Leveling Up through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

Legend Guild was busily moving around in preparation for the massive war outbreak!

Along with that announcement, there were many quests that were given to the users. There were plenty of quests ranging from low-leveled quests until high-leveled quests.

The following was what was written in the official homepage of Athenae:

1 Elvenheim, the area near the Elven Forest is divided into areas A, B, C, D and E.

2 Users can go to their classified area depending on their levels.

3 Users will be able to purchase various artifacts, potions and war supplies from the Elf NPCs that they will meet there.

4 The first person to reach the Elven Forest will be given a special reward.

It was literally the area near the Elven Forest. Joy Co. Ltd. had divided the areas so users of varying levels could experience and enjoy the event. Of course, users who dealt with the mobs coming out of areas B, C, D and E would not be able to be the first one to reach the Elven Forest.

‘What’s in the Elven Forest?’

Genie’s curiosity was suddenly piqued as she prepared.

The Elven Forest was a new continent that had not yet been opened. This was the reason why many people were keenly paying attention to the first user who would be able to reach the Elven Forest. Legend Guild was preparing to take on a mission to carve out and explore the A region. All of the domestic guilds would definitely gather in the A region.

Vice Lord Ben would be left to defend the estate and the territory since there would be a lot of troops in there. Other guilds might try to use this opportunity to attack them.

Genie saw a man from a distance. He was a paladin. And according to Minhyuk, he was his second vassal. Minhyuk had expressed his regret that he would not be able to accompany them since he was summoned by the Empress Ellie. However, Paladin Corr, his vassal that he had left behind in the territory, was currently plowing a field.

Bang, bang, bang.

“Why is this not getting split up! #$$%@%%@$?"

“……Is he really a paladin? I think he’s more of a gangknight.” 

“What’s a gangknight?” 

Khan, who was busily moving next to her, asked.

“Gangster Knight.” 

“……Hmm.” 

Genie’s brows furrowed. She might not know but thanks to Mihyuk’s help(?) Paladin Corr was able to be enlightened with his true calling. Right?

Paladin Corr plowed the field, planted the seeds, and evenly watered the soil. After doing all of that, he sat on the field and clasped his hands together in prayer. Then, he raised his body and bowed down as he cried…….

“Grow up, seeds!” 

The next thing he did was to pull out an instrument. The instrument was originally in the form of a castanet. But the shape suddenly turned into a recorder.

Ppi, ppippi, ppi, ppippi~ 

Hearing a familiar tune, Locke couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.

“Edelweiss~ Edelweiss~ Isn’t that the song that we learned back in elementary school……” 

“Is the recorder the only instrument that he can play at that age?” 

“Kgghk! This fantastic sound!!! I’m sure no one in the world can play a recorder as good as me! Ha! I’m truly a man among men…… there’s nothing I can’t do……” 

Corr was filled with emotion as he smiled after finishing his performance.

Locke and Genie’s eyes met. Then, Locke said……

“……Isn’t he a crazy guy?” 

“Yeah…… Looks like it.” 

Genie sighed deeply. Somehow, she felt a bit out of her mind.

“Sigh.” 

***

Minhyuk came to meet with Empress Ellie when she summoned him.

“How have you been, noona?” 

“Not that well.” 

“Huh? Why?” 

“I want to eat your food.” 

“This, this! Then, I have to make you something delicious!” 

Ellie smiled happily at Minhyuk.

She was a bit surprised when she learnt that Minhyuk was the descendant of one of the three Gods that made a bet. The story about the three Gods making a bet in the past was not only passed down on Cordis Empire but also in Eivelis Empire. The Emperors of each Empire had to assign the tasks so that the God Classes would be able to fulfill their bets. There was a proper mission assigned to the bet.

“The King of the Elves had a sole child. The name of the child is Prince Argon.” 

“Yes.” 

“A few days ago, the demonic humans and other demonic races attacked the Elven Forest and kidnapped Prince Argon. Your mission is to lead 50 men from my troop and rescue him. The place where Prince Argon is currently held captive is said to be the Immortal’s Land.” 

