Leveling Up through Eating

56 Gremory’s Trial

Crone confidently stuck the menu towards him. Most of the items on the menu were extremely expensive. This place was literally ‘The most expensive restaurant in Eivelis Empire and the continent’. In reality people could buy one can of sturgeon caviar for 25 million won while a rare melon named Yubari would cost around 13.4 million won. A restaurant in New York also sold hotdogs for 2.5 million won each. So Crone was a bit confident about the depth of his wallet.

But Crone was unaware of the real meaning of Minhyuk’s laughter. Then, he said……

“Pl, please stop! Please!” 

Crone’s words were already at the verge of begging. At the rate that things were going on, he believed that he would truly become a beggar.

Didn’t I whisper to the Frying Pan Killer that I want to make an agreement with him?

In the time that he was in a daze, the Frying Pan Killer had already ordered all the items on the menu.

“I’ll do whatever you tell me to. So please let it slide just this once. If you want, then I’ll make it up to you.”

The Frying Pan Killer looked at him coldly. He couldn’t see his exact facial features because of the helmet but he was sure that his expression was extremely frosty. He could feel it leaking out from the helmet after all.

Minhyuk nodded his head.

“Then, please post an official statement about Ace and Crow first.”

Crone’s lips shut tight when he heard his words. He was babbling earlier but his words… he meant for him to acknowledge the fact that they manipulated the war. He wanted him to let Bachran Guild acknowledge that they were ‘trash’.

“You don’t like it?”

But Crone didn’t have any other choice. It was better to admit that they were trash and save his remaining guild members.

“It’s not that I don’t want to do it!”

Crone nodded furiously as he quickly typed an official apology and posted it on the official bulletin board. After he posted it, he breathed a sigh of relief.

‘W, with this…… I will still have my guild.’ 

And Crone’s official post was like this.

[Hello. This is Bachran Guild’s Master Crone. This is a formal apology for manipulating the recent PK of Legend’s Ace. I would like to apologize to Legend Guild. I have nothing else to say even if I have two mouths. I’m sorry.

fadghg313: The crazy dogs finally got their medicine by being beaten with a club. They really came after Legend Guild but now they have to straighten things out and admit it. Hehehehehehe.

vadedl3: Who was the one who said Bachran Guild was the one who manipulated things? You did well.

hgsfsflll: Really nasty…… Disgusting……

God, god: As expected of Legend! I love you! Legend, I don’t like those Bachran dogs!]

The comments were constantly criticizing the Bachran Guild. Meanwhile Crone was smiling ingratiatingly while scratching the back of his head.

“Then, will you withdraw the warrant?” 

Crone thought that once he paid for some material compensation then everything would be over. But the Frying Pan Killer’s mouth opened while he ate his food.

“What are you talking about?” 

“……Eh?” 

“I just told you to post it. When did I say that I will let you go already?”

And it was at that moment that Crone realized.

‘I, I’ve been tricked……’

He tried to quickly delete the post. But the next words of the Frying Pan Killer felt like he was hit strongly in the gut.

“Ah, I already took a snapshot. Thanks.”

And the Frying Pan Killer still kept on ordering food while Crone just nodded his head blankly thinking ‘I don’t know if you’ll ever let me go’. Just like that, the dishes kept on piling up.

‘Hi, hiiiiik! I, is this bastard still a person?!!’

Six hours passed just like that.

“That…… When will the meal…… be over?”

“Can’t you see that I’m just eating my appetizer?”

“You…… You have eaten exactly 86 bowls of that…… but you’re still eating the appetizer?”

[You’re really paying for the meal? You shouldn’t complain later then.]

[It’s alright even if you eat here for 7 days and 6 nights!]

Minhyuk turned on his favorite recorder. He paused the movements of his spoon as he chuckled with a ‘ha!’.

“Why, do you regret saying that I could eat as much as I want? This is, well, a meal that I’m eating reluctantly so I have to chew well. Chomp!”

Was what Minhyuk said as he continued to scoop up a spoonful of expensive caviar. He looked like he was eating extremely well.

‘FXcker! What does this bastard mean by eating this meal reluctantly?!’

“N, no. Haha, eat as much as you want! Haha. R, really… as much as you want…..”

“Yes! I’m going to do that even if you did not say it anyway.”

The Frying Pan Killer nodded his head. But it had already been two days but what was even worse was that this store was open for 24 hours!

“Zzzzzz, phew,  zzzzz, phew.”

“Waiter!”

“Ah. Are you done eating…… huh?”

“I want this to this again. And from now on, please don’t take my orders anymore. Just bring them to me until they run out!”

“Ah. Yes!”

“……”

And just like that, another day had passed.

“Ah. Let’s log out for now.”

“You’re finally done eat……”

“I’ll log out and come back to eat again.”

