Chapter 1342

Chapter 1342

Weight training could help someone significantly improve their muscle strength and endurance. Of course, muscle strength would not improve in just one session. The best way to increase muscle strength and build up muscles is to exercise repeatedly and consistently.

However, simple repetition would not work. There would come a time when the weight would feel easy and comfortable to lift. Once someone started to lift that weight in twelve to fifteen reps easily, they had to increase the weight.

Of course, the reps they could do would drop to around six to ten reps once the weight was adjusted. Over time, they would get used to it and be able to easily lift the adjusted weight for twelve to fifteen reps again. This was a sign that they could already lift a heavier weight.

It was not just that. Their ability to lift heavier weights proved that their muscles had recovered from the high-intensity weight training and grown stronger. Of course, breaks and rest were indispensable between training to allow the muscles to heal naturally.

However, in Athenae, there was no concept of muscle recovery. The concept that worked here was the concept of stat increase. And because of that, the people in Athenae could grow their muscles without any breaks.

Minhyuk was fully aware that these soldiers had already steadily increased their stats the more they swung their swords, stabbed their spears, and shot their arrows. In fact, they had also noticed that the training was starting to feel a bit easier. Whenever they began to feel comfortable and at ease, five kilograms of weight would be added to their sandbags.

They continued to swing their weapons. They had now swung their weapons more than seventy thousand times in a row. They no longer knew how many days they had spent swinging their weapons. Of course, it was not as if they did not have any rest at all. Minhyuk had given them enough time to eat and even increased their meals by more than 1.5 times their usual.

Ares’ Elite Troops did not know that their stats were increasing rapidly because the weight they had to carry kept increasing, but Minhyuk knew. How did he know?

[You have gained 1 STR.]

[You have gained 1 AGI.]

[You have gained 1 STM.]

[You have gained 1 STR.]

[...gained 1 AGI.]

[...gained 1 STM.]

It was because these notifications had been ringing nonstop in Minhyuk’s ears. They had already received so many stats that it would be fine if they stopped immediately.

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 18%.]

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 19%.]

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 24%.]

[Your Growth Rate...]

[Your Growth Rate...]

The increase in growth rate was slow at first, but it had increased in speed since then. Minhyuk did not understand why their growth rate did not improve much initially, but he soon found out why.

‘They have found stability the longer they do the training.’

When running long distances, which part was the hardest? The answer to that was the first ten minutes of the run. As time passed, the body would get used to the intensity. And with adrenaline pumping through the body, running would get easier.

Of course, this was not the only possibility.

‘They’re tenacious...’

Ares’ Elite Troops were strong enough to overcome new trials.

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 49%.]

When Minhyuk saw the shocking growth rate, he began to ponder something.

‘Zeus would have created a system where increasing the growth rate is difficult.’

Zeus was trying hard to force some big shit down Minhyuk’s throat one way or another. Alas, his growth rate had already reached this level. If Zeus saw this, he would find some way to trip Minhyuk up. Of course, Minhyuk was not to be outdone. He still had the last training method up his sleeve.

‘If I succeed here, then it will be amazing.’

Minhyuk knew that they had been doing this repetitive training for thirteen days. He was confident that his growth rate was much higher than Athena’s. That was why he thought that it was a pity that he would only be able to get three level-ups once this quest was completed.

‘My level increasing by three is a huge reward.’

Regardless, was there ever an end to human greed? So, Minhyuk thought that he should give it a try.

‘Has Zeus checked my growth rate?’

He had no way of knowing that.

‘Then, how about putting a countdown?’

Humans tend to get nervous whenever a countdown starts.

‘Get hooked! Get hooked, dear fish! Flap, flap, flap!’

Minhyuk hummed to himself as he waited in anticipation.

After a while...

[Zeus has accepted the bet.]

A very fresh and large fish was caught—hook, line, and sinker!

“LUCKYYYY!!!”

‘I just threw a bait just in case. Guess what?! Lucky!’

