CH 743

A lot of unofficial rankers had decided to go public. However, even after taking that into consideration, Fabian was still the global official number one ranker. At Level 595, many expected him to become the first player to reach Level 600. While he was not as famous as Alexander, Food God Minhyuk or the other leading rankers, Fabian was still the talk of the town.

[Fabian is considered to be the first person to break through Level 600! The God of Growth and Development that has the highest level in Athenae!]

In a press conference, he declared, “That’s correct. I am confident that I will be the first person to break through Level 600.”

Click, click, click, click, click, click, click!

“Recently, plenty of players have been closing in on you, Fabian. One such example is Player Minhyuk. Still, are you confident that you will be the first person to break through Level 600?”

In fact, the reason why Fabian held this press conference was because of the Food God. After finishing Gaerna’s hunt just recently, the Food God bombed his way through the levels and quickly moved up to the top eight in terms of ranking. He was still two levels away from Fabian but he was already receiving a significant amount of attention because of the explosive increase in his levels.

“I am sure. I am the God of Growth and Development. I will be the one to take the title of the first to reach Level 600.”

“But what will you do if the Food God takes the title first?”

The reporters and journalists did not actually care who was the best. All they wanted was to get provocative lines that they could use as their article’s title.

Even though he did not have any talent in gaming, Fabian was fortunate to become the God of Growth and Development and reach a high level. Yet, as high as his level was, he was in a situation where plenty of players had trumped him and showed how superior they were to him with their abilities and qualifications. Thus, someone like Fabian was easy to annoy and irritate, as long as one knew which buttons to push.

“That’s absolutely impossible. If he breaks through Level 600 first then I will acknowledge him and kowtow to the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.”

It was a very careless and rash remark from someone that was hailed as the global official number one ranker.

Click, click, click, click, click, click, click!

After finishing the press conference, Fabian moved to the waiting room. His manager asked out of worry, “Fabian, are you really confident that you will be able to do it?”

“Of course, I’m confident.”

Fabian had his reasons. It was because the ‘God of Growth and Development’ had recently bestowed upon him a Divine Heritage Record.

The God of Growth and Development wanted Fabian to grow faster than anybody else so he gave a lot of suggestions and proposals for him to be able to bomb his levels up.

The God had mentioned about ‘Ankanni’s Dungeon’, a dungeon that had no artifact or gold drops, instead, it offered a 5x increase in EXP acquisition rate. He also mentioned the hidden quest: ‘Volaka Kingdom’s Salvation’, which could increase one’s EXP level to a ridiculous degree. There was also the ‘Great Spirit Hunt’, a hunt for the being that was once the god of all monsters. Among the three, Fabian had put aside the ‘Great Spirit Hunt’ since he could not find out about its location.

‘If I can kill him, my level will definitely increase at an explosive rate.’

From what he heard, the Great Spirit would not drop any artifact or gold. However, it would give an outrageous amount of EXP. The Great Spirit was estimated to be at least at Great Demon Verus’ level.

From what Fabian had gathered, there was a hell-like chasm that divided Level 599 from Level 600. It would be very difficult to cross that gap. He presumed that the EXP needed would at least be ten times higher than the EXP he needed to reach Level 598.

‘Food God. You absolutely don’t stand a chance. I will be the first to reach Level 600.’

Fabian was completely immersed in a sense of superiority. At the very least, he was better than Minhyuk in this one thing.

Meanwhile, Team Leader Park Minggyu was also at the press conference. It was an event held by Joy Co. Ltd. where they invited the hottest players. Since he was already here for an overseas business trip, he decided to stop by and check on things.

At that moment, Team Leader Park’s phone rang. The caller was Employee Lee Minhwa.

[Team Leader, there’s a problem.]

“…” Team Leader Park sighed. Things like this no longer surprised him. “What is it?”

[Player Minhyuk is heading to Mandala’s Prison.]

“…!” Team Leader Park’s eyes grew wide. It seemed like the news surprised him this time.

‘Player Minhyuk has Mandala’s Growth Potion.’

What were the effects of Mandala’s Growth Potion? The most notable effect was the 30x increase in the user’s acquired EXP for an entire hour after the potion was consumed.

***

The Great Luvien Empire’s First Knight Commander Don was someone that the Battle God had sent to Nerva.

His memories were a bit hazy and vague, but he knew that he had once been poisoned by an unknown concoction that made his body bleed all over, while he slowly withered and die.

From what he could remember the Battle God had restored his condition back then and appointed him as Nerva’s knight. Don had recovered most of his memories except one thing, the memories of the man that he served in the past.

