Gourmet Gaming

Brony thought that Minhyuk was really weird. Normal kids their age back then would opt to buy branded padded jackets, or hang out with their friends the moment they got their hands on extra money. However, that punk had actually used the money he extorted to help support the starving and malnourished children. The notion was absolutely ridiculous.

Knowing that, Brony thought that he could not lose any more money like that, so he went and talked to his father, who was an owner of a small, but very profitable business. After the phone call with Minhyuk’s father, Brony’s father had stopped for a moment to contemplate, before telling him, ‘I’m not going to ask you guys about the money, but please don’t do it in the future anymore. And please don’t create any more trouble for that boy.’

Brony was confused when that happened. His father was very arrogant and prideful. He was a man that hated to lose. Yet, he had turned pale the moment he spoke on the phone. So, Brony asked him, ‘What the hell does that guy’s dad do?’

‘He doesn’t want to tell you that. I’m asking you once again, please don’t get into trouble with him. I won’t be able to handle the consequences if anything goes wrong,’ his father had said.

Back then, his father looked so pressured that he even scolded Brony for getting into trouble with Minhyuk in the first place. Four months after that incident, he transferred schools and no longer heard any news about that guy ever since .

‘What the hell does that guy’s dad do? It’s been a long time so I should go and ask Dad.’

When Brony finished recalling his dark history, a whisper suddenly arrived.

[Kald: This is Horden Guild’s Brony, right?]

Brony’s eyes narrowed to a slit. He said Brony? Just Brony?!

[Brony: Yepyep. That’s right. Who the X are you, you bastard?]

[Kald: I’m Ares Guild’s Kald.]

“...?”

Brony flinched when he read the whisper. Ares Guild? It was one of the top four guilds in the country. For some reason, he felt like he had heard the name Kald before, so he tried to recall when he heard all the while mumbling to himself, “Kald, who’s Kald again?”

“Kald? Are you talking about the Kald that ranks second on the Blacksmith Rankings?

“...Gasp?!”

The members of the Horden Guild were around Level 100 and the guildmaster, Brony, was at Level 200. Of course, due to the nature of the production class, the player named Kald would definitely exert a lower level of power than them. However, that very same person was known by another name… Godly Hands. From what they heard, any artifact that passed by his hands would turn out to become rare, or unique-ranked items. Not too long ago, he became the third person to produce an epic artifact in the country. He was a man notorious for not showing his face to the public. The fact that he sent a whisper to Brony meant that he had gone through the trouble of finding out the code of the players with the same name as him. In other words, he wanted to request a commission.

[Brony: Ah, is that so? I'm sorry for my rudeness. Excuse me, but why are you looking for me, Kald...?]

[Kald: I heard that you accept commissions and requests that’s a bit difficult for others to do.]

[Brony: Yes, that’s correct.]

Brony’s eyes narrowed sharply. The man sitting at the second place on the Blacksmith Rankings, who had a firm, high position in one of the four top ranking guilds in the country, had sent a whisper to him. Brony quickly sent him another whisper. 

[Brony: Is the commission strictly confidential?]

[Kald: You’re quick on the uptake. I hope that no information about my guild will be released and that no one else will know that I requested this.]

A dirty job that he needed to hide even from his guild! Brony had a hunch that it had something to do with killing players or NPCs.

[Brony: I see. How much will you pay me?]

[Kald: A million gold.]

“...!”

Brony’s eyes widened in shock. It seemed like the commission was much more serious than what he thought. Then, another whisper came from Kald…

[Kald: It’s in Barras Kingdom.]

***

Harmel was a woman that manned the Points Exchange counter at the Chef Tower. Just like any other day, plenty of players were lined up behind the counter. And then...

“Ack?! That’s all I can get for 2,000 points?!” 

“Yes, we’re sorry, gullible cust... No! Dear customer! We can’t do anything about it since it’s the rules.” 

“Cheapskates, you guys are cheapskates!” 

