Gourmet Gaming

“...Why don’t you handle this too?” Brock said, pointing at the sack of onions sitting next to him. The sack was filled with at least twenty kilograms of unpeeled onions. However, the moment Minhyuk touched the sack, all of the skin covering the onions instantly disappeared.

"I'm done. Does this mean that I could learn to cook now?! Wheee!" Minhyuk shouted in joy after receiving the quest completion notification. 

After a while, Len came inside. He roared, "Just peel it if you're going to peel it! Quit yapping around!"

"...Captain Len. This guy has already finished peeling the garlic. Ah, the onions too." 

Len frowned when he heard Brock’s words. He quickly checked the sack, only to discover that the garlic cloves had been peeled perfectly.

'Does he have some kind of special ability?'

People with the Chef class rarely have a skill that could help them process the ingredients. However, the situation right now showed Len that Minhyuk had one. Thus, he had no choice but to say, "Sigh... Fine." 

Minhyuk smiled happily when he saw Len nod, knowing that he was agreeing to his stay in the kitchen. He asked, "What should I do first?" 

***

Going to work early in the morning had made Team Leader Park Minggyu very exhausted. He even brought a pack of red ginseng to suck on, just so he could go through the rest of the day with enough energy. When he looked up, he saw Lee Minhwa already sitting in front of her monitor. He greeted, "Good morning." 

"Ah, Team Leader. You're here," Lee Minhwa said. She looked like she had been waiting for him to arrive. 

Team Leader Park straightened out his clean, crisp suit before sitting down on his chair and looked at her curiously. He asked, "Why, what's happening?" 

"Player Minhyuk has made contact with the secret NPC." 

"...The secret NPC?" Team Leader Park asked as his forehead creased.

Secret NPCs were either strong people hiding their strength, or retired, reclusive masters that looked like normal people. If players could make contact with them, they would give players quests with amazing rewards.

“He volunteered for the Bordy Subjugation Troops, and then he asked to be placed in the military kitchen.”

Team Leader Park's eyes widened in surprise at Lee Minhwa’s words. He exclaimed, "From what I recall, the military kitchen should already be full, right?" 

“Player Minhyuk increased his favor with the soldier in charge of personnel management.”

“This guy is really wild… Why does the secret NPC have to be a chef NPC? That player, does he think that he was born to eat?” 

“Well, I believe that eating good, delicious food is definitely a good thing,” Lee Minhwa said with a grin.

“Hmmm… That might be true, yes. However, I believe the quest related to this secret NPC is already being tracked and pursued by someone else. Right?” 

“Yes. That’s right. The ‘Twilight Chef’ is looking for him and has already reached Isbin Village.”

Team Leader Park tapped on his chin as he started to think deeply. Seeing his reaction, Lee Minhwa smiled lightly, saying, "We've been paying too much attention to Player Minhyuk these past few days. Anyway, there's probably no possibility of Player Minhyuk receiving that quest..."

"No chance of getting it at all…" Team Leader Park mumbled as he continued to ponder over this matter.

If they thought about it normally, that assumption would be correct. The NPC, Len, would ask the Twilight Chef to retrieve the Level 50 Orc Tribe Chieftain’s essence for him. Quests were divided into shareable and unshareable quests. Shareable quests were quests that anybody could receive. It would depend on the NPC, but in some cases, the NPC would also choose to give the quests to others. It did not matter even if another player had already received it and was making good progress. 

On the other hand, unshareable quests were quests that the NPC would not give to another player once another player was halfway through a linked quest. The NPC would not be able to even provide any information about the quest, to any other player. After all, Athenae God would notify the guardian Len about it.

However, Team Leader Park still shook his head in denial and said, "Len will likely teach Player Minhyuk some basic cooking and allow him to acquire cooking skills." 

"Is that so?" 

"However, as soon as the Food God learns how to cook, a different power will open for him again." 

"Yes." 

The Food God’s cooking was different from ordinary players’ cooking. However, it would only show if the player learned how to cook. Every game needed players to explore on their own so they could add different flavors to their own gaming experience. The Food God had already found out that he could increase his stats in the beginning, but once he learned how to cook, he would be in for another surprise.

