Leveling Up through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

After Eclei and his spirits were wiped out, the notifications rang continuously in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have earned 400,000 contribution points and the Elf’s Heart for being the first person to successfully hunt the Fire Demonic Human.]

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

The soldiers of the Iron Blood and Reapers all tilted their heads at him in confusion. 

“Ahahaha!”

“Y, you…… lied.”

One of the knights suddenly spoke as Minhyuk laughed awkwardly. But not long after, they burst out in laughter.

“Wow! Our Commander-nim is so strong!”

“We admire you!”

Fortunately, their favorability with Minhyuk had reached the peak and they would not be fazed nor be disappointed with his lies.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk smiled as he admired his new skill.

‘Wow, the Rain of Kitchen Knives is so strong……’

Minhyuk was surprised. Just like he had expected, having an additional 200% damage was a tremendous ability to have.

The powerful force that Lightning Hell, a skill attached to a disaster artifact, had exerted 120% of additional damage. And the Fluttering Sword also had a similar effect. But the Rain of Kitchen Knives literally had a 200% addition to his force. It was literally a formidable addition to his strength. 

Minhyuk once again checked the Food God’s Kitchen Knife.

(Food God’s Kitchen Knife)

Rank: Half-God

Restrictions: Minhyuk’s attributed artifact

Durability: ∞ / ∞

Attack Power: 817

Special Abilities:

— All of the special abilities can be used just by owning this artifact. 

— All of your stats will increase by 8%.

— Buff capacity x2.

— Active Skill: Food God’s Blessings.

— Active Skill: Rain of Kitchen Knives.

Description: Made with the amazing minerals that the Food God has found, the Food God’s Kitchen Knife contains a surprising amount of power. It is an artifact with tremendous strength that can show off its strength even without equipping it.

Even though he had seen it already, he was still quite amazed with the information. The first special ability listed would allow him to use the artifact’s entire special abilities just by owning the item. In other words, Minhyuk could use all of the special abilities of the item even if he was using Baracca’s Sword or the Saint’s Sword. This could be said to be a tremendously huge ability to have. And the Food God’s Blessings was also a skill of great value.

(Food God’s Blessings)

Artifact Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: 1,000 per hour of use

Cooldown: None

Effects: Two Food God’s Kitchen Knives with the 817 attack power will appear to protect the owner or attack the enemy at any time.

Just like what the effects had said, there would literally be two black blade kitchen knives that would appear and surround Minhyuk’s body once it was activated.

After checking the Food God’s Kitchen Knife again, Minhyuk went ahead and checked his contributions too.

[Total Contributions. 841, 311]

The 400,000 contribution points that he had received this time had played a big role in the increase of his contribution points. Eclei literally worked hard to feed Minhyuk. And Minhyuk had enjoyed his meals thoroughly.

Then, he checked the Elf’s Heart. The Elf’s Heart was like a hard stone when he took it out.

(Elf’s Heart)

Special Abilities:

— ???

— ???

Description: This can be used in villages, towns, small cities, large cities or any territory that has been taken over by demonic humans, demonic races or demonic monsters. This can be used for defensive wars.

‘Hm?’ 

Minhyuk tilted his head in thought. According to the GC, Legend Guild has successfully recaptured one territory and has entered a defensive war. But it seemed like the results were proving to be pretty bad.  Legend Guild, which was a guild filled with the elite minority, was less likely to play a crucial role in the large-scale battle in Elvenheim. And Minhyuk could see how disastrous the Legend Guild’s state was through the guild status.

(Legend Guild Elvenheim Participation Status)

[1st Place. Iris. 391, 313 guild contribution points. Completely recaptured 2 villages and 1 small town. Recapturing 1 small town.]

2nd Place. Artheon. 341, 417 guild contribution points. Completely recaptured 1 village and 1 small town. Recapturing 1 small town.]

……

……

[27th Place. Legend. 94,130 guild contribution points. Completely recaptured 1 small town.]

It was truly disastrous. But perhaps it was only a matter of course.

In a large-scale combat warfare, guilds with larger numbers of users would have a higher advantage and Legend Guild with the measly number of 20 people would not have any advantages. Their strength would not be enough to fight against hundreds in terms of warfare. They might be doing well now but it seemed like they would not be able to do so in the future.

While looking through the status, Minhyuk found something surprising.

[20th Place. Black Mage. 130, 104 individual contribution points. Completely recaptured 1 small town.]

‘Black Mage? I’m sure that’s Ali-nim though?’ 

It was surprising. Even the Black Mage Ali was racking up his individual contribution points.

‘I need to hurry and sort things out so I can help them.’

First of all, Genie had readily agreed to Minhyuk’s expedition so he could eat something delicious. And the participation in the war was based on one’s free will so it was still safe for him to be late.

Minhyuk quickly picked up the artifacts that Eclei dropped. Among them, there was a mineral that was emitting a subtle blue glow that looked as odd as the antarinium that he received before.

