Leveling Up Through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

Deep beneath the Dragon King’s Sea laid a magnificent and extravagant castle. However, the huge and majestic castle was only filled with a chilling and imposing air. Dozens of sea life forms were dying one by one for no reason at all under the hands of an angry Dragon King.

The Dragon King was sitting on his throne whilst surrounded by the blood of the dead dolphins. Prostrated in front of him was a thin body that was shaking wildly in fear. This was one of the Dragon King’s children, Kiari.

Kiari was a woman of the wild. To put it simply, she was a rabbit that had a similar appearance to Judy from the animation Zootopia. However, her strength should not be underestimated just because she looked harmless. Kiari was one of the geniuses who had studied and mastered the defensive formations and tactics that were placed in the Dragon King’s Palace. In addition, Kiari was loyal to the Dragon King alone. Ever since she was young, she had pledged to live and learn only for the sake of the Dragon King. She was also proficient with swords and could easily slaughter her enemies with just a quick slash of her sword. She was even awarded with the ‘Sea’s Guardian Sword’ that contained amazing strength and power. The sword even had the ability to let its user freely control the water.

Such an amazing Kiari was now trembling and shaking in fear.

‘H, how can this be……!’

Why did the Dragon King-nim kill these innocent dolphins?!

The reason was unknown.

She understood the true nature of the Dragon King since she had stayed with him the longest. He was a merciful and kind man. The Dragon King’s Palace would even host festivals every year and all the creatures of the sea would dance to songs and praise the benevolence of the Dragon King. They would even wholeheartedly offer sacrifices to the Dragon King. The Dragon Palace was truly a beautiful sight back then.

But one day, the Dragon King suddenly changed.

‘It started back then……’

Kiari bit her lips tightly. She knew that it all started back then when he battled against the Great Mage Rafielt.

The Great Mage was also one of the Most Powerful Men and was ranked 7th among them. Great Mage Rafielt was a sinister person who hid curses all over the continent. There were already rumors circulating the continent about his death. However, he suddenly appeared in the Dragon King’s Palace one day. No, it was more fitting to say that he was not the Great Mage anymore. He came to the palace as the King of the Dead. Rafielt had turned himself into a Lich.

The Lich, Rafielt, suddenly started attacking the Dragon King’s Palace. But the Dragon King’s Palace was not something that anyone could easily topple over. The Most Powerful Men were all based on the standards of the continent and he was one of these men. However, the creatures of the sea were not counted in these standards. The Dragon King as well as all of his children fought hard against the Great Mage Rafielt. It was a fierce battle that shook the seas.

In this fierce battle, the person who overcame and stood victorious against his opponent was the Dragon King. The Dragon King fought with great strength and abilities and eventually defeated Great Mage Rafielt. However, as a consequence, he also suffered grave injuries.

That was the moment where it all began.

The Dragon King’s body seemed like it was getting weaker while his ferociousness and brutality seemed like it was getting stronger and stronger by the day. But he was still the Dragon King so he was still persevering.

Kiari wanted to speak but she stopped herself and just bit her lips tightly. She was raised by the Dragon King and in a way she was indoctrinated to protect and only protect the Dragon King. In addition, the children of the Dragon King were beings that were given by God Roves for the Dragon King. Roves emphasized to the three of them that the Dragon King was their father and he was the eternal ruler of the seas. Even though Kiari was opposed to what he was currently doing, she couldn’t even bring herself to tell him to stop or come to his senses. Also, the body of the Dragon King right now was so frail that he would probably break down with just a simple attack.

Suddenly, a creature came inside in a hurry.

He was the Dragon King’s trusted aide, Jiang Bei. Jiang Bei was literally a walking octopus.

“Dragon King-nim! I finally found a way to heal the Dragon King-nim’s body!”

“Is what you’re saying true?”

A small smile silently curled at the corners of the mouth of the frail Dragon King but deep inside he was smiling widely.

“So you finally found ‘him’ huh? Lec?”

This question was directed towards no other person except Jiang Bei.

Jiang Bei, no, Lec, looked into his eyes and answered.

“Yes.”

His eyes glinted sharply as they talked and a figure was quietly reflected in his eyes.

It was the Great Mage Rafielt!

Kiari and the rest of the creatures who went into battle with the Dragon King might have been flustered and caught in a panic if they knew that the Great Mage Rafielt did not die in that battle. No, he only pretended to die as he went and hid inside the body of the Dragon King.

In the first place, there was only one reason why he decided to attack the Dragon King’s Palace.

‘The treasure of Roves, the god of the sea……!’

He was sure that it was hidden somewhere in the Dragon King’s Palace. He targeted such an item because he knew that Roves’ treasure would definitely carry a tremendous amount of holy power. This was a threat to his existence so he had to eliminate it. In other words, the Great Mage Rafielt wanted to take away the treasure and use his powers to convert the holy power to black magic which could assist him greatly.

Rafielt, who had taken over the Dragon King’s body, had now killed plenty of creatures in the Dragon King’s Palace. And using the blood of these creatures, he turned the Dragon King’s loyal aide into his loyal aide and ordered him to continue to find hints using black magic.

