Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 405: Spotlight

Chapter 405: Spotlight

Minhyuk was completely shocked. Although Iris said that this was an alliance, her words meant that she would put her trust in him, and follow him. He knew why she wanted to make such an arrangement with him.

‘Iris wants to live a simple and peaceful life with her people.’

Those that wanted to see the world would stay by Minhyuk’s side and receive his protection, while those that wanted to protect their Rocard Kingdom would stay with Iris and live in their new land and home. Although she said those words to declare their independence, the truth was Rocard Kingdom willingly went under Minhyuk’s command.

Minhyuk had yet to complete all of the requirements for becoming a king. This was because the territories under his command were still lacking. However, Iris had said that she would hand most of the authority over to Minhyuk once they had finished building their new land and home. By then, the Let’s Eat Sect would become the Let’s Eat Kingdom. However, the true reason that made Minhyuk thrilled was none other than…

‘We have received the cultivation rights and can cultivate and grow special crops!’

There was no doubt that Minhyuk and his territories would be able to gain a huge amount from this. After all, the value of the Hybrid Race’s crop cultivation rights was astronomical!

There was also the Ingredient Heaven. Minhyuk had also acquired the authority over the Ingredient Heaven. All of these combined had given Minhyuk the power of a kingdom. The only thing that he lacked was territory.

However, his work here was not yet done. Minhyuk’s gaze turned towards the main culprit of this disaster, who was standing helplessly at a distance.

***

Death, the commander of Vormon’s Undead Corps that attacked Rocard Kingdom, was left in confusion. He wanted to escape and run away but he could not see a path out. That was when his anger flared up. He hated the happy and bright Food God. This was a man that lived a life that was a complete opposite of his. Death wanted to show all of the people that trampled and ignored him that he was also a great person.

The truth was Death had quite a villain-like back story. In reality, Death had a huge burn mark on his face. Because of this, he suffered severe bullying and humiliation ever since he was a child. And after he became an adult? He closed himself off and stayed in his house to play games. The only thing that he enjoyed was playing games. To top it off, he was very good at it.

So, even if it was just once, he wanted to gain the public’s recognition of his talents and achievements. Death wanted to gain the title of king! He wanted to be the very first person to gain this name and title, and show the world that he was a very amazing person.

However, this battle had crushed his dreams. The main reason was the ‘penalty’ from the quest that he received to plunder the Rocard Kingdom with Vormon’s troops. The penalty was extremely heavy. It was all due to that man over there, the Food God, who took everything away from him, despite already receiving everyone’s love. Death loathed this man.

Then, the Food God approached Death with a sword in hand and a fierce glare.

“Don’t give me that damn look! What do you know, Food God?! Huh?! You’re famous, kind, well-mannered, and a good person? Bullshit! You’re just like those kids back then! Just like the ones that bullied me for having a huge burn on my face!”

Minhyuk looked at Death in confusion when he heard his words.

“Because they’re stronger, they beat the shit out of a weakling like me while mocking me! They banged my head on the toilet until I cried all because I was weaker than them! But, you… you…! You live a life where everyone idolizes you?! Damn you! Damn all the bastards like you! How dare you bully the weak and torment them!”

Death did not know why he was spewing out all of this in front of this man. All he knew was that he was letting out the anger and helplessness that he had repressed and kept inside him for a very long time.

“Do you bastards know how I feel every day of my life?! It wasn’t even my fault that I got a huge burn on my face!!! My parents died saving me from the fire but all I get is people calling me ‘monster’!!! How dare you call me a monster!!!”

Death wept bitterly but for some reason, he felt relieved. His life had been saved by his parents, but the people around him called him a monster.

“I only stay at home and play games. I have not seen anyone for a long time. But you… you…” Death could not talk anymore and just continued to weep. He closed his eyes and waited for his death. He knew that he would only feel more miserable if he continued to say more.

But then, a soft and gentle voice tickled Death’s ears. It was like a soft caress on Death’s cheeks, “I see. You’re living the precious life that your parents had saved, but people laughed and mocked you and gave you a hard time.”

“…?”

Death slowly opened his eyes and saw the soft, yet bitter, smile gracing Minhyuk’s lips. The man was smiling at him.