Even the existing high-leveled users were a bit reluctant to go to the Immortal’s Land. One of the reasons was the insane amount of high-leveled mobs. But that wasn’t the only reason.

“There might be quite a few of the demonic humans and demonic monsters in there.” 

Aside from the high-leveled mobs, there would also be demonic humans and demonic monsters lurking in the area. But there was something more terrible.

“The Immortal’s Land not only has those monsters, there are also natural disasters that occur every minute. There are also plenty of penalties that will apply on the people who entered the land since Great Mage Rafielt had placed a curse on the land in the past.”

Minhyuk nodded his head. In fact, this was something that he already knew.

“You can lead the 50 men from the Phoenix Knights Order and head there. If you’re the first person to save Prince Argon then your God will be the most likely God to win the bet.” 

Minhyuk nodded his head in understanding when he heard Ellie’s words.

“I’ll do it.” 

He looked very determined.

Then, the notifications rang.

[The God’s Bet has started.]

[1. You can achieve 100% enemies’ death if you carry out a complete suppression with the Phoenix Knights. The stronger and more special the existence is, the higher the % of enemies’ death that you will receive.]

[2. You can achieve 100% commanding ability if you build up favorability and obedience with the Phoenix Knights. The higher the favorability and obedience, the higher the % of commanding ability that you will receive.]

[The God who wins the bet will be determined by their final contribution.]

Seeing Minhyuk’s serious and determined face, Ellie said……

“Looking at you… You’ll be getting something delicious from this, right?” 

“Oh. How did you know?!” 

“I know just by looking at you.” 

Ellie watched him as he proceeded with the 50 of the Phoenix Knights Order. Then, she said……

“The other Gods have already arrived.”

***

The God of War, Eclei, and the God of Death, Bach, watched as the Cordis Army gathered before them. Each group had about 50 people.

“I wonder who it is.” 

“Oh. Here he comes.” 

The two of them had already greeted their troops.

The God of War, Eclei, had said……

‘We are not going there to die. We’re going there and coming back alive! Well then, let’s go become heroes and save the world from the demonic races!’

Bach, on the other hand, also contributed with wonderful lines.

‘We’ll just hit them harder and stronger than anybody else, trust me. If you believe in me then you will definitely be given the most valuable glory in your lives.’ 

They were filled with confidence.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk was looking around with his troop of 50 men. The Phoenix Knights Order looked at him waiting for the speech that he would tell them. But the man in front of them said……

“Rice is the best medicine!!! Everyone already had their meals, right?” 

“……” 

“……” 

The two people were speechless.

Not long after, one of the members of the order spoke up.

“We haven’t yet.” 

“Noooo! How could someone commit such a felony? Did the palace forget to feed you?” 

“They gave us food.” 

“But why haven’t you eaten your free meals? Ha! This rice was grown by our people with their blood and sweat. You must eat rice. Well then, our slogan from now on will be ‘Rice is the best medicine’. There are a lot of people in the world that are starving because there’s nothing that they could eat! We will not leave until everyone is done eating!” 

“……Pfffffft!”

“Cough!” 

The two people burst out in laughter. 

We’ve won.

They thought that they could easily rule him out for now.

What a stupid thing to do!!!

He even fed the knights to their heart’s content. As the Phoenix Knights came out of the restaurant, they said……

“Did you see? The commander ate 50 servings……” 

“My goodness. Even a beluga whale can’t eat that much.” 

“Can we go back alive?” 

“……” 

“Keuhahahahahaha!” 

“Hahahahaha. I’m dying of laughter.” 

What kind of God is that?

The two had no choice but to laugh.

Even the knights are on edge?

They laughed their heads off happy with their instant win.

Then, Minhyuk came out.

“Hello! Have you eaten yet?” 

“Ah. Pfft! We already did. Ah. Yes.” 

They were very curious about his class but the two of them did not even bother to ask. God Classes usually would not reveal their job classes.

Not long after, Eclei asked Minhyuk.

“Have you eaten already?” 

“Yep! Although it’s a bit pitiful, it's still very good!” 

“Having 50 servings is still pitiful?” 

“I always like to drink at least 20 cups of coffee to moisten my dry throat.” 

