Chapter 1379

Chapter 1379

Beyond the Heavens Empire.

The Pillars–Obren, Hephaestus, Beladon, and Louis–had gathered together. They had grown unexpectedly close after creating the Supreme Blade to deal with the incident that broke out just recently.

The Pillar Great War was an event that all of the Pillars welcomed. Even though they were gathered together like this and were talking amicably, that did not mean that there was no sense of competition among them. Just like anybody else, they also wondered who among them was better and stronger.

However, they also had some concerns.

“Minhyuk is still lacking. He can’t reach us yet...”

They weren’t trying to undermine him or anything. The concern in Hephaestus’ voice when he said, “Of course, that’s only natural. Will he be alright though?” was proof of this.

The level of all of the Pillars gathered here could easily exceed Level 1,000. It was only natural for Minhyuk, who had not even reached Level 800 yet, to lose against them.

Hephaestus said, “Minhyuk is someone who will understand us and accept our choices. Nonetheless, as an ordinary human, can his heart take it?”

He was worried that Minhyuk would be depressed if he got completely and utterly defeated during the Pillar Great War. Hephaestus and the other Pillars looked up at Obren, who was lying on a branch on the tree.

[So, are you saying that you’re just going to let him off the hook? As for me? I will give it my all.]

Obren was confident that he was the one who cared the most about Minhyuk among the people present here. He was also confident that he knew the young man the best.

[Yes, in the end, Minhyuk will be defeated at our hands. But if you were in his shoes, what would you feel if you learned that we did not do our best when fighting with him?]

[Minhyuk is not that weak. Will he be disappointed? Will he be sad? He will bounce back and smile again once he eats something delicious. On the other hand, the struggle and setback that he will experience here might just be the catapult that can make him grow further.]

Everyone agreed with Obren. Because of that, each and every single one of them intended to give it their all in the upcoming Pillar Great War.

At that moment, Hephaestus chuckled. “Minhyuk, that kid... he’s truly blessed.”

Everyone turned to Hephaestus in confusion.

“I’m talking about how he now owns the Supreme Blade that we have made together.”

It was the sword that possessed the power of all of the Pillars–the Evil God’s evilness, The Maker’s soul, The Persistent’s passion, and the Master of Life and Death’s power.

“What did we call it? Level 800? That kid must know by now that he will be able to release the seal on the sword once he reaches Level 800.”

[That punk doesn’t realize the power of the unsealed sword is much stronger than he thinks.]

A smile bloomed on the faces of the four Pillars.

***

Minhyuk stared at the place where the Master of the Abyss Den had disappeared, for a very long time. The boy acted coldly, disappearing right away while saying that he did not want to show his face to Minhyuk.

‘I have thought of the possibility but...’

He was not really sure. In fact, Minhyuk had pure intentions when he cooked for Den. Even if Den was just nobody among the hundreds of millions of beings living in the Abyss, it would have been fine.

“Thank you. Also, I don’t really care what you look like. That doesn’t matter to me.”

Minhyuk did not know if Den was listening to him, but he still said the words that he wanted him to hear.

Minhyuk once again stood in front of the bonus hunting grounds that were once blocked by a translucent wall. The wall that had stopped him from accessing the place had completely disappeared and had now allowed him entry. As he stepped inside...

[You have entered the Abyss’s Bonus Hunting Grounds.]

[Your EXP Acquisition Rate is fifty times more than normal.]

[You can hunt the monsters of the Abyss inside the hunting grounds for three days.]

[There are a total of 18,413,013 monsters inside the bonus hunting grounds.]

[Once you have hunted all of the monsters, they will be regenerated after thirty minutes.]

‘Whispers, guild chats, and any other form of communications are restricted inside the Abyss, right?’

At that moment, a question popped into Minhyuk’s head.

‘Then, if I level up, will the rankings refresh?’

Minhyuk was the player with the highest level. Many of the players were watching his level. Even if it only increased by one, everyone would know right away.

‘Maybe not?’

The Abyss was a place that was completely cut off from the outside world. There was a high chance that even notifications that would commonly ring for creating special grade items would be blocked in this place.

[Abyss’s Ant. Level 803.]

A gigantic ant wrapped with swirling and surging streams of black energy appeared. Minhyuk only took around a minute to hunt the monster with his Supreme Blade engraved with the symbol of Destruction.

[You have gained 11,178,062 EXP.]

