Chapter 1343

Chapter 1343

[You have eaten Dakgalbi.]

[The dish is legendary.]

[All of your stats have increased by 21%.]

[All of your attack and defensive power have increased by 13%.]

[The level of your Ares’ Swordsmanship has increased by one.]

[You will not get tired easily. You can also overcome your fears and fight your enemies fiercely and bravely.]

Ares’ Elite Troops were all left shocked when they heard the notifications after they ate the

dakgalbi

that Minhyuk made in his cooking trailer. Nonetheless, it seemed like the surprise was not yet over. Their astonishment grew after they received the unknown drink from Minhyuk.

[SSS]

[Your STR has increased by 4.5%.]

[The buff’s duration is four days.]

The jelly-like and chewy drink tasted good and gave them an overlapping buff.

‘Wow...’

The people who once feared entering the Land of the Titans were now in admiration.

‘If our stats increased by this much, then...’

They thought that perhaps they would be able to resolve their past grudges and avenge the comrades they had lost. Unfortunately, Minhyuk suddenly said, “You will continue to wear the sandbags inside.”

“Yes, sir!”

It did not matter that much anymore. The sandbags wrapped around their wrists had felt significantly lighter after they had eaten the dish Minhyuk had given them.

‘It would be easier if we took this off, though.’

‘When will these sandbags be removed?’

‘Why do we still have to wear this when facing a life-and-death battle...?’

Minhyuk ignored them and their obvious thoughts.

‘All the preparations are done.’

Minhyuk had heard that many of the troops had died at the entrance of the Land of the Titans in the past. He had investigated everything thoroughly down to their levels at that time. Of course, just as he promised, he would do his best to ensure that none of them would die and be sacrificed on this battlefield.

‘Even after a long time had passed, the Land of the Titans remained a hunting ground with a very high level of difficulty.’

The difference now was that Ares’ Elite Troops were 20% stronger than before. In fact, Minhyuk’s inclusion in their group had already made a considerable difference from the past.

[You have entered the Land of the Titans.]

The land that greeted them was a complete and utter wasteland. Of course, the difficulty of the hunting ground did not lie with its terrain but in that the high-level mobs in this land always came out in packs. An overbearing pressure also fell upon them and forced them to the depths of the abyss.

[The Gods’ Power has sensed the presence of intruders.]

[The Titan Monsters are gathering.]

[The gods’ hidden power is constantly exploding in the sky.]

Shwaaaaaaa!

“Hiiiiiik!”

“Th-this again!!!”

“Back then, it was because of this power, too!”

Thousands of balls of power fell from the sky at the same time.

‘It’s natural for the army to be in chaos and confusion if something like this fell gobsmack in the middle of their formation.’

For one, the power that fell upon could not be dispelled by mages or stopped by the tankers’ shields. This was because the power had extremely high damage and magical attack power that they could not stop with their meager strength.

Then, the Titan’s Clones appeared in front of them.

[Titan’s Clone. Level 799.]

Most of the titans were giants. Following that logic, most living in the Land of Titans were giants. The hundreds of thousands of Titan’s Clones running toward them simultaneously were all giants with heights reaching five meters.

The trauma they had suffered in the past left the entire army shaking in fear. They stood there, reminded of the terrible ordeal from the past, watching thousands of magical attacks shooting at them from above and below, and the Titan’s Clones charging at them.

At that moment, something appeared in the sky above them, casting a shadow that brought darkness upon them.

“Frying Pan Infinite Gigantification.”

It was none other than Minhyuk’s frying pan that evolved into a Pillar artifact. It was an artifact that could reflect most of the attacks from the enemy.

Clang! Clang, clang! Clang!

The thousands of magical attacks crashed against the frying pan. And to everyone’s surprise, most of the magical attacks were reflected.

[Frying Pan Reflection.]

When the frying pan was still Hepas’ Legendary Frying Pan, it could already reflect 50% of the enemies’ magical attacks. However, the higher his level, the lower the probability of the enemies’ magical attacks being reflected. After it had evolved, the chances of reflecting the enemies’ magical attacks had increased to 50% again. And this reflection could be reflected and returned to the enemy with the same amount of force or wherever else he pleased!

Bang!

The reflected God’s Magic was sent toward the charging Titan’s Clones.

“Keuheeeeeek!”

“Keuhaaaaaaak!”

“Kihyeeeeek!”

Those who were constantly being hit by the reflected attacks screamed wildly.

