Leveling Up through Eating

One Strike, Two Kills. This was a term from Go-Stop that meant one could draw two cards in one turn. The younger generation, including the players, also used this term when they launched a single attack that could deal damage to two opponents or objects.

Baaaaaang–!

That was precisely what was happening with the blazing red flames that had devoured Varoghan and the egg behind him. It was inflicting continuous damage on both of them. Since both targets were hit simultaneously, Minhyuk was able to inflict 1.5 times more damage than when he was attacking just one target. It was just as he expected.

“Graaaaaaaaaack! H-hot! I’m telling you, it’s hot!!!” Varoghan screamed from the heat of the flames.

Minhyuk could not help but groan when he saw that the flames had only slightly burned the egg's shell.

‘I can only reduce its durability by this much even after using the Supreme Overlord’s Technique.’

Minhyuk’s expression grew solemn. Although the remnants of the flames of the Supreme Overlord’s Technique were continuously inflicting damage to both Varoghan and the egg, the damage was much less than Minhyuk had expected.

[The Growth Devourer will hatch in 3 minutes 53 seconds.]

Minhyuk held a sword in each of his hands as he activated the buff skill of the Food God’s Swordsmanship. Then, he quickly used the Frenzied Blade on Varoghan.

Varoghan’s body was torn apart as Minhyuk’s sword struck him with the word “Crazy” engraved on the blade.

Bang–!

Slash, slash, slash–!

With both swords in his hands and Dual Swordsmanship activated, Minhyuk slashed and hacked at the egg like crazy.

Crazy had a 55% chance of getting triggered. Once triggered, the sword would create a wind with an additional 3,000% attack power. In other words, if he swung twice, his attack power would be 3,000% stronger. On top of that, with the Dual Swordsmanship triggered, Minhyuk’s speed could be considered ridiculously fast.

Despite all that, the egg’s durability was dropping very, very slowly.

Minhyuk habitually tried to summon the Ego Chain Sickle, Viel’s Puppet Doll, and Beanie but stopped.

‘What a f*cking situation, huh?’

This was because only one person could inflict damage to the egg. Only the first person to deal damage to the egg would be able to decrease the egg’s durability.

Minhyuk’s head spun quickly as he continued to hit the egg.

[The Growth Devourer will hatch in 3 minutes 20 seconds.]

[Growth Devourer’s Egg. Durability: 520,003. Defensive Power: 44,300]

A minute had passed, but Minhyuk could only cut down around 70,000 durability at most. After hitting the egg like crazy with his Dual Swordsmanship Technique and Crazy, he used Like the Wind and retreated.

“The Annihilator’s Sword.”

Slash–

The powerful force that enveloped the Sword of Aeon struck the egg. The Heavenly Sword followed right after, creating a heavy downpour of blades that cut the egg from all directions.

Minhyuk bit his lips tightly. ‘What the… What freaking luck is this? This egg…’

“Keuhahahahaha! It must be hard trying to deal with it alone, huh? Huh?! Look at the time! The egg will probably hatch faster than you break it… Ack!”

Minhyuk struck Varoghan’s dirty mouth. But the problem was his words were true. After all, despite swinging his sword like crazy, the egg’s durability remained high. And the hatching time was getting closer and closer.

[The Growth Devourer will hatch in 2 minutes 50 seconds.]

[Growth Devourer’s Egg. Durability: 470,003. Defensive Power: 44,300]

‘I don’t know what reward Chaos will give.’

Minhyuk was aware that breaking the egg was also for the sake of his master, Beradon, so he decided to pull out all the stops.

Minhyuk’s throat bobbed.

Gulp–!

At that moment, two dice appeared with different colors. The power from the black die was immediately applied to Calamity.

Shwaaaaa–!

Black wings spread beautifully, and over a thousand blazing swords shot out and attacked Varoghan immediately.

Bang–!

Every strike of Calamity would trigger an explosion. And, of course, since they were well within the range of the blasts, both Varoghan and the egg would naturally receive damage. Once again, the One Shot, Two Kills made an appearance. Its effects were applied to the power of Calamity and caused a considerable drop in the egg’s durability.

