Leveling Up through Eating

As soon as he entered the cave, Minhyuk transformed his Baracca’s Sword into a cauldron. It was the cauldron that one could only see in movies and dramas. Strangely enough, the food that was cooked in the cauldron looked even more delicious and appetizing.

The cauldron, which was starting to boil, was filled with jujube, thousand-year-old ginseng, branches of the World Tree, garlic, salt and trimmed and cleaned chicken.

The contents of the cauldron had been left to boil for quite some time so hot steam rushed up when he opened the lid of the cauldron.

“Hot! Hot!” 

As soon as the steam cleared up, Minhyuk could see that the samgyetang that was filled with ingredients was already cooked well. He could even see the natural oil from the chicken floating on top of the soup. Then, he scooped up the well-boiled samgyetang on a plate before preparing some salt and pepper for the sauce.

He first picked up a big piece of chicken leg off of the plate. It was so hot that he felt like his fingertips reddened due to the heat. He hastily licked his finger to alleviate the pain from the heat before taking a big bite out of the chicken leg.

“Hoo─”

A big piece of meat was torn from the chicken leg while he sat inside the cold and frosty cave. He could even see the air puff out of his mouth in every bite. He gently rolled the meat in his mouth as he chewed it slowly. Each bite of the savory and chewy meat spread out the flavor of protein in his mouth. Then, he dipped the chicken leg in the salt and pepper sauce.

Chew, chew.

The addition of the salty flavor to the otherwise bland and greasy chicken was like the icing on the cake. Then, using a ladle, he scooped up the white and greasy soup into a bowl. He gently held the bowl with both of his hands as he placed his lips on the lid of the bowl. He then blew on the hot soup before taking a long sip.

“Sluuuuuuurp!”

With just one sip of the soup, the cold flew away. 

How happy!

After he finished eating the chicken legs, he looked at the chicken breast before tearing it apart. Although the chicken breast was quite dry, it still had its own charm. Then, Minhyuk used his bare hands to rip the well-ripened kimchi into long pieces. The best and matching flavor for this was the long pieces of kimchi! He placed some chicken meat and kimchi together in his mouth. He couldn’t help but admire the spicy and sour flavor of the kimchi that easily washed away the greasiness of the samgyetang.

He silently wiped his greasy hands with some wet wipes once before starting to eat again. By the time he finished eating the meat, his soup bowl was already refilled with soup. Then, he added some rice and seasoned it with some salt. The rice soup made with the soup of the samgyetang and some rice mixed together had a charm of its own.

Minhyuk placed a piece of kimchi on top of his spoon filled with rice and soup. The flavors of the greasy soup, the plump grains of rice as well as the kimchi danced harmoniously in his mouth. After tasting it like that, he added some cooked garlic on top of his rice. To be honest, Minhyuk preferred garlic grilled together with meat but he also liked the taste of this well-boiled garlic that could melt in his mouth. It has such a unique flavor and texture that he couldn’t get out of his mind.

After he ate the garlic, there were still some leftovers. It was the very core of this samgyetang. The thousand-year-old ginseng. Minhyuk quickly picked up the thousand-year-old ginseng. He gingerly placed it in his mouth before chewing on it. It was a bitter ingredient but the flavor had toned down after it was boiled together with the samgyetang. After chewing at least half of the ginseng, Minhyuk said……

“Samgyetang should really have actual ginseng in it!”

Then, he heard another voice right next to him.

“H, hey……”

The man was wearing a black robe with a staff on his hand and hat on top of his long hair that was tied behind him.

Minhyuk could also see a huge flame magic casted behind the man. It was Hellfire. Minhyuk frowned when he saw the man and his magic. His main reason was because he did not like being disturbed when he was having his meal. What was worse was the Hellfire that was casted behind the man. It was a clear indication that the man was ready to PK.

But the man standing near Minhyuk was shocked beyond words. The man was even trembling as he asked him……

“Th, that’s not the thousand-year-old ginseng, right?”

Minhyuk hurriedly pushed the rest of the thousand-year-old ginseng into his mouth. Then, the man looked at him as if he was crazy as he continued to speak.

