Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 1210

[You have succeeded in feeding the other party the first meal.]

[You have acquired the reward that Fabro has hidden.]

[Your Sword Mastery has increased by 1 level.]

Minhyuk was surprised at the reward that Fabro had hidden.

Usually, players would no longer be able to increase their Sword Mastery beyond Level 9. Of course, Minhyuk had a much higher Sword Mastery than ordinary players, thanks to the unique power of the Sword of Aeon. However, because of that, he could no longer increase his Sword Mastery further.

Obtaining a reward like this was a massive boost to his power. It was indeed a big surprise.

[The first dream has ended.]

[You can enter the dream again whenever you want to.]

Minhyuk opened his eyes to the familiar sight of his office. It would have been great if he could finish all the dreams one after the other. However, it was too heavy for Minhyuk’s heart. He could not do it like that and had to take it slow.

‘It’s much better this way.’

Minhyuk went outside and walked. He did not look for Grandpa Ben and did not intend to say that the sweet dream the old man had experienced was all because of him.

Even so, he still crossed paths with Ben, who looked very happy, as if he had experienced something delightful.

“Hohoho. Your Majesty, I’m in a very great mood today!”

Ben was holding some Benz Beans in his hands.

“Why? Did you have a good dream today?”

Ben smiled, relief evident on his face. “Yes. I had a very, very good dream.”

Minhyuk and Ben soon went their separate ways. Not long after, he met with Haze. When he saw Haze, she immediately told him, “Your Majesty. Lord Hephaestus has a girlfriend.”

“Eh? When did Hephaestus wake up?”

“Yesterday.”

“...?” Minhyuk looked at Haze in confusion.

“He asked to meet with you, Your Majesty. He said that he has something important to tell you.”

The still-confused Minhyuk nodded. He could not help but ask himself, ‘What happened while I was sleeping?’

***

After the battle with the Weapon Master’s Clone, Hephaestus was not only left incapacitated but also in a soul-crushing pain.

Hephaestus struggled to lift his eyelids. When he finally opened his eyes, he was met with an unknown woman holding his hands tightly while nodding off in her seat. Hephaestus was left extremely flustered because this was his first time holding a woman’s hands in his life. Even more shocking, the woman holding his hands was a beauty!

“Ah…”

Nod, nod–

The woman was nodding off sleepily and slowly awakening from her fitful slumber. Hephaestus hurriedly pulled out his hands when he made eye contact with her. As if on cue, his face suddenly turned as red as a beet.

“I-I’m sorry… I wasn’t holding your hands. When I woke up, you’re…”

“That’s right. I was holding your hands,” the woman, Bangrè, said.

Bangrè had nursed Hephaestus. She had heard a lot of stories about this man. The first story she heard about this man was quite sad. He was a man who was abandoned, ignored, and mocked just because he was born with an appearance that was far more lacking than the others. He also fought desperately against the Weapon Master’s Clone to save everyone in the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

The pain, sadness, and loneliness the man must have felt washed over Bangrè. Bangrè could not help but think of him. Before she knew it, she was already holding his calloused, short hands.

“Why are you holding…”

“Oh my!” Bangrè looked both ashamed and embarrassed as she hastily released her hold on Hephaestus’ hands.

Now, the two had red faces. Only when a commotion broke out outside could they come to their senses.

“What’s going on?”

“The people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire are gathering together to meet you,” Bangrè said softly, her joy evident. It was as if she was the one who made the achievement instead of Hephaestus.

Hephaestus was now a hero of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“You now have the love of the people. So, you should let go of your past.” Bangrè smiled awkwardly.

Bangrè knew her status well. She was just an ordinary commoner, not well-off in life. On the other hand, Hephaestus was a god. Many people in the Beyond the Heavens Empire loved and admired him. Although she felt something, she knew her place well. So, with a bitter smile, she tried to step back.

It was different for Hephaestus. This was the first time someone was genuinely happy for him for making an achievement. Yet the face of the woman who shared his joy was bitter as she turned around. She looked as if Hephaestus was beyond her reach.

