Leveling Up through Eating

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

PR: MattForgenti

44 The Old Man and the Sea

“To be precise, he was one of the Most Powerful Men in the past.” 

“Yeah.”

Ben, the person that Minhyuk hitched a boat ride with right now, was one of most important and valuable NPCs in the newly opened Northern Continent update. He had disappeared from the eyes of the public for quite a long time. He had disappeared right after his son’s death and was promptly forgotten about the people. Over quite a long time, new people had filled in his place as one of the Most Powerful Men.

Originally, he was the person who was standing tall on Rumad’s position. Ben was considered to be the eight among the Most Powerful Men. Currently, he was not considered to be a part of the Most Powerful Men so Minhyuk did not hear any notifications about him. In other words, he was like an NPC that was hiding his identity.

“Ghost Spear Ben……”

Team Leader Park mumbled to himself about the codename that was given to Ben. Meanwhile, Lee Minhwa was also mumbling to herself.

“The monster that Ghost Spear Ben wants to catch and kill is a legendary monster, right?”

Team Leader Park nodded his head when he heard her.

There hasn’t been a case in the country of anyone successfully raiding a legendary monster. However, there was an increase of successful raidings of epic monster hunts just recently. The only reason was because there was a considerable number of epic monsters that were released once the Northern Continent update was implemented. But as of the moment, there was still no case in the country of anyone successfully raiding a legendary monster. Of course, there were plenty of legendary monsters scattered in the Northern Continent.

And if you successfully hunt one……

“The thing that will drop…… I believe User Minhyuk would like it very much, right?”

***

Ben smiled widely at the wide expanse of blue sea in front of him.

“Son, aren’t you cold out here?”

The reason why the renowned Ghost Spear became a fisherman was because no fisherman in the Northern Continent had the capabilities to catch the Golden Salmon. In Valkyrie Kingdom, the most skilled fisherman was only at a master fisherman level. However, such a level was not enough for anyone to catch the Golden Salmon. So Ben decided to start his fishing career, there and then. For years, his boat continued to set sail every single day without fail.

The punk who killed his son was staying in a cave. What was worse was the cave…….

‘Only foreigners can get inside that cave.’

This was the reason why he was trying to catch a Golden Salmon. He wanted to lure the guy out of the cave so he could avenge his son. At the thought of foreigners, he turned his head to look at the foreigner who boarded his boat.

This young man had introduced himself as a chef. Then, he saw Minhyuk pulling out his fishing rod, loading some bait and throwing the line. He even chanted a weird chant that was like a spell.

“God, please take my wishes. Please answer my prayers. Dragon King-nim, please give me a flatfish and a rockfish!”

Ben couldn’t help but laugh at him when he heard his words.

“This little friend, fishing is not that easy. Do you think you can easily get fish just by praying to the Dragon King? Fishing requires a lot of waiting, waiting, waiting and more waiting.”

In addition, fishing in Athenae was truly difficult so it was hard to find talented fishermen among the people. But for the past several years, aside from eating, all of Ben’s time was dedicated to fishing! He might have been named as the Ghost Spear but he was also a master fisherman.

But, at that moment……

“I caught one!”

“……Eh?”

Ben was taken aback.

‘Th, this friend is quite lucky!’

When he first tried his hands with fishing and brought his boat out, he spent 24 hours waiting for a fish to bite.

But something took his bait as soon as he threw the line?

Then, the young man loaded another bait and threw his line once more.

After 5 seconds……

“I caught another one!”

Flap, flap, flap, flap!

Once Minhyuk reeled the line and lifted the fishing rod up, an energetic and vigorous fish was seen hanging by the end of the line.

“Keoheok!?”

Then, Ben thought of something.

‘D, don’t tell me……. Is it really because of the prayer?!’

He also threw the line with great strength before sitting in front of the rod and murmuring to himself.

“God, please take my wishes. Please answer my prayers. Dragon King-nim, please let me catch a Golden Salmon!”

***

The moment Minhyuk lifted his fishing rod and made the posture of throwing he could immediately see a red spot!

‘As expected of the dexterity stat!’

It was the special privilege of the dexterity stat! He could see where he needed to throw the line and how much strength was needed thanks to his DEX. However, even though there was a red circle that could aid him in fishing, it was still divided into narrower or wider circles.

Minhyuk loaded his fishing rod with bait and casted the line towards one of the circles with as much strength as he could. As soon as the line was casted, a fish immediately bit on the bait.

[You have casted the line at a fairly good spot.]

[You have acquired a rockfish.]

[You have gained 1 DEX.]

Flap, flap, flap, flap!

“I caught one!” 

A fresh rockfish! This guy is even flapping wildly!

Then, Minhyuk suddenly thought of something.

‘Huh? Don’t tell me……. That red circle……?’ 

It was a huge circle. There were plenty of huge circles all over the sea compared to the smaller ones. For about 30 huge circles, there was at least one small circle. To test his theory, Minhyuk quickly casted his line to a huge circle and not long after, a fish was caught.

