[It has just been revealed that the player who entered the Hall of Kings twice not too long ago was in fact, the Food God, Player Minhyuk!]

[Have you ever heard of a production class player entering the Hall of Kings?]

[No, not at all. Other than the mysterious player named ‘Kenra’, all of the information on the players who ascended the Hall of Kings are publicly available. All of them are combat class players.]

[In any case, this begs the question: can a Level 355 production class player really participate in this undergoing competition?]

[It’s highly likely that he entered the Hall of Kings through an ‘SSS’-ranked quest at his level.]

[Unfortunately, I think the player who entered the Hall of Kings, Minhyuk, will be trampled by the players in this competition.]

[All of the players will definitely attack Player Minhyuk. After all, it will be an honor for them to defeat a player who’s sitting on the throne.]

[It is unfortunate, but I think Player Minhyuk will only last ten minutes inside.]

However, as reality would have it, the commentator who said those words had to swallow them back down not too long after.

[One kill! Double kill! Triple kill! Quadra-kill! Th…the scene in front of me is simply too ridiculous!!!]

The excited voices of the commentators, as well as the cheers from the crowd, began to shake the venue. All of them were shouting in shock.

Meanwhile, Locke was leaning against a wall. He heard footsteps entering the cave and thought, ‘An ant?’

He grinned darkly once more. He was always a loser in the first place, so how could he even think that he had the slightest chance of winning?

‘Ah, come to think of it, I used to think like this in the past.’

It was at the time when Lee Sungmin robbed him of his money and beat him up. He believed that he had no use in this world. He was a man who was born to the world, but was not needed. He felt so frustrated back then. However, at that time, his favorite punk told him, ‘What are you saying? Aren’t you our country’s best pro-gamer?’ 

Then, the footsteps, that he thought belonged to an ant, came to a stop in front of him.

“What’s wrong with our country’s best pro-gamer?” 

Locke’s eyes slowly opened. There he was, reaching his hands out to him.

***

When Minhyuk participated in the War of the World Tree, many commentators questioned him and his abilities. Even the audience was also agitated. However, he was still teleported into the competition. While Minhyuk was being warped, he recalled something. He thought, ‘It was definitely that ant cave over there.’ 

Minhyuk started running towards the ant cave that he had seen on the monitor before. His reason was simple.

‘Jisoo. You…’ 

Minhyuk had heard what happened to Jisoo from Jihye. He did not know what exactly happened, but there was one thing that he was sure of. Jisoo was being criticized by a lot of people because he tried to protect Minhyuk. Blackstone was definitely involved in this competition. Of course, they might also be putting pressure on Locke and Khan because of their overwhelming performance.

While he was running, a bright light burst out of the World Tree and covered everything in sight. The light also wrapped Minhyuk’s body.

[The Blessings of the World Tree.]

[The players’ abilities and skills are temporarily made equal.]

[The abilities and skills of the termites have been lowered compared to some players.]

[The Blessings of the World Tree will last for 20 minutes.]

Minhyuk continued to run despite the notifications. Then, he saw four people coming out of the ant cave. Minhyuk grabbed his sword tightly.

“…” 

They were Becker, Jahdi, Kelman and Gullen. They smirked deviously when they caught sight of Minhyuk.

‘A pumpkin got entangled in the vine.’ 

It was a publicly known fact that Minhyuk was the Frying Pan Killer. To think that he had appeared in front of them. And they knew Minhyuk was why Calauhel wanted to step on Legend Guild.

[Ah! Player Minhyuk! He’s facing four players!]

[He’s in trouble. He’s in trouble! All of the players have the same stats right now. In other words, this is a fight of control! One person has to fight against four people… the odds are slim!]

[There are even rumors that Player Becker has been practising judo for years. That’s not all. I’ve seen in an interview before that Jahdi and Kelman have been steadily working out to build up their stamina!]

[Ah, Player Minhyuk. This is what they meant when they said that a crisis comes at the time when you’re trying to make a breakthrough!]

According to Becker’s information, the Frying Pan Killer was extremely strong.

‘Level 355?’

They knew that he was something that they could not ignore. However, that was in the ‘game’. Right now, with the blessings of the World Tree, it was no different from reality.  Becker kicked the ground as he rushed towards Minhyuk with those thoughts in mind.

[Here comes Player Becker!]

[He’s being followed by the other three players!]

[If he gets caught by Player Becker just once, then Player Minhyuk will definitely be thrown down to the ground!]

Becker reached for the hem of his clothes and thought, ‘He’s no different from a normal person anyway, so this will be done in just three seconds.’

Becker narrowed the distance between him and Minhyuk. Just then, Minhyuk stabbed his sword.

Vwooooooong!

Clang!

Becker knocked the sword away with his knuckles as he quickly moved his arms. Then, he tried to grab him by his collar.

‘Caught yo…!’ 

However, something unexpected happened.

Dash!

Minhyuk took two steps back. Then, he put some strength on both of his legs and spun.

“Wh…what…!” 

Minhyuk’s foot connected with Becker’s chin, unleashing an overwhelming amount of strength.

“Urkkkk!” Becker groaned as he flew backwards from the impact of the kick. Minhyuk took advantage of the gap as he dashed towards the other enemies with his sword in hand.

Puhaaaak!

Slash!

Stab!

Taking advantage of Becker’s momentary loss of consciousness, Minhyuk quickly dealt with the remaining three people. Becker had been knocked out of his senses from that blow on his chin. However, he still could not help but be astonished at the scene that unfolded in front of him.

“You…! You…!” 

Minhyuk quickly approached Becker and slashed his chest.

Spurt!

Minhyuk clenched his fists as he punched the slowly falling Becker with all his might.

