Leveling Up through Eating

64 The Birth of Minhyuk Religion

Five days have already passed in reality, it was equivalent to 15 days in Athenae. 

Director Kim Daesik was thrilled beyond words when he saw Team Leader Park entering the door with sunglasses on his face while saying ‘Aloha~’.

“Team Leader Park!”

He strode forward and hugged Team Leader Park tightly.

“I missed you so much!”

Team Leader Park tilted his head in confusion when Director Kim Daesik hugged him like he had finally met his long-lost relative. He turned to look at Lee Minhwa. He did not voice it out and just mouthed at her.

‘What’s with him?’

‘A lot of things happened.’

Lee Minhwa smiled wryly as Director Kim Daesik talked to him while he hugged him tightly.

“I finally realized how much work the Special Users Management Team is doing and how sincere you all are!! You’ve worked hard!! You guys are the pride and joy of Joy Co. Ltd!!!”

As soon as his words ended, he whisked himself away then disappeared from the room. When he met President Kang Taehoon, all he could say was…

“The Special Users Management Team is a key part of our Joy Co. Ltd. Considering the heavy workload and mental damage(?), I think they should be given frequent bonuses and vacations.”

“I see. Ah. How was it? I’m thinking of using you as a substitute when the people from the Special Users Management Team finally get some extra vacation time.”

“I think it’s better to take out the vacation and just add more bonuses!”

That was the kind of talk that came and went between them.

Meanwhile, Team Leader Park had a black face when he listened to the briefing.

“What is User Minhyuk’s current status?”

“He received the Monarch’s seeds and is now currently heading to Athenae Temple housing the Athenae Religion.”

His expression was distorted when he heard her words. He looked like he had heard something that he did not want to hear as soon as he came  back.

“Monarch’s seeds? Athenae Religion……?”

He was left speechless. Lee Minhwa, with a bitter look on her face, explained to him the process of how he had acquired the Monarch’s seeds.

“The bastards from Haochen Guild did such a thing? It’s a good thing that Beas Village did not disappear but I can’t believe that the Monarch’s seeds that’s supposed to come out three months later are now in the hands of User Minhyuk…”

Lee Minhwa nodded her head.

“That’s a huge amount of power.”

“That’s right. And going with User Minhyuk’s nature, he will do anything to awaken the Monarch’s seeds because he believes that something delicious will come out of it.”

“Yes. That’s why he’s heading towards Athenae Religion’s temple now.”

“It’s fortunate that he will not be able to meet Rowena even if he went to the temple.”

“Yes.”

Rowena was someone who was more difficult to build and increase the favorability with than the Sword Emperor Ellie. Of course, the quest for the Monarch’s seed would only proceed if he met with the pope of Rowena. But it was still too early for him. The Athenae Religion was the best and greatest religion existing in that world view and it was filled with proud and arrogant people. And he believed that Minhyuk would not be able to meet Rowena in such a place.

“And no matter how high User Minyuk’s Holy Power is, he will still not be able to draw the Saint’s sword yet.”

Team Leader Park was a bit relieved.

The Saint’s sword would only be pulled out if he had at least 4,000 Holy Power. And Minhyuk’s Holy Power as well as the various artifacts that he had that could increase the Holy Power by X times still fell short of that threshold.

He felt relieved at such a thought.

But soon, he would not be able to feel any relief at all.

***

Minhyuk saw a large temple when he arrived at the Athenae Religion’s church. The temple was as splendid and magnificent as the temple in Greece.

He knew that Athenae Temples existed in each and every server of the world. And among these NPC priests, there were special existences that could warp into Athenae Temples from all over the world. He had heard that those people were the pope and Rowena. They said that Rowena and the pope could move to their rooms in the Athenae Temple in each country’s server. In other words, they were the only NPCs that existed as a single person all throughout the servers in the world. It was also the same for the Saint’s sword. It existed on every server, but there was only one item in the entire world. The moment someone drew it out, it would be removed from the rest of the servers.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk had finally entered the temple at a price of 10 million gold. 

