Leveling Up through Eating

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

PR: MattForgenti

28 The Very First Legendary Artifact Is?

Ruan received a whisper from Go Eun-ah.

[VeryPrettyEunah: Hyeonsok-ah, thanks to you we now got an exclusive scoop!]

[Ruan: Did you post it right now? Where?]

[VeryPrettyEunah: yeye. It’s number 1 on the real time search on the official homepage. But why did Ellie come here? Did she really just see it while she was on her way somewhere? Or did she really come here to catch the Horden Guild? Anyway, I ran back to the town just in case they tried to catch me. The comments under the post about Horden Guild’s GM is going crazy. They’re also talking shit about Card.]

Ruan shook his head. He was real friends with the reporter VeryPrettyEunah and her timing was really perfect. She just arrived in the Kingdom of Barras to get some scoop and said that she would stop by the Brethni Mines to visit him. 

She always said that she would get a scoop but she never knew where to get one. She believed that a scoop would always come up once she was out on the road.

Once she arrived near the mines, she saw this horrible scene. So she hid in the distance and continuously messaged Ruan to know more about the situation. As she corresponded with him, she finally pieced the events together and learned that the current situation was a sudden NPC slaughter. Once she knew of the reason, she immediately started to shoot the scene.

‘I guess she wasn’t able to take a video of Ellie calling User Minhyuk ‘dongsaeng’?’

Perhaps it was because she quickly ran away in fear of getting caught by the knights. The members of the Horden Guild were under the control and couldn’t log out peacefully so he guessed that she probably was out of the range of the control.

Ruan was going to tell her the truth about Ellie and Minhyuk’s sibling relationship but he stopped.

Why?

Because Ellie who was sitting right beside the fresh and happy Minhyuk looked awfully scary.

‘He calls Ellie his noona, he has extremely high stats, and he can fight well……’

And as Minhyuk stood next to her, he looked at the blacksmith named Card. Card was currently looking at his guild chatting window which was close to exploding.

[Guild Master Ares: Card-nim. Would you like to explain the situation right now?]

[Corona: This crazy shit. You have the guts to tarnish the guild’s name, huh? You even hired the Horden Guild to slaughter the NPCs! You must have found something good and you’re trying to monopolize it all to yourself, huh?!]

[Raman: How should you fix this? Wouldn’t it be a big deal if Ellie becomes hostile to our guild?]

Ares Guild was one of the country’s top 4 guilds. And Card, who did something so horrendous while keeping it a secret from the guild, was someone who was unforgivable. Even though he was an executive in the guild and was an outstanding blacksmith he would still not be able to escape eviction. But Card did not think that it was his problem right now. He has other problems to deal with first.

‘I could be like the user from before and get sentenced to prison for 100 years.’

If that happened, then he has to delete his character ID and has to start from scratch. His character was the 2nd in the blacksmith’s ranking. He first had to find a way to trick them and save his character from getting deleted.

“Why did you do this?”

Ellie asked him. Once he heard the question, Card began to tell the truth of what was inside the 5th mining area. He explained everything from beginning to end.

“……An artifact material that has all of the properties?”

“Yes. That’s right. And right now, there are only three people who can use this artifact. I can make an artifact out of this material. That’s why, nim.”

He looked at Minhyuk with sad eyes. He was trying to evoke his pity.

“Please let it slide just this once. I will also make the best artifact for you!”

He gloated inwardly. He was sure that it was an offer that no one could refuse. They had no choice but to accept those terms since artifacts were so expensive. And artifacts that were made with such a material was bound to be extremely valuable. Minhyuk would most definitely accept his offer and tell Ellie to exempt him.

Ellie looked at Minhyuk.

“If you want to have the artifact then we could do as he says. But he can’t get away with it and he still has to be locked up for a month.”

She wanted to follow Minhyuk’s choice as much as possible. That was also what Ellie’s Insignia signifies.

Minhyuk grinned.

“You have the key.”

“Yes. Sooner or later, the door to that place will open.”

Minhyuk had heard this from Leton. There was only one person who had the key and that was the only way that they could enter that place. In other words, Minhyuk would be able to enter that place thanks to Card!

To be honest, this was the first time that he has heard about such an artifact material. It seemed like the wood from the chocolate tree was an excellent artifact material. But in all honesty, the chocolate that the chocolate tree produced was what was calling to him the most.

“Thanks for opening the door.”

Card couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

“I’ll be right back. You even opened the door for me~ Aigoo. Thanks a bunch!”

Minhyuk grabbed Card’s hand and shook it up and down. Then he threw his hand off and said…

“Noona. We can’t just let this bad guy get away with it.”

