Kerry’s heart thumped wildly. He had lost only by a hair’s breadth during the preliminaries. If he had not made that blunder, if it were not for that mistake, then he would have been able to participate in Athenae: Korean War with his head held high. However, that mistake had turned him into a nominated candidate, which made him lose hope of participating.

However, right now, he was given another opportunity to participate. He was quite happy, but on the other hand, he was also quite worried. It was mainly because he had never heard of Minhyuk, his new teammate. Nevertheless, Kerry could still feel the burning heat that was flowing through his veins. He had a shot to get the title of the best player in the country, the MVP title that everyone dreamt of! It was an opportunity that had come to him!

Hyemin’sDaddy knew Kerry personally. He said, “Come to think of it, you don’t know Minhyuk, right?”

“...You know him?”

“I know him. I know him very well. Ah, I remember that you said that you don’t believe in the word miracle, right Kerry?”

“...There’s no such thing.”

“Even though you have entered the competition just like a miracle?”

“This is just luck! Luck!”

“Haha. Well, whatever. But, I think you’ll see the first miracle in your life soon.”

“Yes?”

Hyemin’sDaddy just grinned at Kerry and refused to say anything further. Just in time, Minhyuk arrived in the players’ waiting room.

To be honest, Kerry did not trust Minhyuk at all. Minhyuk told him, ‘...I’ll do well. Trust me, Kerry!’

At that time Minhyuk bowed politely at him while Kerry just roughly greeted him with a bow. Not long after, the voice of the commentator sounded.

[Players, please enter.]

Kerry and Minhyuk started to move to enter. Along with their steps, they could hear the ridicule and mocking cheers from the audience. The ridicule that came pouring down on them made Kerry’s expression harden. However, Minhyuk, who was standing next to him, just said, “Hiyaa. Market food. Just imagining it is making me excited. The same is true for you, right?!”

‘Can I really do this together with this strange person?’

This question arose from the depths of Kerry’s heart.

***

[The game will begin in 30 seconds!]

As soon as the voice of the commentator fell, the coliseum suddenly transformed and turned into a vast land. Dozens of participants appeared on the vast fields. The Speed Eating contest had a transparent barrier set between the players so they could not attack each other. Each team was assigned to a 100-meter wide area, as 250 sticks of candles slowly rose behind them.

Kerry gulped in nervousness. He could feel the tension in his body.

“Hiyaa. Just imagining it is making me happy. On a flat grill greased with oil, the market lady grills a perfect mung bean pancake and then serving it to me. And dipping it in soy sauce… Wow, it sounds really delicious.”

Gulp―

Kerry could practically hear the sound of Minhyuk gulping down his saliva. He shot Minhyuk a fierce look.

‘Please! Show a little nervousness!’

Kerry looked to be about the same age as Minhyuk. He only had one reason as to why he did not believe in miracles: his father had died of an illness. He often went out with his father to go fishing. Those were his fondest memories with his father. However, his father suffered from ‘pancreatic cancer’, a terminal illness that was well known for its terrible survival rate. But regardless of his illness, his father had always told him, ‘I’ll get well soon so I can go fishing with you again!’ with his loud voice and laughter. Kerry believed that such a day would come since his father was quite vigorous and seemd to be in good health, even though he was sick. Alas, his fiery and energetic father eventually turned cold and lifeless. Kerry wanted to win the MVP award so he could dedicate it to his father. He had such a solemn and grave dream, but the man in front of him looked so different from him. He looked so laid back and carefree.

Then, Minhyuk turned to Kerry with a bitter smile. He said, “Actually, my mother has already passed away. When I was young, I often went to the market hand in hand with my mother and it’s something that I still can’t get over. I still remember my mom feeding me some vegetable pancakes affectionately. Ah, I was so happy.”

Minhyuk smiled softly at the memories. He did not know why he said such a thing. Perhaps, it was just because he remembered those things, and wanted to share them with someone.

“...”

Kerry turned to look at Minhyuk for a moment. He could see a soft and sad smile, very similar to what he usually had on his face.

“Now, I feel like I am back in that ‘market’.”

“...What the hell are you saying? So annoying,” Kerry said, giving Minhyuk a strange, but sad look.

Crackle!

Then, red flames lit up from the hundreds of candles.

[The Speed Eating Contest begins now!]

Kerry then blew one candle. The number of candles that would get extinguished could be controlled by the player’s will. However, the flames could only be extinguished by blowing on them personally. As soon as the candle extinguished, three Level 200 monsters appeared in front of them. They were Rekis. Rekis were bipedal monsters that could wield a spear.

“For now, let’s do it together,” Kerry said to Minhyuk as he dashed forward.

Meanwhile, the voices of the commentators echoed in the area.

[Oh! All the participants blew around 3~5 candles!]

[Wow. Team 3’s Twilight Sculptor Lucan has started slaughtering the monsters with his sculpting knife. He blew out five candles as soon as the competition started and is trying to hunt the monsters all at once!]

[There are already more than three teams that have extinguished three candles within a minute of the game. But it seems like there are still teams that have not yet started their hunt?]

[It seems like Team 11 still has not started yet.]

[That’s weird. Moreover, the strongest contender for the MVP title, Vhad, is right next to Team 11. I have an ominous feeling that people will be comparing them.]

Then, something extraordinary happened. Minhyuk raised his sword...

Swoooooooosh!

Kerry and the commentators were all left wide-eyed when they saw the scene that followed. They saw Minhyuk swing his sword horizontally over the candles which resulted in about 70 candles being extinguished all at once.