“Spear Unit! Forward!”

At Minhyuk’s command, the soldiers holding spears in their hands immediately stepped forward and faced the furious Titan’s Clones that received severe damage.

“Damn it!”

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

Screams erupted from their mouths. The magical attacks were avoided, but the memories of the past suddenly surfaced in their minds.

These mobs had hard skins that could not be pierced, no matter how many times they stabbed them with their spears. It had been extremely difficult to leave a scratch on them. Maybe they should hunt this bastard in threes or fours...

Thud!

‘Huh?’

Thud! Thud! Thud!

‘Huh? Huh?! HUH?! How did we stab them?’

The soldiers felt like they were stabbing tofu with their chopsticks. They could not hide their surprise as they watched their spears pierce through the tough skin of the people they could not pierce in the past. Then, their surprise slowly turned into confidence.

“I-is this how much we’ve grown?!”

“These f*ckers! I’m here to avenge my comrades!”

The fear might have been at the forefront, but ever since that day, their will to become stronger had been burning brightly. They were very determined to kill them. And it continued to burn to this day.

“You motherf*ckers!!!”

“Come!!! All of you!”

The archers raised their bows and shot their arrows, aiming for the brows of the object of their fears.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh, fwoosh!

Their arrows pierced through their brows.

“Uryaaaaaah! CHARGE!!!”

The once crouching and flinching soldiers raised their weapons and charged at the mobs wildly. The enemies constantly fell under the onslaught of their attacks. With every enemy that fell, they cheered loudly and shouted joyfully.

[Your allies’ morale has almost reached the skies.]

[They will continue to charge forward without any fear!]

[All of their stats have increased by 3%.]

[All of their attack and defensive power have increased by 2%.]

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 55%.]

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 58%.]

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 62%.]

[The soldiers you’re leading have overcome the trauma that has plagued them their whole lives.]

[They have experienced shocking mental growth.]

[They have realized that nothing in the world is truly impossible.]

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 69%.]

‘As expected!’

For those who had been plagued by their trauma, overcoming this trauma and experiencing mental growth could also give them a massive boost in their overall growth. Now, Minhyuk had proven his assumption that the growth rate was not necessarily restricted to physical growth.

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 74%.]

Amidst the nonstop ringing of notifications about the increasing Growth Rate, Minhyuk continued to assist them and help those in immediate danger.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

“Waaaaaaaaaah!”

The amount of damage that they had suffered? Minimal. Only one of them suffered from severe injuries. Of course, Ares’ Elite Troops knew the reason why.

“Commander! The power of your buffed dish is really amazing!”

“It’s crazy!”

“How can this be?! Oh my!”

Minhyuk’s buffed dish had played a considerable role in all of this.

This time, they caught sight of an even larger number of Titan’s Clones running toward them—twice as many as the ones they had dealt with before. However, they did not cower; they roared loudly like brave tigers.

“COMEEEEEE!!!”

“How dare you come here?!”

Then...

[All of the effects of the buff dish have been terminated.]

“C-commander?”

“No. Wait?”

“What is this...”

The soldiers all turned to look back at Minhyuk in shock. Rance could not understand what was happening.

“Commander! What is this?! Why did the effects of the buff dish get terminated so suddenly?!”

“Ah, that? I just fed you that dish to ensure it’s safe for consumption.”

“No. What? What are you talking about right now?!”

Their confused and flustered voices rang loudly.

It seemed like they had all forgotten the sandbags weighing them down for two weeks. Minhyuk chuckled as he looked at the sandbags, whose weight had constantly increased during that time.

“All troops, remove your sandbags.”

They had received the buff dish's effects and thought it was the only reason for their growth. They had completely forgotten about the sandbags still tied to their wrists.

Rance moved to remove the sandbags on his wrists. He looked confused as he said, “What difference will it make if we take off these...”

Thud!

“...things?”

When the sandbag fell on the ground, a dull yet loud sound echoed, and dust flew everywhere.

They had been constantly adding weight to the sandbags on their wrists, so at some point, they forgot to total the weight they were carrying. To be exact, they had reached a point where things were so difficult that they no longer had any room to spare in their heads to calculate the total weight, so they just stopped calculating.

At this point, they realized that the sandbag tied to just one of their wrists was...

‘It weighs thirty-five kilograms?’

‘Wait, what?’

‘How were we able to carry this much weight?’

Then, they took off the other sandbag.

Thud!

