Leveling Up through Eating

Along with those notifications, the quest window had also changed.

[Linked Quest: Hunt the Clam Golem.]

Rank: SS

Restrictions: Favorability with Ben.

Rewards: ???

Penalty for Failure: Sharp decrease in Favorability with Ben.

Description: You have finally caught the Golden Salmon! Now, the only thing that you need to do is to use the Golden Salmon to lure the Clam Golem out!

Minhyuk trembled in excitement.

‘Kgghk! This is just like what father said, the taste of your hands!’

Without realizing it, he was already feeling immense happiness. The feeling of finally being able to catch the fish after waiting for hours on end was truly delightful.

Ben felt like his heart was bursting with tension the moment the fish bit the bait and once the fish broke out of the water, he couldn’t help but let out both a sigh of relief and happiness. He quickly tied a rope around the body of the salmon.

“This rope is magical. You can never untie it once you are tied in it.”

The scales of this fish was slippery so to prevent it from jumping away from their grasp, Ben had specifically prepared a magical rope.

Minhyuk nodded his head as he checked the title that he received.

(Fishing King, Kang Taegong)

Unique Title

Title Effects:

━ 1.5x increase in your chances of catching a special fish.

━ +10 increase in all 5 of your basic stats.

Minhyuk smiled happily when he saw that there was an increase in his chances of catching special fish.

Flap, flap, flap, flap!

The Golden Salmon was flapping wildly as it desperately tried to get out of the boat. Ben, who already finished tying it to a rope, tied the end of the rope to his hand before throwing the Golden Salmon back in the water.

Ben was one of the Most Powerful Men so his strength could easily subdue the Golden Salmon. This was also the reason why they were not worried that the Golden Salmon would run away because they lack the strength.

“Now, all we have to do is lure that bastard out!”

Ben’s expression was solemn.

It has been 5 years. I have waited every single day for this moment in those 5 years.

The boat slowly moved.

Ben chewed on a Dorito bubblegum. Minhyuk copied him and chewed on a Dorito bubblegum too. Then, he spat out the gum after chewing it.

“……Why did you spit it out?” 

“The sweetness is gone. Oh, right! We have to go under the sea!”

“……”

It was the Dorito Bubblegum that could help anyone breathe under water freely but Minhyuk ate five in one go!

“I have to chew a lot so I won’t have to spit it out.”

“……Uhm.”

Ben nodded his head in a daze.

“Follow me closely.”

“Yes!”

Ben jumped off of the boat with the spear strapped on his back. Minhyuk quickly followed him into the water.

[Due to the effect of Dorito Bubblegum, you will be able to breathe underwater for a duration of one hour.]

Minhyuk felt that it was truly something amazing. He was under the sea but he could still breathe freely. Minhyuk could swim well so he could easily follow Ben under the sea.

Just like that, they arrived at the bottom of the sea. He could see plenty of mysterious creatures growing near the rocks as well as hidden crabs and school of fishes that were swimming past them.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

And naturally, Minhyuk did not forget to snatch them up and put them in his inventory as he followed behind Ben. He happily swam as he grabbed seafood along the way and without realizing it, they had already arrived in front of a cave. Once they landed on the ground, he felt like he was walking on straight land instead of walking on the ground under the water. This was also one of the effects of the Dorito Bubblegum. 

The scene at the depths of the cave was unclear since it was covered in darkness. Minhyuk squinted his eyes as he peered inside.

‘There are grilled clams here……!’

Ben tugged the Golden Salmon and guided it in front of the cave. The light that was glowing from the body of the Golden Salmon slowly stretched out inside the cave. The inside of the cave was illuminated, that was how bright the light of the Golden Salmon was.

Ben held the shaft of his spear tightly.

‘Son……!’

When he turned his head, he caught sight of Minhyuk peering inside the cave.

‘Come to think of it……’

When he thought about it carefully, his son would be about the same age as Minhyuk if he had been alive.

‘It’s been quite a while since I last laughed.’

But when he cooked ramyeon for him, he felt that it was truly delicious. And when he saw him eating ramyeon deliciously he couldn’t help but laugh.

