Gourmet Gaming

A silver-haired woman wearing a luxurious, high-class mask that was black, as well as tight-fitting leather armor, stood quietly inside Isbin Village. Even though the woman was wearing armor, it could not hide the beautiful curves of her body. In fact, just her gear alone made her stand out from the crowd. This woman receiving the public’s attention was none other than Lucia.

"Are you going to the Imperial Palace?" 

"That’s right. That would be 100,000 gold.”

Lucia nodded and handed over the money to the coachman before climbing up the carriage. The carriage was currently empty. She only came to Isbin Village to complete a special hidden quest here. Since she already completed the quest, she quickly found a carriage headed towards the Emperor’s City.

'Ellie's Swordsmanship…' 

Lucia was a Thief class player. But, even for someone like her, the thought of learning Ellie’s Swordsmanship made her mouth water. Ellie’s Swordsmanship was an epic skill, the likes of which were not widespread in the country yet. If Lucia managed to build a close relationship with Ellie, she would be able to receive a lot of help once she decided to build a guild herself and create a territory of her own in the future.

‘This is the only way that I will be able to surpass Oppa.’

That was right. The reason why Lucia was running around like crazy was because she wanted to surpass her brother, Cain. Lucia and Cain were only half-siblings. However, from as young as she remembered, her brother Cain had always been superior to others. Seeing him triumph over others made Lucia feel jealous. She wanted to win at least once against him and be recognized. So far, she had been unable to. 

However, Lucia knew that it would be different here in Athenae. From her physical prowess, skills, and even her class, everything that she obtained inside the game was considered to be overwhelmingly strong.

'Oppa will definitely acknowledge me,’ Lucia thought as she chuckled coldly. Then, she crossed her arms and slowly closed her eyes. It seemed that she was really exhausted, to the point that just closing her eyes made her feel sleepy.

"This is the carriage headed over to the Imperial Palace, right?" 

"Yeah." 

"Hoho. I can definitely enjoy my ride with peace of mind! Such an excellent coachman pulling the carriage. Wow! Even this white horse looks delici… no, no… cool!”

“Hahahaha! You’re right, I personally raised and kept this treasure. But boy, what are you eating?”

Lucia was just starting to doze off when she heard the sound of people talking outside. However, she was so tired that she fell asleep despite the ruckus. It felt like a lot of time had passed. As she tried to sit up, she suddenly saw herself sitting in front of her Oppa, Cain, inside her dreams. Dream Cain said, 'Lucia, you're really great. You became the tournament’s champion, that's really cool.' 

'Thanks.' 

In Lucia’s dream, she and her brother were talking. Unlike her usual appearance, she looked a bit shy and demure inside her dreams. Then, she heard her Oppa say, 'And this Oppa of yours…' 

"The potato is delicious!" 

'...is like a potato.'

'...Huh? Oppa? What did you say?' 

The words of Dream Cain were weird. What was even weirder, was the fact that the strange words continued to ring in her head.

"Wow. Potatoes! Why do you look so delicious?! Chew, chew." 

Suddenly, Dream Cain smiled at her and said, 'This potato is delicious.' 

Then, potatoes suddenly started to rain down on Lucia in her dreams. Even the small gaps were filled with small potatoes.

'Kyaaaaaaa! H, help me...! Potatoes, I ca… can't breathe... Gasp!' She shouted, but there were so many potatoes that she was starting to feel suffocated. Then… 

"Woaah! There's too many potatoes!" 

Lucia woke up from her dream, startled. She looked around in a bewildered manner, before heaving a sigh, grateful that it was just a dream. However, the feeling was very vivid to the point that she could smell the scent of potatoes wafting in the carriage.

"Huh?" 

That was when Lucia saw a man looking at her strangely. Seeing her gaze, the man instinctively covered his hands protectively, as he continued to chew on the food in his mouth. Upon closer inspection, Lucia found out that the thing in the man’s hands was a rest-area potato kept in a disposable container. It looked like it was roasted since it had a brown tinge to it. Then, Lucia watched the man sprinkle some sugar and smear some butter on it to make it more delicious.

Then, the man looked at the potato sadly before saying, "Sob. There's only one left..." 

