Leveling Up Through Eating

Absolute God grade was a level that only Minhyuk had ever reached. There had never been a case where information about an artifact or a dish of that level had been disclosed to players. Of course, it was only natural that people would show great interest in the Absolute God-grade samgyetang.

Minhyuk checked the samgyetang’s information.

(Samgyetang)

Grade: Absolute God

Requirements: Only Ellie can have the buff effects.

Shelf Life: 14 days

Preservation Time: 3 days

Special Abilities:

•All stats will increase by +64.

•All of Ellie’s skills will increase by +3 level.

•Damage of all skills related to swordsmanship will increase by 35%.

•Resistance to abnormal statuses will increase by 30%.

•Critical Hit Rate will increase by 60%.

Description: This is a samgyetang made solely for Ellie.

[Shit. That’s really dope…]

[This is the Absolute God grade…?]

[Woah…!]

The viewers were stunned when they saw the information about an Absolute God-grade dish that had never been publicly revealed.

[I take back what I said about dishes being unable to keep up with items with permanent effects.]

[How many God-grade artifacts must we combine to get that effect?]

[However, look at it closely. Isn’t that still a consumable item?]

[Hey, just think about it. Eating that will make you twice as strong as you are now. That means you can hunt mobs and monsters you couldn’t hunt before after eating that dish. Think about the rewards that you will get once that happens. Just thinking about it can give you goosebumps.]

[Hmm…]

Those staunch supporters of permanent artifacts began to voice their confusion. Nevertheless, many were still left in awe and admiration when they saw the shocking grade of Minhyuk’s dish. That was when they noticed a very surprising fact.

[But why is it only for Ellie?]

[Oh. You’re right? Why is the dish only for Ellie, though?]

After the viewers saw the information about the Absolute God-grade dish, Minhyuk’s votes rose sharply again.

1st place: Pillar of Death Boleyn. Percentage: 34.1%

2nd place: Pillar of Gourmands Minhyuk. Percentage: 29.9%

Regardless, the difference between his votes and Pillar of Death Boleyn, who was sitting in the first place, remained huge. The truth was… Minhyuk would not be able to win first place if he could not overturn the situation and surpass his number of votes right away.

‘It’s not yet over. There’s still a lot left in my plans.’

The end of his plans has not yet been decorated and ready for viewing.

A huge hawk landed in front of Minhyuk. It was none other than Clone Bird Dodo.

Clone Bird Dodo also had an inventory function, which Minhyuk fully utilized. When he received the samgyetang from Minhyuk, Dodo immediately flew to the sky.

Of course, Minhyuk also intended to go straight to where the dish was heading, but some unexpected guests stepped out from the crowd. They were none other than Pillar of Death Boleyn and Master of Nature Verodun.

Minhyuk’s gaze turned cold.

***

Many broadcasting stations have caught wind of ATV Broadcasting Station sending their officials and employees to the Land of Vasgara. Because of that, they also took a chance and sent their own broadcasting station’s officials to wait at the entrance to increase their ratings.

Nevertheless, all of the people who gathered here were full of regrets.

“Shit. I should have gone to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

“What the hell? Is this for real? Nothing is happening here.”

“I think she’s going to enter the Land of Vasgara soon?”

“Then, what? Ellie won’t be able to conquer Vasgara anyway.”

The reporters could only sigh. They wondered if something special would happen, but the Ellie they knew was a woman who did not have the qualifications to become a Pillar Candidate.

Sitting in a lotus position, Ellie embraced her sword with her eyes closed.

The broadcasting stations’ officials looked at her. Then, they quickly stepped away to go to the Beyond the Heavens Empire. As for ATV Broadcasting Station? PD Kim Daeguk personally came to this place directly from the station.

“He succeeded? Really?”

PD Kim Daeguk heard a whisper about Minhyuk successfully making twenty God-grade dishes in a row. Still in shock, he turned to look at Ellie.

‘What do you want to show us?’

PD Kim Daeguk liked this character named Ellie.

Despite being born in a world where sons were cherished and preferred, she rose to the position of emperor solely with her effort, hard work, and abilities. Ellie was also hailed as the best emperor of the Eivelis Empire of all time. Her painstaking effort, hard work, and perseverance made her character likable and encouraging. Unfortunately, the position of a Pillar Candidate was just too heavy and overwhelming for her. Hard work, effort, and perseverance were no longer enough.