‘It’s been years since I last ate with other people.’

He was truly grateful to this kind, young man named Minhyuk.

Then, he saw Minhyuk spitting out the gum again.

“Keoheok! M, my breath……!”

He quickly spat out the gum in his mouth as he popped in another 10 Dorito Bubblegums in his mouth.

“Phew…… Dorito gum is really delicious!”

He was a strange man, but he was definitely grateful to him.

Time flew by as they waited in front of the cave.

1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, 12 hours. They have been waiting for quite a long time now.

“……What the hell?”

Old Man Ben couldn’t understand it. In all the years that he had spent in the Dragon King’s Sea, he had seen a variety of creatures including a bipedal fish, mermaids and even guardians. And through them, he had learnt that the way to lure out the clam golem was to lure it with the Golden Salmon. According to them, the clam golem had a big appetite but it would lose reason once it sees the light of the Golden Salmon. However, 12 hours had already gone by.

‘W, why the hell is it not coming out!’

Ben was flustered and it was the same for Minhyuk.

‘I, I want to eat grilled clams!’

Grilled clams.

This was what friends at Minhyuk’s age would usually do… Generally, one of these friends would have a car or two and his friends would ask him to go to the sea. And the child with the car would become the taxi driver as they laughed and talked among themselves. And once everyone fell asleep……

‘This fXckers!’

The friend with the car would touch his nose in helplessness at his friends who had fallen asleep and left him alone. But once they arrived at the beach, they would all hang out and eat grilled clams.

Meanwhile, it was something like a personal routine for others.

‘Hey, let’s get clams today! Call?!’

That should already be satisfying but not for Minhyuk. He wanted to try them while sitting on the shore and enjoying the sea breeze. Those grilled clams. But that bastard is not coming out so Minhyuk turned to Ben and asked him carefully.

“Do you know how strong this predator is?”

Ben thought for a moment before answering his question.

“I think it’s as powerful as a knight of a regular empire?”

“Hmm?”

Minhyuk tilted his head in thought.

It seemed like it wasn’t as tough as he thought it to be. In fact, if it was as strong as an imperial knight then its level would be around Lv300~360.

‘I think I can do it?’

“The reason why that bastard is famous in the Dragon King’s Sea is mainly due to its scarcity. Also, that bastard would only eat things that were not usually eaten and would mainly prey on the trash in the Dragon King’s Sea.”

Minhyuk nodded his head as he listened intently on what Ben was saying.

“This is also the reason why the Dragon King of the Dragon King’s Sea said that there was no need to hunt such a guy.”

“I see.”

It was just special because of the scarcity. It seemed like having the legendary added to its name did not necessarily mean that it would be strong. It could also be tagged as legendary based on its rarity. In fact, Minhyuk had seen plenty of monsters whose strength did not match with their rank in the dungeon filled with hungry monsters. It would be easier to think of it like this… Rare or unique mobs would also sometimes exist in dungeons for Lv100 users. One could say that this case was similar to such a scenario. 

“Then, why don’t I go inside and lure the guy out? I’ll take the Golden Salmon with me.”

Ben’s eyes trembled in anxiety when he heard his words.

“H, how can you go so far inside? There might be danger.”

Minhyuk shook his head when he heard Ben’s worry. He couldn’t keep on waiting like this for a day or two. In addition, it didn’t matter if the fish was tied but they still weren’t sure if it would die sooner or later.

What if the Golden Salmon dies?

‘Then the taste of the salmon sashimi would drop……!’

Salmon sashimi will only taste good if it was fresh, right?

Without knowing Minhyuk’s ‘courage for food’, Ben felt deeply moved.

“Old Man Ben needs to finish his fishing career. So let’s hunt it down quickly. I’ll be quick and lure it out as soon as possible. Also, I have an invisibility cloak that can hide my body and aura.”

When you think about it, Ben was already an overkill for the clam golem since the clam golem was not as strong as what Minhyuk had expected.

Ben could easily kill the clam golem if he wanted to, but if it didn’t come out then will we just jump around here crazily?

