Leveling Up Through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

Brony’s smile was so wide that his mouth looked like it was ripped open. It was because the transparent barrier was riddled with cracks! He only needed one final blow to bring the barrier down.

He slowly gathered his strength into his hands that were holding the hammer.

[Fullswing.]

[An additional 22% of damage will be added to a single blow.]

Fwooooooooom!

Baaaaaang!

Crack, crack, crack, crack━

The attack banged on the transparent barrier loudly and the cracks grew bigger and longer. And then…

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang━

The transparent barrier fell down and crumbled into pieces.

Brony smirked proudly as he looked at the aftermath of the barrier breaking. Before he could make his way through and enter the depths of the mines, he suddenly received a whisper from one of his guild members.

[Oden: GM-nim…… Minhyuk…… No, Minhyuk-nim’s noona is here……]

Brony smacked his lips and grinned darkly.

I see, I can kill Minhyuk and that noona of his together.

But then, he suddenly thought of something…

‘Minhyuk-nim?’

What’s this? Why is he acting like this all of a sudden? And why is he sending me a whisper when he can talk to me in the guild chat?

[Brony: You punk, why are you calling him with a -nim when you should just call that bastard by his name?]

[Oden: Because we’re in big trouble. ㅠㅠ]

Why is he crying? Trouble?

Then, another whisper came from Oden.

[Oden: Minhyuk-nim’s noona is the Sword Emperor Ellie.]

“Hmm?”

Brony was taken aback.

The Sword Emperor Ellie?

It was a very familiar name. Brony tried to recall where he heard this name.

She was a powerful soldier, a rich tycoon and the empress of the Eivelis Empire that was hailed as the strongest and best empire in the whole continent. The Sword Emperor Ellie!

“This crazy punk……”

His brows furrowed in contemplation. The Sword Emperor Ellie was an Empress, and even though she was an NPC it was still as clear as day that she was a person of power. And they’re telling him that Minhyuk was calling such a person noona? There was no precedence about a user forming such a bond with a powerful NPC like the Empress.

[Brony: Are you playing around with me right now?]

[Oden: I’m not joking……]

[Brony: If his noona is the Empress then my noona is the Dragon Lord, this damn bas…]

Before he could even finish his words in the whisper, their guild chat window was suddenly flooded with cries of help and tears.

[Guild Chatting Halem: GM-nim, we’re fXcked. Sword Emperor Ellie is here.]

[Guild Chatting Forton: GM-nim ㅠㅠ I think you should come out……]

[Guild Chatting Karma: GM-nim, we’re tied tightly with a rope, I can’t move at all.]

[Guild Chatting Oden: I was so nervous that I forgot about the guild chat and sent you a whisper…… GM-nim, I’m really not joking around……]

[Guild Chatting Craton: Save us……!]

“......”

It finally occurred to Brony that his guild members would not joke around with him for things like this.

At that moment…

Swooooooooosh!

“Keoheeeeok!”

“Heok?!”

A guild member standing right beside Brony suddenly floated up and flew out of the mines. It looked like he was being pulled by some kind of powerful force.

“Keuaaaaaack!”

And just like a signal for trouble, the guild members surrounding him flew out of the mines one by one. It wasn’t that long after when his turn came.

“Keuwooooo.”

He tried to struggle hard to stop the force from pulling him out of the mines. But in the end, he was not able to overcome the force and he still flew out of the mines along with the rest of his guild members.

Thud, thud, thud━

After he was pulled out of the mines, he rolled over the floor a few times. When he opened his eyes, he could see that the acrid, dark and dusty surroundings in the mines were already no more. He shook his head fiercely, as if to shake off the dust that settled on his hair.

‘What in the world……’

When he turned his head, he saw Card shaking uncontrollably and tied up tightly on one side. This was the 2nd in the blacksmith’s rankings. His face was not even covered at all.

Brony raised his head up when he felt a shadow looming over him. When he looked up, he met with the sharp and icy glare of Sword Emperor Ellie.

“......Keok!”

He let out a frightened groan. Those eyes were so piercing that he couldn’t stop his voice from coming out.

At that moment…

“Noonaaaaaaaa!”

A cheerful shout came from the depths of the mines. The voice sounded like he just found out that his very close sister from next door came to visit him.

Minhyuk ran out of the mines together with the miners and approached Ellie. Ellie smiled at him brightly and asked about him.

“Who bullied our Minhyukie?”

“This one, this one, this one too!”

“Is that so? How dare these bastards bully my dongsaeng……!”

The scene looked extremely like a pitiful child reporting to his mother that he was being bullied by bad guys.

‘N, no. You’re the Empress, you know!’

They couldn’t believe that a user could build a sibling-like relationship with such a powerful person.

“This one bullied me the most!”

“Hooo.”

Shiver!

Brony stiffened up and shivered uncontrollably when he saw Minhyuk pointing towards him. He saw Ellie’s eyebrows creased up in anger. The air surrounding him suddenly turned chilly. The tension was so thick that he could feel the air vibrating around him.

