Leveling Up through Eating

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

Instructor Valen got one chicken as his share and Minhyuk has already kept it in his food storage inventory in advance so it would still be warm later. 

Minhyuk stepped out happily. 

“Wa, wait…!”

“Yes?” 

“Don’t eat all of the food.” 

Freeze! 

Minhyuk actually wished that he could. 

“I understand.” 

Minhyuk smiled awkwardly as he hurried over to Instructor Valen. He told him this when he received the chicken… 

“Oh, so this is that food called chicken? It smells really nice.” 

“Yes. Hehe. Please try it. Come on.” 

Minhyuk suddenly stopped walking as he thought of something. He then took something out of his food storage inventory and handed it over to Instructor Valen. 

“This is my regards for you. Instructor.” 

“Oh…… Boy, that’s great.” 

Valen had a pleasant smile on his face as he received what Minhyuk gave him. 

“Are you leaving today?”

“I was thinking about it. I’ll drop by before I leave tomorrow.” 

Minhyuk nodded. For some reason he felt that he shouldn’t stay with Valen today. 

And there was only one reason. 

‘Instructor Valen too……’ 

As he thought about it… He has already turned around. 

Valen looked down on the chicken silently. He returned to his house after his shift was done. 

And of course, Minhyuk delivered it along with the letter.

[I’m very glad that I could have a meal with the Squad Commander like this.] 

Valen smiled lightly as he stood up and opened his drawer.

There was a hair tie with red flowers in it.

He took it out and stared at it blankly for a while before he sat back down again. 

Clink! 

He heard a light sound as he opened what Minhyuk gave him… a canned beer. 

He felt the coolness of it going down his throat as he slowly downed the canned beer. 

Gulp, gulp—

“Kghhk.” 

There was a time when he felt that it was a pity to have Roina as a squad member.

She was a genius but she never got along well with her comrades. She was extremely outstanding and it was something that made her very cocky.

In the end, she had an accident and Valen saved her. After that incident, he felt that the look in her eyes had changed but he didn’t pay heed. 

After a while, he saw her train alone. 

And at that time he knew. 

Ah, she wasn’t just a genius. She was someone who worked very hard. 

At that time, he felt a little something sprout in his heart. And even if he didn’t express himself while they exchanged letters he felt that it grew bigger. 

He didn’t even know why he bought a red hair tie for her before while he was walking down the street. 

Then… 

He began to write a letter as if he had made up his mind. 

***

“Hoo! Hoo!” 

Minhyuk shouted excitedly. 

The time is right. 

It was night time and there were grasses surrounding him everywhere. 

Minhyuk laid down a mat. It felt like he went to meet his friends, that he hasn’t seen for a long time, along the Han River after he got chicken from the delivery man. 

Minhyuk placed the golden chicken that he fried on top of the mat. The golden chicken was very big so he sliced up quite a lot of meat. Then he brought out his secret weapon. 

Beer. 

It was what he gave to Valen. Beer definitely goes best with chicken.

Fizz! 

“Kgghk, what a sound. Oh, oh, where do you think you’re going?” 

Sluurp—

Minhyuk quickly drank the rising foam. 

“Kyaaha!” 

As he exclaimed in joy, he slowly lifted up a chicken leg. 

Guulp—

His saliva started to fall down like a waterfall… 

“Aah~” 

He opened his mouth wide and had a big bite. 

Crunch, crunch, crunch! 

The first charm of chicken was the sound it makes at the first bite. 

Chew, chew. 

The second charm was the crispy texture of the skin that one can feel when it’s being chewed. 

And the third charm was…

The hidden milky white meat that you could meet once the fried outer skin was bitten through. 

“I’m… I’m very happy…!” 

Minhyuk smiled brightly. 

Gulp, gulp—

Isn’t it just good manners to bring out plenty of foaming cold beer while eating chimaek [1]?

“Kyaha! This is how it should taste! This is the taste!” 

Chicken and beer. 

It’s the best food to eat after a hard day at the office or with friends at the park. You could even enjoy it alone at home while watching the TV. 

Minhyuk started to eat chicken with great relish. Suddenly, he looked up towards the sky. 

The moon is shining brightly tonight. 

“Hmm~ I have delivered chicken that was filled with love.” 

Minhyuk has already noticed that Valen has Roina in his heart.

That was what he thought as he started eating chicken again. 

“Mhhmm, this is very very delicious~” 

***

The next day, he was training to increase the proficiency of his skill. 

To increase the proficiency of a skill, a user could either use skill points or use the skill frequently. However another method to increase proficiency was via training.

In fact, Minhyuk saw that Roina’s Bardy Swordsmanship had a high intensity training that could lower his fullness stat. So he kept on training and as a result increased his skill proficiency. 

Today too, without fail, he has completed his four hours of exercise. 

[You have burnt all of your calories gained, your fullness has reached 0%]

[You are able to eat again.] 

[You have lowered your fullness to 0% for a total of four times in the set time.] 

[You have achieved the Secret Quest ‘He Who Strives to Eat.’] 

[You have received +5 in all of your 5 basic stats.] 

[Your Digestion Skill has leveled up.] 

“……hmmm?!”

A secret quest? I think I’ve heard about it. 

Quests in Athenae are ranked from E~S. There was also news about some special quests.

A hidden quest was literally a special quest.

A secret quest was a quest where the user did the quest without them knowing about it. They would be rewarded once they have completed the quest. 

A legendary quest was a quest that came from the legends or from someone who carries a legendary quest. 

“The hard work I did so I could eat was a secret quest?” 

Minhyuk grinned. He just did it so he could eat. 

What he was more interested about was the notification about his ‘Digestion’ skill leveling up. 

He checked the skill right away. 

(Digestion) 

Passive Skill

Rank: ? 

Level: 2

Mana Required: 0

Cooldown: 0

Effects: Calorie consumption will be 2x faster. 

Description: It lets you burn calories faster when you exercise. The term ‘exercise’ refers to the average time that the general public uses to work-out, which is 1 hour. If you continue to work out for 1 hour, it can help you burn 20,000 calories. 

“….!” 

Minhyuk’s eyes widened. He felt much more surprised now than when he caught the golden chicken or when he received Valan. 

He could consume his calories 2x faster. 

And it was written in the description… 

Before, Minhyuk had to train for 4~5 hours to lower his fullness to 0% but now it could be shortened to 2 hours only. 

That was more than enough. 

Minhyuk did not know but it was the system’s rewards for his efforts. 

You can eat 40,000~50,000 calories in a day but you can burn everything by just exercising for 2 hours, isn’t this very innovative?! 

‘Good, good.’ 

Minhyuk turned around satisfied. He was going to get the plate that he gave to Instructor Valen yesterday. 

Then he would go to Isbin Village. 

***

Footnotes 

[1] 치맥 : chimaek. Lit. Chicken + Maekju (beer) it’s a heavenly combination *chef’s kiss*

TL’s corner!!! 

I came to translate mukbang but I received a love story. XD thank god for Minhyuk and his love for food that we got back on track.

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