Leveling Up through Eating

Translator: ChubbyCheeks 

PR: MattForgenti

19 A Dangerous Companion

A candy can make anyone stop crying! 

‘What the hell, did he cry on purpose just so I can buy him something to eat?!’ 

That was what he thought! Minhyuk had an incredible amount of patience for food, he even reduced his sleep to eat. So it was no wonder that he could even cry for it! 

“Ah, I feel refreshed!” 

Minhyuk went down from the weighing scale.

He already poured everything out with his tears so now he was filled with joy. A smile now hung around his lips. 

He could even picture his heart beating wildly in his chest. 

‘What if I can really have the image I had inside the game in real life?’ 

This was the reason why Minhyuk’s butt fell down the weighing scale. 

“Doo doom chit! Doo doom chit! [1]”

He looked quite funny. 

“Hahahaha!” 

“Hohohoho!” 

It was definitely a lovely day for everyone, everyone had a smile on their faces.

Oh Changwook laughed for quite some time before approaching him. 

“Ah, how much did your dexterity stat increase now? Are you still going to the dungeon today?” 

“Yes, huhu. Today is the day that I will harvest my fruit.” 

The seeds have finally bore some fruits. The fruits would come to Minhyuk’s hands on the day that he would leave the dungeon. 

“How high is your dexterity stat now?” 

“I think it’s at 298?”

“……” 

“……” 

“……impossible.” 

The surroundings suddenly became noisy. Oh Changwook looked completely astonished. 

“You’re saying that your dexterity stat is almost at 300……?”

“Yes!” 

Minhyuk tilted his head.

The rate at which his dexterity stat increased in the dungeon was at x8. His dexterity stat was definitely bound to increase tremendously since he kept on digging day and night while he cooked during his rest times. 

“I heard that our guild blacksmith had a little over 400 for his dexterity stat when he advanced from intermediate level to advanced level……?” 

“……Really? Was he not able to increase it? Ah, I think it’s because I have a x8 increase in my acquisition rate.”

However, Changwook thought hard about it. 

It will not rise that fast even if he has a x8 acquisition rate. 

“I think I know.” 

“Yes?” 

“I heard that there were a lot of different rules for increasing the dexterity stats. Isn’t the first rule in increasing the dexterity stat to continuously repeat an action?” 

“Yeah.” 

That was a fact that everyone knew. 

“I heard that there were other rules aside from this. The more that you concentrate and get absorbed in a task is also a factor. Another factor was if the user continuously worked without taking any breaks. I heard that if all of those conditions overlapped then there would be a higher increase in the dexterity stat. It will also increase even by a little when it continuously overlaps. There will be no notifications that will be heard about this, though.”

“Really?” 

It was an unexpected story. 

In other words, Minhyuk’s dexterity acquisition rate had implicitly risen just by him concentrating hard and continuously doing his task without taking much of a break. 

Minhyuk was also happy to hear that. 

“Then, I’m going to eat some fruit to celebrate.” 

Minhyuk entered his Athenae capsule with a sway of his butt. 

At that moment, Changwook remembered something… 

‘I remember hearing that there are benefits when one reaches 400 in their dexterity stat……’ 

***

Bran was now truly astonished. 

‘This is too ridiculous…’ 

He trembled all over. 

Minhyuk planted all seven of his seeds and on the branches of each of those huge trees laid a single fruit. Each fruit was also shining with light. 

This light was only visible to Bran. It represented the % of Seed’s Effort. It was an indication of how much the user who planted those seeds had filled that % bar. 

In fact, achieving 50% was already a difficult task. And if one did not achieve at least 50% the fruit would only become a much more delicious and a bit special fruit. If 60% was achieved then it would be better, the same way it was better when 70% was achieved. 

But doing that was not as easy as it sounded. Bran himself could only reach 60% with much difficulty. 

The effort gained from digging was really important but one would also need to care about the seeds. 

And right now, he could see colors reflected on those fruits. All of these colors were also accompanied by a golden light. 

It meant that it has achieved more than 90%.

Bran couldn’t believe his eyes. 

Then, Minhyuk logged in. 

“Doo doom chit! Doo doom chit!” 

Minhyuk came in with his butt swaying in a dance. 

“Hello! I’m here!” 

“Y, yeah. Boy, today’s the day that you’ll be leaving?” 

“Yes! Huhuhuhu. But before I go I have to harvest my fruits.” 

Minhyuk was filled with anticipation while Bran smiled awkwardly at him. 

