The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1174

The Max Level Hero Has Returned!-Chapter 1174

Chapter 1174
Prince Al Hajat’s eyes narrowed as he noticed the frequent minor errors in the s his secretary Antonio kept bringing him.
Rather than just reprimanding him, he preferred to find the cause and offer advice. He believed that guiding his subordinates was his duty as their superior.
Antonio had served him for a long time, and no one knew how incredibly competent he was better than Al Hajat. That made the man’s repeated mistakes something worth looking into.
“Antonio, why have there been so many mistakes in your s lately?”
“I apologize. I’ll try a bit har—”
“I’m not telling you to overwork yourself, Antonio. Just tell me the reason.”
He hesitated at Al Hajat’s words, then let out a short sigh. “It’s... because of Lady Eva.”
“Eva? What about her? Did something happen?”
Antonio fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. “She’s just... too good at going viral. She’s a streamer who draws, which is a relatively unpopular category, but she keeps getting into incidents that force her to explode in popularity all over again.”
As Antonio explained with a sigh, Al Hajat froze for a moment, his expression blank.
Her streams were clean, to put it nicely. To put it bluntly? They lacked excitement. Or at least, they were supposed to.
Given her personality and the conceptual foundation of her content, there really shouldn’t have been anything viral or explosive happening.
Sure, Evangeline had a talent for keeping the stream lively by interacting with her viewers, but if that were enough to survive then the industry wouldn’t have the reputation of being a ruthless red ocean.
At least, that was how it was supposed to be.
“Well... Yeah, I guess there’s been a lot of chaos lately.”
Her viewership kept climbing, yet there weren’t even many hate-watchers to rile up the community and drive interaction. It was entirely wholesome. He couldn’t understand it.
“Her subscriber count is currently...”
“In terms of subscribers alone, she’s already topping the lists. Didn’t you see it back then? She even got the Golden Button mailed to her recently...”
“
Whew.
Yeah, I seem to remember the viewers clamoring for an unboxing of it. Still, are you saying you handled that yourself, Antonio? Why not have someone else do it?”
“I got frustrated.”
His answer left Al Hajat speechless.
“Watching the slow and mediocre editing process was driving me insane, so I did it myself.”
“I’ll have your brother take over this area for now, so just take a good break from my affairs in the meantime. You’re free to keep editing if you want. That was part of my agreement with Eva, after all.”
“Y-You mean it?!”
Normally, he would’ve rejected the idea outright, but it seemed necessary given the situation. He figured Antonio had been seriously overworked, and so decided it was time to give him some much-needed rest.
* * *
Evangeline had one serious concern.
It was that damned Gourmet Research Society! They kept provoking her while she was already on edge from dieting.
She had to get revenge. If she didn’t, she felt like the frustration bubbling inside her would explode.
She had thought about tattling to her dad, of course. However, she figured it’d be pathetic to go running to him after constantly telling him to stay away, saying she hated the smell of alcohol on him whenever he drank. Asking for help only when she needed him didn’t sit right with her.
She wasn’t looking to start another fight with her parents. She just wanted them to stop treating her like a child now that she was grown up. It was her small act of rebellion.
In her eyes, if there were one thing an adult should handle themselves, it was getting sweet revenge. Yet try as she might, she couldn’t seem to come up with a solid plan.
Facing the devilishly cunning Yuria Helishana and Rinne—whose emotionless face made her impossible to read and even harder to deal with—she knew she wasn’t in for an easy go of it.
After wracking her brain for a while, she finally reached out via voice chat to Park Seung-Hyun, better known as Moderation, who happened to be livestreaming at the time.
He picked up her call mid-stream, making a confused face.
- Uh, hey. What’s up?
“Hey, let’s meet up in a little bit. I’ve got something important to talk about.”
Moderation froze on the spot, and the chat window exploded with activity. Even so, Evangeline couldn’t have cared less.
She got up from her seat with a satisfied look and changed into a light outfit for going out.
* * *
“I can’t believe you really did it again...” As soon as he saw Evangeline, Park Seung-Hyun clutched his chest and let out a frustrated groan. Every time she called him on voice chat, it stirred up a huge commotion, and he was getting tired of it.
“That’s why I didn’t send you a chat.”
Looking down at her as she casually defended herself, he sighed and nodded. “Lately, every time I’m involved in something with you, my viewers go full-on delulu shipping mode.”
Among the toxic viewers, there were plenty of fans who were obsessed over shipping streamers together, wanting them to be in a relationship.
Moderation was a decently handsome streamer with a good reputation, while Evangeline was incredibly popular in her own right. It was the perfect situation for people to bite, chew, and feast on the drama.
“So... what’s this about?” he asked as the two sat at a table outside a convenience store.
She handed him a canned coffee and said, “I’m going to get revenge.”
“Revenge? On who?”
“Who else? The Gourmet Research Society.”
