Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 1045

Her master had told her with a faint smile that he would come back and present the greatest, dish in the world—the Supreme Dish. However, he was a god, so death became his eternal rest. His soul disappeared as well.

His death brought a deep and gut-wrenching pain to Arlene. She gritted her teeth and vowed that she would, without fail, create the supreme dish. She promised that she would never let the Supreme Monarch, who killed her master, go.

Yet, after eight resets, Arlene realised. ‘I can’t cook.’

The Supreme Monarch’s time would also reset, just like them. And with every reset, the speed at which he broke through the maze grew faster and faster. He had already reached this place before they had finished taking off the film. The worst part was that the Supreme Monarch would immediately use countless skills and bring them a deeper sense of despair the moment he appeared.

‘Balana…’ Arlene cried out for her master in her heart.

When she looked back at the Battle God, he was also panicking, just like she was.

Although the Battle God had no particular connection to the previous God of Cooking, he had come with the previous God of Cooking to help them complete the supreme dish together. Yet, the previous God of Cooking had died, while the Battle God survived. The guilt of being unable to protect the one who had asked for his protection had been eating away at the Battle God.

Nevertheless, even in the face of his guilt and rage, he was still helpless in front of the Supreme Monarch. The Battle God clenched his fists tightly.

Minhyuk was also in a chaotic mess. ‘As time passes, the bastard’s speed of breaking through the maze is getting faster.’

Even if he ate a dish before the bastard came out and used all his stuns and attack skills upon his appearance, he still could not stop him. Nonetheless, they could not waste time like this.

“We have to develop a new strategy,” Minhyuk said.

The God of Cooking and the Battle God both nodded. Their will to succeed was not weaker than Minhyuk’s.

‘I will only get a forced logout penalty, but that’s not the case for the two gods working with me.’

It was only natural for the two gods to suffer from an even greater sense of loss and despair than him. After all, they were the ones who kept failing even though the thing they had wanted to complete for a very long time was right in front of them.

They convened and thought of a strategy for a very long time, carefully examining things and planning every step of the way. Finally, their meeting ended, and they reached a conclusion.

“Hoo…”

They only had one chance left to reset. This was their last chance to do something without fearing the repercussions. On their tenth challenge, the Battle God and the God of Cooking would face eternal extinction if they died here.

“Let’s begin,” the God of Cooking said.

With that, their ninth challenge began.

***

ATV Broadcasting Station PD Kim Daeguk’s hands were filled with sweat as he looked at the massive screen before him. Even the station officials had taken their headphones off and stood up from their seats to look at the screen.

The customer center team members, the reporters, and all the people who were busy heading somewhere stopped in their tracks and turned to look at the screens.

[Uwoooooooooh!!!]

[Supreme Monaaaaaarch!!!]

The Battle God, with only one arm left, and Minhyuk, whose body was covered with blood, charged toward the Supreme Monarch\'s undying and immortal existence. Through the screen, everyone could see the desperation and frustration on their faces.

Minhyuk’s live broadcast was displayed through various stations, with which they cooperated.

[Shwaaaaaa–!]

The Battle God’s mosaiced body appeared on their screens. Then, the Supreme Monarch arrived immediately before the flustered Minhyuk and stabbed Minhyuk with his sword.

“...”

PD Kim sighed.

Their ninth challenge took quite a long time, but it was nothing more than dragging the time before the inevitable.

“...?”

Suddenly, PD Kim saw the ring on Minhyuk’s hand flash a bright red.

[Supreme Monarch. Level 943. HP 3,500,000. MP 4,000,000.]

“What was that?!”

The description window of the Supreme Monarch had changed for two seconds before returning to normal.

[Supreme Monarch. Level ???. HP and MP: infinite.]

“Just now—what was that just now?”

“I saw it too. Maybe it’s a bug?”

“I don’t think it’s a bug. The ring on Minhyuk’s finger flashed red when it appeared.”

PD Kim Daeguk felt that something was off, but in the end, all he could do was sigh. ‘It’s just for two seconds.’

Indeed. That split second might give them the idea that they could break through this situation, but even if they could, they only had a two-second time gap.

PD Kim Daeguk had thought there was at least some hope. However, he eventually collapsed in his chair, rubbing his face in frustration.

“Hoo…”

Sighing, he turned to look at the various broadcasting screens around him.

Their competitors had also started their broadcasts with various commentators and experts discussing the matter.

[Athenae’s Supreme. Unfortunately, it’s a realm that no player could ever reach. Just look at it now; there’s not even a possibility they will be able to do it.]

[There’s a sudden change in the Supreme Monarch’s description window. But it only appeared for two seconds. It’s quite a short time and is insufficient for them to make a breakthrough.]

[It’s sad, but the Supreme level is beyond our reach. I’m sure our viewers feel the same way, too.]

