“Ey! You should give me something delicious. Why give me something like this?” Minhyuk complained loudly. However, it was not for long. His grumpy expression soon brightened up as he jumped in joy. This was because the organizers had told him that they would help him enjoy more market food. And that was not even the best part.

“The market vendors that helped us run the Speed Eating Contest will personally cook for you. After all, Player Minhyuk looks so happy whenever he eats. They said that they like you, since you remind them of their grandson.

“Wow. Really?” 

“Yes, but there are conditions.” 

“Conditions?” 

“Yes. Player Minhyuk, you always look like you’re doing a ‘live mukbang’ whenever you’re eating. Therefore, we want you to do a live broadcast for the viewers around the world while we wait for the next event. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, our purpose is to promote our country’s market food.” 

It was not a bad condition, since Minhyuk’s face had already been made known during the competition, so he nodded in agreement.

“Then, I’ll call you once the setting is complete.”

“Yep!” 

While waiting for their call, Minhyuk went to the players’ waiting room to check and absorb the MVP trophy. What he acquired was similar to what Kerry had acquired. He had gained 10,000 AP, 100 platinum, as well as the Production MVP title.

(Production MVP)

Common Title

Title Effects:

•DEX +100

•All stats +1%

Description: A title that can only be received by the players who won the MVP in Athenae: Korean War. They have proven their worth and are now eligible for Athenae: World War.

The title effects were really decent. A 1% increase in all stats was tremendous. The concept of percentage meant that the higher Minhyuk’s stats were, the greater the effect would be.

“Well then. It’s time to go.”

Not long after, a staff member came inside to fetch Minhyuk and guide him toward the area for the broadcast. When the staff member opened the door to the area that they had prepared, Minhyuk’s eyes widened in surprise.

“…Gasp!”

The sight that greeted Minhyuk was shocking. It truly looked like the ‘market’ that he was very familiar with. Athenae was a game, so the developers could easily set up and build another world inside the game if they wanted to. They had easily created this place even while they were in a hurry, just so they could promote Korea’s ‘markets’ to the world. In fact, even the smell that wafted from the stalls was completely the same. 

Minhyuk looked around. He saw someone selling steaming tofu on one side, tofu that looked like it was just freshly grilled and baked. There was also a man selling fish on the other side. Minhyuk already knew where he wanted to go even before the Korean War staff member started to guide him.

‘It’s here…!’ Minhyuk thought in awe. The place that he went straight to was a ‘vegetable pancake’ stall.

“Hello!”

“Welcome! Take a seat,” the elderly, yet energetic grandma greeted Minhyuk and told him to sit down. She then started to grill the vegetable pancakes until they were golden brown.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle─

The sizzling sound of the vegetable pancake as it met with the pan was enchanting. Even the cooking process was very interesting and fun to watch. It was like hitting two birds with one stone for Minhyuk. Then, the grandma placed a kimchi pancake in front of Minhyuk.

“Hiyaa. Grandma. The ends are so crispy and well-cooked!” 

“Of course! I’ve been selling vegetable pancakes in the market for 20 years now!” 

“I’ll eat it well!”

“Go on,” the grandma said as she watched Minhyuk happily. She had a very warm smile, as if she was looking at her own grandchild. She even made sure to keep sending mung bean pancakes, buckwheat crackers and even potato pancakes in front of Minhyuk.

Minhyuk quickly took his chopsticks to tear the freshly-fried kimchi vegetable pancake. Without any hesitation, he took the steaming piece into his mouth.

“Fwoo, fwoo.”

It was freshly scooped out of the grilling pan, so it was still very hot. All Minhyuk could do was roll it around his mouth to cool it down for a bit. Once it cooled down to some extent, Minhyuk began to chew and savor the perfectly-browned pancake and crunchy kimchi.

Minhyuk smiled happily as another pancake was placed in front of him. It was none other than the chives pancake. Minhyuk quickly tore apart the chives pancake and dipped it in soy sauce before putting it in his mouth. Minhyuk closed his eyes to chew and savor the flavor of the healthy and flavorful chives. The smile painted on Minhyuk’s face was filled with bliss. The oil from the pancake that greased his lips made his smile much softer and gentler.

The people around the world had a variety of responses to his mukbang.

[I have unconsciously stared at it for quite some time now. The food that he is eating is called vegetable pancake. It is a pancake made with flour, water and eggs. It’s a dish where you can add a variety of ingredients.]

[I can see him rolling the kimchi vegetable pancake in his mouth. Ah, my mouth is already watering and I wasn’t even aware of it.]

[I’ve also tried kimchi vegetable pancakes before. Back then, I was eating it with some kind of white alcohol. I still can’t forget it. It was called…]

“Kggghk! If I have a glass of makgeolli here, it will be the best!”