“Conir! Conir don’t want you to blame yourself! Conir believes your life is precious!” Conir told Death.

“Hoho. What a bunch of bastards. Don’t worry, I’ll make a cup of coffee for you later.”

“I’m sure your parents are very kind and wonderful people. Don’t waste the life that they saved and treasure the life that they gave you.”

Death looked around in confusion. What was going on? In fact, even Brod was left dumbfounded and confused by the sudden turn of events.

‘What’s happening…? Are they showing pity to the enemy?!’

Then, Minhyuk said, “Your life is very precious, it’s the life that your parents saved after all. So live it to the fullest. Don’t give up. I’m sure they’re looking down on you with pride. I understand what you feel. We’re not much different, you know? However, the fact that we’re two different people still stands. I think I know how you can gain happiness. Ten times. Just ten times. Come and visit me ten times and I will tell you how you can be happy.”

Death was moved. Minhyuk and his Named NPCs’ expressions were all sincere and kind. Death felt tears well up again in his eyes. For some reason, he had great expectations for this man. He asked, “Then, are you… are you… going to spare me?”

Death felt both grateful and happy as he continued to shed tears. Finally, someone understood him! The man in front of him had a very generous heart!

On the other hand, Brod felt suffocated. In the end, they were headed to the catastrophic ending that he dreaded!!! Were these people dreaming of building a kingdom when they were all driven by their emotions?!

But then, Minhyuk and his Named NPCs all tilted their heads in confusion.

“But we’re going to kill you, though?”

“We’re going to kill you.”

“Yep. It’s only natural for us to do that.”

“In a single strike too!”

“I’m Conir!!! Conir knows that’s one thing and this is another!!!”

Stab—

Minhyuk’s sword stabbed through Death’s neck. He did not show any mercy or hesitation. Minhyuk was not a fool. He would not keep him alive just because of sympathy.

“Keok. Give… give me back my feelings…”

Death slowly collapsed. But he still heard Minhyuk’s cold and frosty voice, “Even if we feel sympathy for you, the fact that you raided and tried to plunder this kingdom will not change.”

Then, Death finally died. Iris looked at the scene with a smile on her face as if she had expected this to happen. Yes. She knew that Minhyuk comforted him and gave him hope to live because he saw a great potential in the man.

‘He could possibly do a lot of great things…’

Before they could dig through his potential, the man still had to pay the price for his crimes. And Minhyuk also told him, ‘Treasure your life.’

If he treasured his life, then they could possibly coexist and live together. Iris was very impressed with how Minhyuk handled this situation.

‘He’s very intelligent.’

Even though they were enemies, he knew that people with such backstories could change. However, he was also a cold and decisive man. Iris could tell that Minhyuk would be a wise ruler.

***

[You have failed the Quest: Plunder Rocard Kingdom.]

[As a penalty, you will lose a significant number of ownership on your undead summons.]

[All of your stats will be reduced by 5%.]

This was a huge penalty for Death! The penalty for the quest: Plunder Rocard Kingdom was as big as the rewards that he could get.

Jung Ji-Hoon went out of the capsule. His face looked a bit grotesque because of the huge burn mark that covered the right side of his face. However, his tall stature that reached 182 cm, as well as his fair and white skin, could make him stand out from the crowd. On top of that, the left side of his face was very handsome.

Despite the huge penalty, Jung Ji-Hoon felt something different from disappointment and frustration. He thought, ‘If I go to him ten times, then he’ll tell me how I can be happy…?’

Death, or Jung Ji-Hoon, asked himself: ‘Am I happy? Do I smile everyday? Do I want to continue living this lonely life in this cold, dark, and gloomy curtained room?’

The answer was no. Not at all. He also wanted to gain happiness, but then anger came over him.

‘What does a man like him, who has everything in the world, know?!’

The Food God was very handsome. His face was enough to surpass any of the actors or actresses that he had seen. He was also the leader of a guild. Everyone looked up to him and his leadership despite still being young. He was someone that lived a completely different life than him. Jung Ji-Hoon believed that such a man could never understand him. But…

‘I’m very curious…!’

He wanted to know the way to be happy!

