Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 977

During childhood, Rhoando was often teased and mocked by others just because his father was the Food God.

–Your father only knows how to eat!

–Your dad is a god, but is he strong?

–Eh?! What god?! He’s just a half-human, half-elf!

When Rhoando was mocked by his friends, he ran back home and cried in his mother’s arms.

–Mother, is my father a weak god? Does he know nothing but to eat?

Rhoando never forgot the words that his mother told him back then. Because of those words, Rhoando had become a great adult and come this far today.

Amidst Rhoando’s wails, his mother smiled graciously and patted him gently. His mother looked at the tears dripping down his face and said these words about the Food God, who everyone deemed to be a useless god.

–He is not weak.

Minhyuk, using the Sword of Carnage, once again swung his sword. But this time, it was toward the second divine dragon that was charging at him.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeck!”

Rhoando laughed and cried at the same time when he saw the second divine dragon wail loudly.

–Your father is not the type of person who would fight recklessly. Of course, there are exceptions.

Minhyuk walked toward the shrieking and wailing second divine dragon. Despite the constant shrieks and the blood spurting all over its body, the second divine dragon still launched an attack. It spewed out hundreds of poisonous needles toward Minhyuk.

–He would always fight for the hungry.

Minhyuk’s sword moved swiftly, its blade casting a dazzling display of light as it cut down the poisonous needles coming his way. Then, he arrived in front of the divine dragon.

–Wherever there are hungry people, you will definitely see your father there. He would be cooking for them.

–Being strong does not necessarily mean that you have to have a strong power.

–Your father’s cooking has protected many.

–Your father’s hard work and efforts have brought happiness to many.

Minhyuk triggered the Intangible Sword. At the same time, hundreds of invisible and intangible blades shot out and pierced through the body of the second divine dragon.

–That’s the kind of god the Food God is.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeeck!” The divine dragon roared. With its body covered in blood, it opened its mouth and released thousands of tiny bees.

“Uwoooooooooooooh!” With a loud shout, Minhyuk ran toward the swarm of bees coming his way. Then, he raised his sword and released a pillar of blazing black flames.

–He could make the hungry cry.

Crackle–!

Blazing flames appeared, burned the thousands of bees and giant wasps that appeared all at once, and turned them into ashes. As for the shrieking divine dragon behind them…

–He could make the hungry laugh.

Like the Wind.

Minhyuk moved swiftly, his fist slamming into the divine dragon and sending it flying into the walls of the dungeon. Then, he triggered the Dual Swordsmanship Technique. The moment he held the two swords, the word Destruction appeared on their blades.

–He lived for their sake and their sake alone.

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash–!

Lightning fell and devoured the second divine dragon with every swing of Minhyuk’s sword. The onslaught of the attacks almost turned the divine dragon into a tattered rag.

Rhoando, who watched the scene, felt his heart flutter wildly. According to his mother’s words, his father used his cooking and dexterous hands to make people happy and full. The Food God of the current era was of the same mind as his father. He had told him that he wanted to help bring back food to this world, too.

He wasn’t any different from what Rhoando’s mother told him about. He fought for the hungry. Like his father, the Food God of the current era was a god who did not carelessly use his power to press others down.

Swoosh–

The second divine dragon slid down from the walls, its body drooping as if already dead.

As Rhoando watched the man in front of him, he grew convinced that he had walked the right path.

–That’s why you have to live for the hungry, Rhoando.

–Live a happy life while eating delicious food.

Rhoando clenched his fists. I am the son of the Food God. He once again recalled these words.

Then, at that moment, the first divine dragon shrieked in horror at the death of its twin.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeck!!!” It roared and flew toward its dead twin. Then, it opened its mouth and bit the head of the dead second divine dragon.

Crunch–!

Then, the first divine dragon began to chew. Everything happened in a split second. It was so fast that Minhyuk did not even have the time to react and stop the first dragon.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeeck!”

Just when Minhyuk was about to move to stop it, the first dragon released a roar that shook the world.

[You cannot resist and fight back even with an invincible body that can resist thousands of poisons.]

[You have fallen into a one-minute stunned state.]

Minhyuk was flustered. His invincible body was the reason he could move despite the poisonous needles and stingers that came his way.

