CH 206

Even if Baphomet looked cute in its miniature size, it was still a demonic monster from the Demon World. Minhyuk had checked Baphomet’s stats and had confirmed the power that it could exert. Currently, Baphomet might be ‘weaker’ than its normal state, but it could still cast Fifth Tier Magic without any difficulties. In other words, it was still a strong summon.

Hundreds of monsters appeared the moment Minhyuk extinguished the candles again. Then, he ordered Baphomet to give them a debuff.

[Demonic Monster’s Hymn.]

[Monsters who hear the Demonic Monster’s cry will lose 60% of their defense.]

[Demonic Monster Baphomet will have a 50% increase in magical attack.]

“Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!” Baphomet’s cute cry rang loudly in the coliseum as he floated in the air together with the dozens of magic circles that formed around him.

Among Baphomet’s spells, there was a ‘Mass Save’, as well as a regular ‘Save’. The regular ‘Save’ skill was the skill that Minhyuk had absorbed and made into his own skill. Meanwhile, the ‘Mass Save’ skill could save a huge amount of magic spells and attacks in the skill user’s body, as if they were saving the skill in their wand or staff. This skill could allow the skill user to shoot plenty of magic at their enemies non-stop.

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

Baphomet’s magic spells and attacks engulfed the incoming monsters. With their defenses dropping by 60%, it seemed like no monster present could withstand the maelstrom of attacks that Baphomet had unleashed.

Seeing this, Minhyuk turned to glance at Vhad. Vhad’s expression was ugly and distorted beyond words.

“You…you… For…for real…” Kerry sputtered as he looked at Minhyuk in surprise after being told to step back.

The moment Kerry stepped back, Minhyuk blew out twenty more candles before jumping straight into the fray with ‘Like the Wind’. Then, a huge storm made of fire started to form around him.

[Dark Fire Storm.]

[A storm of black fire will engulf all of your enemies within a six-meter radius. The storm will deal magical attacks with 600~1,000 damage per second.]

Shwaaaaaaaaaaak!

Minhyuk quickly retreated after he summoned the tornado of fire. Then, the massive Dark Fire Storm rampaged and slaughtered the monsters. However, despite the massive attack, there were still monsters that survived. Seeing this, Minhyuk stepped forward with his frying pan, along with Baphomet and its staff.

Minhyuk’s legendary frying pan could allow him to cast Second Tier Magic without any casting time. Magical attack was a stat that was affected by ‘INT’. Minhyuk’s INT, after he had eaten a lot of medicine and special ingredients, had increased a lot and was even above a Level 250 mage’s INT. Even Minhyuk’s ‘WIS’, a stat closely related to ‘MP’, had exceeded a Level 350 player’s MP. So, what would happen if someone with these stats did not need any cast time and went wild with his magical attacks?

“Fireball! Ice bolt! Lightning! Wind cutter!”

Bang! Bang, bang, bang! Slash! Shweeeeeeek!

There was also Baphomet giving support from the side, as it began to pour out a great deal of magical attacks towards the enemies.

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

After tidying up all of the monsters, Minhyuk dashed forward to pick up all of the food parchments that dropped. This time, he ripped the parchment that wrote, ‘Jeonju Southern Market’s Blood Sausage Rice Soup’.

***

The twenty-year-old London Olympics kendo gold medalist and legend, Lee Da-Woul, had officially revealed his identity in Athenae as the Level 499 Sword Crown Prince. He used to play unofficially, but he had revealed his identity during an official press conference that was held prior to the start of Athenae: Korean War.

Lee Da-Woul’s press conference received plenty of attention from the public. After all, an Olympic gold medalist would be participating in Athenae: Korean War. He was even at Level 499 with the class Sword Crown Prince. His level was shocking enough and was known to be higher than the unofficial number one in the local rankings, Kaistra.

So, what did ‘unofficial’ mean, when he stated that he was playing unofficially before? The term ‘unofficial’ meant that they were the players that kept their information completely secret. In other words, even if they ranked first or second in the unofficial local rankings, since they chose to keep it a secret, it restricted them from expressing their true status and rankings.

“The ‘War of the World Tree’ will start soon.” 

The War of the World Tree was one of the events in Athenae: Korean War. It was a competition for combat classes and received a huge amount of attention from the people. This competition would be held in the enormous World Tree. The concept of the event was to revive and give a breath of life to the rotting World Tree. Since the country’s top combatants would participate in this competition, they expected that it would garner the highest rating.

A man entered one of the training rooms. This man was also a national kendo player.

“What?”

“You’re not watching the Korean War?” 

“The Speed Eating Contest?” Lee Da-Woul asked, snorting at the words. For someone standing at the top of the combat classes in the country, the competition among the production classes was something completely unnecessary.

“Why should I watch something like that?” 

Lee Da-Woul had an arrogant and cheeky character. The success that he had experienced at a young age had made him arrogant. He also had an obsession with winning which made people hate him or dislike getting along with him.

“It’s really interesting. A player named Minhyuk participated and Vhad is completely at a loss.” 

“…Minhyuk?” Lee Da-Woul asked, his brows twitching from the sudden ominous feeling that crept up from his spine. He hurriedly stood up to stand in front of the TV with his friend.

