Leveling Up through Eating

Articles poured in one after another.

[World’s number one company, Apel, signed an Eight-Trillion Sponsorship Contract with the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

[Bullshit? No, it’s clearly a contract that makes the sound of clinking money!]

[The Beyond the Heavens Empire has sent out Empire Quests to recruit more players. For the players, all roads now lead to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

[Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor Minhyuk has united the players!]

The entire world was shocked by the shocking number. Now, even the players, who were over the fence regarding the ridiculous contract proposed by Minhyuk, had started to flock toward the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

And in the Beyond the Heavens Empire?

“Buy the best weapons, potions, ingredients, and anything we might need regardless of the cost.”

With money, the greatest weapon, they began to purchase the best of the best.

Potion ingredients were immediately sent to Mandala and the competent and outstanding alchemist players.

Siege weapon materials were sent to Hyemin’sDaddy and the thousands of blacksmiths beside him.

Materials for bombs were sent to Bichor and the countless trap specialists and bomb manufacturers by his side.

And the countless cooking ingredients? They were left to Minhyuk. Minhyuk had been cooking non-stop for days on end.

‘We don’t know when Helenia will start to attack.’

They did not have the time to do things leisurely, which was why the lights and smoke in Minhyuk’s kitchen did not go off once.

Worried, Genie approached Minhyuk and said, “Minhyuk, how about taking a nap first?”

“I’m fine…” Minhyuk smiled wryly.

Genie was very concerned about his physical condition.

‘He hasn’t slept for days. And from what I know, he has been cutting back on his sleep for almost a month so he could level up…’

“I understand your concerns. But if I take a rest now, then more people might just die.”

“Ah…” Genie sighed.

She could feel the burden on Minhyuk’s shoulders. She knew that everyone who ate the dish that Minhyuk cooked would be able to protect themselves a bit more during the fight.

“I’m always here for you.”

“Thanks.”

In the end, Genie could not stop him. Once she left, Minhyuk went back to cooking. During the entire process, Minhyuk was in a Deep Trance. The only thing keeping him going was his anger toward Helenia for killing Beradon just like that.

Then, at that moment, the guards knocked and entered with someone. Minhyuk, who had just finished cooking a dish, looked at the man and said, “Twenty billion won for each time. There’s no reason to say no to that, no?”

The man, who was wearing a skull mask, was none other than Crazy Tyrant Akhan.

Akhan had disappeared right after the story related to the God of Death. However, everyone knew he was working actively behind the scenes and had reached Level 650. The Beyond the Heavens Empire had found some information about his abilities through Abel.

“If it’s for an Origin Authority, it’s worth it.”

Akhan and Minhyuk hated each other. But when it came to money, Akhan would willingly become a dog for them.

Just like that, two days passed by.

***

The Arucent Empire might not be large in size, but it has quite a powerful militia. Arucent’s Imperial Army was strong because Emperor Arbella was strong enough to fight toe to toe with the Luvien Empire’s dukes. Compared to other empires, the Arucent Empire loved peace. They tried to avoid war as much as possible.

And inside this empire stood a woman with red hair that reached her waist. She was so beautiful that anyone looking at her would be bewitched. But despite her stunning and graceful appearance, the soldiers were pointing their weapons at her and trembling in fear.

Clack–!

With a snap of her fingers, a small table and a chair appeared before her.

Glug, glug, glug–!

Then, she leisurely poured some tea in her teacup and gently savored its scent.

“R- run…”

“We have to get out of the empire right now.”

The entire empire was in an uproar. There were quick-witted ones who tried to escape the empire.

“Wh- what is this…?”

Unfortunately, they saw that they could no longer take any step further. This was because monsters had already surrounded the entire empire.

More and more soldiers gathered around Helenia, their numbers exceeding hundreds of thousands and filling the central plaza to the brim.

Slash–!

At that moment, the small table in front of Helenia was neatly cut in half. Helenia, with the teacup in her hand, turned to look at Emperor Arbella with a graceful smile.

“Hello?”

“Bullshit. Get lost, you wicked bitch!!!” Arbella shouted. But deep inside, he was very nervous.

