Leveling Up Through Eating

For him, his father was the most respectable man in the world. Not only that, his father was the only one who silently stood by his side and guarded him while he was struggling desperately against his eating addiction. But, they let Minhyuk witness how they forced his father onto the ground and left him to struggle desperately.

So, Minhyuk said, “Right here and now, I declare the destruction of the Qingdao Kingdom.”

This was by no means an exaggeration on Minhyuk’s part. He had made a vow and commitment after learning about the Qingdao Kingdom\'s atrocities to the dragons of Dragon Land and his father. He would do everything he could to ensure the Qingdao Kingdom was destroyed. He proceeded forward as he was thinking of slaughtering them one after another.

[Absolute Range]

[You have entered the Absolute Range.]

[Your stats, HP, MP, attack, and defensive power will decrease by 30%.]

Minhyuk immediately observed his surroundings and assessed his situation. He could see that the troops of the kingdom army had already stepped down while the number of players who stepped forward increased. One look and he could already tell what they wanted to happen in this situation, where Minhyuk’s stats and abilities had decreased by 30%.

‘They want to kill me and use that fact to break through this situation.’

It was apparent, especially after seeing how Xu Jiaqi’s servile expression morphed into arrogance.

‘It will be dangerous for me.’

That was an undeniable fact.

Then, the Level 600 rankers and NPCs surrounded Minhyuk and charged at him simultaneously. Minhyuk could see one of the players raise his spear and aim for his heart.

‘But against these players? That’s not the case at all.’ This was Minhyuk’s conclusion.

With just a twist of his body, Minhyuk evaded Spearman Leguy, who shot at him at a breakneck speed. Then, he raised his sword and retaliated with a basic attack. Immediately after, lightning bolts struck the man named Leguy. Minhyuk kept on hitting him just like that. All of the people who were charging toward Minhyuk froze on the spot.

‘This is what I’m talking about.’

Their calculations did not consider Minhyuk\'s gains so far, including those he obtained in the World of Hybrids and when he met Rocado. Yet these were crucial points that made all the difference.

‘You have underestimated me too much.’

BANG–!

Minhyuk once again hit Spearman Leguy. And with this hit, Leguy turned into ashes and scattered with the wind. Now, not only those charging forward had frozen in their tracks, but everyone on the scene. The Level 600 rankers and NPCs, who charged forward, gulped as they looked at Minhyuk.

‘Things worked out better for me, no?’

Minhyuk found that the Qingdao Kingdom attacking him all at once like this was the perfect situation for him.

Now that the world has nothing to criticize about Minhyuk, they often resorted to petty means, declaring that he was just over-leveled and over-stats. Of course, his level and stats perfectly matched his name as the Supreme. Their words about how ridiculously good everything Minhyuk possessed were also valid. But everything that Minhyuk possessed was something that he gained through his efforts. That was why they had no right to say those words.

The problem was that many people had inferiority complexes, and they continued to use this to point fingers at Minhyuk and criticize him for the things he worked hard to obtain.

But the situation now was different. It had been declared to the world that Minhyuk had grown 30% weaker.

‘That’s right, I am 30% weaker.’

And what would happen if the 30% weaker Minhyuk annihilated the troops of the Qingdao Kingdom right here and now?

‘Then, it would be like killing two birds with one stone.’

The first bird would be the accelerated destruction and fall of the Qingdao Kingdom. The people would definitely criticize them. After all, they were defeated by Minhyuk, who had become 30% weaker.

‘Me and the Beyond the Heavens Empire will soar to the skies.’

There would no longer be any player who would accuse him of just being over-leveled and over-stats. More people would be interested in the Beyond the Heavens Empire if that happened.

Minhyuk, conscious of the hundreds of cameras pointed at him, spoke as if he was reciting texts from a Korean textbook. He said, “I’m already 30% weaker, but… will you even be able to kill me at this rate? Aren’t you guys much weaker than I expected?”

Minhyuk was very good at acting. However, there was a reason why he spoke so stiffly and awkwardly as if he were reading a boring textbook. It was because he was mocking them. Everyone who heard Minhyuk’s awkward words could tell he was mocking the Qingdao Kingdom.

“It seems like I have overestimated the Qingdao Kingdom, huh?”

Just like they expected, Minhyuk deliberately used that stiff and awkward tone. The expression on the face of Sima Qian, who realized this fact, grew ugly.

