Chapter 1312

Chapter 1312

Chaos and Athenae knew that the world had already changed. This change was brought about by a foreigner becoming one of the Eight Pillars. They both knew that they could no longer do anything or everything by simply mentioning that it was God’s will.

The two were also aware that the humans wanted proof. They would not recognize those who had been removed and only acknowledge those who have moved forward. So, when Hephaestus became a Pillar, the two built a new system.

These were the world messages that rang after the notifications of Hephaestus becoming a Pillar rang in the world.

[You can now view the Hall of Pillars.]

[You can check the Pillar’s Influence in the Hall of Pillars.]

[The Pillar’s Influence recorded in the Hall of Pillars will refresh every six months.]

[If a player enters the top three in the Pillar’s Influence rankings, they will be given rewards based on their rankings.]

[Only players can acquire rewards.]

[The Pillar’s Influence referred to the influence that they have in Athenae. This influence depends on hundreds of different things.]

[For example, accomplishing something that no one else has accomplished.]

[For example, creating an artifact that influences or affects other people.]

[This year, the reward given to the first place in the influence rankings is the Pillar Creation Authority.]

[The reward given to the second place in the influence rankings is a +40 increase in all stats.]

[There are two weeks left before the rankings are refreshed.]

[You can now check the influence rankings from January to May 20th.]

[1st place: Athenae. 36.3%]

[2nd place: Hephaestus. 19.5%]

[3rd place: Master of Life and Death. 16.4%]

[4th place: Master of Weapons. 4.9%]

[5th place: Pillar of the Gourmands. 2.5%]

Many of the community sites began heated discussions about these notifications.

[The only thing that Athenae did was breathe, yet the influence that she holds is so high. What does Athenae really do?]

[Hey, the air you’re breathing is made by Athenae. Don’t you know? To put it in simpler terms, she’s like the building owner. Even if she only breathes, she will have an influence on us.]

[Wow. This is so overwhelming. Hephaestus only became a Pillar recently. Why is his influence so high?]

[Isn’t it because countless kingdoms and empires have been sending their blacksmiths to the Beyond the Heavens Empire to learn blacksmithing skills from Hephaestus? Hephaestus is from the Gaia Continent, so his method of production is a bit different, I think? But it’s a better method than ours. So, they keep on sending people to learn from him. I think that’s the reason.]

[Then, what about the Master of Life and Death?]

[I heard he’s trying to make an effort to get closer to the Land of the Gods these days. I think that’s why.]

[How about the Master of Weapons?]

[Ah. IDK, otaku.]

[okie, okie.]

[Guys, I think the reason why they pre-released this is for the sake of the players. Or am I the only one who thinks that?]

[Pre-released? For the players?]

[You see, it says that the NPCs will not get any rewards. But if a player reaches the top 3, they will receive rewards.

[Huh? Oh, that’s right.]

[I think they did this because they knew that players would be able to sit in the Pillar’s seat in the future. This feels like a demonstration, no? And since this is just a demo, Minhyuk will not be able to make it to the top 3. Lololol. It feels like they opened this because they knew Minhyuk wouldn't be able to make it from the very beginning.

[Don’t you think that Minhyuk’s influence is too small?]

[There’s no helping it because of his Pillar position.]

One clever player explained.

[Evil God Obren killed and terrorized countless people; that’s why his influence is high. The same goes for Helenia. The story of the two still brings fear to the people of Athenae even today.]

[In Hephaestus’ case, he’s still creating and distributing artifacts. And the artifacts that he creates? They continue to increase his influence.]

[As for Athenae? She will always remain number one in the rankings. Even if the only thing that she does is breathe. Why? Because Athenae created this world. She is the origin.]

[Minhyuk is different. What kind of influence does Minhyuk gain by eating a lot of food happily?]

[...He makes us hungry?]

[Idiot. Does Minhyuk eat in front of us? He always eats behind the scenes. In the first place, the act of eating does not really influence and affect others.]

[Second, unlike cooking, Hephaestus’ new blacksmithing skills go beyond common sense. And it leaves outstanding artifacts that will forever go down in history. These artifacts become his influence that will never disappear and will even increase in value over time. And Minhyuk? He hasn’t even lived for as long as Hephaestus, who has been living for thousands of years.]

[Minhyuk’s way of cooking does not change just because he became a Pillar. And it won’t ever change. Why? Because this cooking method has been developed over a thousand years, in reality, it can be said to be the best result after countless failures. What will Minhyuk do? Teach you how to cook? This might increase his influence for a while, but it will eventually go back to what it was before. Unless he has lived for a few hundred years, it will be impossible for him to invent a new method of cooking.