“What’s wrong with your face?” 

“N, nothing.” 

It was because he received a great shock. That was why he looked like that. 

He couldn’t believe that there were people who would give his best efforts and still give enough care and affection. When he thought of it, he always saw Minhyuk caring about the seeds whenever he wasn’t digging or cooking. 

Then, Minhyuk approached the seven grown trees with excitement. 

The fruits were all in different sizes and were covered in a shell similar to that of a coconut shell. This made it hard for him to identify what the fruit was. 

“You can just reach your hand out and say harvest to receive the fruits.” 

Minhyuk followed Bran’s instructions. He reached his hands out towards the trees. 

“Harvest.” 

[Would you like to harvest the fruits?] 

[ Yes / No ] 

“Yes.” 

Plop—

The fruit that was just on the tree suddenly fell down on its own. Then it flew straight towards Minhyuk, floated for a while then slowly fell on the floor. 

There was a crack straight in the middle of the coconut-like shell. Then the shell fell off both sides. 

Plop, plop—

Then, the inside was revealed. 

Minhyuk was shocked by what he saw.

“Waaaaaaah…” 

He first exclaimed… 

Then a delicious watermelon appeared! 

“I, it’s a watermelon……!” 

“Yeah. The watermelon looks really delicious.” 

“Ah, good, great, watermelon, applause! [2]” 

“…?” 

“You don’t know this song?” 

“Boy, what are you saying? Go after you finish clapping.” 

“Hmph!” 

“Ahem!” 

Both of them made a bad joke and coughed in embarrassment.

Then, Minhyuk checked the watermelon’s information. 

(The Fruit of Your Efforts’ Watermelon.) 

Material Grade: C

Special Abilities:

— Acquire 30 DEX. 

— Acquire 30 WIS. 

— Tastes much better compared to normal watermelons. 

Description: Your efforts and affections for the seed have paid off. You already have the excellent disposition of a true farmer. 

“I, it’s good that it says that it tastes better than a normal watermelon!” 

“Yeah? What abilities did you get……” 

“Wow! I wonder how delicious it is if it’s much better than normal watermelons?! The normal watermelon is already delicious!” 

“Look at the abilities!” 

“What abilities…” 

Minhyuk shook his head. 

“It’s not that bad~” 

Minhyuk received something pretty good especially with the 30 DEX. However, it still couldn’t compare with the one with a better taste. 

Then, Minhyuk checked the next fruit. It also appeared once the shell split on its own. 

“S, strawberry!” 

(The Fruit of Your Efforts’ Strawberry) 

Material Grade: C

Special Abilities:

— Acquire +10 for all 5 basic stats.

— Possible to level up a general attack skill by 1.

“Waaaaaaaaang!” 

Minhyuk did not even dilly-dally. As soon as the strawberry that’s the size of his head appeared, he immediately picked it up. 

The strawberry was completely ripe and red and its seeds were black and gleaming with light. 

He quickly chomped on his coveted strawberry. 

“Chomp!” 

Chew, chew. 

The black seeds embedded on the flesh of the sweet strawberry was pleasant to the taste. 

The more he chewed on it, the more juice he could get, the more refreshing it was for him.

It was very surprising to watch Minhyuk eat a strawberry the size of his head without him cutting it into pieces. 

“Chew, chew!” 

Minhyuk kept on eating the strawberry. 

“……Y, you look like a hippo.” 

From an elephant to a hippo. 

Minhyuk tidied up the strawberry in the blink of an eye. The strawberry that weighed almost 4kg was finished in one go. 

Then he paused. 

“T, this idiot!” 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Heung I wanted to eat the delicious strawberry fruit juice, strawberry cake, strawberry macaron, strawberry sandwich! This fool!” 

It was so delicious that he regretted eating it on the spot. Then he suddenly became determined. 

‘It’s okay, Minhyuk-ah. You still have a watermelon.’ 

He kept the watermelon in its shell so he could still keep a semblance of control. 

Half of the watermelon will be eaten while the rest will be made into a fruit salad! 

A string of notifications popped in his head. 

[You have eaten the Fruit of Your Efforts’ Strawberry.] 

[You have acquired +10 in all 5 basic stats.] 

[Please select a general attack skill.] 

He has no other attack skill except for this one. 

Bardy Swordsmanship. 

[Bardy Swordsmanship has leveled up.] 

[You have mastered Bardy Swordsmanship.] 

[Chapter 1. As a reward for mastery, the attack power of Vital Strike will increase by a large margin.] 