“Oh shit...” Minhyuk mumbled, astonishment evident on his face.

Normally, a single ordinary mob would only give around 600,000 EXP. The EXP that he obtained from dealing with a single ordinary mob here easily exceeded ten million.

‘If I do this well, then I might really be able to reach Level 800.’

Minhyuk saw the possibility of making it happen and the possibility of winning.

“Let’s go! Let’s win against Evil God Obren!!!”

Obren was not only a very close friend but also a rival. That was why he wanted to win against the man.

Minhyuk began using his skills inside the bonus hunting grounds.

[White sword lights with a number that corresponds to the number of people recognized as your enemies will be created.]

[A total of 18,413,013 white sword lights with 100% hit rate will be created!]

[You have used Calamity Slayer. Your level will drop by three per the conditions for use.]

White sword lights shot out from the blade of Minhyuk’s sword and fell upon the mobs inside the bonus hunting grounds.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up...]

He was able to recover the level that he lost as a penalty for the skill in just one breath. The best part was that there were still around half of the mobs that survived the attack, and were on the brink of death!

Just like that, Minhyuk lunged forward and began dealing with the monsters around him.

***

[You have leveled up.]

[You have hunted all of the monsters inside the Abyss’ Bonus Hunting Grounds.]

[There are thirty minutes left before the hunting grounds are regenerated.]

When the hunting grounds started the process of regeneration, Minhyuk stepped out briefly and went to where the Abyss’s ingredients were.

Minhyuk picked up the shine muscat that he had checked before.

(

Shine Muscat

)

Ingredient Grade

: Abyss’ A-grade

Special Abilities

:

•AGI +2

•STM +2

Description

: Because of the power of the Master of the Abyss, the shine muscat has become better and has increased in grade.

There were around 140 ingredients with similar effects spread out in front of him.

Minhyuk stared at the fruit in awe. Then, he plucked the shine muscat and ate a piece. Although it looked similar to grapes, it tasted and felt different than ordinary grapes. The shine muscat was slightly sweeter, with a lingering hint of sourness, and had a firmer texture. It was truly a delight! At that moment...

[You cannot eat more than ten Abyss’ Ingredients in a day.]

[If you eat more than ten in a day, you will only be able to experience their effects for one minute.]

[During that one minute, you will be able to exert as much power as was stated in the effects. However, once the duration is over, all effects will dissipate and disappear completely.]

[You can use the power of the extra ingredients that you have consumed whenever you want.]

[If you choose to use the power of the extra ingredients that you have consumed, the power will integrate together. Upon integration, the power that you can use will become ten times more powerful and extraordinary than the effects previously stated.]

“...?”

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

It was a very unexpected hurdle. Minhyuk had planned to make full use of the Abyss’ ingredients and the level-up that he would experience in the hunting grounds. He thought that the combination of the two would give him a shot at winning the Pillar Great War.

‘If this is the case, then...’

For now, Minhyuk intended to eat ten ingredients a day, then eat everything on the fourth day.

‘This one minute can be priceless and a great opportunity for me.’

Minhyuk ate ten ingredients right away. The ingredients had given him the following increase in stats: +11 in AGI, +15 in STR, +23 in STM, and +13 in WIS.

Once he finished eating, he headed back inside the hunting grounds.

It was now time for him to bomb his way up and level up!

***

Pillar Great War, D-Day.

The entire world was buzzing with excitement. The players of Athenae were all paying attention and had already tuned in to watch the event. The event would only last for two days, but everyone was excited and curious about it. After all, everyone wanted to know who was the strongest among the Pillars.

After the Athenae Olympics ended, the players had been wanting a festival of some sort where they could all watch together and cheer for someone. To them, this was the Pillar Great War.

Of course, many people were cheering for Supreme Minhyuk. Why? Well, the reason was simple. It was because Minhyuk was the only player among the Pillars. The more active the role he played in this war, the more room the players would have to play in when aiming for a higher position in Athenae.

[The first Pillar Great War is the Pillar Battle.]

[The Pillar Battle’s story revolves around the battle between the Pillar and 10,000 chosen players and the Pillar of the Battlefield.]

[You have to pass through a rugged and difficult process before you can reach and face off against the Pillar of the Battlefield. The monsters from Hell's Abyss will appear in large numbers and block your path.]

[After hunting the ordinary monsters from Hell’s Abyss, you will have to deal with the quasi-boss mobs. One of the higher-level monsters from the Abyss will be randomly summoned.]