Minhyuk felt very happy. And twenty minutes later...

[You have completed the first condition of your bet with Zeus.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[...leveled up.]

[...leveled up.]

[...leveled up.]

Minhyuk’s level increased by six! It was an unimaginable yet very fruitful harvest for him at Level 777.

At that moment...

[Zeus demands changes to the conditions of the bet.]

[If you fail to achieve a 90% growth rate, then every level that Zeus has given you will be recovered. Not only that, your level will also drop by three.]

[If you achieved a 90% growth rate, you will be given one chance to use Zeus’ Treasure House.]

Zeus must be seething in anger right now.

The bet was offered because Zeus was confident in his victory.

‘He must be confident that I won’t be able to do it and is laughing at me for setting up a ridiculous growth rate on my own.’

Zeus looked like he was on pins and needles as he watched Minhyuk from above the clouds.

‘It will be harder to increase the growth rate once it has exceeded 50%.’

Zeus knew this fact well. However, he just could not stand it. He was so angry that he had played right into Minhyuk’s hands.

Minhyuk pondered over the matter. The choice was between playing things safe and having the opportunity to rob Zeus’ Treasure House.

‘Zeus is a god on par with the Battle God in the Gaia Continent.’

This meant that his treasure house would contain many outstanding items. Perhaps even something incredibly delicious was hiding in there!

‘If it’s that method, then I think I can do it.’

It was not impossible.

[You have accepted the proposed changes to the bet.]

Minhyuk said, “Everyone, stop.”

The soldiers who had been repeatedly swinging their weapons stopped right away.

“It’s finally over...”

“I... I survived!”

“WAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Ares’ Elite Troops broke out into cheers. They immediately collapsed on the ground when they heard they could stop. They even tried to take off the sandbags weighing down on their wrists as if it was on fire.

Minhyuk instructed, “Don’t take off the sandbags on your wrists.”

Many showed ugly expressions. However, they were already happy enough to lie down like this.

Minhyuk continued, “Tomorrow, we’ll be moving to the next training site. Don’t remove the sandbags on your wrists even when eating, sleeping, or washing. Can I trust you with that?”

Rance and Ares’ Elite Troops had already followed Minhyuk’s training methods. That was why Minhyuk was confident they would never take off their sandbags.

***

The next day.

None of the soldiers of Ares’ Elite Troops took off the sandbags on their wrists. Of course, there were still doubts about why they could not remove the sandbags.

‘Did I really grow stronger?’

‘I’ve been swinging like crazy for a few days, but I don’t have the slightest idea if I have changed or not.’

‘Hngghhh. It’s all because of these damn sandbags!’

Nevertheless, they chose to keep them on because they trusted and respected Minhyuk. Yet, when they arrived at the gathering point, they could not help but feel flustered. Rance looked at Minhyuk in disbelief.

“Isn’t this the Land of the Titans...?”

The Titans were the gods who led an era with Kronos. Of course, most of them were now trapped in Tartarus after Zeus and the gods of Olympus took over and welcomed the new era.

The Land of Titans was now nothing but an abandoned land. However, it was still teeming with monsters. And the monsters inside were powerful, perhaps even on par with the Titans in terms of power. It was even hailed as one of the three hunting grounds that no one except the gods should enter.

And for Ares’ Elite Troops, the Land of the Titans had been a source of unresolved trauma.

‘This is the place where we failed...’

‘More than half of us have died in this place.’

The Ares’ Elite Troops of today were born after walking the tightrope between life and death countless times over. Nonetheless, there had been a time when the number of their soldiers was much more than what they had now.

Ares had pushed them to challenge this place; of course, they had been forced to do it. Alas, nearly half of them died right at the entrance, and they were forced to retreat right away. It was a story that happened a very long time ago. At that time, even Ares could not tell them to enter this place again. Why? Because Ares knew that his troops could never conquer this place.

“Ugh... Ughhhhhhh...”

“Damn it...”

“Why? Why this place...”

The soldiers fell into despair.