Punch!

The impact of the punch turned Becker into a grayed-out cold corpse.

[One kill! Double kill! Triple kill! Quadra kill! Th…the scene in front of me is simply too ridiculous!!!]

The commentators could not believe the scene playing out in front of them. One commentator even jumped out of his seat and slapped the table strongly.

[How could this be? Is it really possible for one person to deal with four people this fast? It’s like a movie scene is playing in front of me!]

Minhyuk took a step forward as he entered the ant cave. He could see Locke leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He said, “What’s wrong with our country’s best pro-gamer?” 

Minhyuk walked in front of him and reached his hand out. Locke opened his eyes and grinned at his outstretched hands.

[Ah, Player Minhyuk reached his hands out to Player Locke!]

[Did Player Minhyuk really participate in the game mid-way, just to save Player Locke?]

[Since he participated through the Hall of Kings, he can ignore the restrictions that only two guild members can participate in the game.]

[Ah, there are tears in Player Locke’s eyes!]

Locke grabbed Minhyuk’s hands. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes. He felt like he only always received Minhyuk’s help.

Then, Minhyuk and Locke both turned off their microphones. After all, players could choose not to broadcast their conversations live.

“Why are you here?”

Although he said that, Locke already knew. He knew that Minhyuk came here to save him! The tears welled up in his eyes. It was a truly touching moment. 

‘Aaaaaaah! A scene from the movies!’

Then, Minhyuk said to him, “I’m going to win and make charcoal from the World Tree.”

“…Huh?”

“Think about it. I’ll make charcoal out of the World Tree. Then, I can grill my 3,000-year-old eel with that charcoal. What do you think? Sounds delicious, right? But, I’m saying this first. I’m going to be the only one to eat it. Hehe!”

“…”

Bitter tears began to well up for Locke. The touching moment did not even last for one second. He asked, “Th…that sounds really delicious… Is that really your only reason?”

“Are there any other reasons? I told you to think about it though? It’s a combination of the 3,000 year-old eel and charcoal made out of the World Tree. Hiyaa. It’s delicious! Wait… why are you lying down there as if you’re contemplating life?” 

“…Should I just kill him?” 

“Huh? What?” 

“N…nothing.” 

The tears that welled up in Locke’s eyes silently flowed and trickled down his face. However, he did not feel sad at all right now. 

Meanwhile, the commentators…

[Aaaaaah! Player Locke and Player Minhyuk turned off their microphones to talk!]

[Player Locke was so moved that he even burst into tears!]

[Maybe this is how their talk was going. ‘Did you come here to save me?’ Then, Player Minhyuk told him. ‘Since you’re my friend, of course I should come and save you!’ Kgghk! What a very touching moment!]

[Ah, My heart feels so warm. Player Locke is trying so hard not to cry. He purposely made a distorted face!!]

[He must be embarrassed!! But, this is really a sight to behold!!]

Ignorant of the truth, they just blabbered on, indulging in their fantasies.

***

Carr was already leading in the first place after widening the gap between him and Locke.

[1st place. Carr. 44 Spirit Injections.]

[2nd place. Locke. 37 Spirit Injections.]

[3rd place. Zeriph. 11 Spirit Injections.]

The numbers were overwhelming. In addition, Carr was showing off his brilliant sword skills while facing off more than ten termites after the blessings of the World Tree descended.

[As expected. A London Olympics Gold Medalist is really skilled!]

There were currently three screens that had been attracting the most attention. The screens showing Carr, Khan and his enemies, and Minhyuk and Locke. Among the three, there was a lot of attention on Carr’s screen. It was an amazing sight to witness the pure skills of a kendo gold medalist slaughtering the termites.

Not long after, Carr saw a player enter his cave after he had hunted termites for quite a long time. It was Jacky. Jacky was also a member of Blackstone. However, even though they were keeping others in check, they did not necessarily pay attention to the game.

Then, Jacky told him, “Carr. Player Minhyuk participated in this game. He’s the player that entered the Hall of Kings.” 

“…What?” 

Carr, who was hunting termites and listening nonchalantly at first, could not help but stop in his tracks.

‘Minhyuk?’

Carr only had one bump in his life, and that happened to be none other than Minhyuk. He was the first and only person to ever defeat Carr, a person who had never tasted a defeat in his entire life. What was worse was that Minhyuk even reached his hand out to him after the match ended. Carr clearly thought that as a form of ‘mockery’. It was a delusion that he had created in his head to make sense of what happened.

‘I’ll be able to trample on him now.’ 

Carr believed this to be the case. After all, he had been living in the Athlete’s Village ever since middle school until now. He was different from the past, whereas he believed that Minhyuk was a toothless tiger.

‘If you were that good, then you should have definitely gone and joined the Olympics before, right?’

Just as he was thinking about that…

“The problem is that Player Minhyuk is overwhelmingly strong.” 

“Strong?” 

“Yes. He forced Becker’s team to log out in 20 seconds. With a sword.” 

“…!” 

Carr’s eyes widened. He knew that this meant that Minhyuk’s skills did not turn rusty at all.

However, at that moment…

Dash!

…someone rushed inside the ant cave.

“Catch him!” 

“Run!” 

Carr turned his head around. He could see Khan being chased around by the other players. Then, Carr felt something else behind him.

“Minhyuk, why are you over there? Oops!” 

Carr’s head turned around when he heard Khan’s voice. He saw Minhyuk supporting Locke. Carr and Minhyuk’s eyes met across the cave.

Bang!

Carr gritted his teeth as he kicked the remaining termite. Then, he began to rush towards Minhyuk.

“Kang Minhyuuuuuuuuuuk!”