Leveling Up through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

“Y, Your Majesty!!!” 

At that moment, everyone in the room prostrated themselves on the ground. Count Peru’s hope was also ignited.

He definitely said ‘I have a special relationship with him’, right?

In other words, he did not know the whole story. Or perhaps he couldn’t find out about it. There were thousands of thousands of reports from all over the empire that piled up on Emperor Asvon’s desk every day. In addition, he might not be here just because of a foreigner. He did not know the reason why the emperor came here but he started to speak eloquently.

“Your Majesty, the Emperor, this man is framing me. He also tried to kill me by bringing up a ridiculous excuse that I was making chimeras.” 

“……Is that so?” 

Emperor Asvon turned to look at Minhyuk. When he saw that scene, Count Peru shouted excitedly that the veins on his necks bulged out.

“Making chimeras in our family’s Asratue’s fief! What kind of nonsense is that?”

Then, the nobles that were prostrated on the ground also chimed in to fan the flames. 

“Your Majesty! We’re sure that he’s an assassin sent by the Eivelis Empire!”

“That woman, Ellie, must have sent an assassin to shake up the Cordis Empire!”

“Please bring us justice and punish that sinner severely!”

Emperor Asvon shook his head.

“Good.”

The nobles all had greasy smiles on their faces. Then, he said…

“Stand up, everyone.”

“Yes!”

They all stood up as quickly as they could. Some of them had a hard time trying to hide their smiles. The corners of their mouth were twitching from the joy of reversing their situation. They looked gloatingly at the man with the sword in front of them. 

Emperor Asvon and his knights were all very strong. In fact, Chaos, the captain of the knights, was a former knight from the Knight’s Tower and was someone who was approaching Lv650. The reason why his level was higher than Conir was because his level was lowered after he became a chimera. 

When they stood up, Emperor Asvon grinned widely.

“I can finally beat you up comfortably!” 

“Hahahahaha. That’s right!” 

“That’s correct. Your Majesty! Punch him in the guts……! Yes?” 

They tilted their heads in confusion. They were so drunk in relief, believing that they had already survived and lived through this disaster. But at that moment……

Emperor Asvon narrowed the distance between them and…… he punched one of the nobles gobsmack in their guts. 

Crack―

The man flew back together with the sound of his cracking ribs. Then, he grabbed the wrist of the noble right next to him as he twisted it quickly.

Twist―

“Keuhaaack!”

Then, he struck his neck with his outstretched hands.

“Keok!”

Asvon looked at the crumpled nobles. 

“This is your punishment for the sin of touching my people.”

Bang!

“Keuaaaaaaack!”

“This is for the sin of using the children.”

Slam!

“Ugh, uaaaaaaack!”

“And this is for the sin of using the chimeras to kill innocent people.”

“Keuaaaaaaaack!”

“And the sin of taking advantage of my ignorance to deny this matter.” 

Punch!

“Keoheop!” 

Each and every single noble present collapsed with a shriek.

Emperor Asvon had come to this place with Paladin Corr. Paladin Corr had informed him about Count Peru and his use of the chimeras. However, just like they had expected, Asvon did not believe their words. However, once they came inside, a clever child approached them. She was a girl named Haze and she accompanied Emperor Asvon to the basement so he could see the imprisoned children. When he found out the truth, he felt extremely furious. And that anger was now being taken out of these nobles who took advantage of his people and the children.

Then, Minhyuk took out a dagger.

“Your Majesty, I have received this dagger from Poison Dragon Ambacca. If you finish them off with this dagger, their souls will wander through the stream suffering from extreme hunger for 30 days.” 

“That’s a very good dagger! It’s only right that they experience how terrible the deeds that they have done are!” 

Along with his consent, Minhyuk approached the nobles rolling around the floor in pain. Then, he stabbed one of them by the neck.

[You have hunted Count Gener.]

[This is an NPC that has an accumulated Chaotic Number, your status will not become chaotic.]