Although he was allowed entry in the Athenae Temple, he could only view and not touch everything in his sight. This was how the system had set everything inside. In addition, when someone made a fuss inside, they would immediately receive a curse that would turn them into a ‘Chaotic’ user. The admission fee was also extremely expensive so the only ones who could enter would either be the extremely rich or those that wanted to challenge the Saint’s sword.

Minhyuk first looked at the admission guide, Priest Kenneth. The admission guide was the priest who would stay together with the user until they left the temple. Kenneth was a priest that had neat blonde hair and had an overall aesthetic and nice appearance. 

Then, he asked him carefully.

“Kenneth-nim.”

“Yes.”

“By any chance, can I have an audience with Rowena-ni……”

“No.”

“……”

“……”

It seemed like a lot of people had asked this question that he answered him in just a second, no, before he was even done talking.

“Is there a way……”

“There’s none.”

“Just once……”

“Do you want to leave immediately?”

He felt bad for blocking him from the very beginning. But even though Kenneth knew that Minhyuk was very polite and kind, he still could not allow the things that really couldn’t be done.

Minhyuk bowed in silence as he looked around.

‘There’s got to be a way.’

There was always this thing called ‘flexibility’ wherever people lived and interacted. Of course, Minhyuk has also searched the official homepage for answers. And the people’s reactions were simple.

[Rowena’s Great: Let me explain how you can meet Rowena.

1 But a Rowena figurine.

2 Buy a Rowena pillow.

3 Buy Rowena’s video.

4 Become a priest and get banned from speaking and eating meat for 10 years. You also need to pray to the God of Athenae for 12 hours each day.]

The comments below the article were mildly acceptable. The joking tone of the post was clear but when he looked through it, he realized that the quest that would connect to Rowena was still not confirmed. But he knew that there would always be a way.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk continued to walk through the crowd. He could see a huge greatsword stuck in the ground. The hilt of the sword was made out of gold and the image of a bull was imprinted on the body of the sword to depict the Athenae Religion.

‘That bull looks delicious……’

The thought passed through his head. Then, as he continued to watch the scene, he saw users challenging the sword. All of the users failed miserably. 

Then……

“It’s the 8th in the Paladin rankings in our country, Randos!”

“Randos!! He’s the one with the tremendous Holy Power at 400, right?”

The users began to whisper together in admiration. 

Then, Randos, a man in a flashing silver armor, walked forward. His body was filled with great muscles. He silently approached the sword and grabbed its hilt before pulling strongly.

“Heeeeeeeup!”

He first let out such a sound but as time went by, his face became redder and the sound that he let out became weirder.

“Keuaaaaaaaaa!”

But the Saint’s sword did not budge at all.

“Will that sword be pulled out at all?”

“Isn’t it practically impossible at this point?”

“According to the Athenae homepage, if you pull out the Saint’s sword then you will be able to receive a great quest from the Athenae Religion. Right?”

“I heard the rewards are great.”

“But I don’t think the contents have been posted. I wonder how much Holy Power is needed to pull it out?”

The voices of the users around him rang loudly. Minhyuk decided to try it once. Just as finished his decision, he turned to speak to Kenneth.

“Will I be able to meet Rowena-nim if I pull out the Saint’s sword?”

“You’ll be able to meet with her.”

Kenneth smiled subtly as he shook his head. So Minhyuk challenged it but just like Randos, he also failed miserably.

Minhyuk’s Holy Power stat was at 1,000 but it was actually more than 2,000 in strength. This was thanks to the effect of Pandora’s Helmet. But it was still useless.

He couldn’t help but sigh. But instead of wallowing in self pity, Minhyuk decided to look around with Kenneth first. And during that process……

“It’s lunch time.”

Kenneth smiled at him.

“Brother, you do know that it’s not possible to eat meat in here. Right?”

“Ah. Yes. I know.”

“If we go to the restaurant, you will be able to eat a vegetarian meal. Foreigners and priests all go there to eat. Let’s go there.”

It was a strict and rigid discipline!

