Chapter 17: Proposal

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

Others would have been reluctant since it has low experience and item drops. That’s why that place has plenty of mobs roaming around.

However, if you would compare it based on time efficiency then that place could be considered to be the better choice.

There were plenty of mobs and if you were supported by enough skills then you would definitely level up fast.

Besides, what better opponent than those that are higher than yourself, right?

She has arrived at the chestnut demon’s hunting grounds.

Swish!

“Kuek!”

Chestnut demons were quite stronger compared to their level.

But it was no match for her who was labeled as the top one GodCon [1].

Slaaash!

She quickly hunted for chestnut demons and shot to level 4 in an instant.

‘Too easy.’

As soon as she had that thought…

A huge chestnut came out of an overgrown bush.

The chestnut had its thorny skin peeled off with its fleshy kernel showing. To be exact, that was what’s on the monster’s head when its body started to rise up.

She soon saw it completely…

It was a chestnut demon that was three times bigger than normal but still a bit smaller than an orc.

“Chestnut demon king?”

Her forehead creased as she looked down at her weapon.

‘A wooden sword…’

Can I even use this wooden sword to defeat a Lv15 chestnut demon king?

Should I run away?

No, that’s an 11 level gap, it would be good if I could challenge it with just a wooden sword. It’s the easiest way for me to develop.

With that thought in mind, she rushed straight at the monster.

Slam!

“Kuhack!”

Her wooden sword struck at its neck.

The monster swayed for a bit then swung its arms at her fiercely. The two started to battle continuously.

This was definitely the Light Knight of the past, Armin.

She quickly narrowed their distance and pressed on it.

Slash!

Slam!

Every time she strikes it with her wooden sword, thorns would rain down on her.

‘How can its HP be this high!’

As she thought of that, the chestnut demon king narrowed their distance.

Slam!

Its arms striked past her body.

Bang, bang, bang!

Sharp thorns rained down on her and penetrated her body.

“Kyaaa!”

She let out a small scream as the chestnut demon king approached her.

[Your HP is less than 20%]

“……Damn it.”

Her HP level fell in just one shot. It would definitely not be too much if it was a party of level 4s.

At that moment…

A man suddenly appeared out of the thickets. The man’s eyes widened when he caught sight of the huge chestnut hanging on top of the head of the chestnut demon king.

“It, it’s the great king of chestnuts…!”

‘What’s with this person.’

“It’s a huge chestnut! Have I ever seen a chestnut this big?! Woow! It’s very fleshy, it must be hard to roast. Wow! Wow! Wow!”

He kept on nodding as he shouted in joy.

“Are you going to help me or not!”

“……If I help you will I be able to get that chestnut?”

Armin had seen those bright eyes before.

‘These are the eyes that you see when someone gets at least an Epic item.’

Those eyes were shining brightly when he saw the chestnut on top of the chestnut demon king.

“You can have it, what’s your level?”

She was dragging herself away from the approaching chestnut demon king.

“It’s 7.”

“Crazy…”

She breathed a sigh in defeat.

The chestnut would definitely kill her and that crazy person(?) in a set.

“I can have it? Don’t do anything like steal it, huh.”

“How can a level 7 like you face the chestnut demon king……!”

[Bardy Swordsmanship]

[All 5 basic stats have a +9 increase for 5 minutes.]

Rustle, rustle—

He pulled Valan out.

Dash!

Minhyuk quickly narrowed the distance between him and the monster.

‘Fa, he’s fast…!’

He’s level 7?

That speed does not make sense.

It wasn’t just that…

He penetrated the sides of the chestnut demon king at a high speed.

‘He looks like a player who has trained for quite a long time…!’

As she thought of this…

Slaaaaaash!

[Dauntless Strike]

[Your strike will have an additional 20% attack power.]

“Kuuaaaaaaaaack!”

As the chestnut demon king shrieked, its thorns flew up in the air.

Fwooom!

The arms of the chestnut demon king moved to catch the fleeting man.

At that exact moment, Minhyuk’s eyes shone brightly.

[Vital Strike]

[Additional 17% attack power if attack is successful.]

Minhyuk saw all three of the vital points of the chestnut demon king.

The + effect wouldn’t be activated if he does not stab one of these three spots.

Minhyuk accurately thrusted his sword towards one of the vital points, the bottom of the stomach, of the chestnut demon king.

[Your attack has an additional 17% attack power.]

Creeaaak!

“Kuaaack!”

