Gourmet Gaming

"Oh…!" Minhyuk let out a gasp in surprise. The sweet and sour pork that he made was a rare grade dish? He immediately checked the information to make sure.

(Sweet and Sour Pork) 

Ingredient Grade: C

Grade: Rare

Requirements: None

Shelf Life: 7 days

Preservation Time: 24 hours

Special Abilities:

•+10 increase in all stats

•+10% increase in critical hit probability. 

•Permanently revive the sense of taste. 

Description: This dish was made by the disciple for his master. He poured his heart and soul into it to make it more delicious. The Orc Chieftain's Essence has also further improved its taste. 

"Olé!" Minhyuk shouted in delight. It was because he saw the ‘further improved its taste’ in the description. He was so happy that he even got up and danced Shin-chan’s hula dance.

"Hula, hula~ hula, hula~" 

Besides, he was also excited that Len would finally have his sense of taste, and be able to eat a more delicious sweet and sour pork. After checking the dish’s information, Minhyuk quickly placed the sweet and sour pork inside his Food Storage Inventory.

'There's also Trance.'

All of the information displayed under the Trance skill was marked as ‘???’. There was only one hint. From the hint, it could be said that Trance had the ability to increase the dish’s grade depending on various factors. There was also the Achievement Points (AP). Achievement Points were obtained if a player reached a certain achievement in their class, or if the player created something personally based on their class. From what Minhyuk heard, these APs could also be exchanged for items or skill books later.

After checking through everything, Minhyuk sat down and waited for Len’s arrival in mounting excitement.

***

Dressed in his most comfortable clothes, Len walked towards the cooking carriage to taste the first dish his disciple had made for him.

'I can finally taste the dish...' He thought, chuckling lightly.

Minhyuk welcomed him with a wide smile the moment he entered the cooking carriage. It seemed like he had been waiting for his arrival. He asked, "Did you relax and take a breather today?!" 

"...But taking a breather is a bit troublesome," Len said, playing along with his tune. 

"Did you wash up?!" 

"I didn't." 

"What about your butt?!" 

"Hmm..." Len groaned a bit, as if what he heard was too much. 

Minhyuk burst out in admiration and said, "Wow! You're really leisurely." 

"Well?" Len said, smiling in embarrassment as Minhyuk guided him to the front of a table that had been spread out inside the cooking carriage. He watched as Minhyuk took out the dishes from his Food Storage Inventory, starting with the black bean noodles and spicy seafood noodles. The amount of both dishes looked to be about twenty servings.

Then, Minhyuk narrowed his eyes and said seriously, "The next one is the most important main dish." 

He took out the sweet and sour pork from his inventory and placed it on the table. The sweet and sour pork was well fried and looked very appetizing. It looked so crispy that just a touch would give out a crunch. Even the dark sauce was glowing slightly.

Minhyuk smiled brightly and looked at Len to say, “I prepared this specially for you, master! This sweet and sour pork is made with Orc Chieftain's Essence! Well, to be exact, it went into the sauce. Fufufu…!”

"Oh," Len gasped in awe. The smile on his face was slowly fading away. Len wanted to keep smiling but he could not. He was so nervous. After all, he had never tasted anything even though he had spent his whole life cooking for others. Tears started welling up in his eyes. 

Just then…

Grab! 

"Boy, what do you think you’re doing right now?!" 

"Eh? I'm trying to pour the sauce on the sweet and sour pork?" 

"No! Why would you fry it if you're going to pour the sauce on it? Didn't you learn that frying food is to make it crispy? I have never taught you this!" 

This was the moment that the confrontation between the dipping faction and the pouring faction began. Minhyuk slapped his hand on the table and said, “Master, you can pour the sauce on the sweet and sour pork. That way, the breadings will become soft and moist and will create a fantastic taste.”

"No, no, no. Frying food means that you want the crispy and crunchy texture. Why would you fry it if you're going to do that?! You might as well have stir-fried it!" 

"Master doesn't even know what it tastes like. You haven't tried pouring it yet, have you?!" 

"Oho. Boy, I may not know what it tastes like but I do know something! I should hear the crunch whenever I eat fried food!" 

"Ugh...!" 

"Ugh...!" 

The two men glared at each other. Then, Minhyuk said, "Then I will explain it to you logically." 

"Go on." 

"There's only one reason why you should pour the sauce on sweet and sour pork. Master. It's bad to leave food behind, right?" 

"Yeah." 

"If you dip it, then you would throw away plenty of sauce. However, if you pour it then the amount of food that you will waste will be less." 

'...My god!'

That was right. Logical. At the very least, Minhyuk was an educated man. Len started laughing.