[Ah, that’s right. It’s makgeolli. Makgeolli is traditional alcohol that is unique to Korea. More than that, I strangely feel warm and happy while watching Player Minhyuk eat.]

[How can a person eat so much without feeling a bit tired?]

[I don’t feel bad since it’s a handsome man that’s eating well.]

[Right now, ‘vegetable pancake’ is the number one searched term.]

[I think I should go to a Korean Restaurant to eat some vegetable pancakes and drink makgeolli too.]

“I’m going now, grandma!”

[That player is even polite.]

[I believe there will be a lot of female fans in the future that will look for his videos if they feel hungry.]

This time, Minhyuk was looking for a dumpling stall. He saw the owner of the dumpling stall raising the lid of the big pot, and a huge amount of steam rising from it. Looking inside, there were steamed meat dumplings and kimchi dumplings lined up side by side. It seemed like the cauldron next to the pot had steamed buns inside. The owner made an effort to put some dumplings in a styrofoam box before handing the box over to Minhyuk, who quickly tore the dumpling before dipping it in soy sauce.

“Hoooooo─”

Minhyuk immediately blew on the dumplings before placing some in his mouth. The moment he bit on the meat dumpling, the hot and delicious juice trapped in the steamed dumpling wrapper burst out and spread in his mouth. The more he chewed, the more he could taste the rich flavor of the meat and vegetables that were packed in the dumpling.

Next, Minyuk tried the kimchi dumpling. When he chewed the kimchi dumpling in his mouth, he could feel the crunchy texture of the kimchi, and taste the sweet and spicy flavor that was spreading from inside.

Finally, he tried the steamed buns. Minhyuk quickly tore the steamed bun apart with his bare hands.

Shwaaa, shwaaa─

Steam rose as the red beans that were packed inside revealed themselves. The hot steamed bun scalded Minhyuk’s tongue the moment he bit onto it.

“Ugh. Hot. But it’s so sweet!”

A gentle smile appeared on his face as the sweet taste quietly spread in his mouth. Just like that, Minhyuk’s excursion in the food market continued.

This very video that he was filming and broadcasting would later be selected as one of the ‘Best Videos in Athenae’ and would become one of the five top videos in the world, bringing plenty of people to the country. In fact, people from all over the world who travelled to Korea even once, would say this, “If you haven’t tried vegetable pancakes and makgeolli, then you can’t say that you have truly visited Korea.”

***

Minhyuk came out with an armful of food wrapped gently by the grandmas after he finished the market mukbang. Team Leader Park Minggyu, who was waiting for him, logged out together with him.

Team Leader Park Minggyu exited out of the capsule room that the Ilhwa Group had prepared for him before heading straight to Minhyuk’s room. There, he saw the chubby Minhyuk smiling happily. He thought, ‘Being the production class’ MVP is such a waste on you, Player Minhyuk.’

The words tickled the end of Park Minggyu’s tongue. However, since it was Player Minhyuk, he knew that the former was unaware that if he was able to win the combat MVP, then he would be able to participate in Athenae: World War, an event that would involve the entire world. Even so, he tried to let Minhyuk know of this in a roundabout way.

“You still have a chance to compete in other competitions. Especially since you have the participation ticket from the Hall of Kings. Of course, it will still depend on the game. In the case of the ‘Speed Eating Contest’ for production class players, you did not use your ‘Hall of Kings’ privilege. After all, the organizing committee had approved the addition of your team with Kerry, so you can still skip the preliminary round one more time.”

Participating in other competitions was possible, although there would be an overwhelming disadvantage if they participated later. This was the case for most of the competitions. Since most of the events needed the players to score points, those that participated later would definitely be left behind.

However, Minhyuk was seemingly unaffected by Park Minggyu’s words. He said, “Hmm. Is that so? But this time, I got information that there’s an incredibly delicious golden cow in Paladi Village!”

It was valuable information that he had received from the Informant Abel in exchange for a ‘buffed dish’.

Team Leader Park Minggyu grinned at Minhyuk. He knew that Minhyuk only played this game solely for the ‘delicious food’. This time, Minhyuk only made a move because he heard of the content: ‘market food’.

Team Leader Park Minggyu stood up and said, “I enjoyed our time together. And I’ll definitely keep your secret to the grave. Well, if I mess with the Ilhwa Group, my head will be cut off anyways.”

Team Leader Park Minggyu smiled softly as he jokingly pretended to slice off his throat. After all, he really was not going to tell anyone about this, so he was not worried. He would not share it with anyone. Even with Lee Minhwa.

“Hiya! I’ll send you off.”