‘It’s accurate… Like a person who has striked a thousand, no, ten thousand times…’

How many years of kendo did he do to get to that point?

At that moment…

The chestnut demon king slowly, very slowly collapsed.

Thuuud!

Minhyuk striked the head of the chestnut demon king.

Slash!

Then…

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

“Oooooooooh! I gained a chestnut that’s as big as my head!”

He held the chestnut, which was from the head of the chestnut demon king, up in the sky as he shouted with joy.

Minhyuk felt happy. He was in a very good mood.

This was because he unexpectedly got a big chestnut.

“Nim, nim, do you know of an acrostic poem for Babamba [2]?”

She looked at him blankly.

“Babamba, I’m chestnut flavored, Babamba [3]!”

“……”

“Do you know about the Jaws Bar [4] one?”

“……”

“Jaws Bar, I pulled it out with a swoosh, Babamba! [5]”

‘He’s definitely a crazy person…!’

She sighed.

Minhyuk went on his own way as he held his chestnut and hummed happily.

“You should take the items. A good one came out.”

Armin said it first.

In fact, their situation was extremely vague and ambiguous that it would definitely create plenty of trouble between users.

But for her, it was just a mountain of artifacts.

“The items? It’s already very kind of you to give me the chestnut…!”

‘Someone who heard us might think that it’s an epic item.’

“I don’t have any use for it anyway.”

“Yes!”

Minhyuk did not refuse anymore and took the items.

[You have acquired the Chestnut Demon King’s Polished Thorn.]

[You have acquired the Chestnut Demon King’s Necklace.]

[You have acquired 26,431 gold.]

Come to think of it, I think I might have heard that I leveled up twice.

I’m Lv9 now.

He could now leave this place after getting another level.

Minhyuk first checked the Chestnut Demon King’s necklace.

(Chestnut Demon King’s Necklace)

Class: Rare

Durability: 1,000/1,000

Defensive Power: 40

Special Abilities:

>STM+4

>Defense against chestnut demon’s thorns +100

Description: The probability of this dropping after hunting the Chestnut Demon King is very rare.

It was a rare-class item. When hunting for chestnut demons, the defensive power will increase by 100, in addition, there was a +4 in STM which was equivalent to having an increase of 40 in one’s defensive power.

The reason why the defensive power of the necklace was lower than an armor was because it was an accessory-type artifact.

These types of artifacts tend to have a lower defensive power. However, what was worth betting on were the special abilities attached to the item.

He then checked the chestnut demon king’s polished thorn.

(Chestnut Demon King’s Polished Thorn)

Material Grade: D

Special Abilities: Additional attack power when making weapons.

Description: The Chestnut Demon King’s polished thorn. Can be used as a quest item or can be sold in stores.

“Nice, nice.”

Minhyuk disappeared into the thickets with a satisfied look.

Armin struggled to get up to look at where he disappeared to. She then leaned her back against a nearby tree.

“Beginner Recovery.”

[Beginner Recovery is activated for users below Lv10.]

There were plenty of convenient welfare systems for users below Lv10.

In this case, once the user took a rest their HP could recover by itself.

After pulling out the thorns from her body and throwing it away, Armin could see light seeping through her wounds as it slowly recovered.

‘That user, how can he be that strong?’

She had some doubts.

Did he get a legendary class at that level?

‘No, his skills were a bit ordinary to be that. But his skills and artifact doesn’t make sense for his low level?’

She then thought of another matter.

‘No matter how good his artifact is, his movements are still too good to be true.’

Armin has seen plenty of real-life sports athletes among the rankers. Control was, after all, very important in Athenae as it was a virtual reality game.

And Minhyuk’s skills were very similar to that of those in the rankings.

‘Sigh… I don’t know anymore.’

She leaned her head comfortably against the tree. With the sole exception of the chestnut demon king, everyone in here would not attack first.

As she relaxed herself and took a break, for a moment, she unknowingly fell asleep. When she opened her eyes again, she realized that an hour had already passed.

Before she knew it, her recovery was already finished.

‘If I were more skilled, I could have taken down the chestnut demon king… I’ve really relied too much on magic…’

She bit her lips as she blamed and rebuked herself.

This could be a reason for Armin to grow and develop.

At that moment…

Zoooom—

Zoooom—

She sported a curious look. This was clearly the sound of a weapon cutting through the air.

She moved to take a look. As she went past the bushes, she saw the user from before swinging his sword.

‘…Is he training?’

She looked quite surprised.

