Leveling Up through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

77 Fragment of the Golden Crown

[Minhyuk: The mukbang is the trailer so the people won’t know where it is at first, right?]

Reporter Go Eun-ah nodded fiercely as if Minhyuk was in front of her instead of the whisper that he had sent. 

He had also sent her videos from the 2nd and 3rd floor of the tower. Meanwhile, TTBC had informed him that they would use his ‘mukbang’ as a trailer. But Minhyuk had told them that he wanted the video to be released after some time. 

Go Eun-ah could easily guess the reason for this. It was because once the video was released while he was still going up, the people from all over the world who had watched the video would try to use his methods. They were fully aware of this. And……

‘Even if others know of this method, they will not be able to imitate it at all.’

She knew that his new record would definitely not be broken. There were things that you couldn’t break just because you knew the method to attack and the Demon World’s Tower was just like that. 

Go Eun-ah was able to get his confirmation as the team leader of the Editorial Team said to her……

“I’m done editing the mukbang!!!” 

All of their preparations were done.

***

The university freshman, Mijin, had a huge dream. She was a freshman and had been single for all 20 years of her life. One of the reasons why she was single was because of her fat body. She was 160cm tall while having a 75kg body. 

Because of that, she had been swimming and working out at the same time these days. After doing extreme work out, she had already lost 12kg. If this trend continued, she might just be able to achieve her target weight of 50kg by the end of winter vacation! 

This was only possible thanks to her ‘strong will and mindset’. There was no temptation that could waver her burning desire to get into a relationship once she became pretty.

‘I’m hungry……’ 

She felt extreme hunger after coming back from her exercise today too. 

But……

‘If you eat now, you’re not a human! You’re a pig!’ 

She overcame it with her strong will.

Instead of eating, she thought that it would be better for her to watch a video from her favorite game, Athenae. Whenever she focused on the rankers’ game videos, she would forget her hunger. 

As she opened her mobile phone, she could see the video with the highest number of views. It was only posted for two hours but the number of clicks had already reached about 500,000 and was already on the top 10 videos in Ztube. And the title was……

‘The Food God’s Happiness.’ 

“O, our Minhyuk oppa?!!!” 

Mijin was a huge fan of Food God Minhyuk. It was not just because of his handsome face but also because of his polite personality, superb skills and adorable and lovely eating! 

“Oh my! I must see this!” 

She quickly clicked on the video as a phrase flashed on the screen.

[The nation’s best user is challenging the Hall of Fame. Food God Minhyuk!]

[This is the Epic of his Great Challenge!]

[His mukbang has more surprising results than the number 1 box office!]

Then, the video started. When she watched the video, she felt like she had been possessed by something. Watching it made her feel happy and good but it also made her mouth drool.

‘I, I want to eat……!!!’ 

Every time she saw Minhyuk eating happily, she also felt happy. Mijin even watched the trailer thrice just to see his happy face. After watching the video, she hurriedly grabbed her wallet as she ran out of the house. 

‘N, no…… I, I have to lose weight!!’ 

Her mind was shouting at her but her body continued to run to Seoga and Cook. And after eating deliciously……

‘Right. I’m a pig…… Oink, oink…… oink!!’

Tears welled up in her eyes but her stomach felt full and happy. 

Meanwhile, the comments on the video began to reach an all time high.

[I’m the owner of a Seoga and Cook franchise. Thanks to Minhyuk-nim, our sales increased by 300% today. All hail god!! Food God!!]

[Take responsibility! My diet has failed!!!]

[Wow…… How can a person eat so happily? I’m just watching but I think I’m really smiling like a mom when I look?]

[Our manager who said that he would only eat rice soup every day has changed his mind!!!]

[Wow, I can’t wait for the full episode……]

[Where the hell is this place? I don’t know where it is, but there’s food? It looks like a dungeon or something……]

[Wow…… I’ll watch the show once the main episode comes up……!]

[This year too, our country doesn’t have any video that can challenge the Hall of Fame but is God Minhyuk going to challenge it? I’ll make sure to watch it!!!]

[Wow. Challenging the Hall of Fame with eating. The Boss is on another level. Hehehehehehe.]

