Leveling Up through Eating

Lump sum payment. This literally meant that one would not use the installment payment scheme. If one used a credit card for the payment, they would pay the amount immediately after it was due. If one used a debit card, the amount would immediately be deducted from their bank account.

The branch manager's mouth dropped open. The same was true for Kim Dae-Hyun, who was rendered speechless and could not close his agape mouth. No one had ever swiped their card and paid more than 16 billion won in a lump sum payment.

Kim Dae-Hyun’s eyes grew fierce as he sneered, “Pfft. Hahahaha. Sir, please stop messing around.”

With a heavy gaze, he looked at the man from head to toe as if he found his words ridiculous. The black card the man was holding might be for a VVIP, but no one was crazy enough to pay 16 billion won in one go.

‘It’s only possible if someone told you to spend a lot of money in a few days. Otherwise, who in their right mind would do that?’

Alas, this was the reality in front of them. The man lifted the black card in his hands.

The branch manager replied while smiling awkwardly. “S-sir. It will be a little hard for you to buy all of the cars in this dealership, and the additional ten units you requested.”

However, unlike Kim Dae-Hyun, his smile was softer, and he spoke up as much as possible for the man’s sake.

Then, the man said, “I have conditions.”

Everyone focused on the man’s words, while Kim Dae-Hyun’s temper flared.

“Shit. Are you for real? How long do we have to listen to such a crazy person? Hurry and chase him away…”

“Please record the sales of all of the Nomborghini that I’m buying under Lee Hyun-Soo’s name.”

“...?!”

“...!”

Lee Hyun-Soo’s mouth dropped open. The man’s words were so ridiculous that he could not believe them. Was he going to be the first person with a track record of selling twenty Nomborghinis all at once?

Then, the man looked at Kim Dae-Hyun and said, “And I want this person to be subjected to disciplinary actions.”

“...”

The branch manager was silent. He had no idea how to steer and take the reins of the situation. What if the man in front of him was just lying? Nonetheless, the branch manager knew Kim Dae-Hyun’s behavior was wrong. It was a problem to divide customers based on their wealth.

“The card terminal is just upfront; please, follow me.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Shit. You’re a completely crazy bastard, huh?!” Kim Dae-Hyun pulled his tie loose and followed right after them.

But the man ignored him and just followed behind Lee Hyun-Soo, who took out his calculator and carefully computed the amount, even making sure to triple-check it.

Then, he said, “Sir, should we fill out the contract first?”

“Ah. It’s fine. Let me pay first.” The man replied, before swiping his card.

“Hey, Lee Hyun-Soo. Drag that bastard out right away! That card will definitely be declined. And you, you bastard! Who are you to dare demand I be subjected to disciplinary actions, huh…”

Shiing–

However, the receipts printed out from the card terminal were clearly reflected in Kim Dae-Hyun’s eyes. His eyes almost popped out from shock when he saw the receipts churning out.

“P-payment has been confirmed.”

Kim Dae-Hyun was rendered speechless when he heard the confirmation.

‘How can he afford 16 billion won just like that?’

Then, as if to answer Kim Dae-Hyun’s question,the man took off his wide-brim hat and mask. When his face was revealed, the mouths of everyone present almost dropped to the floor.

In recent years, one man had a more significant influence than the president of a country and was the object of admiration of hundreds of millions of people. He was none other than Minhyuk.

***

“I am precisely thatbastard.”

Everyone was left frozen.

Minhyuk learned that one of the guild members, who had been with the Beyond the Heavens Empire for a very long time, had gotten a job at the Nomborghini store. Thinking he might help out his guild member, Minhyuk deliberately went to this store.

When Minhyuk entered, he was greeted by his guild member’s kind smile. The gesture made him feel good to the point that he thought, ‘Ah, as expected of our guild member!’

But then, there was Kim Dae-Hyun, who was completely different.

“So, there are really people like that, huh?”

Minhyuk, with a cold look in his eyes, scanned Kim Dae-Hyun from head to toe. His gaze made Kim Dae-Hyun feel as if he was suffocating.

“People who feel like they are above others just because they are selling expensive watches, branded items and luxurious cars.”

“...”

No words came out, no matter how often Kim Dae-Hyun opened and closed his mouth. The person that he was ignoring and belittling just now turned out to be the heir of Ilhwa Group, a company with a market cap of more than 500 trillion won, and was currently the most influential person in the world.

Minhyuk took a step toward Kim Dae-Hyun. Then, he straightened his clothes and said, “Wake up. Selling them does not mean that you are luxurious and above others.”

