Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 1323

Chapter 1323

Lee Hyuk-Tae, the heir and successor to the Blue Group Enterprises, was someone completely ordinary.

Although he received numerous private tutoring lessons and earned good grades in school, his grades were not high enough for him to attend Sky University, the go-to school for the children of chaebol families. His athletic abilities were also average.

When Lee Hyuk-Tae turned seventeen, he heard his father and the vice chairman of the group talking in front of their door.

–As expected. I don’t think my Hyuk-Tae is good enough to lead our Blue Group. How about you? What do you think?

–...I feel the same way, Chairman.

Hyuk-Tae fell into despair when he heard the evident bitterness in the voices of the people standing on the other side of the door.

–It’s better to just appoint him as the director of one of our affiliated companies. At times like this, I truly envy Chairman Kang.

–Are you talking about Ilhwa Group’s chairman?

–That’s right. There’s this child named Minhyuk. He’s a genius among geniuses. He’s still a kid. Every time I look at him, I feel like I’m looking at a very sharp blade. He'll be the one leading the economic circle in Korea in the future.

At that time, Minhyuk was only twelve.

A few days after that encounter, Hyuk-Tae attended a meeting similar to the one they were holding now. He met the twelve-year-old Minhyuk in that very same meeting. The sons and daughters of the leading business families all hovered around the young Minhyuk, heaping him with praise and flattery.

Hyuk-Tae stared at Minhyuk with envy. Ever since that day, Lee Hyuk-Tae had worked very hard. Instead of trying to join the prestigious Sky University in the domestic scene, he applied to a famous university abroad and graduated from there as well. He learned a lot about business and even followed his father around to absorb as much knowledge as he could before putting it to good use.

His father, who initially disliked him, began to show appreciation for him and gradually acknowledged his efforts. Perhaps he would be able to inherit and take over their company in his forties, and they wouldn't need to hire a professional manager.

A lot had changed for Lee Hyuk-Tae.

Meanwhile, the child prodigy, Minhyuk, fell ill. However, despite suffering from an illness, he was still admired and loved by the world. This left Hyuk-Tae with a deep inferiority complex.

‘F*cking Minhyuk’

This time, Minhyuk even saved Athenae. The news from all over the world sang praises to his name, and there were even countless banners hung all over South Korea to praise him. Would someone like him, who was in a situation like that, feel inferior or jealous of the children of the leading businesses in the country? The honest answer was... no.

Knowing that, they had no other choice but to target his eating addiction and use it as the breaking point to nitpick him. After all, everyone knew that he would not be able to lead the Ilhwa Group if his eating addiction was not cured.

‘What the hell? Are you saying that his eating addiction is going to be cured soon?’

The countless things that could and would happen in the future flashed in Lee Hyuk-Tae’s head. If the relationship between the Blue Group and the Ilhwa Group were to break off, the consequences would be dire. And to make matters worse, the Blue Group was actually in a crisis lately. There was even a chance that their group would fall out of the top ten businesses in the country. In a situation like this, if his relationship with Minhyuk, who was cured of his eating addiction, grew distant, then...

Lee Hyuk-Tae realized the reality of the matter. He sputtered, “Hey, Minhyuk. This hyung had said too much...”

“Hyung. We should all live honorably.”

“...”

‘Did he say that we should all live honorably?’

Lee Hyuk-Tae was stunned when he heard those words.

Lee Hyuk-Tae felt an unknown pressure from Minhyuk. He felt as if he was being stared down by a predator standing at the top of the food chain. Flustered, his eyes darted around.

“Do you even know how I feel, huh? You f*cking bastard who's born with a golden spoon in your mouth?” Lee Hyuk-Tae snapped, his eyes glazing over as he raised his hand and swept everything off the table.

Clang–!

“You bastard! You’re born with everything given to you! Do you even know how I feel, huh?!”

“Hyung,” Minhyuk whispered, murderous intent slowly filling his eyes.

When Lee Hyuk-Tae saw his gaze, he realized that they were the same eyes that the emperor had, the very same eyes that he had seen on the screen. A chill ran down his spine as the gaze swept over his entire being. His instincts were telling him that he should never fight back.

“Were you born with an eating addiction?”

“...!”

Shock appeared on the faces of everyone present in the hall. They got so lost in their inferiority complex that they had forgotten that the most pitiful person in this hall was Minhyuk.

“Have you ever been locked in a room and left hungry to the point where you end up chewing tissues and pencils?

“Have you ever heard your father tell your househelpers, ‘There must never be any lingering scent of food in this house.’?

“Have you ever been left lying in a hospital bed, hungry yet not knowing if you’re going to die the next moment?

“Have you ever heard a doctor tell you, ‘At this rate, you don’t have much time left.’?”

“...”

Lee Hyuk-Tae was rendered speechless. If he were the one in Minhyuk’s shoes, he was sure that he would never be able to endure it. He would choose the most extreme option given to him.