The comments were filled with anticipation for the main episode.

***

Aruvel spoke with a serious expression on his face. 

“I’m going to repeat this again but you can’t overdo it on the 10th floor.”

His seriousness was because of the existence on the 10th floor.  

“The predator residing on the 10th floor is a snake that’s extremely powerful. Besides, the way to break the 10th floor is very simple. That guy sleeps a lot in his position so all we need to do is to go to the 11th floor without making a single sound.”

Aruvel had given him groundbreaking methods to set new records so far. However, that wasn’t the case for the 10th floor. Instead of challenging the 10th floor, he recommended for him to clear it as fast as he could. 

According to Aruvel, the predator residing on the 10th floor was an extremely powerful snake that was around Lv700. 

There were many powerful beings in the Demon World that have yet to be released to the world. In addition, even if Aruvel and Roven, one of the creators of the tower, were knowledgeable, they did not know of a method to set a new record on the 10th floor. Roven also did not know much information about several floors on the tower. 

Roven had told them……

‘I don’t know the information about the 10th and the 21st floor since those floors were made by the general architect of the tower, Arlead-nim. I also don’t know about the rewards on those floors.’

It was the 10th floor of the tower that even Roven did not know of! 

He also heard about one other thing from him.

‘Although I don’t know about the information on that floor, I’ve been told that the predator on that floor was trying to protect something.’

The snake was trying to protect something.

Minhyuk decided to follow Aruvel’s words. After all, if he was forced to log out for no reason inside the tower while he was trying to set a new record, then he would not be able to enter the tower again. In the first place, the tower was designed to not allow any other challenges once the user died inside once. 

Then, Minhyuk moved to climb the stairs going up to the 10th floor. 

[You have entered the Demon World’s Tower’s 10th floor.]

[Please arrive at the exit without waking up the gigantic sleeping predator.]

[There are stepping stones all over the place. Step on them and move quickly to avoid the sleeping predator underneath.]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr―

Minhyuk felt a strong vibration on the soles of his feet as soon as he stepped foot on the 10th floor. For a moment, he wondered where the vibration was coming from until he saw it with his own eyes.

‘Th, the snake’s breathing…….?’

The vibration was caused by the snake’s breathing. 

My god! The snake’s breath is causing the entire floor to vibrate?

Minhyuk was shocked to see the solid wall-like thing in front of him. However, it wasn’t really a wall but a part of the snake’s gigantic body. 

‘Wow. So big……’

Aruvel had strongly recommended moving quickly without even letting out a single breath. So Minhyuk was holding his breath as he looked at the stepping stones right above the snake. 

He quickly jumped up and stepped on one of the stepping stones. The stepping stone was so small that he was only barely able to stand on it with one of his feet. Mage users could use their fly magic while archers had their agility. However, it would be difficult for warriors with their high endurance that increased when they increased their ‘stamina’ stat. This floor was a test of the user’s agility and swiftness. 

And just like that, Minhyuk and Aruvel quickly moved forward as they stepped foot on one stepping stone after another. 

Once they reached the middle, Minhyuk crouched down to look at the snake’s closed eye. 

‘I think its eye is about as big as my body?’

That was how big this predator was.

And just as Minhyuk was about to move towards another stepping stone……

Blink!

The gigantic predator opened its eyes!

“……?!”

Minhyuk and Aruvel were both caught in surprise. 

‘Wh, what the……?! We didn’t even make a single noise……! We didn’t even stumble towards its body…….!’

This was a completely unpredictable situation.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr―

Then, the giant snake began to move.

“R, Ruuuuuun!!!!”

Minhyuk and Aruvel both ran quickly as soon as Aruvel opened his mouth. 

“Kiyeeeeeeee!”

The snake’s tongue flickered as its gigantic head moved. Then, Aruvel moved with his spear. 

[Demon Dragon’s Spear Arts Chapter 3.]

[Dragon’s Roar.]

Hot flames flew out of Aruvel’s spear. It was a fire spear that was far stronger than a hellfire in terms of devouring everything in its path! 

