Gourmet Gaming

An hour ago. 

Minhyuk was smiling happily. Despite the cold weather, the sweet potato latte in his hands was keeping him warm. The first thing that he did the moment he went back inside the game was to make sweet potato latte with his remaining sweet potatoes. Sweet potato lattes were warm, sweet and flavorful. Anyone could buy this delicious drink at cafes for only 4,000-5,000 won.

"Hehe, I should definitely save some for later," Minhyuk said. He had used all of his remaining sweet potatoes for the drink. He even added a bit of the golden sweet potato to make this latte, so he wanted to savor it longer. 

"Hoo, hoo," Minhyuk blew into the sweet potato latte in his disposable cup as he walked towards the place where the preliminaries were being held. He easily finished his first cup before refilling. Then, his second cup. Then, his third.

"Ah, it's so delicious~" 

Minhyuk hummed happily as he stood patiently in line and waited for his turn. He was content to have his sweet potato latte. One of the female players standing behind him was quite shocked to watch him drink. She thought, 'My god… He kept on refilling and drinking that hot drink every 30 seconds!' 

That was when she heard Minhyuk murmur, "Since I’m saving some for later, it doesn’t feel as satisfying now... But, if I want to savor it longer, then I have to be thrifty.” 

"...!" 

Hearing his words, the woman could not help but turn around and said to her friend standing behind her, "The man in front of me is so weird. He already drank around twenty cups of sweet potato latte, but he said that he has a hard time enjoying it since he’s trying to save it for later." 

"...!" 

Minhyuk did not hear it because the distance between them had increased. Then, his turn came.

"Next, please." 

Minhyuk went inside as instructed by the voice. As he walked towards where the voice was, he tried to refill his cup with sweet potato latte again but… 

[Food God's True Worth.] 

[You have acquired +20 STM, +1 WIS, +1 INT.] 

…Minhyuk did not even care about the man’s words. All he heard was the notifications, which meant that he had already finished everything. He screamed out, "Aaaaack!" and fell down on his knees in despair.

"What's wrong? Are there any problems?" 

"I drank all of my sweet potato latte... Hnngh!" Minhyuk cried out, blaming himself.

'How can I be like this...' 

He had been in line and only walked a total of 500 meters for twenty minutes, but he had already finished drinking all forty cups of his tasty, warm, sweet potato latte.

"I want to drink more..." Minhyuk said, slowly getting up on his knees.

"Phew…" 

"Y… you're not going to cry, right?" 

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm well in both mind and body. I just need to stop thinking about my sweet potato latte…" 

"Then, shall we start the preliminaries?" 

"Ah, yes." 

Hamel, the NPC that would guide him inside, briefly described what was inside and what he needed to do. The preliminaries had three gates and he had to cross through all of the gates within the time limit.

Hamel entered the first gate with him and said, “What you need to do in the first gate is simple. All you have to do is hunt a Level 80 Arcus. It might be a bit hard for you to hunt it since you're on the same level, but if you take your time and move carefully, your strength should be enough to hunt it.” 

After listening, Minhyuk quickly stomped on the ground and dashed forward. It seemed like he was in a rush because he was hungry.

Stab! 

A few seconds after Hamel finished his explanation, an Arcus was already lying dead in front of him.

Thud! 

'...Gasp?!' 

Hamel firmly believed that this person was a weirdo from his earlier antics, so he was shocked to see that Minhyuk had completed the first gate quickly. Despite his shock, he still opened the second gate with a smile on his face. He said, “As you can see, the second gate is a forest. All you need to do is find hints to get out of this forest.” 

"Oh," Minhyuk gasped in awe. After all, this was a forest and there were various things that he could collect from here! 

"...?" 

Hamel was once again shocked to see the man pull out a hoe to dig. He thought, 'H… how did he know?!' 

Hamel was truly shocked. The method to get out of this maze-like forest was simple. The materials and plants growing in this forest were different from ordinary plants. The path to the next gate would open once they touched one of those special things.

