Gulp―

PD Kim Dae-Guk gulped as he watched Minhyuk’s mukbang.

Then, the barrier faded away. The rankers that gathered together pulled back in unison. PD Kim Dae-Guk thought that it was only a natural move in their current circumstances.

‘Player Minhyuk clearly did not do anything except eat there…!’

The increase in rating from his mukbang was clear. However, only Player Minhyuk ate. As soon as the barrier got released, all of the rankers fell back as if they were going to try and deal with the situation in their own way.

On the contrary, Minhyuk just stood there staring at Barach’s majestic figure and his bat-like wings spread wide behind his back.

Crackle―

Blazing flames fell down with every step that Barach took, causing everything to burn in flames. That was when Barach fired his flames toward the retreating rankers.

Shwaaaaaaaa―

Minhyuk just stood there without flinching. When he took a step forward…

Flash―

…he appeared in front of the flustered rankers. The distance between them was as far as ten meters, but Minhyuk had appeared in front of them in a flash.

‘How can he travel that distance in just one go…?!’

Then…

Shwaaaaaaaaa―

…a strong wind began to blow. This was a skill that Player Minhyuk had always used so far.

‘Fluttering Sword…?’

It was both an AoE attack skill, and a one-shot kill skill.

‘But, can he even pierce through Barach’s skin with that skill?’

Something unexpected happened.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaa―

The wind began to pick up in intensity. It became as strong as a typhoon that threatened to blow everything away. And the rankers around him all fell into chaos.

[Kyaaaaaak!]

[What the hell is this wind?! It’s blowing like a typhoon!]

[Crazy…! I think it would be hard to remain steady, right?]

This time, the leaves that fluttered in the wind were glowing gold, not silver. Hundreds of falling leaves fluttered strongly amidst the strong typhoon-like wind. The movements of the golden leaves were enough to dig into the ground and piles of stone flying around.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Barach pushed his iron mace towards this strong force, as a huge flame exploded out and rushed towards Minhyuk, colliding with the golden leaves.

Shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa, shwaaak!

Alas, the clumps of flames that rushed forward were easily torn apart by the fluttering leaves. The leaves did not even stop as they rushed straight towards Barach.

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack―

A strange and mysterious sound rang out. However, it was not the sound of cutting through something. Instead, it sounded strangely similar to something passing through or tearing through something.

“Keuaaaaaaaaaack!”

Blood spurted out of Barach’s body.

“What, what the hell…!” PD Kim Dae-Guk shouted as he jumped up in surprise. This was not the Fluttering Sword that he knew. It was far stronger than the skill that they knew before!

‘He just ate… So how…?!’ 

They could not believe it since Minhyuk only ate inside the barrier.

***

The notifications rang one after the other in Minhyuk’s ears.

[You have eaten a dish made with the recipe for yourself.]

[You won’t be able to eat a recipe made by yourself for two weeks.]

[You can’t receive any duplicate buffs during the duration of the buff retention period.]

[Harmonious Fire Chicken Stir-Fried Noodles]

[All stats will have an increase of 19% and Ellie’s Swordsmanship will have a +4 increase in mastery for five minutes.]

In the case of this dish, the ranking would change depending on the harmony that was created. The notifications that Minhyuk had heard were completely different from the notifications in the past after he completed a dish.

‘Wow… Ellie’s Swordsmanship increased by +4…?’ 

Ellie’s Swordsmanship was the best swordsmanship skill from Empress Ellie. It was something that could not be accessed just by anyone. The swordsmanship had grown even stronger after receiving the evolution from a king of a kingdom, and had recently become even more powerful after combining with Sword God Valen’s swordsmanship.

Currently, it had become a Demigod Skill. And such a Demigod skill had actually increased by +4 too. The reason why Create a Recipe Skill was amazing was because it could overcome the limits of skills, and make the skills become even stronger. The skill level would usually remain stagnant at 9 and stop at MAX. It could grow stronger with evolution, which would make the skill go back to 1, or just completely stop at that point. However, the power of Minhyuk’s cooking could let those skills go beyond that point.

Based on the notifications, the power of the dish that Minhyuk ate could only give him five minutes of overwhelming power. So, Minhyuk quickly released the barrier created by his ‘Let’s Have a Meal’ skill.

Meanwhile, the rankers behind him were saying…

“I trusted you and you just ate…”

“Why did you release the barrier?”

“That’s enough. We’ve already prepared inside the barrier, so let’s move back for now.”

The other rankers continued to grumble while Lee Hosung calmed them down and asked them to fall back. Then, the flames that were burning on Barach’s iron mace rushed toward them.

“God… Goddamnit!”

“If we get hit directly, we’ll die!”

