Gourmet Gaming

People were sometimes divided on how to eat soy sauce egg rice. Some preferred breaking the yolk of the half-fried egg over the rice, while others liked to consume the yolk whole. Of the two, Minhyuk belonged to the latter.

He quickly cooked five eggs on his frying pan at one go before opening the lid of the pot to check on his rice.

Shwaaaa—

Steam rushed out of the pot as he placed his five freshly grilled, half-fried eggs on top of the rice. Then, Minhyuk continued to fry more eggs. 

‘The biggest charm of an egg is that it’s still delicious despite the lack of seasonings whenever it’s fried, right?’ 

After frying five more eggs, Minhyuk added them on top of the rice again. He personally liked having at least three half-fried eggs in one bowl of soy sauce egg rice.

Then, he grabbed the soy sauce and added not one, not two, but three spoons in quick succession on top of the rice. Minhyuk had calculated the amount and made sure to pour enough in accordance with the amount of rice he cooked.

The next thing that Minhyuk grabbed was the sesame oil. A savory scent floated about the moment he opened the lid, stimulating the nose and his appetite even further, as he poured some on top of the rice.

Gulp—

Minhyuk gulped back the saliva that threatened to drool down his mouth.

Swish swish swish—

"Mix with your left hand~ mix with your right hand~" Minhyuk hummed a song happily as he mixed the ingredients in the pot well. 

The soy sauce and sesame oil had a stark contrast in terms of color, but mixing them together with the rice gave the dish a nice golden sheen. Then, Minhyuk scooped a large mouthful, and took the biggest bite that he could.

The entire point of having the biggest spoonful of soy sauce egg rice was so that he could taste the salty and savory flavor and completely satiate his craving in just one bite. 

"This! Is! Delicious…! Wow, this egg is really yummy!!" Minhyuk shouted happily as he wolfed down the soy sauce egg rice.

‘If only I had kimchi, cubed radish kimchi, young radish kimchi or seasoned perilla leaves as side dishes right now, it would truly be the icing on the cake!’

Minhyuk quickly finished four bowls of soy sauce egg rice with ease. Just then…

[Your fullness has increased to 100%/6]

"Hmm?" Minhyuk hummed in surprise. He had never heard a notification for an increase in the number before. The sudden change gave Minhyuk a sense of foreboding.

‘Why do I get a bad feeling about this..?’

'I wonder what it’s about?' 

He could only tilt his head sideways in confusion.

***

“Player Minhyuk has reached 6 in his fullness stat.”

Team Leader Park hurriedly moved to where Lee Minhwa was after receiving the report.

"What? He just ate soy sauce egg rice? With that golden egg?" 

"Yes." 

"Ugh. In the end, we still arrived at this point. He really puts the ‘S’ in surprise.” 

Team Leader Park grumbled, then continued, "Increase Player Minhyuk’s rating to level one. The ‘trial’ will definitely begin the moment he reaches seven in his fullness stat."

The trial that Team Leader Park was referring to was none other than the trial that would determine if the player could challenge a God class.

There were two types of trials in the game: notified and unnotified. As for the trial that Minhyuk would possibly take, it was an unnotified trial. The player would remain uninformed about the trial, and would be able to get the class should they complete it, but remain clueless should they fail.

Lee Minhwa’s expression started off strange, before turning into a look of pity as she checked the contents of the trial. She said, "This trial… will be very hard to complete." 

“That’s without a doubt. A person usually needs to exercise for an hour to digest 10,000 calories. So, for someone eating around 40,000~50,000 calories, they would need to exercise for around four to five hours without stopping.”

"Wow… Four to five hours… As expected of the God class, the conditions to achieve it are really the most difficult." 

“Of course. Besides, most people who love eating can be lazy in reality. The point of this trial is to exercise so that they can eat. This trial wants to test if the person had the tenacity and perseverance to challenge the God class. Even so…, do you think anyone would willingly exercise for at least four hours every day, just so they could eat? It will be too difficult for anybody.”

“But… But… It’s that guy.”

“You’re more than welcome to give your own opinion on the matter.”

"He’s the player that kept on striking the scarecrows just to eat bread before, remember?”

"Yes." 

