Leveling Up through Eating

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

PR: MattForgenti

Minhyuk almost jumped out of his seat when he heard his words.

“Su, sushi?”

“Yeah. He’s really good at making sushi. And you might not know of this, boy, but there’s a place called ‘Sea of the Dragon King’ in the Northern Continent.”

Sea of the Dragon King!

Just listening to its name, you could tell that it was an unusual and mysterious place.

“There are plenty of creatures living in the Sea of the Dragon King. You might not have heard of it but the Valkyrie Kingdom’s specialty is ‘seafood’. And Rald is really, really good at making sushi. It’s to the point where you will always have a smile on your face whenever you eat his sushi, you know?”

Minhyuk imagined himself entering a sushi restaurant and sitting on one of the empty chairs. Then, he would tell the owner who was also dressed like a Japanese…

‘Boss, an A course here. Please.’

A course. It was the most basic course that included 10 sushi and a hot mini udon.

He would definitely first taste the complimentary miso soup. He would pick his spoon and carefully sip the hot soup.

‘Hooo.’

The taste would definitely bring a soft smile on his face. Next, he would put some wasabi in a small bowl and pour soy sauce ever so slightly until he had reached the appropriate proportion for the wasabi that he had placed in earlier. Just as he finished preparing his sauce, the boss would hand him his ordered sushi.

The long-cut flatfish sushi, the pink salmon sushi, the fresh and plump shrimp sushi, the seasonal fish sushi, the chewy octopus sushi, the eel sushi, the yellow and bright egg sushi and many others!

Sushi could give you the pleasure of tasting a variety of flavors in one single order.

Once he dipped the flatfish sushi on his pre-made soy sauce, a wide grin would definitely be plastered on his face. And oftentimes, when he dipped sushi on a sauce made with plenty of wasabi, he would feel his nose getting all warm and tingly. Minhyuk personally loved this strange sensation and wonderful flavor.

What if you taste the udon right after a bite?

It would be the best combination of flavors.

Sluuuuurp━

Minhyuk couldn’t help but wipe the drool off his face as he laughed with a ‘He…’.

Varen felt that he was right about him.

“Boy, I heard that you’re a chef?”

“You’re right.”

“Your cooking may not be on par with Rald but if you make a dish that can satisfy me then I will give you a chance to taste his dishes. A chef like you who’s still wet behind the ears wouldn’t have any other chances to taste his food so you should take this chance. And if you satisfy me, then I will also evolve your abilities.”

“Evolve?”

It was Genie, and not Minhyuk or anybody else, who responded to his words.

Varen nodded his head proudly.

“I have the power to evolve other people’s skills and abilities.”

“……!”

Genie was shocked. She could only think of one skill with this ability.

The Evolution Skill.

And this skill was quite different from leveling up.

‘This is such a great opportunity……!’

Genie looked at Minhyuk with envy in her eyes.

At that same moment, Minhyuk received a notification.

[Hidden Quest: Satisfy the Hungry King Varen.]

Rank: S

Restriction: None

Rewards: King Varen’s Skill: Evolution, Sushi made by the Legendary Chef.

Penalty for Failure: Varen’s favorability will sharply decrease.

Description: Right now, King Varen is extremely hungry. He needs a chef to cook delicious food that can satisfy his picky taste buds. If you satisfy King Varen, you will have the chance to evolve one of your offensive skills.

The evolution of an offensive skill. In other words, Minhyuk would be able to evolve Ellie’s Swordsmanship. 

Currently, Ellie’s Swordsmanship under Minhyuk’s hands was already a very powerful skill. If anyone compared Minhyuk with other users of the same level, then this was truly a great skill. However, it still was not quite on par with high-leveled users.

If he compared his Ellie’s Swordsmanship with the unique offensive skill of someone at Lv400 then the skills of a Lv400 would still have a huge advantage against his skill. This would show how overwhelmingly strong a Lv400 user’s unique skill was compared to his. The reason was simple… it was because the user’s skill level was much higher compared to his. The higher the skill level, the stronger the attack and there would be more abilities that would be unlocked in the skill. Even if you have a Lv1 Epic Skill, once you fought with a Lv8 Unique Skill, then the unique skill would still obviously be much stronger.

But what if Ellie’s Swordsmanship gets evolved?

Even though the overall level and capabilities of the skill would still be lower than those at Lv400, Minhyuk believed that his skill wouldn’t be too far off. Even if he still did not much since he had never seen a skill evolve before, he believed that he would be able to do more once his skill evolved.

Genie asked him quietly.

“There’s a quest, right? What’s the rank?”

“Hidden quest. S-rank.”

“……!”

Genie was once again shocked. She looked at Minhyuk again with envy tainting her eyes.

‘Wow…… So jealous.”