He understood the stance that he had to take. He knew that he had to bend down and flatter them.

“He, hehe…… Th, that’s not true. It was because I was so excited to see Minhyuk after a long time……”

Before he could even lie through his teeth and try to weasel his way out of the situation…

[Puhahahahahahaha! Noona? You’re gonna tell your noona?]

[Ahuhuhuhu. Are you going to tell your noona because you\'re scared?]

[Keuhahaha, is your sister the number 1 in rankings?]

[She’s an NPC though? Are you disregarding my noona?]

[Keuhahaha. Aigooo, I’m so scared that I will pee myself. I can see your noona!]

[......You’ll regret it.]

[Aigoo. We have been very rude to your extremely scary noona. Sorry. Isn’t it obvious? Your noona must have been a fXcker like you who’s hiding behind his mask and pretending to be nice. So when is your noona coming? Huh? That fXcking noona of yours!]

Minhyuk played what he recorded earlier.

“......”

Brony’s mouth opened wide as he was left speechless with what had just happened. He could even see Minhyuk peeking out from behind Ellie and smiling smugly at him.

He did not mention his noona’s name and it seemed like he expected their reactions to be like this once they met with her. In other words, it was a part of his elaborate plan.

This was also the reason why they harshly cursed and spat at his ‘noona’ with great confidence.

“Ha!”

Ellie scoffed at him.

He said that Her Highness, Ellie was a ‘fXcker’. In addition, Brony and his guild members were caught killing off the soldiers of the Kingdom of Barras and even trying to kill the miners. There were enough justifications to mete out the harshest punishments on them.

‘Kang Minhyuuuuuuuuuuuuk!’

Brony saw Minhyuk smiling widely at him. He felt like he was being mocked, he even wanted to rush to him and tear him to death. However, when he saw the furious Ellie, he quickly reigned his anger in and hurried over to their guild chat.

[Guild Master Brony: Everyone, log out now. Quickly!]

[Guild Chatting Bordney: Ab, about that……]

[Guild Chatting Carran: Even if we log out…… Nothing will change. GM-nim……]

He was taken aback. He had no idea about what they were talking about but when he wanted to log out, a notification rang in his head.

[You will receive a log out penalty if you force log out right now.]

[Your character will still remain even if you force log out.]

If a user was forced to log out while hunting inside a dungeon then they will receive a death penalty. Their situation was a bit similar to this. However, their character will remain and still survive. In other words, they had no chance of escaping.

“Capture these bastards, don’t kill them. I’ll let these guys rot in prison until they die. This will be their punishment.”

“Yes!”

The Phoenix Knights bowed their heads after accepting their orders.

Brony, who heard her judgment, was left staring in a daze.

All of the guild members of the Horden Guild were currently present here. All 86 of them. And all of them would be locked up in prison.

The Phoenix Knights moved quickly. They took out the ropes tied on their waists and threw it out. Every time they threw the rope out, it would magically extend and snatch out a member of his guild.

In addition, the Imperial Mages also used their stunning magic to attack those who tried to escape. The people who got hit by the stunning magic were knocked out cold as their body shivered intensely.

Brony glared at Minhyuk sharply.

He saw Minhyuk pulling two fishing chairs out from his inventory. He sat down on one of the chairs while Ellie sat down on the other. Then, Minhyuk pulled something out of his inventory and started munching on it.

It was none other than popcorn.

“Caramel popcorn is really the best when you’re watching something! Hiyaaa, this is really fun!”

As he glared at his figure, Brony thought…

How detestable! So annoyingly hateful! How can a person be this hateful!

Minhyuk looked like someone who was sitting in the cinema and watching an action movie. And as he watched the movie he would grab a handful of popcorn and throw it in his mouth as he said ‘The popcorn is delicious!’. This was what he looked like to the tied up Brony.

He even pulled out a cola out of his inventory, plugged in a straw and sipped the cola loudly.

“Kyahaa!”

“Yah, this fXcking bastard!’

Brony felt like he was on the verge of crying out of frustration as he continued to look at Minhyuk.

Nothing changed. Even if it was him from the past or him right now, he still was not able to defeat Kang Minhyuk.

He gritted his teeth in frustration and just forced himself to log out of the game.

Lee Sangmin, who came out of the capsule, trembled in fury. He tried hard to calm himself down before accessing the official homepage of Athenae.

‘How the hell did he become close with Ellie?’

He wanted to type the words ‘Ellie’ to search about news and articles about her but he didn’t even need to do it at all. The real-time search had ‘Ellie’ on the number 1 spot. And the second place was none other than ‘Horden Guild’.

He quickly clicked on the real-time search keyword. And in no time at all, several articles and videos popped out on his screen. The publishing time was even just a few seconds ago.

Sangmin’s eyes widened in shock as he saw the video.

‘......Hey, isn’t this me!’