Crunch, crunch– crunch, crunch– crunch, crunch–!

The first dragon began to devour the flesh and bones of the dead second dragon. At the same time, the injuries that Rhoando and Minhyuk inflicted on its body began to recover at a fast pace.

Fwiiiiiiish–!

An ominous feeling washed over Minhyuk as he watched the divine dragon, which had grown much bigger than before, roar loudly.

“Kihyeeeeeeeeeeeck!”

[The Divine Dragon has recovered its full power!]

[The Divine Dragon is guarding the unknown existence, being oppressed and subdued.]

[The Divine Dragon will punish anyone who fights against it.]

[If you cannot stop the Divine Dragon, the berserk Divine Dragon will attack Utopia.]

[Divine Dragon. Level 798.]

Goosebumps rose all over Minhyuk’s body. At this moment, he understood that this was no longer an easy fight.

Then, Rhoando shouted at the top of his lungs, “Hyung-nim!!!” he looked determined as the veins popped up on his neck. “I am also the Food God!”

Minhyuk was fully aware of that fact. Perhaps, in the future, the Food God of the current era will not be him but Rhoando.

[The God Who Loves to Eat looks at you and chuckles.]

“I will also fight with you through cooking!”

Rhoando knew he would just hinder Minhyuk if he joined the fray and attacked the divine dragon.

“Mayonnaise, eggs, soft bread, vegetables, and sugar, do you have all of them?!”

Minhyuk looked at Rhoando in surprise. He was currently unable to cook. If he used Let’s Have a Meal here, many people would die under the hands of the divine dragon. However, the situation would have been much better if Rhoando had cooked and Minhyuk had continued to pay attention to the divine dragon.

‘I don’t know a thing about Rhoando’s cooking.’

Yes, Rhoando was the descendant of the Food God. However, Minhyuk could not predict the buff that Rhoando’s cooking could give.

‘Even if his cooking buff is lower than mine, the situation would be different if he could make a God-grade dish.’

There were various variables and anomalies when it came to buffed dishes.

Twitch– Twitch–

The roars made Minhyuk twitch. A sense of urgency enveloped him as he hurriedly wrapped the ingredients Rhoando needed in a cloth and threw it to the man.

Rhoando quickly unfolded the cloth and took the ingredients when he received it.

“We don’t have much time. Thirty minutes should be long enough for you. I just don’t know if I can endure that long.”

Of course, Minhyuk might be able to kill the divine dragon by himself. But if Rhoando could help him with buffs, their chances would increase, and the process would be easier.

At that moment, Rhoando smiled faintly and said, “Hyung-nim. Food and cooking have disappeared from this world for hundreds of years.”

“...”

“It would be an honor to serve this dish to you, hyung-nim.”

Minhyuk felt his heart thump when he heard those words.

Then, Rhoando said, “Three minutes. I would only need three minutes.”

“What…!”

It was impossible to cook a dish in just three minutes. Of course, the ingredients that Rhoando asked from Minhyuk were easy to cook.

‘Even so, it’s still impossible.’

However, Minhyuk thought it would be better to believe in Rhoando and focus on fighting for now. But then, Rhoando did something surprising.

[The Food God’s descendant, Rhoando, has triggered one of the Food God’s skills you currently do not possess.]

[The active skill: The Famished One's Cooking has been triggered.]

“...?!” Minhyuk turned to look at Rhoando in shock. That was when he saw it. Rhoando was cooking at a very fast pace. It was to the point that he could only see his afterimage.

‘He looks like his fast-forward button has been pushed…?’

In a way, that was correct. The space around Rhoando was warped. In this space, time was moving at ten times the normal speed.

Rhoando’s afterimages could be seen boiling and peeling the eggs in a split second.

‘This is crazy!’

It was an amazing ability. Did it have the concept of shortening the cooking time? No, that should not be the case. The time that has passed outside of the warped space where Rhoando was cooking would only be a tenth of the time that he needed to cook. As for the time that Rhoando needed to cook, it should not have changed.

If he needed a buff during battle, he would only need five minutes to make any dish he wanted.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang–!

“Hyung-nim!”