‘He did it as soon as he entered?! Does he have some search skills or something?!’ 

However, Minhyuk did not care about Hamel at all, he just dug for his herbs and wild vegetables.

Thud! 

Thud!

Thud!

After a while, he was able to dig up a strange-looking leaf. The moment Minhyuk’s hands touched it…

[You have cleared the Second Gate. You may now proceed to the Third Gate.] 

"Then, shall we move forward now?" 

"Let me dig some more of these!" 

"..." 

Hamel scratched his head. The man only turned to go to the next gate after digging everything up. In the final gate… 

'Monks will appear.' 

Monks were Level 90 monkey-type monsters and were by no means easy opponents. In addition, these monsters were around ten levels higher than the contestant. A few moments after they entered the third gate, Hamel felt the presence of a Monk moving through the trees. Monks were extremely fast creatures. They were so fast that no one would be able to see their figures clearly among the trees.

"You don't have to hunt all the monsters that appear in the third gate. If you survive and reach the gate, you'll be considered to have passed." 

At that moment, a Monk threw a banana towards Minhyuk.

Swoosh!

The banana was speeding straight towards Minhyuk. One hit from this banana would definitely result in an instant death.

Grab! 

"...?"

Hamel was left dumbstruck, and he could not process what he just witnessed. He saw Minhyuk lightly and nimbly catching one of the flying bananas. Hamel looked at the banana in Minhyuk’s hand, then at the Monks on the trees.

"Wow, did you see that?! That monkey gave me a banana as a present!" 

"N, no. That's not a present, that’s an attack..." 

"Monkeys! You're very good boys!" 

"Ookiikii…?" 

Minhyuk grabbed the banana tightly and checked the information. 

(Monk's Banana) 

Ingredient Grade: E

Special Abilities:

•Once eaten, you will be poisoned with the fatal Monk's poison. 

•The Monk's bananas are more delicious than regular bananas. 

‘Monks usually live in the harsh and unyielding environment of the Amazon. Nothing can be eaten in that place so people who usually go on an expedition there always fall prey and die after eating the bananas that the Monks deliberately placed in the area,’ Hamel thought. He believed that the man would definitely know about it since he checked the information. However, to his shock, the man peeled the banana and ate the white and plump flesh.

[The skill, Eccentric Food God has been triggered. The poison effect has been nullified and ignored.] 

The sweet flavor of the banana, along with its soft texture, spread in Minhyuk’s mouth.

"D, delicious…!" 

'What the hell?! This guy’s a madman!'

Then, another of the Monk’s bananas flew towards Minhyuk.

Swoosh! 

Grab! 

"Thanks, I will eat it well!" 

"Ookiikii!" 

Swoosh! 

Grab! 

"Thank you very much. Chew, chew~ Ah, it's really delicious!" 

Swoosh—

Catch! 

"Oh, it's starting to get a bit threatening now. But, isn't it better for you to throw more at me?" 

"This banana crazy bas…" 

"Yes? What did you say?" 

"N, nothing," Hamel said as he tried his hardest to maintain an expression of indifference. However, there was one thing that Hamel was certain of.

'He can see the trajectory of the bananas. He must also have at least 100 in both STR and AGI for him to catch those bananas that easily.’

Then, the bananas started to fly from all directions. The Monks even used their special skill, throwing three bananas at the same time, but Minhyuk just caught everything without breaking a sweat.

"Good, you should throw at least that much! Alrighty then, look at how hyung does it. You should be more aggressive, throw it with strength..." Minhyuk said as he picked up a stone from the ground and threw it towards the trees.

Fwoosh! Thump! 

The stone that he threw was embedded deep in the tree. Hamel turned speechless once again. Minhyuk continued to diligently catch and eat the bananas that were thrown at him. As time went on, Minhyuk finally decided that he had caught enough and began to keep them in his inventory. 

"You have to leave now. Time is running out," Hamel said. He thought very hard about ways to make him leave the third gate but in the end, all he could do was tell Minhyuk that the time was almost up. 

