Leveling Up Through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

When Genie played Versal in the past, the four of them along with two of his friends went along and raided monsters together. She and her friends were extremely skilled and talented players. She was able to contact him when she played Athenae because they exchanged phone numbers in real life. She told him that she was the guild master of the Legend Guild and that she would gladly accept Rovan.

Right now, Rovan was in the midst of his leveling frenzy to fulfill her high expectations of him.

[Rovan: I’m going hunting right now. Please wait a bit more. I will reach Lv300 in a month. Ah, how about the monsters behind the iron gate? Did you succeed?]

[Guild Master Genie: We failed ㅠㅠㅠㅠ. We only have a few remaining blessed return stones left……]

The blessed return stone was an item that would allow a user to ignore the penalty of a forced log out. It would also allow the user to safely return to the nearest village. It was an extremely valuable item.

[Guild Master Genie: I won’t disturb you leveling frenzy anymore. If you don’t reach Lv300 in a month then you will be kicked out of the guild ^^!]

‘S, so brutal!’

The meaning behind that smiling emoticon was telling him to do it or he would regret it. And Rovan knew that he had to meet her expectations. Although Rovan was someone that was ranked as the number 1 in Versal, he knew that it was only through luck that he was able to join the best guild despite being a novice in the game and only having a low level.

[Rovan: I will turn off the guild chatting for some time. It’s time to start my leveling frenzy,]

[Guild Master Genie: Yes!]

Rovan had a habit of ignoring messages from the guild chat or refusing whispers whenever he was hunting. After he turned off all of his whispers and chatting interface, he approached the user from earlier. The user was still chatting and talking happily with Kemil.

“There’s really plenty of our specialty, the duck meat, in here. However, it was plenty to the point of eating duck bulgogi for breakfast, smoked duck for lunch, and even steamed duck for dinner. My goodness, even our farts sound like the ‘ducks quack quack’, you know?”

“So jealous……”

“......”

Kemil turned his head in confusion to look at the young man. He could clearly see the look of envy on the man’s face.

“Anyway, that’s the reason why your kimchi pancake was all the more delicious for me. Hahaha!”

“Then, can’t you give me some duck meat right now?”

“That’s not possible. Hahaha. You have to finish your mission successfully first!”

“Hahahahahaha. Then if I fail, does that mean that I won’t receive any? Hahahaha!”

As the two men laughed loudly, Rovan approached them and tried to talk to the man.

“Excuse me.”

***

As Minhyuk was talking to Kemil, he felt a bit sorry for himself.

Ah, I almost got some duck meat!

Then, a man approached them and talked to him. He was the user from earlier who looked like he was going to steal some of his kimchi pancakes. Of course, with his prior experience, he was now completely on guard against this man.

“What’s wrong?”

“By any chance, are you looking for a party member?”

“Yes.”

“Would you like to form a party with me?”

Minhyuk looked at the man carefully. He looked like he was a bit older than himself. He was about 180cm tall and was wearing artifacts that were quite decent. The man looked like he was someone that was skilled and powerful. But what caught Minhyuk’s attention the most was…

‘He looks like he would ask for a bite of food from me!’

He did not know why his impression of this man was like that, but it made him extremely wary. However, if he continued to be like this, then he would never be able to find any party members at all.

Even now, the reaction of the other users surrounding him had been the same.

“Hey, hey. Look at that user with the frying pan on his back. He looks funny!”

“Is he doing a cosplay?”

“Does he want to hit a monster in the head with that frying pan? Is he a chef?”

“I have never seen a chef carry a frying pan on his back. It looks like the party would immediately disband if you take him with you.”

Just like that, the people in the surroundings had kept their distance from him.

“What’s wrong with me?”

The man asked him after he heard the surrounding whispers.

“Do you really not know why…...?”

“Yes. What’s so strange about wearing a frying pan on my back?”

“It’s not normal.”

When the Minhyuk saw that the man did not understand what he meant, he wanted to make him aware and understand his stance.

“Just think about it.”

“Yes.”

The man in front of him slowly nodded his head.

“You can use a frying pan to cook, right?”

“Of course.”

“You can also use it to attack, right?”

“Y, yeah?”

The man nodded his head while thinking about how much damage a frying pan could even make.

Anyway, I will be able to hit you first.