The players screamed.

Most of the players knew that they would not be able to avoid it on the spot.

For a moment, Minhyuk wondered if he could traverse that distance in an instant, since his ‘Like the Wind’, a technique under Ellie’s Swordsmanship, had increased by +4.

“Like the Wind.”

Flash!

And just like he thought, Minhyuk was able to traverse a distance of ten meters. After appearing in front of the other players, he immediately used his Fluttering Sword.

‘The power… has increased…’

Although Minhyuk could not confirm the exact extent of power that he received, he could still feel the changes in his skills, from the power that erupted when he triggered it. The huge amount of power was enough to make him feel horrified.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaa―

The wind around Minhyuk began to blow violently. The strength and intensity of the wind were something that he had never seen before.

“Kyaaaaaack!”

“What the hell is this wind?! It’s blowing like a typhoon!”

“Crazy…! I think it would be hard to remain steady, right?”

The players on site could not help but scream in shock.

[Wow…! This looks like a huge tornado with Player Minhyuk at the center!]

[Such a strong wind!!!]

Minhyuk fired the powerful force toward Barach.

Shwaaaaaaaak―

The unusual golden leaves collided with Barach’s powerful flames that shot out of his iron mace. After destroying Barach’s flames like it was nothing, the leaves continued to push forward until they tore Barach’s body apart.

“Keuaaaaaaaack!” Barach screamed loudly.

[Something unbelievable is happening right now.]

[Wow… I actually thought that he won’t be able to pierce through Barach’s skin. But, didn’t he just eat something a few minutes ago in the barrier?]

The commentators were astonished.

‘We’re sure that Player Minhyuk ate something before!’

They were not the only ones that were surprised. Even Minhyuk himself was surprised.

‘This is the power of Ellie’s Swordsmanship once it reaches Level 4...?’

Perhaps this was the power that he could receive once he strengthened Ellie’s Swordsmanship further.

Then, Barach roared, “Graaaaaaaaaaaaaar!”

[Demon God’s Blessing]

[The Demon God’s strength recovers your injured body.]

Then, Barach’s injured body began to recover quickly.

‘I have seen another of this guy’s skills.’ 

Minhyuk was not only eating inside the barrier of the ‘Let’s Have a Meal!’ skill. He was also analyzing the skills that Barach had used.

The Skill Destruction was divided into two. It could restrict either the opponent’s strongest skill or the chosen skill of the opponent for five minutes. However, it was not because the skill was too strong that he was reluctant to use it right away. Minhyuk wanted to analyze Barach’s skills and ability further before choosing what to do. And so, he had taken the time to analyze all of the skills that the outraged Barach used to hit his barrier.

Whenever his lava erupted, the rankers' artifacts would be corroded and their movements would turn dull.

‘But now, all the other rankers are useless.’ 

They were the best of the best, but they just lacked the strength to deal with Barach. So, Minhyuk had to do his best. He finally made a decision after thinking about which skill of Barach’s he would restrict.

‘I should prevent him from using that recovery skill that he had just used.’ 

Minhyuk could not afford to let him recover again. His buffed dish effect would only last for five minutes. It could be said that he was betting his all on this. Whether he win or lose, it was all in.

[Skill Destruction]

[Sealing one of the target’s designated skills.]

[Demon God’s Blessing will be sealed for five minutes.]

Barach seemed to feel the restriction from Minhyuk’s Skill Destruction. Lava burst from his body, as if an active volcano had erupted.

[Knight’s Berserker.]

[Barach’s offense and defense will become 30% stronger.]

[After the Berserk period, all of Barach’s stats will fall by 30%.]

Barach had realized that Minhyuk was unusual. Minhyuk immediately turned the Devil Judge’s Sword into Diablo’s Scythe, before jumping up and swinging the weapon down.

Creak, creak, creak, creak, creak―

Blood flowed down all over Barach’s body as a line was drawn across his tough and thick skin. Just like Barach had turned stronger, Minhyuk had also become stronger. However, he only had three minutes left now.

‘Well, he can be my experimental subject for Berserk.’

Berserk was a special skill attached to the Devil Judge’s Sword, and his experimental time was only a few tens of seconds.

Shwa, shwa, shwa, shwak!

Barach’s whip became faster and stronger as he began to pressure Minhyuk. Even his movement speed increased to the point that he could easily hit Minhyuk’s body.

“Urgh!”

However, it was still too early. Minhyuk would only use that skill once he had approached it closely.

Shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa―

Barach swung his whip and wrapped it around Minhyuk’s body.

Shwaaaaaaaa―

Crack, crack, crack!

The whip tightened around Minhyuk’s body immediately and caused his HP to drop sharply.

