Leveling Up through Eating

Twitch, twitch–

Arshad, whose Intuition caused him to react to potential candidates with strength and a story, was stunned by the huge stimulation that shook his entire body. That was when he saw someone approach them from a distance.

‘He said that he was a foreigner.’

Unlike the guardians who protected the world, the foreigners had always been given special privileges, the greatest of which was their immortality. They grew stronger just by killing some monsters or receiving missions. Sometimes, these missions would also get them to a certain position.

Athenae favored the foreigners. Because of that, Evaluator Arshad thought the panorama of this man, whom they were tasked to look into, would be insignificant. He believed it would only be a story about this man’s continuous victories. Arshad was certain that this man’s endeavors would not even reach the hem of Ben and Brod’s stories.

Then, the man’s panorama unfolded in front of Arshad’s eyes. The first scene that greeted him was the sight of a huge man sitting in the dark, who looked like he weighed around 200 kilograms. Many voices floated in the man's ears.

–If things continue at this rate, then you will die.

–You have already reached the level your body can no longer hold on and endure.

–High blood pressure, diabetes, and arthritis alone have made you reach the limits of your body.

When he heard the voice, the young man looked like he wanted to cry, but he forced a smile on his face and replied.

–I’m fine. I’m really fine!

Bathump!

Arshad felt a faint throbbing in his chest.

He still smiled despite the urge to cry after learning that he had one foot on the grave. After all, he cared for the people around him.

Just like that, the man’s story unfolded in front of Arshad. The scene in front of him flipped quickly. He watched the man tirelessly use his pickaxe for days on end. When Arshad saw this, he thought, ‘Can I do it like him?’

Arshad realized that they thought lightly of the man. They thought he would have an easy life because he was a foreigner.

That was not the case at all.

‘Can I do it like him? Can Captain Evaluator Ruba do it like him? Can the greatest god, Athenae, and “he”, the man we serve, do it like him?’

The answer to that was “no.” It was impossible.

‘Because he’s a weak human…’

He tried to stand up and get over the obstacles in his path.

‘His desire to live.’

It was what kept him from giving up and falling.

‘He would stretch his hand out and…’

He brought a lot of people to his side.

Arshad unknowingly shed tears. How hard was it? How much did he want to collapse?

‘He’s only twenty-one years old.’

It was unbelievable. Even they, who had lived for thousands of years, could not do it. But this young man had done it with his own hands. When the panorama ended, Arshad was greeted by another illusion.

Everything returned back to the first scene that Arshad saw. Although the young man had been smiling as hard as he could, he still burst out in tears in the end.

–Your Majesty.

The man named Brod knelt in front of him and grabbed his hands.

–Hoho. Your Majesty, I will always be by your side, so please don’t worry too much.

Even the old man named Ben stood by his side and patted him on the shoulder.

At that moment, Arshad saw the man’s wide figure shrink. Before he knew it, the young man’s figure had changed; his figure was wonderful, and many people were smiling and standing around him.

‘The hand that he stretched out to help them…’

It has brought a group of people who were willing to protect him.

‘The steps that he took…’

When Arshad blinked, the scene changed, and he saw him standing above the hundreds of millions of people.

At this moment, Arshad realized that this person was the very person the candidates served and worshiped. His initial doubts about this person quickly disappeared.

***

‘Is that an official position?’

After hearing that question, Ruba and the other evaluators could not open their mouths for a long time. If they were to be honest, they truly did not hold an official position. A powerful position such as an “evaluator” should be an official position.

The evaluators thought the emperor would quickly come to their aid, bow down to apologize, and immediately execute Brod and Ben, who had attacked them.

“These crazy bastards! What are you trying to say right now? Huh? Weren’t you the ones who stormed into someone’s empire and broke the arms and the legs of my people?”

The emperor did run, but it was not what they expected.

Minhyuk was overcome with wrath. When he talked with Obren about the evaluators, he decided that he would do it. He believed he did not have much to worry about, even if they came to see him.

Of course, the story was completely different now that they turned out to be shitty assholes.

“So, you’re saying that just because you’re an evaluator, you can do something like that to innocent citizens?”

“...”

“Did the person you serve give you the authority to do that?”

