Leveling Up through Eating

Diablo.

The three great demons of the Demon World were so powerful that the magi that leaked from their body was strong enough to kill and suffocate all of the plants and animals in the Demon World. So the three demons decided to create a basin that would suck off their excess magi. Their only requirement for the basin was that it should have a body that was attuned to nature that could withstand their mana.

However, they weren’t able to find such a body in the Demon World. So they searched high and low even venturing to the heavens and the elves’ realms. But they still couldn’t find a body fit enough to become their magi’s basin. 

Eventually, they went to the human world. And finally, they were able to find an existence that would fit their requirements. He was a young boy. However, his body was extremely attuned to nature and had an amazing talent. They immediately brought the boy to the Demon World to become their magi’s basin. However, something unexpected happened. 

‘He was too powerful.’

The boy that they brought in to become a vessel for their magi had grown formidable after sucking up their magis. The more he sucked the magi, the more he grew. So the great devils had no choice but to stop his body from growing further. But although he had stopped growing further, no one in the Demon World could beat him. 

The former Demon King had called him ‘Sly Devil’. And the boy who had become the Sly Devil Diablo was locked up on the 40th floor of the Demon World’s Tower in fear that he would go on a rampage someday. 

Diablo, who was locked on the 40th floor of the tower, could only be defeated through three methods. One was using the strength of the Demon King. Or instead of the Demon King, with the use of Ankhassads’ Judgement with Ankheseramun’s power. He could also be killed with the power of the Dagger of Mortality that had its pieces hidden all over the 40th floor. 

He wants me to show him the power of Ankhassads’ Judgement?

“Your reason?”

“There’s a place to use it.”

Ankheseramun’s brows furrowed as Minhyuk continued to speak. 

“Ah! I can keep secrets well!”

Minhyuk gestured as if he was zipping his mouth shut. And Ankheseramun realized…

‘This is a trade, isn’t it?’

There were many reasons why Ankheseramun was hiding here despite being the daughter of the Demon King. It was something that absolutely could not be released yet to the world. 

Ankheseramun shook her head. She knew that it wasn’t that hard to show him her power. The problem was that Ankhassad’s Judgement one attack was strong enough to match the Demon King’s strongest one shot skill. She believed that this baby piggy would not be able to withstand such strength. 

But you want me to attack him?

“But what if he dies?” 

She did not know how Minhyuk knew about Ankhassad’s Judgement but what he was sure of was the fact that he was looking down on it. Even if he died, this was a price that Minhyuk had to pay since he dared to make a ‘deal’ with her. 

Step, step.

Ankheseramun stood up from the chair. Then, she used Ankhassad’s Judgement. Ankhassad’s Judgement was one of the one shot attacks of Gorac, one of the three great demons. A small black spear suddenly popped out in the empty space in front of her. The black spear immediately flew towards Kongie. 

Shwaaaaaak―

The spear was filled with magi to the point that it was vibrating strongly in the air. Just looking at the power contained in this single attack was enough to make anyone shudder. But at that moment……

[Predator’s Acquisition]

[Use any of your opponent’s abilities through predation.]

Kongie’s mouth suddenly widened. Then, he pointed his open mouth towards Ankhassad’s Judgement that was flying straight at him.

Aaaaaaaah―

Then……

Shwaaaaaak―

Ankhassad’s Judgement started to get sucked in his mouth. So what happened to Kongie? 

“Oink?” 

He remained peaceful and calm. 

“……!” 

Ankheseramun couldn’t help but be shocked. 

‘Th, the ability to nullify all the damage……!’ 

No, it did not look like he nullified the skill. It looked like he ate it.

Swooooosh―

Ankhassad’s Judgement and his mouth slowly closed. Kongie’s throat just moved. He looked like he was swallowing down the skill that she had unleashed.

Then, the notification rang.

[Kongie has devoured Ankhassad’s Judgement.]

[You can now check the information about Ankhassad’s Judgement.]

(Ankhassad’s Judgement)

Active Skill

Mana Required: 2,000

Cooldown: 72 hours

Number of Available Uses: 2/2

Effects:

― A powerful force with an additional 1,200% attack power will pierce through the enemy at once ignoring 50% of the enemy’s magic defense.