And right now, Lec had finally found the hint!

“What is it?”

The Dragon King, no, Rafielt who was pretending to be the Dragon King asked excitedly.

“It’s the rabbit’s liver.”

“Rabbit’s liver?”

At his words, the Dragon King’s eyes turned towards another person. It was none other than Kiari who was standing near him.

When Kiari saw the look in the Dragon King’s eyes, she couldn’t help but tremble wildly. Two among the Dragon King’s children were rabbits and the remaining one was a turtle. All three of them carry tremendous strength in their bodies. For the rabbits, the source of their strength was hidden in their livers. In the case of the turtle ‘Radin’, he had a cintamani stone hidden beneath his tough shell. Kiari and the other child, Jevis, both have this so-called liver but they have different uses and effects.

The only problem was that they still did not know how to extract these to get their powers. The only known method was through their death.

Kiari bowed towards the Dragon King.

“I, it would be my honor to sacrifice myself for the health of the Dragon King……!”

And there’s nothing that I can do anymore. I just wish I can return to the past!

At that moment, the aide spoke up…

“One. It’s unfortunate but the rabbit’s liver is not Kiari’s liver.”

“Is that so?”

The eyes of the Dragon King that was casted over to her were removed as he gave his order for her.

“Get out, Kiari.”

“......Yes.”

Hop, hop, hop, hop!

Kiari bowed her head down as she hopped her way out of the throne room. Once she was out of the room, Rafielt listened intently on what Lec had to say.

“Roves’ treasure is sealed and hidden in Jevis’ rabbit’s liver. However, she has been missing for a few days now.”

That is a treasure with a great amount of holy power!

Rafielt’s mouth was almost torn in two when he realized that it was just in his hand’s reach.

Radin slowly walked inside the throne room. He was literally walking on two legs! He had two swords strapped on his back while one of his eyes was covered with a black eye patch. He was also one of Rafielt’s underlings.

“There’s not much time left. The body of this Dragon King will soon crumble. We have to do the soul exchange.”

“Yes!”

Radin lowered himself in a bow and nodded his head in agreement.

At that moment, Jiang Bei opened his mouth…

“But, Great Mage……”

“What’s the problem.”

Jiang Bei’s voice suddenly turned unusual. It seemed like there was an obstacle in front of them.

“I heard that the place where Jevis was last seen was a place where only foreigners can enter.”

“Only foreigners?”

The Dragon King’s expression turned serious. However, he sooned turned towards Radin and gave him his orders.

“Radin.”

“Yes, Great Mage!”

“Find a way to get those foreigners to obtain that rabbit’s liver and bring it to me!”

“B, but…… Will the foreigners hand it over to you once they get it?”

The Dragon King smiled sinisterly when he heard Radin’s worried voice.

“Kill them. If that’s not possible then use all the gold and silver as an incentive.”

But what if these two things did not work? It can’t be. Then I’ll just throw a reward that’s much bigger than the rabbit’s liver.

“They won’t know about its power unless they eat it.”

Grin━

The Great Mage Rafielt laughed loudly as he thought about the other’s hopelessness and fear.

***

Hyemin’sDad who brought Hyemin along visited the pet storage to check on Kongie. When they saw the scene, he couldn’t help but tilt his head in thought.

They saw Kongie playing cutely(?) with the other pets around him.

“Oink, oink!”

The cat immediately rolled around as if it received some orders. However, that was not the reason why Hyemin’sDad was tilting his head in thought. He could see that all of the pets within the fence were all shivering and trembling. They looked like all of them were scared of something.

“What’s wrong with them? Are all the pets in here sick?”

When he asked the clerk of the pet storage facility, she couldn’t help but be taken aback. She approached the fence where Kongie and the shivering pets were.

“Oh my! What’s wrong? It wasn’t like this earlier? Huh, where did all the children’s food go?”

She was taken aback. She remembered filling up the bowls of all the children in here but the bowls were all empty!

“Ah. Are you going to feed a potion to the pet?”

“Yes. Here’s the temporary consent form.”

Hyemin’sDad gave the clerk the temporary consent form that he had received from Minhyuk earlier. With this temporary consent form, another user would be given permission to contact other people’s pet as well as feed them potion.

When Hyemin’sDad handed the potion over, Kongie quickly approached the fence and reached for it. Then…

Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp━

“Oink!”

He let out a sound of admiration.

[You have fed a Pet Conversation.]

[You can now have a heart-to-heart talk with Kongie.]

‘Well then, shall we?’

From now on, Hyemin’sDad would ask Kongie about the kind of artifacts that he liked whether it be a sword, an armor, a shield, a pair of boots or even accessories.

‘I’m hungry. Oink!’

Just as the potion took effect, Hyemin’sDad was now finally able to hear Kongie’s thoughts.

‘Can you hear me?’

‘Oink! What was that sound?’

‘I’m the one in front of you.’

‘Ah, the handsome ahjussi! Oink!’

