Leveling Up through Eating

Back in reality. Kaistra was sitting beside Riche, a close dongsaeng of his in the village. The two of them were sitting on top of a hill overlooking a thicket of trees.

Kaistra gently covered Riche’s body with a blanket. Riche had been following Kaistra ever since they were kids. They had been together almost every step of the way and Riche even thought of him as his own brother. Kaistra also cared for and treated Riche as if he was his own brother.

And Riche was very sick right now. His body was extremely feverish and it felt like he was boiling. Kaistra had already hired doctors to come here at a costly price but their place was a completely remote place in Africa. He did not know how long they would take to get here.

Kaistra bit his lips in worry and desperation.

‘No! Please don’t come…….!’

He was in despair. It seemed like dark clouds were gathering from quite some distance from them.

No, you can’t do this!

If that happened, then it would be hard for a helicopter to fly and come to where they were.

African children generally had a weaker immune system than normal children. In addition, their medical facilities still had to make contact with the outside world before they would be able to get any help. What was worse was that the illness that he had contracted was different from the normal illness that people from other countries would generally contract.

The symptoms that Riche currently had might possibly be only the cold or the flu. However, if that was not the case then the young Riche might endanger his life and die.

“……Kaistra.”

“Huh?” 

Kaistra turned to look at Riche with a gentle smile on his face. He had originally refused coming here with Riche. But Riche cried and begged for him to take him to the hill where they always went.

“Do you remember?”

“……”

Kaistra listened quietly to his words.

“Back then, when I was mostly only skin and bones, they came.”

Kaistra nodded his head in understanding. Back then, both Kaistra and Riche were all skin and bones and on the brink of death but the Ilhwa Group together with some medical staff miraculously arrived in their village. They saved them from death as a person named Park Munsoo gave them Athenae Access Capsules as a means to contact them and for them to experience a new world. And thanks to Kaistra becoming a ranker and gaining unexpected profits, their village had finally stabilized.

“The food I ate at that time… I still can’t forget it.”

One of the people that they had brought with them was a chef. For quite some time, the only thing that they had fed the children that were almost skin and bones were a gruel of some sorts.

“It was delicious. But do you know what’s strange?”

There were only five capsules installed in their village. Each and every capsules were designed to be powered with solar-powered generators so they would remain operational regardless of the circumstances they had. With the help of these capsules, Riche was also able to try the taste of food from all over the world.

“No matter what I taste, I can’t seem to find the flavor of that time……”

The white and steaming chicken porridge that was made by boiling various ingredients was certainly delicious. However, what was strange was that he really couldn’t find nor taste the flavor of the food back then.

A smile hung around Kaistra’s mouth.

“Me too.”

How can I ever forget? The taste, the texture and the feeling back then…… I can never forget it for the rest of my life.

The taste of that food was the signal for their salvation. Perhaps they couldn’t find the same taste because they did not feel the same way as back then.

“Kaistra. I have a favor to ask of you before I die.”

“……Riche, don’t say that!”

Kaistra shouted at Riche but he soon calmed down his anxious heart.

“That flavor…… Please let me taste it again.”

“……”

Kaistra couldn’t help but tighten his lips when he heard his words. He knew that the answer was in that capsule but Kaistra’s eyes still couldn’t help but become misty and cloudy with tears.

‘Frying Pan Killer……’

He had heard rumors that his cooking skills were superior to that of Twilight Chef Black’s skills.

Then, Kaistra firmly told him…

“You won’t die, and I will also let you have a taste of that flavor again. Let’s go back now.”

“Yeah.”

Kaistra carried Riche on his back as the two of them slowly made their way back to the village before the dark clouds reached them.

***

“Hoo, ah.”

Minhyuk spat out a trembling breath as he stared at the tofu feast in front of him. He excitedly opened the lid of the earthen pot that was cooking on the gas burner in front of him.

Shwaaaaaa━

The first thing he made after making tofu was soft tofu jjigae. The steam was consistently rising out of the pot. Just like that, he quickly cracked an egg from the golden chicken inside, the egg slowly fell inside the hot broth of the stew. Then, without wasting any moment, he quickly turned on the gas burner again, waited for a while before turning it off again. The egg was quickly cooked while the soft tofu, clams, squid and pork quietly laid around it as they all floated in the red soup made from gochujang. And that wasn’t the end of it. Lying next to it was a well-sliced tofu that was still piping hot. The tofu was freshly made and still steaming. It was just like the tofu that was usually sold in the market. Placed next to it was the stir-fried kimchi that had a darker color than the regular kimchi. There were also plenty of various tofu dishes placed side by side on the table in front of him.

Minhyuk first stretched his spoon towards the slowly but nevertheless still cooling down soft tofu jjigae. After stirring the soup for quite a while, he scooped up a spoonful of the slightly hot soup.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

After blowing on it slightly, he quickly brought it to his mouth as he…… 

Slurp!