However, she still thought about some things to be concerned about.

‘Rovan-nim said that Minhyuk’s dishes were extremely delicious but……’

He even said that Minhyuk’s buffs were quite good but even if that was the case, the person in front of him was a king. This was a person who grew up wearing only good things and eating only the finest dishes. What was more important was… this was a quest to satisfy someone who had only ever eaten the dishes made by the Legendary Chef! This wasn’t ranked S for no reason at all. It was a very difficult challenge.

Minhyuk nodded his head in agreement.

‘Delicious sushi……!’

The only reason why he decided to go all out for this quest was because he wanted to eat sushi. The reason was not for Ellie’s Swordsmanship but just to eat sushi!

He also had this skill…

‘The Joy of Eating Together!’

It was a skill that would make him cook for others but would also allow him to taste the dishes that he made for others too.

Minhyuk looked at King Varen and thought…

‘Create a recipe.’

[Creating a recipe that the other party desires.]

[You can now check the recipe for steak.]

[The amount of buff that can be used in a day has been decreased due to creating a recipe.]

Minhyuk nodded his head. 

It seemed like creating a recipe would decrease the amount of buffs and buffed dishes that he could make in a day.

Minhyuk suddenly frowned.

‘What the hell is this?’

There were plenty of ridiculous ingredients listed in the recipe. Even though he knew most of the ingredients listed in it, it was still quite ridiculous in his opinion.

A++ ranked black cow.

The black cow was both a monster and not quite a monster. However, it was a rare cow that existed in Athenae. It was so rare that it could only be found in 1 out of 50,000 cows. The black cow had a more plump and juicier meat compared to regular cows but it was also much more expensive.

But what made Minhyuk frown even more than the A++ ranked ingredient was the Moon’s Laurel. This ingredient was literally the leaf from a laurel tree that bathed under the moonlight as it grew. And he knew that it was extremely rare.

‘Perhaps it’s because he was a king so the recipe is also extremely tricky!’

And his biggest problem now was…

‘I don’t have any ingredients, though?’

After all, it wasn’t that strange for such ingredients to be running out with how precious they were. Right?

Then, another notification rang.

[You can replace the ingredients with your own ingredients.]

Minhyuk had some laurel leaves and beef tenderloin with him.

‘Ho. Replace.’

[You can now check the altered recipe.]

He quickly checked the information.

(Steak Recipe for Varen.)

Required Ingredients: Regular Beef Tenderloin, Butter, Red Wine, Laurel Leaves, Matsutake Mushroom……(redacted)

Expected Dish Grade: Rare ~ Epic

Expected Effects:

━ Effects of Varen’s Skill: Evolution will increase.

━ Increase in all stats.

The changes after the ingredients were replaced and altered were quite evident. Originally, the expected dish grade was at Unique~Legendary, but it had now become Rare~Epic. In addition, the significant increase in Varen’s skill had now only become an increase in the skill. The ‘significant’ was suddenly gone.

‘Ah. The ingredients help increase the buff, right?’

Minhyuk nodded his head in understanding.

Then, he pulled his frying pan from his back. He decided to start cooking inside the running carriage so he quickly heated his frying pan.

[Now is the best time to spread the butter.]

He moved his hands according to the notifications given by the Food God’s Cooking Skill. Minhyuk gently placed and melted the butter on his frying pan. And not long after, the sweet smell of melted butter wafted inside the cramped carriage. As soon as the smell wafted, Genie quickly opened the windows to stop herself from drooling over the smell. 

Then, Minhyuk poured some red wine and placed some laurel leaves on top of it.

“Smells good.”

Varen might look incredibly intimidating but his expression looked like he was having a good time.

However, Minhyuk did not hear any of his words. He was extremely concentrating on his task!

‘Hoo?’

Varen looked at him with a bit of surprise coloring his rigid face.

Once the red wine was boiling in the frying pan, Minhyuk added some catsup, soy sauce and oligosaccharide. He mixed them continuously and boiled it down until the consistency was thick. Then, once he finished cooking the glossy red sauce, he placed it in a bowl and set it aside.

He sliced some onions and stir-fried it in medium heat.

Sizzle!

Once the onions started to turn a brownish hue, he added two tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of honey and stir-fried it some more. Then, he also placed the stir-fried onions in a bowl and set it aside.

He took the red, plump and fresh tenderloin out of his inventory and cut it into thick slices.

[Tie the ends of the tenderloin with a string to prevent the juices from flowing out.]

Minhyuk knew about this even before the notification rang. He quickly tied the tenderloin with a string then he sprinkled some salt, pepper, and parsley on both sides of the cut steak before rubbing some olive oil all over the meat.

