CH 426

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” The entire world cheered loudly.

Minhyuk, with his black suit and swept up bangs, stood at the center of the stadium. This was not an image projected on the screens, but Minhyuk’s figure in reality. He looked around the huge stadium where he stood alone before looking down at his hands and thinking, ‘This is where I should be.’

Although Minhyuk had reached his target weight of seventy five kilograms, his fight against his eating addiction was far from over. Besides, reaching this weight was largely attributed to the medicine that he took before and was only a temporary stop gap measure to his disease. A single moment of carelessness and he might just go over the hundred kilogram range once again. Minhyuk believed that he would only be completely free of this disease once the voices that shouted ‘Eat, go on. Eat.’ disappeared from his head.

And if those voices truly disappeared then…

‘I might be able to continue running to the top.’

Although he appeared as someone that did not care about power and was totally in disregard of authority, to the point that he looked like he wanted to divide and share his merits with his friends and family, Minhyuk was still a man. Yes, he was still someone that wanted to stand at the peak of the world, and be the object of people’s admiration. And perhaps, at this very moment, Minhyuk might have reached that dream.

Minhyuk lifted his fist silently, yet proudly.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Wooooooaaaaaah!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The Korean flag drawn on his left wrist fanned the burning flames in the heart of every single Korean watching the scene. At that moment, the notifications for Athenae, which was linked to his mobile phone, rang for Minhyuk.

Ring!

He quickly took his phone and checked the notifications.

[You have gained the Title: Athenae: World War’s First MVP.]

[All of the gold medal winners in Korea will receive a 25% EXP buff for two weeks.]

[All players of Asgan Continent will receive a 10% EXP buff for two weeks as a special benefit.]

Minhyuk quickly clicked on the title that he obtained.

(Athenae: World War’s First MVP)

Unique Title

Title Effects:

• All stats will increase by 4%.

• Physical Attack and Defense will increase by 300.

Short-Term Title Effects:

• You can acquire the ‘Gods’ Land’.

• You can gain 2,000 REP.

• You can gain 50,000 AP.

After checking the notifications, Minhyuk looked at the crowd. Whether they were from America, France, Russia, China, Japan, India, Vietnam, or another country, they cheered loudly and enthusiastically. Minhyuk smiled silently and went down from the stadium. America’s Alexander, who was waiting below, approached him.

“Congratulations.”

Minhyuk thanked Alexander with a smile.

“I heard that there will be PVP events added in the next World War. Don’t you think that it will be interesting?”

“Yes, it sounds interesting.”

Alexander was not sure if Minhyuk would participate at that time, but he still hoped that he could play against him when the time came.

“More enemies will appear in front of us in the future.”

“Yeah,” Minhyuk nodded in agreement.

Having the Athenae MVP title meant that he was officially recognized as the strongest powerhouse. However, that was only among those that were officially recognized by the public. Perhaps, those that chose to hide their powers from all over the world were sneering at them and saying, ‘Empty vessels make the loudest noises.’

These hidden powerhouses would deliberately opt out of most of these events. After all, it would be like a ‘death sentence’. This was because participating in events like the World War meant that they risked revealing the extent of their strength and power to the world. Knowing what artifacts and skills one’s opponent has would bring a huge benefit in a battle.

On the contrary, the opponent would find it difficult to fight against them if they were not aware of what skills and items they had in hand. Fame could be easily gained but one had to consider the risks that came along with it.

And there would definitely be a growing number of these hidden powerhouses that would aim for Minhyuk, the official strongest.

“There’s a high chance that God’s Children are keeping their eye on you now.”

“…Is that so?”

Information about God’s Children were still mostly unknown to the public, since they usually only do covert operations. However, a few top-ranking players knew about them. The God’s Children were holders of God classes.

“I don’t exactly know how many they are, but from what I heard, these God’s Children belong to the ranks of ‘Supreme Gods’. Just so you know, I fought with one of the God’s Children…” Alexander smiled bitterly before continuing to say, “Six minutes.”

“…?”

“That’s the time it took for them to make me submit and kneel.”

Minhyuk’s expression morphed into that of surprise. After all, he knew that Alexander was hailed as the world’s strongest. But it only took them six minutes to make such a man kneel?