― When facing the Sly Devil, Diablo, additional attack power increases to 2,000% while the percent of ignoring the magic defense increases to 80%.

“……!” 

Minhyuk was shocked.

‘C, crazy……’ 

It was a ridiculously strong force. 

‘How strong are the Demon King and Ankheseramun, really……?’

They have skills like this?

Of course it would definitely be their strongest one shot skill. But did it even make sense to have a 1,200% additional attack power? 

‘If we’re able to collect the rest of the golden crown’s fragments here……’

It was a bit hard for him to imagine how strong Kongie would become once that happened. 

“Thank you for everything!”

And just like usual, Minhyuk had given his thanks to Ankheseramun with politeness and enough courtesy. 

Neither of them knew that the meeting of two great beings would happen once again in the future.

***

Callauhel’s face was currently distorted.

“Useless.”

The world rankers shut their mouths tightly when they heard his words. Der, the 11th in the world’s integrated rankings, couldn’t help but throw out a curse in his head.

‘Damn bastard.’

If it wasn’t for money, then he wouldn’t follow Callauhel. They weren’t people who could be treated like this. But just like usual, they still accepted his rage since Callauhel’s offer was extremely ridiculous. 

‘Eight billion for each individual……’

They couldn’t imagine how much money he had. 

All of the rankers here were the best of the best. Der was even confident with his skills. After all, he was 2nd in the world’s warrior rankings and 11th in the world’s integrated rankings. There was also the Tamer Leverlin who ranked first in the world’s tamer rankings and 12th in the world’s integrated rankings. Even the top rankers that gathered here were all above Lv500. They were all the key members of Blackstone. With just this combination, they were confident enough to wipe out at a fairly large association. And there were only six people in their group. However, even with that small number, they were confident enough to achieve a feat like that. 

But right now, they were unable to solve this one stumbling block in front of them. 

“I can’t believe not a single one of you knows a chef that can bewitch a monster with their food.”

The trials on the 40th floor could be challenged ten times in total. Even if you failed the floor, you would not be able to be forced to log out and receive penalties.

And as they moved, they realized some things about the trial on the 40th floor. The first trial dealt with darkness. And the mages’ detecting magic was completely useless. Even Callauhel was helpless in the face of the tricks, magics and mobs that silently appeared within the darkness. But it was possible to move thanks to one existence.

Amber, one of the assassin classes, was ranked 27th in the world rankings. Assassins were beings that were accustomed and familiar with the dark. They also had the passive skill ‘Five Senses’. This Five Senses skill allowed assassins to feel a lot of things in the dark. However, it was still hard for Amber, someone who had reached the Five Senses’ Lv9, to overcome this trial in the darkness. 

This meant that taking on each trial was only possible for beings that reached the top of their professions. 

Just like that, they needed to tame a demonic beast to complete the 2nd trial of the floor. They were able to complete this trial thanks to Leverlin, the 12th in the world’s integrated rankings. 

The 3rd trial was meant for the tanker ranker in their group. And just like that, they cleared the 4th and 5th trials by challenging it with the ranker that corresponded to the requirements of the trial.

Callauhel was a Monarch Class. And he was a monarch that sat on top of the other monarchs. 

Perhaps, the operators had placed this ordeal for people like Callauhel. They deliberately did this to ensure that the monarch would have men like this that would help him once he gained the Royal Class. 

But they encountered a problem in the final trial, the sixth trial. The sixth trial asked them to let the monster Verogan drool with food. Verogan was a monster in pursuit of great delicacies and flavors. The monster was well over 4m in height. And they were asked to tempt and bewitch such a monster with food. 

However, when things didn’t work out the way Callauhel wanted it to, Verogan aimed his gun at the people around him and killed them. Then, they immediately reappeared at the place where they were before they started the trials. The meaning of his actions were simple. If they did not clear the trial just like the notifications had told them, then they would not be able to break the trial. And if they rebounded back to the place where they were, then the pieces of blade that they had acquired would also disappear. 

So they immediately invited one of the world’s best chefs. He was the Lv416 Chef, Veron. However, they still failed. Chef Veron was well-known for putting ‘poison’ in his food. Because of this, they were not able to meet the requirement of ‘delicacy’.

They tried twice with Veron but they failed so their ten chances to challenge had diminished considerably. So far, they had already tried eight times. They only had two more chances left so they had to be careful. 