‘Why did I die? Why was I poisoned with that unknown drug? Perhaps it's alright not to remember? After all, I now belong to His Majesty Nerva. I am loyal to him and him alone.’

These were the thoughts that plagued Don’s head. But one day, a name rang in his ears.

‘Your Majesty Brod!’

‘Brod.’

‘Brod!’

‘Brooooooood!’

Don knew of a person that had a similar name to the one that the mysterious voice in his head was calling out. The man was none other than Brod, the vassal of the man they called Food God Minhyuk. Were they the same person? Don was not sure of that. However, there was one thing that he was certain of.

‘His Majesty Nerva is very wary of him.’

Indeed. Nerva Sephiroth was very wary of Brod. Perhaps that was the reason why Nerva came to him with a kind and gentle smile and gave Don a task.

—Don, I want you to personally go to Mandala’s Prison and bring him back together with his legacies.

Nerva treasured and believed in Don immensely. As someone that came from a pure knight lineage, Don lived by his sword.

‘He’s amazing.’

Don had actually seen the Food God. The Food God was a man that could hide his identity from Don’s all seeing eyes. He was also a man that could command Brod, a man that even His Majesty Nerva was wary of, as his loyal vassal and subject.

‘He must obviously be an amazing man.’

Although he tried to keep it under wraps, Don could tell that Nerva was conscious of the man.

‘Perhaps he will soon establish an empire of his own.’

That should be a testament to how great a man the Food God was. Besides, he was not only a king, but also a god. Don could already tell that he must be a charismatic figure in their kingdom. That charisma must be something that he used to gather and lead Brod and his other vassals.

***

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

When Knight Commander Don, along with three Swords of the Gods and 500 Black Knights, arrived in front of Mandala’s Prison, a place supposedly filled with a considerable number of traps and monsters, they could not help but be puzzled and confused.

“Hot… hot…”

They saw someone crouching in front of the prison and eating some fish cake soup. There were hundreds of fish cake skewers scattered around them, evidence of how much the man had eaten. There was also the baby piggy, Beanie, sitting in front of the man and eating together with him. The two ladled some soup in their paper cups and slurped everything up.

“Kihyaaaa!!!”

“Oiiiink!!!”

“As expected, fish cake soup is the best dish for winter.”

“Oiiiink!”

Beanie and Minhyuk smiled brightly, their eyes filled with awe and admiration. Then, the final fish cake skewers went into their bellies.

“…”

“…Oiiiink.”

Tears began to well up in Minhyuk’s and Beanie’s eyes.

“Oink, oink oink oink, oink oink. (Bastard owner! I told you so! You should have listened to me when I told you to bring 800 fish cake skewers! Oink!)”

“Sniffle. I really should have listened to you. Five hundred is far from enough…”

A scene where a king was getting scolded by a baby piggy because he brought less fish cake skewers, and the more shocking part was that the king was kicking himself down for not listening!

At that moment, Minhyuk’s gaze met with Knight Commander Don.

Normally, Knight Commander Don and the Swords of the Gods would find this situation to be an opportunity to kill a king that posed a threat to the Great Luvien Empire. However, it was different in Athenae.

‘He’s a foreigner. So, even if we kill him here, he will just come back to life.’

If they gave in to their impulses and made a move on Minhyuk, then he would use this as a reason to hold the Luvien Empire guilty. Also, the Luvien Empire and the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom were not enemies on the surface.

“Hello.”

“Ah, Commander Don.”

Minhyuk’s momentum changed in an instant. The stupid and foolish-looking king from earlier was now nowhere to be found. He looked at Don and the knights behind him with eyes that were filled with both confidence and charisma.

‘Our goals are…’

‘The same…’

Both sides noticed that their goals were the same. Both sides were here because they wanted to get something from inside Mandala’s Prison.

Minhyuk turned and grabbed the doors of Mandala’s Prison strongly.

“You will be in danger if you go in alone. I don’t know the reason for Your Majesty being here, but Mandala’s Prison is not as easy as you think it might be.”

Mandala was a very unique existence. Jealous of his talents, the gods imprisoned Mandala and erased the memories of most of the people that knew him back then. This was the reason why only a few people knew about Mandala. One of those few people was Nerva.

Clench—

Minhyuk tightened his grip on the rusty metal doors, exerting force and opening it fiercely. “Dangerous or not, we’ll only know if we get inside, yea?”

Creaaaaaaaak—

The huge iron doors creaked open. In fact, even Don and the Swords of the Gods did not know what exactly was inside the prison. The only thing that they knew about was the ‘Great Spirit’ that was guarding it.