Of course, he never gave them that authority. It was just because they had been drunk on their prestige and power that they trampled on others and took things for granted.

“Apologize. Otherwise, we will respond to you in the same manner. No. We will make you pay double and break all of your limbs.”

Minhyuk’s cold gaze struck Ruba. He listened silently to the words of the man standing before him. He realized he could not deny them. Everything that Minhyuk said was correct.

To him, these were nothing but trivial matters. This was because Ruba was powerful and had the authority of an evaluator. He even grew furious at how Minhyuk reacted.

His expression soured as he warned Minhyuk. “We are evaluators…”

At that moment, Arshad awakened from the panorama and the illusion. He raised his hand and pointed at Minhyuk shakily, shouting, “Y- you pass! You pass! Pass!”

Arshad was always the first to determine whether someone qualified to become a candidate. Once Arshad recognized and admitted someone as a candidate, Ruba and the other evaluators would also accept the candidate 80% of the time.

So, why did Arshad shout so loudly and accept this man just like that? It even felt like a slap in the face after what transpired.

Ruba sighed deeply. Then, he pushed Arshad back and said, “Are you not aware that the evaluators are the ones who ensure that the candidate is worthy of the position?! We have come a long way just to make sure that you are qualified as a Pillar Candidate! Despite standing in front of people of such status, you dare to treat us like this?!”

Minhyuk sneered.

“Is that how it should be? If that’s what it means to be a Pillar Candidate, then…” Minhyuk pulled his sword out. “I’d rather not become one.”

He pointed his sword at Ruba.

“You have hurt my people, yet you want me to please you just to be recognized by you? Why drag me into it? Just do it on your own.”

“...!”

The situation got more serious, especially after Minhyuk pointed his sword at Ruba. Of course, this also provoked Ruba even more. One could see his anger growing by the second.

Then, he caught sight of the people standing next to Minhyuk—especially the man with a sword hanging on his waist. The man took something out and began to nibble on it. It was none other than bungeo-ppang.

‘This is yummy! This is really yummy!’

The man was none other than Bender. For someone like him, who had only eaten rotten centipede intestines, bugs, and giant crocodile hearts for thousands of years, the bungeo-ppang was truly something delicious, especially when it was hot. It was crispy on the outside and very moist on the inside; truly a delight to eat!

He wanted to stay still and endure, but the allure of the bungeo-ppang’s scent made him unable to do so. There was also the unknown honey that coated the red beans inside. It truly made it unbearable to endure.

‘Every time I chew, I can taste the crispiness on the outside and the softness on the inside of the bread. There’s also the sweet red bean. It’s a combination to die for!’

Bender felt like he was the happiest person in the world right now.

When Minhyuk saw Ruba glancing at Bender, he realized what the Transcendental was doing.

‘Ah… Uhm. It’s understandable.’

Minhyuk could fully understand him. After all, they had only eaten such a dish for the first time in thousands of years. It was truly understandable. How should he explain this? It was like there were five more Minhyuks beside him. However, Minhyuk also knew that this might make the situation worse.

“He’s outright mocking and ignoring us, the evaluators!!!”

In the end, Ruba could not endure it and exploded. A tremendous amount of power surged from deep within Ruba’s body. At the same time, one of the three long lines engraved on his arms disappeared.

“S-sir Ruba!”

“If you release your seal, then he will discipline you!”

“It doesn’t matter!”

At this moment, Ruba chose to not care about anything else. At this point, it did not matter whether the man in front of him was a candidate or not. He could just write in his report and say, “He refused to take the position of a candidate, showed hostility, and eventually died after a fierce battle with us.”

Since the man was a foreigner, Ruba could freely give him a huge and overbearing scolding after he revived.

Minhyuk groaned lightly. ‘His level increased by 50 all at once.’

Minhyuk’s eyesight was sharp. He had seen how one of the lines engraved on Ruba’s arm disappeared, and then Ruba suddenly went up to Level 950 from 900.

Bang–!

Ruba shot toward Minhyuk with a burst of power. Brod and Ben tried to block him, but the other evaluators stepped forward and stopped them.

A black light appeared and covered the blade of Ruba’s sword. This passive skill could only be triggered when Ruba released his powers all at once.

‘The Mad Hound.’