"Kgghk." 

"Huhu." 

"Hahahahahaha!" 

"Hehe." 

The two of them laughed loudly as Minhyuk divided the sweet and sour pork in half. Half of it would have sauce poured on it and the other half would be dipped in the sauce. Minhyuk did this because he hated the gloomy atmosphere that suddenly surrounded Len. Of course, that did not change the fact that he was still a huge fan of pouring sauce on sweet and sour pork.

"Oho, this way we can both taste the crispy texture and the soft texture of the breadings of the sweet and sour pork." 

"That's right." 

"Then, let's eat." 

"Please eat this first," Minhyuk said, pushing the sweet and sour pork towards Len. Although Len was a supporter of dipping it in sauce, Minhyuk still wanted him to have a bite of the sweet and sour pork soaked with sauce, so that his taste could be revived.

Crunch—

The sauce was poured not long ago, so the breadings were still not soggy and the texture was still crispy. 

Crunch, crunch—

The more Len chewed, the softer it became in his mouth. Faintly, very faintly, he started to feel something at the tip of his tongue. Although it was slow, Len could feel a slightly sweet taste. After a while, his mouth began to be filled with the sweet, juicy, and sour flavor of the pork. 

Len could taste! All his life, he felt like he was chewing dirt whenever he ate. Others might be happy to eat but he was not.

"It's delicious," Len said, picking up the black bean noodles placed in front of him.

"This is how you eat it," Minhyuk said, grabbing his own bowl of gleaming black bean noodles and demonstrating how to eat. 

Slurp!!! He slurped the noodles without cutting anything off, before stuffing a piece of pickled radish in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch. 

The freshness of the pickled radish, combined with the oily, greasy flavor of the black bean noodles, went perfectly well together. Then, Minhyuk grabbed a piece of well-fried meat and some onions. The black bean paste brought out a deeper flavor in the meat, while the onions added a crispy texture, making it even more delicious in Minhyuk’s mouth. Len followed Minhyuk’s example and ate it as he did.

Slurp!!!

"You're doing well!" 

Len closed his eyes and savored the flavor of the noodles, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile. Then, he grabbed the spicy seafood noodles.

"This one might be a bit spicy." 

Slurp!!!

Len did a great job slurping the noodles! He felt a slight tingling in his mouth the moment he inhaled the noodles. Then, he sampled a piece of pickled radish, before picking up the bowl and tasting the soup. The spicy, deep flavor of the seafood in the soup was excellent.

"What is this? It’s a bit spicy but it’s also refreshing?”

"This is the charm and beauty of spicy seafood noodles!" 

Len grinned widely and said, "It's absolutely delicious!" 

Delicious. It was just these three syllables. This word was a word that everyone used often but Len said those words as if it was the only thing he could say, “It’s really, really delicious!"

Minhyuk laughed happily, and then…

Slurp!!! 

…he started to inhale his noodles again. The same was true for Len. The two of them slurped their noodles as they sat in front of each other.

***

Lee Minhwa was speaking into her phone urgently, “Is this the Chinese Restaurant?! Yes, I’m on the seventh floor of the Athenae building. Yes, yes. Black bean noodles, spicy seafood noodles… oh, and sweet and sour pork.”

“Hey! Add some dry black bean noodles too!” 

Hearing those words, Lee Minhwa looked around and saw Seonwook from the Customer Center. She said to her phone, "Yes, please add one more dry black bean noodles~" 

Lee Minhwa hung up the phone and turned to look at Seonwook asking, “When did you arrive?”

"Just now. Wow...Those two are eating so deliciously," Seonwook said. 

"Yeah," Team Leader Park answered instead of Lee Minhwa. 

"But, Leader, you shouldn’t be spaced out here like this, right?" Lee Minhwa said, bringing Team Leader Park back to his senses. His mind instantly flew away after watching the black bean noodles mukbang on the monitor.

"Yeah. But in the end, he really got it. Phew..." 

"He got… what?" 

"The artifact that Twilight Chef Black was supposed to get." 

"You're talking about Kim Seokhyun, right? Did that player get the item that Kim Seokhyun was supposed to receive?" 

Team Leader Park nodded solemnly in response. 

Seonwook grinned and said, "But… aren't you guys too worried about this player? True, he has cooking skills, and he can increase his stats whenever he eats. But, no matter how strong this player gets, he wouldn't be strong enough to be a balance breaker. Also, I don't think that he's going to distribute buffs carelessly with his personality. Just look at that other god class, Death Knight, that guy really made a mess by continuously summoning things."