However, there were only two chefs that popped into Callauhel’s head. 

Twilight Chef Black. 

One of the best chefs in Korea and was one of the world’s top ten chefs. But he did not know his code so he could not send him a whisper. In fact, contacting him was not that easy either. Twilight Chef Black was already one of the wealthiest men in the food and restaurant industry so he couldn’t be easily moved with money. In addition, his personality would bring them a lot of risk. 

So that left him with the final choice.

‘Food God Minhyuk.’

He was the guy who was rapidly climbing the tower right now. He was certain that it would be possible if it was his dish. However, there were certain problems right now. He had recognized Callauhel as his ‘enemy’. But even if he looked back on the steps that he had taken so far, then it was only safe to assume that Callauhel also treated him as his enemy. 

Not long after, Callauhel smirked.

 ‘He’s something I can use since we’re enemies.’

There was one trick that came to mind. 

“Looks like we’re going to need Great Thief Elion.”

Great Thief Elion was a world-class thief in Athenae. No one could exceed him in terms of ‘stealing’, ‘swindling’ and ‘tricks’. And he also had a special skill.

‘Among his skills…’ 

He had a skill that could deceive people by disguising as an NPC and creating quests for them. 

***

“User Minhyuk has cleared the 15th floor!” 

“User Minhyuk has cleared the 17th floor!” 

“User Minhyuk has cleared the 19th floor! His level increased to Lv423!” 

President Kang Taehoon listened to Lee Minhwa’s reports. 

‘What a ridiculous speed.’ 

His pace was truly too fast. And right now……

“User Minhyuk has reached the 36th floor. His level is now Lv434!” 

All of the people who heard her words clicked their tongues. Setting new records in the Demon World’s Tower would give enormous EXP to the user. In addition, if the user set an impossible score then the user would also receive additional bonus EXP.

Minhyuk was currently bombing his level tremendously. He needed more EXP than any other classes since his job classes were Food God and Eccentric Gourmand. However, with the enormous EXP that he was gaining, it looked like he was ignoring the restriction in EXP with how fast his level was increasing. 

“What is this user doing……” 

Manager Kim Daesik couldn’t help but mumble under his breath after he saw Minhyuk receiving Ankheseramun’s Ankhassad’s Judgement. Team Leader Park spoke up to answer him. 

“You know that Callauhel is in there, right? I think he’s trying to get Diablo? No. But Callauhel won’t tolerate that.” 

After leaving those words, Team Leader Park started to list down the items that he would receive once he cleared the ‘General’ floor. 

‘Vassal Summoning Parchment and Guild Member Summoning Parchment.’ 

Aruvel was also providing him with useful information. So he knew the items that he would get. 

Then, Lee Minhwa spoke up. 

“Callauhel has summoned the Great Thief Elion on the 40th floor!” 

Team Leader Park and President Kang Taehoon’s eyes met.

“Why Great Thief Elion……?” 

Team Leader Park slowly started to match the puzzle pieces in his head. 

‘Right now, Callauhel needs a chef. But he couldn’t use just any other chef since there are a lot of risks involved if he asked others on the spot. The existence of Blackstone might be pushed to the forefront if he did that. But he summoned Great Thief Elion right now. Great Thief Elion has a variety of skills that can trick the person’s eyes. D, don’t tell me he’s trying to dig in the gap with his enemy……?!’

Bang―

Team Leader Park’s fingers banged on the table. The answer came out. And just in time, User Minhyuk had finally reached the 40th floor. And the being that approached him was……

An old man wearing a black robe. It was none other than the Great Thief Elion. 

‘It’s not that hard to deceive this punk. Fufufufufu.”

He would trick Minhyuk with his ‘Quest Creation’ and ‘Perfect Makeup’ skills. 

Meanwhile, Minhyuk was staring at the old man that was smiling kindly at him.

‘Oho? I didn’t know that he’d do this?’

Minhyuk was easily able to grasp the entirety of the situation.

‘To catch a tiger, you have to go to the tiger’s den.’

The corners of his mouth curled up imperceptibly.

***

TL’s corner!

I mean… How can you even deceive him with the eye that he received from the Elf King? Besides, he knew all of the information about the tower so… Hehehe. Tough luck Callauhel.