And after that, the long-awaited seventh day had finally arrived.

‘H, how can a human eat just like that for seven days straight?! Bastard!’

Crone had no choice but to be shocked. But the words that the Frying Pan Killer told him after standing from his seat had left him were more shocking.

“We’ll continue. If you show a genuine sign of repentance later then we will stop.”

Then, the Frying Pan Killer went out of the restaurant. Before he could leave, the manager caught up to Crone.

“Your total for the food is 61 platinum. Customer-nim.”

“H, how much……?”

Just like what was mentioned before, this restaurant was the most expensive restaurant in the continent. Crone was left speechless when he checked the bill. The bill that was given to him looked like it was as long as five meters! And the total was truly 61 platinum which was over 300 million won in cash.

“……”

Tears trickled down from his eyes. Then, he said in a tearful voice.

“C, can I pay in installments here……?”

“You can’t.”

It was a straight refusal from the manager.

I think I have to sell my house deed.

***

In no time at all, the eight in the guild rankings, Bachran Guild, had stepped down and disappeared from the top 100 rankings.

In all honesty, Minhyuk had picked the right ‘ppong’ from Bachran Guild. Not only did he get to eat a free meal from Crone, he also got the spoils from killing the members of Bachran Guild continuously!

At first, the thought in Crone’s head was ‘There’s no way that they will continue, right?’. But Minhyuk, the Four Hyenas, and even Legend Guild truly continued.

Eventually, when 40% of the guild had left. And Crone finally imposed a ban. As a result, the Bachran Guild members could not connect and the guild ranking dropped out of the top 500 in an instant. What was worse was that even the small and medium sized guilds that had previously been hit and ransacked by Bachran Guild were looking for an opportunity to hit back at them. They had been waiting for them all day long. In the end, they had seen their life in Athenae as ‘done for’.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk was buying clothes in reality. Before he knew it, he had lost some weight and was at 150kg already! So he needed to buy new clothes for himself! He couldn’t believe it but it just naturally happened!

But the internet shopping malls needed to go through an e-mail verification process. For the first time in a long time, Minhyuk was redirected to Nava to verify his e-mail. After verifying his e-mail, he couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion.

‘Huh?’

[Joy Co. Ltd. Hello. User Minhyuk.]

Minhyuk saw that he had received an e-mail from Athenae.

‘The date that the e-mail was sent…… was when I changed to becoming a Food God?’

Their Athenae Account was linked to their  Nava Mail. But Minhyuk very rarely used his e-mail so he was not able to check its contents. He quickly opened the mail and checked what’s written on it.

‘OMG……?’

Minhyuk frowned. The contents of the Athenae e-mail included a story about the ‘God Class’. In the case of the Food God, from Lv350 onwards, his ‘Stat Up’ from eating would be restricted. Of course it did not mean that eating good medicine and good food would not increase his stats. It just literally meant that the Food God’s True Worth of Food would now be impossible. According to the explanation it was because of ‘Balance Control’.

He nodded his head in understanding.

‘This is also my fault for not checking my mail for a long time…..’

Joy Co. Ltd. had sent this e-mail at the same time he had received the Food God class and even if Minhyuk did not read the mail, they still kept on sending. They even sent one just recently. He noticed one thing. Joy Co. Ltd. had predicted that if he reached Lv 350 as a Food God then he would be at least 100 levels stronger than his current level. But Minhyuk’s stats were much higher than what they had expected.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. Right?’

He was already on track and if Minhyuk kept on eating and increasing his stats then his stats would just go up endlessly. And Minhyuk’s goal was to ‘eat something delicious’ so he readily accepted such limitations.

‘But I will reach Lv350 soon though?’

Minhyuk stood up while thinking like that. But before he could leave his room, he saw a text message flashing on his phone.

[Beloved Dad: Son, access your Athenae. I have something to give you.]

[Minhyuk: Okay. Dad.]

A soft smile hung around Minhyuk’s lips.

Delicious Neolbing!

Just like that, Minhyuk connected to Athenae.

***

Minhyuk met with his dad, Black Dragon, in Athenae. He had exchanged a few words with him and he knew that Minhyuk and the Legend Guild had slaughtered Bachran Guild. But it was unfortunate that Minhyuk pretended to be unaware since it overlapped with the day when Bachran Guild attacked Legend Guild. Meanwhile, his dad admitted that he had also been playing the game for a long time before guiding him somewhere else.

The place that he had guided Minhyuk to was a gigantic carriage.

“Huh? Isn’t that a kitchen carriage?” 

“Nope. It’s a freezer carriage.” 

“Freezer carriage?” 

Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion. Although a bit similar to a trailer, the frozen carriage could be compared to a food truck in real life. The only difference was that it had a magic that could control the temperature inside to stay low.