Seonwook could say this with confidence since he believed that Minhyuk did not have the personality nor skills to become a cause of concern. However, Lee Minhwa shook her head at his words.

"You’re really…" Team Leader Park spoke softly after hearing Seonwook’s confidence.

"You think that he will only get stats?" 

"Does that mean that he will get something else?" 

"You'll know once he gets his second class." 

"What is it? Tell me!" 

Lee Minhwa and Team Leader Park glanced at each other before saying at the same time, "Secret."

***

Len left the cooking carriage saying that he would go out for a while and come back soon. While he was away, Minhyuk took the opportunity to lick the bowl of the sweet and sour pork sauce clean. After finishing the meal, Minhyuk smiled happily and said, "The subjugation is complete!" 

Minhyuk did not receive any buff effect since only one person could receive the buff from a single maxed-buff dish. However, he was still happy. After all, the calorie count for this dish was probably the same as the listed calories for black bean noodles on the internet.

'Ha... Now I only need to get my Sun's Wheat reward.'

He wondered what he could make with it. This was his blissful problem. Should he make some bread, and dip it in eggs to fry and sprinkle some sugar on it? Or should he make some knife-cut noodles, and eat it with well-ripened kimchi? He was already picturing his blissful and happy future. Then, Len came back holding something that was wrapped in cloth.

Len was currently very, very happy. God of Athenae? Well, screw yourself! Although Minhyuk did not receive the quest from him, he was still able to finish the task that needed to be done. He gave Len his sense of taste. So, what about the quest’s reward? Of course, Minhyuk should be the one to take it.

'As expected...' Minhyuk thought. It seemed like it really was a quest but he wondered why he did not hear any notification about it. Then, he saw Len pull the cloth away revealing a kitchen knife with an impressive pattern on the hilt. The pattern was none other than a phoenix.

[You have received Ellie's Kitchen Knife.] 

[You have gained 10 REP.] 

[You can now learn all skills related to DEX.] 

Although Minhyuk had not received any notifications about the quest, he heard the notifications about the rewards. Right now, he was able to learn skills related to DEX. From what he heard, players could learn production skills like cooking, repairing, fishing, painting, sculpting and plenty more. However, there were limits to learning these skills. Usually, players could only learn one production skill before Level 200 and two more production skills before Level 400.

Len smiled softly and said, "This is a present for my disciple." 

"This is too much..." 

"Why? You’re not going to take it?" 

"No! Of course, I’ll take it. I'll use it well!" Minhyuk answered loudly, as he reached out for the kitchen knife. The moment he touched the knife, he felt the hilt of the knife wriggle. Minhyuk turned curious and checked the information. 

(Ellie's Kitchen Knife) 

Class: Epic

Requirements: No requirements for primary level. Level 120 required to unlock secondary level.

Durability: ∞/∞

Attack Power: 50

Primary Level Special Abilities:

•DEX acquisition rate x4

•DEX +40

•Can be equipped with a sword. 

•Can automatically clean itself. 

•Can change to a variety of tools. 

Secondary Level's Special Abilities:

•Sealed

•Sealed

•Sealed

Description: This was an artifact that the Empress bestowed upon Len, the best chef in Eivelis Empire. 

'Oh...' 

The artifact was quite mysterious. Even the durability was set to infinity. Athenae’s concept of durability was different from other games. It was not a concept of being corroded or broken during battle. Even if the blade broke or became dull and corroded, artifacts with infinity in the durability would be completely repaired after 24 hours. Minhyuk continued to check the rest of the detailed description. 

'What does it mean, the secondary level is sealed?'

[The secondary level requirements is only applicable to growth-type artifacts. You will be able to use the artifact upon meeting the primary level requirements. Satisfying the secondary level requirements will unlock all abilities.] 

Simply put, he could use all of the abilities in the primary level since the requirements were met. And once Minhyuk reached Level 120, he would be able to unlock all of the ‘sealed’ parts of the artifact. In any case, Minhyuk really liked the artifact. Because…

'The DEX acquisition rate has been raised to x4!' 

Having DEX would mean that he could also gain ‘flavor’. The artifact that Len gave him was something that he really needed.

"How is it? Do you like it?" 

"Yes, yes. I really, really, really like it! But Master, what does it mean when it says that I can equip it with a sword?" Minhyuk asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Take the knife to your sword." 

Minhyuk brought the knife near his sword. 

[Do you want to equip Ellie's Kitchen Knife on the Sword of Rebellion?] 

[Yes / No] 

'Yes.' 

Then, something amazing happened. The kitchen knife slowly transformed into liquid and stuck itself on the Sword of Rebellion, assimilating with it.

'Gasp...!' 

Favorite