“But with this, I can also defend myself.”

“......I, is that so?”

“Yes. There’s no other artifact like this in the world! It can cook, defend and even attack!”

“......Uhm.”

The man nodded his head first. And with the idea of putting the topic about the frying pan behind them, he quickly introduced himself.

“My nickname is Rovan. Just like what I said earlier, would you like to form a party with me?”

Minhyuk thought deeply before answering him.

He was most likely going to ask him for food and eat with him but there seemed to be no one else that was willing to form a party with him aside from this man.

After much thought, he slowly nodded his head to accept his proposal.

“I understand.”

[Would you like to join Handsome Rovan’sParty?]

[ Yes / No ]

“Yes.”

[You have joined Handsome Rovan’s Party.]

Minhyuk could clearly see it. This man was someone that was extremely narcissistic and confident in himself.

What kind of party name was “Handsome Rovan”?

Then, he suddenly thought…

‘This person is strange……’

At the same time, Rovan also thought…

‘This person is strange……’

What kind of defense can you do with a frying pan? It will already be enough if you can stop flying stones from reaching you.

Thus, the companionship(?) of two odd people had started.

***

The employee, Lee Minhwa, tapped on her keyboard leisurely.

She had joined the company for quite some time and she had now removed the ‘novice employee’ and ‘new recruit’ from her name. Right now, she could already switch monitors or watch through several monitors with just a click on her keyboard.

‘Huhu, I’m such a competent woman!’

Just as she thought so, she decided to bring up on one of the monitors to check the situation of one of the special users. The special user that she wanted to look at was Rovan.

Rovan was a ranker in Versal and his leveling speed was vastly different compared to the other users. In addition to that, he received the legendary class, Berserker.

‘Come to think of it, that legendary Berserker class……’

When she thought about it deeply, she finally realized.

User Minhyuk had the chance to receive that class, right? But he did not receive the quest.

There was only one reason.

“It was because he wouldn’t be able to yanggaeng, right……?”

How could one user refuse a legendary class just for one yanggaeng. However, the power of that class was extremely strong.

Rovan was extremely proud of his Berserker class. Due to his legendary class, he was able to level up with an extremely fast pace. He was even able to receive a quest that could increase his already overwhelming skills and abilities.

That hidden quest could only be received and completed by a user that was recognized for his overwhelming strength.

‘But the Trial of Sin is not as easy as he thought…’

When Lee Minhwa opened a monitor and pulled up Rovan’s screen, she suddenly let out a ‘Heop!’ in shock.

“What’s wrong?”

Team Leader Park, who was enjoying his cup of coffee, stood up quickly and hurried to her monitor.

“Users Rovan and Minhyuk are together……”

This meant that the two of them would definitely be heading towards the hidden quest together.

As he looked at the monitor, Team Leader Park finished his analysis and spoke to Lee Minhwa beside him.

“Rovan is a lone hunter. I think that’s why he needed to find a user that did not have as much firepower for his party member.”

“Do they need to create a party before they can enter the Shrieking Hills?”

“Yeah. Look at User Minhyuk, he looks weak.”

“You’re right.”

Lee Minhwa nodded her head in agreement. After all, User Minhyuk really did look weak.

“However, he’s someone that’s extremely strong.”

“Yeah.”

“So, who do you think will be able to complete this hidden quest?”

Since the two of them were companions, she naturally thought that User Minhyuk would be able to get this hidden quest. But if User Rovan’s plan went as planned, then he would probably work really hard to complete the quest.

“Honestly? I don’t think User Rovan will be able to clear the hidden quest yet.”

Team Leader Park murmured this to himself. He knew that Rovan’s abilities were still not yet there if he wanted to complete this hidden quest.

Suddenly, his eyes widened.

“Come to think of it……”

“......?”

“I think the Trial of Sin might not affect User Minhyuk……?”

“Ah, that’s entirely possible!”

Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa nodded their heads in unison. Then, they both turned to look at the monitor. The scene that was playing on the monitor was quite harmonious. Users Minhyuk and Rovan were walking together while Rovan was showing off.

[Nim, by any chance do you know about legendary classes?]

[I know.]

[I received one. It’s the Berserker class. Ah. Really. I wanted to become someone normal in Athenae this time. But do you know that Berserker is such a strong class?]