The video looked like it was taken from a distance. It showed a man walking along as he gave his guild members orders after killing off the NPCs. He even kicked the body of the dead soldier of the kingdom that was blocking his way. Then, he heard his voice and the voice of his guild member.

[GM-nim. The NPCs are really just like humans so I’m still a bit uncomfortable about this.]

[So what if you’re uncomfortable. These bastards are artificial intelligence anyway. Should we kill them once or twice again? What’s wrong with you.]

Kick, kick!

As he said so, he kicked the body of the dead soldier.

Then, there was another video. It was the video where Ellie appeared and it was the main topic of the article.

[The Horden Guild is notorious for its deeds. It seems like Ellie appeared to give them a lesson.]

Below the topic was an overwhelming number of comments.

[SweetHoney: Wow, I’m a user who’s been beaten down by Horden Guild. Those bastards, they really have no common sense[1]. I feel refreshed.

fkjbk313: Look at what this guy is saying…… Even if they’re NPCs and they’re just artificial intelligence they still feel like they’re real human beings when you’re inside the game. Let’s just say that it’s okay that you killed them but not everyone thinks like that. What was the point of kicking that dead body? Are you still a person?

Ellie’sCool: Kyaa, Ellie-nim looks like she’s a solid and strict teacher! I’m so excited. From now on I’m an Ellie fan!

BronyIsLeeSangmin: That guy who kicked the dead body. He’s my classmate from middle school. Even back then, he would bully other kids and beat them to get their money. He’s so confident because he has his dad as his backer. This is his personal information [2]. His phone number is 010 1234 XXXX. His name is Lee Sangmin. He’s 20 years old. And he lives in 123-45 Bongcheon-dong.]

There were a lot of comments under the post where his personal information was leaked.

Then…

Ring, ring, ring, ring!

His phone suddenly rang loudly. Lee Sangmin stiffened in surprise. What surprised him the most was that the number that called him was not registered. When he answered the call...

[Don’t live like a lawless bastard [3] you university student.]

Toot!

Lee Sangmin’s heart beat wildly in shock. He couldn’t calm down at all.

As soon as the call was hung up, another call came in from another number.

[Do you know who I am? I’m Jiang Chen……]

Toot!

“......”

Lee Sangmin bursted into tears.

Then, another call came in.

[I came to pay respects. Please let me get amazing SAT results. Also, please let my parents live long and healthy.]

“Yaah, you asshole……”

Toot!

This time, the other person was the first one to hang up the call. And another call came through.

[I’m your ear candy.]

Toot!

He hurriedly pulled the battery out of his phone to turn it off. Then, he thought…

‘Who the hell took that video of me killing those users and soldiers?’

He kept on watching that video clip as his brows furrowed further. The video started with Ellie breaking down Card’s mask and the Phoenix Knights and Imperial Mages moving quickly to subdue and capture the guild members of the Horden Guild.

Then, he heard a voice questioning the person who took the video.

[Who are you, are you one of them?!]

The video showed one of the Imperial Mages as he interrogated the person taking the video. Then, the person who was taking the video spoke…

[If I continue to stay here then I will be caught in a sticky situation. This is unfortunate, but I don’t think I will be able to show you the end of their punishment. This is Go Eun-ah, reporting for TTBC.]

***

Footnotes

[GM-nim] Short for Guild Master-nim. They have been using the first two syllables of Guild Master to call Brony. It’s a type of abbreviation so I decided to use GM instead of typing out the whole Guild Master.

[1] 무개념 : mukaenyeom; literally - idea of no concept. Or someone who doesn’t have any common knowledge. Sometimes could also mean as does messy acts without caring about the people around them.

[2] 신상털 came from 신상털기 which literally means leaking out a person’s information on SNS. Please don’t do that. No matter how bad the person is. You might get sued.

[3] 호랑말코 같은 (Horangmalko kateun); Horang is a large horse that barons ride, horangmalko refers to the muzzle of the horse. Since the horang is such a large and strong horse, the guides for these horses often have a hard time trying to let them follow their leads. So if you get compared to them it means that you act freely and don’t obey the laws. It’s mainly used to curse people who do not follow the social norms, ethics, laws and manners.

[Jang Chen] It’s a line from the movie Criminal City or The Outlaws. I think Ma Dongsok is the actor in that movie.

[I came to pay respect.] 성지순례 왔습니다. Although it literally means paying respect or homage to the temple or shrine. It’s a slang that’s used for notable posts on the internet. It means that when the post is tagged as 성지. It’s like it’s a mark of those who went on a pilgrimage. I think the most popular posts about these are posts predicting the outcomes of celebrities and their relationships. It might not be true but sometimes it becomes true so people worship those posts and ask for blessings. There are a lot of examples about this but you can look more about this in koreanforinternaut’s blog. It explains about the internet pilgrimage. Kek.

TL’s corner!!!

Idk what to say… probably, serves you right? Anyway, I live for Ellie and Minhyuk’s interaction. I wonder if she ever gets to taste the caramel popcorn. I mean the possibility is in the negatives but a girl’s gotta dream.

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