“A th, thousand-year-old ginseng! Which bastard will cook a thousand-year-old ginseng and put it in samgyetang?!”

Minhyuk, who would usually answer politely, answered this uninvited guest with a calm but blunt attitude.

“Here.”

***

Every country in the world had its own ‘Rude Mannered Users’.

And on the Chinese side of the Athenae Server, there was a very notorious ‘Haochen’ guild. The Haochen guild was not a globally-known guild but it was considered to be one of the ‘untouchable guilds’ in China. There were a lot of ridiculous reasons especially about their guild members but it was mainly because there was a large number of rankers in their guild.

Even though the Haochen guild was not one of the top guilds in China, even a 1-year-old baby would know its name. They would also remember to never enter the Haochen Guild’s territory. As soon as they entered their territory, they would continue to slaughter the user until they received a ridiculous amount of supply.

And in one of Haochen Guild’s hideouts, there were four influential users gathered together. The man sitting on the guild master’s seat was Bedu. He was ranked 61st in the world official rankings. He was grinning widely as he spoke to his guild members.

“All of our preparations are finished. The Monarch will wake up today.” 

“Yeah. That’s right.” 

Bedu lowered his head as he stood up from his seat. They were preparing to make a big swoop in Beas Village. The village that was located precisely in the Berest Mountains. They knew that strong users from all over the world would start to flock in Beas Village for the upcoming Monarch Raid. And the Haochen Guild had prepared a gift for them in advance.

Then, one of the hidden class users, the ‘Devil Worshipper’ slowly approached him. He was a user with the nickname Kelmann. He opened a small box with two black sculptures inside. One of the sculptures was a hand while the other was a body. It was none other than the sculptures that sealed the ‘Ancient Monarch’. It was quite surprising that there were two Ancient Monarch Sculptures in the Chinese server in Athenae. But the Haochen Guild had devoted themselves to collecting the pieces of this sculpture.

“With the first sculpture, the Monarch woke up in Beas Village. He exerted a power that’s comparable to a Lv480 boss monster. The fusion of two sculpture pieces of the Monarch had pushed its power to Lv520. If three pieces came together, then its power would grow more.” 

This was a fact that most users did not know. However, Kelmann, the Devil Worshipper, was different. He was worshipping the Demon Verus so he was able to gather a lot of information from him.

Their only problem was that it was too difficult to go to Beas Village. However, it was different now since their purpose was determined and clear. Haochen Guild has been preparing to embark on something before getting the quest to go to Beas Village. It was simple.

“What would happen if the Monarch awakened in the Berest Mountains where the world’s strongest men, who are not able to hunt it, have gathered?” 

The result was already clear to them. They were sure that all of the users would be wiped out. And their items would also drop. 

The world users will definitely drop noble and honorable artifacts, right?

Just the thought was enough to send a thrill down his spine. He was sure that there would be artifacts that he had never seen before. There would also be items that were not available on the servers in other countries.

Amazing! It’s literally amazing!

This was the only time that it would be released in Beas Village and Haochen Guild had been preparing for it for two months already. And it was time for them to pull in the net.

“Let’s go. Let’s wake the Monarch.” 

“Yes!” 

They quickly moved out.

***

“Here.” 

When he heard his words, the Black Mage Ali’s face distorted to the point of tears. The Hellfire that was casted behind him slowly disappeared. Then, he leaned against the wall in despair.

‘I have been looking for it so much but……!’ 

It took him an enormous amount of money and time just to get information on the thousand-year-old ginseng. This situation was something inevitable. Especially for Ali, a Black Mage, who did not have an excellent ‘Informant’ like Minhyuk. He even took a special quest that told him that the thousand-year-old ginseng changes its position every time. What was worse was that he even found out which position it would go to this time.

I came here finally thinking that I would be able to get it. But now?! I can’t believe that he cooked and ate the thousand-year-old ginseng in samgyetang!

What was worse for him was that the man just nonchalantly ate and scraped away the last bit of soup.

‘It, it looked delicious……’ 

It was such a sudden thought.

Samgyetang with the thousand-year-old ginseng? That’s the real soup among all soups! 