“Hiiiiik!” Varoghan shrieked after experiencing the damage himself. He was stunned to see the damage. This was because it felt like Helenia’s attack hit him.

But Minhyuk was not yet done. He used the same skill once again with the Save ability. Calamity once again spread its beautiful black wings.

Minhyuk watched as the durability dropped by a considerable amount.

[The Growth Devourer will hatch in 2 minutes 20 seconds.]

[Growth Devourer’s Egg. Durability: 230,003. Defensive Power: 44,300]

“Haa… Haa…”

Minhyuk’s breathing was ragged, and his expression was horrid. If he continued at this rate, he would be able to break the egg. However, he had used up most of his active skills.

If all of the attacks–like Brod’s Death Wolf, Conir’s Heart Sword, Ben’s Pinnacle Spear, and many more–that would come the egg’s way were going to work, then the egg could easily be destroyed. No, breaking the egg would be easier if anyone could hit the egg.

Yet the problem was not only the lack of available active skills. Because Minhyuk exhausted almost all of his power at such a fast pace, he was starting to face his body's physical limitations.

As his breathing remained heavy and his body began to shake, he thought, ‘I think the only thing I can use right now is the Transcendental’s Spear?’

The Transcendental’s Spear was a skill that could deal tremendous damage to a single target. He had not used it yet because it could only be triggered if he was in the state of “Transcendence.”

‘On top of that, the Transcendental’s Spear will deal an additional 33,000% damage. But if I’m in the state of Transcendence, this will increase to more than 50,000% damage.’

But no matter how hard he thought, the only conclusion he could come up with was that he couldn't break the egg with the Transcendental’s Spear.

‘Huh?’

A glint appeared in Minhyuk’s eyes.

‘If I do this well, maybe there’s a chance?’

***

Joy Co. Ltd.

The only ones gathered inside the conference room were President Kang Taehoon, Team Leader Park Minggyu, Department Head Kim Dae-Il, and the Story Team’s leader. They were all watching the current situation on the screen.

Joy Co. Ltd. did not pay much attention to the current situation. They had judged that it was impossible for Minhyuk to break the egg.

“If he breaks the egg, will Player Minhyuk get all of the EXP accumulated in the egg?” Kim Dae-Il asked.

Team Leader Park nodded.

“But the amount of EXP accumulated in that egg is impossible for us to measure, no?” A flash of interest appeared on Kim Dae-Il’s face. “The egg has been eating the growth of countless players for quite a long time now. The EXP it has accumulated must be in the hundreds of billions, perhaps even in the trillions.”

Kang Taehoon nodded as if he agreed.

“The amount of EXP a player can receive at one go is limited.”

When he heard those words, Kim Dae-Il could not help but ask, “But if that happened, then that would be the player’s achievement. It’s quite strange that you will limit something they deserved to receive, no?”

That was undoubtedly true. That was why another option was made available to those players.

“In situations like that, God of Origin Athenae or us, Joy Co. Ltd., will interfere and give additional rewards according to the situation. But since Chaos, the one who maintains the balance, was the one who asked Minhyuk to break the egg, then he’s the one who has to deal with it.”

So, the task of giving Minhyuk a reasonable reward was passed on to Chaos.

“The question is… what kind of reward will Chaos give Minhyuk?”

“It doesn’t seem to be a problem at the moment.” Kang Taehoon chuckled as he shook his head.

There were only two minutes left. But they could see how Minhyuk was exhausted. Besides, the skills that he could still use were limited. In a situation like that, the only thing that they could conclude was that he couldn't break the egg.

Kang Taehoon, who finally had a moment of leisure and relaxation when watching Minhyuk, held the teacup and sipped his drink. But then, he saw Minhyuk do something incomprehensible on the monitor.

“Huh?”

They watched as Minhyuk summoned Viel’s Puppet Doll, the Ego Chain Sickle, and even Beanie. He even used the Almond of Subordinates to summon his vassals. But he was not yet done.