Not long after, a gigantic hawk appeared above them. It descended to where Ellie was and handed over a pot of samgyetang. Ellie opened her eyes and began eating.

A strange smile broke through Ellie’s dignified expression the moment she bit into one of the chicken legs from the samgyetang. She was enjoying the delicious dish. Ellie finished the lean meat and drank all of the soup from the pot in one go.

Then, with a satisfied smile on her face, she stood up. She looked around until her gaze landed on PD Kim Daeguk.

“Hey.”

“Yes?” PD Kim Daeguk voiced his confusion when she called out for him.

“Are you the person that Minhyuk sent over?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How do you get that camera thing to stick close to me?”

PD Kim Daeguk’s face grew bright. “Ah.”

They thought that since they were going to film Ellie, they had to use a drone or just run after her themselves. But now that Ellie accepted the use of the camera herself, it would be much easier and more comfortable for them.

“Please use this camera.”

Players could deliver vivid and lively scenes through live broadcasts. In the case of NPCs, only the ones that served as a player’s vassal could share scenes through their action cameras. In the case of the general NPCs, applying action cameras to them was very difficult.

Nevertheless, Ellie accepted the camera meekly. Dozens of invisible cameras surrounded and stuck to her after she accepted them and began filming herself at the same time.

After the live-streaming cameras were attached to Ellie, she entered the Land of Vasgara, the same place where she lost 30,000 of her elite soldiers.

***

The viewers watching Minhyuk’s broadcast were naturally interested in the dish the gigantic hawk took away. Since they knew that the dish was strictly for Ellie only, they could already expect where it was going.

However, they only knew that the dish was going to Ellie, and she was going to eat it. They had no idea she was in front of the Land of Vasgara. They could only know where she was the moment ATV Broadcasting Station began its live broadcast.

Countless viewers from all over the world began to flock to ATV Broadcasting Station’s live broadcast. From both the first-person perspective and the third-person perspective, their screens showed scenes of Ellie running toward the Land of Vasgara.

The Land of Vasgara was known to be very dangerous because the monsters living in this land all possessed high intelligence. From thousands to tens of thousands, these monsters had already formed packs and colonies of their own.

The monsters discovered Ellie running alone through their lands and immediately sounded the horns.

Vwooooooooong–

A considerable number of monsters began to gather. But Ellie ignored them and just continued to run. Even if the number of monsters exceeded hundreds of thousands and grew large enough to cover the entire land, she continued to run.

Meanwhile, the broadcasting station officials and reporters could no longer keep up and approach Ellie. They could just stay somewhere far away and watch her from a distance.

Breathing raggedly, Ellie finally stopped in front of a sword stabbed into the ground. “This is the place.”

Hundreds of thousands of monsters surrounded Ellie. She was even almost killed by the Vicious Serpent Monarch that suddenly appeared beside her.

Despite the monsters chasing after her, Ellie just closed her eyes and said, “The young soldier pushed me from behind…

“He said that I have to live. They told me they would open a path for my retreat and that I should run away.

“That soldier stabbed his sword in this place and told me…

“I will wait for you here, Your Majesty.”

Ellie pulled off her hair tie, and her beautiful blonde hair fluttered in the wind.

She stroked the sword\'s blade and continued, “All of them said…”

“We will wait for you here.”

The mouths of all viewers watching the live broadcast were wide open. The word “wait” meant that they would wait for Ellie even in their death. Also…

“We believe in you, Your Majesty. We believe that you will become a Pillar. We do not have any regrets.”

Ellie grabbed the sword tightly with both hands and pulled it out, which the young soldier had previously stabbed on the ground.

“I am fully aware.” Ellie turned her back to the place where they died. “For me, the reason why I came here is not for the title of Pillar. It’s not for any grand reason at all.”

A red stream of energy exploded from the blade of her sword. Before she was called the Continental Emperor Ellie, she had a different name: Sword Emperor Ellie. This was the name that she was initially called. She was also the emperor who refused the Sword God\'s position for her people\'s sake.

She declared.

“I just came here to find those waiting for me.”

Crack, crack, crack–!

As she drew her sword quickly, hundreds of red sword lights shot out and pierced through the swarm of monsters coming her way.

After a minute, twenty thousand monsters had died.

