Leveling Up through Eating

Everyone in the area stared in horror.

‘All of the abilities were nullified……?’

‘What kind of fraudulent ability is this?’ 

‘That’s that but I can’t believe that someone can cast their skills just by turning and spinning a Bowl and Mixer Machine……?’

Just a few minutes ago, the Monarch’s Roar had made their skills and magic unavailable for 5 minutes but now in front of them, Minhyuk did something more ludicrous. But it did not end there, the Roves’ ring that was in Minhyuk’s finger shined brightly which created a huge tidal wave.

Shwaaaaaaaa—

The tidal wave stretched out and engulfed the Ancient Monarch. This time, the man brought out another item and it was none other than a millstone. He grabbed the handle of the millstone and…

Turn, turn, turn, turn—

“Th, this time it’s a millstone……”

“Ha, hahaha……”

Ali and Kentaro had no choice but to laugh at the ludicrousness of the situation in front of them. However, their curiosity still got the better of them, they were wondering what sort of skill and power this millstone would show them.

Rumble—

With the rumbling sound that came up from above, the three dumbfounded users all looked up in the sky.

‘Dark clouds?’

The phrase ‘bolt out of a blue’ was perfect for the dark cloud that suddenly appeared in the otherwise clear sky. Just in time, the Ancient Monarch struggled and eventually squeezed out of the huge tidal wave that engulfed him earlier.

Bang!!

A lightning bolt suddenly struck down on the Ancient Monarch’s body.

“Keuaaack!”

But it did not end there.

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

Dozens of lightning bolts rained down on the Ancient Monarch. They hit him without fail and placed great pressure on his body. But what was more surprising was the fact that the wounds on the Ancient Monarch’s body were rapidly recovering even after being hit with those insane lightning bolts.

“Such ridiculous regeneration ability……”

After using the Lightning Hell from the millstone, Minhyuk quickly used his Fluttering Sword.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaa—

Falling leaves suddenly appeared in the air as dust swirled around Minhyuk’s body. And just as the duration of the Lightning Hell ended……

“Bastaaaard!”

The Ancient Monarch raised his sword and slashed it down strongly. A fierce and long sword light shot out from his sword. The sword was so huge and long that everyone present believed that they hadn’t seen anything like that at all.

Shweeeeeeeeeek!

It was at that moment when the buffering time of the Fluttering Sword ended.

Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew, pew—

Hundreds of sword lights collided with the flying sword. The fluttering leaves scattered and disappeared with the strike from the powerful sword. But with the continuous attacks from the fallen leaves, the power of the gigantic sword slowly began to wear off before disappearing right under the user’s nose. 

“Heok, heok. I think I lost ten years of my life there.” 

Kentaro spoke with great spite. In all honesty, the rest of them were all useless. Not to mention Ali was a mage user, even Kentaro, who was stronger in his basic stats and powers, would still die once he attacked the Ancient Monarch. It was only now that Kentaro had realized how weak he was.

‘I can’t do anything.’ 

He couldn’t help but shudder when he realized the strength of the man that was currently standing in front of him.

‘I also want to be as strong as him……’ 

Then, he watched as the man dash towards the Ancient Monarch.

[Sword of Fury.]

[There will be an additional 100% for strong lunges and stabs, if a vital strike is successful then the additional attack power will be 140%. Enemies within a 2m radius will be torn apart by the force of the wind with an additional 60% attack power.]

Minhyuk’s sword flashed red as he stabbed the Ancient Monarch strongly. But the roots and branches that rose from the ground began to surround the Ancient Monarch forming an armor around his body at the same time.

Crash!

The moment Minhyuk’s sword made contact with his body…

[The effect of Sword of Fury has disappeared.]

An ability that was quite literally similar to Cancel was suddenly unleashed. His skill became useless the moment his sword collided with the tree armor. Without missing a moment, additional roots and branches that were created by the Ancient Monarch started to bind Minhyuk’s body.

“Keup!” 

[You’re bound by the Branch Shackles.]

[You will not be able to move until you get out of this restraint.]

Slash!

The Ancient Monarch brought his sword down on Minhyuk’s body. Minhyuk’s HP began to fall at a rapid pace.

[Your HP has dropped below 60%.]

[Your HP has dropped below 40%.]

[Due to continuous bleeding, your head has temporarily become dizzy.]

The Monarch was suddenly blocked when he was about to strike down on Minhyuk again.

“Oink!” 

Kongie gallantly blocked in front of Minhyuk as he faced against the Ancient Monarch’s sword. 

Clang! Clang, clang, clang!

“Laughable!” 

“Oink!” 

However, Kongie was not able to hold on and was pushed back in no time at all. Just as the Ancient Monarch was going to strike down again……

Dash—

Kentaro moved. The sword of the Ancient Monarch that was headed for Minhyuk was intercepted. It pierced Kentaro’s abdomen.