“Why did he summon priests…?”

The number of priests that he summoned increased by the second. They found this incomprehensible because they all knew that Minhyuk was aware of the restrictions of the egg.

‘He knows that other people will not be able to deal damage to Varoghan and the egg, right?’

The sudden and incomprehensible development made Kang Taehoon gulp dryly.

***

The outstanding powerhouses and the excellent priests of the Beyond the Heavens Empire that Minhyuk summoned looked around them.

There was not much time left now.

[The Growth Devourer will hatch in 1 minute 41 seconds.]

[Growth Devourer’s Egg. Durability: 197,003. Defensive Power: 44,300]

If things continued at this rate, then the egg would hatch. Minhyuk, who was still hitting the egg, explained the situation to them. But everyone looked at him in confusion.

“How can we help you, though?” Brod asked.

Minhyuk said, “Attack me. It’s fine. Please don’t hesitate to attack me…”

Thwack–!

“...?”

Someone slapped Minhyuk on the back of the head. The sudden action almost made Minhyuk burst into anger. When he turned his head, he saw Viel’s Puppet Doll looking at him with an expression that clearly said, ‘What? You told me to hit you, right?’

‘For some reason, it feels awful?’

He was the one who asked them to hit him, but…

Viel looked at Minhyuk before hitting him on the back of the head again.

Thwack–!

“You… said… hit…”

Twitch–

“...?”

‘What was that? Why are the corners of his mouth twitching up?’

Viel was obviously aiming for this. But Minhyuk thought it was not too late to hit Viel back later.

Minhyuk said, “I’m wearing the Black Dragon Armor. Once I trigger the Absolute Defense, please hit me with your pinnacle skills.”

There was something that Minhyuk was very curious about. He wanted to know if he could accumulate the damage that Transcendence needed to be triggered while he had the Black Dragon Armor on and the Absolute Defense triggered. He wanted to test it and satisfy his curiosity.

And the answer was: it accumulated.

Before hitting the egg, Minhyuk had equipped the Black Dragon Armor to get the 1.3x increase in skill damage effect. The amount of Transcendence that he would accumulate was determined by the damage he received for one minute and the level of the ones attacking him. It also had a five-minute duration.

Everyone present here was Athenae’s best and strongest. Perhaps today was the day that Transcendence would display the most potent power that it could display.

“Even if the Absolute Defense is lifted, please don’t stop attacking.”

This was so he could ensure that he could get the best effect from Transcendence. Because of this, Minhyuk hung the best potions that the God of Alchemy Mandala had created on his waist.

Minhyuk focused on hitting the egg once again.

‘I know it fully well.’

He knew that his men would not feel comfortable attacking him. Perhaps Conir, who was soft-hearted, would even burst into tears, saying he could not do it. Nevertheless, he was confident they would do it as long as he told them it was his order.

“I know that it’s hard for you, but…”

“Your Majesty.” With a determined look, Brod continued, “Since you have already said so, then I will give it my all in attacking you.”

‘Was that not the case?’

Ben chuckled as he gripped his spear tightly. “This servant of yours will do his best to attack you.”

“N-no. You don’t have to go that hard…”

“Conir! Hyung! Conir is confident that Conir will hit you well! Conir will only pick the places that will hurt!”

“Conir, your hyung is not a punching bag, though…?”

“Herakel! Herakel is good at hitting.”

Brod looked around and said, “Everyone, we will use everything we have! Attack His Majesty! Anyone who hesitates, I, Brod, will be the one to deal with you! His Majesty needs our help, so we must give it our all!”

“I won’t hesitate!”

“I will give it my all!”

“Absolutely!!!”

“Uwoooooooooh!”

Minhyuk, who looked back and saw this touching(?) situation, smiled awkwardly. He could see that everyone was looking at him with murderous expressions on their faces, their killing intent palpable.

“Th-thank you, everyone.”

He did not expect that everyone would think of him like this.

‘Did I do something wrong…?’