It was just as they said. There was no one in the world who did not understand how unattainable the Supreme’s position was. After all, the Supreme Monarch had infinite HP and MP and the power to cut down Minhyuk and the Battle God in just one slash. There’s also the fact that Minhyuk and the God of Cooking failed to progress any further.

After checking their rivals, PD Kim Daeguk began checking the reactions of people all over the world. However, before he could do so, he caught sight of the results of a poll that one of the viewers had set up for fun. The poll was a “Success vs. Failure” poll, and many had voted on it.

[Success: 3%.]

[Failure: 97%]

PD Kim Daeguk laughed despondently. Millions of people were involved during the voting period, but only 3% believed the challenge would be successful.

‘To be honest, that 3% is highly likely to be Minhyuk’s fans.’

However, if it was PD Kim Daeguk voting, what would he choose? Of course, he would also vote for failure. It was sad, but this was the reality of the matter.

PD Kim Daeguk joined Minhyuk’s live broadcast.

[To be honest, I don’t think they can clear this. They have used their last chance. I think they should give up and go back.]

[How can anyone clear this? Lmao. Even if the executives of Joy Co. Ltd. were equipped entirely with their items, even if Kang Taehoon comes, there’s no way that anyone can clear this, no?]

[Minhyuk, this is your last chance. You no longer have the opportunity to reset. If you guys fail this, not only will you die, but even the Battle God and the God of Cooking will also die.]

[Please give up.]

[Give up.]

[Give up.]

Their words were completely reasonable. The Battle God and the God of Cooking were gods the people loved. Of course, the people would not want to lose these gods. And the same was true for PD Kim Daeguk.

[Give u…]

PD Kim Daeguk, who had already started typing in the live chat, hurriedly deleted his words. Instead of forcing someone else to give up, he decided to express his honest feelings.

[Yes, perhaps the correct solution here is to give up. So, why am I feeling frustrated?]

Then, the viewers responded to him.

[To be honest, at first, I thought, ‘Shit! Minhyuk is doing it again. He’s taking everything by himself. He should fail!’ I acted like that, but I’m also feeling extremely frustrated.]

[The Supreme is the highest level that a player could reach. But if Minhyuk could not do it, the “Supreme” will forever remain uncleared.]

[How can anyone clear that…? Shit, fr… It’s something that we definitely cannot do. So, I have to admit that this is frustrating.]

[Right now, Minhyuk is us. He is showing our future. So, he has to break and clear this… Haaa.]

At this moment, PD Kim Daeguk realised that he was highly frustrated. The last level that a player could reach was unattainable for them. Knowing this fact alone was enough to make anyone feel frustrated.

‘There’s also the fact that 97% of the viewers had voted that he would fail.’

Nevertheless, somewhere deep in his heart, he hoped that Minhyuk would succeed. The problem was that everyone was saying that it was futile, that he should stop and give up already.

PD Kim chuckled bitterly. Then, he typed in the live chat.

[Fighting.]

Whether Minhyuk chose to give up or not, none of them would think he failed because he was not good enough. That was why he wanted to cheer Minhyuk up.

[Fighting!]

[Minhyuk, fighting!]

[Let’s go!]

[Fighting!!!]

[You can do it!!!]

[Even if you choose to give up, it doesn’t matter! This can happen to everyone! Give it your all!!!]

These words appeared in PD Kim Daeguk’s live chat window.

PD Kim Daeguk thought, ‘If it’s Player Minhyuk, then he will choose to give up.’

He knew that although the young man looked reckless, he was not a reckless player. He would obviously not do something when he realised they would surely fail.

***

They could no longer reset. Minhyuk knew this better than anybody else. He was also painfully aware that the Battle God and the God of Cooking would face extinction if they died.

‘Funnily enough, I only figured out how to take away his infinite HP when the next chance is our last chance.’

Before Minhyuk died at the hands of the Supreme Monarch, he activated the Absolute One’s Breaker Ring. This ring had the effect that it could ignore and break through anything with the label “unconditional” for two seconds. Because of that, it was able to temporarily take away the Supreme Monarch’s infinite HP that protected him.

‘His HP is at around 3.5 million. That’s similar to Named beings at the same level as him.’

There was one more interesting fact.

‘His special characteristic is creating infinite HP. He cannot regenerate his wounds or recover his HP like the regular Named beings.’

Simply put, they could kill the Supreme Monarch if they cut down his 3.5 million HP, but the problem was…

‘The Absolute One’s Breaker Ring only has a two-second duration.’

The Battle God likely had at least one skill like this, and it seemed like he had also realised they could take away the Supreme Monarch’s infinite HP.

So, he said, “Seven seconds. That’s when I can take away his ‘infinite’ status.”

Even then, they would only have nine seconds in total. If they could kill the Supreme Monarch during that time, then they would be able to cook.

‘It’s too risky.’