“Ha, hot!”

However, even though it was still quite hot, he could still feel the unique texture of the soft tofu jjigae in his mouth.

“Let’s see.”

Then, he quickly scooped up some soft tofu. The soft tofu had already slightly taken in the redness as it absorbed the soup. It was jiggling on the spoon and looked quite chewy.

“Sluuuurp!” 

As soon as he placed it in his mouth, he could feel the softness of the tofu that was akin to steamed eggs. And the spicy soup together with the sweetness of the soft tofu tasted wonderful in his mouth.

He quickly took another spoonful of soft tofu jjigae. But this time, he scooped some of the pork, squid, clams and soft tofu and packed it on top of his bowl. And of course, the soup. After packing it on his bowl, he did not forget to mix it thoroughly before taking another bite. The first thing that greeted him was the chewiness of the squid and the pork as well as the savory and refreshing flavor of the clams. The soft tofu, rice as well as the slightly hot soup also danced happily in his mouth.

“Kgghk, I think this soft tofu jjigae will also taste good even if it's cold.”

Minhyuk nodded happily as he stretched his chopsticks to the steaming hot tofu beside it. He sliced the hot tofu in half and tried it without anything first. It was clearly just plain tofu with nothing at all but nevertheless when he placed the hot tofu in his mouth it still tasted splendidly good.

A pleased smile gently hung on his lips as he picked up some tofu and stir-fried kimchi at the same time. Then, he placed it in his mouth. The soft and savory flavor of the tofu as well as the spicy and crunchy flavor of the kimchi met together.

Crunch, crunch━

The stir-fried kimchi had added a dash of flavor to the otherwise bland taste of the tofu. He smiled widely as he picked up another tofu and placed it in his mouth.

Chew, chew.

The combination of the tofu and the kimchi that had been seasoned well had a slightly salty taste to it. This was also the reason why it was called a rice thief. It wasn’t just ‘salty’ it was ‘salty so Minhyuk had no choice but to eat a spoonful of rice to balance the flavor. And Minhyuk who ate another spoonful of rice smiled in satisfaction.

“Tofu-yah, why are you so healthy and delicious?”

The beans that were used to make the tofu sprouted from a field called Sogogi. They were even beans that could work well and compliment any kind of stewed dishes so it was guaranteed to be something delicious.

After he had finished about 100 pieces of tofu, he heard notifications ringing on his ears.

[You have eaten the Soft Tofu made with the Millstone of Abundance.]

[You have acquired 400,000 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Minhyuk’s level rose by 5 in a single heartbeat. Including this 5-level level up as well as the level ups that he had experienced so far, his level was currently at Lv318.

After eating all of the tofu in front of him, Minhyuk once again sat in front of the millstone. It had only been a day so he once again began his beans grinding.

***

Minhyuk was spinning the millstone again today. Just a bit earlier, he had made some seonji haejangkuk from the blood of a noble vampire that dropped from Vampire Rune. And these were the notifications that he had heard about it.

[You have eaten the Seonji Haejangkuk made from the Blood of a Noble Vampire.]

[The Food Fighter’s Greatness.]

[The penalty for the medicine has been ignored. However, this does not work for many people.]

[A Medicine Dish. You have obtained additional stats.]

[You have acquired the Passive Skill: Bleeding.]

The blood of a noble vampire was an extremely amazing medicine. However, unlike other medicines that only increases the stats, this medicine gives or increases the skill.

He had thought that he wouldn’t be able to learn, acquire or improve any skills since there were no skillbooks for the Food God so it was a relief for him that he had learnt a skill.

Minhyuk quickly checked the skill that was named as Strengthened Bleeding. Originally, it was just a 2% chance of triggering bleeding whenever there was a successful attack but thanks to the Food Fighter’s Greatness, it had increased to 3%. With bleeding, a 10% damage would continue to be inflicted on the opponent until they were able to stop the bleeding.

After Minhyuk had checked his new skill, he sat in front of the millstone again.

“Well then, let’s spin it again!”

He started spinning the millstone with all his might. After 1 or 2 hours of continuous spinning……

“Huh?”

A black light suddenly burst out of the millstone. And along with the light, the aging jar suddenly popped out of Minhyuk’s inventory and floated in the air. The millstone that was glowing with a black light slowly floated in the air too. Minhyuk did not know why the two artifacts suddenly floated in the air before him so he just watched and waited. Then, not long after, the black light was suddenly sucked into the aging jar.

Then, came the notifications.

[The Millstone of Abundance has now evolved and turned into ‘Gorac’s Lightning Millstone’.]

[Gorac’s Lightning Millstone and Gorac’s Aging Jar are set artifacts.]

[Depending on the properties and nature of the two items, the force and strength will be attached to one of the artifacts.]

[Gorac’s Lightning Millstone has evolved from a Unique Artifact to a Disaster Artifact.]