[Chapter 2. As a reward for mastery, the Three Consecutive Quick Assault will have additional damages.] 

[Chapter 3. As a reward for mastery, the stats increase and time for Bardy Swordsmanship will be greatly increased.] 

Mastery rewards. Once a skill has been mastered, the user would receive additional rewards for their skills. Generally, there would be a notification that would say that there was an additional 3% to the attack power. 

Minhyuk quickly checked the skills window. 

The 1st Chapter: Vital Strike had a 28% increase in attack power. The 2nd Chapter: Three Consecutive Quick Assault had three cuts that could be made with an additional 10% of attack power for each cut. For the 3rd Chapter… Before, Bardy Swordsmanship could increase the stats for 10 minutes but it has now risen to as much as 20 minutes. 

Minhyuk continued to harvest the rest of his fruits. 

[The shell cannot be broken at your current level.] 

[The shell cannot be broken at your current level.]

Sadly, the remaining fruits could not be currently opened. However, Minhyuk still checked on its information. 

(The Fruit of Your Efforts’ Fruit.)

Restrictions: Lv80

Material Grade: Sealed

Special Abilities:

— Sealed 

— Sealed 

There was at least a 10Lv restriction for the rest of the fruits. 

Currently, Minhyuk was already at Lv79. His level has gone up tremendously inside the dungeon. 

Usually, he would need at least 500 EXP for his level to increase. However, the higher his level would become, the higher the EXP he needed to raise it by 1.

‘I need to be at least at 120.’ 

At that level, he would be able to eat all of the fruits. 

“You have really worked hard.” 

“Yes. And I am really very thankful for everything.” 

“Boy, I believe that you can be an excellent farmer.” 

“Yes, I wish that I can have another chance to see you again next time!”

Minhyuk bowed politely, his body was bent at a 90 degree angle. 

He felt a bit sorry for Bran. 

Why? Because he ate all of his potatoes and sweet potatoes! 

But Minhyuk also had a conscience. 

He approached Bran and whispered in his ears. 

“I left you some potatoes.” 

“Ooooooooh, yeah. Thank you. Ah, boy. You said that you will be going to Emperor’s City via carriage, right?” 

“Yes.” 

There was a level restriction for teleportation. For a user below Lv100, they could only teleport 40km away from the village where they started from. From Lv200, they could freely travel anywhere in their empire. And starting from Lv300, users could now freely travel from empire to empire. 

This restriction took into consideration the desire for travel and for Athenae users to explore and see various places. 

“Goodbye then!” 

Minhyuk smiled happily as he said his goodbyes. 

‘I have a conscience too!’ 

Because of this conscience, Minhyuk left some potatoes for Bran. 

Once he disappeared, Bran went to his potato field. 

“Yeah, of course that brat should have a conscience too!” 

Ah, he was polite and had a good personality. It was a bit strange that he finished all of the sweet potatoes but I believe that he still left me a few boxes of potatoes. 

Bran arrived at the potato field with that thought in mind. 

“……This was what you left because of your conscience!!” 

The potato field was all dug up and at the center was a steaming potato with dried laver. 

There was only one potato in there. 

Not three, not two but one! 

Bran did not know this but Minhyuk was torn in agony and was very conflicted before he decided to leave this potato behind. 

Why don’t you eat my hands too! 

Minhyuk who left a potato for Bran because of his guilty conscience(?) did a great job according to his standards. 

Bran saw the note he had left behind after picking up the only potato he had left behind. 

[Potatoes are really the best rest-area food!] 

After reading the note, Bran sighed deeply as he munched on the potato in his hands. 

“……It’s delicious.” 

Then he laughed loudly. 

“It looks like a wild boar came and went to this farm. No, he’s worse than those guys.” 

He whimpered as he thought of Minhyuk. 

***

Footnotes 

[1] 두둠칫 it’s a sound, like the beat when one is dancing. But I can’t think of any good English counterpart so I just romanized the word. Lol. If you have a better version, do tell me. 

[2] The original is “아, 좋다, 좋아, 수박은 박수!” I think this was a lyrics from Super Junior T’s Rokkugo which is 아좋다좋아 수박이박수

TL’s corner!! 

LOL. An elephant to a hippo to a wild boar. He has been compared to a lot of animals huh. Lololol. 

PR’s corner!

Ha. The correct comparison is that Minhyuk is a monster, taking everything delicious and leaving scraps in his waste. And soon…hehehe…