It looked as if he had lost everything in the world. Lucia looked at him absurdly as she thought, 'Wh…what? He does not look like he’s joking at all. Is he really that sad over it?' 

Then, she recalled that it was just a potato in the man’s arms. Lucia’s eyes narrowed. At that moment, she saw the man shove the potato in his mouth as he mumbled to himself while savoring its flavor. Watching the man eat somehow caused Lucia to imagine the taste of potato.

After roasting the potato, Lucia would smear it with butter and sprinkle some sugar or salt on top of it before taking a big bite. Once she placed it in her mouth, she would definitely feel the heat and taste the melted sugar. Then, the moment she chewed on it, she would taste the flavor of the golden-yellow potato. Lucia woke up from her daydream, surprised to find out that she was drooling already.

'W, what… he's eating it so deliciously.' 

Taking a deep breath, Lucia closed her eyes and maintained her calm expression. She thought, 'Let's get some sleep.' 

Then, another rustle rang inside the otherwise quiet carriage. This time, the scent that wafted to her nose was the savory smell of oil. Strangely enough, the smell reminded her of the times she went home during Lunar New Year, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s day, having her appetite whetted the moment she entered the house.

"Hahaha. Potatoes are the best!" 

"Excuse me. Please be quiet. This is a public place." 

"Ah. Yes, yes. Sorry. Sorry." 

Lucia spoke coldly and calmly closed her eyes again, determined to ignore the sounds this time. However, the sounds kept on coming. 

Crunch, crunch, crunch—

'Isn't this the sound of someone eating a well-cooked potato pancake?' 

The whole point of a vegetable pancake was its well-cooked edges. If the edges were cooked to a fine crisp, then the pancakes would definitely turn out chewy and crunchy at the same time. And the sound of someone eating those crispy edges was drifting to Lucia’s ears at that moment.

Gulp. 

She unconsciously swallowed her saliva. 

"Aaaaaaah." 

Lucia kept her eyes closed as she listened to the man open his mouth to take a bite. Lucia unconsciously opened her mouth too.

"Chomp." 

She also closed her mouth as if she was the one chewing the food. Then, she said, "Delicious…" 

Screech! 

Pause! 

Lucia was shocked at her own subconscious words. Even the man sitting in front of her was taken aback. Then, the man quickly hid the potato pancake away from her sight. He looked like someone was going to take his precious pancake away from him at any moment.

"Ah, don’t worry, I was saying nonsense. I'm not even hungry. I was thinking about what I will eat in reality. I was definitely not thinking about your potato pancakes."

"Really? What will you eat?" 

Lucia was a bit embarrassed, being caught off-guard, so she just said something without thought, "B, beef." 

"Beef?!" The man asked, eyes growing the size of a saucer, so much so that Lucia even thought that his eyes would pop out. Then, the man tilted forward and asked again, "H, how will you eat it?" 

"I'll just grill it for a bit and dip it in salt." 

"Wow, wow, wow... Is that all you're going to eat?" The man asked, gulping down his saliva quickly to speak. Lucia could feel the urgency radiating off of the man’s body.

"Of course not. I will also dip it in some dipping sauce before placing it on top of a lettuce and adding some garlic and other vegetables on it." 

"Kyaa! Miss, it seems like you’re an educated person! You're going to eat it in one bite right?" 

"Hohoho, of course. Of course," Lucia answered as she felt her self-esteem and confidence soar to the sky. It felt like she became a great person just because she would eat some beef!

"Kgghk, eating beef with wasabi on top is also delicious!" 

"Ah, you're right. That's also delicious." 

"Yeah. Miss, did you know?" 

"What is it?" 

"It's nice to eat beef seaweed soup for breakfast. Then after you mix your rice with it, you can also add some well-ripened kimchi, or some seasoned perilla leaves." 

"Wow. I'm already drooling." 

"So, you were really drooling earlier?"

The two of them talked about food as if they were friends that had not seen each other in a long time and met on their way somewhere. They were talking so naturally and casually that they did not notice this at all. 

"You will definitely feel like you have everything in the world as long as you eat beef..." 

"Well, potato pancakes are delicious too." 

Rumble! 