Hephaestus had never felt this way before. He was not good at dating and had never even had a decent conversation with a woman.

“I want to have one daughter and one son!” He suddenly blurted out.

“???”

Embarrassed, Hephaestus pressed on the only way he knew how, “What about you?”

“...So suddenly?”

Honestly, Hephaestus did not know what he was talking about. After all, he had been single for no less than 2,135 years.

‘Ah. What am I supposed to say?’

The only thing that Hephaestus knew was that he had to hold on to her. So, he said, “Ah-aaaaah… There’s no time for this. Since you nursed me to health, you are now my benefactor. Come on, let’s go out. At the very least, let me treat you to a meal.”

“Your body is still not healed…”

“No. I must treat you to a meal!” Hephaestus declared as he hurriedly prepared to go out.

Whenever Hephaestus had done his work as a blacksmith, he would treat himself to a delicious meal. Thus, he wanted to treat this woman to such a meal. The place where the two were headed was a gukbap restaurant.

“Having a bowl of warm gukbap is really nice. It makes you feel full. How is it? Did the bowl of warm gukbap make you feel full?!”

Hephaestus, who knew little about women, was clumsy in his approach. Because of his sense of urgency, he even ate two bowls of gukbap.

Why was he feeling a sense of urgency? What if the feelings of this woman, who seemed to like him, suddenly cooled down because he was ugly? The thought alone left him flustered and nervous.

Hephaestus said, “About the daughter and son I talked about earlier. I want our son to be…”

Hephaestus began to ramble.

“Ah! Why don’t we stay together today?”

Bangrè, who listened to his words, said, “Uhm…”

“Ah. Was I too rude? Then, would you like to go somewhere else with me and have a drink? I don’t think I’m good with alcohol…”

“You see…”

“Hu– huhahahahahaha! In my smithy…!”

“Hephaestus!” Bangrè almost screamed.

Then, Hephaestus saw how Bangrè’s face had already turned a deep shade of red. At this moment, Hephaestus realized that he had made many mistakes. He kept on mentioning things that he thought were nice but were things that could leave her feeling ashamed.

“Did you even hear me?”

The biggest problem was he interrupted her whenever she tried to say something.

“You’re telling me your story because you want us to get closer. Why do you just keep on talking about yourself? Why don’t you listen to me?”

The desperate Hephaestus kept on blabbering and only told his own story.

“I understand that you’re nervous and still clumsy, but…”

Bangrè understood. When she saw how this man ate two bowls in the gukbap restaurant he took her to, she realized he was clumsy and nervous. She understood that the words that he uttered were because of his nervousness. Alas, what made her angry was that he was the only one who kept speaking. He did not even let her tell her own story.

“I’m going home,” Bangrè said as she stood up and left.

Hephaestus was left in a daze. Then, he realized what he had done.

‘What have I done…’

He began to think back on what she said. Between his loud and boisterous words, she tried to tell him a little about herself. Yet every time she tried to talk about her, he would interrupt her and tell her about his own story.

Hephaestus cried as he mumbled, ‘To someone like me…’ Then, he kept on shaking his head. He did not want to miss his chance with her. And as he thought back to her interrupted words, he recalled something.

–When I was young, the biggest cherry blossom tree stood before our house. Whenever the cherry blossoms bloomed, I would feel delighted. But the cherry blossom tree was cut down. It was taken down to make weapons for war.

A shine appeared in Hephaestus’ eyes. He began to scour the entire empire for cherry blossom trees. He wanted to use it to win her heart. However, although cherry blossom trees existed, they were no longer in bloom.

“You want a blooming cherry blossom tree? In winter? Impossible.”

“The last of their petals have already fallen long ago.”

“No cherry blossom will bloom in the trees in this kind of weather.”

Hephaestus went all the way and even went to find Haze. Regardless, the results were the same.

“Lord Hephaestus, even if you exchange them with your artifacts, the cherry blossom trees will not flower and bloom in this weather.”

Hephaestus was extremely frustrated. He wanted to win Bangrè’s heart and make her change her mind about him.