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa―

He threw it at the snake that was approaching him with its mouth wide open but……

Clang―

The spear could not even pierce the snake’s skin. Both Aruvel and Minhyuk were appalled at the scene.

In just a blink of an eye, the snake was already in front of Minhyuk. The snake opened its mouth wide.

But when Minhyuk was just about to use his skill…… Minhyuk made eye contact with the snake. Then……

Drop, drop, drop―

‘Wh, what the hell?’

Tears flowed down from the snake’s eyes and Minhyuk’s skill was nullified.

[You have witnessed the Predatory Snake’s Tears.]

[You will not be able to use your skills.]

However, more than that, Minhyuk was wondering why it cried. Then, the gigantic predatory snake opened its mouth wide to swallow Minhyuk.

At that moment, Aruvel shouted……

“N, no!!! My food supplier!!!”

That was right. Just as Minhyuk thought of Aruvel as his knowledge and information provider, Aruvel had also thought of Minhyuk as his food supplier! 

However, an unexpected event suddenly occurred. The gigantic snake did not swallow Minhyuk. With Minhyuk’s head in his mouth, the snake jerked its head to the left. Then, the snake opened its mouth letting Minhyuk fly towards that direction. 

Just as he was about to hit the wall……

Vwooooom―

The wall suddenly disappeared as Minhyuk passed through the wall. 

‘What?’

Aruvel tilted his head in confusion when he realized that it wasn’t a wall but a trick. He caught a glimpse of something inside. 

Then, the gigantic snake just stared at Aruvel. It did not even attack him. Aruvel tried to step on the stepping stone to get inside but……

Bang―

Aruvel couldn’t get past the clear wall. The predatory snake used its tail to gently support the falling Aruvel. 

‘Why are you…… protecting me and my food supplier?’

Aruvel was convinced that the predatory snake had no intention of harming the two of them.

***

[You have entered a mysterious dungeon.]

[You have gained 30 reputation points.]

Minhyuk looked over the wall after being thrown by the snake inside. Aruvel tried to jump in but he fell down after heating the clear and transparent wall that separated them.

“Aruvel!!!” 

Minhyuk shouted at him but it seemed like Aruvel could not hear him. Curious, he reached out towards the transparent wall. 

[You cannot go outside until you reach the end of the mysterious dungeon.]

That was when Minhyuk realized that his only way out of here was reaching the end of this dungeon. As he continued to move forward, Minhyuk saw the murals on the walls. 

He saw a gigantic wolf in one of the murals.

Then, the notification sounded. 

[The Incarnation of Light, Penrus. The incarnation that saved the Empire single handedly.]

‘Incarnation of light……?’ 

Kaistra had called his giant wolf Penrus. Perhaps they were the same?

He continued to walk forward just like that. 

This time, Minhyuk also stopped in front of another mural. In the mural, there were four gigantic dragons. 

[The Four Legendary Dragons. No one will be able to beat them once they come together.]

‘Hmm……?’ 

Did the four legendary dragons have anything to do with the five great incarnations?

Without an answer to his question, he continued to move forward. And finally, he was able to see another mural.

[The Incarnation of Death, Predatory Snake. The Snake King who devours everything in the world.]

‘The Predatory Snake……?!’ 

Minhyuk was so shocked. The Predatory Snake was also an incarnation just like Penrus. When he moved forward once again, he saw another incarnation. The incarnation was named ‘Black Bear Ruvandal.

As he continued to move forward, he finally reached the light at the end of the dungeon. When he arrived at the end, Minhyuk saw a huge temple. It was the temple that he had seen from the four murals earlier. 

Then, the murals began to move. The moving murals moved toward the ‘?’ painted in the middle of the temple. Once they reached the ‘?’ in the middle, the beings in the mural bowed their heads.

“Grrrrrrrrr!” 

“Kiyaaaaaaack!” 

“Kiyeeeeeee!” 

“Keuaaaaack!” 

Then, the ‘?’ was engulfed with a bright light. The ‘?’ slowly began to form a figure under the bright glare of the light. Not long after, a figure was shown in the painting. It was none other than a baby piggy wearing a golden crown and holding a sword high up in the sky. 

“I, Isn’t that Kongie?!” 

***