‘W– What the hell is this…?’

Minhyuk, who had grown 30% weaker, could force a Level 600 player to log out in under four seconds. But the worst part was that he only did it with his basic attacks.

‘What should have taken me just a few seconds… had only taken a couple of seconds more.’

That was the extent of how ridiculous Minhyuk’s power was. He had already concluded that few rankers could fight against him, even in his current state. Of course, there was also the fact that Minhyuk had triggered his Food God’s Swordsmanship the moment he entered the Absolute Range.

‘I haven’t even used my cooking buffs yet.’

Sima Qian immediately shouted at the faltering rankers and NPCs. He said, “Attack all at once! He’s just trying to intimidate you!”

Sima Qian believed that Minhyuk could only kill the ranker because he had used some kind of skill they weren’t aware of.

The rankers tightened their grip on their weapons.

‘Even if he’s the Supreme, there’s no way that the gap between us is that huge.’

‘We’re all rankers here.’

‘He must have used a skill we don’t know about.’

These thoughts ran in their heads as they charged at Minhyuk once again. At the same time, someone triggered their one-shot kill skill and sent it toward Minhyuk.

Slash, slash, slash–!

The axe in this player\'s hand grew several tens of meters in size before striking down upon Minhyuk. At the same time, Minhyuk’s HP fell by 28%.

‘As expected. Since my defensive power and HP are down by 30%, the damage I receive has become huge.’

Even so, Minhyuk was still calm and composed. Why? Because he also charged at them, who was running toward him. As he passed by those blocking his path, he unleashed a skill.

“Sword of Carnage.”

Slash, slash, slash–!

In an instant, another ranker was forced to log out. Then, Minhyuk used the Dual Sword Technique.

Usually, Minhyuk used the Continent Destroyer Sword. But when using the Dual Sword Technique, he would whip out the Sword of Aeon. The moment he pulled out the Sword of Aeon, the Greatest Sword created a resonance and made all of the weapons and armor of the Qingdao Kingdom’s army lose their function.

Minhyuk, with his two swords in hand, wandered around them like a ghost.

Stab, stab, stab–!

Slash, slash, slash–!

Ping, ping, ping–!

In just a few seconds, he swept through the dozens of rankers and Named NPCs, and forced several people to die just like that. Minhyuk’s HP again reached 100% thanks to the Slaughterer\'s Absorption.

“Everyone, don’t consider the penalties and use your one-shot kill skills! The Sword of Aeon’s resonance period will end soon!” Sima Qian shouted as he ran wildly.

Things shouldn’t go on like this. If things continued at this rate, then the Qingdao Kingdom would definitely be destroyed quickly.

This was what the viewers of Demacia’s broadcast were saying.

[Aren’t the bastards from Qingdao too f*cking sloppy?]

[Wow… This is too shameful. Over twenty Level 600 rankers and NPCs can’t even deal with a single player who is already 30% weaker. Kekekekeke.]

[Why don’t you change the title of your broadcast? How about changing it from Hunting the Supreme to Praising the Supreme?]

[Long live the Food God!!! I love you, our Lord, the Food God!!!]

The rankers also moved in a hurry after hearing Sima Qian’s shouts. Just like he said, they would probably only be able to break out of this crisis if they ignored the penalty and used their one-shot kill skills on the Food God all at once.

Over five players triggered their one-shot kill skills when their armor and weapons function returned.

Beeeeeeep–!

A gigantic sword light in the form of a dragon rose and rushed toward Minhyuk along with several AOE attack skills and single-target one-shot kill skills. But in the face of such attacks, Minhyuk continued to swagger. He said, “Absolute Defense.”

Flash–!

The light of the Absolute Defense shone brightly and enveloped Minhyuk’s body.

Bang–!

The gigantic dragon-shaped sword light and several one-shot kill skills devoured Minhyuk. But he did not suffer a single damage. This happened because the rankers all lost their cool. If they had only stopped to think about Minhyuk’s skills, they should have known that they should never use their one-shot kill skills all at once.

“F*ck!”

“Damn!”

The rankers who lost their one-shot kill skills to Minhyuk’s Absolute Defense could only sigh at the thought of the penalties they had to face. And Minhyuk? He took advantage of the seven seconds of invincibility and ran among them.

