Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 307: What I Want to Do the Most

Mei Wei looked at the once again innocent boy with confusion.

‘Who the hell…?’

What was Conir’s real identity? She had never seen an NPC as powerful as Conir. Since the game was continuously updating, strong NPCs would definitely start to appear one by one. However, she was certain that there was no other existence in the game that was stronger than Conir currently.

“That’s right. Your Noona’s method failed, so let’s scrap it,” Mei Wei said with a grin. So what if Conir’s identity was that of an unknown NPC? So what if Conir was strong and special? Mei Wei did not see him as an NPC anymore. She had long considered him as a person, a friend, and a younger brother.

Mei Wei did not have any friends in reality. She had distanced herself from everyone after that incident. However, she felt that Conir was someone special to her. Especially since she only lived with her precious younger brother before.

“Conir, why don’t we go outside this place to sell ramyeon?”

“Conir!!! Conir will definitely be able to sell ramyeon this time!!!”

Mei Wei left the entrance passage with Conir and finally entered the Asgan Continent.

***

Wei Xin, who used his real name in Athenae, came out of the capsule furiously after completely forgetting the envy that he felt towards the player that Mei Wei wanted to befriend.

‘Mei Wei…!’

He would probably be able to kill Mei Wei if the little boy was not there. The collaboration between the Valkyrie, a class known to be the class with the best buff abilities, and the powerful little boy was the strongest collaboration that he had seen. However, Wei Xin believed that their fight was not over yet.

‘The players that went through the Dragon King’s Sea…’

There were a thousand of rankers and semi-rankers that took that route to ruin Valhalla territory and show Korea what kind of country China was. From what Wei Xin recalled, Cannibal was one of the thousand rankers that set out and sailed through the Dragon King’s Sea. He immediately sent a whisper to him in Athenae via his mobile phone.

[Wei Xin: Cannibal, have you arrived at Asgan Continent?]

[Cannibal: We’re in big trouble. All of the other players have been wiped out. Only two other players and myself are left!!!]

Wei Xin was unaware of the situation so he could not understand what he meant.

‘What do you mean by wiped out?’

[Wei Xin: What are you…]

[Cannibal has been forced to log out.]

“...?”

Wei Xin was left hanging in the air, not knowing what was happening.

‘Just what in the world happened?’

***

There were a thousand semi-rankers and ordinary rankers from China’s four major guilds that were sailing across the sea located between the Cairon and Asgan continents. They planned on joining the thirty top rankers who went through the entrance passage later on, and take over theValhalla territory. However, hundreds of monsters suddenly attacked the huge warship that they were sailing on.

Bang―

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

“Kill the sea monsters!!! Don’t let them destroy the ship!!!”

“H…how did this happen?!”

“Keuaaaaack!”

One of the guild members urgently called for Cannibal, “Ca…Cannibal!!! The… the front! Look in front of us!!!”

Cannibal hurriedly turned to look at the front. What he saw made his eyes go round in shock.

‘What…what the hell…’

It was none other than a white-bearded dolphin. The white-bearded dolphin was a Level 500 monster that was eight times bigger than ordinary dolphins. This dolphin was also known as the Dragon King’s Sea’s shark, because of its extremely sharp and strong bite. And this very same monster was rushing towards them with three beings standing on top of them, all carrying a fierce momentum. Two of the beings were rabbits and one was a turtle with an eye-patch. The two rabbitmen were none other than Kiari and Jevis, while the softshell turtle man was none other than Radin.

However, another shocking thing happened right after. A gigantic tidal wave reaching seven meters in height cast a huge shadow over them. When they looked up, they saw the shadow of a figure standing on top of the waves.

“Dr… Dragon King!”

There, on top of the waves, was a man wearing a golden king’s robe with a long beard and the face of a catfish. He was holding his trident while staring fiercely at the rankers.

“Dr…Dragon King!! You don’t have any reason to stop us!!! We haven’t harmed anything while sailing across the sea!”

However, the Dragon King remained silent at his words. In fact, there was a reason for this incident. Kiari was curious about the business and trade in Cairon continent, so she sailed on a ship to visit. While she was onboard the ship, she overheard some stories and rumors.

‘The baby piggy is the Supreme Divine Beast. Hehehehe. And the Food God is the Korean player Minhyuk. If we can defeat the strong players over there then we, the Chinese rankers, will be known as the stronger ones.’

‘Minhyuk?’

Minhyuk was hailed as the savior and benefactor of the entire Dragon King’s Sea after he saved the life of the Dragon King. Upon hearing about their ill-intent, Kiari immediately sent a report to the Dragon King, who mobilized his Sea Army after seeing her report.

“You will drown in the sea, if you don’t turn your ship around and go back to where you came from.”

“Th…this crazy… attack them!!!” Cannibal shouted. He did not have the heart to turn back after coming this far.

Unfortunately, the Dragon King, his children, and the hundreds of sea creatures were putting pressure on them. This was the sea, which was the realm and territory of the Dragon King. They had the absolute advantage over the players, who would die after succumbing to breathing difficulties and abnormal statuses the moment they fell into the water.

Bang―

A powerful force extended from the tips of the Dragon King’s trident and hit the ship with a loud explosion. Kiari, Jevis, and Radin also jumped on the ship and began their slaughter.

“Keuaaaaack!”

“Ugh, aaaaaack!”

The ship was ruined by the time they ended their attacks. Only Cannibal and two other players survived the attack. The three of them were left standing at the surviving rails of the ship as they looked at the scene in disbelief.

