Minhyuk chose to eat beef, instead of checking the artifact closest to God that he had received. Mei Wei continued to watch him, only to realize, ‘If it was the usual, I would have vomited at the sight already…’

Mei Wei was suffering from the most severe case of anorexia, to the point that she would vomit just at the sight of food alone. However, with Minhyuk eating so happily and with gusto in front of her, her nausea and vomiting did not rear their ugly heads, surprisingly. It even made her drool and want to eat. Watching this scene, Mei Wei finally made her decision. She said, “As expected, I really should stick close to you.”

“What, why?” Minhyuk asked, flustered. Although Mei Wei was unaware, Minhyuk was already having an ominous premonition that the number of mouths that he needed to feed was going to increase once again. Nevertheless, she began to tell her own story.

***

The employees of the Special Players Management Team were also watching Minhyuk do his beef mukbang.

“Slurp!” President Kang Taehoon wiped the drool dripping from his mouth. He then turned to Lee Minhwa and said, “Show us the artifact information.”

“Yes.”

(Monarch’s Armor)

Rank: Absolute Demigod

Restrictions: Food God

Durability: 50,000 / 50,000

Defense: 1,789

Special Abilities:

•All stats+18%

•Magical Defense x2

•A 300% increase in evasion rate.

•100% HP and MP recovery once every day.

•Passive Skill: Physical Damage Reflection

•Active Skill: Monarch’s Shield

Description: In the past, the legendary dwarf who was called the Golden Hammer, created the Armor of Immortality and presented it to the Food God as a gift. The very same Golden Hammer Dwarf used the framework and blueprint of the Armor of Immortality and successfully created an even more amazing armor.

That was right. The blueprint and framework of the Monarch’s Armor was the Armor of Immortality. And it was the masterpiece that Golden Hammer Dwarf Lant had created, something that should have been released a year later!

“Isn’t the defense of the artifact too ridiculous?”

“...That’s right. It would still be considered to be an extraordinary amount of defense even a year later.”

“And there’s even a 300% increase in the evasion rate…”

Evasion rate was something that all players tend to have. However, the effects of the evasion rate would only be triggered depending on the level gap between the opponents. In a fight between players with a 50-level difference, the probability of the higher-leveled player evading the attack of the lower-leveled player would increase. In other words, various factors, like the enemy’s attack. and level could affect the enemy’s attack, and make them miss.

So, what would happen if there was a 300% increase in this evasion rate? This meant that Minhyuk could avoid the attacks of other players at the same level with a 20-40% probability. Besides, even if the opponent successfully sent an attack, he was still wearing the armor with the highest defense in existence. On top of that, the armor was equipped with the passive skill 'Physical Damage Reflection'. The skill originally had a 20-30% chance of returning twice the damage that it received from the enemy. However, it now had a 25-35% chance of returning thrice the damage.

“A ranker can use a single skill in an attack, but if there's physical damage reflection, then…”

“Will the opponent die instead?”

Then, Kang Taehoon opened his mouth again and said, “Open the active skill window.”

“Yes, President.”

(Monarch’s Shield)

Artifact Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: 3,000

Cooldown: 48 hours

Effects: The defenses of party members, guild members, allies and territory troops within a ten meter radius will receive a 60% increase for ten minutes.

Even the Monarch’s Shield had an additional skill that could give a wide-area buff. In other words, anyone within a ten meter radius could receive the wide-area buff from Minhyuk. This was a truly surprising, and powerful addition to his strength, and by extension, his comrades.

“The gap between Player Minhyuk and the other players would continue to widen over time,” Team Leader Park said.

President Kang Taehoon just rubbed his chin as he recalled something. Then, he said, “But that’s still a relief.”

Then, Team Leader Park turned to look at him and said, “It’s about time for the High Class to appear.”

“Ah…” President Kang Taehoon said. Team Leader Park turned to look at him and nodded.

What was a High Class? It could easily be described as an additional awakening for general players. Currently, there were only around twelve people that had achieved the Royal Class. These Royal Classes already had power similar to, or even surpassing Minhyuk’s strength, and were all considered to be balance breakers already. These Royal Classes were none other than Dragon Monarch Black Dragon, Great Mage’s Descendant Ali, Hunter Veiron, and the recently changed Crown Prince of Sword, Emperor of Sword Carr. They became agents of Athenae and would sometimes broadcast together with famous BJs.

All of the players that have seen the videos and images of their battles were shocked by their abilities. Talks about balance collapse and game breakers started to spread widely. In fact, a group of four general players had the probability of defeating a Royal Class before, as long as they were on the same level as them. Of course, the Royal Classes received benefits and privileges since they were players that walked their own arduous path, so the chances of that happening were pretty slim. Therefore, the company more or less knew that they would receive backlash from the general players if that happened.