At that exact moment, Lucia's stomach cried for food. It seemed like she forgot to eat after completing the hidden quest in hopes of riding a carriage quickly. Then, Lucia looked at the potato pancakes in the man’s hands. She said, "Can..." 

"..." 

"Can I have a bite?" 

"Ugh...!" The man cried in agony as he wrapped his hands around his head.

***

Minhyuk was brought into agony once again! He thought, 'My god... Do people really think that I’m a kind and generous person?!' 

Minhyuk already felt like he had given in to his conscience when he left Bran a single potato, after digging up and eating over 800 potatoes from the latter's farm. However, that decision made him very conflicted. In the end, he left Bran a piece since he did feel a little apologetic towards him. 

Who would have expected that this unknown woman in front of him also asked him for food! In fact, Minhyuk realized it a bit too late that he had caused himself some trouble. He knew that he disturbed her sleep by eating too loudly inside the carriage. Of course, there was the smell too. He was someone who would not give anyone anything in the first place. However, he felt sorry for her since he had caused her trouble! So, he came to a tough decision. He thought, 'Y, yeah... Just one clamp of the chopsticks...!' 

"P, please have some..." Minhyuk spoke reluctantly as he held out his chopsticks to the woman. 

"Thank you!" The woman said, lowering her mask and revealing her face. The woman smiled confidently knowing that she was a great beauty. She was beautiful to the point that she could be compared to Alicia. The only difference was that if Alicia was akin to a cat, then she would be a gentle puppy. However, her cold look always managed to mask her gentle appearance. 

Lucia grabbed the chopsticks that Minhyuk held out, but quickly sensed that he was reluctant to let go. She said, "W, will you please let go? 

"Ah, yes...!"

"N, no. You have to let go so I can eat…!" 

"Yes!" Minhyuk said, trying his very best.

Right hand, let go of the chopsticks now! 

In the end, Lucia had to resort to force to pull out the chopsticks with her hands. Then, she tore up a piece of potato pancake before dipping it in soy sauce and placing it in her mouth.

"Wow..." 

The potato pancake was warm and crispy, hot and savory. The deep flavor of the potato pancakes made her feel awe. It was very chewy and pleasant to taste. She then coughed awkwardly and reached out for the potato pancake once more. However, at that moment…

Swooosh—

"Do you want your hands to get blown away?" Minhyuk uttered coldly as he pulled his sword halfway out of its sheath.

"Wow, you’re too much! Aren’t you too cheap?! Shame on you! You even want to PK someone just because they will use your chopsticks to get one more bite?!" 

"You were supposed to only eat one bite. Frankly, you shouldn’t really say anything if you get PKed!" 

"Everyone, this person is trying to kill me because I tried to eat one more bite of his food! What would people say about you? 'Gasp?! How can there be such a person?! It was just one more bite?!' Do you hear that? Do you hear what the others were saying?" 

"Stop your bullshit. A no is a no!" 

"Tsk!" 

"Hmph!" 

Lucia harrumphed and turned away. She could see Minhyuk eating his potato pancake with a pitiful expression through her peripheral vision. Lucia suddenly found the situation very funny. 

"Pffft!" 

"...?"

"Ahahahahahahaha. What even… potato pancakes? Why are we even like this?!" 

The situation was not that much of a deal, but she felt like she was hurt for a brief moment back then. However, the more she thought about it, the more Lucia found it funny. The man in front of her was giving off a funny and interesting energy,  but he was still sulky. 

"Hey, don't be angry." 

"Hmph! You're just like all those younger sisters! You said that you will only have one bite of ramyeon but, you will just end up eating it all!" 

"Ramyeon? Ah, right. I have ramyeon..." Lucia said.

Minhyuk’s face immediately changed at the speed of light the moment he heard her words. He said, "Great! Now that I look at it, aren't you a great beauty! Wow, even your hair and eyebrows are thick, huh?! Come to think of it, the mole near your lips is also very, very pretty. Wow! Even your nails are pretty!" 

It was truly a rapid change of attitude! Then, Lucia said again, "Ramyeon..." 

"Wow! Now that I listened to it more closely, even your voice sounds great!" 

"Shall we eat it together?" 

"Yes!"

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