"So, I don’t think he’s a lazy person." 

"Is that so? Well, we'll just have to wait and see. The first trial is always the hardest, so we'll just have to observe." 

Team Leader Park's eyes narrowed sharply as he said, "That's the biggest problem." 

***

Instructor Roina handed Minhyuk the same ingredients as before: rice, potatoes and red chili paste. She then handed over a letter, along with a handkerchief, while saying, "Please give these items to Instructor Valen." 

"I understand. Also… Instructor Roina…" 

"Yeah?" 

"The next time I send over a message, can I request for flour and frying powder?" 

He could fry chicken with the frying powder. And did he need to explain about flour?

'I love flour~ Hehe….' 

However, Minhyuk’s dreams were shattered the next moment. Roina squinted at him as she said, "....But, I don’t want to?"

"Eh? Wh.. why?" Minhyuk asked dejectedly. He looked like he had just lost everything in the world. 

"It’s because you look like you really want to eat fried chicken." 

Flinch! 

Minhyuk grimaced at her blunt words. He was completely seen through. However, what was more shocking was the fact that the guardian of Athenae knew about fried chicken.

“Over the course of my stay here, I have often heard people say ‘Oh, look at that chicken jump,’ or ‘I think we will gain a huge profit if we catch that chicken and cook it, right?’. I’ve never heard anybody call them ‘almighty chicken’ like you.” 

However, she was one who knew how to deal. Hence, she said matter-of-factly, "One has to save the best for last. I’ll bring it once our deal is over. Hohoho." 

"Ugh. You're quite cunning." 

"Go, so you can come back quickly." 

"Yes!" Minhyuk answered raptly, still thinking about their conversation. 

‘Right, I have to save the best for last! I’ll eat that chicken before I get out of here. I’m pretty sure any dish made with that golden chicken will be a real delicacy.’

Minhyuk chewed on bread and walked towards where Instructor Valen was. The distance between training grounds was short so he made quick work of the journey.

"Give me the reward, you NP…" 

"Get lost," Instructor Valen said coldly. The frosty look and killing intent he emitted could make anyone shake. 

"Instructor." 

"Oh! Boy, what are you doing back here?" 

"I really missed you, Instructor! I couldn't stand not seeing your face everyday." 

"Hoho, you're such a smooth talker." 

"Hehe… To be honest… Instructor Roina asked me to give these to you." 

"Roina?" Valen asked, his expression turning stiff for a moment. However, he quickly straightened it out with a smile.

His eyes drifted towards the letter and the handkerchief that Minhyuk gave him. Valen quickly scanned the contents of the letter. 

"That's very much like her." 

This was what the letter said:

[Loyalty[1]. This is Roina from the 3rd squad. I’m sending my greetings to the squad leader.] 

That was the end of the letter. 

"Wait! Instructor, you didn't have lunch yet, right?" 

"That's right." 

"Let me cook some spicy braised chicken for you."

"Oh?" 

Minhyuk loved eating, to the point where he usually wanted to eat everything by himself. However, he knew to be grateful and not take advantage of people. Besides, he was also a bit reluctant to leave right away. After all, Valen was the reason why he could cook, having given him his cooking utensils and tableware.

"Ah. But, can I please have some hard bread?" 

"...Boy, why don't you just take my house too? Haha!" 

Of course, Minhyuk had another purpose in mind. Just like that, he started making spicy braised chicken again.

***

Instructor Roina clasped her hands in front of her chest.

“Squad Leader…” she mumbled under her breath with a smile, hoping that everything had gone well with Valen.

If the other players saw one of the instructors, dubbed as the ‘Instructors who will scold you about the tiniest things’, acting like this, they would definitely be paralyzed with shock.

Roina looked up at the sky and recalled the time when she was still working under Valen, her squad leader. Her arrogance had shot to the sky after being hailed by many as a genius. And the very same arrogance had almost gotten her killed. It was thanks to Valen that she was saved. He even lent her a handkerchief. That was the moment when she fell for him.

Not long after that incident, she came to work here. The only thing that Roina could do was gaze at Valen from afar. She could not approach him. After all, her strong personality and tough attitude would surprisingly waver in front of the man that she liked.