Not long after, the man wore his helmet.

“What’s your business here?” 

After he finished his meal, he seemed to be quite wary of Ali. But Ali just smiled bitterly at him.

‘This idiotic punk……’ 

Ali knew why he reacted coldly. It was only a natural response. No one would be happy if someone popped up beside them with an attack magic spell behind them. That momentary greed had almost dominated Ali.

“I’m sorry. About the attack spell a while ago.” 

Minhyuk was quite surprised.

‘Hmm? I’m sure that he’s clearly high-leveled.’

There were only a few users who could use Hellfire. No, their existence was even questionable. But he was also repenting for his earlier mistakes.

“That…… This may sound like an excuse but I’ve been searching for the thousand-year-old ginseng for two months. And because I saw the thousand-year-old ginseng being eaten by others in a sa, samgye…… Cough!” 

Ali caught himself just as he was about to say samgyetang. He coughed loudly as if to spit out the word that got stuck in his throat.

No, but this doesn’t even make sense!

He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.

“I must have been excited about making and eating samgyetang. Ah. I’m such an idiot for thinking that you would PK me back then.” 

Ali smiled wryly. The Black Mage Ali was a user who liked to play alone. And as a Mage user, his ambition and dreams was to become the strongest mage compared to all the mages, not only in Korea but also in the world. There were no mages named and crowned in the ‘Hall of Kings’ yet so Ali wanted to become the first one to do so.

Other than that, Ali was a good person. He was not a bad person at all. He was a man who would protect what he could protect. But his only problem was that he was alone when he played the game. That was the reason why he did not know Minhyuk who was standing in front of him.

Ali was mad in his pursuit of the thousand-year-old ginseng so he did not have a slightest bit of knowledge about the happenings in the Athenae: Korean War.

“Hmm……”

However, he still opened his mouth when he realized that Minhyuk’s suspicions were not cleared yet.

“To be honest, I have been searching for the thousand-year-old ginseng for two months. I thought that I could be the first ever mage to climb the Hall of Kings if I raised my mana by 1.5x. But I looked for it for two months and still ended up missing it. Sigh……”

As Minhyuk watched him continue to prove his innocence, he realized something.

‘He’s not a bad person.’

He spent two months just to find it. And he also wants to climb the Hall of Kings? It’s understandable that he wanted to become the first mage to ever climb the Hall of Kings.

Then, Ali asked……

“Are you a chef?”

“Ah. Yes.”

“I see. It won’t be easy for you to go down then.”

Ali just took the information in stride. There were various classes that would come to Beas Village and there were various people who could receive quests. It might be hard for people to come up here due to the monsters but it was not impossible especially if they could avoid it well.

“I’ll help you go down as a token of my apology. Oh, and……”

Ali rummaged through his items. He had received a good artifact a little while ago.

He seems to be an unusual chef. To put it simple, a chef who likes to eat!

He believed that he would be able to apologize well with this artifact. He almost PKed him so he wouldn’t feel comfortable enough if he just let it go like that.

Then, he pulled out a small box.

“Have you heard of Magical Snack Boxes?”

Minhyuk tilted his head when he heard his words.

Magical Snack Box?

Ali smiled at him as he handed over the box.

“One type of snack from all over the world will appear once every day. Let’s see, today’s snack is……”

Not long after, he took out a snack from the box. The snack was none other than a ‘Tako Snack’. When he saw the snack being pulled out, Minhyuk thought……

‘……Th, this is a revolutionary item!’ 

It was an extremely amazing item that Ali was handing over to him obediently.

Minhyuk couldn’t help but smile sweetly and happily.

***

Notes:

[Haochen] – Haochen means All Mighty ig. From some name.org site.

TL’s corner!

Are they going to party? Oh my, oh my. I wonder if Ali will be recruited to Legend. Or will Ali become the third subordinate… Hmmmmmm. Two possibilities. I also wonder if Kim Daesik will grab his hair and cry loudly once Team Leader Park comes back. Hehehehe.

PR’s Corner!

I think Kim Daesik will have pulled out his hair long before Team Leader Park returns…