Leveling Up through Eating

Special Players Management Team.

Team Leader Park Minggyu looked at the monitor and watched the hydra collapse on the ground. Then, he said, “Player Minhyuk is the most unbelievable player in Athenae.”

Lee Minhwa completely agreed with his words.

Many players had laughed at the insane amount of EXP, around ten times that of an ordinary player, that Minhyuk needed to level up. However, the fact that Minhyuk could overcome the ten times EXP requirement meant that the quality of his power was far higher than that of ordinary players.

“Even if the dish that he cooks only comes out as legendary-grade, the power that he could exert after eating the dish could rival that of a Level 800 being.”

This was an undeniable fact.

Of course, that meant that only some of the dishes he cooked would produce such a grade. But these days, Minhyuk had been stocking up on his legendary-grade dishes and keeping them in his Food Storage Inventory so they would be available to him in times of emergency. The way he saved them looked different from the way he saved them in the past when his eating addiction was still at its most severe phase.

A player whose power had reached Level 800 could not easily deal with monsters at the same level. In the first place, there was a considerable gap in their HP and defensive power. Named Monsters would have at least three to ten times more HP and defensive power than players at the same level as them. The fact that more than five players needed to work together to defeat a single Named Monster was not there for no reason at all.

Team Leader Park rested his head on the back of his chair. “I never expected that he would meet Evan.”

Evan was, of course, a Named NPC. And he was a very special NPC. Why? Because he was related to Minhyuk, the Battle God.

“The power of the Great Sovereign is divided into three consumable powers.”

It was also a consumable power that only the Battle God could use. And just like Evan had said, he could change it and make it permanent. But a long time had passed since he was a Battle God. Because of that, the only power he could turn permanent was to stun whoever or whatever enemy and render them immobile for ten seconds.

“Majestic” and “regal” could be the perfect words to describe the power to stun and render the enemy immobile for ten seconds. Simply put, no enemy could unleash their power in front of the majesty and dignity of the Battle God.

As for the second power under the Great Sovereign, it could be described with the word “shield.” While the third power could be described with the word “sword.”

‘If Minhyuk can purify God’s Prison to an excellent degree, then Evan will most likely bestow this consumable power to him.’

Just thinking about it was enough to make goosebumps over Minggyu’s body. The second and third powers under the Great Sovereign were so overpowered and cheat-like that it would not matter if he could only use it once. Why was that the case? Well, the reason was simple.

‘It’s because there’s no restriction on the number.’

It wouldn’t matter if there were hundreds of millions of enemies in front of Minhyuk; these powers would still be effective.

***

[You have cut off all the Hydra’s heads within two minutes.]

[You have hunted the Mythical Monster Hydra.]

[You have gained 37,540 platinum.]

These notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears after he killed the hydra.

When Minhyuk saw the hydra, he thought, ‘The gatekeeper is quite tricky to deal with.’

He had thought about saving his skills as much as possible, but he immediately used the Dual Swordsmanship Technique to subdue the opponent when he realized that a hydra was in front of him.

These were the notifications that Minhyuk heard when he opened the door and stepped foot inside:

[You have entered God’s Prison’s Second Area, right behind the First Area.]

[Most gods imprisoned in this area have weakened after being imprisoned for a long time.]

[Because of that, most gods will be unable to trigger and use their active skills.]

They were very welcome notifications.

‘If they can use all of their skills, then I will have difficulty dealing with them, especially if three or more gods come at me simultaneously.’

That just went to show how powerful the gods were and how he should not ignore their powers.

“How many are imprisoned here?”

Evan, who looked at the fallen hydra in shock, turned to look at Minhyuk and said, “There’s at least 200 of them.”

Minhyuk’s breath stagnated when he heard those words. He had confidently opened the door, but he realized that the number of enemies he had to face was something that he found pretty challenging to deal with.

[Battle God Evan has bestowed upon you the Godslayer’s Brand.]

[Every time a person carrying the Godslayer’s Brand wins and kills a god, their stats and attack power will increase by 0.3%.]