Realizing the situation that they were in, Rance ran to Minhyuk and said, “Commander... in this place, we...”

“I know.”

“If you know, why must we train here?”

Minhyuk had already completed all of the investigations before he came here. Rance noticed that, but he could no longer understand what Minhyuk wanted to do. Ares had pushed his army to this place, believing they could do it, but half died. After that, Ares no longer sent them there.

‘My army is outstanding.’

‘My army can do anything.’

‘You can do it.’

Yet, these empty thoughts killed tens of thousands of people. If Minhyuk knew this, then why? Was Minhyuk truly different from Ares?

“Do you know what Lord Ares did to us?”

Yes, Ares created the most outstanding army in the Gaia Continent. Unfortunately, the process was too gruesome. When he started raising them, there were millions of them. However, they were forced to continue running forward and turn away from their dying comrades. When they tried to reach out to their comrades, asking for help...

‘Those who fall behind will be thrown away.’

Ares abandoned those who fell behind. This was all so he could create and nurture the strongest army. Was it for their sake? Of course not. He wanted to tell the world that Ares had raised such a great army! That the best and greatest troops in the Gaia Continent listened to him and him alone.

Unfortunately, the hearts of every soldier of his army were now rotting and decaying.

“Is it for your benefit?!”

Was it because Minhyuk would get something if they conquered this place? Or because he would get something from the growth rate?

“You said that we can trust you! But what is the difference between you and Ares now?!”

Rance did not want to push his men to the extreme once again. He disdained commanders who took advantage of their status to protect their interests.

“It’s true that I can get something out of this.”

Rance clenched his fists in fury, and the soldiers looked at Minhyuk with expressions that showed how betrayed they felt.

Minhyuk added, “There’s something different between me and Ares.”

Something different? Was he trying to mislead them? At that moment, Minhyuk threw something on the ground. It was none other than his cooking trailer, which quickly grew in size.

Beeeeeeeeep!

Blazing flames erupted from the cooking trailer.

Minhyuk looked back at the fire and said, “You’re all stronger than you were back then. And you will be even stronger now. That is the fact.”

They must have forgotten that Minhyuk was not their commander. His main class was not Battle God but... Pillar of the Gourmands. Even so, the venomous look in Rance’s eyes did not disappear.

“Even if you say that...”

“Of course, I’ll join you inside.”

“...?!”

“...?!”

Minhyuk was different.

When Ares brought them here, he took a chair, sat at the entrance, and said...

–

Don’t even think about coming back unless you cut off your enemy’s head.

He even said it while leisurely trimming and brushing his nails.

As for Minhyuk, he said, “The weight of my death is lighter than yours, so I will be the one at the lead.”

When Ares saw them fleeing for their lives after losing half of their allies, he scoffed and said...

–

F*cking bastards...

In contrast, Minhyuk told them, “If I judge it’s impossible, then we will retreat. I will support you in the rear and make sure that none of you dies.”

When Ares saw them with their shoulders dropping with sadness and depression after the fact that they had lost half of their comrades had sunk in, he said...

–

You f*cking bastards. You don’t deserve to eat. Go and starve for a few days. Don’t ever tell a single soul about this. Ever. You’ll just embarrass me.

For Ares, the loss of half his army that day was a source of shame and embarrassment.

Yet, Minhyuk did not think the same way.

“Just trust me. I’ll make sure that we get out of this place without a single death. And if an emergency happens, I will save you and take you away from this place.”

Minhyuk was different.

[The morale of the troops has increased!]

[The entire army has a solid faith and firm trust in you.]

[They will not be afraid of anything as long as they are with you!]

They were no longer afraid of anything. They just stared at Minhyuk’s back as he began cooking for them.

Before Athena left, she had explained the entirety of the quest to Rance and the soldiers. Then, she said...

–

The choice is yours.

Rance said, “I’ll go to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

[The 56,315 soldiers of Ares’ Elite Troops wish to move to the Beyond the Heavens Empire!]