Leveling Up through Eating

Translator: ChubbyCheeks 

QC: MattForgenti

15 The Battlefield’s Dominator

“Ah, bastard. We’re just going to force you to log-out. This hyung will make sure that it won’t hurt when we’re done.” 

Belo pulled his sword out and looked at Minhyuk who was in an attacking position from top to bottom.

Minhyuk was grabbing his sword with both hands. When Belo attacked him, he sloppily stopped his attack. He almost lost his hold on his sword. 

Claaaaaaang—

[You have committed an act of poor etiquette.] 

[User Belo is in a temporary chaotic state.] 

[If the other party initiates an attack, the other party will not receive any penalty.] 

‘One man down.’ 

However, Minhyuk deliberately fell down with a scared expression on his face. 

“This, this fXcker… w, why is it so scary in this game!” 

“These hyungs are trying to kill you painlessly.” 

One user shot an arrow towards Minhyuk. 

“Hiiiiiiiiik!” 

His face looked very terrified but his eyes followed the exact trajectory of the arrow. He sloppily struck the arrow down. 

[You have committed an act of poor etiquette.] 

[User Dooms is in a temporary chaotic state.] 

[If the other party initiates an attack, the other party will not receive any penalty.] 

“This bastard, you’re quite lucky.” 

“Kyahahaha, look at him trying to run away.” 

Then, another warrior user tried to kill Minhyuk with his axe. 

“I’ll split your head in two.” 

Fwooooooom! 

The last one. 

Claaaaaaang! 

[You have committed an act of poor etiquette.] 

[User Aras is in a temporary chaotic state.] 

[If the other party initiates an attack, the other party will not receive any penalty.] 

After hearing all of the notifications, Minhyuk changed his grip on his sword. From both hands, he now held it easily in one hand. 

The axe that was being stopped by the sword was slowly being raised and pushed away. 

“Huh……?” 

Aras was a warrior user who focused on raising his power. However, he was confused when he felt that his axe was being pushed away by just one hand. 

‘What’s this?’ 

Wasn’t he shaking like a scared puppy just a few moments ago? 

Because he was distracted, he did not quickly realize the situation he was in. 

And at that moment… 

Claaaaang! 

Minhyuk pushed away the axe with all his strength. Aras was forced to take three steps back after he got pushed by his strength. 

Minhyuk tightly clenched his fists as he quickly narrowed the distance between him and Aras. 

He then struck out with an uppercut! 

Craaaack! 

Aras’ body flew out in an arc and fell down with a thud. 

Bang! 

“Ah, I told you fXckers to stop. Really.” 

“Ugh, aaack……” 

Aras, who was hit straight on his jaw, couldn’t move his body. He was not able to stand up anymore. Then he saw something… 

‘W, what kind of hit was that. I, it was just one punch but my HP……’ 

Almost 40% of his HP was cut off from that hit. 

Can a chef’s punch be this strong? No, even a warrior class will not have this much strength. This doesn’t make any sense. 

“T, this is impossible……’ 

Belo’s eyes were widened in disbelief. 

“Hey, that big head Maplestory character [1]. Come over here.” 

Minhyuk talked to Belo. 

[Bardy Swordsmanship] 

[All 5 basic stats have a +12 increase for 6 minutes.] 

[Haste] 

[Your movement speed and attack speed have increased by 1.3 times for 10 seconds.] 

Minhyuk has steadily increased his skills and eventually leveled up his Bardy Swordsmanship. That was the reason why there was an additional +3 increase in the stats and an additional minute of duration in the skill. 

Bang! 

He kicked the ground with his feet. 

“Whaa!” 

Belo’s eyes widened further when he saw Minhyuk’s speed. He was even faster than a Lv40 user. 

[Warrior’s Fury] 

[There will be a +10 increase in your STR and STM for 1 minute.] 

He quickly invoked his warrior skill. 

The two swords soon collided. 

Craash! 

Fwooooosh! 

At the moment of collision, flames shot out of Belo’s sword. 

[Salamander’s Blaze] 

[The attack will inflict continuous damage to the enemy.] 

However, Minhyuk did not stop pressuring Belo with his strength. Belo’s sword was pushed down. 

Then… 

Slaaash! 

Minhyuk’s sword cut through Belo’s waist. 

“Ugh!” 

[Three Consecutive Quick Assault] 

[Your attacks will have three consecutive strikes.] 

One of two afterimages cut through his sides deeply. 

Slaash! 

[Your HP is less than 20%]

“N, no…” 

Before Belo could even finish his words, the last of the afterimages finally penetrated halfway through his sides.

Slash!

At the moment of his death, Belo dropped a ring artifact and gold. 

Tap, tap, tap, tap! 

The remaining wizard user was easily handled. He also dealt with the user who fell down and forced them to log-out. Minhyuk also dealt with the final remaining user quickly and neatly. 