Although the customers were always right, there was nothing they could do. What they could exchange with their points was usually only from a small selection. The operators had revealed earlier that the larger the points that the players choose to exchange, the better the range of selections that they could choose from. However, points would expire every six months. In other words, it was impossible for the players to collect points for a year or two before exchanging them at the counter. 

Anyone who could exchange a huge amount of points meant that the player either specially earned points, or they made huge achievements. After all, they would be able to receive plenty of points if they brought huge benefits for the citizens and the country. One player after another exchanged their points at the exchange counter. Then, another player came in to exchange their points.

‘What’s with this person?’ Harmel thought, brows furrowing slightly. However, she was manning the counter so she quickly straightened her expression out. Harmel saw the person holding something in his hands. It was none other than half a watermelon. Looking closely, she saw that the watermelon was filled with fruit punch made with fruit cocktails, sparkling cider, and white milk.

The man was holding a fork tightly, as he munched on the sliced watermelons and fruits in his fruit punch. He came up to the counter and said, “Hello!” 

“Yes~ Please present your point coin.” 

“Point coin?”

“Yes. This must be your first time in the tower,” Harmel said. Players who came here for the first time were usually unaware of point coins.

“Your point coin will appear if you reach your hand out and say ‘Point Coin’. We will be able to measure and count your points with that coin.”

“Aah. Yes. Point coin. Oooooh! It’s real!” The man exclaimed as he handed his coin over to Harmel.

Then, Harmel squeezed the point coin and tried to concentrate hard. She would be able to check the amount of points the player had, if she concentrated hard and injected her mana into the point coin.

“Crunch, crunch, crunch!”

However, the sound coming in front of Harmel made it hard for her to concentrate. Harmel opened her eyes to see that the man was happily munching on the red watermelon.

‘I, it looks delicious.’

It was difficult to find watermelon these days since it was already winter. Weren’t watermelon fruits that were sweet and juicy? It was a fruit that had a crispy texture with sweet juices bursting in every bite. The man was even eating plenty of other fruits with his fork. Then, the man lifted his watermelon and drank the sweet mixture of cider and milk.

Gulp, gulp, gulp— 

“Keuhaaa!”

“I, it looks delicious, dear customer!”

“Yes. It’s really, really delicious!”

“Don’t you think that I look a bit tired? You see, I’m working hard on a golden Saturday. Don’t you think I deserve a bite of watermelon...”

“Yes? But, if a beautiful woman like you eats watermelon, then it will get stuck in your teeth, right? Then, are you going to eat it with just your tongue? But, we want to only see the beauty and elegance of the woman named Harmel. Would that include your cute, fleshy tongue? Huhu...”

“Oh, oh my...” Harmel chuckled shyly as she placed a strand of hair behind her ears.

Then the man saw the candy placed on the desk and asked her, “Ooooh. Can I eat some of this?”

“Yes. It’s free so you can eat as much as you like.”

“...You’re not going to regret it, right? I can really eat as much as I like?”

Harmel wondered how much this man could eat? One? Two? So, she said playfully, “Even if you eat enough to pull out a pillar out of the candy factory, the Chef Tower will not say anything~”

“Oooooh. Thanks.” The man said, opening a candy and placing it in his mouth.

“Crunch, crunch!”

Harmel tried to concentrate again, but failed to do so. So, she said, “...That, I’m sorry. Can you please let me concentrate? It’s a bit difficult to measure the points if there are distractions.”

“Yes, I’ll be quiet.” The man said, trying his hardest to remain silent. However, Harmel could still hear the man peeling candies one after the other. It was difficult for her to concentrate at all, so she opened her eyes only to see…

Tumble!

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

…almost 20 candies pouring into the man’s mouth.

“Do you think candies are like popcorn... I’m going to check your points inside!” Harmel said, turning around and quickly going inside to finish measuring the man’s points.

[The Point Coin is being measured.]

[100... 235... 385...]

Harmel measured the points and thought, ‘You can’t get watermelon anywhere right now. Wow, fruit punch really looks delicious. Why did he eat it so deliciously?’