[Every time a person carrying the Godslayer’s Brand wins and kills a god, their skill cooldowns will decrease by 2%.]

[The Godslayer’s Brand will remain in effect for two hours.]

“This is a brand created by the first-generation Battle God. This power was created so a single person could break through in case the gods tried to rebel and commit treason. But it’s a power that can only be used once.”

The brand he received from Evan was very powerful. The more Minhyuk went wild in this place, the greater the brand's effects.

“Let’s go inside.”

Bang–!

Minhyuk twisted his body reflexively when he saw an arrow flying past him. When the arrow pierced through the wall behind him, smoke started rising.

Fwish–

“...”

Even if no one told him who sent the attack, Minhyuk could tell that it was the God of Archery.

“Why are there three Gods of Archery here…?”

Of course, those three Gods of Archery could not use their active skills. Although they could still trigger their passive skills, the fact that they could not use their active skills meant that they had been significantly weakened. Nevertheless, the presence of three Gods of Archery could easily change the story.

The three Gods of Archery’s eyes had all turned red. It seemed like they had indeed gone berserk.

“The God of Archery on the left has used immoral tricks to take the position of the God of Archery. The God of Archery in the middle has used unscrupulous means to take the position of the God of Archery on the left.”

“...”

“It wouldn’t matter how you take on your position and sit on the throne of a god. But if you lose your qualifications, then you will be sentenced for the crimes you have committed.”

“By any chance, the current God of Archery…”

“He also took away the seat of the God of Archery by force.”

The reason why three Gods of Archery were inside God’s Prison had been revealed. And Minhyuk? He was left speechless. He did not expect the gods to act like a discordant family when vying for power.

Then, at that moment, the three Gods of Archery shot arrows at Minhyuk at the same time.

Boom–!

The arrows, which looked like long spears, hit Minhyuk in an instant.

Stab–!

“Ugh!”

[Your HP has dropped below 88%.]

His HP fell by no less than 12%. Minhyuk immediately narrowed the distance between him and his opponents. Even Evan moved to join the battle. More than five minutes had passed, but their fierce battle was still ongoing. There was no other choice. Minhyuk had to save his skills to fight such a long battle.

Shwaaaa–!

When one of the Gods of Archery got stabbed in the heart and fell, their battle became easier. After overpowering the two other Gods of Archery, Minhyuk felt that his power grew slightly stronger. This was all thanks to the power of the Godslayer Brand.

‘After killing three gods, my EXP level has reached 50%.’

The amount of EXP that he received was truly shocking.

Minhyuk, who went deeper inside the prison with Evan, cut down fifteen more gods. He had now become 4% stronger than when he first arrived. But the further they went, the more Minhyuk realized something.

‘If more than six gods come out, we will be wiped out.’

That was why he wanted to make the most of the Godslayer Brand.

‘I have to hunt a lot of gods at the beginning.’

While he was thinking of a way to achieve what he wanted, he caught sight of Evan.

“Evan, what do you think about the mob luring I did earlier?”

“I believe that it is a brilliant idea. Goodness, seeing you stop the enemies using Athenae’s Iron Bars and sweeping them away immediately was truly a sight. It’s quite groundbreaking.”

“I know, right? To be honest, we can do that again.”

Evan was quite surprised. There were no longer any Athenae’s Iron Bars in this place. And even though they were all agitated, the gods would not be as stupid as the monsters. So, how could they replicate that?

“It will be possible with your help, Sir Evan.” Minhyuk began to lie with a straight face. “This is an opportunity for you to play a huge role in protecting the Land of the Gods, a place you once cherished and loved.”

Evan shuddered. He felt happy he could play a considerable role in protecting the land he once cherished and loved.

“I will make sure to report the remarkable achievements that you make here to the current generation Battle God. What I’m going to ask you to do is not something that anyone can do. Will you help me?”

“I understand! I’ll do anything!”

Evan raised his shoulders and showed a firm determination to do anything. But first, Minhyuk cooked for him.