The moment she mentioned them, Park Seung-Hyun burst into laughter, something clearly clicking in his mind. “
Puhahaha!
Oh man!
Ahahaha!
I saw what they did on your stream.
Hahaha!
”
“Mister, act like an adult!!” Evangeline shouted in frustration.
He cleared his throat and put on a smug expression. “Then you gotta give me something in return, right?”
“What do you want?”
“
Hmm.
Okay. First, stop calling me mister. Call me big bro.”
“No way. You’re a mister, and we’re not even related.”
Her blunt reply made his face twist in irritation. “Hey! I’m still in my twenties, and you know I don’t mean it like a sibling thing!”
“In your twenties? So is my dad.”
Facing her comeback, he let out a deep sigh. He had no counter. Still, in his mind he was definitely not old enough to be called a mister.
“Regardless! If you don’t call me big bro, I’m not helping you! Do you know how many messes I’ve been dragged into because of you?!”
“
Ugh. Ummm.
” She struggled to hold back her frustration, then mumbled with a teary voice, “B-Big bro...”
“
Ohhh.
That actually sounds pretty good.”
Ding! Recording compl—
A faint notification sound suddenly rang out and irritated her. Evangeline glanced around sharply, but all she saw in the surroundings was a parent taking a video of their child.
She had thought for a second that he’d crossed the line, and still didn’t know what to say.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. Anyway, that's why I need your help.”
“The thing is, I’ve seen the stream too... Those gourmet society folks... they’re way more insane than I thought.”
“I know, that’s why I need your help!”
“Why not just go to your dad about it?”
“No, I don’t want that.”
Facing her firm response, Moderation fell quiet for a moment, lost in thought.
Revenge was easy to decide on in principle. What exactly she could do for revenge was a whole other thing. Unless they went for a lose-lose situation, the only real option was to trap them in a scenario they couldn’t escape from and force them into something they’d hate.
“They take food really seriously, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Then I’ve got a great idea,” he said as he clapped his hands.
“What is it?”
“You should cook something for them.”
“Cook?”
Her cooking was, honestly, just average. A lot of people knew that about her. However, Moderation knew one dish of hers that was beyond average.
She might be good at games, have a great personality, and be a talented artist, but when it came to cooking—especially one particular dish—Evangeline had knowledge that’d make anyone shake their head in disbelief. Due to this, Moderation knew that God certainly never let anyone get away with only great traits.
“On one condition.”
“What is it?”
“
Umm.
Reina, was it...?” he began.
“No.” Her answer came instantly.
“Wha— I didn’t even say anything yet!”
“No, absolutely not. That woman is seriously hard to deal with—don’t poke at her.”
Her serious tone colored his face with disappointment.
“Really? Then I guess there’s no choice, I’ll just have to ask for something else.”
“What is it?”
“There’s an event coming up, where a bunch of streamers are coming together for an art content showcase. One slot is still open.”
“An event?”
“Yeah. You won’t regret it! You’re a world-class artist now. You don’t even know how many subscribers you’ve got, do you? Let us ride that wave a little.”
* * *
Evangeline invited Yuria, Rinne, and Marky to join her stream. They were practically regulars on there, anyway.
They were all eccentric types who would randomly drop by just to make people laugh.
Evangeline stared at the three of them wearing gas masks for who-knows-what reason. “Okay, I get why Yuria and Rinne are wearing those... but Marky, what’s your excuse?”
“I’m not Marky!” she shouted in protest, flustered.
[Marky LOL it just never gets old]
[This girl said cornbread tastes the best LMAO]
[I still love you even if you’re the classic country girl Marky stereotype, hmmm]
“Shut up!” she snapped at the chat, fuming though her expression remained hidden behind her own gas mask.
“The smell from the new dish was just too much. We couldn’t handle it when we let the fumes out, so we had no choice but to wear personal protective equipment.”
Evangeline couldn’t understand what on earth they could have made that would cause them to act like that. She knew they’d never say no to anything tasty or nutritious, after all. They once even considered how best to cook the hind legs of a giant toad.
“So why’d you call us over, anyway? You usually tell us not to show up on your stream.”
“It’s nothing serious. Just... You’re all serious foodies, right? You would know whether something is delicious or not.”
“
Hmmm.
Yes? I mean, I probably shouldn’t brag, but I am the top gourmet in Heins Territory,” Yuria answered.
Evangeline nodded at her confident reply, then pulled a box from the floor with a slightly puzzled look.
“What’s that?”
“I tried cooking something.”
Bang!!
Rinne, who had instinctively turned to flee, froze as she realized that the door was suddenly shut tight.
“Rinne... detects a high-threat situation... and evaluates this lowly.”
“Don’t run! It’s not anything weird. I did my best, I just want you to taste it.”
“
Hmm.
E-Evangeline? I could give you more lessons in cooking later if you’d like—”
“I believe you’ll try it.” Evangeline beamed as she opened the box.