After five minutes, a hundred thousand of them died.

After ten minutes, two hundred thousand monsters died.

The entire world cheered and roared her name. At the same time, the votes for two candidates soared. One of the candidates was Ellie, who was still swinging her sword. The other was Minhyuk, who allowed her to stand tall in this place.

“Kihyaaaaaaaaack!”

The power of the two-headed Vicious Serpent Monarch went wild. According to the myths, the Vicious Serpent Monarch could make whichever target it chose to become a god.

Bang–!

A surge of overwhelming power shot toward Ellie and made the ground crack open. In response, Ellie just swung her sword lightly and blocked this surging power. She stepped on the monsters and leaped forward to cut down one of the heads of the Snake Monarch. The Vicious Snake Monarch was at Level 918, but that did not stop Ellie’s sword. It created a beautiful arc as it cut the Snake Monarch’s body.

Ellie was skilled or talented, but like everyone else, there were limits to her physical abilities. Nonetheless, thanks to Minhyuk’s dish, Ellie had overcome those limits.

The other head of the Vicious Snake Monarch fell under Ellie’s sword.

Thud–

Now that it had lost both of its heads, the Vicious Snake Monarch had lost all its support and fell on the spot.

Shwaaaaa–!

A cloud of poison shot out of the body of the dead Snake Monarch and engulfed all of the monsters in the surroundings. Everything melted except for Ellie. At that moment, a considerable force shot out from the heart of the gigantic snake and floated in front of Ellie. It took on the form of a hazy smoke and spoke to Ellie.

[You have all the qualifications to become a god.]

At this moment, Ellie’s votes soared rapidly. The main reason why Ellie had never been in the spotlight was because she was not a god. Also, she did not possess a Continental Emperor\'s complete powers and influence. But if she could become a god, her votes would exceed 10%.

[Your qualifications are more than enough to become a god.]

Ellie just listened to the voice silently, her face expressionless.

[But becoming a god means you will have many burdens to carry.]

[To become one, you must give up your emperor position. Are you willing?]

“...!”

Ellie’s expression finally changed. She had given up the chance to become a Sword God just to remain the emperor of her empire. Yet, she would be in this dilemma again now that she was becoming a god?

“Why?”

[I do not wish to give my power to someone who merely wants to lead a human empire.]

[He who lives for the sake of mere human lives is not worthy of my power.]

Ellie remained silent.

Then, the hazy smoke continued speaking.

[Your talent is overflowing. It is more than enough to become a god.]

[If you become a god, you will not only command this continent, but you will also be able to put the entire world under your command.]

[A god leading and commanding an entire continent, an entire world, isn’t that great?]

Ellie nodded silently. She looked at the young soldier’s sword and smiled lightly.

Then, she turned around and said, “I don’t want it.”

[...!]

The smoke shook fiercely like a harsh and strong wind was blowing it.

The smiling Ellie opened her mouth.

What was the reason why she wanted to become a god?

“It is to be with my people.”

What was the reason why she wanted to be stronger?

“It is so I can protect my people.”

What was the reason why she wanted to become a Pillar?

“It is so I can live up to their expectations.”

“I… am their emperor.”

Now or in the future…

“I will always be their emperor.”

For their sake…

“I just want to be their emperor.”

There was no regret on her face as she walked back.

Everyone watching the broadcast could see the bright smile on Ellie’s face as she put the young soldier’s sword back to the place where it was before.

“I came back to meet you guys again,” Ellie murmured with a smile.

At the same time, the viewers of the live broadcast heard the notifications that rang in her ears.

[The Easter Egg: Trial Master’s Test has been completed.]

[You will be able to obtain rewards far more significant than you expected.]

[The hidden Absolute Demigod Class is slowly revealing itself.]

[The corresponding Absolute Demigod Class possesses greater power than a God Class.]

Ellie turned around to look at the black and hazy smoke, a hint of surprise flashing on her face. Then, another notification rang in her ears.

[The hidden Absolute Demigod Class has been evaluated to be the greatest and the best out of all the Absolute Demigod Classes.]

Then, the world message rang.

[Continental Emperor Ellie has become the greatest emperor who protects her empire.]

[Continental Emperor Ellie has become a legend and created a new history by becoming an Absolute Demigod.]

[A new name has been given to her. Her new name is…]

[Hegemon King Ellie.]