[I’m completely speechless. The magic that comes out of the frying pan quickly devours the monsters around him.]

[Their score even went up by 150 in an instant. It’s completely overwhelming. It’s a landslide!]

[Ah, Player Minhyuk’s expression is telling us that ‘I’ve worked hard so I better eat something delicious later!’. Who in the world is that player?!]

“…!” 

Lee Da-Woul’s body trembled in shock.

“Da-Woul?” Da-Woul’s friend called out. However, Lee Da-Woul remained silent as he looked at the smiling face of the man that was shown on the screen as the man held his chopsticks with excitement.

“You, you…” Da-Woul stammered as he recalled the first time that he had suffered a defeat against someone.

Although he suddenly disappeared from the world, there was once a lot of talk about him becoming a promising player that could lead the Korean Olympics to greater heights. That person was none other than Kang Minhyuk.

A sinister grin crept onto Lee Da-Woul's face. He was sure that this wild beast had already lost his sharp teeth after a long time. On the other hand, he had continued to sharpen his blade and had even become an Olympic gold medalist. He thought, ‘He’s just a poor kid. If he’s not doing kendo, what has he been doing these days?’ 

The scene after their match ended was still vivid in Lee Da-Woul’s head. That man had reached out his hands towards him, the loser. Lee Da-Woul gritted his teeth at this obvious mockery. So, he did his best to try and catch up to that man. However, that man suddenly disappeared from the world. Now, he had appeared again.

***

[The competition is over.]

[Team 11, the team that everyone expected to rank the lowest, has exceeded everyone’s expectations and proudly won the MVP!]

[Ah, can you see now? Player Kerry looks so excited.]

[I think I would also be the same if I was in the same situation. Player Kerry was being ignored by everybody because he was a nominated candidate. Although he was not as good as Player Minhyuk, he did not fall behind the other production classes.]

[I think it’s better to say that he was better than most of them, instead of saying that he was not lagging behind..]

[It seems like he did not show his full power in the preliminary rounds.]

[Ah. Player Kerry is bowing to the crowd with tears in his eyes!]

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Kerry shouted excitedly as he held the ‘MVP’ trophy with his hands. His face was covered with tears as he bowed to the camera and said, “I…I want to give this honor to my father in heaven!” 

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“So cool!” 

Click, click, click, click, click!

[Ah, I can feel my eyes burning with tears. During the interview in the preliminary rounds, Player Kerry said that he had lost his father to ‘pancreatic cancer’ two years ago.]

[Player Kerry went fishing alone every day in the world of Athenae to remember his father and his favorite hobby. And, it was the reason why he became the ‘Legendary Fisherman’.]

[My heart feels really warm.]

[Huh? Where is Player Kerry looking at?]

[He’s looking at Player Minhyuk.]

Kerry turned to look at Minhyuk, the person that presented this miraculous moment to him. Then, he quickly approached the latter and said, “I’m sorry for ignoring you before.”

“It’s fine. I would do the same. Well.”

Kerry laughed happily when he saw Minhyuk smile, before pulling the latter into a big hug.

[Is, is this a bromance?!]

[Hmm, hmm. I can now expect a lot of stories about these two people, Minhyuk and Kerry, from many BL readers.]

After Kerry hugged him, he absorbed the trophy.

[You have absorbed the MVP Trophy.]

[You have earned the qualifications for Athenae: World War.]

[You have acquired 100 platinum.]

[You have acquired the Title: Production MVP.]

[You have earned 10,000 AP.]

[You have gained 500 REP.]

Kerry smiled warmly as he thought ‘These 100 platinum can be cashed out and converted to 250 million. I’m going to set up a fishing shop with this!’

Then, he looked back at Minhyuk. Kerry thought that he would immediately check his trophy but he just hurriedly placed it in his arms. Then, he began to talk to the competition’s organizing staff.

[What are they talking about?]

[I’ve never seen Player Minhyuk look so serious before.]

[Ah. I just heard what Player Minhyuk said just now. But… uhm…]

[What’s wrong?]

The audience were filled with curiosity as they waited for the commentator’s words. Then, the commentator said…

[He…he wants to blow out more candles. H…he kept on asking if he can still eat.]

[He’s really like a player.]

Then, the other commentators said…

[Joy Co. Ltd. said that they will help him to get ‘market food’ without blowing the candles.]

[Uhm…? Can you see it now? When Player Minhyuk received the MVP trophy, he looked a bit dissatisfied. His expression was even sour. But now, he’s smiling happily like a child.]

[Eyyy. No way.]

[No. It’s really true. He looks so happy that he looks like he’s flying in the sky.]

[Then, let’s replay the video when he received the trophy.]

The screen showed Minhyuk winning the MVP trophy. He muttered something sulkily as he threw the trophy into his inventory as if he was throwing something useless in a corner. The commentators tried to read what his lips were saying at that time…

[It seems like he was mouthing… ‘Ey! You should give me something delicious. Why give me something like this?’ or something like that. Or, or not?]

[Eyyy. I don’t believe that he’s someone like that. Hahahaha.]

[R…right? Hahahaha.]

Minhyuk was the only one who knew the truth.