‘Who will train without someone telling them to do it?’

She felt as if she had been struck dumb. The user was full of sweat as he swung his sword diligently.

‘He should know that what he’s doing is inefficient…’

Ordinary training, except for attacking the scarecrows, would not yield to any increase in the stats.

Of course, if one repeatedly trained their swordsmanship then they would be skilled at it however before reaching Lv10 it was a much better use of one’s time to just hunt monsters and use the skill points gained to increase the skill.

‘So why… d, don’t tell me…!’

She felt like she had finally understood it.

‘Did he develop himself through repetitive training? He’s fine with it even if his stats don’t go up?!’

She had no choice but to think this way.

Training continuously would eventually help a user improve even if the stats did not increase.

‘Aaaah…’

She bit her lips.

A high-level [6] person like me has lost my initial intentions.

In the past, she used to repeatedly use her magic just so she could improve her skills.

Right now, that user was in the middle of a rigorous training.

Armin hid herself as she watched him silently.

After he finished exercising, Minhyuk said to himself as he tried to catch his breath.

“Hoo…… In real life I have to exercise for 5 hours before taking a break.”

‘He… he has to exercise for 5 hours in real life?!’

She was very shocked.

Who the hell is that user?

‘As expected, strength is not something you can have in a snap…!’

Having a higher level doesn’t mean that one is perfect.

To each their own, even a low leveled person has something that she could learn from.

She saw Minhyuk starting to prepare something again. He took out a burner, a pot, and one bottled water. In addition, he pulled out a chicken from his inventory.

‘Huh?’

She tilted her head in confusion.

“Huhu… Spicy braised chicken with chestnut!”

The harmony created when the sweet and potato-like texture of the chestnuts meets with the spicy taste of the spicy braised chicken…

Minhyuk started making spicy braised chicken with chestnut on the spot. As soon as he finished cooking five chickens he began to chomp on it with a happy smile.

The smell floated towards her nose.

‘It, it smells delicious…’

Drool!

She unknowingly wiped her drool away.

What did I eat in real life today?

A handful of cherry tomatoes, a salad and a detox drink too.

‘Wow, he really eats deliciously. Wow, no, no how can you eat that in one bite!’

She was very surprised.

And when there were only two chickens left…

‘How can he eat this deliciously?’

Her body moved unconsciously.

She really did it unconsciously.

“He, hey…!”

She came out of the bushes then said…

“Ca, can I have one bite?!”

“…?”

***

Minhyuk looked very puzzled when he saw the female user who came out of the bushes just a few minutes ago.

“Ca, can I have one bite?!”

Minhyuk was conflicted with her words.

‘Kgghk, there’s only two left, if I put eight bowls of rice in here then it would barely be enough.’

However, she willingly allowed him and gave him the big chestnut.

That’s not all.

She also did not hesitate to give him the items.

“I understand. Then just a bit…”

“Thank you!”

She quickly sat in front of Minhyuk then picked up a big chicken leg.

Then…

“Waoooow, chomp!”

She ripped off a big piece.

‘De, delicious…!’

The dish was well-seasoned that the sweetness of the chestnut penetrates the soup well. The chicken was cooked well and was very tender and not tough at all.

Chew, chew—

She ripped another big piece off and started eating without restraint.

She then told Minhyuk…

“I know now.”

“What?”

“How you’re so strong compared to other users. Didn’t you train repeatedly every day? I want to be strong too.”

“……?”

***

Footnotes

[1] 신컨 : 신 (Shin, lit. God) + 컨트롤 (control) lit means control that have reached god level.

[2] 바밤바: (babamba) a chestnut ice cream in KR (thanks thursdays mwah~) ; acrostic poems are poems wherein the first letter of each line spells out a word. Kek.

[3] This was the acrostic poem: 바밤바, 밤 맛 나는, 바밤바! Romanization will give you babamba, bam mat naneun, babamba! Lol he really did an acrostic poem for babamba. Kek

[4] 죠스바 it’s another ice cream. Lol. It’s theme is the Jaws movie. Lmao.

[5] I’m having a hard time making it into an acrostic poem in english so here’s the hangul: 죠스바, 스윽 꺼내보니, 바밤바! 스윽 is like swoosh. Lmao.

[6] 고렙 : 고 (go, lit. high) + 레벨 (lebel, lit. Level) = high level. It’s like an abbr for high level.

TL’s corner!!!

I am admitting my fault… I used Arumin instead of Armin… I have changed it now. Kek.

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