“Huh?” 

[You have acquired the Demon World’s Mineral Viridite.]

Minhyuk tilted his head in thought. When he checked the information, everything was also set to private just like when he received the antarinium.

He continued to run with his troops and before he knew it, they had already entered Zone 3. As soon as they stepped foot in Zone 3, the notifications rang.

[You are the first to step foot in the Immortals’ Land’s Zone 3.]

[You have gained 200,000 contribution points.]

[You have gained 200 reputation points.]

At the same time, they heard a voice from somewhere.

“Aaaaaaah! The expedition to save Prince Argon!!”

Then, the woman who screamed stood in front of Minhyuk. It was none other than a High Elf.

Notifications rang at the same moment when she stood in front of Minhyuk.

[You will meet with the NPC Cania as a special reward for reaching Immortals’ Land’s Zone 3.]

***

Cania continued to wait for the man who would fulfill the hundred year promise between the elves and humans!

Through that human, they would rescue Prince Argon from the hands of the demonic races who started their invasion and kidnapped the prince from the gaps in their defenses.

Cania was a woman who was the finest among the High Elves. She had a special ability. She had realized that the demonic races were trying to kill Prince Argon when she did not get what they wanted. They did not have the time.

And just in time, the humans arrived.

“Aaaaaaah! The expedition to save Prince Argon!!”

She was delighted to see the faces of the people that she was waiting for. Without waiting for them to greet her, she quickly spoke to them.

“We have to hurry. They’ll be holding the execution ceremony soon. But before that, we need to use the elves’ sacred item.”

Cania was a special NPC. She was the NPC for those who first set foot in Immortals’ Lands’ Zone 3 so that they could purchase items that could help them in their expedition. She thought that it would be surprising if they would be able to purchase a Rank A upgrade in the store but she already knew that it was impossible to purchase such an upgrade. But even if the prince’s life was in danger, it was an iron rule that they needed to follow. 

The contribution points, or the points themselves, indicated just how much the humans defeated their enemies and fought for the elves.

Not long after, the human commander muttered under his breath.

“Rank A upgrade……?”

“Yes. That’s right. But Rank A is ridiculously expensive.”

It was special but she knew that reaching Rank A was unattainable.

“Hoo? Right now, do they sell the Elf’s Delicious Honey?”

“Yes. Elf’s Honey is available for Rank D shops and increases the defense against magi by 1%.”

“Then we’ll have to upgrade to Rank A. I will be able to find more delicious food by then.”

“……Yes?”

Cania tilted her head in confusion.

You want to upgrade to Rank A?

But Rank A required 600,000 points. However, does that mean that he could just buy the Rank A upgrade quickly? No. He needed to purchase Rank C for 100,000 points, Rank B for 300,000 points and Rank A for 600,000 points. He needed a total of 1 million points just to get that point.

But she knew that this human could not have that many contribution points.

However, the very next moment, Cania’s eyes widened in shock.

[Foreigner Minhyuk had used 100,000 points and upgraded the shop to Rank C.]

[He can now purchase all items at a 10% discount from you.]

[Foreigner Minhyuk had used 300,000 points and upgraded the shop to Rank B.]

[He can now purchase all items at a 20% discount from you.]

[Foreigner Minhyuk had used 600,000 points and upgraded the shop to Rank A.]

[He can now purchase all items at a 50% discount from you.]

[Foreigner Minhyuk is the first user to reach Rank A.]

[Please pay him with an Elf’s Treasure Chest.]

“……Im, impossible.”

She was astonished.

***

“……Im, impossible.”

“???”

Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion when he heard her words. However, he quickly threw that thought out of his mind as he hurriedly looked through the Rank A shop.

“Oh……?”

There were plenty of rare, amazing and powerful things in the Rank A shop. There were even 3,000 Elf’s Golden Arrows available. Those arrows had an additional 30% on the attack power when there are existences from the Demon World. And the price was also not that high. Of course, the only reason why he thought that it was not expensive was because the operators had already calculated the price very cheaply and the items were discounted at 50% as a reward for the first person to upgrade to Rank A.

“Do you always sell such good things?”

“N, no……”

Cania looked at him in confusion as Minhyuk tilted his head to look at her.

“It’s because it’s Rank A.”

There were a lot of rare and precious artifacts in the shop. But what was more surprising was the fact that there were many legendary artifacts in the Rank A shop.

As Minhyuk looked through the shop, he realized……

‘This is some kind of reward, right? Once you reach Rank A?’

In addition, Cania also handed a chest to him.

[You have acquired the High Elf’s Treasure Chest (S) as a reward for being the first to access a Rank A shop.]

The notifications started coming in as soon as Minhyuk read that.

[You have reacquired 500,000 of your contribution points.]

[You have acquired a Rank A Limited Edition Item.]

