could lead to serious consequences.

“Crazy bastard! Are you a damn swordsman, a Food God or a mage?!” 

“……” 

Minhyuk did not answer him and just used his skill against him.

“Like the Wind. Scattering Sword.” 

Vwooooooong!

The distance between him and Carr was narrowed in an instant.

The Scattering Sword was his skill that had evolved into ‘Half-God’. The skill once had consecutive hits but after being evolved it had now turned into a skill with x8 force condensed into a single strike. If we assumed that Minhyuk had 500 attacking power then this single strike from the Scattering Sword would have a 4,000 attack power.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaa─

The sword emitted a powerful force that tore the air as it swung down towards Carr. Carr couldn’t help but reflexively use one of his skills.

[The Crown Prince’s Quick Sword.]

[A quick sword that can cut down your enemies.]

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping─

His sword moved quickly as it slashed at Minhyuk’s body.

‘What kind of monstrous HP is this……!’ 

Carr was in shock. It seemed like Minhyuk’s HP was already comparable to his own. He knew this since he was able to take on his strikes without even staggering and collapsing.

At that moment, he suddenly felt a tearing pain on his back.

Slash!

[Physical Damage Reflection!]

[Returns the physical damage with a x2 increase in strength.]

[You have received a fatal wound.]

[Your HP is dropping at a rapid rate.]

Carr suddenly felt that he was stuck in a crisis. He had tried to not use the Sword of Extinction anymore but he really believed that he would not have any more skill after this.

[Sword of Extinction.]

[You can nullify the enemy’s skill. However, you will be left defenseless for 1 second.]

He had no defense for 1 second. 

Minhyuk quickly took advantage of the gap as he slashed down on Carr.

Puhaa!

[You have received an additional fatal wound.]

[Your body will now be unable to move temporarily.]

Carr was flustered. However, he had a skill prepared for situations just like this.

[Emperor’s Grace.]

[The Emperor’s knights will appear to protect you and only defend you in the event of an enemy attack.]

Dozens of translucent knights appeared in front of him. However, all they could do were defend.

Minhyuk observed them with a ‘Hmm.’ before approaching quickly. 

“Sword of Fury.”

Shweeeeeeeek!

A red air strongly formed around his sword. When Minhyuk tried to force his way in, the translucent knights threw themselves forward and defended against him.

Baaaaaaang!

In Sword of Fury’s case, all of his enemies within a 2-meter radius would be struck. So as soon as his sword struck forward, more than half of the dozens of knights disappeared. But there were still half of them left.

‘Crazy shit…… When will this stun be lifted? But I’m sure that he will have no more skills left.’

This was what Carr thought. But at that moment……

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Wind began to blow around Minhyuk’s body once more. 

Carr was familiar with this skill. It was the powerful skill that broke through his Eight Legendary Greatswords. It was the very first time that his greatswords were broken too. However, he strongly believed that the cooldown of such a great skill was quite unimaginable. So he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the skill being used so quickly again.

“W, what the hell! This is impossible……!”

Carr stared in horror as he started to panic. However, no matter what he said, the scene playing in front of him was the truth.

“Fluttering Sword.”

Minhyuk spoke slowly and deeply.

This was the Fluttering Sword that he had kept in advance using his ‘storage’ skill. Then, hundreds of falling leaves began to fall around him. Minhyuk swung his sword as strongly as he could.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping─

Hundreds of falling leaves began to fly rapidly towards Carr and his translucent knights. For the first time since playing ‘Athenae’, Carr felt a sense of crisis and dread.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping!

The knights that were protecting him disappeared as soon as the leaves made contact with them. They scattered with the wind after being hit directly by such an attack. Then, a leaf suddenly penetrated Carr’s chest.

Fwoosh!

“Keop!”

Carr staggered back. He realized that the attack was already comparable to his own since his armor was penetrated.

Clang!

He could finally move! He quickly tried to avoid the incoming attacks but it was too much for him to defend against the hundreds of falling leaves. What was worse was that Minhyuk also narrowed the distance between them to join the falling leaves that he had unleashed.

“Like the Wind.”

Minhyuk suddenly appeared in front of Carr who was desperately trying to deflect the hundreds of falling leaves. And without any hesitation, Minhyuk stabbed Carr straight at his chest.

Stab!

“……!”

Carr did not want to admit the situation in front of him.

He was not able to beat Minhyuk with a sword in a match and he was also unable to beat him even after using his power in the game ‘Athenae’. Right now and even in the past, he was still not able to win against him.

Puhaaa!

Minhyuk pulled the sword out of his chest without a second thought as he took a few steps back. Carr fell down and was immediately forced to log out.

Then, Minhyuk shot the remaining leaves towards the players that were attacking Khan and Locke.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping─

The bodies of their enemies collapsed at a rapid pace.

***

The stands were all covered in silence. After all, the reality that something unbelievable had happened in front of them was something that was hard to swallow. The silence was only broken when one user stood up in the stands.

“W, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Really cool!”