He then picked up the gold and artifacts that dropped. 

[You have acquired 7, 580, 000 gold.] 

[You have acquired the Owl Bear’s Warrior Armor.] 

[You have acquired Salamander’s Double Ring.] 

[You have acquired the Werewolf’s Mane.] 

[You have acquired the Land of Gold’s Map.] 

Minhyuk was a bit surprised at the items that dropped from those four users.

The other guy, Roy, did not even drop any gold before. But today, the guy named Belo dropped a lot of gold. 

The rate of gold drop from killed users would range from 1~80%. If the user’s reputation was high then the probability of items and gold dropping would sharply increase if the enemy user was in a temporary chaotic state or in a semi-permanent chaotic state. 

Among the items that dropped, Minhyuk was particularly interested in the Salamander’s Double Ring. 

The ring artifacts in Athenae were divided into several different rankings. There was the normal ring, then there was the double ring that was better than the normal one. Finally, there was the triple ring that was the best among all of the rings.

I heard that it has quite a high value in won. 

It was worth about 30 million gold. 

Minhyuk checked the artifact’s information. 

(Salamander’s Double Ring) 

Class: Unique

Restrictions: 60 STR 

Durability: 1,625 / 3,000

Defensive Power: 78

Special Abilities: — Skill: Salamander’s Blaze. 

He read that the skill Salamander’s Blaze would spout out a small flame whenever the user attacks or defends. It was also written that the flame would inflict continuous damage on the enemy user. 

This was the reason why there was a sudden flame that soared the moment his sword clashed with Belo’s sword earlier. 

In a way, Salamander’s Blaze could be considered as a magical attack.

In addition, novice users would not have any magical defence yet. The artifact seemed like it would prove to be useful. And it also has some value since it was a double ring. 

Minhyuk decided to wear the ring himself. 

He also estimated that the rare Owl Bear’s Warrior Armor would be about 2 million gold. 

“The Land of Gold?” 

Minhyuk tilted his head in curiosity as he clicked on the map. 

(The Land of Gold’s Map) 

Restrictions: Lv130

Description: —Currently in a sealed state. 

The Land of Gold was in a sealed state since Minhyuk’s level had not reached the required level. 

Minhyuk watched them disappear in a grey light. He hit the ground once and decided to log out. 

“I’m going to sell the things that I don’t need, then I’m going to buy something delicious~” 

Minhyuk hummed happily as he logged out. 

***

Ahn Seoktae, unlike the other members of the Connection Guild, was the user who logged out earlier. 

“If that’s the only thing that you will do then get out of the house!” 

“Shit. What’s the problem with you!” 

As a three-time student [2], he once again had a big fight with his mother who barged in his room today. 

He sighed as he picked up his mobile phone. 

“This bastard, you think this is your house? Get out for me!” 

However, Seoktae did not have the courage to do that. 

When he looked at his phone, his expression suddenly turned strange. 

“Huh?” 

The messages in the group chat of the members who joined the goblin subjugation force was going wild. 

More than 20 calls and messages were sent by Belo, or Lee Sungmin. 

[Sungmin: Ah, fXck. I’m so pissed off. My double ring dropped.] 

“T, this…?” 

He let out a gasp in surprise. 

Judging from the situation and the messages they sent in the group chat, it seemed that they were all forced to log-out after raiding the chef user. 

In addition, it looked like Sungmin dropped the expensive artifact that he always liked to brag about every day. It was called Salamander’s Double Ring. 

The Salamander’s Double Ring had low restrictions and it even had a speed skill attached to it. It was also much more expensive than the normal double ring. It cost about 4 million won in cash. 

‘This fXcking bastard. You bragged about it every day. Serves you right.’ 

Seoktae giggled. But the moment he saw the contents of the group chat, his brows furrowed. 

They were currently logged out and could not access the game. That was why they were discussing what they should do about this matter. 

[Sungmin: Ha, fXck. Whatever we do, we should beat that bastard up. We should clear his level down to 0.] 

[KimHyeoseok: (emoticon)]

Hyeoseok, one of his friends, only sent a green duck emoticon in the group chat. He didn’t know what to say to make them feel better. 

And then…

[Sungmin: Seoktae, you bXtch. Why are you not saying anything when you’re checking the group chat, don’t you know that the one who doesn’t reply with even 1 letter is a scumbag?] 

[Seoktae: Ah, Sry [3]. I was doing something.] 

[Sungmin: I see that you’re still alive. No, I’m going to make a call.] 

Seoktae soon saw the bell ringing on his phone. The caller ID was listed as ‘The Greatest BXtch-nim.’ 

‘Ah, what the hell is wrong with this bastard.’ 

He clicked his tongue. He wouldn’t hang out with him if it wasn’t for his money.

Then he answered the phone. 

“Hello?” 