“Open the door. It’s my return gift for the snow crab that you made for me.” 

Black Dragon smiled softly at him as he watched Minhyuk opening the door. As soon as the door opened, a freezing chill came out with a swoosh. When Minhyuk saw the inside of the carriage, he couldn’t help but be frozen in shock.

“……Heok! This, this design!” 

Minhyuk trembled as the words naturally flowed out from his mouth.

“Baskin~ Robbins~ Thirty~ One!” 

“Hoho!” 

Black Dragon smiled happily at him.

The inside of the carriage was designed exactly like Baskin Robbins, an ice cream store that was popular in the market. When Minhyuk went inside, he could see 31 different flavors of ice creams. And there were even the delicious ‘Cheese Neolbing’, ‘Melon Neolbing’ and ‘Strawberry Neolbing’ lined up next to the flavors of ice cream.

The weather in Athenae was just starting to get hot so this was the perfect food for such weather.

“Kgghk. Almond bonbon, shooting star, mom’s only daughter……!” 

Ah! How much I craved for these during summer!

It was a feast of 31 different flavors of ice cream!

In addition to what Minhyuk had blurted out there were also other flavors like cherries jubilee, cookies and cream, berry berry strawberry, shooting star, New York cheesecake, love me strawberry. 

Minhyuk was both thrilled and moved by his father’s kindness. He even went so far as to prepare a Baskin Robbins carriage like this for him.

“Yayy!”

Black Dragon smiled softly when he saw Minhyuk liked his present. This was his favorite expression from his son. 

Minhyuk quickly picked out a purple plastic spoon as he tasted mom’s only daughter. The chewy and sweet flavor of the chocolate ice cream slowly spread in his mouth.

“……Delicious.”

A smile spread out of his mouth from the sweetness. Next, he tried shooting star.

Pop, pop, pop, pop─

The sound of the small grains popping in his mouth were heard!

Then, he tried the New York cheesecake. He chomped on the small cheesecake that was added inside the ice cream. The rich taste of the cheesecake together with the milky ice cream spread out in his mouth.

Next, the berry berry strawberry tasted sweet while the love me strawberry tasted like fresh strawberries.

After tasting each and every flavor, he stopped in front of the Neolbing. Minhyuk’s hands first reached out for the melon bingsu.

The melon bingsu was placed inside the melon that was turned into a bowl with plenty of crescent shaped melons on top. He used a small knife to slice the melon into pieces before taking one into his mouth.

The cool and refreshing juice from the melon spread in his mouth and brought a smile to his face. After eating all the melon on top, he could see the white ice cream, the shaved ice and the strawberries that were placed inside. Then, he poured some condensed milk in the bowl of bingsu. The condensed milk trickled in circle after circle as Minhyuk poured it in his bowl.

‘Bingsu tastes good if there’s a lot of condensed milk.’

After that, he quickly ate some ice cream before scooping a spoonful of shaved ice. His spoon was filled with shaved ice and strawberry that were topped with plenty of condensed milk. Then, he placed it in his mouth.

His head turned blank due to brain freeze.

‘Kggghk……! This is a delightfully cold taste!’

I feel a bit of a headache since it’s too cold! But it’s addicting!

After he finished eating the melon bingsu, Minhyuk stuffed himself full of the bingsu that he wanted to eat so much.

And at the exact same moment that he finished eating everything, the notifications went off.

[You have eaten the Neolbing made out of the Special Ice Fragment.]

[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 gained 800,000 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have gained 106 special points.]

[You can also invest your special points on stats that can’t be raised with bonus points.]

‘Oh.’

Minhyuk smiled silently.

If he invested all of his special points in DEX then it would now reach 1,950 points. This meant that he would soon reach 2,000 DEX points.

But the notifications did not end there.

[The Map to the Hidden Temple has been unsealed.]

***

Notes:

Sturgeon caviar exists and are quite expensive since they breed later in their lives. Also, about the melon, the raws said 유바라시 (Yubarashi) but one quick google and it seemed like there’s a Yubari King melon, a rare melon that’s grown in Yubari, Hokkaido. So I used Yubari instead.

Ppong (뽕) – something short for hiroppong, which is a drug so having a ppong meant that you got something that boosted your power or you’re better than usual.

Baskin Robbins Thirty One – Baskin Robbins is an ice cream franchise. There is also a game named after the said franchise. The game would have a group counting freely (up to three numbers per person) in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction and the person who says 31 would be the loser. Since Baskin Robbins have 31 flavors of ice cream.

TL’s corner!

Yusss. He’s like 20kg lighter than his initial weight! Yayyyyy. Only 80 kg left before you reach your target of 70kg. Let’s go Minhyuk!

PR’s corner!

44 pounds!?! Good going Minhyuk!