"However, we don't know if Player Minhyuk can receive the cooking skill yet." 

"...Yes?"

"He has to get close to Len first before that can happen." 

"Are you saying that it's impossible?" 

"It's impossible. If you think about it, the odds are not in his favor. So, the possibility of him getting the skill and the quest is quite slim," Team Leader Park said, eyes shining brightly.

"There's an orc tribe living near the Bordy Plains. Unless a strange and weird variable pops up, Player Minhyuk won’t be able to hunt the orc tribe." 

"You're right." 

"Right, let's put this aside for now. What's the Replica Specialist doing now? Isn't he changing his job class to the legendary class?" 

"Ah, please wait." 

The two people quickly changed their topic of discussion. 

***

The subjugation troops began their trek towards the Bordy Plains. With the start of the expedition, the military kitchen embarked on their busy schedule, preparing the soldiers’ meals within the cooking carriage. The cooking carriage had an area of around 30 sqm inside. Of course, the carriage was not that big on the outside, but it was possible to have a large area inside because of a special magic.

Chop, chop, chop, chop—

Len’s hands were moving swiftly as he sliced the cabbage thinly. When he turned to look around, he saw their new recruit, Minhyuk, who had hard bread stuffed in his mouth as he washed the dishes diligently. After he finished washing the dishes, he filled a tub with hot water and soaked all of the plates and utensils in it for disinfection.

"Is it hot?" 

"Nope, I'm fine!" 

"The first thing you have to learn in cooking is hygiene and sanitation. Disinfecting the tableware can kill the bacteria that can cause food poisoning." 

"Yes, I'll clean them all!" Minhyuk answered loudly as he continued to work diligently. It was true that he joined the military kitchen to eat more food. However, he also chose to join this unit because he wanted to be able to make more delicious food.

Perhaps, he could be considered to have an impure intention, and just wanted to get some sort of benefit from them, like what Len said before. However, Minhyuk never intended to force them to give it to him. He believed that he had to provide an equivalent exchange for whatever he wanted to gain from them. That was why he was doing his best on the job assigned to him.

Minhyuk disinfected the dishes and made sure that there was not a single speck of oil left on them. However, that did not mean that his work was done. No. Minhyuk quickly placed the potatoes inside a large basin filled with water. Then, he started to peel the potatoes.

"Captain, that guy's working really hard? Maybe he wasn't just saying empty words?" 

"...I see." 

Who among the players would even want to log inside the game just to peel garlic, or wash and disinfect the dishes?  It would be better for them to just go back to real life, and work in a restaurant to get paid for their work. However, for some reason, Minhyuk worked hard in the game.

Then, a commotion suddenly occurred outside.

Kkiiii, kkiiii! 

Kkiiii, kkiiii! 

"It looks like monsters have shown up." 

"Are you going to help them?" 

"The duty of a military chef is to cook and feed the soldiers. Anyone who can’t perform their own duty is pathetic."

"That's right, each and every one of us should fulfill our own duties! Chew!" Minhyuk said as he continued to eat his hard bread. 

"Why are you still eating that? Haven't you been eating that since earlier?" 

"I'm hungry."

"...Hmm,” Len hummed, shaking his head at Minhyuk and his antics. However, one thing was for sure, his interest was already piqued by this strange, young foreigner.

***

When the time for food distribution arrived, Minhyuk dashed around, swiftly carrying the containers that they would need to distribute the food.

"Come on, I'll do this instead. Brock!" 

"Haha, don't run around like that or you'll get hurt!" 

"Brock, it's better for me to get hurt, instead of you and the hands that you use to cook." 

"Is that so?" 

A chef's hands were both their treasure and weapon. A chef that injured their hands would not be able to cook simply because the blood from their injury might drip on the food, and in the worst case scenario, cause food poisoning.

After moving all of the containers, Minhyuk shouted, "Soldiers, please get your meals!" 

"Oh, it's finally time to eat." 