Immortal Sorceress Helenia put mankind in danger a long, long time ago. Of course, time has passed by, and she has grown significantly weaker than she was back then. But that did not mean that the prestige of her name had disappeared.

“You have quite a foul mouth.” Helenia chuckled.

In just a blink, millions of troops had gathered around her. On one side of the plaza, the empire's citizens gathered together to escape. However, none of them could leave because of the monsters outside.

“Can you pass a message for me? Everyone who wishes to see me should come to the land where the sun rises first.”

“...!”

Emperor Arbella immediately understood that she was asking everyone who was preparing for her arrival to fight an all-out war with her.

‘The number of people alone will exceed a hundred million.’

Helenia was the public enemy. She was someone that the entire mankind had to overcome. Yet her words exuded her confidence in herself.

A path immediately opened among the monsters.

“I just came here to say this. Hoho.” Helenia covered her mouth with her tiny hand and chuckled lightly.

At that moment, hundreds of cavalry units began to charge toward the path opened by the monsters.

“Ah, by the way. No one else can go through the path I have opened for you. Understand?”

“Everyone…! Don’t be reckless!” Arbella shouted nervously.

They could have lived through the situation safely if none of them had gone down that path. Nonetheless, the soldiers and the people knew that Helenia wanted to slaughter mankind. Could they even believe her words? Shouldn’t they just run down that path? Perhaps they even had a 1% chance of surviving, no?

Tens of millions of people had already gathered in front of the gates of the empire’s capital and were ready to flee. But the soldiers told them not to move.

“Hiiiik! What bullshit are you talking about?! Shouldn’t we run away while we can?! I- I’m going. C- cavalry! Take me with you!”

“Me too!”

“I’ll go too!”

“Run!”

“We wouldn’t have any other chance than now!”

“Everyone, don’t move!!!” Arbella shouted desperately.

Nevertheless, the citizens of the Arucent Empire turned a deaf ear to him. They pushed past the guards and the soldiers and charged straight toward the path Helenia created.

“Hohohoho!”

Goosebumps rose all over Arbella’s body when he heard Helenia’s laughter.

“You bitch…”

She knew that someone would try to run away. At this moment, Arbella understood that she had this wicked and perverted taste of seeing the despair on the faces of the people as she trampled on them after giving them a faint hope. It was a disgusting penchant for playing with human life.

The father, who was carrying his daughter in his arms and running at the forefront, said, “Child, it’s going to be fine. We’re going to survive.”

But a huge shadow cast down on them. It was the shadow cast by a seven-meter-tall bipedal wolf. The wolf opened its maw and bit the man’s head off.

Crunch–!

“Da… ddy?”

“Kyaaaaaack!”

At the same time, the monsters, who gave way and created a path, began to bite, tear, and rip the refugees trying to run away.

“Haaaaa…” Helenia sighed gracefully. The smell of blood smelled fragrant and brought a thrill to her.

Not long after, she pointed her fingers gently toward the tens of millions of citizens of the Arucent Empire.

“Should I try frying them?”

Bzzt– bzzt–

A powerful electric current shot out from her fingertips, electrocuting the citizens of the empire until they turned into burnt crisps.

“How about ripping them apart?”

Fwoosh– fwoosh–

Countless wind blades appeared and tore the citizens apart.

“No. Let’s just burn them to death.”

Shwaaaaa–!

A pillar of flame that could reach the sky burst out and turned the citizens into ashes.

“Uwaaaaack!”

“Kyaaaaaack!”

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Please save us!”

“Your Majestyyyyy!!!”

“P- please. Leave the children…!”

Arbella felt like he was standing in front of the devil. Even so, he had confidence in his power. After all, he could rival the dukes of the Luvien Empire! So, he tightened his hold on his sword and charged toward Helenia.

Five minutes later, all of Arbella’s limbs had been cut off. His body was nailed to a huge tree. But that was not the end of his suffering. He watched as hundreds of meteors appeared in the sky above them.

It only took thirty minutes for the entire Arucent Empire to collapse.

***

Haze handed a bottle of potion to Duke Balaman, who was neither dead nor alive. She said, “I know that you’re going to die a year from now.”