Then, he sliced the matsutake mushrooms and zucchini in strips before adding some parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and olive oil. He mixed them well before stir frying it on his well-heated frying pan before placing it in a bowl and setting it aside.

Now, for the long-awaited steak.

He made sure to heat the pan well before adding enough oil. Once the oil was hot enough, he placed the tenderloin steak on top of the pan.

Sizzle!

Smoke and steam rose out of the pan together with a loud sizzling sound!

“Gulp.”

It was the sound of Varen swallowing his saliva down as he heard the sound. However, no one could blame him for this since the smell and sounds were truly too enticing.

After about a minute, Minhyuk flipped the steak. He wanted to keep on flipping it every minute to make sure that the steak wouldn’t stick to the pan and to also make sure that it did not burn.

Sizzle!

[Varen prefers Medium.]

[Turn it over every 20 seconds and cook it for a total of 7 minutes.]

The Create a Recipe effect notified him as if it did not want its name ‘Create a Recipe’ to be ignored and overshadowed. After all, this effect informs the user about the preferences of the other party!

Once he finished cooking, Minhyuk pulled out a white plate. Then, he placed the meat on top of it and added some matsutake mushrooms and zucchini next to it. Next, he placed the stir-fried onions on top of the meat before pouring the red sauce that he made earlier.

Once he finished plating, he heard the notification about the completion of the steak.

[You have completed a Filet Mignon.]

[Varen’s dish is the only dish with the buff effect.]

[The Create a Recipe Skill Effect can only be tasted by the same person once per month.]

[Unique Grade.]

[You have gained 2 DEX.]

[You have gained 4 reputation points.]

[You have gained 400 Achievement Points.]

‘Ho?’

This was the first notification he had heard in a while ever since he made tangsuyuk. In the case of tangsuyuk, it turned out to be rare due to the Orc Tribe Leader’s Essence and the skill Trance.

But a unique grade dish appeared right now.

The reason was quite simple. His Food God’s Cooking Skill had achieved Lv2 and he now had a x2 chances in getting a higher grade of dish once he cooked.

The only reason why Minhyuk did not hear any notifications after cooking, aside from the tangsuyuk he made before, was because all of the graded dishes that he made were buffed dishes. However, Minhyuk did not make those dishes for its buffs. He made them just because he wanted to eat them.

“Let’s try it.”

“Not yet.”

“Huh?”

“Ronie-nim, please act as a waiter.”

“Yes? What in the……”

Genie couldn’t understand him at all.

“I really want to try eating it like we are in a restaurant!”

“……?”

“Come on~!”

Minhyuk swiftly handed her the plate. And Varen, who was sitting right in front of Minhyuk, raised his hand.

“Waiter.”

“Yes, yes…… Cu, customer-nim……”

Genie responded with a puzzled look on her face.

“What are today’s specials?”

“Ah, we have filet mignon. Sir.”

“I’d have one. Ah, Medium please.”

“Yes……”

When he said ‘Medium’, Genie wanted to slap the back of Minhyuk’s head just to stop this ridiculous skit. Then she paused…

‘Is this a buffed dish? Should I check it out?’

With great anticipation, she checked Minhyuk’s dish.

(Filet Mignon)

Ingredient Grade: C

Grade: Unique

Restriction: Only Varen could have the buff effects.

Storage Time: 7 days

Preservation Time: 10 days

Special Effects:

━ +5% increase in all stats.

━ +2 on Varen’s Skill: Evolution.

Description: A filet mignon made by the chef Minhyuk for Varen and Varen alone.

The moment she saw the buff, Genie was so surprised that she almost dropped the steak.

‘Th, this is impossible…… H, how can this be……!’

The storage time was a week. And even if you eat it, the effect would last for 10 days! The buff effect gave the skill a +2 increase while it also had the effect to increase all stats by 5%.

‘What in the world are you……?’

Genie stared at Minhyuk in wonder.

***

Food Discussion Corner

Filet Mignon / Tenderloin steak (안심 스테이크): The direct translation of the raws was tenderloin steak. But if you search it up, the steak made out of the tenderest part of the beef, the ends of the tenderloin is called filet mignon. It’s a high quality part of the beef.

Medium – Steaks are cooked at different times and there is a chart for it. Blue, Rare, Medium Rare, Medium and Well-Done. Medium has a pinkish middle while the outside is seared perfectly. The center is more grey-brown to pink.

Matsutake mushrooms – Pine mushrooms. Grows in Eastern Asia and most popular in Japan, Korea and China. Quite expensive since their growth requirements make them a rare find and the need for them is quite high.

***

TL’s corner!!!

Quite informative. Especially since I will be cooking steak soon. Hmmm. Thanks Minhyuk and your recipes!

PR’s corner!

Genie’s expression at seeing Minhyuk’s buffs is just priceless. 

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