[You have casted the line at a fairly good spot.]

[You have acquired a flatfish.]

“Kyaa!”

A fresh and energetic flatfish! Minhyuk kept on casting his line and everytime he pulled it out there would be fish hanging on the end of the line.

Then, he turned his head around.

“Huh?”

“God, please take my wishes. Please answer my prayers. Dragon King-nim, please let me catch a Golden Salmon!”

The old man, who introduced himself as Ben, was praying hard. He was doing the same prayer that Minhyuk did for fun earlier.

There’s no way that we could get more fish because of the Dragon King, right?

But Ben showed great sincerity.

At that moment…

“Dragon Kinggggggg!”

He even shouted at the top of his lungs with his hands stretched out towards the sky. He looked like a devout fanatic with how sincere he was acting.

‘Are the elderly really this superstitious?’

After he finished his prayers, Ben’s eyes widened when he saw his fishing line going taut.

A fish bit the bait!

He turned to look at Minhyuk with a surprised expression on his face.

“Ooooooh……! I prayed like you did and it worked!” 

Minhyuk was quite confused with what Ben said. Without waiting any further, Ben lifted his fishing rod with all his might. And what appeared was…… 

“These are shoes!” 

Shoes. 

“I don’t understand why these people throw their trash in this beautiful sea!” 

Ben looked a bit angry. It was unknown whether he was angry at the people who threw the shoes in the sea or he was angry at himself for catching the shoes.

In the next moment, Minhyuk was able to catch another fish. Minhyuk moved quickly while Ben looked at him grumpily.

‘No, this friend…… It turned out that he is a talented fisherman?!’ 

“Hoo, it’s a big catch……! Heok?!” 

Minhyuk looked at it with surprise and elation. He was already quite happy with catching all those flatfish and rockfish but this one took the cake!

[You have casted the line at a fairly good spot.]

[You have acquired a flower crab.]

Because it was a flower crab that looked fresh and yummy!

‘This is heaven……!’

He did not need to do anything special, just with his fishing rod and some bait he would be able to get anything that he wanted!

“You look so delicious……”

Minhyuk smiled happily as he looked at the crab that was hanging on his fishing rod.

Then, he heard Ben trying his luck as he casted another line.

“Boy, how did you pray to the Dragon King? Why are you catching things so well?”

“That was just a joke!”

“……”

Minhyuk finally realized that Ben had mistaken his prayers as the reason why he was able to catch fish so well.

“Boy, how long have you been fishing?”

“I did it for the first time today.”

“……”

Ben was left speechless. He had been doing this for several years so did that mean that he was worse than someone who just did it for the first time today?

At that moment, another fish bit on the line that Minhyuk had casted.

“Wow, it’s a big catch! It’s a big catch!”

“……Actually, fishing is something that anyone can do but if you want to be hailed as a skilled fisherman then you have to catch special kinds of fish.”

“Hoo. Special fish? Is that like the Golden Salmon that you mentioned earlier?”

“Yeah. We’re now at the spot where that guy is usually seen.”

“Oho!”

Minhyuk was so excited. They were at the spot where the special fish that Ben was talking about was known to come out!

After testing out the red circles for some time, Minhyuk finally concluded his little experiment.

‘As expected, it really is a prediction!’

Right now, Minhyuk could see five small red circles. This was a number that was far higher than what he had usually seen earlier.

‘The ones in the smaller circle must be more special!’

Minhyuk was quite sure of this. After all, he had tested his theory for quite some time and it really did coincide with what he thought.

Ben suddenly spoke up as if he wanted to repair his broken pride as a fisherman.

“You’re just being lucky today so don’t think that you’re good at fishing with just that. It’s much harder to catch a special fish. But I’ll try and hook one up so you can see how it’s done. After all, I’m someone who has fished here for 5 years.” 

Minhyuk casted another line as he listened to Ben talk. This time, he had set his sights on the smaller circle.

[You have casted the line at the best spot.]

[You have acquired a Fantastic Flower Crab.]

It was the notification for the best! This notification only popped out when he casted his line on a small circle. It seemed like what he had thought earlier was truly the case. The smaller circles were really housing those special fish that Ben was talking about earlier.

“Yeah! It’s a Fantastic Flower Crab!” 

“……” 

Ben had been fishing in this sea for years but it took him three years to catch one Fantastic Flower Crab. Looking at Minhyuk, his nose had tingled and he felt sour. He felt like crying with how good Minhyuk was at fishing.

‘No, I can catch that too!’

But there were no fish that took his bait even after 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours of waiting.

“Hooo! It’s a big catch!”

“Assarabia Colombia! Huh? I want to drink Colombian coffee…… Hoo!”

“Another big catch!”

“……”

He couldn’t catch any fish at all so he was left speechless with how bountiful Minhyuk’s harvest was.

When Minhyuk turned around, he saw that Ben hadn’t caught a single fish at all.