“Keup!”

Kentaro threw himself in front of Minhyuk even though he knew that he would be forced to log out.

“I have repaid the life that I owed you.”

Kentaro watched as his HP drained rapidly. The Ancient Monarch kicked him in irritation. 

“Keok!”

Then, the notifications rang loudly in everyone’s ears.

[The Monarch’s Roar’s penalty has been lifted.]

“Fire!”

Crackle!

Ali casted powerful flames to burn the branches and roots that tied down Minhyuk’s body. There was no significant damage on Minhyuk from the fire since his magical defense was ridiculously high.

Tear, tear—

Minhyuk tore the branches that were weakened from the fire before stepping back. Then, he sent whispers to Ali.

[Minhyuk: Do you have any kind of lethal magic? A magic that can kill that bastard in a single blow. I can hold him down for a second.]

[Ali: There is…… But Minhyuk-nim might be forced to log out too.]

[Minhyuk: Can you use it right now?]

[Ali: Yes. I can use it right away. But I only have one chance.]

Minhyuk did not reply to him. He just jumped on the Ancient Monarch. He knew that this bastard had very strong regenerative abilities so they needed to hit him with one strong hit. Strong enough that he wouldn’t be able to regenerate at all. First and foremost, he was confident with his Scattering Sword, he was also sure that he wouldn’t be hurt that much. 

Using ‘Like the Wind’, Minhyuk quickly approached the Ancient Monarch. He allowed another attack to land on him to find a gap that he could take advantage of.

Stab!

“Keup!”

[Your HP has fallen below 20%.]

Then, Minhyuk hugged the Ancient Monarch with all his might.

“This bastard……!”

The Ancient Monarch was stunned and flustered when he was suddenly held in a vice-like grip. However, his power was tremendous so he easily broke his arm free from the hug as he smashed down on Minhyuk.

[Your HP has fallen below 10%.]

But even when Minhyuk fell to the ground, he did not let him go so easily. He even grabbed his legs to stop him even just for a moment. After preparing his attack, Ali finally murmured something under his breath.

“Diss.” 

It was the skill from the skillbook that he had acquired after clearing the Liberation of the Hero’s Curse. Diss.

Shweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—

A large spear made of light rapidly descended from the sky. It was even faster than the speed of light. The large spear instantly pierced the Ancient Monarch.

Stab!

“Keok!” 

The Ancient Monarch vomited out a mouthful of blood. It seemed like the spear made of light had dealt great damage on its body. The Ancient Monarch even staggered back from the impact of the spear. However, he slowly grabbed the spear of light.

“Crazy shit……!” 

Ali stared in horror. Diss was an attack magic that could concentrate a tremendous amount of magic power. It could even increase the user’s magical attack power by 1,200%. But the Ancient Monarch was still alive and moving. He even grabbed the spear as he tried to pull it out of his body.

But at that moment, Minhyuk, whose HP fell to the bottom, delivered the final blow.

“Scattering Sword.” 

It was a tremendously strong single sword strike that had eight times his attack power!

The overwhelming power of his sword struck down on the Ancient Monarch.

Stab!

“Keuaaaaaaaack!” 

The Ancient Monarch let out a loud shriek as a mysterious skeletal figure came out of his mouth and fluttered in the air. He was finally liberated from the control of the demon. But the skeletal figure that floated in the air targeted another user. The user that the skeletal figure targeted was none other than Bedu.

Bedu was flustered.

[You, who awakened my power…… Give me more strength…… You who awakened my power……!]

But not long after, the skeletal figure scattered and disappeared in the air. However, Bedu’s face was already distorted beyond belief.

‘This fXcker! Why is this NPC screwing me up!!’

Ali and Kentaro’s eyes narrowed to a slit.

‘Everything was instigated by this person……’ 

‘This instigator must have collected the sculptures and awakened that guy.’ 

For some, the reason did not matter but the two of them had this hunch. So Kentaro and Ali did not hesitate to attack Bedu. He died easily under the hands of the two but since Bedu has long been in a Chaotic State, he dropped his artifacts after his death. In other words, he had reaped what he had sown.

Then, the notifications began to pour in.

[The Guardians’ Tower shines brightly.]

[All of the scores will now be added up.]

[Korea Number One. 71, 316 team points.]

[Passageway 5. 7, 231 team points.]

Kentaro knew that it was his complete defeat. The gap between their scores was ten times as much as theirs. Even the individual scores were in the same state.

[Korea Number One. Minhyuk. 51, 415 individual points.]

[Korea Number One. Ali. 49, 541 individual points.]

[You will receive the Monarch’s Treasure Chest after combining the team and individual scores.]