Inside was a tray of tteokbokki[1], giving off a rich and savory scent. Yuria and Rinne scanned it quickly.
Appearance-wise, it had no issues. It didn’t smell weird, either, and the temperature also seemed just right.
Rinne sent Yuria a glance after a quick ocular scan of the dish. Yuria gave a small nod in return.
“Alright, let’s give it a taste then.”
“Great.”
Evangeline forced a smile, trying to hide away her distorting face.
When Yuria, Rinne, and Marky all took seats side by side, Evangeline set down small plates of the tteokbokki in front of them.
Yuria, clearly on edge, slowly reached out with a fork and picked up one piece of rice cake.
“
Hmm.
Well, it smells alright.”
Then, she popped it into her mouth.
Thud!
Before anyone could even react, Yuria collapsed on the spot.
“Hmph!!”
A crack even formed in Rinne’s usually unreadable expression, and she immediately attempted to run.
However, Evangeline smiled brightly, her presence flaring with the aura of an ancient dragon as she grabbed her arm.
“Why are you running? Why? Why are you running? You said you’d taste it.”
“R-Rinne evaluates assassination lowly!!”
Evangeline then stabbed a piece of tteokbokki with her fork.
“Who said anything about poison?! I still don’t get it! Is my cooking that bad?! Do you think I’m feeding you poison or something? Why do you all react like this?!” she shouted in frustration, grabbing Rinne by the face and holding it steady.
Before Rinne could go through Sephirothization, Evangeline shoved the tteokbokki into her mouth.
“
Gaaa.
” Rinne foamed at the mouth and dropped.
Watching the scene unfold, Marky made a dumbfounded face. She flipped her gas mask back over her face and said, “They’ve eaten all kinds of weird stuff and never flinched. What the hell did you do to the rice cakes for them to react this way?”
As she backed away, pressing the mask tighter against her face in horror, Evangeline smiled sweetly.
“I haven’t even started yet, hon. As an announced guest on the stream, you know running isn’t an option, right? I’ve prepared a lot for you guys.”
She pulled out several small side-dish containers. Each one was filled with more tteokbokki.
Under normal circumstances, Rinne could’ve easily finished the entire portion by herself. Alas, this time was different.
“You all want some too, right?”
[Uh... um...]
[I’m in! LOL never seen the gourmet club society on the receiving end before hahaha]
[Constellation Leo has donated 100,000 Won.]
- Let’s gooo poison rush!!
Evangeline slammed down the ban button at lightning speed.
[Constellation Leo has been banned.]
Marky, still wearing her gas mask, flinched and shook her head violently before Evangeline lunged in with a sweet smile and forcefully yanked off the mask. Marky, still lacking strength, didn’t have the power left to resist her.
“
Ughhhh!
Don’t do this! I don’t wanna die yet!!”
Ignoring her desperate plea, Evangeline tilted her head slightly. “Die? Who said anything about that?”
Her smile disappeared. “You’re not allowed to die—not until you finish all of it.”
Cold sweat trickled down Marky’s face as she realized that Evangeline’s revenge had only just begun.
Before she could react, the rice cake was already inside her mouth.
The taste was so incomprehensible and horrifying that despite the vast memory she possessed, she couldn’t relate it even remotely to anything that had ever entered her mouth.
* * *
“
Hm?
What’s this?” Davey tilted his head as he looked at the container of side dishes in the kitchen of the lord’s manor in Heins Territory.
“
Oh,
that’s something Evangeline made,” Aeria replied as if she’d just remembered.
“Evangeline? Well, I mean, it’s not like she’s bad at cooking.”
Looking satisfied, Davey opened the lid and casually popped a piece of savory-smelling tteokbokki into his mouth. “
Ah,
but—”
Thud!!
Davey collapsed on the spot.
Watching him go down, cold sweat trickled down Aeria’s face. She quietly set down the tteokbokki she’d been about to taste.
It looked mouthwatering, but something about it gave her a feeling akin to a beautiful yet deadly mushroom, luring prey in with its charming and flashy exterior.
In that moment, her inner personality sensed danger and took control of her body, retreating without hesitation.
“Get a doctor...! A healer! A priest!!” She turned and bolted away.
At that same time, Yuria, Rinne, and Marky—who had all regained consciousness—were still trapped in the room with no way out.
Screaming in horror, they were forced to eat more and more of her monstrous cooking, coughing up blood in the process.
“
Hmmmm.
That’s weird. Tteokbokki is actually the dish I make best. My ideal type is someone who can eat my tteokbokki without hesitation.”
However, that kind of person didn’t seem to exist in their reality.
This was also only the beginning of her acting on her lingering grudge.
1. Simmered and often-spicy Korean rice and/or fish cakes, with soup stock and gochujang/chili paste. Boiled eggs and scallions are often accompanying ingredients ☜

Chapter 1174