[Your luck in drawing lots will play an important role too. If your randomly summoned monster is a quasi-boss monster, then it will exert a stronger force than ordinary quasi-boss monsters. It will try to restrict the Pillar and tie up their ankles for as long as it can.]

[As we speak, the Pillars’ waiting room is being created in the sky above us.]

Five thrones appeared in the sky above, the clouds parting to provide a clear view of the ground beneath them. As if on cue, the Evil God, Hephaestus, Louis, and Beladon appeared one after another.

Alas, Minhyuk’s throne was empty.

[Minhyuk hasn’t come yet, no?]

[It’s going to start soon.]

[I heard some rumors before. They said that Player Minhyuk has gone out to try and achieve Level 800 before the Pillar Great War.]

[I just checked and Minhyuk’s level is still at Level 790, the same level that he was four days ago.]

[To be honest, for someone who has already reached Level 790, it's very difficult to level up in just four days even if he focused on hunting.]

[Unless he constantly killed Named Monsters or cleared SSS-ranked quests, it will be very difficult for someone at that level to increase their level by just one in one month. What more if they relied solely on hunting?]

[But Minhyuk has expressed his intentions to participate. So, one way or another, he’ll appear when it’s his turn.]

[They're starting to draw lots!]

A small barrel fell from the sky. Then, a parchment carrying the order in which the Pillars would come out slowly emerged from inside.

[Number 1: Evil God Obren.]

[Number 2: Pillar of the Gourmands Minhyuk.]

[Number 3: The Maker Hephaestus.]

[Number 4: Master of Life and Death Louis.]

[Number 5: The Persistent Beladon.]

[The Evil God! The Evil God will be the first to compete!]

[That will definitely create a huge impact!]

[Evil God Obren is the strongest candidate in the Pillar Great War.]

[The second is Player Minhyuk.]

[It’s not that I’m very worried, but... why does he have to go right after the Evil God?]

[This is very unfortunate news for Player Minhyuk.]

[As we speak, Evil God Obren and the players are being summoned together on the field.]

Accompanied by Evil God Obren, the selected players who had reached Level 700 appeared on the screen broadcast worldwide.

At that moment, the selected players had heard the notification about receiving two level-ups as a reward if the Pillar that they were following won. For these players, they believed that it was an easy win. After all, the Evil God was an existence that could win even if he were alone. While everyone was waiting for the Evil God’s orders after listening to the notifications...

[So annoying.]

“...?”

“...?”

All of the players standing behind Obren turned into light and disappeared. Evil God Obren had swept them all away. Thankfully, they weren’t disqualified from participating and would still receive rewards and compensation even after their death.

[It’s not as if you will become stronger just because you’ll fight in numbers.]

Evil God Obren’s words left the entire world in a frenzy. Then, the camera zoomed in on Obren as he moved forward.

Finally, a huge bridge appeared in sight.

[If things went as planned, a fierce battle would have unfolded on this gigantic bridge between the selected players and the tens of thousands of monsters summoned from the Abyss.]

[The players will fight against them while relying on the power of the Pillar that they are following, while the Pillar will stand at the forefront and wipe out the enemies alongside them.]

[But the Evil God had sent all the players away. So, this means that he will have to deal with all of these monsters by himself.]

[Even if he is the Evil God, he will definitely take a lot of time to deal with these monsters. Especially because he’s alone.]

[And you can’t even use the Pillar’s Disaster in the Pillar Great War. So, it won’t be easy...]

Evil God Obren approached the roaring Level 800 monsters that had been summoned on the bridge. When one of the monsters discovered Obren and tried to lunge at him, Obren just stood there. He even swept his hair up as if he found this situation annoying and just glared coldly at the monster.

[Get lost.]

“

Ki... kihyeeeeeeeeck!

”

The monster that was running toward Obren stopped in its tracks. The monster averted its gaze and looked around as if it were trying to find a way to get away from Obren somehow. Then, in a blink, the monster jumped over the bridge.

[...?]

[Wh... what just happened...? Did... did you see that...?]

Obren just continued to walk across the bridge.

“Kihyeeeeeeck!”

“Keuhaaaaaaack!”

“Graaaaaaaaa!”

A scene akin to Moses’ miraculous feat of splitting the sea appeared as the monsters jumped off the bridge to get away from Obren.

[So f*cking awesome.]

Obren did not even raise a single finger.