Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 226: The Birth of Minhyuk Religion

Kenneth stood up with dark circles under his eyes as he prayed eagerly.

I hope Brother Minhyuk did not go back yet!

He had prayed tens of thousands of times but he had never been so desperate before. And once he met Minhyuk…

“Athellujah!”

“……Yes?”

Athellujah was a word that those who serve Athenae used to praise him. In reality, one could say that it was the same as the word hallelujah.

“Brother Minhyuk.”

Kenneth squeezed Minhyuk’s hands as his eyes sparkled brightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“That…… the one you made for me yesterday…… do you have that tofu steak?”

“Ah. Yes.”

“I want to eat it one more time, what should I do? Ah! I’ll pay you as much as you want!”

Kenneth’s eyes sparkled brightly. He was so eager that he looked like he was a drug addict. Then, Minhyuk said to him……

“Aaaaah~ Wait~ But I’m a bit busy……”

Minhyuk drawled out his words as he smiled deep inside.

Everything is going according to plan!

He bounced in happiness and along with his bounces, Kenneth fidgeted in his spot.

“Y, you’re busy?”

“Yes. I have to listen to the harp played by the priests, lie down and eat potato chips…… hmmm……”

“……C, can you not do that?”

“I’m sorry.”

“How about 1 million gold?”

“I have a lot of money though?”

Kenneth turned restless when he heard Minhyuk’s words.

Aaaaaah! My goodness! I can’t even eat even if he’s right in front of me!!! How can this be?

Kenneth agonized over the things that he could offer. Then, he opened his trembling lips before speaking.

“Ble, blessings…… Do you want to be blessed?”

“What?”

“The priest’s blessings!”

Back then in Valkyrie Kingdom, Minhyuk made a bet with Priest Eidni and ended up receiving a priest’s blessing. At that time, he was able to get as much as 100+ increase in his holy power. In order to receive a priest’s blessing, users must complete an ‘A’ ranked quest. But Minhyuk was being offered such a reward just for a single dish.

“I’m a bit busy but… Call!”

***

At the restaurant, Minhyuk was cooking. However, this time, he was not cooking the tofu steak that he had cooked yesterday.

Meat was a truly delicious ingredient but vegetables could also taste as good as meat. Furthermore, Minhyuk’s superb and extreme cooking skills as well as his high DEX could guarantee the deliciousness of the food.

“What’s this smell?”

“Oh, it’s the smell of cheonggukjang……”

The users were in a buzz while Kenneth admired the dish in front of him.

“Today’s dishes are cheonggukjang and bean sprouts bibimbap.”

“There should be no artificial seasoning. Brother.”

“Don’t worry. It doesn’t contain any artificial seasoning.”

Everything was made by Minhyuk himself and he did not use any artificial seasonings at all. Kenneth thought that the smell was quite nasty. Then, a bowl of piping bean sprout bibimbap as well as cheonggukjang was placed in front of him.

‘Why does this dish smell so bad?’

I’d rather you eat tofu steak!

In front of Minhyuk, the cheonggukjang and bean sprout bibimbap were also placed down.

“Follow me.”

“Yes.”

Minhyuk moved his spoon and chopsticks towards the earthen pot that was filled with cheonggukjang. Minhyuk personally liked having plenty of tofu in his cheonggukjang so he placed quite a lot inside the dish. It was even tofu that was made by grinding soybeans in the Lightning Millstone.

His spoon clattered loudly as he cut the tofu and cheonggukjang out of the pot. The pristine white tofu together with some beans from the cheonggukjang and the savory soup all entered his spoon. Then, he placed it on top of the piping white rice before mixing the tofu and cheonggukjang together. Kenneth imitated his movements awkwardly. Then, Minhyuk took a spoonful and placed it in his mouth. The same was true for Kenneth.

And Kenneth, who was skeptical about the taste of this nasty smelling dish, ate a spoonful. As soon as the spoonful entered his mouth, he could hear a heavenly harmony playing in his head.

A~thellujah, A~thellujah, A~thellujah~

“D, delicious. How can something with this terrible smell taste like this…… the, the rice. I want to keep eating rice.”

This time, they scooped a spoonful of soup before taking a sip. The flavor was plain yet delicious. It was exceptionally tasty.