“...”

Minhyuk’s eyes were filled with contempt as he looked at Kim Dae-Hyun. Then, he said, “Branch manager, are you going to do what I ask you to do?”

“Ah. Of course!”

Minhyuk went beyond the VVIP level. If he decided to call their headquarters and file a complaint, their branch would be overturned.

Minhyuk grabbed Kim Dae-Hyun and whispered in his ears, “This is what you call flex.”

***

Oh Changwook let out a long and deep sigh.

This year, he turned thirty-five. He was once a well-known celebrity fitness trainer, but a leg injury forced him to quit his job. At Lee Jinhwan’s recommendation, he became Minhyuk’s personal trainer.

At the end of the day, Oh Changwook was still a salaried worker. Of course, he was paid better than ordinary trainers. However, the wall of reality was just too high.

‘The average price of a house is at two billion won? This is why people say that buying your own home is impossible.

The current year was 2030. The prices of apartments in Seoul had already increased beyond one’s imagination. It was something that an average person would never be able to buy or own!

‘But I can’t house my parents in a shabby place…’

The money in Changwook’s hand was just a little more than 5,000 won. He had saved quite a lot of money, but his parents were sick. He spent a lot more money than he expected on hospital bills.

He wanted to take them out of the hospital and let them live somewhere nearby because they said that they were feeling worse in the hospital. Unfortunately, he was short of money, and there seemed to be a limit to the amount of mortgage they could obtain.

‘Should I go and ask for help from Minhyuk? No. Oh Changwook, what are you thinking?’ Changwook scolded himself. ‘Is money the reason why you’re staying with Minhyuk, huh?’

Oh Changwook had been with Minhyuk since he was a young middle school student. Back then, he had decided to concentrate solely on the boy’s treatment. The people of the house were kind, and so was Minhyuk. That was why he was very grateful to them.

When Minhyuk first showed signs of improvement in his eating addiction, he was the one who hugged the boy and cried with him all night. Oh Changwook did not want to put a price on their relationship.

‘They’re already paying me enough.’

Oh Changwook sniffled, his nose runny from the cold weather. Just then, he received a phone call from Minhyuk. Oh Changwook immediately made his voice sound brighter, ensuring his sadness was not showing through.

“What’s the matter, bro?”

–Hyung.I’m somewhere near Korea Hospital. Can we meet?

“Why?”

–You’ll know when you come. Hurry up and come here!

If it was Korea Hospital, then it was where Changwook’s parents were currently confined.

‘Ugh. The housing prices near that place are costly too…’

Since Oh Changwook was already near the place, so he headed to the hospital without hesitation.

***

Changwook couldn’t understand what Minhyuk was talking about.

They were standing in front of a high-rise apartment building near Korea Hospital. Although the area of their apartments wasn’t that large, they were still good houses. And their sale price was no less than three billion won.

Minhyuk handed a key over to him and said, “It’s your house, hyung.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re family, hyung.”

Changwook could not process and understand what Minhyuk was saying. Then, he saw Minhyuk pat his pockets. Once again, he took out a key. This time, the key was for a car with a three-sided star logo worth around a hundred million won.

Minhyuk continued, “This is for you too, hyung.”

“Why…?”

“Because I like you so much, hyung.”

Admittedly, Oh Changwook still could not understand what Minhyuk was saying.

Then, Minhyuk held a receipt and said, “I paid your hospital fees in advance. I deposited a lot. They said this is against their rules, but they’re willing to do it because it’s me?”

“So, why…?”

Minhyuk smiled at Oh Changwook’s repeated questions, before replying, “For saving me.”

“...” Oh Changwook was speechless.

Minhyuk was rich. However, he had always lived a frugal life. Even so, he had already planned to give Oh Changwook a house when Oh Changwook got married. As long as he could express his gratitude and heart, he thought spending a hundred billion won would not be a waste on this man.

Still, even if Minhyuk wanted to give Oh Changwook a hundred billion won, he knew Oh Changwook was not the type of person who would accept it. It just happened that something came up and he was allowed to do something for him.

Although Oh Changwook had kept silent about it, Minhyuk learned that he had been struggling to pay his parents’ hospital bills. He had been trying to find a way to hand the money over to him without making him feel burdened.

Finally, Minhyuk got an excellent opportunity and handed everything he wanted to give all at once.

Oh Changwook had cried with him, laughed with him, and stayed by his side. Even though the man knew he was rich, he never asked for anything from him. The only thing that Oh Changwook asked was for the two of them to travel together when Minhyuk’s illness was cured. He was really like a brother, like family, to Minhyuk. That was the kind of hyung Changwook was to him.