[1,245... 2,146...]

“Oh, he collected more than what I thought?” Harmel said. It was quite a large amount of points collected for a first-timer in the tower. However, not long after, Harmel’s eyes started to grow wider and wider in shock.

[5,211... 6,145... 8,131...]

“Gasp?!” Harmel gasped in surprise. Then, the figures came out completely.

[There are 15,200 points.]

“Impossible!” She shouted in shock. A player exchanging 15,200 points in the tower was unprecedented! When she came out after measuring his points, she saw him holding another bag of candy which he asked another employee to refill. The man said, “This candy is so delicious!”

‘This person... is strange...’

***

Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa were both looking at the monitors with solemn expressions on their faces.

“15,000 points...”

“Although it’s only coincidental, the points are still somewhat similar.”

The monitor that the two of them were looking at was showing Player Minhyuk.

“The points match the price for the hidden piece, right?”

“That hidden piece is not easy to get. It’s basically impossible to achieve. After all, it’s almost impossible for a player to get 15,000 points before coming to the Chef Tower.” 

In fact, it was also rare for a player to accumulate 15,000 points even in the Combat Tower.

“No, but we still don’t know how it will turn out yet,” Lee Minhwa said, knowing why Team Leader Park denied it just now.

‘It’s really a loss for someone to achieve a hidden piece just like that.’

The Chef Tower was hiding a hidden piece that could only be achieved if someone used 15,000 points to buy insignificant things in the tower’s point exchange. In fact, there were not a lot of people who would gamble with just the explanation written in the items. After all, 15,000 points was a huge amount of wealth. However, Lee Minhwa thought differently. She thought, ‘That player likes to eat delicious food the most...’

Lee Minhwa watched Minhyuk as he poured a bag’s worth of candies in his mouth.

***

Gordon, the deputy master of the Chef Tower, hurried to go somewhere. According to Harmel from the first floor, a player with 15,000 points had appeared in the tower. From what Gordon recalled, the person that had exchanged the most points in the tower was Twilight Chef Black. He had accumulated 20,000 points. However, that was accumulated. The highest point that he exchanged in a single transaction was only 6,000 points. And right now, a person with almost thrice that amount came here?

‘Who in the world is it?’ Gordon thought as he kept on walking. He had instructed Harmel to bring the customer to their VIP room while he headed there. That was when Gordon met Harmel, who came out from the bathroom.

“That person?”

“He’s inside. H…he’s a candy monster. He has already eaten ten kilograms.”

“What are you saying? Miss Harmel, are you trying to joke with me now?”

“T…that’s not...”

“Which person would willingly eat ten kilograms of candy? Is it the time to joke around like that?!” Gordon huffed angrily. However, he quickly calmed himself down; there were other important matters to deal with. He calmed down and asked Harmel, “I was too agitated. Did he tell you what he’s going to exchange his points for?”

“We haven’t talked about that part yet.”

“Not yet? So what were you doing while he stayed in the VIP room? What the hell?”

Harmel felt small and intimidated when he saw the sharp look in Gordon’s eyes. She said, “I, I was getting a refill for the candies.”

“Again with the candy. Harmel, I didn’t see you as someone like this... Phew... Let’s talk about that later.”

Before he could open the door, he heard Harmel say cautiously, “But… what I told you about the candy is true.”

Grin━

Gordon smirked. Who would even eat ten kilograms of candies? Was this woman trying to mess around with him? So, he said. “He ate ten kilograms of candies? Can a person really do that? What is he, an elephant? No, not even elephants can do that. Is he that herbivorous dinosaur? A triceratops? If what you said is true, then I’ll appoint you as the deputy tower master right now.”

Creaaaaaak━

He opened the door after mouthing off at Harmel. After he opened the door, Gordon stared blankly for a couple of moments, before gently closing it again. Then he went towards Harmel and whispered to her whilst pointing at the closed door, “There’s a triceratops inside...!”