Then, Minhyuk sprinkled some sesame oil on top of his bean sprout bibimbap. Then, he began to mix it thoroughly. He was already mixing it but he was still unconsciously drooling. And the same was true for Kenneth. It seemed like the savory scent of the sesame oil and the gochujang was making their mouths water. Minhyuk also did not forget to add three spoonfuls of cheonggukjang on his bean sprout bibimbap.

“It tastes better this way.”

“Oh. I see.”

Kenneth copied what Minhyuk did to his bowl. Then, he placed a spoonful of the bibimbap in his mouth.

The texture of the bean sprout bibimbap that he placed in his mouth was superb! The various fresh greens and vegetables together with the spicy gochujang combined to create a fantastic taste. There was also a savory aftertaste after every bite which rounded up the flavors of the dish.

‘The cheonggukjang soup that we added earlier perfectly complements the dish!’

Kenneth ate his bibimbap while eating some tofu and cheonggukjang soup from time to time. And just like that, he had once again finished another delicious dish.

“It’s really delicious. Brother.”

“Haha. It’s just something simple.”

Then, the two of them stood up and moved to the place where Minhyuk would receive his blessings. Right in front of them was the faceless statue of God Athenae. Kenneth gently placed his hand on Minhyuk’s head as he gave him his blessings.

[You have received Kenneth’s blessings.]

[You have gained 50 Holy Power.]

[You have gained 10 reputation points.]

Although the blessing was not as good as Priest Eidni’s, Minhyuk was still able to receive 50 holy power points. In the first place, a blessing like this could only be given by high-ranking priests and most of the priests in the Athenae Religion were at least as powerful as Kenneth.

While Minhyuk and Kenneth continued to chat after the blessings, Minhyuk spoke.

“By the way, Priest-nim.”

“Yes, Brother?”

Minhyuk had been constantly informed earlier that his favorability with Kenneth had increased. And because of that, his mouth had been filled with smiles.

“Traditional priests share and give good things when they encounter one? Right?”

“That’s right. If there’s anything good, then we’ll share it.”

“I see. Huhuhuhu. Priest-nim, this delicious food, are you going to eat it alone?”

That was right. Minhyuk was someone that was meticulous. If he had one customer, then he would definitely have two more, three more, four more or five more customers. He intended to recruit this Athenae priest under his cause but Kenneth did not want to do that at all. If he did that, then he believed that it would be harder to eat Minhyuk’s delicious food. However, Minhyuk’s next words shook his resolve.

“I want to share it with them. That’s why I want Priest-nim to tell the other priests. If you do that, I will give you tofu steak.”

If you hesitate then throw a carrot after the whip! This is the sales method that my dad had told me about before.

“Yeeeeeees!”

Kenneth nodded his head vigorously.

The next day.

Priests with dark circles and sunken eyes appeared one by one while Minhyuk stayed in the restaurant as he cooked for them.

[You have received Carndi’s blessings.]

[You have gained 60 Holy Power.]

[You have gained 10 reputation points.]

[You have received Varc’s blessings.]

[You have gained 70 Holy Power.]

[You have gained 10 reputation points.]

[You have received Ornic’s blessings.]

[You have gained 50 Holy Power.]

[You have gained 10 reputation points.]

And the priests would gather every night until dawn to pray to God Athenae. The contents of their prayers were……

“Athellujah! Please let Minhyuk-nim cook something delicious tomorrow!”

“Athellujah! Please let Minhyuk-nim stay here a little longer!”

“Minhyuk-llujah! Please let me continue to eat his delicious dishes!”

“Uwoooooooooh! Minhyuk-llujaaaaaaaaaaah!”

They even raised their hands high up in the sky as they shouted loudly! Athellujah had even started to change to Minhyuk-llujah!

***

Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa were both lost for words.

“Cr, crazy……!”

“N, no. How can they do that?”

The two people were bound to be shocked.

[Minhyuk-llujah!]

The Athenae priests looked like they were fanatics.

When Team Leader Park saw this scene, all he could do was support his forehead.

“How high is User Minhyuk’s holy power now?”

“……It’s at 3,011.”

“I’m going nuts.”

Some people would ban themselves from eating meat or talking, they would even pray all night just to raise their holy power by one but User Minhyuk raised his holy power to 3,011 just like that.

And there’s even the x2 effect from Pandora’s Helmet, right?