That was the reason why they prepared the High Class. High Class could allow anyone who reached Level 500 to have the chance to change their class. They could change and receive a High Class if they cleared a trial at Level 500. They could also change into a High Class if they cleared a trial in a place with the High Class trial, even after they reached a level higher than 500. Once they changed into a High Class, new skills would open up to them and stats tailored to their class would also appear, giving the player a significant increase in strength. Some High Classes were even comparable to Royal Classes. Of course, this was only a privilege for those who had reached Level 500. Team Leader Park and President Kang Taehoon turned to look at another monitor after watching Minhyuk’s monitor. There, they saw Black Dragon Vormon.

“It’s going to start soon.”

The Development Team and the Story Team had been working overtime the past couple of days after the Dragon King, Mei Wei and Conir had annihilated the Chinese players silently. The result of their hard work was a new episode. This new episode was almost at completion. They were confident that this episode would proceed without a hitch and start a continental war.

“From this point on, until the continental war begins, the biggest and most important factor is whether some of the Korean players would be able to change into High Class.”

If that happened, then there was a sliver of chance for South Korea to win the continental war. Of course, that was only a small glimmer of hope.

Then, Lee Minhwa said, “But… There’s an NPC among the Legend Guild that knows quite a lot of these trials. Right?”

“Huh?”

“Are you talking about the High Class?”

“Yes,” Lee Minhwa answered with a nod as she tapped on her keyboard swiftly. The moment she finished typing, the figure of the Great Sage Aruvel reading a book, despite the huge commotion around him, appeared on the screen.

***

Minhyuk listened to Mei Wei’s story. As someone who was suffering from another illness, he could understand and relate to Mei Wei’s feelings better than anybody else.

‘It must have been hard.’

Minhyuk knew that she was suffering more than anybody else. There were illnesses where one would eat and eat, and illnesses where one could not eat at all. It did not matter which was more painful. Minhyuk was fully aware about the difficulties and pain that accompanied the person during the process. However, even if he knew it was hard, he never gave Mei Wei a look of ‘pity’, he looked at her with eyes shining with hope.

“You’ll definitely get better! I will help you!”

“...”

Hearing his words, Mei Wei realized that he was different from others. Mei Wei was considered to be the world’s most beautiful woman. However, her friends all left her side the moment they learnt about her anorexia. Their eyes were filled with ‘sympathy’ and ‘contempt’. In the end, their eyes would be colored with superiority over her. It was something inevitable. After all, Mei Wei was more beautiful than anyone else, and just staying by her side would make anyone feel that they had lost their shine. So, they would all feel superior to her once they knew this fact. However, Minhyuk was different. He understood her difficulties and looked at her with hope.

‘Conir, I think I know the reason why you love and care for this person so much.’ 

“What kind of food do you want to eat the most?” Minhyuk asked her. He was going to do this to help her, but also to ‘return’ the favor that she had given him. After all, if it had not been for Mei Wei’s help, Minhyuk would have failed in clearing the Food God’s trial, and he would not have been able to taste the fantastic, mouth-watering beef that he ate earlier.

“Kimchi stew.”

“Alright. I’ll make it for you.”

Foreigners often wanted to eat Korean food. And kimchi stew was a common choice. So, Minhyuk began to cook, giving it his all. While he was cooking, he said, “Your brother will definitely want his Noona to be happy.”

“...”

Minhyuk struggled the most when his mother passed away. However, he eventually understood that his mother would want him to be happy, even if she was not around anymore. Hearing his words made Mei Wei’s heart shake. Then, Minhyuk finally finished the kimchi stew. When Mei Wei saw the finished dish, she thought, ‘Minhyuk might be the Food God, but can he help me treat my illness?’ 

Mei Wei’s doctor had suggested that she make contact with the Food God, because this was their last resort. They did not have any more choices to choose from. So, they did not know whether this treatment would work or not. When she was able to eat Conir’s ramen before, she thought that she was already showing signs of improvement. However, Mei Wei still refused to eat food in reality. Her doctor had told her that it would take a long, slow process in Athenae for her to shake off her mental rejection towards food. Mei Wei looked at the kimchi stew with some warm and well-fried eggs to the side.

“Kimchi stew is best eaten with fried eggs.”

Mei Wei nodded thinking, ‘I’m still fine at this point.’

Mei Wei thought that perhaps it was because her heart was starting to be at peace, that she could stomach the sight of the food, just like what happened with Conir before. Then, she stretched her hand and grabbed the spoon.

‘Can food really taste differently from each other? That doesn’t even make sense.’ 

Mei Wei had found Conir’s ramen to be very delicious. However, she thought that it was because of many complex reasons. She thought that it was because she had not tasted ramen in a long time, or perhaps it was because she ate it after a hard day’s work, or plenty of other reasons like that. However, would it be different and special, just because the Food God made it? That was what she thought as she scooped up a spoonful of soup to sip.

“Gasp…” Mei Wei let out a gasp of surprise. She immediately scooped another spoonful and sipped it again. When she looked up, she saw light glowing from behind Minhyuk.

‘What the hell? Why do I feel like I have become an extra in Cooking Master Bay?’

What was happening to her right now felt exactly like that. It seemed like Mei Wei saw a dragon ascending to heaven from the halo that was glowing behind Minhyuk. When she saw this, Mei Wei…

“Wait, this flavor…!”...unknowingly uttered these words.