Unfortunately, they did not know if they could kill the guy at that time. Their main purpose was to cook the Supreme Dish. They had to find a way to cook the Frenzied Ingredient, not kill the Supreme Monarch. Perhaps this was their last chance, or maybe it was not.

‘If I give up here and go back, then nothing will happen to us.’

Minhyuk looked back at the maze. Then, he turned the chat window on. He was wondering if he could borrow the viewers’ opinion on the matter. A bitter smile flashed on Minhyuk’s face when he saw the live chat.

[Fighting!!!]

[Let’s go! Go! Go!]

[You can do it!]

[You’re the players’ hope!]

[If you find it too challenging, then it’s also alright to stop!]

The live chat was filled with messages of support. There wasn’t even anyone speaking ill of Minhyuk at this moment. That was how much of a goal the “Supreme” was for everyone. Now that they realised that the Supreme was a level they could not reach, they all united and cheered for Minhyuk.

‘It’s also alright to stop.’ These words brought comfort to Minhyuk’s heart.

The truth was, Minhyuk regretted turning on the live broadcast and following Carron’s advice right at this very moment, but he remembered what Carron had told him.

—Whether you fail or succeed, you can still receive their support. And there will be times when the support of the people will give you strength.

Indeed. That was the case. Nevertheless, unfortunately, Minhyuk found nothing helpful in the live chat.

Just when he was about to close it, one of the viewers said this.

[If the Supreme Monarch fails to get out of the maze, then maybe it will be possible for them to cook…]

Perhaps this was the easiest and the fastest method, but the problem was the Supreme Monarch already had the Maze of the Unknown memorised down to the T. He could even break through it in just ten minutes tops. If only they had the power to keep the bastard in the maze and out of their sight on his own...

“Wait,” Minhyuk said, slowing to a standstill.

Yes, it might be impossible to do it on their own, but it might be possible if they borrowed someone else’s power.

Minhyuk deactivated the live chat, so he could concentrate.

‘There are a few parts of the maze that the Supreme Monarch could break through by force. But most of the maze’s parts are indestructible.’

Indeed, the Supreme Monarch rarely broke through the maze walls by force.

‘We still have one more wish left.’

Athenae’s Frenzied Ingredient has no limit on the number of chefs that could help them. However, they could only have one assistant to help them stop the Supreme Monarch. But…

‘This is the Maze of the Unknown. Most of the wishes inside the Maze of the Unknown will come true.’

Just like how they got the ten opportunities from the reset, Minhyuk took a deep breath as a smile filled with joy slowly appeared on his face. He wanted to show the people who cheered for him that there was hope—even if it was just a glimmer.

On the top left of their screens, ZTubers could indicate a target donation amount for the day. They could set 10,000 won or maybe 20,000 won. Just like that, Minhyuk hurriedly set his target donation. Setting the target donation meant that he would succeed.

Finally, the target donation appeared.

[Target Donation: 50,000,000,000 won.]

The amount that Minhyuk set was fifty billion won. He turned on the live chat for a brief moment and said, “I… I will definitely do it.”

Then, he closed it again.

After that, Minhyuk turned to the Battle God and God of Cooking Arlene. “I have found a solution. All we need to do is not let the Supreme Monarch get out of the maze.”

The God of Cooking looked at Minhyuk in doubt. “But… we already know that, though?”

Minhyuk explained, “We can get help from others using our final wish. If we get help from that god, then there’s a high chance that the Supreme Monarch will not be able to get out of the maze.”

The already confused Battle God and God of Cooking grew even more confused. Which god were they going to ask for help from?

Minhyuk said, “It’s the God of the Directionally Challenged.”

***

The Battle God and the God of Cooking finally saw a glimmer of hope after listening to Minhyuk’s explanation.

“I might die, but I want to see this to the end.”

“Me too.”

A fire of determination burned in the eyes of the two gods.

The Battle God immediately ordered the God of the Directionally Challenged to come to the Maze of the Unknown using a sound transmission.

Then, the Battle God told the others, “He has already left. He’ll probably reach the maze in twenty minutes.”

After three hours of waiting...

“...?”

“...?”

“Why… Why isn’t he here yet? Is he still getting ready?”

After seven hours… the Battle God could ran out of patience. He sent another sound transmission. Then, a flash of surprise appeared on the Battle God’s face.

“Th-this…!”

Minhyuk and the God of Cooking turned to look at the Battle God. This was the first time they had seen him so shocked. Maybe…

‘Did he find something else related to the Supreme Ingredient?’

‘Did that bastard get rid of the God of the Directionally Challenged beforehand?’

Their imaginations were running wild. Then, the Battle God stammered, “H-he got lost.”

“...?”

“...?”

“But what’s more shocking is that he’s around 5,900 kilometres from the Maze of the Unknown. Wait, isn’t that the human world?”

“...?”

“...?”

Everyone was rendered speechless.