"Ah, I want to eat more... Bananas..." Minhyuk said dejectedly as he walked towards the gate. Then, he suddenly saw a Monk running towards him with some bananas. 

"Ookiikii!" 

'...If a long range attack won't work, then the Monks would hold their banana and attack their enemies. They're as excellent as any warrior.' This was what Hamel thought. However, Minhyuk just grabbed the banana that the Monk was wielding and patted it on its head.

"What a good boy, you even gave this hyung bananas as a parting gift. Thanks. I'll eat it well." 

"Ookiikii…" The Monk cried as it made eye contact with Minhyuk’s soft and warm eyes.

"You're a really good boy, and you're also handsome."

"Kii? Kiikii!" The Monk cried, waving its hands before stretching it towards its chest and tapping on it. 

"Ah, you're a female? You're really pretty, so cute." 

"Kiii…" The Monk cried shyly. 

Even Hamel could see that Minhyuk was an extremely handsome man. Besides, the female Monks were extremely active compared to male Monks. Then… 

"Ookiikii!" 

The Monk suddenly ran off somewhere, before coming back with more bananas in its arms. The Monk then placed the bananas in Minhyuk’s arms. 

"Is this for oppa?" 

"Kiikii...." The Monk cried, sweeping its toes shyly on the ground. Minhyuk stroked its head before finally going outside. The Monk watched him leave as it twirled in its place and cried shyly once again. 

Minhyuk came out smiling happily with a bunch of bananas in his arms. He asked, "But, why did it give me a lot of bananas? I can't believe that it gave me this much. I feel a bit sorry now." 

"There's a meaning when a Monk gives an armful of bananas to someone." 

"What does it mean?" 

"It means ‘I want to mate with you tonight. If you accept the bananas, then it means it's a yes.’" 

***

Radem scratched his head in confusion.

"Uhm…" 

"Hmm." 

Hamel had experienced it firsthand, while Radem only saw it on the video. Regardless, it did not change the fact that…

"H… he's strong… You're right about him being a special foreigner." 

By the gods. It took the man almost thirty minutes because he took his time digging up wild vegetables and herbs and even catching bananas. Just watching the video was enough for Radem to verify Minhyuk’s overwhelming strength. However, even if he was strong, Radem did not dare to consider him for the Order.

"He's strong, but I wouldn't want to recommend him to the Knight Order."

"I understand." 

"He will most likely try and eat the Phoenix." 

"Yes…"

Radem suddenly remembered something. He asked, "Ah, how long do you think it will take him to clear all of the gates if he had not done all of those unnecessary things?" 

"This is my personal opinion but…" Hamel spoke very carefully,  "He seems to be much stronger than Lucia." 

***

The Monk recalled what happened earlier. The male monkey was so handsome that her heart trembled when he stroked her head and smiled at her. Monks were originally docile and gentle creatures. They only became aggressive because the humans tried to kill them.

The Monk went to the riverside and washed herself clean. She cleaned every nook and cranny. Then, she applied some grass leaves on her body and dried her fur well. She was now a fragrant Monk. After that, she climbed up the tree and watched the place where the man had left. Just imagining about the steamy night that they would have tonight, was enough to make her blush red.

"Kiikiikii!" The Monk cried shyly.

At that moment, Hamel came through the third gate with other qualifiers. He tilted his head in puzzlement and asked, "...Where did the Monks go?" 

The Monks should have attacked them the moment they entered the gate but no Monk, except for one staring at the gate, was in sight. Hamel's eyes met with the eyes of the female Monk. Then, he saw the Monk pointing towards the door.

"Ookiikii!" 

'Don't interrupt me. Just get out of here. I don't know when he'll come back!' 

Hamel was at a loss for words. Then, his jaw dropped to the ground when he saw the flower on the Monk's ear. His hands helplessly supported his forehead as he said, "...I'm really going to go crazy." 

The Monk was unaware of the chaos running rampant in Hamel’s mind. The Monk just stood there staring at the gate and shyly putting her fur behind her ear, much like a teenage girl waiting for her first love.