“Disaster……?”

Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion.

Disaster Artifact?

He had never heard of it before so Minhyuk checked the item right away.

(Gorac’s Lightning Millstone)

Rank: Disaster

Restrictions: Gorac’s Set Artifact

Durability: ∞ / ∞

Special Abilities:

━ Having it in your possession will increase your basic stats by 8%.

━ Passive Skill: Lightning (Thunderbolt)

━ Active Skill: Lightning Hell (Hell’s Thunderbolt)

Description: This is one of the set artifacts hidden by Gorac. Only when two of the set artifacts met will they be able to show their true strength. If two of the best artifacts meet, then they will be able to achieve the strongest disaster.

(Lightning)

Artifact Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: None

Cooldown: None

Effects: If you have Gorac’s Lightning Millstone in your possession, once an enemy attacks you successfully there’s a 5% chance of triggering lightning strikes with 2~4 times strength as your attack damage.

(Lightning Hell)

Artifact Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: 2,000

Penalty: -1 to all 5 basic stats.

Cooldown: 480 hours

Effects: Powerful lightning strikes with an additional 120% attack damage will indiscriminately strike a radius of 20m for 1 minute. This will be triggered by holding on to the handle of the millstone and turning it.

A different set of notifications also rang right after.

[Because of the unsealing of the artifact, you have inadvertently completed the 7th trial.]

[You have completed the attack on Ructo’s Tomb.]

[You have acquired 500,000 EXP.]

[You have gained 300 reputation points.]

[You have acquired the Title: The Man who has Attained.]

***

Brrrrrrrrrr!

The entrance to Ructo’s Tomb suddenly began to shake. As a result, the members of the Bachran Guild who had been lying down lazily for three days began to move quickly.

They clearly saw the phrase in front of the tomb say ‘The 7th trial has been completed.’ before the door completely disappeared in front of them. This meant that others could now enter and challenge the dungeon freely. In other words, the dungeon had been cleared.

However, no one came out.

‘What the hell? D, don’t tell me……!’

Rak’s eyes widened. It was possible for the person who had cleared the dungeon to go to another entrance. It was clear as day and Bachran Guild seemed to have noticed it too.

At that moment, Rak suddenly noticed that Kaistra had finally accessed the game again. But then, he suddenly summoned Penrus.

“Th, that’s Penrus, I have only heard of him……”

“Th, the incarnation of light!”

Then, Kaistra climbed on Penrus.

‘What in the world is he doing?’

As soon as he accessed Athenae, Kaistra felt that Penrus was crying in the summon room. This meant that there was another incarnation nearby. And just like a hunch, he believed that it was the Frying Pan Killer. The Frying Pan Killer had another incarnation.

Shwaaaaa!

“F, fast!” 

“Heok?!”

“……!”

Kaistra disappeared from the place where he was just now, only a ray of light could be seen as he disappeared from their sight.

Dash! Run!

Penrus ran fast while Kaistra was deep in thought.

‘What should I give him in return?’

He was going to ask him for Riche so he needed to give something in return.

Is it money? Artifacts? The Frying Pan Killer is a strong person… so I wonder what it is that he wants?

Dash!

Penrus was already running as fast as he could. When he arrived he found the Frying Pan Killer ready to tear the return scroll. Kaistra shouted at him in a panic.

“Th, there’s a hungry child!”

Kaistra’s head turned blank. He knew that he had to do something to somehow get a hold of him. Because of that, all of the things that he had thought of and prepared in his mind all went to trash as he spoke gibberish.

“The child is an African like me and he’s very hungry. The child said that he wanted to eat a single food very much.”

At that moment, reason slowly came back to Kaistra as his blanked out mind returned back to normal.

Most of the users in Athenae had one thing in common. They want good artifacts and good rewards. But he did not even say anything about it and just told him about his request. If anyone went to a village, one could easily see users begging.

What’s the difference between them and me?

He spoke a lot of gibberish.

“What do you want in exchange? If there’s anything that you want I……”

“What do I want?”

The young man in front of him answered him.

“For the world to have no more hungry people.”

“……!”

When Kaistra heard those words, his head slowly lifted up. Only then was he able to see the man’s face. Unlike his sharp and straight nose, he had big doe-like eyes and he was also tall. The moment he saw him, his image overlapped with someone else. Even that thing that he said earlier, he had heard of it somewhere. It was what Kang Minhoo, the chairman of Ilhwa Group, once said in an interview with a volunteer agency.

[Chairman Kang Minhoo not only supports Africa but you also give support to the orphanages in our country and you even give plenty of support and help to nursing homes. What is your reason?]

[Because I hope that there will be no more hungry people in the world.]

Kaistra’s lips quivered as he asked him.

“Can you please tell me who you are?

***

TL’s corner!

Let’s hope Kaistra and Minhoo see each other soon!