‘Are we not meant to be?’

Suddenly, Hephaestus recalled the words that she said to him before.

–Have confidence in yourself, Hephaestus. You’re a fantastic blacksmith.

Finally, Hephaestus made a decision. He immediately went somewhere.

***

Bangrè woke up early in the morning. She had been angry with Hephaestus yesterday and was very worried about how she would go to work today.

Yes, she liked Hephaestus. It was not because he was an excellent blacksmith and a great god. Instead, she liked him because of his pure heart and his clumsy way of making himself more appealing in her eyes. And because of his clumsiness, he made far too many mistakes. Some of these mistakes were something that Bangrè could not understand.

At this moment, Bangrè felt that something was off. When she was young, she would often see shadows being cast on her room through her windows. The shadows were cast by the biggest cherry blossom tree she had ever seen. Unfortunately, that cherry blossom tree had disappeared. And ever since then, the sun would always wrap around her and her house.

For some strange reason, she could see shadows in her room. Confused, Bangrè went outside. Outside was a cherry blossom tree that was much bigger and majestic than the one that used to stand in front of her house. It was even blooming beautifully despite the cold and harsh wind of the winter.

Then, she saw Hephaestus, who seemed to have just finished tinkering with something.

“Ugh… I overexerted myself…” Hephaestus groaned. He was still injured and was still not doing well.

Hephaestus slowly climbed down from the tree. As he climbed down, he made eye contact with Bangrè. He smiled awkwardly at her and said, “This is the only thing I’m good at…” He paused. “I don’t know how to speak well. I don’t know a thing about women. And I am not cool or handsome. But…”

“...”

“Just like this cherry blossom tree that will be in full bloom regardless of the season, I promise I will never change.”

Hephaestus felt too embarrassed to say these words. He believed that words like these would only work if handsome or beautiful people told them.

“Is it ugly?”

Surprisingly enough, the flowers of the artificial cherry blossom tree could fall. Standing among the falling petals of the forever-blooming cherry blossom tree, Hephaestus looked like the most handsome and remarkable man in the world. This was how Bangrè saw him.

Bangrè ran into Hephaestus’ embrace, who smiled happily as they shared their warmth. And Bangrè? She could not express the uncontrollable feelings that were bubbling in her. She immediately dragged Hephaestus into her house and began to kiss him.

“Is this what you call tongue?”

“...J-just shut up!”

Hephaestus’ mouth, which kept talking nonsense, was immediately covered with Bangrè’s.

“No, why are you… my clothes… H-hey?!” His voice rang out, one of shock.

“Take it off,” came Bangrè’s reply.

“Yes… wait, no. Aren’t you going to work?”

“You’re too noisy!”

Finally, Hephaestus could utter the cool and wonderful lines the other gods usually uttered in times like this.

“Oh! My lovely skylark! Oh! Oh! Oh!”

“...”

Anyway, the two shared a hot time.

***

Minhyuk was genuinely happy for his friend. Hephaestus finally got a girlfriend! Of course, he believed it was natural for his friend to snag a girlfriend. Even so, Minhyuk was still confused about why Hephaestus asked for an audience.

Not long after, Hephaestus came in with a gorgeous woman. The two, who came in, were holding each other’s hands tightly.

Then, Hephaestus said, “Minhyuk, I have something very important to say.”

Minhyuk had already heard from Haze that the two were in a relationship, which only took one day.

“We’re getting married. This woman is pregnant… no, she will be pregnant.”

‘Eh?’ Minhyuk couldn’t believe his ears.

“Please help us pick names.”

‘Huh?’ He was barely registering what Hephaestus said.

“I want to have two, but she wants to have three. So, please pick the names for all three children.”

“Then… Saber, Lance, and Axe?”

“We already chose our matrimonial house.”

‘Huh…?’

“Ah. I already greeted Bangrè’s parents too.”

‘Eeeeeh..?’

“So, congratulate us.”

“...”

The speed they were going was not on 5G but 10G. Anyway, Minhyuk was okay with that as long as the two of them were happy.

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