“Ah. Nim. You’re really very funny.” 

“Haha. I’m a bit funny, right?” 

Eclei and Bach felt relieved. They were already at the top of the list of people who could lead the troops well. They believed that they did not need to worry about someone who acted like this.

Then, he said…

“We can accompany each other until Immortal’s Land Zone 2. Why don’t you support us from the rear, Minhyuk-nim?” 

“The back?” 

“Yes. We’ll be hunting up front and Minhyuk-nim will just literally support us from the back. You can shoot a bow, or something.” 

“Ah. Yes. I understand! But you’re not going to say anything about us eating for nothing, right?” 

“Of course.” 

“Not at all.” 

“So if the item drops, can we eat it too?” 

“Of course. If you have the acquisition rights then you should also be able to eat it too.” 

Gold and artifacts or other drops that dropped from the hunted mobs had acquisition rights. Any member of a party could acquire drops from the monsters that they hunted regardless of their contributions. However, this was not the case for different parties. The person with the highest contribution would have the acquisition rights for the item. Only after a certain period of time had passed would the acquisition rights disappear. By that time, everybody else could pick up the dropped item.

Eclei and Bach laughed to themselves. They knew that being a support in the rear was literally staying behind the scenes. This meant that he would have fewer results in terms of the numbers he hunted which would result in fewer chances of winning war points. In other words, he would be left behind. It would be hard for him to feel guilty about eating for nothing because he would strongly feel that he was being left behind.

And Eclei was just grinning widely.

‘This means that one of my competitors has been eliminated. Now, only Bach is left.’

Just like Minhyuk who would receive the Food God’s Kitchen Knife as a reward if he won the bet, Eclei and Bach would also be given artifacts if they won the bet. In Eclei’s case, he would receive the Monarch’s Sword. The Monarch’s Sword was an artifact with the strength that exceeded the strength of a legendary artifact. And there was one point that Eclei trusted.

‘Demon World’s mineral, Viridite.’ 

He recently received this mineral after finishing the episode quest ‘Hero’s Will’. And Eclei happened to know about the use of this item. These were minerals where Gremory had hidden her powers. It was said that the powers from these minerals would only emerge when the land was overflowing with  magi. And this was the right time.

‘The viridite in my hand was said to be the mineral with the weakest power. I wonder what kind of power is hidden in this.’

However, the mineral would only show its power indirectly. Perhaps he would be able to see some changes soon. Eclei recalled the information about the minerals that he had obtained before.

‘The mineral with the strongest power. Antarinium. Who the hell has that mineral?’

Just as he was questioning himself……

“Everyone, we’re going to be in the back! Wow! You know how important the rear is right?!!!” 

“……” 

Eclei and Bach laughed. Then, Eclei spat out a word.

“Moron.” 

Without realizing it, he had spoken in an unusually loud voice.

***

“Moron.” 

Minhyuk heard the words from behind him. However, his mouth was grinning widely.

His father had taught him that he should not judge a person by their appearance. And Minhyuk had realized this lesson in his life. 

You will never know what kind of person a man is until you meet him in person.

Minhyuk tested them step by step.

When he shouted ‘Rice is the best medicine!’, his opponents laughed at him. Of course he pretended to not see them but they also placed Minhyuk and his troops in the rear. This was to make sure that he suffered losses. The morale of his knights were temporarily low but this was so he could assess their strength and power from behind.

In other words, everything was according to Minhyuk’s plans.

‘They judged a person by their appearance. And that moron……’ 

Minhyuk smiled mockingly.

They still did not know what kind of performance they would make from the rear.

***

TL’s corner!

Shoot some arrow or something… When Minhyuk can one shot a high-leveled monster with his arrows. Sure. There’s also Roves’ Ring and the Lightning Millstone. Kek. Bro. Why you judge him by his appearance.

PR’s corner!

And here comes the schemer side of Minhyuk. One thing I love about LUE is that you don’t just see Minhyuk as a powerful fighter, you get to see him use his brains.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

We only have 3 chapters this week. I caught a cold last week and am currently recovering (well I am doing well now). We drew on our reserves and only have 3 for this week. We'll be back to 5 chapters next week!