[Oh! Minhyuk’s going wild!]

[Kyaa! Watching a slaughter is so fun!]

Sima Qian was left flustered while Xu Jiaqi slowly fell into despair again. They felt an indescribable sense of helplessness after witnessing the majesty of the Supreme, an existence out of their reach.

Only at this moment did Sima Qian realize how foolish it was to think that they could kill Minhyuk and show the world how great the Qingdao Kingdom was with just a few rankers and Named NPCs. Their ideas were nothing but bullshit in front of the true Supreme.

“All at once! Attack him all at once!”

What they needed to do now was to kill him by all means. He ordered their millions of troops to move once again. But there was a slight smile around Minhyuk’s face.

‘Are you going to show it to the whole world?’

Millions of troops moved to attack Minhyuk, who was 30% weaker?! But there was something that they did not know. There’s one move that Minhyuk had hidden and not yet used.

“Hey.”

“...?”

“...?”

Sima Qian and Xu Jiaqi both turned to look at Minhyuk.

“I haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“Y– You have to eat your food first, you bastard!”

That was right. The most significant disadvantage of a cooking buff was that you had to eat it immediately and completely.

Minhyuk’s inventory was filled with various dishes he had made in advance. Smirking, he took two legendary-grade dishes out of his inventory.

“Who said that?”

[Overlapping Delight.]

Rhoando had upgraded the Overlapping Delight. Now, Minhyuk could consume the dish without even actually eating.

Gulp–

Minhyuk’s throat bobbed as the taste of the food spread in his mouth.

“...?!”

Sima Qian was shocked to see Minhyuk eat and consume the food all at once. This was completely different from the data that he had in hand. Furthermore, two dice, a golden one and a black one, appeared simultaneously above Minhyuk’s head when he triggered the Overlapping Delight.

‘The– The Overlapping Delight has evolved?!’

This was information that they had missed entirely.

[Overlapping Delight.]

[You can now receive the effects of two dishes.]

[The duration of the buff effect will depend on the number that the die will cast.]

[One of your skills can be reinforced. The level of the strengthening will depend on the number that the black die cast.]

The number cast on the golden die was five, meaning the buff duration would last five minutes. Meanwhile, the number cast on the black die was three. Thus, his chosen skill would have twice its standard power.

And since he received the effects of the two dishes at once, his stats increased by 21%. Not only that, his attack power and defensive power also increased by 15%. With this, a portion of his original power was restored.

In that state, Minhyuk chose the skill that would be strengthened with the power of the black die. Then, he charged straight toward the millions of Qingdao Army troops and said, “Calamity.”

[The skill: Calamity cannot be reinforced easily.]

[The strengthening would go down from 2x to 1.4x.]

The notification about the restriction of the strengthening was unexpected. Even so, the power of Calamity, which was 1.4x stronger than before, was still beyond anyone’s imagination.

Crackle–

Blazing flames spread wildly from the giant sword that fell from the sky. Immediately after that, more than a thousand swords fell from the sky, releasing flames that could burn the whole world. At the same time, Minhyuk, with the power of his buff, moved between the enemies at a high speed.

Just like that, the Qingdao Kingdom’s troops began to die rapidly. There were even players who chose to log out and run away. The army\'s momentum began to weaken when the players started to log out. In just an instant, the millions of troops were cut down in half.

[Carn has left the Qingdao Kingdom.]

[Logan has left the Qingdao Kingdom.]

[Vegen…Qingdao Kingdom.]

Countless notifications rang in Xu Jiaqi’s ears. These people realized that there was no longer any hope for the Qingdao Kingdom and immediately ran away. It only took a few hours for the Qingdao Kingdom to fall to its ruins.

Sima Qian and Xu Jiaqi’s faces grew ugly. Around 900,000 of their troops were gone. Some had died, some logged out, and some left the kingdom directly. Because of these, most of their forces standing at the vanguard had lost their will to fight.

Minhyuk ignored these people as he stood before Xu Jiaqi and Sima Qian. He said, “Do you guys hear that sound?”

“...?”

“...?”

The frustrated Xu Jiaqi and Sima Qian looked at Minhyuk in doubt. But just when Sima Qian thought, ‘Maybe he’s going to offer us a way to break through this situation?’ Minhyuk grinned and said, “It’s the sound of you getting beaten up.”