“...!”

[Ah!!! Team 11!!! What in the world are you doing now!!!]

[Don’t tell me you can deal with all the summoned monsters from extinguishing 70 candles?!]

[Ah, that’s too much! Too much!]

[I can hear the ridicule of the people. What’s the point of doing such a thing?]

[They’re done for. Done for! One person’s arrogance has led Team 11 into the abyss!]

[We can’t blame them for being nominated candidates. But now, it seems like they should have been better off not playing in the first place!]

“You! Are you crazy!” Keery shouted as he rushed towards Minhyuk as if he wanted to push the latter back. However, as soon as he approached him, he could feel something brush by his cheeks.

‘Wind?’

***

At the small pub located in Ilsan, Yoo Ji-Min, or more commonly known as player Javin, was sitting and watching Athenae: Korean War with her friends. She was the player that died while trying to stab Minhyuk in the back at Ructo’s Tomb.

She could not help but widen her eyes when she saw the baby pig appear on the screen.

‘That! That baby pig!’

Ji-Min was sure that the pig was definitely the Frying Pan Killer’s pet. However, to make sure, she still went and checked the Athenae official website. When she typed in ‘Baby Piggy’ hundreds of related search words appeared on her screen. ‘Adorable Baby Piggy ㅠㅠ.’, ‘How to have a baby piggy.’, ‘Will Santa give me a baby piggy if I asked him for it?’, and ‘When will Beanie’s doll be released?’ were one of the few related search words that popped on her screen.

As she looked over dozens of articles, one article caught her attention.

[Isn’t that baby piggy the very same one that the Frying Pan Killer always carries around with him?]

There were some players who knew that the Frying Pan Killer carried a baby pig with him. More importantly, almost all of them were Bachran Guild’s guild members. Then, the testimonies related to the Frying Pan Killer suddenly began to pour out.

‘What’s this? It seems like I don’t need to post anything.’

Anyway, it was easy to say that the Frying Pan Killer had participated in the competition. After all, his identity would be revealed soon. At that moment, she heard her friends swear loudly when the replacement of players was announced.

“Wow. What’s this about Team 11? Is this some kind of Three Stooges?”

Ji-Min listened to their clamor and stepped up. She said, “They are there because they deserved it. In fact, the main purpose of the competition is to select players who will participate in Athenae: World War.”

“...What are you saying? What’s wrong with you?”

“Which team do you think will be the MVP?”

Her friends confidently answered Ji-Min’s question, “It’s certainly the team with Vhad.”

“That’s right. He’s a real bastard that looks like he’s unlucky enough to get into art school. But, I saw a video of him on Ztube a long time ago, and he was so awesome.” 

Ji-Min then opened her wallet, pulled out a 50,000 won bill then placed it on the table and tapped her finger on it while saying, “My bet is on Team 11.” 

She smiled at them.

“Wow. For real? Aren’t they too weak? I’ll do 50,000 won too. I’m Team Vhad!” 

“Me too! I’m for Vhad!” 

Her friends thought that this was an opportunity so they willingly bet 50,000 won. They foolishly believed that they would get some free money. However, Ji-Min just grinned at them widely.

‘No, that person will surely clench the victory.’ 

When she tried to stab him in the back, she never expected that to happen. Meanwhile, the screen showed him blowing out 70 candles all at once. People started to heap plenty of ridicule on him.

***

A cool breeze began to blow around Minhyuk. Behind them, the cries of the monsters came roaring loudly.

Shwaaaaaaaaa─

The breeze that blew around them slowly gathered towards Minhyuk’s sword. Not long after, the wind began to pick up as it started to blow harder.

Shwaaaaaaaaa─

The grass and the leaves of the trees began to shake and sway with the strong wind. At the sudden appearance of a strong wind, the players all turned to look at Minhyuk. Then, hundreds of silver leaves fluttered and fell. The falling leaves strangely resembled snow falling from the sky.

“P…pretty.” 

“Waaaaaaa! The leaves look like falling snow.” 

These were the remarks of one player among the audience that were watching the screen with rapt attention. Then, hundreds of monsters ran straight towards Kerry’s back. Even a huge harpy was spotted swinging its arms to attack. A blade of wind was created and aimed at his back.

“Yo, you...” Kerry stuttered, eyes widening in shock.

When Minhyuk saw the incoming blade of wind, he recalled what he had learned about controlling the wind under Valen’s tutelage. Valen would always say this to him, ‘That’s not how you control the wind.’

Minhyuk raised his sword and stepped forward before slowly opening his mouth and saying, “That’s not how you control the wind.” 

Shwaaaaaak!

When Minhyuk moved his sword, the strong wind that was concentrated on his sword incorporated the hundreds of falling leaves. Then, the leaves flew at a speed that was almost faster than the speed of light, as they headed towards the monsters that were rushing behind Kerry.

Fwish, fwish, fwish, fwish, fwish, fwish─

Kerry heard the sounds from behind him and slowly turned around. As soon as he turned around, he could see all of the monsters slowly falling down to the ground. Then, the score began to appear on the electronic display. The scores on the display reflected the number of candles that were extinguished and the number of monsters that died.

[2nd place, Team 3, 6.]

[1st place, Team 11, 71.]

[...!]

[...!]

[...!]

[...!]

The audience and the commentators, as well as the people that said that the Food God’s level was too low, were all silent. Previously, they had commented that the team of nominated candidates were like the Three Stooges, and mocked them, yet they were all quiet now. As for Kerry... He had finally seen what a miracle looked like, right there and then.