Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 420: Lesser Demon Diablo

Lee Jin-Sung’s pupils shook wildly as his breath stagnated from the unmistakable frost in Minhoo’s voice.

“People always tend to show their true colors the moment they think that the person they’re dealing with is a pushover. Am I right? It has helped me distinguish who my friends and enemies are so far.”

Yes, that was right. To many, Kang Minhoo was a transparent, clean, and kind chairman and this gave him the power to distinguish the true colors that people hide deeply. His kindness always gave the people the idea that his judgment and plans were flawed.

However, such a perception was completely wrong. In fact, he was deliberately exhibiting such gaps so that his enemies would reach their hands out to take advantage of them. And when they did so, like a venus flytrap, he would bite them and never let them go.

That was when Lee Jin-Sung realized, ‘He’s a king among kings…’

When Lee Jin-Sung sat with Daehan Group’s chairman for five minutes, he felt like he was sitting in front of a snarling beast that no ordinary person could deal with. But in front of Chairman Kang Minhoo, the person that he thought was a meek and gentle sheep, he felt as if he was in front of a sleeping tiger, a predator that stood on top of all predators.

Lee Jin-Sung felt immense regret as he stared at Kang Minhoo’s departing back.

***

Ask the people about the best TV brand in Korea and they would quickly answer…

‘If you’re talking about TVs then of course it’s Ilhwa!’

Ask them about the best smartphone brand and…

‘Of course it’s Ilhwa!’

Then what about groceries?

‘If it’s groceries then it’s definitely Ilhwa!’

What about buildings?

‘The buildings that Ilhwa makes are on an entirely different class! Kyaa~!’

Ask them what brand is next best when it came to TV, smartphone, groceries, and buildings, and they would say…

‘It’s a bit of a pity but I think it’s Daehan Group?’

That was right. Daehan Group had always lagged behind Ilhwa Group. They always placed second!

Daehan Group’s Chairman Eom Jin-Woong had trampled on plenty of his enemies. He reached this point by stealing other’s works and trampling on them right after. Yes, he was someone that could easily betray yesterday’s friend.

However, no matter what he did, he could never bring down the Ilhwa Group. Ilhwa Group was an existence akin to a tall mountain, it could easily block the grandeur of a small mountain like his.

Once again, Eom Jin-Woong realized how tough and sturdy Ilhwa Group was.

Eom Jin-Woong thought he found a crack in Ilhwa Group’s defenses through Kang Minhyuk, the chairman’s son. Now was the time when they needed to find someone to take over for Chairman Kang Minhoo. It did not matter how fair and transparent he was as a chairman, he would still need to find a successor.

Of course, he did not want someone with the blood of a king like Minhoo to sit in that position. It just so happened that he received a tip about Minhoo’s son having a very rare disease called eating addiction! A disease that would eventually lead to death! With information like this out in the open, Ilhwa Group’s shareholders would definitely feel shaken and would do their best to support another successor. Once that happened, Ilhwa Group would eventually fall behind their company.

Eom Jin-Woong thought that he had dealt them a heavy blow. To his dismay, Ilhwa Group was able to overcome this blow and even climbed higher than where they were before.

‘I can’t believe he was able to stand up and overcome an incurable disease like that…’

Eom Jin-Woong gritted his teeth as they tried their best to block the mouths of the reporters that they had gathered on stand-by. After leaking information about Minhyuk having eating addiction, he planned to take advantage of the fact that he was going to participate in the Athenae: World War to announce that he was Chairman Kang Minhoo’s son.

In fact, rumors had already started to circulate about that fact. Thankfully, the hype and discussion about the World War had buried the topic.

‘My son should win against the Ilhwa Group’s next generation!’

At that moment, he received a call. It was from Chairman Kang Minhoo.

[It’s me.]

His greeting was brief and blunt. Then, he asked…

[Did you really have to go that far?]

“You know how our world works. Our Daehan Group’s next generation will be the best group in Korea.”

[Then I will respond accordingly. Today, an article will be released saying that Minhyuk is my son.]

“…!”

Eom Jin-Woong’s eyes widened, his body trembling in shock, after hearing his words.

“We… weren’t you trying to hide him?”

[Afraid? Once I reveal that my son, Minhyuk, is Ilhwa Group’s successor, our stocks will soar tremendously.]

The reason why Eom Jin-Woong had gathered reporters was because he knew that he would be able to deal a fatal blow to Ilhwa Group once the fact that Minhyuk was Kang Minhoo’s son was revealed. They would cause a stir that would result in Ilhwa’s stocks plummeting.

However, that would only happen if Minhyuk had not overcome his eating addiction.