Crackleeee!

The powerful flame traveled along the whip and stretched towards Minhyuk.

Hwaaaaaaaaa―

Minhyuk had a tremendously high magical defense compared to the regular rankers. Despite his high magical defense and the increase in stats through the buff, his HP still fell by 20%. And it did not end there. Barach quickly pulled the whip strongly, tugging Minhyuk towards him.

[Aaaaaaah!!! It ends like this!]

[But Player Minhyuk fought very well!!! The thing that he did just now, I believe he will be able to get the upper hand in front of the other world rankers.]

The commentators had predicted the end.

Just as Minhyuk had reached Barach… A black flame blazed all over Barach’s body.

[Fire Devil’s Explosion]

[A 700% increase in attack power will be manifested as soon as a direct hit lands on the opponent.]

Keuhaaaaaaaack!

The huge ball of fire that came from Barach’s body flew towards Minhyuk. It was an extremely powerful attack that boasted an additional 700% attack. It was clear that this was Barach’s strongest one-shot kill skill. Everyone had predicted that Minhyuk would die. But…

Crack!

…the whip wrapped around Minhyuk’s body broke down, as a black fog appeared and wrapped around Minhyuk’s body before being absorbed inside.

Then, the notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[Berserk.]

[This is the first time that you have used the Berserk skill.]

[For your first awakening, all of your skills and stats would become much higher than the normal Berserk skill.]

[All abilities will be increased by 19% and all stats would have a +2 increase.]

[Your HP will decrease by 3% per second. By the end of the skill, your HP will fall below 10% while your defense will fall below 20%.]

Minhyuk’s skill level had increased tremendously due to his buffed dish. The same was true for his stats. And now, his Berserk skill has dramatically increased Minhyuk’s skills once again. Then, another notification came.

[Ellie’s Swordsmanship’s cooldown temporarily decreases by 70%.]

To his surprise, there was another set of notifications…

[Ellie’s Swordsmanship has temporarily reached the Pinnacle.]

[You can temporarily use the evolved Ellie’s Swordsmanship technique.]

[Chapter 8. Berserk Sword]

‘Pinnacle…?’

This was Minhyuk’s first time hearing about such a level. However, he did not have much time to ponder over it. The Fire Devil’s Explosion was rushing towards him. It was a skill that has given Barach an additional 700% attack power, on top of his basic damage.

Minhyuk immediately activated the technique, “Berserk Sword.”

The eighth chapter of the skill, the Berserk Sword, was temporarily activated, resulting in a shocking event.

As soon as Minhyuk wielded his sword, hundreds of four-meter-long black sword lights appeared in the air. It looked like a flock of hundreds of black migratory birds flapping their wings and shooting up into the sky!

[An additional 700% attack power is added to your sword.]

[If the sword succeeds in attacking a vital point, it will gain an additional 1,300% attack power.]

Minhyuk immediately realized that this was a combination of his Splitting Sword and Sword of Fury.

‘A strike will have an additional 700% attack power and an additional 1,300% attack power if I succeed in hitting a vital point…? And with each and every single one of those hundreds of swords…?’

Minhyuk was shocked at how powerful this sword technique was. Then, the hundreds of swords collided against Barach’s Fire Devil’s Explosion, a magnificent fire that seemed to be able to burn everything down to the ground.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The hundreds of black swords broke through the Fire Devil’s Explosion and turned it into nothing. Then…

Shwaaaaaaaaaak―

…the hundreds of swords continued forward to stab into Barach’s body.

[You have successfully dealt a critical strike.]

[Additional 1,300% attack power.]

[You have successfully dealt a critical strike.]

[Additional 1,300% attack power.]

[You have successfully dealt a critical strike.]

[Additional 1,300% attack power.]

[You have successfully dealt… omitted.]

Notifications constantly rang in Minhyuk’s head. Barach was torn to shreds until his figure could not be distinguished anymore. The sword lights even continued to fly forward, destroying all of the remaining buildings and towers. They finally became spent after reaching the magnificent elf mountain.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Although the mountain did not disappear, its shape was still completely altered forever.

Crumble―!

“…!”

“…!”

[…!]

[…!]

[…!]

The skill finally disappeared and everything in its wake had turned still and silent.

Then, notifications were heard through the silence.

[You have successfully hunted the Demon God’s Knight Barach.]

[You have acquired the Demon God’s Knight’s Training Room Stone.]

[You have acquired the Demon God’s Special Parchment.]

[You have gained 3,135 platinum.]

[You have acquired 61,315,479 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

…

[You have gained 11,190,441 contribution points.]

[The Class Quest: Kingdom Warriors has been created.]

[The Class Quest: Food God’s Kingdom has been created.]