“That’s right. As expected of my dongsaeng. For a moment I thought you would disappoint me because of this greedy bastard.”

Ellie grinned at him as Card tried to talk.

“N, no. Didn’t you hear what I just said? I’m the only one who can make an artifact out of that material. It won’t work unless you find a blacksmith that’s greater than me……!” 

At that moment…

“Minhyuk-nim! Heok, heok, heok!”

A man that was dressed shabbily, like he was a novice user, came running towards where Minhyuk was. He was huffing and puffing as he tried to catch his breath after standing in front of Minhyuk.

After he finally caught his breath, he looked around his surroundings.

“I heard from my daughter that you went here. Are you alright?” 

“Yes. As you can see, I’m alright.” 

Card’s eyebrows creased in annoyance.

What’s with this novice bastard?

Did he think that he was much more important than what he wanted to say? Then, he saw a hammer pattern engraved on the back of his hands.

Card’s eyes widened in shock.

He had seen the man who made the Dragon Sword once. He was in the Dragon’s Lair at that time and once he got the materials that he needed he quickly hurried off. All he saw of that man was a hammer pattern engraved on the back of his hand. Shortly after he saw him from the Dragon’s Lair, Card saw the Dragon Sword being auctioned off. It was the strongest artifact that was sold at the highest price in the auction trading site. At that time, he felt that he was the best blacksmith ever to have lived! But then, he disappeared. And right now, that person with that pattern engraved on his hands was standing in front of Minhyuk worriedly.

“Eobobobo…”

Card couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. Standing in front of him was the Sword Emperor Ellie and the greatest blacksmith alive.

“This damn bastard. How dare you bully my benefactor, Minhyuk-nim!”

He glared at Card sharply.

Card zeroed in on the ‘benefactor’ that came out of his mouth.

The great blacksmith’s benefactor?

At that moment, he finally realized. That blacksmith would definitely make something for Minhyuk with that artifact material!

Card finally felt that he would lose everything because of his greed.

I’m dying a dog’s death…… No, it’s not like I gave it to Minhyuk.

He stood up and approached a soldier.

“Please get me out of here……”

“I know. You bastard!”

Card was extremely happy that he would not see the monstrous(?) Minhyuk when they took him away.

Leton who was standing nearby murmured to himself.

“In the end, the chocolate tree still found its way to its real owner.”

***

Minhyuk smiled as he listened to Leton.

He was so excited that his heart couldn’t stop from fluttering wildly.

The chocolate tree is in there!

Minhyuk told Hyemin’sDad about the artifact material inside the dungeon. He told him everything that Card had said.

“Are you saying that there really is an artifact material with all of the properties?! It would be nice if I could use it to make the frying pan.”

“I see. Ah, did you add the function where it can boil it down perfectly? And the function that can help me make pancakes better?”

“……Yes.”

Minhyuk looked like he was very happy and satisfied with the answer that he got.

Hyemin’sDad looked back at Ellie and Leton. They nodded their heads at each other as if they could understand their woes.

Ellie had to go, but before that…

“I should clean them up.”

She then kicked the ground and went inside the 5th Mining Area. She went out quickly as if she just went on a walk.

“There were about 50 monsters in there, I’ve taken care of all of them.”

“50, 50 monsters…… in 1 minute……”

Leton and Hyemin’sDad looked at her in awe. They couldn’t even form their words in their shock.

“Yes. Thank you so much for coming, noona!”

After thanking her and smiling at her brightly, Minhyuk went inside the mines.

His heart was pounding loudly in excitement as he thought of eating brownies and meeting the legendary chocolate tree!

Just as he went deep inside the mines, he heard a loud vibration.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

[The entrance to the legend has opened.]

[Only one person is allowed to enter.]

Minhyuk quickly ran towards the bright light. The light surrounding Minhyuk was so bright that he couldn’t even open his eyes. Then, he heard a series of notifications.

[You have entered the legendary ‘Chocolate Paradise’.]

[You are the 32nd user to have entered a legendary place.]

[You are allowed 1 hour inside this area.]

[Number of Legendary Dungeons Found: 1]

[Your reputation has increased by 50.]

[Everything in the Chocolate Paradise is more delicious compared to their regular counterparts.]

Minhyuk slowly opened his eyes when he felt that the glaring light was gone. Once he opened his eyes, he couldn’t help but shout in surprise.

“Waaaaaaaa, wooooow!”

The first thing that he saw were the blades of grass made out of Pepero.

Shwaaaaaa━

A gentle breeze blew in the area and the Pepero grass swayed gently. Minhyuk could see that the blades of grass were like ‘Nude Chocolate Pepero’, ‘Almond Pepero’ and the ‘Regular Pepero’. He bent down and picked up an almond Pepero.

