Leveling Up through Eating

Abel had informed him from the very beginning that Veron’s quest was only available to users at Lv400 and above. But did that mean that he should give up? No. He believed that there was no tree that he could not conquer if he tried to climb it ten times. And Minhyuk knew as soon as he came to this place…….

‘Ah, Veron-nim seems to eat poorly!’ 

There were no wild animals in the area so his meals would definitely be poor. 

Let’s first get close to him. I’ll help him with farming and increase my favorability!

In fact, it was quite good if everything worked out well. If this method did not work then he had to find another way. But it succeeded.

Minhyuk’s grin was so wide that he almost tore his mouth into two.

‘Hehehehehe!’ 

Minhyuk’s meticulous planning and his willingness to do anything to eat had fired a successful bullet.

***

“Huh?” 

Director Kim Daesik, who was leisurely leaning on his chair with his hands clasped behind his back, suddenly straightened up from his seat.

“What the hell?” 

[Veron will guide User Minhyuk to a shortcut.]

“……!” 

Director Kim Daesik jumped to his feet when he saw the message pop up.

“Lee, Lee Minhwa-ssi!”

He hurriedly ran towards Lee Minhwa after gathering himself up from the shock.

“What’s going on?”

Lee Minhwa tapped on her keyboard to find out the situation. After figuring out the reason for his outburst, Lee Minhwa gave him an answer.

“It seems like User Minhyuk’s own passive skill ‘Attractive Mukbang’ has been activated.”

“Attractive Mukbang? What’s that?”

“It’s something between us. User Minhyuk has an innate ability to make others hungry while he’s eating and that ability also applies to the NPCs with high artificial intelligence. And User Minhyuk knows that fact and is now using it to his advantage.” 

“B, but can he really do something like this?”

“There’s nothing we can do. The NPCs have a high degree of freedom and that degree of freedom is quite hard to prevent. After all, that’s how it is in the setting. The problem is……”

Lee Minhwa’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Beas Village is a place that is widely-known to be open to users that are at Lv400 or above only.”

“That’s right.” 

“All entry quests will start from Lv400 onwards.” 

Director Kim shook his head as Lee Minhwa continued to talk.

“But now that a Lv300 user has entered the other users will find it weird. After all, there are only Lv400 users in that area. Then, they’ll complain. They will ask if it’s a bug but it’s not a bug.”

“……” 

Director Kim Daesik looked at the monitor blankly.

There is a user who can beat the setting by using his own ‘Passive Skill, Attractive Mukbang’?

‘Well, this is just a preposterous situation……’

And he did not realize that it hadn’t even started yet.

***

Minhyuk was able to reach Beas Village easier and at a more comfortable pace compared to other users since he went through the shortcut that Veron had told him about.

[You have set foot in Beas Village.]

[You have gained 100 reputation points.]

[You can only stay in Beas Village for 1 week.]

A reward was given when a user had set foot in the village since users would need to work hard for them to set foot in Beas Village.

Arriving in Beas Village was as simple as that and they would even receive considerable privileges. Most of the users gave up halfway through after receiving the Beas Village quest and experiencing the great difficulty of the quest.

Minhyuk looked at Beas Village, he could see that the village was very small with only a few NPCs and users here and there. Right behind the village was Berest Mountains. The mountains were covered in pure white snow.

Minhyuk followed the route that Abel had informed him. Abel had told him to find ‘Luke’ the herbalist in Beas Village. Luke’s location was easy to find. He was an old man that was garbed in an outfit that was befitting a herbalist. Then he said……

“Information on the thousand-year-old ginseng? There’s no such thing as free lunch in this world, you know? If you can, bring me 30 claws of the Vicious Yeti. It’s quite hard to dig out herbs in the Berest Mountains because it’s teeming with those monsters.”

It was a common quest.

Just as he was about to open the door to do the quest, Luke asked him.

“Ah. Boy, what is your job class?”

“I’m a chef.”

“A chef……”

Luke smiled wryly when he heard his words.

“Isn’t it better for you to give up the thousand-year-old ginseng and just go back?”