Then, as if to satisfy his worries, Ben thought of a trick.

“Just in case something happens, how about we tie this rope on your body? If you tug on it three times in a row then I’ll pull you out quickly. No matter how good you are at fishing and cooking, you’re still a chef, right? You have to be careful. Just be careful.”

Ben had thought that Minhyuk was a chef who had just learned cooking. He had no choice but to think so. After all, if Minhyuk had focused all of his attention on raising his production-related skills like his fishing and cooking skills then he would have a hard time increasing his power.

Minhyuk smiled when he heard Ben’s words of concern.

“But I’m really strong, you know?”

“Hoho. Of course.”

Ben dismissed his remarks as a joke that would relieve his tension. Then, he watched Minhyuk drag the Golden Salmon inside as if he was taking a dog on a walk.

As soon as he entered the cave, he quickly triggered his abilities that would buff his strength. First, he used Ellie’s Swordsmanship to increase all his stats and increase the chances of his additional damage, evasion rate and critical hits. He also used the invisibility effect of Great Mage Rafielt’s Cloak.

[Invisibility.]

[Invisibility will fade away after 2 hours. The invisibility will also remain for 2 seconds after an attack.]

“Oh……!”

Ben was shocked when he saw Minhyuk’s body disappear in an instant. Even the rope that was tied on his body disappeared instead, it looked like the golden rope that was tied to the Golden Salmon was connected to the one on his hand.

Minhyuk walked slowly in the depths of the cave.

‘I heard that it’s the size of a two-ton truck, right?’

He was told that it was a very huge fellow and that all of the shellfish known to the world are stuck together to form its body. He was sure that the fellow wouldn’t be that hard to find.

He walked inside the cave with such thoughts. Without realizing it, he had finally arrived at a wide open area. It was about the size of a school auditorium. However, what was surprising to him was the floor. The center of the floor had a wide gaping hole on it.

‘Is this a separate entrance?’

It was probably a unique setting for this specific dungeon. Minhyuk stood aside and looked on as the fish came swimming past through. What was even more surprising was that there was even trash that came in through the hole.

‘Wow…… Do I just have to sit here and fish will come regardless?’

As he thought about his own fantasies…

Crumble!

“……?”

Minhyuk saw some rocks falling from above. He slowly lifted his head to look at the cave’s ceiling…

“……!”

Minhyuk was so surprised that he almost let out a loud gasp. He could see the bastard right above him, plastered on the ceiling.

[Named Monster.]

[You are the first to discover the Legendary Monster: Angry Clam Golem.]

[You have gained 20 reputation points.]

[When hunting the Angry Clam Golem, you will have a x2 EXP acquisition rate and x2 item drop rate.]

“……?”

Minhyuk had two things that he was confused about.

First. The name of the clam golem was not just clam golem but angry clam golem. And the second…… Its appearance was completely different from what he had heard from Ben.

The bastard looked like it was just a bit larger than an adult male with a height of 2m. It was plastered on the cave’s ceiling like it was Spiderman with its head slowly moving as its pair of beady, creepy eyes looked at the surroundings.

Creaaaaak━

Minhyuk’s eyes met with the monster’s eyes however, he just couldn’t see Minhyuk. But at this moment, Minhyuk could finally see that there was a black light shining out of its body. And he could also see the parts and ingredients that could be collected.

‘This means that I can eat it……!’ 

The fellow was much smaller than what he had expected but he could see that he could harvest a huge amount of shellfish from it.

At that moment, he saw the fellow open its mouth wide and……

Vwooooooooooom!

Its head suddenly became as big as a truck. Its mouth had become so big that Minhyuk couldn’t help but gulp in fright. The bastard was trying to suck in the Golden Salmon. However, the size of its mouth and the area where it wanted to swallow included Minhyuk.

What if the Golden Salmon gets eaten?

‘My Golden Salmon……!’

Minhyuk tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.

***

Footnotes

[Taste of your hands] – 손맛, when a person is deemed to be a good cook, they will be praised for the taste of their hands. This could also mean that the person had made the food taste like theirs and not like anyone else. Something uniquely yours but tastes good. 

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