“Waaaaah. Oh my goodness!”

[Ah…… Ah…… Pl, player Minhyuk forced Player Carr to log out!]

[The strongest contender for the MVP, Player Carr, has been forced to log out and disappear!]

[That’s not all! The players that were pressuring Players Khan and Locke are disappearing one by one!]

[Huh? But Paladin Neville is not logged out?]

[They’re talking.]

[Paladin Neville is healing Locke’s legs.]

[Looking at the situation, I think they made a compromise. I believe that they told him ‘You’re going to~ die~’  if he did not heal Locke’s legs.]

[After the treatment, Neville escaped and disappeared like the wind.]

[One thing is clear now.]

[Yes. You’re right.]

[Khan, Locke and Minhyuk. One among these three people will be crowned as the MVP!]

[There are 20 minutes left in the War of the World Tree!]

***

[The MVP for the War of the World Tree will go to Player Locke.]

[Player Minhyuk quickly climbed to second place but I think it’s still a bit too much for him to climb to the top within a short 20 minutes.]

[However, it’s still surprising that he was able to beat the other players and climb to the second place in just 20 minutes.]

“Uwooooooo!”

Locke screamed after he won the MVP. Applause rang loudly in the stands with plenty of swears aimed at him still mixed in. However, this was the first time he won something. He had always been in last place. Whether it was in appearance, grades or everything else. But for the first time in his life, he was named MVP and won the honor of participating in Athenae: World War.

Then, Locke strode towards the Players’ Waiting Room. A man that had been waiting for him opened the door.

“Let’s go inside.” 

It was none other than Minhyuk.

“Let’s go.” 

Locke went inside arrogantly as Minhyuk rubbed his shoulders.

“Feeling refreshed?” 

“Yeah. Refreshed.” 

“Would you like a glass of water?” 

“Yeah! Grab me a glass of water!” 

Minhyuk rushed to get him a glass of water. After taking a gulp, Locke couldn’t help but let out a gasp of admiration.

“Kiyaaa. The flavor of the water that our Minhyuk brought is shooo gwoood!” 

“Haha. I’m glad that it’s to Locke-nim’s liking.” 

There was only one reason why Minhyuk was flattering him! It was because of one thing. Locke looked at him as he grinned. He decided to stop doing this long winded flattery as he absorbed the MVP trophy. Then, he gave Minhyuk the World Tree that he had received.

“Take it. I already know that you want to make charcoal out of the World Tree.” 

“Ahyuu…… What are you saying…… Haha. How can I be so shameless!” 

Locke stared at him. In the first place, he wouldn’t be able to win the first place if Minhyuk had not come to save him. It was enough that he was named as the MVP. After all, this name had already given him the honor of participating in the Athenae: World War.

“So you don’t like it?” 

“No. I like it.” 

Then, Minhyuk snatched it quickly. He was originally someone who would not refuse a gift.

“Hiyaaa. It would be great to make charcoal out of this, right?” 

Minhyuk smiled happily. The World Tree, shaped like the organ, was kept in a transparent round glass. As he looked at the World Tree happily, Minhyuk spoke up.

“But don’t we still have some work to do?” 

“What…… Ah!” 

Locke and Khan nodded their heads as they sported wide grins on their faces. It was time for them to give Carr a big punch in the face.

***

The five reporters, including Go Eun-ah, were left in confusion.

“Why is the interview going to be conducted in the waiting room?” 

“I know. Our numbers are even too little.” 

This was because the trio that was the hottest topic in the War of the World Tree had requested to have a quiet interview in the Players’ Waiting Room. And only the five reporters that were part of the companies that were in partnership with Joy Co. Ltd. were allowed inside.

Not long after, the reporters came inside. However, when they were about to turn the camera on, Locke suddenly spoke up.

“Ah. We’re a bit nervous. Hoo! Hoo! Please wait.” 

“I’m so nervous. I think my chest is bouncing wildly?” 

“He’s got camera phobia so whenever a camera is in front of him he will drool and make weird noises.” 

Then, the three people talked.

“I’m sorry but can you go over there to help him relax for a moment before having the interview?” 

They pointed towards the changing room inside the Players’ Waiting Room. In fact, this was the game’s waiting room so the changing room was a bit meaningless. It was said that the coliseum as well as the waiting room were all tailored after the athlete’s waiting room and coliseum of the Olympics.

“Please take away all the cameras! Whenever I look at the camera…… Ugh!” 

They all went into the changing room. 

“At this rate, will we even be able to do an interview……?” 

“Those people are weird.” 

The reporters whispered in the small changing room.

Then, at that moment……

Bang!

They heard the door slamming open. The reporters suddenly started to concentrate with confusion painted on their faces. Then, they heard a familiar voice.

“Hey! You fucking bastards!” 

“Huh?” 

Go Eun-ah’s eyes widened in shock.

The familiar voice was none other than Carr’s voice.

***

TL’s corner!

Bruh. Smart move.

PR’s corner!

It was at that point…that Lee Dawoul was screwed.