Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 673: Hanwoo

The Bull Demon King was aware that there was nothing much he could do for Minhyuk right now. He had heard Minhyuk say to the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal, that he would leave after learning how to awaken Obren.

“Please stop by if you ever come to Edea again.”

“Alright.”

“Also, this. I prepared a gift for you.”

The Bull Demon King had ordered his subordinates to bring something to him. He had wrapped it in gold cloth and wanted to give it to Minhyuk as a gift.

Minhyuk had a hunch about what it was. One small peek at the gap between the gold cloth and he could see the glimmer of a perfectly delicious-looking ‘beef gift set’.

“…”

Minhyuk could tell that the beef gift set that the Bull Demon King had gifted to him was not ordinary. However, for some reason, he felt reluctant to consume it.

“I’ll eat it well!” Minhyuk said, a bright smile plastered on his face.

The Bull Demon King could not understand the man even more after seeing the pure smile like a child on his face, ‘He’s the king of a nation and a god, someone that stood up to Rumacar and killed him, yet he smiles brightly in front of food.’

Actually, even if the Bull Demon King was in the form of a cow, he knew that it would not be easy to pretend and act in front of him.

‘Did I take a fancy to this man’s purity and innocence?’

Perhaps the reason why he, the Bull Demon King, followed this man for so long was because of that.

“Hahahahahahaha. Do you like it that much?” The Bull Demon King said, smiling as he watched the boy clutch the gift tightly to his chest.

“Of course I like it! It’s the Hanwoo Gift Set that my dear Hanwoo gave me!”

“…Hmm?”

“It’s nothing! Anyway, I really, really like it!”

The two looked at each other for a long time. In the end, Minhyuk left. As for the Bull Demon King, he continued to watch him until his back disappeared from the horizon.

And once again, the Bull Demon King resumed his duties as a king. He had been working hard and commanding his people to aid those that had been affected and was walking around the Kingdom of Eden to greet his people and even comforting the families of the bereaved for a few days now.

As he continued with his work, one of the knights called out to him. The knight was none other than the Sword’s Saint Aaron. The Bull Demon King looked at him as he continued to speak, “Why do you keep on looking in the direction where he left?”

“I do not,” the Bull Demon King denied, only realizing that he had been looking back unconsciously.

He thought that he was just trying to recall the time that he spent with the man, who he could not remember well, laughing and crying. In fact, he could even hear the man’s voice in his ears.

‘Moooooooooooooo!’

How many times had he laughed so happily with him?

‘Let’s go, Hanwoo!!!’

Had he ever lived for someone like that before? No. But he knew that it would not happen again.

“Your Majesty,” Aaron called out to the Bull Demon King. Then, he said, “I hate to say this, but you are no longer our king.”

“…What?” The Bull Demon King looked at Aaron, a stern look on his face.

Aaron looked around the Kingdom of Eden and said, “Your Majesty, you have already been labeled as a tyrant, a fact that has greatly shaken the public’s view upon you. And even though Rumacar was the one that persecuted the people, they all blamed Your Majesty, the Bull Demon King, before blaming Envoy Rumacar.”

“…”

“Everyone remembered how Your Majesty had fled and abandoned us. Our king? You can continue to stay on the throne. However…”

“…”

The Bull Demon King could not understand. If the people hated him, then that meant that the same was true for the knights. However, the look in the eyes of the people, the knights and the troops when they looked at him did not contain any of that. In fact, their eyes were showing their undying loyalty, and faith in the Bull Demon King.

“There is no way that we will treat someone, who holds someone else dear in their heart, as our king. Don’t you think so too?”

Shiiiiiiiiing—

The Sword’s Saint Aaron drew his sword and pointed it at the Bull Demon King.

“Please leave and do what you want to do, what you intended to do.”

“…”

Shiiiiing—

Shiiiiiiiiing—

Shiiiiiiiiing—

Hundreds of knights drew their swords and pointed it at the Bull Demon King. In the first place, the Bull Demon King should not have returned here. However, he came back here to save them. They did not deserve to serve him and live under his rule, especially after they had turned their backs on him despite knowing full well that he was not a tyrant, all because they were afraid of the Jade Emperor and Rumacar. This was the only thing that they could do for him.

“Please remember what you truly wanted to do,” Aaron said, his expression turning cold. “Please leave the Kingdom of Eden.”

“Heuk. Huhuhuheuk…”

“Huhuhu!”

They might be pointing their swords at the Bull Demon King but someone was crying among them. The Bull Demon King looked up at the sky, filled with emotions, as the people of the Kingdom of Eden stuck their heads to the ground and bowed to him.

“Someday…” The Bull Demon King said as he looked down at Aaron, “…If I come here someday, then don’t kick me out so easily, no?”

Aaron looked at his king, the two men smiling brightly at each other.

***

An unknown notification rang in the Bull Demon King’s head just when he was about to leave the kingdom. It was the same notification that he heard when he moved to another world.

[The Jade Emperor is furious to see you try to give up your throne!]

[If you give up your position as the king of the Kingdom of Eden, you will have no other choice but to return to the figure of a cow.]

The Bull Demon King was a very important figure in the Edea Continent. Even though he might not know it, this was the system’s way to put restrictions upon him and prevent a powerful person like him from leaving the continent.

The Bull Demon King stood on his spot and looked back at the Kingdom of Eden.