It would take five long, exhausting days for the subjugation troops to reach Bordy Plains. Although they had encountered the goblins early in the morning, there were only twenty of them. A small number compared to the reports of those terrorizing the entire plains. From what Minhyuk heard, none of the troops had received severe injuries. They only had scratches and gashes small enough to be considered minor injuries.

"What's on the menu today?" 

"It's spaghetti, with the special touch of our mother-like Captain Len!" 

"Oh, I see. But boy, which part of Captain Len looks like a mother to you? Isn’t he more of a bandit?" 

Minhyuk's eyes narrowed as he whispered to the soldier, "Actually, I know that too. It's a spaghetti that has the special touch of a bandit-like Captain Len! But I heard that our soldier Venetto has the best face among all of the soldiers." 

"Bwahahahaha! This guy truly knows what he's saying! Look at him, Rand. You really picked a good chef this time!" 

[You have gained Venetto's favor.] 

"This rascal is very good at talking, eh!" 

All of the soldiers loved Minhyuk very much. He had a fresh face and the gift of gab, besides he was always working hard. He was inherently different from the other players that only moved stiffly when the goblins made a surprise attack!

[You have gained Rand's favor.] 

[You have gained Arden's favor.] 

Minhyuk’s favor with others was also increasing today! Then, the soldier named Venetto grabbed his shoulders. Seeing, the item on his hand brought a twinkle to Minhyuk’s face. Then, Venetto said, "Boy, I watched you earlier, it seems like you like eating? Would you like to try some of this beef jerky?" 

"Oh! Thank you very much! Venetto! You're like a king, a god, an emperor, a general, an admiral and the majesty, combined all together!" 

"Huh? What are you saying?" 

"You're the best of the best!" 

"Hahahahaha, I've never seen someone becoming so happy just by receiving something to eat. Foreigners usually hate it." 

"Oh my gosh, how can they do that! There's nothing better than eating!" Minhyuk shouted, carefully receiving the jerky that Venetto handed over to him. He even had an expression as though he could not understand the others at all. Then, Minhyuk realized something. If he became friends with the soldiers, there was a high chance that they would give him delicious food!

"I want to introduce my daughter to you, do you know how pretty my daughter is, huh?! Look at this. This is my daughter's portrait. It was painted by an artist!" Venetto said, showing a painting of him and his daughter.

'W…what's this…! She looks like an orc that's wearing makeup!' 

Minhyuk felt like he was facing the greatest challenge ever since he started his life as a flatterer with a glib tongue. He had to think how to phrase his words nicely so that Venetto would not feel bad. 

‘But…was it even possible?!’ 

Minhyuk believed that he would lose his beef jerky if he offended Venetto.

'T…that absolutely can't happen!' 

Cold sweat dripped down Minhyuk’s forehead and back.

"Boy, why aren't you speaking? Isn’t she beautiful?" 

The problem was that even a newly-born hedgehog would be much prettier than Venetto’s daughter!

"S…she's very pretty." 

"I know, right? But, why are you sweating so much? You should speak more specifically about her beauty." 

"I was quite surprised with how free and wild her eyes and nose are... No, I was very, very shocked." 

"Wild and free?" 

"Yes. Heh... Wild and free, she's beautiful no matter how you look…?"

"Bwahahahahaha! Friend, I'll set you up with her once the subjugation quest is over!" 

'What, what a terrible thing to say…!' Minhyuk thought as he dashed away from Venetto.

Then, Len appeared and said, "Boy, let me borrow you for a bit." 

"Yes?" Minhyuk asked, following Len straight to the cooking carriage. He had been notified about the increase in his favorability with Brock and Len before when he was doing his chores.  Len placed a chopping board in front of Minhyuk. 

"Grab the knife." 

"Yes?" 

"I'm going to teach you how to cook." 

Minhyuk was elated to hear his words. 

[You can now learn cooking skills from Len.] 

[You have gained 4 reputation points.] 

[Accepting his proposal will trigger a skill quest.] 

Minhyuk's lips twitched as they curled up in happiness. He could finally acquire cooking skills and learn how to cook, which meant… 

'I’m going to eat more delicious things!' 

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