Hyemin’sDad who felt good with his compliments, gave Kongie some delicious food which he ate deliciously.

‘Delicious. Oink, oink, oink!’

Kongie wagged his tail in delight.

‘Are there any artifacts that you like? You can tell me anything that you want.’

‘Oink? There is! Oink!’

Kongie nodded his head furiously while Hyemin’sDad looked at him with anticipation.

Right now, he had good quality materials on his hands. The last thing that he made was the Legendary Frying Pan but that was something that was only for Minhyuk so he was quite excited at the thought of making some cool artifacts now.

‘Oink! When making vegetable pancakes, I want that spatula that can flip everything in one go. Oink!’

At that moment, Hyemin’sDad’s expectations were brought down to the ground. He was dumbfounded with what he had heard.

‘W, what’s this? It feels like deja vu?’

He tilted his head in shock as Kongie looked at him with sparkling eyes.

‘Oink! I also wish to have a helmet, oink!’

‘Oh. Helmet!’

Hyemin’sDad nodded his head.

Finally, a decent request……!

‘It would be good if it can also substitute as a silver pot, oink. So that I can take it off and make ramyeon right on the spot whenever I get hungry, oink……!’

Hyemin’sDad couldn’t help but laugh dumbfoundedly.

“Ha, hahahaha……”

Not long after, he sent a whisper to Kongie’s owner, Minhyuk.

[Hyemin’sDad: Minhyuk-nim. Kongie wants a spatula that can flip a lot of vegetable pancakes in one go and a helmet that can also be used as a silver pot to cook ramen……]

The Basilisk’s heart was a material that was equivalent to the sacred branch. Even the blood of the Twin-headed ogre and the Phoenix’s feathers were materials that were worth a fortune…

Don’t tell me that I have to do something like that again?

[Minhyuk: As expected of my Kong-ah! Well, you know what. Just make those items!]

Hyemin’sDad was left speechless for a moment. He had hoped that it wouldn’t happen again but it seemed like it had come to that point once more. Then, he looked at Kongie as he murmured to himself.

“No. What kind of absurd chemistry and understanding does this owner and pet have….?”

***

[Hyemin’sDad: Minhyuk-nim, I’ve finished making the items.]

Minhyuk, who had finally finished receiving his compensation and rewards from Varen, logged out for a moment before coming back in after 4 hours. When he came back inside the game, more than half a day had already passed. And just in time, he had received a whisper from Hyemin’sDad about the completion of Kongie’s items.

In terms of the compensation, Varen had really bought all of his items at twice the price. However, much of the money that he had received had gone to Kongie’s items. But the value of the legendary artifact was still quite enormous. It’s price had reached as much as 400 platinum but since the buying price was twice that of the original price so he was able to receive 800 platinum for it. Once he combined the price of the rest of his items with the price that he received for the legendary artifact, the amount of money that Minhyuk had on his hands were already at 2,321 platinum. Varen also gave Minhyuk a chance to open his treasure trove. Being the quick witted and fast footed man that he was, he quickly chose a pair of boots from the inside. The item that he got was an epic item too.

(Chef’s Nimble Boots)

Rank: Epic

Restrictions: 500 DEX, Cooking skill at master or higher

Durability: 10,000 / 10,000

Defensive Power: 415

Special Effects:

━ +13% on attack speed.

━ +20% on cooking speed.

━ Your cooking will taste 3% better than what you currently cook.

━ Amount of buff will increase by 20%

Description: This is the Chef’s Nimble Boots. It’s an excellent artifact that can easily make the wearer comfortable once they wear it. It is also an artifact that can’t be bought with any money.

A king was truly a king. He had a lot of treasures in that treasure trove of his. However, the only reason why Minhyuk chose the boots was…

‘It will taste 3% better!’

It was purely for that reason and that reason alone.

Minhyuk soon heeded Hyemin’sDad’s whisper and went to the pet storage facility. Once Minhyuk entered the facility, he couldn’t help but stop in his tracks.

Kongie was standing in front of him. However, Kongie was wearing a silver pot on his head upside down and he was holding the lid with his left hand as if it was a shield while his right hand was holding a frying pan spatula.

[Kongie is feeling confident.]

“Oink!”

Kongie stuck out his protruding belly proudly as if he was worried that Minhyuk couldn’t see his new artifact!

“......”

***

Footnotes

[Cintamani Stone] - (여의주) A magical stone in Hinduism and Buddhism that is said to grant wishes. It is on par with the philosopher’s stone of the Western culture. Back

[Rabbit’s Liver] - According to our friend Thursdays (thank you very much for your help) the rabbit’s liver was from a folktale (sugungga) about the Dragon King being ill and eating the liver of a rabbit to get well. It involves the Dragon King, a rabbit and a turtle so it seemed like this was what the author wanted to imply. Also, thank you to Skye and Seven for their inputs! Back

TL’s corner!

Is it just me or can you also imagine our baby Kongie with his pose. Wait. I can’t breathe. HAHAHAHHAHA.

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