[Oh, hey. Do you want to hear about the amazing method that I have thought of?] 

‘Ye, ye. Sure.’ 

Seoktae thought of just perfunctorily agreeing with him. 

“A brilliant method?” 

[Uh-huh. You know that there’s an Orc Village 2km away from the camp, right?] 

There was. 

The Orc Village was a hunting ground for users at the same level as Seoktae. 

[And you’re a thief user, so go and drive those subjugation bastards down to the ground.] 

“Huh……? What are you talking about?” 

[Aiiii. You’re a frustrating rascal. We’ve lost our hidden dungeon anyway. So let’s just raid the subjugation force. And hit that chef bastard to death on the way. Ah, no. Won’t the orcs kill them?] 

‘Wow, look at this tricky shit…’ 

It’s not that bad of a plan.

Seoktae was a quick-footed thief. And orcs are mob monsters that usually attack first so it would be easy for him to lead them there. A single haste was enough for him to take those orcs to the subjugation force’s campsite. 

‘But what about the other users……’ 

However, before he could even think about the welfare of the other users further, he heard Sungmin say… 

[If you succeed, you will get the original promised money including the share of the others and I would add an additional 200,000 for you.] 

“R, really?!” 

[I’m your hyung, you punk. I will naturally not take back what I said. Will you do it?] 

“Ooooooh. I’ll do it!” 

Seoktae nodded his head. It wasn’t a difficult job. Because of his greed, he quickly threw away his guilty conscience about the other users who would potentially die. 

Once the call was over… 

“Kuhahahaha, it’s almost about 4 million won!” 

He shouted in joy. 

At that moment… 

“Are you still not sleeping?!” 

He heard his mom’s angry voice. Shocked with his mom’s voice, he timidly answered back. 

“I, I will go to sleep noooooow……” 

Of course he had to go and sleep. 

***

Oh Changwook came out to get a drink after waking up early in the morning. 

There were quite a few people who were living in Minhyuk’s 150-pyeong house. 

As he went towards the refrigerator to get a cup of water, he checked Athenae’s official homepage. 

Smartphone addiction! 

It was already a habit for him to check the best posts in Athenae’s official homepage as soon as he woke up. 

He then saw Minhyuk coming out of his room. 

“You’re awake?” 

“Why did you get up this early?” 

“Huhuhuhuhu.” 

Minhyuk smiled meaningfully at him. He thought of what he would eat this morning after finishing off Belo and his backstabbing friends last night. 

“You’ll be offended if you know. Huhuhu…” 

“I’m getting offended just by looking at your expression.” 

Oh Changwook suddenly paused when he saw the best posts that he was checking out. 

‘What’s this?’ 

This was what was written in the best post… 

[A low-leveled chef’s normal tonkatsu.] 

“Normal tonkatsu?” 

Minhyuk’s expression turned strange when he heard his words. 

Oh Changwook laughed when he checked the post. 

“This is fake, this should be made by a craftsman. Sigh. What are they even saying……?” 

“Is it a normal tonkatsu?” 

Changwook showed his smartphone when Minhyuk approached him. 

“Hey, look at this. Did you see? This was made by a Lv20 Chef. The attacking and defensive power increased? Sigh. Seriously, these guys are attention-seekers.” 

Minhyuk looked at his smartphone. 

3rd best post. 

There were over a thousand comments on the post. There was even a screenshot of the buff alert attached on the post after they had eaten Minhyuk’s normal tonkatsu. 

“Was this really that unbelievable?” 

“Look at the comments.” 

Minhyuk turned his attention towards the comments section. 

[sfkkf62: It’s clearly fake. It’s annoying so let’s have a calm and quiet night.] 

[MemilkunsLove: Why, are you saying that you’re the captain of the cooks? Or was it cancer? My father is the president, if I fart then the doctors will come running to me and diagnose me with just the smell.] 

[gsffdfl3: This isn’t real, right?]

[jvfgncvmll: I’m currently a chef user. I can tell you that that’s impossible. And the number 1 chef user in the country, Kim Seokhyun, said that that is a lot of buff and that it’s completely fake.] 

***

Footnotes 

[1] I searched and there really was a big headed character in maplestory. Lol. It’s name is Big Headward. Lmao. 

[2] 삼수생 a student who’s preparing to take the exams for the third time after failing the first two times. 

[3] ㅈㅅ an abbreviation for 죄송해요 or sorry. 

TL’s corner!!! 

Kim Seokhyun is so malicious. He’s trying to spread bad rumors about Minhyuk. Saying that he’s bluffing the buffs. Bad. 

ALSO. Idk what happened to the previously named Two Consecutive Quick Assault, it suddenly became three. Perhaps it leveled up?

QC’s corner!

Kim Seokhyun is just jealous he can’t do what our Minhyuk can, despite supposedly being the best chef in the country. Lol.

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