“Waaaaaaaaaaah!”

“So cute!” 

“Look at that flapping belly!”

“Ah, that arrogant expression. So cute!!!”

The people were clamoring as they looked at the small body the size of a fist, along with its short legs and arms. Combined with the arrogant look and the huge sunglasses on its face, Beanie looked perfect as it danced the Kangchon Style!

“Cu…cute...”

“Wow.”

Alicia and Lucia both fell into a trance. Their cheeks burned brightly as they looked at the cute creature at the center of the stage.

‘I want to poke those plump and chubby cheeks with my fingers.’

‘I wonder if he will feel soft if I hug him?’

Lucia and Alicia were both cold and charismatic women, but they were helpless to Beanie’s charms and found themselves falling for such a cute figure.

Looking at their lovestruck expressions, Cain said, “But, who’s the owner of that baby piggy? Only player’s pets are allowed to vie for the position of the mascot, right?”

[Ah. Here’s the information. The baby pig that is currently dancing is a pet named ‘Beanie’. He is Player Minhyuk’s pet. Player Minhyuk was just registered as a nominated candidate for the Speed Eating Contest today.]

[That’s strange. All of the information except the one submitted in Athenae is currently private. Is this even possible, especially when we’re in a contest to select our country’s MVP?]

“D…did they say Minhyuk...?!”

“Minhyuk?!”

Both Alicia’s and Lucia’s eyes widened in shock.

***

One day before the launch of Athenae: Korean War.

President Kang Taehoon thought, ‘I wonder if Player Minhyuk is not participating?’

Just recently, Player Minhyuk entered the Hall of Kings. He was also given an ‘Athenae: Korean War’ ticket which was akin to a free pass to the competition. Everything was reviewed by Joy Co. Ltd. and the conditions were already met by Player Minhyuk.

‘But... Why wasn’t he coming?’

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

“You may enter.”

The person that came inside the room was none other than Team Leader Park Minggyu. He looked very urgent and flustered as he said, “Player Minhyuk has contacted me.”

“...It’s finally here!”

A small smile hung around Kang Taehoon’s lips. However, before he could rejoice, Team Leader Park said, “There’s a problem.” 

“A problem?” 

“Yes?” 

“What is it...?”

“He said that it was possible to reveal his face in the virtual world, but not in reality.”

“What are you...” 

Kang Taehoon’s face crumpled.

‘You don’t want to reveal your face in a world-class competition?’

This meant even their real information would be private. The condition in itself was something that did not even make sense. In addition, it was not allowed within the rules of the competition.

“He is in a situation where he will not be able to go to the waiting room that we have prepared for the players in real life.”

Joy Co. Ltd. had prepared the waiting room for the local players could gather and see each other’s faces. It was also the place where the press conference for the competition would be held under the sponsorship of Joy Co. Ltd.. It was meant for the Athenae players to promote friendship by getting acquainted with each other in reality.

‘But you’re telling me that he doesn’t want to go there either?’

“...That’s absurd! What kind of nonsense is that?!” Kang Taehoon shouted, his face flushed in anger. Athenae: Korean War was not a joking matter. 

‘What?! Are you too shy? Or is it because you don’t want to reveal yourself?!’

“Then if that’s the case, he doesn’t need to participate!” 

No matter how high the chances of Player Minhyuk being an MVP was, it was something that he, President Kang Taehoon, could not allow.

“I already told him on the phone that he would not be allowed to participate with regards to this. But, I got a call from his lawyer.” 

Kang Taehoon snorted. 

‘You’re messing with me and you even have the guts to have your lawyer call me? Don’t tell me you’re a rich player?’

He was already on the verge of being disappointed by Player Minhyuk. After all, he believed that Minhyuk was acting like someone that regarded the Athenae Olympics as a joke. However, his eyes could not help but widen when he heard the next words.

“The lawyer is none other than the head of the legal team under the Ilhwa Group’s chairman.” 

“S…so what you’re saying is… you…”

“Yes, what you’re thinking is correct,” Team Leader Park answered with a nod as he continued to say, “Player Minhyuk is Chairman Kang Minhoo’s only son. Of course, they are requesting that this information to be kept private.” 

“...!” 

Kang Taehoon’s eyes widened in shock.

‘That’s the number one company in our country?! No, it isn’t just our country. It’s a world-class enterprise. Of course, Joy Co. Ltd. can’t easily be pushed down by Ilhwa Group. But, the father of the player that we’ve been watching is Chairman Kang Minhoo?’

“In addition, their legal team pointed out one part, exactly one part.” 

“What is it?” 