***

With the completion of all of the quests related to Rocard Kingdom, the members of Let’s Eat Sect were allowed to enter the kingdom. Genie and the members of Let’s Eat Sect heard about what they did in the kingdom, and what Minhyuk had received, including the thousands of members of the Hybrid Race and Mercenary King Brod. He even received ownership of the Ingredient Heaven, the place where they could get incredible ingredients.

All in all, Minhyuk, Ali, and the vassals truly did a great job.

Suddenly, the members of Let’s Eat Sect turned to Brod and bowed deeply.

“Thank you! Thank you very much! Thank you for being normal!”

“Sir Brod, you don’t have any interest in luwak coffee, baldness, ramyeon and erotic novels, right?!”

Brod felt emotional when he heard the words of Minhyuk’s guild members!

“You… you guys are normal too?!!!”

“Yes! We’re also normal!!!”

“Thank you!!! Thank you for being normal!!!”

The scene unfolding in front of them was very strange and shocking. However, Locke, who was very pleased about this situation, looked the most abnormal among them.

Then, Genie asked, “Ah, by any chance, Brod… did you already receive a task from Minhyuk?”

“He told me to be in charge of the livestock.”

As soon as they heard his answer, the guild members could already tell what would happen in the future.

‘Ah, Brod will also…’

‘He’ll eventually get Minhyuk-ified.’

‘Sob!’

The gazes that the members of the Let’s Eat Sect used to look at Brod was filled with sympathy. Brod did not know it yet, but he will eventually get Minhyuk-ified and live a very happy life, one that was far happier than his life before.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk and Genie were discussing something.

“Death?”

“Yeah. Do you know him?”

“I know. He’s an unofficial ranker, but he rarely makes an appearance. And since only a few had seen him, there are only a few discussions about him. However, he’s well-known as the leader of Korea’s one-man legion. The story about him leading thousands of undead troops alone was so unrealistic that I thought it was just some kind of made-up story created by the public…”

After hearing about Death from Genie, Minhyuk realized that the man was more amazing than what he thought. Even though he was still unknown to the general player population, there were a few rankers that heard about his feats.

“Death’s very powerful. I can tell that he’s on par with the Summit Five. Of course, it was all thanks to the undead that he summoned, but that’s also his own power.”

Minhyuk had clearly felt the power from Death’s undead legion. Even though he used Vormon’s Undead Corps, his own undead could also clearly exert tremendous power. If Minhyuk did not have the ‘Continent Destroyer Sword’ and his special abilities, then he would have fought a very difficult battle earlier.

“But to ask him to come ten times to you… Do you think he’ll come?” Genie asked in doubt.

Minhyuk could only smile bitterly in answer. He had given Death a chance, but he did not really have much of an expectation that he would come.

“I don’t think it makes sense. No player would come to you ten times just because of something like that. Besides, Death is a player that has always kept to himself…”

But before her words could finish…

“Minhyuk, there’s a strange person that came to find you?”

“…?”

“…?”

Minhyuk and Genie both tilted their heads in confusion after hearing the words that Locke said. Then, the man, Death, was left standing in front of Minhyuk, inside Rocard Kingdom’s audience hall as Genie and Locke went out. However, the people of Rocard Kingdom glared at him as if they wanted to kill him.

“Food God! Tell me! How can I be happy! If you lie, I will make your life a living hell!”

‘So, he’s curious.’

Minhyuk grinned and said, “This is the first. You still have nine more to go.”

Then, Minhyuk nodded at the people of Rocard Kingdom, who immediately rushed forward and attacked Death.

“Keok! Why, why are you letting them attack me when you told me to find you?! Don’t gang up on me! I’ll, I’ll summon my undead! Keok?! N… not there! Keuaaaaack! It… it exploded…?!”

That was right. Minhyuk had told him to come to him ten times. Finding him ten times meant that Death would experience death ten times too. This was because he committed an unforgivable crime against the people of Rocard Kingdom.

However, Death knew that he would not be able to find the answer to his question if he summoned the undead and fought against the people of Rocard Kingdom.

This marked the beginning of Death’s visits to Minhyuk. And this was where the legend about Death, the King of Death that would lead millions of undead troops in the future, and Food God Minhyuk started.