[You have entered Mandala’s Prison]

[The Great Spirit lurking inside Mandala’s Prison is dragging you inside.]

At the same time, a powerful force that they could not resist, wrapped around them. The force not only sucked Minhyuk, but also Knight Commander Don, the Swords of the Gods and even the 500 Black Knights.

Ten seconds later, no one could be seen in front of the prison.

***

Inside Mandala’s Prison.

Mandala watched the people, who knocked on the doors of the prison.

“How did they find this place?” Mandala murmured as he nibbled on his nails.

He was trapped here, cursed to live alone forever. He could not die even if he wanted to. The gods were all watching each and every single move that Mandala made. The stigma on his body was proof of it.

There was only one way for Mandala to get away from them and that was to die. However, Mandala was someone that feared death. He feared the thought of dying more than anybody else.

Hence, he did something that was completely contrary to what Nerva and Knight Commander Don expected.

Trapped in this place for a long time, Mandala had no other entertainment except for making potions. During his time here, he was able to make a ‘Berserker Potion’. If this Berserker Potion was consumed by the Great Spirit, the Great Spirit would be able to regain the power that he had lost and become even stronger.

‘I want to live.’

Just one step away from this prison and Mandala would die. This was the restriction placed upon him through the stigma branded on his body. So, he had to stop them.

“You guys must not come inside this place.”

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***

Notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears the moment he got sucked inside Mandala’s Prison.

[You have entered Mandala’s Prison.]

[Your EXP acquisition rate and artifact drop rate will be doubled.]

[Mandala’s Prison is being guarded by the Great Spirit.]

[You will receive the wrath of the furious Great Spirit.]

“…?”

“…!”

Minhyuk and Don made eye contact as they slowly got their bearings.

“Kyahahahahahahahahahahack!”

At that moment, a loud and grating scream rang loudly as a powerful force from an unknown being wrapped around the two men’s bodies.

“Keuaaaaaaack!”

“Uwaaaaaaaack!”

[You are continuously receiving damage!]

[Your HP has dropped below 70%!]

[Your HP has dropped below 60%!]

[Your HP has dropped below 50%…!]

Minhyuk, Don and the Swords of the Gods found that they could not move their bodies according to their will. It seemed like the irresistible, unknown force was preventing them from doing so. The worst part was when the 500 Black Knights began to drop dead one after the other.

Thud, thud, thud, thud—

These falling Black Knights were the best of the best in the Great Luvien Empire.

[The Great Spirit’s Roar.]

[The flames of destruction will burn everything that the Great Spirit set his sights upon.]

Blazing flames sprang in the depths of the dark and gloomy prison.

“Aaaaaaaack!”

“For the Great Luvien Empireeeee!”

“Long live His Majesty Nerva!!!”

Knowing that their time was almost up, the surviving Black Knights threw themselves at the blazing flames so that they could weaken its momentum and power with their bodies.

Crackle!!!

Don and the Swords of the Gods stared in horror as the Black Knights instantly turned into ashes the moment the flames licked their bodies. However, the notifications were not yet over.

[The Great Spirit has gone berserk!]

[The Berserk Great Spirit has become stronger than he originally was!]

“…”

Knight Commander Don was told that the Great Spirit had grown weak. That was why he personally came here and led this expedition. To their horror and dismay, the Great Spirit had somehow gone berserk.

‘I might not be able to deal with him…’

The flames continued to show off an incredible lethality as they licked the ground and stretched even further forward. Don and the Swords of the Gods had sustained considerable physical damage. If they got caught in that attack, there was no way for them to survive.

“Get behind me.”

At that moment, a man stepped forward and pulled something out in a handsome and cool manner.

“A cauldron lid…?”

Minhyuk placed his cauldron lid in front of him to block the incoming attack. Don and the Swords of the Gods quickly gathered behind him as the blazing flames made contact with the thick cauldron lid.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaa—

‘Keok…’

‘What the hell is that cauldron lid…’

‘Are you telling me that it’s a cauldron lid made by a god?’

All of them knew that the flames, which easily killed the Black Knights, could deal damage that was on par with a dragon’s breath. That was why they could not help the disbelief that flashed on their faces when they saw the cauldron lid stop the flames’ momentum.

Fwiiiiiiish—

Minhyuk looked back at them once the flames had calmed down. At the same time, Don and the Swords of the Gods made eye contact. All of them could tell one thing.

‘Join hands with our enemy?’

‘We can only hunt the Great Spirit if we join forces with him.’

At this moment, the two sides joined hands and fought together.