“The part about the non-disclosure of their information in reality due to a variety of reasons. However, as a compromise, they would allow us to reveal the Athenae game information.” 

“...” 

Kang Taehoon’s expression turned solemn. The Athenae: Korean War was still currently a competition in the virtual world, so the rules were still lax in comparison to the actual Olympics. However, it was still not a good reason for letting them hide their private information.

‘But they cited the ‘variety of reasons’. Did they meet one of them?’

Those reasons were mostly nonsense and were more like a formality.

“Their reason was ‘rare disease’.” 

“Rare disease?”

President Kang Taehoon locked his fingers together, his brows furrowed, as he looked at Team Leader Park seriously. It was true that the ‘rare disease’ met one of the conditions. However, they still had to go through an extremely difficult process. Athenae’s competition might be held by Joy Co. Ltd., but it would still need the approval of the organizing committee. That was the reason why they needed to know exactly what the ‘rare disease’ was.

“That’s why they’re going to meet with us.” 

Kang Taehoon nodded.

***

The day of the competition.

Yesterday, Team Leader Park went and visited Minhyuk in his residence to confirm their claims. When he saw the doctor’s report that was handed to him, he could not help but be left speechless.

‘Eating addiction? There’s a disease like this?’

They were even given an explanation by Doctor Lee Jinhwan. They even mentioned that one out of the three people that contracted this disease had died a few years ago. Hearing the explanation, Team Leader Park believed that it was more serious than what he had initially thought. With that, the conditions for the non-disclosure of the information in the real world was somehow met.

Minhyuk had compromised and said that he would reveal his face, name and age in Athenae. As for the other information that they needed to know? It was to be kept private. In addition, there were plenty of reasons why they could persuade the organizing committee with the ‘rare disease’. Athenae was a game that was made for fun. However, there would definitely be an issue if they tried to forcefully show someone with a rare disease in reality.

‘How many players can handle the mental stress that will come with the issue?’

‘What’s worse, he has a body like this...’ 

It was an impossible task. Team Leader Park felt that if he was in Minhyuk’s shoes, he would also just let Joy Co. Ltd show his game information and ask the rest of his information be kept private. After giving a definite answer to President Kang Taehoon, Team Leader Park was given an order, and that was to stay right next to Player Minhyuk until the end of the competition. The other players would follow the instructions of Joy Co. Ltd. in the waiting room, but Player Minhyuk would not be able to do so. That was why he was tasked to stay by Minhyuk’s side.

Then, President Kang Taehoon told Team Leader Park, ‘All that’s left for me is to get approval from the committee.’

Of course, Joy Co. Ltd. could push ahead with their decision without any hesitation, but there was a high probability that the public would not be ‘convinced’. After all, a player suddenly appeared and participated with all information behind closed doors. They were sure that the public would protest. The story would be different if the ‘organizing committee’ that was considered as the ‘representative’ of the public approved of this.

As for Minhyuk… he was just eating cherry tomatoes.

“The president will try and let you participate in the Speed Eating Contest today. We have registered you as a nominated candidate for now. You have the ticket from the Hall of Kings, so it won’t be a problem even if you registered today.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“I think that you must have given a lot of thought before you expressed your intention to participate in the Korean War. May I ask your reason?”

Minhyuk smiled silently. He had agonized over this fact over and over again after the announcement of the Speed Eating Contest.

‘Delicious market food.’

Minhyuk could already imagine the taste of the sweet red bean filling inside the chewy mochi donut. What about the twisted donut that was covered with sugar? He could also imagine the sweet taste and the chewy texture of the bread. From what he read, the market also offered the huge whole market chicken that was always steaming hot as well as the mung bean pancake, kimchi pancake, and all kinds of delicious pancakes. Of course, those were a part of his reason but, it was not just that.

“When I was young, I often went to the market with my late mother. That’s why I like market food,” Minhyuk said, smiling wryly.

He definitely wanted to eat market food, but he also had a lot of worries. He was sure that if he participated then his identity would be known to the world. At first, he had already decided to forfeit his participation. However, when his father learnt of it, he found a way to let Minhyuk participate and confirmed it with his legal team. Every night, Minhyuk dreamed of going to the market and eating the food there. He also thought of his mother who always went with him.

“It doesn’t suit you.”

‘The chaebol’s second generation and market food?’

Team Leader Park smiled slightly. Then, Minhyuk said, "Just imagine it. Team Leader.”

Minhyuk’s voice was serene and calm as he continued to speak. He said, “You haven’t eaten a proper meal while you’re on your way home after a tiring, exhausting day. Team Leader, what kind of restaurant do you want to go to? A fancy restaurant that sells caviar? Or a place that cooks delicacies and foie gras?”