The dull, loud, and heavy sound echoed once more. One by one, the soldiers removed the sandbags on their wrists.

Thud! Thud, thud, thud! Thud!

A loud and heavy sound would echo every time they dropped the sandbags tied to their wrists. Finally, their wrists felt light. No. It was not just light. It was so feather light that they thought their wrists would fly away with a gust of wind.

A sword generally weighed around several kilograms. It would feel quite heavy if one held it with just one hand. But...

‘Is my sword really this light?’

‘This is as light as a feather.’

There was one thing in common between NPCs and players. It was the fact that they would be able to grow further the more monsters they hunted. And the higher the monster's level, the more they would grow.

NPCs also had the concept of levels. Unlike the players, their level could not be simply described in terms of EXP and hunting. However, the stronger the enemies they hunted, the faster they would grow and the higher their level would become.

Right now, the enemies in front of these soldiers had higher levels than their own. When the sandbags tied to their limbs were removed, almost a hundred kilograms of weight that had been pressing down on them disappeared.

From what Minhyuk estimated, they should be 20% faster than when they had the effects of his dish. They should also be able to show a 30% increase in their strength and a 25% increase in their proficiency in their swordsmanship.

They had thought that they needed the buff dish to survive this. Now? One of the soldiers charged toward the enemies even though the effects of the buff dish had been taken away from him.

Then, he raised his sword and cut down the Titan’s Clone in front of him using the same swing he had repeated for nearly two weeks alongside Minhyuk. Even though it was just a simple motion, it had been repeated tens of thousands of times for two straight weeks. Because of that, this cutting motion had become cleaner, sharper, and more sophisticated than the Sword God's.

Swoosh!

Thud!

“Keuhaaaack!”

With just one swing of his sword, the soldier could cut down the arm of the Titan’s Clone in front of him.

The archers who had been weighed down by dozens of kilograms and whose skills had been sharpened by the tens of thousands of repetitive plucking of their bows raised their bows and shot their arrows.

Thud!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Their arrows flew at a tremendous speed, piercing through several Titans’ Clones around them.

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 75%.]

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 78%.]

The plan Minhyuk laid out was designed to help them hone their skills. It was designed to make them more proficient in their swordsmanship, more accurate in their marksmanship, and faster in plucking their bows. Most importantly, it was designed to help them grow continuously.

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 82%.]

“Uryaaaaaaaah!”

“Forward!”

They continued to march forward with Minhyuk, taking on the tens of thousands of monsters blocking their paths.

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 84%.]

Of course, after experiencing such explosive growth, their growth rate would eventually slow down and stagnate. This was because the soldiers would slowly catch up to the level of the monsters. But it was fine. It did not matter that much in this place. Why?

“This place is brimming with monsters. Sweep them all away!”

This place was filled with countless good prey. There was no way that their growth rate would stagnate. It might even continue to rise infinitely!

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 87%.]

At this moment, they realized that they had truly been reborn as the best and greatest army on the continent. They felt proud of themselves for being able to cause chaos and wreak havoc in one of the three most dangerous regions on the Gaia Continent.

However, they did not wallow in their pride. Some of them would rush over to one side and hug the armors protecting what seemed to be nothing but bones while crying out the names of their late comrades. It might sound ironic, but one of their long-standing goals was to settle their grudges and appease the resentment of their comrades who had died an unfair death because they had abandoned them for nothing.

“We’re back.”

“Did you see? We came here to see you again. But we did not come with Lord Ares. We came with another commander.”

“I’m sorry it took us so long.”

“The commander is a really kind man. Thanks to him, we were able to see you guys again.”

Minhyuk did not know that they had wanted to meet with their comrades for a long time, and he did not expect this to contribute to their growth rate.

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 88%.]

Perhaps it was because they had fulfilled their long-cherished dreams? Nevertheless, Minhyuk welcomed this very surprising development.

Finally, they reached the end of the Land of the Titans, and there have been no deaths so far. All of the soldiers looked at Minhyuk with both awe and respect.

[Your Growth Rate has increased to 91%.]

[You have completed one of the conditions in your bet with Zeus.]

[You have one chance to visit and use Zeus’ Treasure House.]

Minhyuk and the troops finally achieved what they both wanted to achieve. Everything seemed to have worked out well in their favor. Then...

“Hey, you f*ckers. It seems like all of you decided to apply to move to the Beyond the Heavens Empire and abandon me, huh?”

[God of War Ares has descended!]

A very unexpected guest appeared.