“Thank you, hyung. For helping me live.”

Minhyuk never thought that any of these things were a waste.

“But this is too much…”

Knowing that Changwook would refuse, Minhyuk hurriedly explained everything about Johnson. Changwook almost exploded.

“What?! How dare he give such ridiculous advice to our dear Minhyuk, huh?!”

The moment Changwook heard about the black card, his reaction immediately changed. There was a kind and gentle smile on his face.

“His advice is really, really good. I can see that he’s a very outstanding and kind gentleman.”

“...”

The kind smile was just like the ones Lee Jinhwan and Minhyuk’s father had on their faces.

“Anyway, this is like a withdrawal. So, I paid for everything right away. You don’t have to feel pressured; just take it.”

Changwook was overcome with emotions. Although he was in charge of Minhyuk’s exercise, in Athenae, he was just an ordinary high-level player and could not help the boy at all. He was very thankful that he was included in Minhyuk’s flex.

Then, Minhyuk said to the sniffing Changwook. “Ah. Hyung. Your contract has expired, right?”

Minhyuk immediately offered Changwook a new contract. After reading the contract, Changwook could tell that the conditions were much better than before. Even his annual salary would increase every year. But then, Changwook saw the words written at the end of the contract.

[This is a 50-year contract.]

“...”

Changwook understood that this was Minhyuk’s way of trying to hold onto him forever. Even so, Changwook did not care. With a voice laced with his sincerity, he said, “Thanks.”

***

Minhyuk gathered all the people precious to him and treated them to a meal in a high-end restaurant. Most of them were guild members from the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

When they received the cars, they could not hide their gratitude and voiced their sincere appreciation one after another. Of course, most people here were already rich enough to afford their own Nomborghini. They were very happy that Minhyuk thought about them and bought the cars for them.

“I like the colors too.” The usually quiet Ascar, also known as Da-Sol in reality, piped up. “Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. It’s the rainbow. Minhyuk, you’re quite good at choosing colors.”

“...”

“...”

Everyone turned silent for a moment. Nevertheless, they continued to enjoy their meals. None of them were worried that Minhyuk would be addicted to flexing like this.

‘If he’s going to be addicted to that, then he would have already done it before.’

‘And even if he really gets addicted to flexing, he’s a chaebol. It doesn’t matter.’

Then, Jihye asked, “Minhyuk, from what you said, you still have ten billion won left, right? What are you going to do with that?”

Minhyuk had already gone to the department store and bought all the watches and luxury items he had not bought before. Nonetheless, there was still quite a lot of money left.

“Well, there’s something that I really want to buy.” Minhyuk smiled.

***

South Korea Hotel.

Johnson, enjoying a rare long break, threw his phone somewhere and promptly ignored it. On his third day of visiting South Korea, he decided to open his phone for the first time in a long while. However, he planned to only use it briefly.

The moment he opened it, it began to vibrate nonstop. Most of the notifications were payment and purchase notifications.

When Johnson’s secretary saw the look of interest on his face, he asked, “He… Has he spent all of the money?”

“Yes. Just in time, he spent everything. Huh? But what’s this…”

Johnson’s eyes grew wide.

[You have paid 1,000,000,000 won to Hamburg Touch.]

[You have paid 1,000,000,000 won to Awesome Pizza.]

[You have paid 1,000,000,000 won to Premium Samgyeopsal.]

[You have paid 1,000,000,000 won to King Chicken.]

[...Eel…]

[...Kimchi…]

Johnson looked through the payment notifications and was left in a daze.

“Chicken, pizza, hamburger, samgyeopsal, eel, kimchi and many more… What the hell is this? Did he buy a lifetime pass or something?”

‘Goodness! Was there truly anyone who could spend so much for food alone? No. More than that, is he completely insane?’

Then, his secretary, who was checking his phone, said, “There are a lot of articles about Mr. Minhyuk.”

Johnson hurriedly checked the articles.

[World’s Best Man: Minhyuk. He paid 10 billion won to various food companies.]

[He said this money would be used to share meals to the people in need for free.]

[This is Flex. Minhyuk actually donated ten billion won!]

[Discussions from his previous interviews had surfaced. He said it would be nice if there were no hungry people in the world.]

Johnson roared with laughter, “Ahahahahahahahaha!”

He truly respected Minhyuk for being able to spend 30 billion won like that. He found the young man to be truly interesting and fun.

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