Flaaaaaaash—

Then, he was enveloped in a flash of light. When the light faded, the Bull Demon King had returned to being Hanwoo, the gigantic cow. Then, his memories as the Bull Demon King started to get blurred once again. On top of that, he could no longer think as deeply as he could before. He became nothing more than a slightly smarter cow than the rest. However, he began to run.

“Moooooooooo!!!” He cried out, a spring in his steps as he ran swiftly at the thought of seeing him again.

Hanwoo no longer had the powerful force and charisma that he displayed before when he swept away his enemies with his woldo. However, he now had his four thick and powerful legs. He continued to run, his tail swishing gently behind him.

Monsters began to attack him when he ran past a rugged plain. After all, he looked like a tasty, edible cow. But even if Hanwoo lost most of his strength, he was still the Bull Demon King. These monsters were nothing to him as he charged through thousands of them.

“Moooooooooooo!!!”

There was also a time when he encountered a very, very wide river, which he struggled to cross. On top of that, the blazing heat of the sun beat his back and made him thirsty. However, he continued to run, and soon, he came across Sun Wukong.

Sun Wukong looked at Hanwoo in surprise. However, he chuckled lightly and said, “He went to the Papal Wall.”

“Mooooooooooo!!!” Hanwoo cried loudly as he started yet another long journey.

The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal, Sun Wukong looked at Hanwoo’s disappearing figure with a small smile on his face and said, “So, you’re going to create a splendid legend, huh?”

Hanwoo kept on running despite knowing the fact that the road to the Papal Wall was far more difficult and dangerous than the roads that he traversed before. There was even a time where his feet turned black after charging through a river of lava.

Sizzleeee—

“Mooooo! Moooo!”

He had to hide in a cave, curling in and on himself to stop his body from shivering, trying to withstand the cold that the harsh and cold typhoon brought forward. He also had to climb precarious cliffs, trudging carefully with his heavy body.

Crack, crack, crack—

Thuuuuuuuud—

“Moooooooooo!!!” Hanwoo screamed wildly as he fell from the cliffs.

That was not all. There were also strong monsters that blocked the path towards the Papal Wall. If he was still the Bull Demon King, then these monsters would not even step forward to fight against him. However, he was Hanwoo now, and thousands of these monsters charged at him and prevented his advance.

“Mooooooooooo!!!” Hanwoo cried loudly as he fought against them until his body was covered with cuts and tears.

Stagger—

Hanwoo’s steps faltered but he still continued to charge through the horde of monsters.

“Moooooooooooo!!!”

Finally, the silhouette of the Papal Wall appeared in the distance. As his destination appeared in his eyes, Hanwoo’s steps turned light and cheerful.

***

At the same time.

Minhyuk had been standing in front of the Papal Wall for several days now, his expression completely flustered.

The Papal Wall boasted an extremely outstanding durability. However, the biggest problem for Minhyuk was the fact that there was not even a chip off of the wall no matter how hard or powerful Minhyuk’s attack was.

‘The wall regenerates…’

To top it off, the Papal Wall’s durability would restore five minutes after receiving an attack. Because of that, Minhyuk had to deal an extremely huge amount of damage all at once to reduce the durability. But even after using Overlapping Delight, Double Food, and several other skills together, Minhyuk still could not make the Papal Wall budge.

Minhyuk smiled bitterly as he looked at the towering walls in front of him, ‘If that guy’s here then he would probably be able to do it.’

A soft smile graced Minhyuk’s lips at that thought. The necklace that he had always hung around Hanwoo’s neck was still kept properly in his inventory. Minhyuk quickly cast aside the thought as he began swinging his sword once again.

He swung his sword for around thirty minutes but no matter what he did, the Papal Wall truly did not budge.

“Haaa… Haaa…”

[You are running out of stamina!]

[You will experience dizziness for a moment!]

Minhyuk felt giddy and dizzy for a brief moment.

“Mooooooooo!!!”

At that same instance, a loud cry rang in his ears.

***

Hanwoo continued to run. There he was, the master that he wanted to see so much, right in front of him. That was when he saw that his master was exhausted, blocked by a towering wall.

So, Hanwoo made his body grow bigger. From 20 meters, to 30 meters, to 40 meters, to 50 meters. Although his master did not order it, Hanwoo could tell what his master wanted.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—

With a huge leap that made the ground shake, Hanwoo finally collided with the towering wall.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang—

Then, the huge walls began to fall apart and crumble to pieces, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. Although he could not see it, Minhyuk could tell that it was his dear Hanwoo.

Even though Minhyuk was still dizzy, he still jumped up from the ground, not daring to believe his eyes. When the dust finally settled, Minhyuk was able to see Hanwoo, whose body was covered with blood and torn all over.

But Hanwoo still continued to walk, stepping ever so closer to where Minhyuk was. And when he was in front of his master, he slowly stuck his head out.

“…”

Minhyuk looked at Hanwoo silently. After a while, he took out the necklace with the word ‘Hanwoo♡’ written on it, the very same necklace that he kept dearly and properly, and hung it on Hanwoo’s neck.

“Mooooooooooooo!!!”

Minhyuk did not say anything. He just looked at Hanwoo, who was crying loudly, with a bright smile on his face. Then, he climbed on Hanwoo’s back as they started to cross onto the land beyond the Papal Wall.

“Hanwoo, let’s go!!!”

“Mooooooooooo!!!”

Today, the king and his pressure vassal experienced a warm and loving reunion.