“You must be uncomfortable, I’m fine.”

“No. I’m not just being polite.”

‘What a perfect person. He’s in the position to be arrogant, but he did not choose to be one.’

Minhyuk even escorted Park Minggyu out personally even though he was sweating buckets. He said, “Please get home safely! Ah, by any chance…”

Then, Minhyuk looked around stealthily before he whispered in Park Minggyu’s ears, “If you have any good information about delicious food, please tell me…”

“No way.”

“…A straight refusal.”

Team Leader Park grinned when he saw Minhyuk’s sullen look.

Minhyuk waved his hand as he watched Team Leader Park get into the car. Once he got into the car, Team Leader Park headed straight to the company. There was a trace of bitterness that hung around his mouth. However, all he could do was sigh.

“This is how we lose our country’s strongest man.” 

However, he knew that it was inevitable, so all he could do was smile bitterly. After all, he was a firm supporter of Minhyuk’s ‘Let’s Eat Life’.

‘I hope you can eat a lot of delicious food from here on out, Player Minhyuk.’ 

***

The big shots and influential people in the country all earned their MVP titles, as well as the honor of participating in Athenae: World War.

Tonight was the night before the final competition. A reporter came inside the players’ waiting room in real life. It was none other than Reporter Go Eun-Ah. She was given the honor to interview the participants in the World Tree competition. Since the players had requested that they did not want to be rushed or crowded together, she had to do the interviews quickly.

‘Wow. Locke really has a big head just like in the video.’ 

Go Eun-Ah could see Jisoo and Seoktae sitting beside each other. However, due to the rules of the competition, only up to two members of the same guild could participate in the same event.

She calmly went around and started her interviews.

Meanwhile, Locke, who was scratching his arms in his seat, immediately heard a voice.

“Five years ago? The guy who suddenly appeared like a comet, defeated me in kendo in the Middle School National Sports Festival, then became the champion?” 

“…” 

Locke slowly turned his head around. Coincidentally, the person right next to him was none other than ‘Lee Da-Woul’. 

“There were actually three people who cheered him on. I don’t know where the fat girl is now, but I remember you two.” 

Jisoo did not answer Da-Woul.

“I did a lot of research back then. Weren’t you an outcast back in middle school?” 

Jisoo turned his head back. That was right. He was an outcast. The corners of Da-Woul’s mouth curled up.

Jisoo might be ugly, but he was in his prime these days. He even had a fanclub called ‘ULPraise’. It was short for ‘Ugly Locke’s Praise’. On the contrary, he also has a lot of anti-fans. However, there was one thing that he was sure of, Jisoo was facing the most important moment of his life.

“What happens when your past gets revealed?” 

“…What?” Jisoo bit back, brows furrowing as Da-Woul shrugged his shoulders without turning his head to look at him.

“It’s just, I remembered that time. And Minhyuk, I even saw him in a competition not too long ago.” 

“…!” 

Jisoo’s face was distorted.

“Tell him not to bump into me in Athenae, or I’ll do an infinite PK on him.” 

It was both a threat and mockery, his warning to Minhyuk. Besides, Lee Da-Woul knew how scared Jisoo was when it came to revealing his past. After all, humans were creatures that feared something like that.

It was just like he thought, Jisoo was really afraid. He had been a powerless student that was bullied during his first year in middle school. Right now, he was afraid that something like that would be revealed.

Meanwhile, Go Eun-Ah had already started interviewing Da-Woul. She said, “A lot of attention has been turned towards you since you won the gold medal in the London Olympics. Please say something about this.”

Lee Da-Woul smiled pretentiously and said, “I’m flattered since Athenae is a game. Haha. Of course, it’s a huge game that is reflected in reality. Still, you’re overestimating me. Some say that I’m not that great. Haha.”

“You’re as modest as what I have heard,” Go Eun-Ah said with a smile. 

Meanwhile, Jisoo remained silent.

Outcast.

Loner.

Past.

If something like this came out and got revealed, Jisoo was sure that people would giggle and mock him on various internet sites.

Then, it was Jisoo’s turn.

“Jisoo is one of the hottest players these days. In addition, you’re a healer and a huge damage dealer so a lot of attention has been drawn to you…”

Just then, Jisoo raised his hand and said, “Please wait.”

“Yes?” Go Eun-Ah asked. She tilted her head in confusion after seeing Jisoo frowning and blocking his nose.

“I can’t do the interview because the smell of perfume wafting beside me smells so bad. I feel like throwing up.”

“…?!”

Go Eun-Ah’s eyes widened as Jisoo jumped up from his seat. He gestured wildly towards Lee Da-Woul and…

“Ueeeeeeeaaaack!”