‘We, we’re already wiped out even though we haven’t even stepped foot on Korean land yet….?’

That was the moment when Cannibal received a whisper.

[Wei Xin: Cannibal, have you arrived at Asgan Continent?]

[Cannibal: We’re in big trouble. All of the other players have been wiped out. Only two other players and myself are left!!!]

Then, Cannibal and the two other players began to sink under the sea.

***

Team Leader Park Minggyu’s eyes were shaking. He watched as the Chinese players set the direction of the update by invading the Asgan Continent. However, the people that went out and set sail in the Dragon King’s Sea had been wiped out by an unexpected attack.

Watching the scene from behind Team Leader Park Minggyu, Employee Lee Minhwa said, “P…Player Minhyuk is really special… He did not even make a move, but the people and beings that care for him have already blocked his enemies from reaching him…”

Employee Lee Minhwa’s gaze was now focused on the screen showing Conir and Mei Wei.

That was right. Minhyuk did not need to make any move, in fact, he did not even know about the situation at all. However, the people and beings that loved him were fighting to protect him.

Team Leader Park Minggyu looked at her as he said, “Miss Lee Minhwa, it seems like people really need to live a good and kind life.”

“What?”

“You’re not hurt and bothered because I get angry a lot, right?”

Lee Minhwa smiled brightly as she answered, “Of course not.”

‘I do!’

Employee Lee Minhwa’s outward appearance and words were completely different from her inner thoughts. Team Leader Park Minggyu could only see her bright smile, but he was completely unaware of the fact that Employee Lee Minhwa had a cursed doll in her house labeled ‘Park Minggyu’,that she always stabbed with a needle at night!

***

At the Royal Department Store’s Suit Shop, a female employee by the name Hyo-Jin hurriedly wiped the tears that dripped down her cheeks, the very same tears that she tried so hard to hold back.

Hyo-Jin’s family was in a difficult situation. She had no other choice but to work at the department store at the young age of twenty. Today, she met with the lowest of the low. It was a young man, a CEO of a small business enterprise that began to rise to fame not too long ago. The man came to get a refund for the suit that he bought before, claiming that it was torn. The problem was that the part that he had claimed to be torn was completely fine, instead, the suit was completely stained.

‘He definitely spilled on it… while he was drinking…’

However, he still asked for a refund on the suit. At first, Hyo-jin calmly told him that it was impossible to get a refund. Besides, she had meticulously checked the item before sending it out, so she knew that this was something that was definitely not the fault of the store.

However, the man, Woo Tae-jin, roared loudly at her, “Are you saying that I’m lying?!!! Huh?!!! I want to file a complaint!!! Is this how you treat your customer?!!!”

A human’s true nature would never change. Woo Tae-Jin was the type of person who only succeeded as a chairman of his company because his business went well, thanks to luck. However, he had been in a bad situation before his rise to fame.

“B…But, sir… this is definitely… an alcohol stain…”

“Wow. Keep this in that muddled head of yours!” Woo Tae-Jin shouted as he pressed his finger hard on her forehead.

“Do you know how much money I spent here?! Is this how a department store under Ilhwa Group works?! Did that company teach their employees like this?!!”

“I’m sorry.”

Hyo-Jin felt that this was completely unfair. However, she had no other choice but to bow her head and apologize. Just then, a voice suddenly rang from somewhere in the store.

“Ilhwa Group’s chairman, Kang Minhoo, taught the employees of the Royal Department Store like this. The employees are the masters of the group.”

Woo Tae-Jin turned around and saw a huge man standing at 185cm height.

‘What? He’s huge?’

Woo Tae-Jin felt flustered for a moment. Even the short-haired man standing next to the person who spoke was also huge. However, it was only for a moment. He knew that money, not body or strength, made the world go round. The two men were not even wearing any luxury or branded clothes.

“What’s it to you…”

“And the chairman also told them this. Never bow your head when you did not do anything wrong. You are all my precious and dear family, I will take care of the aftermath for you.”

This was what made Ilhwa famous. Chairman Kang Minhoo was someone who cared about his employees deeply. In fact, there was a well-known incident during one of the small and medium-sized business representative meetings, where one of the chairmen harassed a female employee and pretended not to know about it. Kang Minhoo personally rushed to him and attacked him in front of everyone, before breaking the contract with them. His words clearly showed that the stakeholders of the Royal Department Store was not only the chairman, but also the employees.

“That’s why that employee should never bow her head.”

“No, you are really…!”

Woo Tae-Jin felt the man’s overwhelming presence the moment he strode towards him. The man stood in front of them and inspected the clothes.

“Anybody that sees this will obviously know that this is an alcohol stain. And this torn part that you’re talking about? It seems like it has been scratched in the middle by a nail.”

“Hey!!! Who the hell are you?!”

“I’m a customer?” The man replied calmly as he took something out from his pockets, his voice calm, not shaking even once.

“I’m a customer that knows how to use SNS and loves to upload a lot of things. I really captured your face well, you see? Shall we continue? Ah, everyone, can you see properly? The CEO of Daeil Company, Woo Tae-Jin, is ripping clothes and abusing his power. Wow~ He’s being very mean just because he has a~ lot~ of~ money~.”

“...!”

Woo Tae-Jin suddenly recalled the ‘Power Abusing Videos’ that were widespread in the news these days. And this man was doing it right now. However, his pride had been trampled severely that he did not want to back down.

So, he tried to open his mouth and refute the man’s words, but the man spoke coldly before he could do so, “Your greediness knows no shame.”

The man was none other than Minhyuk.