“I’m sure that you’ll agree that it would be nice to go to the place where people drink soju and have some blood sausage rice soup. Then, add a bowl of rice and a shot of soju. I think that would be the best.”

“Isn’t it something like that?”

Team Leader Park nodded.

‘I see.’

It was the same as when people crave ramyeon at one in the morning instead of steak. Being rich did not mean that they would have different tastes and cravings as other people. Team Leader Park looked at Minhyuk and said, “In a way, food is amazing. It has the power to make everyone happy, regardless if they are rich or poor.”

Minhyuk smiled silently when he heard Team Leader Park’s words. Not long after, Team Leader Park looked at his watch.

“Let’s enter now. I’ll be next to you. Although it’s not the same as the players’ waiting room in real life, I’ll still take you to the players’ waiting room in the game.”

“Yes.”

The two of them stood up and accessed Athenae together.

***

Minhyuk and Team Leader Park were walking towards the players’ waiting room after accessing the game.

At that moment…

[Athenae Olympics! The search for the best dancing ‘Pet’ begins now!]

After hearing loud cheers from the crowd, Team Leader Park and Minhyuk both stopped walking. Then, one part caught Minhyuk’s attention.

‘Three… Three thousand-year-old eel?!’

Grilled eel. Minhyuk could already imagine himself slicing the grilled eel roasting on top of charcoal fire, as he placed the golden brown and steaming piece of meat on top of some lettuce. Strangely enough, the restaurants that sold grilled eel offered plenty of instant rice but never a bowl of rice. He would put some rice on top of the lettuce and grilled eel. Finally, add some sliced garlic and ginger, as well as some spicy dipping sauce.

‘What will happen if I place that in my mouth? Will the light yet powerful flavor of the eel bring a smile to my face?’

At that moment...

[Beanie is requesting for a summons.]

…Beanie appeared after requesting a summons from the summoning room. Then, once it settled on Minhyuk’s shoulders, Beanie looked at him with a ‘solemn’ expression.

“Oink!”

The solemn-faced Beanie seemed to tell him ‘Trust me!’ as he pointed at the sunglasses that were hanging on Team Leader Park’s pocket.

“Oink, oink!”

“Huh?”

Team Leader Park handed his sunglasses over in a daze. Then, Beanie proudly stepped forward and began to dance. It was Beanie’s elaborate and flashy horse dance! This guy had danced the horse dance quite a few times. Athenae had a ‘Listen to Music’ function. Whenever Minhyuk listen to music, Beanie would always twitch his hips and ride the rhythm. There was also a time when Minhyuk showed him Psyn’s horse dance.

“Waaaaaaaaaaah!”

“So cute!” 

“Look at his tummy, it’s like mochi, mochi!”

The audience was enjoying themselves. However, the commentators were expressing their doubts.

[Ah. Here’s the information. The baby pig that is currently dancing is a pet named ‘Beanie’. He is Player Minhyuk’s pet. Player Minhyuk was just registered as a nominated candidate for the Speed Eating Contest today.]

[That’s strange. All of the information except the one submitted in Athenae is currently private. Is this even possible, especially when we’re in a contest to select our country’s MVP?]

Not long after, the commentators said...

[We have confirmed that he is still a ‘Nominated Candidate’. We have been informed that the committee is still reviewing whether he will be allowed to participate in the competition. The reason why all of his information is currently private is because they have applied for a ‘Participation with Information Protection’. Once he gets approval, he can officially participate in the competition.]

[Can they participate in the mascot event even if they’re still a nominated candidate?]

[Yes, they can. As long as they become a player, they can join the mascot event. In addition, the fact that a ‘Nominated Candidate’ is a player still remains true. It’s just that it’s unknown yet if he has met the participation eligibility.]

After finishing the dance, the baby pig, Beanie, ran towards Minhyuk. Beanie was running innocently with his sunglasses! The commentators had different reactions towards him.

[Ah, look at those waddling legs!]

[Kgghk! He’s really cute!]

[He’s really a cute pet that I want to own!]

[Ah, I think he would be warm if I hugged him to sleep. And he even has that chubby and plump butt!!! I feel like touching that will make me feel better!!]

Then, Beanie jumped into to Minhyuk’s arms. Once the audience saw Beanie’s owner, they could not help but murmur.

“Wh…what?”

“So handsome...”

“Wow.”

“Look at his height... I think he’s about 185 centimeters? His legs are really long too...!”

“Look at that proportion. Kyak! Oppa! Look here!”

“...I think he’s about 20 years old. When did he become your oppa?”

“All handsome men are oppas! Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!”

It was because of his handsome face and dreamy proportions.