“Now that you have seen the effects of my dishes, you can enjoy it now, right?”

“Of course.” Evan nodded fiercely. He already knew the young man’s dishes were great, so he did not have to distance himself and refuse him. After eating a simple dish, a sandwich, a series of notifications rang in his ears.

[You have eaten a Sandwich.]

[Legendary Grade.]

[All of your defensive power has increased by 18%.]

[Your AGI has increased by 27%.]

[Your Movement Speed has increased by 12%.]

“I can also choose what power to focus on when cooking my dishes.”

Evan was in awe. Then, he said, “What a great ability. But from what I can see, only the ones related to speed have increased, and there’s no increase in attack power. Why?”

Evan tilted his head in confusion. Then, Minhyuk smiled gently and said, “Yeah, I wonder why?”

***

Evan was once the Battle God who led all of the gods. His figure riding a horse and charging forward with thousands of gods behind him had become a legend. Although imprisoned, his stories were spread far and wide and were the talk among many gods.

But now? The berserk gods were chasing him and were running around like crazy.

Slash–!

The eerie sound of the wind as the God of Axes swung his axe at him rang behind him, but Evan did not look back and just continued running.

‘I was once the Battle God, so why…’

More than thirty gods had already gathered behind Evan. Then, he heard a voice from behind him.

“Ah. You have to stand out and draw their aggro. Please make sure to shoot arrows at the ones trying to take the aggro away from you. The aggro should be on you, Evan!”

“Ah. R- right! Sorry!”

Evan hurriedly shot arrows using the bow that Minhyuk had given him, using it to draw the attention of the enemies behind him once again. Finally, he ran into a dead end.

“Now, now. Be careful. Break through their defenses and come my way.”

“I– I understand!”

Stab–! Slash–! Bang–!

Stuck in a dead end, Evan tried quickly and swiftly to pierce through the gaps between the gods and get past them. But every time, attacks would rain down on Evan’s body. He could not help but scream from the pain.

Then, Minhyuk said, “Now, make a huge turn.”

“Alright!”

The obedient bait(?) Evan quickly made a huge turn. And the gods behind him? They also began to make a huge turn and gathered together in a circle. At that moment, Minhyuk used his skill easily and comfortably (?).

“Intangible Sword.”

Hundreds of invisible swords cut down the gods. Then, Minhyuk leaped to the sky and swung his Continent Destroyer Sword right in the middle of the gods. Immediately after that, Destruction made an appearance.

Bang, bang, bang!

The ground shook and cracked, catching the gods off guard and rendering them immobile. Minhyuk then began to slash and cut the gods, who were stuck on the ground and killed them very easily(?).

Minhyuk, who cut down more than thirty gods all at once, hummed as he listened to the endless sound of the platinum acquisition and level-up notifications ringing in his ears.

“Evan, we have to do it one more time.”

“Can’t– Can’t we take a break for a bit?”

Minhyuk shook his head. “You are making great achievements in saving the Land of the Gods, Evan. If the current generation Battle God hears about your performance, I’m sure that not only will he let you out of prison, but he will also let you leave your mark in history. You are the main lead in our quest to protect the Land of the Gods right now!”

“I– I see.”

That was true. Evan was truly doing a great job protecting the Land of the Gods. Of course, he still could not understand why Minhyuk stood there comfortably.

Then, Minhyuk grabbed his hands and said, “Evan, as the next generation Battle God, vows to inform my successors of your great achievement in this place. I will ensure that your name will be known for a long time.”

They would hear about how good Evan was at being bait.

Evan was overwhelmed with emotion. In the end, he nodded vigorously. And with a flushed face, Evan ran and became bait once again.

When Minhyuk, who was killing gods comfortably, smiled, a notification rang in his ears.

[You have acquired the Title: The One Who Bosses Even an Absolute God Around.]

“...?”

Minhyuk could not understand. Weren’t they doing something beneficial for both parties?

‘Athenae’s Title System is really strange.’ Minhyuk clicked his tongue.

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