If Ilhwa released that Minhyuk was their successor right now, his success story and outstanding abilities, including the fact that he was a global Athenae top ranker, would completely overturn the situation. Ilhwa’s stocks would definitely soar, which would help them reach new heights.

“Didn’t you tell me that you hate to use your child for the sake of the group, hyung?!” Eom Jin-Woong stuttered in a hurry.

Then, Kang Minhoo said…

[Yes. I still hate it. But this is what my son wanted.]

Jin-Woong finally realized after hearing Kang Minhoo’s words that the tiger’s cub had finally grown up to become an adult tiger. And that tiger was now trying to bite back at his aggressor.

‘This, this…!’

Not long after, Jin-Woong regained his calm. He said, “Your son might be doing well right now but don’t you think that it would also pose a threat?”

Athenae was now like another world, a game with astronomical value. If he could take most of the spotlight in the World War, his value would soar tremendously if the fact that he was Chairman Kang Minhoo’s son was revealed.

But what if it was not the case? Then, he would not make a huge impact for the company.

But Kang Minhoo said…

[As a father, all I need to do is trust my own son.]

“…”

For some reason, Eom Jin-Woong felt a strange sense of defeat. All he could do was refuse to react to his words.

“What if he made a mistake? You will definitely receive a huge blow by then, right?”

Jin-Woong was just spitting out whatever words that came to his mind. Then, Minhoo said…

[So what if he made a mistake? That’s something that I have to deal with as his father.]

Tremble, tremble—

The strange sense of defeat grew stronger in Jin-Woong to the point that his body trembled.

“You… you’re telling me that you will continue to care for and treasure your son even if all he does is play games?! You’re not going to teach Minhyuk the ways to be a successor?! You’ll just let him play games like that?”

Minhoo responded…

[All I want is my son to be happy. So what if he can’t be my successor? He’s the apple of my eye. As long as he’s happy then everything would be fine. Isn’t that right?]

Jin-Woong felt a wave of shame wash over him as a stronger sense of defeat pervaded his body. He was completely different from Minhoo. What he did was push his son, who never wanted to become a chairman, to a cliff by forcing him to become his successor.

‘Become the best! Do all of this! Lead this group and trample on Ilhwa Group!’

Eom Jin-Woong was fully aware that his son was living in hell each and every day. Then, Kang Minhoo said…

[Don’t push your son away just because of your greed. For once, think about what’s best for him. That’s all. I’m hanging up now.]

The moment the call ended, Jin-Woong threw the smartphone in his hands.

Crack—

His breathing turned rough from anger. He was angry because he knew. He knew that his greed was making his son unhappy. He knew how heavy the weight he was forcing onto his son, by pushing him to become a chairman and defeating Ilhwa Group.

But, Kang Minhyuk was a different breed from him.

“Do… do you really think that Kang Minhyuk will do well in this event, huh?!”

Athenae’s value was astronomical. That was why Daehan Group had hired the best Athenae experts under their name. He could easily hear an answer the moment he asked them a question.

“Do you think he will try to cooperate with the monster in this Named Monster Hunting event?”

“I don’t know. He had met Diablo in the past so there’s a chance. Besides, countless players will definitely keep Kang Minhyuk in check.”

“He won’t be able to make a huge splash in this game. There’s Alexander and Calauhel, as well as the Chinese Hunter King called the Monster Hunter God.”

Only then did Eom Jin-Woong smile in relief.

‘Kang Minhyuk will not be able to make a huge splash!’

That should definitely be the case. When that happened, Daehan Group would no longer lag behind Ilhwa Group. But what Jin-Woong did not know was that what he heard were these experts’ mere guesses.

***

Minhyuk finally decided on a course of action while watching Calauhel and the rest of the players keep a distance from him.

“You’re quite lucky,” Calauhel spat, voice carrying a hint of threat.

The tremendous display of power that Diablo showed them earlier made the rankers keep their distance from Minhyuk. They already assumed that Diablo and Minhyuk were close. This meant that attacking Minhyuk would incur Diablo’s wrath, which would result in Diablo targeting them with powerful blows like that. And it would work as an advantage for Minhyuk.

Instead of keeping him in check, the rankers had no choice but to focus their attention on hunting named monsters instead.

[China’s Hunting King has gone ahead by killing a named monster!]

[Diablo is not moving an inch from his spot! This is completely contrary to our worries!]

[Alexander has already killed two named monsters as we speak. That’s very amazing!]

[Named monsters are continuously being summoned in the field. This game will end in two hours. But I’m sure that we can feast our eyes with their splendid battles during the entire duration of the game!]