[Elf’s All Skill Cooldown Reset Parchment 2/2]

[High Elves’ Troops Summoning Parchment 1/1]

[Elf’s HP, MP Full Recovery Potion 3/3]

“……?!!!” 

Minhyuk was left in a trance when he saw the shocking rewards. Then, Cania spoke to him.

“We don’t have much time. The commanding officer, Baran, is about to start the execution.”

“Execution?”

Minhyuk tilted his head as the notifications rang once more.

[There are 6 hours left until Prince Argon’s execution.]

[The sooner you rescue him, the higher the contributions that you will get.]

Then, a timer appeared in front of Minhyuk.

[5H 59M 59S. 5H 59M 58S. 5H 59M 57S……]

“This place is still under my power. I can prevent the existences from the Demon World from detecting the invasion of us, their enemies, into Zone 3. But as soon as you leave this place, you will encounter low ranking demonic races and demonic monsters.”

When he looked around him more carefully, he saw that there was a subtle blue glow emitting from a magic circle surrounding them from a distance of about five meters where he and Cania stood. And the 150 soldiers under him had not yet entered Zone 3 so they were still out of range. 

Cania continued to speak.

“You need to hurry up and buy the supplies that you will need.”

Minhyuk looked around the shop as he asked her.

“By any chance, is there a higher rank than Rank A shops?”

There were definitely plenty of delicious things in the shop but Minhyuk could faintly guess that even though the ‘Elf King’s Gorgonzola Pizza’ was available in the shop there would still be more delicious things if there was a higher ranked shop.

“Yes. There is. But Prince Argon is one of the two who can open the Royal Shop.”

“Are there many delicious things there?”

“……?”

For a moment, Cania had to think about the meaning of his words.

You’re not looking for excellent artifacts but for something more delicious?

But because they did not have the time, all she could do was answer him as quickly as she could.

“Yes. There’s many, many, many things! The Ancient Elves had left a lot of delicious things there!”

She shouted those words first since they had no time. Minhyuk nodded his head.

‘That Royal Shop. Let’s open it!’

“Men, forward!!!”

Minhyuk shouted.

***

The intermediate demonic race, Baran, with his dark skin and black horns, was tasked to take Argon’s ‘Royal Shop’ right here. 

They needed to take these steps since there was a powerful force that sealed them and drove them out from there. However, no matter what they did, the punk did not want to turn over the Royal Shop to them. He was still stubbornly holding on to the Royal Shop even though he was threatened with death. So he decided to execute the bastard.

The intermediate demonic race Baran was one of the most powerful among the demonic races that were able to squeeze through the gates to the Demon World.

He was just a mob but his mere presence could rival that of a Lv480 mob. And that was just for the demonic races in Elvenheim. The lowest among the demonic monsters and demonic races that passed through the gate and terrorized Elvenheim were above levels 400~440.

Baran laughed his head off.

Prince Argon had both his hands nailed on a large cross and he even had an blindfold on. 

“Are you still stubborn about not opening the Royal Shop?”

Argon did not answer him. He knew what his words meant but his thoughts were only on one thing.

‘If I die……’

A half-filled Royal Shop will be forced to open and the items and powers in there will be corrupted with their magi which will become their most powerful weapons.

The Royal Shop was a shop where the three ancient elf chiefs hid the force and strength that they had created with the Elf’s Heart. And they were now at risk of losing those powers. 

Then, Baran suddenly saw his map burst in a black light. Baran was the owner of the map of Zone 3 of the Immortals’ Land and he could clearly see the events happening in the zone through this map.

“The humans have invaded.”

A smile settled around his face.

Not long after, a low-ranked demonic race named Caron rushed to where they were. 

“The humans are here!”

“I know. The 3rd Army’s search team and the 3rd Army’s attack team are close to them.”

He was able to monitor the movements of the troops through the map.

This demonic tribe was composed of 100 individuals. And although they were part of a low-ranked demonic race, they were still given special training and they were different from the ones dispatched in Elvenheim.

‘Those weak humans are about to die. Keuhahahaha!’

He looked back at Argon as he thought about that fact.

“In the end, you still chose to die. They will not be impressed by your glorious death and your reputation will be ruined. Prince Argon.”

Just as he was glaring fiercely at Argon, Caron, who just went out for two minutes, rushed back again.

“C, commanding officer-nim!!!”

“……What happened? Did you forget something?”

He came back within two minutes and he also looked like he still had something to report.

“……That’s not it. The 3rd Army’s search team and the 3rd Army’s attack team have been wiped out!” 

“……?!”

Baran thought that he was talking nonsense for a moment. He twisted his lips in annoyance.

“Bastard, I’ll tear you to death.”

He decided to check for himself. However, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock. The map showed that all 200 of his men had died.

‘I, in just 2 minutes?!!!’

***

PR’s corner!

…Did they really gloss over Minhyuk’s fourth Hall of Kings entry in the last chapter? He now has the most entries of everyone, including Callauhel.