However, Minhyuk just smiled brightly as he answered him.

“The thousand-year-old ginseng is necessary.”

Luke was a bit concerned about a ‘chef’ bringing him the things that he had requested about. However, he just disappeared for an hour before coming back again. Luke couldn’t help but be shocked since Minhyuk was the fastest person to ever finish the quest of bringing him 30 claws Vicious Yeti claws.

‘Ah. Come to think of it. There was a robed man who said that he was a mage earlier.’

I think they look a bit similar?

Then, Old Man Luke said……

“You’re a lot stronger than I thought.”

“Hehe. Thank you.”

“The thousand-year-old ginseng is actually hidden at the highest peak of the Berest Mountains. I only know that it is located near the peak so please keep that in mind.”

Luke emphasized his words. He spoke with great impact.

“It is also a fact that the legendary medicine thousand-year-old ginseng is something that I, a herbalist, have not found in more than 30 years.”

Luke was a herbalist who knew the Berest Mountains more than anyone else! It was also true that he had been searching for it for more than 30 years but he still was not able to find it! He needed to find the medicine.

However, Luke only sighed as he continued to talk.

“For that reason, I have already thought that the thousand-year-old ginseng is just a fictional story. It was 30 years! In those 30 years, I haven’t even seen the leaves of the thousand-year-old ginseng at all!”

He spoke passionately and with great fanfare. It was as if he was spitting out all of the injustices he had experienced in those 30 years.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk was quietly using his Ingredient Tracking Skill. 

“Boy, are you listening to me?! The thousand-year-old ginseng is just a fictional item. I don’t want to see someone else waste their time on something like this too! You’ll never find it! I’m sure~ You’ll never find it ever! The herbalist Baren, who had been with me for 20 years, had already closed his eyes in eternal peace!”

But at that moment, Minhyuk heard a notification.

[The search for the ingredient is successful.]

[The Thousand-year-old Ginseng is a great medicine that can permanently increase the amount of mana.]

[The dish is available from Lv1 Food God’s Cooking Skills.]

[Suggested Menu: Samgyetang.]

Then, an arrow popped out in front of Minhyuk. It was the arrow that indicated the direction and location of the thousand-year-old ginseng. 

As he stared at the arrow, he felt a bit sad for Luke who was shouting loudly about the injustices and unfair situation that he had experienced for 30 years of his life. He was so passionate and energetic that it looked like the veins on his neck would pop anytime soon.

Minhyuk tried to open the door with an awkward laugh while Luke suddenly said……

“I know another ingredient, not the thousand-year-old ginseng, but something comparable to that! It would be quicker for you to find it!” 

“…….Yes?” 

Minhyuk stopped his steps as he turned to look at Luke.

“Boy, have you heard about the Myriad-years Potato?”

“Myriad-years potato?”

It was information about delicious food. Minhyuk had no choice but to perk his ears and listen seriously.

“That’s right. Myriad-years potato. The story of the birth of the myriad-years potato is quite shocking and formidable. It’s even comparable to the legend of our Beas Village.”

Minhyuk listened to him while his hands held the doorknob.

“The myriad-years potato was said to be grown and cultivated by the ruler of the Berest Mountains ‘The Ancient Monarch’.”

“The Ancient Monarch?”

The Ancient Monarch. Minhyuk was quite interested in these three words.

“That’s right. Ancient Monarch. It was a legend from ancient times. The Ancient Monarch was once a very gentle and intelligent ruler. But one day, the ruler’s consciousness was brainwashed by the Demon Verus’ terrible spirit. He went mad and became a tyrant. It was said that the five knights who served the Ancient Monarch fought bravely to stop him from becoming a tyrant. They were the ‘Five Ancient Guardians’. The Five Ancient Guardians managed to keep the monarch at bay but they could not bear to kill their King, Argan. So they used their lives to lock him in an ancient sculpture before dividing it into five pieces. Those five pieces flew all over the world and he fell in deep slumber together with those five pieces. It was said that each piece was sealed with the food that the monarch has loved during his lifetime.”