“...” Balaman just looked at Haze silently.

Balaman looked at the potion in his hands. Indeed, he was due to die a year later following the contract that he made with the God of Death.

“To be honest, I don’t like this either. Only His Majesty can give you absolute orders. What I’m saying is that this is not an order; this is a plea. You have killed a lot of people during your lifetime.”

Balaman remained silent. Was his heart throbbing from the pain of guilt? No, there was nothing like that at all. Balaman was born a trash. The only reason why he was looking at the potion in his hands was because of Haze’s words.

“You have lived an ugly life so far, so at least decorate the last moments of your life and make it beautiful.” Haze stood up.

Of course, the slaves from the Black Skull Knight Order and Balaman will participate in the hunt for Helenia.

Balaman, looking at the potion in his hands, caught sight of Haze stopping in her tracks.

Then, she said, “Your muscles look wonderful.”

“...”

Haze, who was about to leave after saying those words, saw Balaman’s face growing red.

“...?”

Flustered by the sight, Haze ran away. Unbeknownst to her, she had given the greatest compliment to a man who loved to work out.

And Balaman? He carried the potion with him.

***

Today was a historic day.

Tens of thousands of drones flew in the sky above them. All the experts were confident that the large-scale battle that would happen on this battlefield would be unprecedented. Of course, the casualties would also be off the charts.

The troops that gathered in front of the Beyond the Heavens Empire comprised players and imperial soldiers and had reached 140 million in number.

[Battle God Minhyuk. I think he’s showing what the true Battle God is like.]

[Following Helenia's words, the Beyond the Heavens’ troops are marching straight toward the land where the sun rises first.]

[Hundreds of millions of troops from the Luvien Empire and the allied forces from all over the world are waiting for Helenia.]

[You can see the tension in the faces of every single one of them.]

[It’s only natural. The NPCs are afraid of facing actual death, while the players are terrified at the thought of not being able to play Athenae anymore.]

[Athenae is now considered as a second world. And for many of us, it has now become a new world. If we lose today’s battle, we may also lose Athenae.]

[Minhyuk is now standing on the podium.]

[This is crazy. I feel like my heart is swelling with pride after seeing a player stand in front of hundreds of millions of people.]

Everyone held their breath as they watched Minhyuk stand on the podium. During his speech, would he shout in anger, with veins popping out of his neck? No, not at all. There was nothing like that.

“I suffer from eating addiction.

“Every day, an unbearable hunger consumes me. This hunger led to my weight increasing to the point where I could only wait for the day I die.

“And this game called Athenae appeared for someone like me.”

Minhyuk talked for a very long time. He told the story of how he started playing the game just so he could eat something delicious. He also told the story of how his illness got better and better the more he played the game. And he told the story of how he became the Supreme.

As he approached the end of his story, he said, “But… is Athenae only important to me?”

“...”

“...”

Everyone thought back to the words ‘just a game’ they usually uttered when they heard his question.

Indeed, it was not just important and precious to him. This game had become the only place where the office workers, who had grown tired of their work, could rest and enjoy their lives. This had become where the exhausted students could run around and meet their friends. Stories about how people with diseases like Minhyuk were improving with the help of Athenae were also constantly published. Perhaps this was not “just a game.” Maybe it also meant a lot to everyone present.

Minhyuk said nothing grand. He raised his sword and said, “I… want to live.”

“...!”

“...!”

For Minhyuk, the end of Athenae was like a death sentence. There was a high chance that his eating addiction would flare up again and drag him down to the depths of despair once again.

Everyone knew this, which was why he spoke calmly. He was letting the world know through his words that he would give it his all and do his best.

“Please help me continue living.”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Their roars shook the world. The fact that he would give it his all because of his will to live made everyone cheer loudly.

Minhyuk smiled as he looked at them. Of course, the speech should end in Minhyuk's way.

“Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!”

“...?”

“...?”

The people who listened to Minhyuk’s great speech could not help but worry when they saw him suddenly sneezing. Was he feeling unwell?

“Achoo! Achoo! Achoooo! Apel! Achoo! Apel! Apel!”

“...?”

Everyone was left stunned by the sudden PPL.

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