[You have acquired Almond Pepero.]

The moment he picked the grass of Pepero, the swaying Pepero suddenly stiffened and became a regular stick of Pepero.

Minhyuk then grabbed a handful of the swaying Pepero grass and munched on the almond Pepero.

“Aaaaaaang!”

As soon as he chewed on the Pepero, he could taste and feel the flavor and texture of the almond along with the crunchy, crispy and sweet flavor of the chocolate and cookies that came with it.

“Kgghk. As expected, almond-flavored Pepero is the best!”

Then, a notification rang.

[You have leveled up.]

“Huh……?”

I only ate almond Pepero but I leveled up? Is it that amazing?

He only had one hour in this place, then he looked at his hands holding the handful of Pepero.

‘Don’t tell me?’

Legendary Dungeons were said to have a x4 increase in the EXP gained and a x4 increase in the item drop rate. It was a much more special dungeon compared to the hidden dungeon. Due to this, it was also extremely hard to find.

However, Minhyuk did not understand why he heard such a notification. He was also sure that there were no monsters around him. 

Then… Does it mean that I will be able to gain EXP everytime I eat things here?

‘Wow. I get to eat delicious food and get EXP at the same time?’

It was like killing two birds in one stone for Minhyuk! When Minhyuk ate all the Pepero in his hands, he was able to increase his level by five just by eating these.

Then, Minhyuk focused his attention on the things that were growing in between the trees. Those were things that looked like mushrooms. But looking at it closely, those mushrooms were the Chokosongi snack.

“Waaah!”

Minhyuk quickly picked the mushrooms and stuffed them in his mouth.

[Your STR has increased by 1.]

[Your AGI has increased by 1.]

[Your WIS has increased by 1.]

He realized that eating the chokosongi would increase his 5 basic stats. When he finished eating all of the Chokosongi that he picked he was able to increase his stats. His STR has increased by 18, AGI by 15, WIS by 17, STM by 20 and his INT by 10.

When Minhyuk turned around, he saw something that looked like a rock. The rock was a Ferrero Rocher chocolate. Minhyuk lifted the Ferrero Rocher chocolate rock that was as big as his head and ate it all.

[You have acquired 1 skill point.]

He gained 1 skill point every Ferrero Rocher chocolate he ate. In total, he was able to eat 5 Ferrero Rocher chocolates which meant that he was able to gain 5 skill points.

“Keuhahahaha! This is heaven! No, that is!”

He looked at a river that was flowing near him. The river was clearly made out of milk chocolate. He quickly ran towards the bank of the river, fell face down and gulped the milk chocolate in that position.

“Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp!”

As he continued to gulp the milk chocolate from the river, it seemed that the chocolate level slowly seemed to lower. If anyone saw it, they would think that a family of elephants came by and drank from the river.

“Keuhahaha!”

[You have gained 4 special points.]

[You can also invest your special points on stats that can’t be raised with bonus points.]

The chocolate river gave him none other than special points.

After he finished drinking, he looked around. He was spying on new things that he hadn’t tried yet. It seemed like there wasn’t anything that he hadn’t tried yet.

‘I’m only allowed to stay here for 1 hour, right? I’ll be in trouble if I’m not able to get the most important thing!’

Minhyuk focused on what he needed to do. He needed to find the legendary chocolate tree that exists in the Chocolate Paradise!

He quickly went around the Chocolate Paradise in order to find the chocolate tree. Not long after, he was able to find the legendary tree.

There was a tree that was standing tall in the middle of the dungeon. It looked like it was a tree that had been standing for almost 300 years with how big it was. The chocolate tree was standing majestically in the middle of the Chocolate Paradise!

***

Footnotes

[VeryPrettyEunah] About this, this was written as 존예은아. 은아 was her name, and 존예 is a slang that means extremely/freaking pretty. It’s actually a combination of words and abbreviated like that. 

Food Discussion Corner

Pepero (빼빼로) – A cookie stick dipped in chocolate. Manufactured by Lotte Confectionery.

Chokosongi (초코송이) – A chocolate snack that resembles a mushroom. The stem is made out of cookies while the button top is made out of chocolate. This is a product of Orion and is popular with kids.

Ferrero Rocher – a chocolate and hazelnut confectionery produced by Ferrero, an Italian chocolatier.

TL’s corner!!!

Hello, I want chocolates. Man. I’m going to buy them when I go visit the supermarket. 

PR’s corner!

Well, the story is called Level Up Through Eating, it makes sense to have a time where that literally happens. It sounds like he went to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Augustus Gloop has nothing on Minhyuk of course.

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