Minhyuk was not answering but Lucia knew it well.
'Yeah, I definitely got it right.'
When she thought back to their journey together, she could remember him jumping in joy when she gave him ramyeon. But she was sure that he was pretending to be indifferent and apathetic towards her as if all his attention was just for the ramyeon. He was acting friendly with her on that pretext.
The moment he stood there trembling as he blocked her from harm, Lucia thought that her hunch was definitely right.
"Don't be so reckless! Don't sacrifice yourself just so you could protect me!"
She cried out to him.
Minhyuk was blocking the Minotaurus in front of him. His attention was solely focused on the Minotaurus and the abundant black light shining out of its body.
The black light only meant one thing…
It can be eaten!
And it didn't end there.
Unlike when he fought with the Sweet Potato Warrior, he could now see the different ingredients and materials that he could get from it the moment he laid his eyes on the Minotaurus. The effect of the skill Eccentric Meal was quite evident.
He licked his lips in anticipation as he pictured himself eating such a fancy meal.
'I'm going to put the fire in. It's hot.'
The waiter ahjussi brought the fiery charcoal embers from the back of the restaurant. Then he would place a square-shaped grilling pan on top of the griller. Minhyuk would then grab his tongs and pick up the beef and its bones, he would also pick up some seasoned ribs and place it over the grill.
Siiiiiiizzle!
Ah, such an irresistible sound. It's a very fascinating sound!
Once the meat was cooked well then he would flip it once. Really, just once! Then he would cut the meat into pieces.
Then he would pick up one seasoned rib and one beef and place some pickled onion on top of them. Each person could only get one beef and one rib!
He would then wrap the meat and the pickled onion in a lettuce leaf and place it in his mouth.
"Chew, chew."
The sour taste of the pickled onions and the savory flavor of the well-seasoned ribs would spread out in his mouth.
The well-seasoned ribs that had been marinated for quite a long time by the owner felt like it was melting in his mouth. The more one chewed on the beef, the more savory the flavor and the more tender the meat becomes.
Then he would gulp on the iced cola that had been poured earlier on a glass.
"Gulp, gulp."
There would definitely be a huge reaction in his mouth. The refreshing flavor of the iced cola would surely wash away the greasy taste of the beef.
There were a lot of different dishes that could use beef.
Rib eye steak, bulgogi hotpot, braised beef in soy sauce with quail eggs, beef and radish soup, beef and seaweed soup and spicy beef stew.
The recipes and dishes were endless. Minhyuk's body trembled in excitement.
My whole body is shaking at the thought of eating this delicious guy!
"Are you trying to protect me?!"
Lucia, who was behind him, mumbled something but he couldn't hear her properly.
His attention was solely focused on one guy, and one guy alone…
It was on the Minotaurus.
"I'm going to eat it. Well-seasoned beef ribs…"
Cleeench—
He gripped Ellie's Sword with all his might.
[The Battlefield's Ruler.]
[+10 increase in all 5 of your basic stats and a 10% increase in your critical hit damage.]
[Bardy Swordsmanship]
[All 5 basic stats have a +20 increase for 10 minutes.]
[Haste]
[Your movement speed and attack speed have increased by 1.3 times for 10 seconds.]
"Eumoooooo!"
After activating the skills that he wanted, he dashed off to meet the Minotaurus that was rushing towards him head on.
"Uwooooooo!"
Daaaaash!
Lucia's eyes widened in shock.
'H, he's fast!'
She was quite astonished with his speed. It was after all a speed that was hard to follow with one's own eyes.
The Minotaurus hacked down at Minhyuk with his axe.
Vwoooooom!
The Minotaurus' axe ripped through the air but Minhyuk successfully blocked its way.
Claaaaaaang!
"…I, Impossible!"
Lucia could hear shouts from behind.
"D, did you see that?!"
"Wow. Real X... isn't that the user who was doing a mukbang earlier!"
"He stopped the Minotaurus with his sword...? That Lv140 monster...?"
The users who stopped to watch the fight between Lucia and the Minotaurus earlier were now in shock.
Then…
Claaaang!
Minhyuk forcefully slammed the Minotaurus' axe away.