‘Y, you said that you have been fishing for 5 years but you’re really bad at it, huh……’

Ben’s back looked extremely desolate. It seemed like he felt sad and depressed with how unlucky he was today.

When he thought about it, Ben was a nice person who gave him a free ride on his boat. He ought to do something so he wouldn’t feel so sad. After all, he even brought him to the spot where the special fish could be caught, right?

“Don’t be too discouraged. Well, come on! I’ll make you something delicious!”

“Ahem, ahem. Something delicious?”

Ben slowly turned his head to look at him. In fact, he was the worst cook that one could ever encounter. Because of that, all he could eat when he was at sea was sashimi.

“Yes. Let’s see.”

Minhyuk used his Create a Recipe skill in hopes of helping this old man with his poor(?) fishing skills.

And the recipe that came out was……

(Flower Crab Ramyeon Recipe for Ben)

Required Ingredients: Fantastic Flower Crab, Barade’s Green Onions, Bean Sprouts, Cheongyang Peppers, Shin Ramyeon

Expected Dish Grade: Rare ~ Epic

Expected Effects: 

━ A dramatic increase in Ben’s fishing skills.

━  +1 in Ben’s Spear Skill: Ghost Spear

‘Huh……?’

Minhyuk looked at the recipe and felt somewhat strange. Once he saw the end of the effects in the recipe, he couldn’t help but feel that it was strange.

‘Ghost Spear? What’s that?’

Is Ben proficient in that Ghost Spear Skill?

Minhyuk couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion since all he could see was an ordinary old man in front of him.

‘Maybe he used to be a spearman in the past?’

However, he did not get himself entangled with it. After all, his father used to tell him that he wanted to live comfortably as he fished his days away when he grew older. 

Perhaps, Ben was a retired soldier who became a fisherman after retiring?

Minhyuk did not ask any questions and just thought about it to himself. There was something more important in front of him. As he read the recipe again, he couldn’t help but be filled with excitement.

‘Wow. My goodness. Flower crab ramyeon!’

Where was he right now? He was sitting on a boat as he floated in the middle of a blue, glittering sea!

Shwaaaa!

Whenever the wind blew, the waves of the sea would hit the side of their boat and rock them slightly. Their bodies would sway and tremble as they tried to balance themselves. Just sitting in a boat would cause their bodies to be overwhelmed with fatigue which in turn would trigger an extreme hunger in them. 

At times like these, what better food to eat than flower crab ramyeon?

“Kgghk!”

Minhyuk felt that it was extremely thrilling even though he had only imagined it.

“I’ll cook you some flower crab ramyeon!”

“Oh? I see, it’s flower crab ramyeon.”

Ben smacked his lips. He looked like he was also happy at the thought of such a delicacy.

The ingredients needed for the recipe that Ben wanted the most was easy to procure. He already caught the Fantastic Flower Crab and since he was a Korean who loved Shin Ramyeon, he always had it in his inventory. Minhyuk quickly pulled out the ingredients needed and started to cook.

First, he trimmed off the legs of the crabs. Then, he boiled the water for the soup. He first prepared the soup so he could cook the crabs first before the rest of the ingredients. After preparing the water, he placed the crab inside the pot. Once the crab was cooked to some extent, he added the bean sprouts, cheongyang pepper and the ramen together. After boiling the ingredients together, he finally added the green onions on top of the soup gently.

The beauty of flower crab ramyeon wouldn’t be complete if there’s no egg in it. You liked this crab ramyeon because it’s both spicy and refreshing, right?

Clack!

In just an instant, the cooking of the flower crab ramyeon was finished. He waited for a while after closing the lid before opening it again.

Shwaaaaaa!

The steam rose and a flower crab that had completely reddened greeted them.

Guuulp━

It was the sound of Ben gulping down his saliva as he looked at the appetizing food in front of him. And just as expected, another copy of the flower crab ramyeon appeared in front of Minhyuk.

“Oh?”

Ben casted a quick glance at Minhyuk when he saw a kimchi in front of him.

“Kimchi is the best combo for ramyeon!” 

“Kgghk! You know something huh!” 

Minhyuk lifted the noodles up and placed some noodles on his bowl.

Shwaaa!

The steam rose along with the noodles. Then, he lifted the pot and poured some soup in his bowl.

After doing all of that, Minhyuk picked the whole bowl and blew on it rapidly with continuous ‘Hoo! Hoo!’s before gulping it down.

***

Footnotes

[아싸라비야, 콜롬비아] – Assarabia Colombia. Apparently there was a book titled as Assarabia Colombia about a family that went to Colombia in pursuit of coffee. It appears that there’s also a song with the same name as well as a song that PSY wanted to name as such. It was also referenced in BTS!Run when Jin answered Assarabia after being asked about the capital of Colombia. Also, Minhyuk said Assarabia Colombia as a pun for Assa! which is yeah! Yes! Yayy! Back

Note on Flower Crab: Also known as blue crab!

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