A berserk yet powerful hound appeared. There was a 30% chance of this hound appearing. Once it appeared, a single cut upon the enemy would result in ten straight bites from the hound.

‘This is more than enough to deal with him.’

Ruba, who appeared right before Minhyuk, successfully landed a blow on his waist. At the same time, the Mad Hound was activated and began to bite Minhyuk like crazy.

Slash, slash, slash–!

Ruba saw dents appear all over Minhyuk’s armor. Then, the armor was quickly restored to its original appearance.

‘W-what kind of armor is this?!’

Ruba was flustered. The damage he dealt to the armor was more of a “dent” than a “cut”. It recovered quickly when it was supposed to fall off after being cut down. After all, that was usually what happened to any defensive weapon after meeting Ruba’s attacks.

‘How high is his defensive power…?’

From what Ruba could see, Minhyuk did not look like he was hit hard.

Minhyuk looked at the flustered Ruba and said, “I have something similar.”

The word Destruction appeared on the blade of Minhyuk’s sword, and he swung it at Ruba.

Rumble–

Bang, bang, bang–!

Lightning bolts fell from the sky and struck Ruba. Considering Ruba’s high HP and defensive power, the damage dealt by the lightning bolts was insignificant. On top of that, Ruba’s competitive spirit was triggered when Minhyuk went head to head with him, saying he had a power similar to his own.

Just like that, the two allowed each other’s attacks to land on their bodies. The hounds were constantly biting Minhyukunds, while Ruba was constantly struck by lightning.

“Sir Ruba has already released a seal, but this guy can go head to head and endure this much against him…?”

The other evaluators were shocked.

With every attack he landed on Ruba, Minhyuk could restore his HP thanks to the Slaughterer’s Absorption. As for Ruba, he was regenerating and recovering as well, thanks to his special physique being an evaluator.

In a few short seconds, the two could exchange hundreds of blows. The problem was that Minhyuk’s restoration of HP through the Slaughterer’s Absorption could not keep up with Ruba.

“Dual Swordsmanship Technique.”

Minhyuk, with two swords in hand, attacked Ruba several times faster than before. Of course, Ruba’s physical regeneration could still keep up with his attacks. But right now, it was apparent that the two were fighting on even ground.

‘What…!’ Ruba thought in shock.

Then, at that moment, a small smile appeared on Minhyuk’s face. “Black Dragon Armor.”

The Transcendental’s Armor that covered Minhyuk’s body transformed into the Black Dragon Armor. With the Black Dragon Armor, Ruba was left completely behind. Minhyuk’s defensive power when wearing this armor was much higher than before. Furthermore, this armor had a very huge advantage.

Minhyuk provoked Ruba on purpose. He judged that Ruba would fall for his provocation if he said that he had a similar power and fought head-to-head with him, which created this situation.

“Transcendence.”

[You have activated Transcendence!]

[You have gone beyond your limits and transcended to another realm!]

[You have gone beyond your limits and transcended to another realm!]

[You have gone beyond your limits and transcended to another realm!]

[The Transcendence’s buff effects have now been applied!]

[All of your stats have increased by 35%!]

[All of your attack power has increased by 29%!]

[All of your defensive power has increased by 36%!]

[All of your skill levels have increased by +2!]

[Your resistance to abnormal statuses has increased by 40%!]

[Your total HP and MP have increased by 30%!]

[Transcendence will remain in effect for thirty seconds!]

Ruba’s arrogant nature had implicitly allowed a direct exchange of blows. The attacks during that confrontation had allowed Minhyuk to fulfill the condition needed to activate Transcendence. Because of that, Minhyuk's Destruction’s level had increased by 2. All of his stats had also increased by 35%, while his attack power had increased by 29%

Slash–!

Ruba almost shouted when he saw Minhyuk raise his sword and shoot a black stream of energy toward him. Of course, Minhyuk did not stop attacking him with destruction either.

Thud–

Ruba started getting pushed back and then forced to kneel on one knee. He was left exhausted by the pain and the shock of the blows that he received.

Thud–!

“...!”

“...!”

The other evaluators were left astonished. They watched as the man looked down at Captain Evaluator Ruba, who was forced to kneel on one knee with an arrogant gaze. This was their first time encountering something like this, especially when meeting a “mere” candidate.

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