Minhyuk just watched her with a big smile on his face, as Mei Wei ate spoonful after spoonful of rice. Each spoonful of rice that Mei Wei put in her mouth tasted soft and savory, with a hint of sweetness. Mei Wei was just about to get another spoonful of soup when Minhyuk said, “Try the soup with some pork.”

Mei Wei quickly followed his advice and scooped up some pork with the soup.

‘The pork… has the perfect ratio…’

The pork was half fat and half lean meat, the perfect ratio of meat and fat. And the moment she put it in her mouth…

“Wow…” A burst of admiration came out of her mouth, and she could not help but eat her food with renewed haste.

Then, Mei Wei placed a fried egg on top of her rice bowl, scooped a spoonful of rice and egg, then placed it in her mouth. The soft taste of the fried egg mellowed down the spicy flavor of the kimchi stew. This time, she tried the tofu. She cut a small piece and placed it in her mouth.

‘It’s light…’

It was the best. Mei Wei was eating so fast that it was hard to tell if she was suffering from anorexia or bulimia. It seemed like her rejection towards food was disappearing.

‘That’s right. Food should make us happy.’

Mei Wei recalled how Minhyuk ate his beef earlier. He looked happier than anyone else as he ate. That was right. Food was not a bad thing. It was something that should make people happy. She happily emptied the food in her bowl. Just then, the members of Legend Guild arrived in the territory.

***

Genie, Locke, Khan and the rest of the members of Legend Guild hurried to the territory after they finished their meeting. When they returned, they saw…

‘Is… isn’t that Mei Wei?’

‘Why is Mei Wei eating kimchi stew here?’

All of them were dumbfounded and confused. After all, why would Mei Wei, a Chinese player, be eating kimchi stew here? But before they could voice out their thoughts, Minhyuk sent a whisper to them.

[Minhyuk: Wait, guys.]

So, Legend Guild continued to watch Mei Wei eat as if she was possessed. Today was the day that they were finally convinced…

‘Minhyuk will be the guild leader of our guild.’

They continued to watch Mei Wei from afar after she finished eating. Anyway, they were still waiting for the explanation for what happened.

“Oh, it was really so delicious. My goodness. How can that be possible?”

“I’m glad that you’re satisfied with the meal.”

Then, Mei Wei said, “I heard that you’re going to build a kingdom?”

This was something that Mei Wei had heard from Conir.

“I want to be a part of your guild.”

“Do…do you really have to?”

‘Why are you rejecting her, you punk!’

The guild members were all shocked when they heard Mei Wei say that. They could hardly believe that Mei Wei wanted to join the Legend Guild. She was the number one player in the Global Rankings. However, to their horror, Minhyuk actually looked reluctant. Even if he was reluctant, Genie and the rest of the guild would still welcome Mei Wei. It was simply because Mei Wei had been known for doing good deeds, even though she only played alone without showing herself to people. Not long ago, they heard that Mei Wei even donated half of her entire fortune to a volunteer organization. The amount was at least around 80 billion. So, they believed that Mei Wei would not be a bad person. But, right now…

“Please accept me!!!”

“Ah. No. Do you really have to join and become a guild member?”

“Yes! I’ll be a huge help around here too. I’ll do everything you ask that is within my means!”

…the members of Legend Guild were all puzzled at the sight of the number one player, Mei Wei begging, while Minhyuk was vehemently rejecting her.

“Why do you hate my proposal?”

“Just because.”

Then, Conir appeared right next to them and said, “Conir knows why.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because there’s another mouth to feed!”

“Gasp!”

“Heok!”

“Keoheok!”

The Global Ranking’s number one player Mei Wei was willing to help with anything, but Minhyuk was rejecting her because he would have another mouth to feed? Still, it seemed that Minhyuk finally took a step back as he said, “Are you really willing to do anything for me?”

“That’s right! As long as you let me eat your food.”

“Phew… Alright. But you have to get approval from my guild members if you want to join the guild. But, if you become a member of the guild, your mission is…”

“Yes,” Mei Wei said, eyes shining brightly as she focused on Minhyuk’s words.

“...getting the ingredients that I want. I will cook you a meal for every excellent ingredient that you bring.”

“...”

After hearing Minhyuk’s words, Locke said, “...Hey! Aren’t you talking about a bread shuttle[1]? Let’s assume that Minhyuk’s dishes cost 100 won, then that punk will definitely ask for 1,000 won worth of ingredients. Doesn’t this sound like ‘I’ll give you 100 won, buy me some banana milk and bread.’ or something like that?”

“H…huh? That sounds quite true…”

“Rather than bread shuttle, isn’t she more of an ingredient shuttle…?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

The guild members all went silent at that. They once again felt admiration for Minhyuk.

‘My goodness… I can’t believe he’s making the Global Ranking’s number one player into his bread shuttle...’

‘Minhyuk is really incredible.’

‘I suddenly want to eat bread.’

Anyway, Mei Wei entered Legend Guild, by way of backdoor, as a bread shuttle.

1. A term generally used in schools, where one student is picked to run errands for the bullies ☜