[You have cleared the Ancient Monarch raid with an unreachable score.]

Minhyuk heard the notifications. 

Meanwhile, the Black Mage Ali’s face was stiff. It was because he also heard the notification for the Hall of Kings.

Cleared with an unreachable score!

This was the first time that two different people climbed the Hall of Kings at the same time.

[Your name has climbed the Hall of Kings.]

[You can choose to remain anonymous, post your ID or use a different name.]

[You will receive additional rewards for climbing the Hall of Kings.]

[You have acquired the Ancient Monarch’s seeds.]

Minhyuk still chose to remain anonymous. Then, the notifications continued to ring.

[The twelfth King has been born in the world.]

[South Korea’s King ‘Anonymous’ name will be spread all over the world.]

“……!”

Kentaro had also heard the notifications. The notifications for the Hall of Kings would always ring all over the world! And the Anonymous King!

‘As expected, this is the guy who participated in the competition not too long ago!’

Kentaro had also watched the video of Athenae: Korean World War. And right now, the user that shone brightly during that competition was standing in front of him.

Then, another set of notifications rang.

[The thirteenth King has been born in the world.]

[South Korea’s King ‘Black Mage Ali’’s name will be spread all over the world.]

“……!”

Kentaro was once again caught in surprise. This was because this was the first time that users climbed the Hall of Kings at the same time.

And with this, South Korea now had two kings. In addition, ‘Anonymous’, with his record breaking three consecutive climbs in the Hall of Kings, was the only user with the same score as ‘Calla’. 

Meanwhile, Minhyuk got additional notifications.

[You have completed the Surprise Class Quest: The Ancient Monarch’s Yearning.]

[You have acquired the ingredients for the Ancient Monarch’s Soy Sauce Braised Chicken.]

“Yayy!! Soy sauce braised chicken!!”

When Ali and Kentaro saw him being so over the moon with joy after they heard the Hall of King’s notifications as well as the Monarch’s Treasure Chest notifications, they thought ‘Ah~ He must have gotten something nice~’.

Ali scuttled forward to check the Ancient Treasure Chest. When he saw the contents inside, he couldn’t help but be thrilled.

“Cr, crazy……!”

It was a two-thousand-year-old ginseng that could increase his mana reserves by 1.7x permanently!

Then, Ali turned to speak to Minhyuk excitedly while watching him happily twittering around from getting the ingredients for the soy sauce braised chicken.

“A two-thousand-year-old ginseng came out of my treasure chest. Minhyuk-nim.”

“Oh. Congratulations. Wait. Does that mean that I can also get something to eat?! Something delicious!”

“……May, maybe?”

Ali nodded his head in embarrassment while Minhyuk hurriedly clicked on his own treasure chest. 

Brrrrrrr, brrrrr, brrrrrr—

The Monarch’s Treasure Chest began to vibrate wildly.

‘Something delicious, please come out! Something delicious!’ 

Minhyuk longed and wished for it sincerely. But after confirming what he had acquired, his expression suddenly turned sullen.

“……I guess I don’t have luck with draws.” 

When Minhyuk suddenly turned strangely sulky, Ali asked after him.

“What did you get? Can you share it with me?” 

Minhyuk nodded his head while pouting. Ali was able to confirm that Minhyuk had obtained a  method to produce Half-God artifacts.

(Half-God Artifact Production Method)

Special Abilities: It can guide users on how to produce a Half-God artifact in the form that they want.

Description: Among the Half-God Production Methods, it is very rare for someone to get a production method that can guide them to create an artifact in the form that they want.

Ali was shocked after repeatedly confirming the item that Minhyuk had obtained. He couldn’t understand his reaction at all.

“Th, this is what you pull out when you’re unlucky with draws?!” 

Minhyuk continued to pout as he answered him.

“Have you heard about a wise saying? ‘Life is divided into two parts, before knowing chicken and after knowing chicken.’ Kghk! Just like that saying, I had hoped to wash the fatigue of today away if I pulled out a chicken but…… I can’t believe that I pulled out a parchment that I couldn’t even eat……!” 

“……” 

It seemed like the Half-God Artifact Production Method was worse than a chicken.

***

TL’s corner!

I was wondering what would happen to Bedu but thank goodness they dealt with him. Phew.

ANNOUNCEMENT! 

Today marks the first year anniversary of me TLing LUTE. Hooray! There will be a 10 chapter mass release today to celebrate. I wanted to extend the celebration by just releasing double chapters per day but I caught a cold and my head's aching badly.

On that note, we will be reducing next week's chapters to 3 since I can't TL much with this headache.

Thank you for always supporting LUTE and WoopRead. Hope you continue to support us. Don't forget to support our author-nim too! 

For more announcements, make sure to join us on our discord!