Yes, the spectacular battles were truly a feast to the eyes of both the spectators and commentators. Just by running and attacking them a few times, the rankers were able to assess the named monsters’ characteristics and weaknesses, quickly devising strategies to kill them. This was an amazing feat that no ordinary player could pull off, and right now they were being blessed to see the complete process as to how the rankers do it. It was certainly a brilliant and spectacular view for them to watch and study.

The ones that took the lead were Alexander and China’s Hunting King. Hunting King was so famous that people declared him as the world’s number one monster hunter, especially with one of his skills specializing in analyzing and hunting monsters. On the other hand, Alexander was literally the strongest.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk started to enact his plans.

[Huh, huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?! Pl… Player Minhyuk is rushing towards Diablo!!!]

[What?! What’s happening right now? He was also damaged by Diablo’s attack earlier so why is he rushing to where Diablo is?!]

[Perhaps he changed plans and will now attack Diablo?!]

[It could be very dangerous for him. Besides we still haven’t confirmed how strong his single-attack skill is!]

Every player turned their attention to where Minhyuk was. After all, they could suffer from damage once Minhyuk rubbed Diablo the wrong way. They watched as Minhyuk ran and stood face to face with Diablo before shouting, “Let’s Have a Meal!”

A barrier encircled Minhyuk and Diablo.

***

ATV’s PD Kim Daeguk went to Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium today to watch Minhyuk and Diablo up close. He was very excited for Minhyuk’s performance today. He was certain that Minhyuk would definitely use a new and fresh method. Although Athenae and its management will be in trouble, it would be a ‘shocking and exciting broadcast’ for them so he just could not let it pass.

At that moment, Minhyuk arrived near Diablo and cast ‘Let’s Have a Meal’.

“Cameras! Focus on Player Minhyuk! Zoom in on him! Make sure that you don’t miss any of his pores!!! All cameras, except for the bare minimum to track the other players, focus on Player Minhyuk!”

“Are, are we really going to focus most of our cameras on Player Minhyuk?”

“Yes! Okay, I’ll take care of whatever consequence that will come out of it!”

PD Kim believed in Minhyuk. And it was because of that that he made that decision. Besides, it was because of Minhyuk that ATV obtained its highest recorded rating before.

At this moment, only ATV’s cameras focused on Minhyuk. This was a gamble. Focusing on shooting only one player meant that there was a chance that their broadcast could become boring. But what if a variable appeared on that player? Also, there was one more thing that PD Kim had taken into consideration. Player Minhyuk’s cooking was enough to secure their viewership ratings.

‘But will Player Minhyuk really work together with Diablo?’

If he did that, then he would have to deal with all of the players. Besides, could he really control Diablo? But surprisingly enough, Diablo did not attack Minhyuk. But before something could happen, shocking information was released to the world.

“P… PD! Right, right now, on the internet…!”

“…?”

PD Kim Daeguk, who was closely monitoring Minhyuk’s actions on the monitor, looked at his smartphone in doubt. His eyes widened after seeing the real-time search results.

1. Food God Minhyuk. Ilhwa Group’s Successor.

2. Eating Addiction.

3. World War: Named Monster Hunting.

“…!”

PD Kim’s body trembled as he looked at Minhyuk’s figure on the screen. Meanwhile, the stands were in a buzz as their expectations on what he would do and achieve soared even higher.

However, they believed that things were not going swimmingly for Minhyuk. Let’s Have a Meal’s duration was quite long. During its duration, Hunting King and Alexander, who were currently ranked first and second, would continue to raise their scores, while Minhyuk would have no points at all. Everyone felt their hearts rise to their throats.

‘I know that you’ll give a buff to Diablo when you use Let’s Have a Meal, but it’s not going to be easy…’

But then, something very unusual happened.

Shwaaaaaaaaaa—

It was more shocking than unusual. A pillar of light suddenly fell and surrounded Minhyuk, who was standing in the middle of the Named Monster Hunting field. The players in the midst of hunting named monsters stopped and looked back at Minhyuk when they saw the pillar of light fall. There, they saw Diablo shedding tears as Minhyuk handed a dish to him. Along with that, a series of notifications rang loudly.

[A player that has created something that transcends the Human Realm has been born for the fourth time in Athenae.]

[This message resonates loudly throughout the entire continent.]

Not too long ago, they heard that the third God-rank artifact was obtained by a player in America. And now, the fourth one has appeared.

“Keheooook!” PD Kim Daeguk shouted in shock along with the audience.

Meanwhile, in Daehan Group’s chairman’s office…

“G…God-rank?! Di… didn’t you tell me that he wouldn’t do well?!” Chairman Eom Jin-Woong shouted as he looked at the shitty experts that he hired.

“Ugh, aaaaaaaaack!” Jin-Woong shrieked as he held his neck and collapsed with a red face.

This was the prime example of ‘You reap what you sow.’.