“Wh-who’s saying that you were born that way?!”

His words were a contradiction. After all, he had just called Minhyuk someone who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth.

“Do you know why I have always been quiet? Because you’re not worth dealing with.”

Minhyuk was used to these insecure people barking around him like dogs. However, they had reached a point where he could no longer ignore them.

The son of the chairman of Hamyang Corporation scoffed when he heard Minhyuk’s words. He said, “Just because you, Minhyuk, have been cured of your eating addiction, you’re already the chairman?”

Everyone understood why he was sneering.

“Aren’t you a bit too late for that?”

Of course, the process of Minhyuk becoming the leader of the Ilhwa Group was gradual.

“Most of the people here have received business and management lessons since they were young. As for you? You haven’t had one.”

Minhyuk was forced to focus his attention on his eating addiction treatment during his youth. He did not have much time to deal with other matters. He was still focusing on his treatment. Instead of taking these business and management classes, he was focusing his attention on playing Athenae and following his current treatment plan.

“As for your empire in Athenae? Weren’t you scrambling to make ends meet every day?”

Everyone here knew the value of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. It was beyond imagination. Unfortunately, the money needed to run such an empire was huge.

“Hyuk-Tae hyung’s dad told him that he would be given the chairman’s position if he could make ten billion on his own. And he did it. How? He developed a game on his own, which was acquired for fifty billion.”

But Minhyuk? He could not sell his empire.

“In your case, your worth is only inside the game. And because of the nature of the game, your worth will drop significantly over the years. No?”

Trading goods in-game had been made legal. However, the worth of the items inside a game would be the most expensive at the start of the game’s conception. With time, the value of the game’s items and currency would drop gradually.

It was only natural. There was no avoiding it. After all, currency and items were usually dropped when killing monsters. Because of that, the value of the money and the items would also fall.

“How much money have you made by yourself?”

There was nothing else that mattered to the children of these chaebol families.

“Hyuk-Tae hyung has made fifty billion won on his own. How about you, huh?!”

Everyone turned to look at Minhyuk. The media had always talked about how most of the money generated by the Beyond the Heavens Empire always went back to their coffers and how Minhyuk was giving most of what he earned to the empire. There were even stories about how the executives of the Beyond the Heavens Empire paid out of their pockets to expand the empire. Of course, they were all true.

The bigger the empire, the more money one needed to run it. The problem was that even if the empire grew, the value of the Beyond the Heavens Empire would decrease as the currency’s value decreased.

Minhyuk looked like he was thinking. And the rest of the people? They tried to laugh at him. Why? Because they judged that he wouldn’t be able to make any money in that game.

“In the end, you haven’t made money with your own hands...”

“I think it’s around five trillion now?”

“...?”

Everyone looked at him in confusion.

“Stop lying.”

Minhyuk waved his smartphone. He did not gesture for anyone to come to him. Nevertheless, the son of the Hamyang Corporation chairman approached him.

The screen of Minhyuk’s smartphone was showing his current balance. It clearly showed one trillion won.

“HEOOK!” The son of the chairman of Hamyang Corporation shrieked. He was so surprised that he fell on his back.

“The rest are put in a different account.”

There was one misconception that everyone had.

“Yes. I give most of the money that I earn to the empire. However, miscellaneous items, ores, and the like are considered my personal property.”

“...”

“...”

Minhyuk’s words meant that the worth of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, a mere nation inside a game, was much more than what they had assumed.

“Recently, I calculated the worth of those items with a bunch of the other executives for fun. From what we have computed, they’re worth around 1.197 trillion won?”

One of the women spat out the alcohol that she was drinking in shock. One of the men, who only had around a million won in his pockets, looked down in shame. The money Minhyuk had in hand was enough for him to buy several domestic companies at once.

“They will lose their value over time, that’s for sure. But if we continue to expand our reach, their value will remain as they are.” Minhyuk smirked. “Our Beyond the Heavens Empire has not worked with any of the domestic companies yet. So, we haven’t seen any synergistic effects. Everyone here is smart, so you should know what I’m talking about, no?”

They flinched as Minhyuk’s gaze passed over them.

“What do you think will happen if our Beyond the Heavens Empire worked with Ilhwa Group? What kind of synergy do you think would be created?”

“...!”

“...!”

If they truly did that, then Ilhwa Group would take over the real world. Athenae was a global game. Even if the Ilhwa Group chose to work with the Beyond the Heavens Empire only to sell TVs, their revenue would increase exponentially. It was literally what it meant to make sales in the international market.

Only at this moment did they realize the reality of the situation. Some of them looked at Minhyuk in surprise, while some of them looked at him with ugly expressions on their faces.

“Minhyuk, I’m sorry! I’ll do better from now on! Okay?! I’ll even help you with anything and everything!”