[The reason why Minhyuk can have this level of influence and maintain it at this point is because of the people who have eaten his dishes and the dishes that he has made for the people. So, what I’m saying here is...]

[Since Joy Co. Ltd. knows that Minhyuk will not be able to get in the top 3 rankings, they confidently pre-released this content. With this out in the open, the people who will become Pillars in the future will work hard and struggle to gain more influence and reach the top. Of course, there’s no way that Athenae will step down from first place.]

When Team Leader Park saw what the players at the community sites were saying two weeks ago, he thought they were only half right. Now, he was sitting inside the conference room with three more days before the influence rankings were refreshed.

“It’s as we expected. Player Minhyuk is not really doing any activities that will boost his influence. After all, we all know that Player Minhyuk is not the type of person who will challenge something that he’s not confident in,” the Story Team’s leader evaluated.

Team Leader Park had always hated using the word “impossible” in cases like this. However, even he couldn't help but agree with the Story Team’s leader’s evaluation. First, increasing one’s influence was extremely difficult.

There was a reason why Team Leader Park thought the players’ assessments were only half correct. To be honest, 80% of what the players assumed, including their assumptions about the pre-release of the new system, was proper. Joy Co. Ltd. released this not because they thought they could do it, but because they wanted the players who would become Pillars in the future to have the will and determination to work harder.

As for the remaining 20%? They could not see through it yet. Why? Because they did not know what methods the Pillar of the Gourmands would use to increase his influence.

‘It seems like Player Minhyuk does not know how to do it either.’

The Story Team’s leader looked at the clock. Then, he said, “It seems like all of us will leave work on time today.”

All of the people in the conference room stood up. Team Leader Park and the Story Team’s leader walked side by side and engaged in another conversation.

“Even if Player Minhyuk creates more than three Pillar-grade dishes with the ingredients from Olympus, his influence will only increase by around 10% at most. So, you shouldn’t worry about him reaching the top of the rankings.”

Of course, this was something that Team Leader Park knew.

“He will not be able to cook all three Olympus God-grade ingredients in a day. Besides, the rest of the ingredients cannot be processed and cooked in such a short time.”

They released this system because they knew that he couldn't reach the top of the rankings. Regardless, just to make sure Minhyuk hadn't done something unusual, Team Leader Park called Lee Minhwa. He asked, “What is Player Minhyuk doing right now?”

[He’s gathering the people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.]

“Huh? He’s gathering them?”

[Yes. It seems like he’s going to eat together with them.]

Minhyuk had harvested a lot of ingredients from the gods’ fields. And it seemed like they thought that he was going to cook something and share it with the others. For some strange reason, there was this sense of foreboding when Team Leader Park heard that Minhyuk was gathering his people.

‘Why do I feel so nervous?’

Story Team’s Team Leader Lee Ki-Hoon patted Team Leader Park’s shoulders when he saw the expression on his face and said, “Goodness, Team Leader Park. Don’t worry too much! That won’t happen!”

Lee Ki-Hoon knew how much work Team Leader Park was doing. At the same time, he felt sorry that the man was too much of a workaholic.

“Alright. I assure you that if something unusual happens, I'll deal with it myself. So, go home today and get some rest. And ask Lee Minhwa to go home too. You guys are too sensitive.”

‘Well...’

Team Leader Park smiled. Perhaps he was too sensitive.

‘It’s not like it’s easy to increase influence. Nothing special will happen even if he gathers his people together.’

Smiling faintly, Team Leader Park spoke to Lee Minhwa on the phone and said, “Deputy Lee, go home and get some rest.”

***

An announcement was posted in the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s group chat.

[Those who want to hunt special boss monsters but cannot, those who know how to make achievements but cannot.]

[Those who have received class change quests but were not able to clear their quests yet.]

[Those who know how to break through the limits and climb over the walls, but are still weak and not good enough to break through them.]

[Those who can break through a new realm if they can just increase their levels a bit more.]

[Those who are Level 400 or higher and have the potential to get God classes or legendary classes.]

[If you’re one of these people, then gather in front of the walls of the empire.]

Several people met the conditions stated in the announcement. Among them were the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s top-ranking players.

Haze and the soldiers, who watched countless players gather in front of the walls of the empire, looked at Minhyuk and asked a lot of questions.

“Which boss monster do you want to hunt?”

“How strong do you think you will become if you can hunt that monster?”

“If you make that achievement, will you become a God class?”

They asked about how much they would grow or how much they would progress if they achieved something. Sometimes they would have to assess the other person more deeply, while other times they would send them back. The players could tell that they were going through a strict and careful selection process. What was more surprising was the fact that even the NPCs were among them.