The divine dragon, who had recovered its full strength, slammed Minhyuk with its gigantic body. As Minhyuk’s body flew away from the impact, slashes appeared all over him. It was as if a mantis’ foreleg blade had cut and torn him apart. But that was not the end; hundreds of tiny wasps and bees flew out of the divine dragon’s mouth and shot poisonous needles at him.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh–!

“Kghhk!”

[Your HP has dropped below 75%!]

[Your HP has dropped below 74%!]

[Your HP has dropped below 73%!]

[Your HP has dropped below 72%!]

The stingers that the wasps and the bees shot toward Minhyuk were causing more damage than he expected. Seeing his HP drop rapidly, Minhyuk quickly triggered his Black Dragon Armor.

Swoosh–!

As the Black Dragon Armor covered his body, the skill of The Unapproachable One was immediately triggered.

[The Unapproachable One.]

[Your Evasion Rate will increase by 5x for three seconds.]

[This cannot be triggered again for one minute.]

Fortunately, the passive skill, The Unapproachable One, was triggered and allowed Minhyuk to avoid and deflect most of the wasps' and bees’ attacks for three seconds.

Once again, the divine dragon flew to the sky and shot toward Minhyuk. At the same time, a ridiculous notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[Divine Dragon’s Wrath.]

[All of the Divine Dragon’s power has increased by 2%]

[All of the Divine Dragon’s power has increased by 2%]

[All of the Divine Dragon’s power has increased by 2%]

The notifications about the flying dragon in the sky constantly rang in Minhyuk’s ears. It had to be known that the level of the divine dragon was no less than Level 789. But now, the dragon had strengthened itself with buffs.

“...!”

Minhyuk’s face grew ugly. He tried to activate the Supreme Overlord’s Technique and shoot down the dragon. However, he stopped in his tracks. He realized that the aftermath of the Supreme Overlord’s Technique would affect the rebels in this narrow dungeon.

Minhyuk hurriedly tried to summon Viel’s Puppet Doll and the Ego Chain Sickle.

[The Divine Dragon restricts any summoning abilities.]

[You have failed to summon Viel’s Puppet Doll.]

[You have failed to summon the Ego Chain Sickle.]

Minhyuk’s face grew darker. The worst part? The notifications were still going on.

[All of the Divine Dragon’s power has increased by 2%]

[All of the Divine Dragon’s power has increased by 2%]

[All of the Divine Dragon’s power has increased…]

At this moment, Minhyuk could tell he would be forced to log out once the divine dragon slammed into him. He hurriedly tried to use Transcendence. But before he could do so, a loud voice called out to him.

“Hyung-nim!!!”

Ring!

[The Linked Quest: Hunt the Divine Dragon with Rhoandohas been interrupted.]

[Rhoando increases the skill level of your skill: Overlapping Delight by +1!]

[You have acquired the active skill: The Famished One's Cooking.]

Minhyuk’s eyes grew wide.

[The Overlapping Delight is evolving!]

The evolved Overlapping Delight’s information flashed in front of Minhyuk. He could not help but shiver when he read the notifications related to the skill.

The dish that Rhoando made appeared in Minhyuk’s hands right away. However, the divine dragon laughed at Minhyuk. Why? Because it knew that the act of eating would take time. But something very unexpected happened.

“Overlapping Delight.”

Was it the same as before? No. Not at all. It has become an entirely different skill now. The moment Minhyuk opened his mouth, the dish that Rhoando had made for him entered his mouth, passed through his throat, and entered his stomach.

Gulp–

Minhyuk only took 0.3 seconds to finish the dish.

The divine dragon realized at this moment that the man in front of him did not need to eat anything by himself the moment he triggered that skill.

Then, a different effect appeared around Minhyuk. Now, two dies were rolling above Minhyuk, one golden and one black.

Roll, roll–

The rolling dies immediately came to a stop. The golden dice showed a three, while the black dice showed a five. Then, Minhyuk looked at the divine dragon rushing toward him and said, “I choose Destruction.”

Flash–!

With those words, the black dice released a bright light that fell upon Minhyuk’s body. The word “Destruction” engraved on the blade of Minhyuk’s sword shone a dangerous black light.

And the moment Minhyuk swung his sword at the flying dragon, the effect of Destruction infused with the power of the new and evolved Overlapping Delight unfolded in front of everyone!

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

Around sixty lightning bolts fell from the sky and devoured the divine dragon.