"Eumoo?"
The Minotaurus, who was now pushed away with his strength, swung its fists in retaliation.
Fwoooosh!
Swoooosh!
Despite the monster's quick punches, Minhyuk was able to easily dodge its strikes.
[Vital Strike]
[Additional 28% attack power if attack is successful.]
When he found a gap from its strikes, Minhyuk stabbed its vital point on its thigh.
Staaaaab!
The sword lodged precisely on the vital point on its thigh. He tried to pull it out but it wouldn't come out no matter how hard he tugged on it.
"Eumooooooo!"
The monster shrieked loudly. Its body shook wildly as it swung its fists in a frenzy.
Minhyuk, who was tugging at his sword, took a moment from what he was doing. He then created some distance between him and the Minotaurus.
At that moment…
The Minotaurus' axe was suddenly bathed in red light. It was going to use its skill. The Minotaurus struck down on the ground with great strength.
The moment the axe struck, cracks appeared within a 10m radius as the ground started to undulate.
[Earth Quaker!]
[A violent earthquake is triggered within a 10m radius.]
However, instead of leaving the radius of the skill, Minhyuk continued to burrow deeper in the range of the Earth Quaker.
Lucia's eyes widened in trepidation.
The moment he gets caught in one of the cracks… He will definitely be stuck and the ground will devour him.
However, the moment Minhyuk entered the range of the Earth Quaker, the ring on his hands glowed a bright red light.
[Absorption.]
[You have a 50% chance of success or failure.]
[Earth Quaker is successfully absorbed.]
[You can use the absorbed skill once within 10 minutes.]
Fwoooosh!
The Earth Quaker that the Minotaurus activated suddenly stopped working and the undulating ground went back to its normal condition.
Minhyuk quickly pulled out his sword that was stuck in the Minotaurus' thigh.
"Eumooooo!"
It cried loudly.
Minhyuk took one, two, three steps back. After creating some distance, he gripped the handle of his sword tightly with both of his hands as he pointed it towards the ground. Then, he stabbed the sword towards the ground with great strength.
Staaaab!
[Earth Quaker!]
[A violent earthquake is triggered within a 10m radius.]
Ruuumble!
The ground began to shake wildly. When the Minotaurus saw the ground shaking violently, its face twisted in rage and was suddenly plunged in a frenzy.
"Ugh, eumoooooooo!"
It was a very sudden turn of events. With the violent earthquake still ongoing, the Minotaurus lost its balance and got one of its legs trapped in a crack between the ground.
Ruuumble!
The ground gobbled up the Minotaurus' leg and its body started to get damage from the shaking of the ground.
Not wanting to miss any opportunities, Minhyuk stepped on the rising ground and shot off towards the trapped Minotaurus.
It hurriedly lifted its axe to fend off Minhyuk, but Minhyuk was one step faster.
Slaaash!
Minhyuk successfully slashed at the monster's chest. He then quickly moved to the back of the Minotaurus for another attack.
[Dauntless Strike]
[Your strike will have an additional 20% attack power.]
The sword was filled with power.
"Eumooooooo!"
The Minotaurus who sensed the danger, cried loudly.
Then, Minhyuk whispered quietly to the monster…
"You look so yummy."
"Eu, eumoo?"
The Minotaurus' tongue shrank back in fear when it heard Minhyuk's words.
"Eu, eumoooooooo!"
Strangely enough, the Minotaurus' scream sounded like it was screaming 'S, save me!!'.
At that moment, Minhyuk slashed with his sword and successfully cut off the head of the Minotaurus.
Slaaaaash!
[You have successfully hunted the Minotaurus.]
[You have gained 40 reputation points.]
[You have acquired 1 achievement point.]
[You have acquired 120 tournament points.]
Another notification rang in Minhyuk's head.
[There are 30 seconds left until the end of the tournament.]
Minhyuk was in a flurry. He quickly reached out his hands to touch the body of the Minotaurus.
"Ingredients Acquisition."
After he finished getting all of the ingredients he also picked up the artifacts that dropped quickly. He decided to first gather everything since he had no time to check on the things that he got.