“......He’s bragging about his Berserker class to the person who did not want that class because he wanted to eat yanggaeng? He probably won’t be able to lift his face proudly if he knew about that…...”

Lee Minhwa also added when she heard Team Leader Park’s words.

“His face will definitely burn in shame…..”

***

Minhyuk knew that his hunch was right.

This user. He really is someone that’s so narcissistic.

He already told Minhyuk about how he was a ranker in Versal and how he got his legendary class, Berserker. When he heard about this, Minhyuk suddenly thought....

‘......If I didn’t eat yanggaeng then I can easily get that. Tch.’

However, he still had no regrets. After all, the yanggaeng was extremely delicious.

Then, Minhyuk looked over at the information of the quest that he had received earlier.

[Quest: Hunt 200 monsters in the Shrieking Hills.]

Rank: C

Restrictions: Users should be over Lv90, Party Hunting

Rewards: 20,000 EXP, 300,000 gold

Current Number of Hunted Monsters: 0 / 200

Penalty for Failure: You won’t be able to receive any quests from Shrieking Hills.

Description: The monsters that reside in the Shrieking Hills sometimes appear, wreaking havoc and causing damages and injuries to the residents of Hesvin, a town located in the vicinity of the hills. These monsters are very tricky, some of them can even use magic. Hunt 200 of these monsters!

‘I may have failed to receive duck meat earlier but I still have a chance to get duck meat!’

In addition, the original gold reward was only at 250,000 gold. However, he got an additional 50,000 gold reward from Kemil, the man who said that he only ate duck meat three times a day.

I will exchange my pancakes with duck meat! So this mission should be successful!

Then, not long after, they arrived in front of the guard who was guarding the bridge that connected the Shrieking Hills from the town.

“From this point on, you’re already in the Shrieking Hills.”

The guard confirmed with Rovan and Minhyuk.

“Will you guys be fine with just the two of you? Those guys in there are much stronger than what you thought.”

“We’ll be fine.”

Rovan nodded his head happily as he looked back at Minhyuk, who also nodded his head in agreement.

“Let’s go.”

The two of them stepped forward and crossed the bridge. As soon as they crossed the bridge, Rovan who was noisy and all-over-the-place, quieted down.

‘His aura suddenly changed.’

Minhyuk looked at him seriously. His expression was saying that he was a bit impressed with how his aura had suddenly changed. It was like he was completely different from the person who was screaming and saying I just received my legendary class recently! I’m the best, you should trust me, Nim!. The person who was so narcissistic and confident about himself suddenly quieted down and turned serious.

“We should always be alert whenever we are in any hunting grounds. We don’t know when or where a variable will pop out.”

“I know.”

“I’ll start hunting now. Minhyuk-nim, why don’t you try to hunt one? In Minhyuk-nim’s case, if you find hunting difficult then you can just ‘assist’ me when I look tired.”

His words were implying to Minhyuk that he should step aside if he couldn’t hunt properly, after all, he was just a chef.

But Minhyuk did not feel bad about his words. He thought that it was alright for others to think that he was a chef, Minhyuk even thought of welcoming Rovan’s existence and just doing nothing. One reason was because he wanted to take the bus. However, he still hadn\'t seen his skills in actual combat yet so he was still a bit excited about what was going to happen.

‘This guy. He’s strong.’

Minhyuk could tell. He had been exercising and working out a lot ever since he was a child. He knew that the strong had a certain gait and aura that they exude. And he knew that Rovan was someone who could stand above those who were strong.

[You have entered the Shrieking Hills.]

[If you aren’t strong enough, please turn back and go outside.]

Unlike other dungeons, the Shrieking Hills belong to the field category. The advantage of a field dungeon was that the players could easily go back and forth in the dungeon without having to hunt and kill the boss monster. Of course, there were exceptions to these rules.

‘I should first finish hunting 200 monsters so I could go for my hidden quest.’

Rovan looked around after deciding his course of action.

He could see plenty of users hunting monsters.

Then, at that moment…

“Kiiiiieeeeeeeee!”

Minhyuk and Rovan heard a harsh shriek.

***

TL’s corner!!!

Hehehe. Yanggaeng is still the best. I remember its taste. Mhhmmm.

PR’s corner!

And once again, Minhyuk finds himself on the devs’ monitor. I love their reactions.

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