“The Jinha Group will support Ilhwa Group so they can become the number one company in South Korea... no, the world.”

“Hyung!”

“Hey! Minhyuk is around nine years younger than us.”

“Shut up. The hyung is the one with more money.”

The people who had been flattering Lee Hyuk-Tae changed targets and immediately hovered over Minhyuk.

Lee Hyuk-Tae smiled bitterly at the sight. ‘F*ck.’

If his father learned of this, then all of his hard work and effort would be for nothing. The worst part? There was a chance that this situation could be used against the Blue Group when they signed future contracts. He had made an enemy out of a company that he should never have made an enemy of.

Hyuk-Tae’s anger flared up. Regardless, he knew that this was only the natural course of events. His emotions grew complicated as he slowly stood up.

‘Maybe I should just go and emigrate.’

Then, at that moment...

“Where are you going?”

“Bastard, I’m not going to go after you for hitting me. Let go of me. Just go and tell on me. I’ll be f*cked either way,” Hyuk-Tae growled.

Hyuk-Tae thought that doing that would be better for him. In that moment, the words, ‘I already reached the end of my road but you’re just beginning,’ rose at the top of his throat. Nonetheless, he swallowed them down.

“Hyung,” Minhyuk called out to Hyuk-Tae, who was blushing in embarrassment. “Help me.”

“...?”

‘What nonsense is he on about? Why does he want me to help him? I lost to him. No. He trampled on me. Besides, he’s standing way above me. Why would he ask me for help?’

“Even if I get an all clear and I’m considered cured of my disease, I’m sure I will face a lot of opposition as the successor of our company. I’m sure I will face a lot of difficulties when running the company in the future, too.”

“That’s only natural, brat. Not only did you have eating addiction, you’re also a f*cking kid.”

Those opposing Minhyuk would latch onto this and exploit it well.

“If I have the next chairman of the Blue Group behind me, then the story will be different, no?”

“...?”

Hyuk-Tae could see the sincerity in Minhyuk’s eyes. He knew that the young man in front of him would not get back at him at all. No. In the first place...

‘Is he this generous and kind...?’

Yes. Minhyuk was not a petty brat who would sulk and throw a tantrum just because his tail had been grabbed and pulled. Hyuk-Tae looked back on himself. This young man was completely different from what he thought. He was very shocked. Even though Minhyuk was standing at a higher level, he didn't act arrogantly and still made wise decisions.

As for Minhyuk, he thought highly of Lee Hyuk-Tae’s abilities. He valued the man not because he was the heir to the Blue Group, but because Lee Hyuk-Tae was able to make tens of billions of won on his own by creating his own game. And despite hiding his identity, he was still able to achieve success with his game. He did it all on his terms. He did not even have the backing of his group or the other corporations.

“Are you serious?” Hyuk-Tae asked, his eyes brimming with tears. He felt very ashamed of himself and how he acted.

Minhyuk nodded in answer. Hyuk-Tae felt overwhelmed with emotions when he saw him nod. There was one thing that he could say for sure.

“F*ck. I did not expect that I would have to wipe the butt of some punk like this,” Hyuk-Tae said, a self-deprecating smile on his face.

“Just continue forward.”

At this moment, Hyuk-Tae made a vow.

“I’ll push you hard from behind.”

***

Minhyuk was already on his way home. He had emphasized to everyone that they should not talk about the fact that his eating addiction was almost cured for now.

‘The results will only be finalized in a few months.’

Minhyuk was only thinking about all of the possibilities. In the unlikely event that he did not achieve a complete cure, then things would go from bad to worse. However, all the people in his home were aware of these results.

Minhyuk felt like crying with joy. However, he held it back. Why? Because he did not want anyone else to cry and feel sad. But when he got home...

“...Minhyuk, you’re home?”

“...”

...he was greeted by the crying Lee Jinhwan. And it was not just him. All of the house helpers who had been with him from the very beginning were also crying.

“Is our dear Minhyuk back?”

“...”

The door slammed open as someone walked in excitedly.

“MINHYUK!”

It was his trainer, Oh Changwook. He quickly ran over to Minhyuk and gave him a tight hug while sobbing loudly.

Then, his father’s secretary, Park Munsoo, came in. His eyes were also red with tears. Even the gardeners working outside came running in with tears in their eyes.

“Why are you guys crying?” Minhyuk chuckled wryly.

These were the people who fought by his side for five years. Even though the results were not yet confirmed, everyone was sincerely congratulating Minhyuk.

Minhyuk had been trying his hardest to hold back his tears. Regardless, when he saw his father, Kang Minhoo, walk into the room panting, the tears immediately fell. He could not help but burst into sobs when he saw his father’s red eyes.

“I’m proud of you, son.”

Kang Minhoo approached his son and hugged him tightly. There was no need for any words. He just shed tears of joy as happiness washed over him.