Then, a string of notifications rang loudly.
[The tournament is finally over.]
[The scores will be combined and announced shortly.]
[According to the combined scores: 1st – Minhyuk, 2nd – Lucia, 3rd – Wrath, 4th – .... redacted.]
[All surviving users in Cork Island will be warped to Eivelis Empire.]
Shiiiine!
Minhyuk was suddenly wrapped in a bright light.
[According to the combined scores: 1st – Minhyuk]
"Waaaaaaaaaah!"
"Uwoooooooooo!"
Cheers erupted out in the stands.
The audience were also warped to join the awarding ceremony in the ceremonial hall, and the fact that they were sitting did not change at all after the warp.
Inside the Imperial Palace, hundreds of knights wearing capes on their wide shoulders and the swords on their waist were surrounding the users. Their capes were embroidered with the Phoenix, the guardian of the Eivelis Empire.
"D, did you see…?"
"Yes... I saw."
Go Eun-ah looked at her hoobae's eyes.
Amazing.
The video taken for the tournament today would definitely cause a commotion. The video might also spread around the world and create a bigger uproar.
Then… The male reporter shouted…
"S, sunbae! The 1st on the real time search right now is pro mukbanger! And the 2nd is Minotaurus' necklace!"
"Wow, the viewers might have seen him pick it up back then."
No information has ever been released about this Minotaurus' necklace at all. No, in fact, there isn't any information about this necklace dropping from a Minotaurus.
That only meant one thing…
The necklace that the man picked up was something extremely valuable.
"Hiyaaa… Is it something really expensive?"
"But didn't you see it?"
"...What?"
"That user, he looked very disappointed when he picked up the artifact."
"Eyyy, impossible."
"No, it's real. But why did that user place the Minotaurus in his inventory?"
"Ah, maybe he's trying to dismantle the Minotaurus and sell it?"
"Is that so…"
The two of them nodded their heads as they thought about something.
'That guy was so disappointed even if he got the best artifact drop from the Minotaurus, who the hell is he?'
Go Eun-ah gathered her attention and focused towards the front.
1st place.
Perhaps the reason why User Minhyuk surpassed Lucia's score was because he successfully hunted the Minotaurus. In fact, the Minotaurus was a monster that was totally impossible to hunt at their level so no one would complain about this result.
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Me too. What are you going to ask in the interview? That user must be very happy right now, right? Since he won 1st place. I think that user wanted to be famous since he was secretly filming a mukbang broadcast and he even fought with the Bacallo guild."
"Yeah, so what should I ask? Maybe… are you sure that you're not a user that the Legend Guild has secretly fostered?"
Everyone was interested in what that person would say.
What kind of person is he?
Then, the man wearing a white mask came in Go Eun-ah's view.
"Doesn't he look like he's in a hurry?"
"Yeah. He looks like he wants to go to the bathroom..."
He was fidgeting as he talked to Jan about something. Since it was before the awards ceremony, the microphone was still turned off and no one could hear what they were saying.
"Ah, what are they talking about."
"I'm dying in curiosity…"
The rest of the audience shared the same sentiment.
Then, they saw the masked man's expression suddenly turn solemn.
"That person's very kind, what's wrong with him?"
"That's true."
Soon after, they saw the administrators and the tournament officials flock towards the man. They had a very serious conversation. Then the rest of the people sighed as the man wearing the white mask flashed in a blinding light and disappeared. They could see a bright smile painted on the face of the disappearing man.
"Huh? Huuuuuuuuuh!"
"Huuuuuh?!"
"What the hell, where did he go?!"
"Heok?!"
It wasn't only Go Eun-ah, even the rest of the people sitting on the stands were looking at them suspiciously.
Why did you leave before the ceremony started?
The surprise still did not end there.
[The Sword Emperor, Ellie, will be attending the ceremony.]
Go Eun-ah was very surprised. According to the reports that they have received, Ellie was not supposed to be participating in the ceremony. But right now, it was announced that she was participating.
The meaning was quite obvious.
'Even the Empress is interested in that user?'
Then another thought came through her mind.
'But where the hell did he go when something important was going to happen?'