At that moment, she saw Minhyuk coming back from the scarecrow training grounds.

"What did the Instructor say?" 

"He was grateful. He said that he was glad that you were doing well." 

Roina nodded, Valen’s words deeply touching her heart. Then, she asked, "So, why are you so late?" 

"It's just that I was a bit embarrassed to leave after giving him the letter so I decided to make him a meal." 

"Really? Ah, that's good." 

"Hehe," Minhyuk laughed, keeping the part where he received 100 loaves of hard bread a secret. 

[You have gained Roina's favor.] 

Minhyuk nodded his head with satisfaction at the appearance of the notification.

Then, he turned around to start hunting, cooking and eating chickens again. With the ingredients that Roina gave him, he would be able to cook braised chicken. He also planned on using the remaining ingredients to cook ginseng chicken soup. 

Just then…

[Your fullness has increased to 100%/7.] 

[You won't be able to eat any more food.] 

[Passive skill 'Digestion' has been learned.] 

[You can continue to eat once your fullness drops to 0%. Once your fullness reaches 0%, /7 will drop to /6.]

[Your fullness should drop to 0% within 24 hours.] 

"...!" 

Minhyuk’s eyes widened in shock at the sudden and unexpected situation. Then, his expression morphed into one of sadness, as if he lost everything in the world again.

‘This, this is not possible!!' 

No other player had reached seven in their fullness stat, so Minhyuk was unaware of the consequences. However, he finally realized that this number was a deterrent. However, just in case, Minhyuk tried to eat some food.

[You can't eat any food.] 

[Please drop your fullness to 0% so you could eat again.] 

It was impossible. He couldn't even bring the food towards his mouth. It felt like someone had zipped his mouth shut. 

'I still have hope.' 

The skill ‘Digestion’. 

Minhyuk quickly opened the skill window.

(Digestion) 

Passive Skill

Rank: ? 

Level: 1

Effect: Quickly burn your calories. 

Description: It lets you burn calories faster when you exercise. The term 'exercise' refers to the average time that the general public uses to work-out, which is 1 hour. If you work out for 1 hour continuously, it can help you burn 10,000 calories. 

"...Hmmm," Minhyuk hummed in understanding. He knew that the average person would do an hour of exercise every day.

'Exercise Done.' 

Prompted by his thought, the amount of exercise that he had done flashed in the upper-left corner of his vision. It was currently at 0%.

‘Detailed description of Exercise Done.’

Minhyuk had learned a lot from Instructor Valen. And the command ‘detailed description’ was something that he also learned from him.

[Exercise Done should be filled to 100% in an hour once the Exercise Window has been opened.] 

Minhyuk shook his head after reading the details, sitting down to ponder about it. Right now, he knew that he was not in a desperate situation yet.

'I exercise for four hours everyday just to eat tasteless food in reality.' 

‘But here… ‘

Minhyuk could move his body lightly, and he was not easily out of breath. After feeling the condition of his body, Minhyuk finally made his decision.

'I'm going to exercise so I can eat what I want to eat, right?' 

The game was so realistic that it was preventing Minhyuk from eating the things that he could not eat in reality. After all, it would be strange if nothing went wrong with the body of someone who ate around 40,000~50,000 calories a day, in reality.

Determined, he shouted out loudly, "You think you can stop me from living my life and eating to my heart’s content?! That’s complete nonsense!" 

‘I can do it. That's right. No pain, no gain. I can eat delicious food again after working hard. Rice will taste better and sweeter after sweating and exercising!’

"Let's do this,” Minhyuk said firmly as he grabbed the Sword of Rebellion.

Then…

Fwoosh! 

Minhyuk swung his sword hard and started to exercise. His light and quick body, together with his overwhelming desire to eat, made his body move faster! 

***

Roina looked strangely at Minhyuk when she saw him suddenly swing his sword out of nowhere.

'Hmm?' 

Although she was unaware of it, she had already become very interested in Minhyuk’s welfare. In fact, she did not find him special before. 

‘Well, aside from him eating too much food.’

However, Minhyuk was showing her a different side right now.

'He wasn't even forced to practice…' 

1. 중성, Loyalty, faithfulness. Used by soldiers to greet their superiors. ☜