[You have gained 6,154,673 EXP.]

[You have acquired 44 platinum.]

[The effects of Poison Dragon Ambacca’s Dagger have been triggered.]

At the same time, a shrieking soul sprang out of the fat and ambitious body of Count Gener.

[Keuaaaaaaaack!]

Count Gener shrieked loudly as his soul escaped his body. Extreme hunger assaulted him as soon as he left his physical body. He felt like someone was shouting in his head.

Eat! Eat everything!

[H, hungry……]

Count Gener’s soul reached out towards the fruit that he was eating earlier. It seemed like he wanted to alleviate the extreme hunger that he was feeling right now. However, his hand only passed through the fruit.

[I’m hungry! I said I’m hungry! I want to eat!!!]

Extreme hunger pangs assaulted his entire being! However, he couldn’t eat anything in front of him.

Minhyuk continued to stab the nobles that had fallen down on the ground with his dagger.

[You have hunted Count Argad.]

[This is an NPC that has an accumulated Chaotic Number, your status will not become chaotic.]

[You have gained 7,154,673 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have acquired 86 platinum.]

[The effects of Poison Dragon Ambacca’s Dagger have been triggered.]

When he hunted the nobles, the EXP that he received was higher compared to the knights from the Knight’s Tower. After all, it was very rare for a user to hunt nobles, especially nobles with high Chaos Numbers.  

He continued doing that until most of them were dead and only Count Peru was left. 

“S, save me. Your Majesty!!!”

But Emperor Asvon had no mercy for someone like him.

Slash―

One of Count Peru’s hands fell down to the ground. The pain of his hand being cut off was too much that all he could do was writhe in pain and struggle helplessly. Then, his other wrist was also cut off as well as both of his ankles. 

Count Peru, the person responsible for all of this, had his hands and feet cut off. He was now facing a vicious death as a result of his atrocious deeds. Finally, Minhyuk approached him. Count Peru spoke spitefully as he watched him approach him slowly.

“Fufufufufufu. Don’t think it’s over just because you killed me!!! Asvon!!! They will finish you off……”

Stab―

Minhyuk finally stabbed the dagger on Count Peru’s neck.

[You have hunted Count Peru.]

[This is an NPC that has an accumulated Chaotic Number, your status will not become chaotic.]

[You have gained 9,154,673 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have acquired 186 platinum.]

[The effects of Poison Dragon Ambacca’s Dagger have been triggered.]

There was an overwhelming amount of EXP from Count Peru who had done a terrible amount of atrocious deeds. His reputation and a variety of things also added to that huge amount of EXP. By hunting the nobles present in this room, he was also able to acquire 714 platinum. 

Minhyuk watched them roam around in the air clamoring for food and moaning out their hunger.

[I’m hungry!!!]

[I’m so hungry I could die!!!]

[Please! Please give me something to eat!!!]

However, it seemed like this scene was invisible to Asvon and the others. After all, Minhyuk was the only one who used Poison Dragon Ambacca’s Cursed Dragon so he was the only one who could see them. 

“Now that I finished this one thing, I would like to ask you a favor.”

Emperor Asvon’s voice was somber. However, Minhyuk had to do something before doing what Emperor Asvon asked him to do. 

“May I please have a meal before we go?!”

Minhyuk spoke cheerfully. 

Emperor Asvon looked at him curiously after seeing his expression. It was vastly different from the expression that he had earlier. It seemed like ‘eating’ was more important than his ‘request’ right now.

***

Haze was filled with fear. They were currently in the castle where Count Peru used to live. All of them were sitting in a restaurant inside the castle. Emperor Asvon and the Imperial Knights, the Sun’s Knight Order, were waiting for one man.

Perhaps Emperor Asvon was angry but he just continued to watch him carefully. 

‘He’s the only person who can solve this curse……!’

Sadly, Emperor Asvon’s curse of baldness was so powerful that Corr could not treat it! This was the reason why Emperor Asvon personally came to pick up Minhyuk.