“They are a group of individuals called by one name: God’s Children. I believe the strongest among them is the unofficial global number one in Athenae.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Alexander chuckled after hearing Minhyuk’s question. Then, he said, “Of course it’s to build a good relationship and connection with you.”

Minhyuk grinned. Alexander was showing him goodwill by telling him this. And the answer to that goodwill was…

“You should definitely come to visit us here again sometime. Although, I’m not sure if I will be able to offer you a meal when the time comes.”

“Of course. I’ll definitely come to visit,” Alexander grinned. Then, the two of them left and moved to different directions.

Indeed, Minhyuk was not yet the ‘strongest’. After all, there were still existences like the God’s Children out there in the world.

***

The entire country was in a constant state of excitement. The Food God, who won the MVP position, had led South Korea to victory during the World War. Not a single day had passed by without the words ‘Food God’ and ‘Ilhwa Group’ on the real-time search results. There were even countless articles being published about them everyday.

[Ilhwa Group’s stock prices have increased tremendously. This is the crazy influence that Athenae has on reality.]

[The Chairman’s son, Kang Minhyuk, has rejected all of the advertisement offers sent to him. His reason? To ‘focus on treatment’.]

[Minhyuk ranked number one as the Ideal Husband and Ideal Blind Date, number two, losing against Beanie, as the Children’s Idol.]

There was a buzz every day.

A young man looked at the computer screen in one of the rooms in Blue Orphanage. This was the same orphanage that Minhyuk frequented when he was younger. The young man fixed his horn-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and thought, ‘Hyung, congratulations.’

Then, the young man began to tap away on his keyboard. The story that he was writing right now was his and Minhyuk’s story. Before the young man came to this decision, he had hesitated a lot. He was an orphan and he had to reveal who he was to publish this story so the people would know that his story was not just a marketing strategy.

However, his desire to repay the favor and grace that he received from Minhyuk in the past triumphed over his fears. The young man’s name was Im Jae-Seok and he was Seoul National University (SNU)’s Medical admission test’s top scorer this year.

Minhyuk had always taken care of him and treated him as if he was his younger brother. Minhyuk told him once, ‘You are a very precious person, Jae-Seok. Don’t ever give up. Continue to move forward.’. Minhyuk’s words gave Im Jae-Seok the strength to continue on his path. And with hard work, he was able to win the title of the top scorer of SNU’s College of Medicine.

Tap!

Jae-Seok’s finger tapped on the enter key as he uploaded his story.

‘Now, I can repay you for your kindness.’

And it was not just him. Plenty of people all over Korea were tapping at their keyboards to repay the kindness and grace that Minhyuk had given them in the past. With Im Jae-Seok as the spark, their stories continued to gain more attention.

“Waaah.”

Im Jae-Seok leaned back on his chair and said, “Congratulations on becoming the best in Athenae, hyung.”

A bright smile lingered on Jae-Seok’s face as he continued to look at his screen.

***

The entire country was once again in a buzz after Food God remained as the top real-time search result for a few days. Even the news was filled with articles about the good deeds and kindness that he did in the past. There was even an interview with the top scorer of SNU’s College of Medicine admission exam about him.

‘The Food God is really the best!’

‘Hooray for our Lord the Food God!’

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

‘Kyaaa! Look at how kind our Food God hyung is!’

‘Don’t you think that he’s the perfect example for the unpretentious, kind and handsome guy?’

Some of his anti-fans could not even make a splash and eventually got buried from the onslaught of praise and admiration for him.

Meanwhile, silence pervaded Ilhwa Group’s board meeting. All of the board members were shocked and speechless at the endless amount of articles being published and shared on their mobile phones, tablets, and computers, as well as the ever increasing stock prices of their company.

[Not all angels have wings. With the continuous exposure of Minhyuk’s good deeds and kindness, many people campaigned to purchase their electronic products and groceries from Ilhwa Group…]

[Whether it is Ilhwa TV, Ilhwa Groceries, or Ilhwa Construction, Ilhwa Group is a group that walked on the righteous and clean path. And it seems like the Chairman’s son, Minhyuk, is also walking on that same path.]

[Ilhwa Group’s stock prices have reached an all-time high, leaving Daehan Group in the dust. Meanwhile, Daehan Group’s chairman has been reportedly admitted to the emergency room. The reason… a stomachache?]