Minhyuk appeared in front of the thousands of carefully selected people standing in front of the walls of the empire. He looked at them and said, “Everyone, I hope that you can help me out for a bit.”

From what they had heard, Minhyuk was going to treat them to a meal. So, why did they suddenly decide to help him? However, Minhyuk did not explain to them what he wanted to do right away. He first turned on his live broadcast.

[Minhyuk’s ‘Growing Influence’ live broadcast has started.]

Viewers came in quickly as soon as he started the live broadcast. The number of viewers jumped to tens of thousands in an instant, and even more were coming in. Of course, this was due to the very provocative broadcast title.

[Good meal~]

[Hyung, hi.]

[Minhyuk, have you eaten?!]

“Good meal~” Minhyuk greeted.

The people gathered in front of the walls of the empire looked at Minhyuk in confusion when they saw him turn on his live broadcast. They had also heard about the live broadcast’s name from acquaintances and friends.

[Is Minhyuk trying to increase his influence?]

[Minhyuk... there are only a few days left. Can you even increase your influence?]

[Guys, I think Minhyuk’s just trying to aggro. Lololol.]

[Aggro? Come to think of it, he should have made considerable efforts to increase his influence a long time ago. After all, the notification popped up two weeks ago.]

Minhyuk just nodded along with their words. Just like what Joy Co. Ltd. and the viewers thought, Minhyuk did not actively try to increase his influence. It was because he judged that it would be challenging to improve his place in the influence rankings as the Pillar of the Gourmands.

“Well, I just want to give it a try.”

Somehow, he suddenly changed his mind. It was all because he had visited the fields of the gods of Olympus and obtained a lot of good ingredients.

[Hyung. Tbh, it’s a bit over the top. Lolol.]

[Turn off the aggro. Just show us how you eat.]

[Hyung. It’s impossible. Hyung. It’s impossible. Hyung. It’s impossible. Hyung. It’s impossible.]

[lolololol. If you make it into the top 3, then I’ll delete my character.]

[Commenter above who says he’ll delete his character. SSD!]

[Yepyep. Just try it. Wth. Does that even make sense? Do you think your influence in Athenae will increase just because you said, ‘Today, I’ll try to increase my influence.’ or something?!]

[Didn’t you see the best comment in the community sites? The blacksmith leaves artifacts in the world, while the God of Origin created it. Their influence will remain like that even if they just breathe. But you? You’re done once you finish eating, fck. Lololol. What kind of influence will you have?]

[Hyung. It’s not because you’re not good enough... It’s the system’s problem. It’s not because you’re not qualified. Nono.]

Their reactions were expected. He was also thinking the same thing. But after he obtained tens of thousands of ingredients from the fields of the gods of Olympus and got his hands on the Olympus God-grade ingredients, he pondered deeply over this matter again.

“If I can do it, will I get a lot of donations?”

[If you can do it, then I’ll splurge!]

[If you can. Lolololol.]

[If you can do it, then I’ll give you everything I have.]

With a wry smile on his face, Minhyuk said, “I have made one hypothesis.”

The viewers’ chat window suddenly paused. And the same was true for the people gathered in front of the walls of the empire.

“According to the world message, influence depends on a hundred different things. As you mentioned, Hephaestus’ influence is due to his leaving an indelible mark on history with his artifacts. There’s also Athenae, who created this world.”

Minhyuk took a deep breath.

“Once I eat a dish, then everything’s done. But there’s one thing that a dish can do that a blacksmith like Hephaestus or Athenae can’t do.” He grinned. “Of course, my dishes cannot remain permanently in this world. However...”

Minhyuk looked at the people gathered in front of him.

[What are you trying to say?]

[What bullshit are you on about? Get straight to the point.]

“What would happen if my dishes helped all of the people here break through and climb over the walls that are blocking their path?”

[...?]

[...Huh? What?]

[Wait... OMG...?!]

“What would happen if my dish helped someone at Level 399 reach Level 400? How much will my influence rise once this person reaches a new realm? The permanent mark in history was brought about by Hephaestus and Athenae’s influence that they had left behind. Now, here’s a question for you.”

All of the viewers stared intently at Minhyuk.

“Does the player that I helped to become a God class player from an ordinary player have an effect on the world or not?”

[...!]

[...?!]

If Minhyuk helped them break through their limits, then the player or the NPC would leave marks in the history of Athenae. This meant that Minhyuk had left something in the annals of history forever. In short, his influence would be spread to the world.

Then, Minhyuk said, “From now on, I will try and make a hundred God-grade dishes.”

[...?!]

[...?!]

[...?!]

One of the viewers said...

[Is he a genius or something...?!]