According to Corr, his cooking had the power to fulfill whatever the other party wanted and desired.

“Hehe. It looks delicious! Curry!”

And even amidst this breathtaking sight, Minhyuk was just smiling cheerfully. Haze couldn’t make heads or tails about the situation right now. Earlier, he looked colder than anybody else but right now he was warmer and brighter than any of them in this place. Even if the emperor was sitting in front of him, he still stubbornly insisted that he would eat. 

As a result, Haze was now making the curry that she was most confident in making. The meat that she used in the curry was chicken. And just like Minhyuk asked, she also prepared a traditional Indian blueberry lassi, tandoori chicken, salad and garlic naan. 

Before the curry came out, Haze made sure to give Minhyuk and Indian soup. Compared to other soups, the Indian soup was a bit more watery. And Minhyuk, who took a sip of the soup, smiled happily. 

Isn’t the meal you eat after doing hard work very delicious?

And finally, the curry that he had been waiting for came out. The curry was served in a traditional Indian iron bowl with lit candles underneath it that prevented it from getting cool. He couldn’t find any other vegetables inside the curry like the curry that he had eaten domestically. But once he placed his spoon and chopsticks inside, he could see the chicken that was used in the dish. 

Before he started his meal, Minhyuk first took a sip of the blueberry lassi. Lassi was a traditional indian drink. It was a type of fermented yogurt that was good to drink when cold and when one wanted to refresh themselves. As soon as he took a sip, he could taste the sweet lassi as well as the bits of blueberries that added texture to the yogurt. 

After taking a sip, Minhyuk grabbed the large garlic naan. He tore a piece off of the steaming garlic naan before dipping it in the curry. Thick curry clung on the naan as he placed it in his mouth. The sweet taste of curry spread in his mouth. This type of curry had both sweet and spicy choices. Since Minhyuk preferred the sweet flavor, the curry that was served to him was also the sweet curry.

“Delicious…… Haze. You’re really a curry master!” 

“Hehe.” 

Haze smiled bashfully.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk scooped out a large serving of curry. The spoonful was filled with a lot of chicken and curry that he spread on top of the torn garlic naan. He also made sure to carefully place the meat on top of the garlic naan. Just like that, he placed the entire piece into his mouth. The unique scent and the sweet flavor of the curry and garlic naan swirled and spread in his mouth.

This time, he moved his fork towards another food. It was none other than the tandoori chicken. Tandoori chicken was a chicken that was baked in an oven called ‘tandoori’ hence the name. It was a unique Indian dish that was cooked with a variety of spices and yogurt. There were even some blackened parts on the reddened chicken when he looked at it. 

Minhyuk quickly sliced a piece of the tandoori chicken with his knife and fork before placing it in his mouth. As soon as he chewed the chicken, he could taste the unique taste of tandoori chicken. He could taste the spiciness and sweetness of the chicken as well as the uniquely dry texture of the meat. When he dipped it in the red sauce that accompanied the chicken, the spiciness was amplified. This was the tandoori chicken that one might get tired of if they ate it often but would occasionally float in everyone’s head. 

After eating the tandoori chicken, he focused his attention back to the curry. This time, he poured the curry over the rice placed on the plate. He made sure to mix everything thoroughly before eating it. Curry could be eaten with naan, a type of bread, or rice. It was entirely dependent on the tastes of the one who ate it. Of course curry tasted different in every country but these two were still the best choices for curry’s accompaniment. 

While Minhyuk was eating deliciously, Haze hesitantly spoke to him.

“Oppa.” 

“Huh?” 

When Minhyuk turned his head at her, Haze spoke.

“I have nowhere to go…… Can I go with you?” 

The notifications rang again at that exact same moment.

[Haze, the one who has a name that can become a legend, vows her eternal allegiance and loyalty to you.]

Minhyuk’s body began to tremble.

‘The, these punks! Why are you doing this to me?!’ 

Minhyuk’s face was distorted. He looked like he was about to cry.

***