“Does anyone have any objections?”

At Chairman Kang Minhoo’s words, those that clamored and shouted to the point that their throats got sore and their blood vessels popped in their neck, for Minhyuk to do work and train as the group’s successor, all shut their mouths.

“Ahem…”

“Keuheum…”

After all, Minhyuk, despite having eating addiction, achieved something that none of the people present here could achieve.

“So, there are no objections.”

Chairman Kang Minhoo smiled softly while the board members looked at him in admiration.

‘That’s amazing…’

‘How can they live a clean and upright life like that…? Maybe it’s something that has been passed on to the Kang father and son?’

‘With this, we won’t be able to say anything about how he raises his son and what he should do as a successor.’

That was right. Everything was a result of Minhyuk’s hard work. Kang Minhoo stood up from his seat. He opened the window and looked out.

“Will he start training to become the successor now?”

Kang Minhoo just smiled at the question and said, “No. I’m just going to stand behind him and cheer him on while he plays games and achieve his own happiness.”

Minhoo was extremely happy. Minhyuk, his son, gave him the power to say these things.

“That child will be able to grow his own wings even more if I just watch at the sidelines and cheer him on.”

No one could argue against Minhoo’s gentle smile and agreement to let his own successor play games as much as he wanted. Then…

“I will be cheering him on.”

“I will also give my support to Kang Minhyuk.”

“Kang Minhyuk is the perfect candidate to become the next chairman of Ilhwa Group.”

Kang Minhoo smiled broadly as he continued to look out of the window while listening to the sincere words of his board members.

‘Son, a bigger and stronger wind will blow now. However, I believe the wings that you have nurtured can endure it.’

Standing at the top meant that he had to have the power to carry that weight and still stand tall. And right now, a huge gust of wind was billowing to where Minhyuk was.

***

Diablo, no, he was called Elpis now, had moved to Atlas Territory. Even though Minhyuk had already returned from the World War, he was yet to be assigned a mission. All he could do was to try to adapt to living as a human once again, by watching the people of the territory move about in their days. Just then, a devilish existence approached him…

“Oink!”

Elpis thought that the pig, who was arrogantly looking up at him, was quite unique.

“I think… you’re… a strange… and arrogant… pig…”

“Oiiink?!!!”

Beanie, enraged at the word ‘arrogant’ directed at him, immediately sent a one-two punch on Elpis’ leg. Then, realizing that it did not do anything, he swiftly climbed up on Elpis’ body and settled on his shoulder.

“Oink! Oink, oink, oink! (You should follow me from now on, oink!)”

Elpis could not understand what he should follow the pig for.

Just then, he saw the strange thing, a pair of ‘earphones’, stuck in Beanie’s ears. Athenae was a game that gave the players the ability to listen to music everyday, even if they were playing. Beanie had taken advantage of this ability by taking Minhyuk’s earphones every single day to enjoy music.

“Oink! (I’ll play some special music for you, oink!)” Beanie oinked as he placed one of the earphones in Elpis’ ear. The moment he pressed play, a beautiful and harmonious melody rang in Elpis’ ear.

Elpis had been searching for ‘happiness’ these days.

‘How can I live happily for the rest of my life?’

This was the moment that he realized what it was. This was it. Music. A beautiful melody that ringed in one’s ears. An amazing tune that had the effect of making any passerby feel like they were the protagonist of a movie. Elpis, although awkward, smiled.

Then, Beanie whispered, “Oink, oink, oink! Oink, oink! (You’ll look cooler if you say this while listening to music, oink!)”

Beanie smiled ominously as he left the earphones in Elpis’ care.

***

Minhyuk was urgently trying to find Elpis. He had been thinking long and hard about what task to give him and finally found an answer today. After running around for quite some time, he finally found where Elpis was.

However, something was strange.

There were earphones stuck in Elpis’ ears. And even though his eyes were closed, Minhyuk could tell that he was intoxicated and in ecstasy. Then, he said, “Music is… the only… unrestricted drug…” which was immediately followed by a streak of tears!

“…”

These were the words that Beanie had taught him to say. That was right! Elpis was also adapting well to living happily, as he quickly reached the state of being ‘Minhyukified’, no, ‘Beaniefied’!