“Sealing them together with food. Why……”

Minhyuk thought that it was somewhat incomprehensible.

“They were loyal and faithful. It must have been painful for them to have sealed and executed their monarch with their own hands. To honor him, they placed the food ingredients together as they put their monarch to slumber in the sculpture. And over time, the food ingredient gained strength from the sculpture pieces and grew comparable in strength to the thousand-year-old ginseng. The ingredients also did not go stale or rot. And in every cycle, the pieces of the sculpture would wake up with 1/5th of the power of the Ancient Monarch. Those pieces would be very, very strong and ferocious but it’s not impossible to hunt. That’s why the foreigners gather together to hunt every cycle.”

“Ah…… I see!”

Minhyuk could understand his words to some extent. He had heard of the global users gathering together to do a raid against the ‘Ancient Monarch’. However, he had never heard of anyone obtaining the food ingredients by hunting him. Perhaps the drop rate was too abysmal.

“I won’t stop you from challenging it. But I still don’t recommend it.” 

At that moment, Minhyuk heard the notifications.

[Cooperation Quest: Hunt the Ancient Monarch.]

Rank: SS

Restrictions: Luke’s Favorability.

Rewards: The Monarch’s Treasure Chest.

Penalty for Failure: You will not be allowed to enter Beas Village anymore.

Description: This is the Ancient Monarch Raid Quest where users from all over the world can participate in. The cycle is just around the corner.

Minhyuk accepted the quest for now. Just in case something happened. Then, he started moving towards the direction where the arrow was pointing too.

Meanwhile, Luke looked at his departing back as he mumbled to himself.

“You’ll never find it……” 

Tears welled up in Luke’s eyes. The tears seemed to indicate the 30 years of his wasted time.

***

Minhyuk followed the arrow.

However, not long after, he couldn’t help but tilt his head in confusion.

‘Huh……?’

The reason why he was confused was because the arrow suddenly started pointing somewhere else once he arrived at the top of Berest Mountains.

“What’s this?” 

However, Minhyuk continued to climb the Berest Mountains. 

The Berest Mountains were usually teeming with ice-type monsters. However, it was true that it was hard to find users in this place. No, it was safe to say that there wasn’t a single user in sight. The reason was simple, it was because the drops on Berest Mountains were too stingy. In a way, Berest Mountains and the villages surrounding them were merely just ‘meeting venues’. They were practically abandoned. Even Beas Village had a restriction and only allowed entry for one week so there were really not that many people in this area.

Minhyuk who was climbing up continuously suddenly stopped again.

‘The arrow changed again……?’

That was when Minhyuk realized something.

‘The location of the thousand-year-old ginseng is constantly changing……!’

It was then that he understood why people had yet to find this legendary medicine. But something like this was useless to Minhyuk! This was because his Ingredient Tracking could guide him even if it changed its location. 

Before he knew it, he had already reached the place where the arrow was pointing at. He looked down at the knee-deep snow below him. Then, he began to diligently dig the snow. After a bit of digging, Minhyuk could see the lush green leaves that were hanging strongly despite the cold weather. He gently reached out and dug out the thousand-year-old ginseng.

[You have acquired the Thousand-year-old Ginseng.]

“So this is the thousand-year-old ginseng!”

The thousand-year-old ginseng was a wild ginseng that grew for a thousand years.

In reality, a hundred-year-old ginseng is already precious. I wonder if this thousand-year-old one is truly more precious than that?

As soon as Minhyuk saw the ginseng, he felt like he had already gained a lot of strength.

‘Well then, shall we make samgyetang now? Heuheu!”

However, Minhyuk realized that it was too windy and cold out in the open. He knew that his body would warm up if he cooked and drank his samgyetang soup in this freezing weather but the weather would also interfere with his cooking.

Then, as if a light bulb shone brightly on top of his head, Minhyuk recalled a small cave that he saw before coming here. He quickly turned around and moved towards the cave.

***

Footnotes

[Myriad] – A unit of ten thousand when used in classical history. The literal translation of the ingredient 만년의 감자 is ten thousand year old potato. So to decrease words, I used myriad.