No one would even dare to eat meat in Athenae Temple. But when Minhyuk followed him to the restaurant and saw the menu, he couldn’t help but be left in shock.

‘What is this!!’

Minhyuk was too surprised. A bowl of raw garlic salad cost 10,000 gold while lettuce salad was about 20,000 gold. Even the unseasoned spinach was about 20,000 gold. 

Minhyuk had no choice but to be shocked. He eventually sat in front of Kenneth unable to buy anything at all.

‘I’m hungry……!’

He felt sad as he muttered to himself.

“There are many animals running around in nature, how can I eat grass like this? Brother.”

Then, he saw the food that Kenneth ate. It was a bowl of salad with no sauce at all. Minhyuk felt like he was watching himself eat those cherry tomatoes.

Minhyuk turned to look around. He could see that most of the users had the same expression as him while the admission guides just ate comfortably as if the food that they ate were naturally delicious. But Minhyuk knew.

‘I know that they want to eat something delicious!!!’

He knew that this place would not accept any artificial seasoning as their seasoning. The only thing that they could eat were pure ingredients that were harvested from the ground. In other words, MSG was not allowed.

As he watched them like that, Minhyuk suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.

‘Pe, perhaps……!’

First, he needed to get close to the people in here for him to be able to meet the king of this place. Rowena was the king and the priests were her subjects. And Minhyuk thought that his idea was brilliantly clever.

Not long after, he spoke.

“Priest-nim.”

“Yes?”

“Is that delicious?”

“No.”

Kenneth continued to speak with great conviction.

“It’s like I’m chewing paper.’

“Ahhhhh. My goodness!”

Minhyuk felt pity towards him. He could sympathize with him more strongly than anybody else.

“But it couldn’t be helped.”

You sound just like a monk, Kenneth!

Then, Minhyuk went closer as he whispered in his ears.

“How would you like it if I treat you to a more delicious meal using those vegetables?”

“……?”

Kenneth’s response was unenthusiastic. Then, he asked Minhyuk.

“What are you going to make?”

Everyone was interested in new food so Minhyuk was confident that he would hook his attention. When he heard his words, Minhyuk grinned widely at him.

“Tofu steak.”

***

The priests of the Athenae Religion all lived nearby in a ‘priest shelter’. Kenneth, who just arrived there, was left in a daze while fellow priest Raven asked him a question.

“Kenneth. Why have you been in a daze since a while ago?”

“……N, nothing.”

“Really? That’s weird.”

His colleagues were left in confusion as Kenneth stood there mesmerized. He looked like he was possessed by something while he washed up in a daze.

“What’s wrong with Kenneth today?” 

“I don’t know. I heard that a foreigner made him tofu steak in the restaurant a while ago. He has been like that ever since he ate it.” 

Kenneth was still in a daze even if he was already lying in his bed.

He couldn’t help but imagine those well-done tofu steaks. He remembered cutting the steak into pieces himself. With the fork in his left hand pressing on to the tofu steak, his right hand sliced a piece of tofu steak that he brought towards his mouth. The texture of the tofu steak in his mouth was spectacular. 

Kenneth’s mouth moved by itself. He looked like he was chewing on it in his sleep.

“That soft and warm piece…… Chew, chew, chew…… That light yet savory flavor……” 

Kenneth has never eaten meat ever since he was born. Even though he had never eaten meat, he believed that real meat would taste and feel the same way with the ‘meat’ that he ate today. He was covered in cold sweat and his arms were shaking during the entirety of the night. That was right. He was experiencing symptoms of tofu steak withdrawal!! In the end, Kenneth couldn’t sleep at all so he stood up.

‘I want to eat it again…… Tofu steak……’ 

Then, he opened his eyes.

‘Mi, Minhyuk-niiiiiiiiiim!’ 

That was the beginning.

That was the moment when the Athenae Religion’s priests turned around and followed Minhyuk’s Religion.

***

TL’s note!

Uhm. LOL. I can’t. Oh my god. Scammed with just one tofu steak. I think I can vaguely guess how Minhyuk increased his holy power……