This meant that his holy power could now exert a little over 6,000 in strength. The only good thing was that the effect would not be added even if his attack power against the undead was based on his holy power. That was because he already has a 100% additional attack power against them.

“Team Leader, if he pulled out the sword……”

“Yeah.”

Both Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa nodded solemnly.

“The quest will proceed.”

Lee Minhwa shook her head while Team Leader Park rubbed his face. The both of them were both worried. The biggest problem in front of them was the quest. This was because that quest was the backbone of the episode quest that would be released in the future.

***

Minhyuk was blessed by the priests and the Holy Knights of Athenae Religion. The holy power that he had received from the two groups were at least 300. After everything, he could see that he was ready.

If I pull out the Saint’s sword then I can meet with Saintess Rowena.

“Brother, I believe that you can do it.”

There were several priests surrounding Minhyuk. He looked calmly at them as he asked them a question.

“Everyone……”

“Yes, Brother!”

“Do you believe in me?”

“We believe in you!”

The priests nodded fiercely. Then, Minhyuk started to move towards the Saint’s sword. As soon as he moved, the users began to whisper and create a buzz.

“The guy with that tattered helmet is trying to pull out the Saint’s sword?”

“I heard that there are more than a thousand challenges each day, what’s the big deal with that?”

The users acted the same as usual. In fact, they were all new faces. After all, it was rare for users to stay in the temple for a long time like what Minhyuk did. Who would even stay for a week in the temple just to see the museum? This was the reason why they did not know about what happened with Minhyuk.

“Heok……! Did you see the priests giving him water?”

“Crazy……! The priests of Athenae are all at Lv450. They also ignore every one who tries to talk to them every day. But you’re telling me that they’re offering water to that guy?”

“Who the hell is that user?”

The users began to make a fuss as Priest Kenneth handed Minhyuk a cold glass of water.

“Haha. Our leader…… No, Brother. Please drink a glass of cold water.”

“Ah. Thank you. Kenneth-nim.”

Minhyuk smiled brightly as he slowly stood in front of the Saint’s sword. Then, he slowly grasped the hilt.

“But it’s still not moving~”

“Yeah. No way~ If it moves then I’ll give you my hands.”

“It did not even move when the child of Bavecka, Julian, challenged it before so it doesn’t make sense. I bet that guy can’t do it.”

“What if he pulled it out?”

“If he can do it then I’ll shave my head and become a priest here.”

“Oh~ You~ Didn’t you just get out of the army not too long ago? What if you lose your hair again?”

“Only speak about things that make sense.”

All the users were saying that it was impossible and ridiculous. But then, one user spoke.

“But why are we talking about the sword moving, and not the sword being pulled out?”

“The Saint’s sword is a symbolic treasure of the Athenae Religion. If you pull it out then it will be yours so how can the operators give it to us easily? It’s basically ridiculous if someone is able to move it. Athenae has made it impossible to pull that one out. The Saint’s sword is literally a sword that can’t be pulled out.”

It was a fact that Athenae has declared that it would be possible to move the sword. However, they believed that it was not yet possible for the users to pull it out. Minhyuk was aware of this fact too.

As soon as his hands held the hilt of the sword, the notifications rang in his head.

[You have challenged the Saint’s Sword.]

[The Saint’s Sword. This is a sword given by God Athenae and is considered to be the holiest sword in the world. This is a holy sword that has killed the demons in the past.]

Minhyuk also exerted some strength to try and move the sword. But all he did was exert a bit of strength and the sword got pulled out.

“Eh?”

Then, a bright light flashed from the Saint’s sword as it began to envelop the entirety of the Athenae Temple. The sword radiated a light that shone brighter than any other light in existence. Then, a world message rang loudly in the entire continent.

[A user who pulled out the Saint’s Sword has appeared.]

[You have gained 500 reputation points.]

[You have gained 1,000 Holy Power.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You are now the owner of Athenae Religion’s treasured Saint’s Sword.]

[The Saint’s Sword is now attributed to you.]

At that moment, an unidentified voice suddenly shouted at him.

“Why did you pull it out!!!”

Minhyuk turned his head and saw a woman dressed in a white, pristine priest robe by the railings of a tall building. Minhyuk was left in a fluster. He was told that he could move the Saint’s sword but he was not told that he could pull it out.

“Ah! That’s right! It moved at my touch. Wait! Sorry!”

Then, he rammed the sword back in.

“Cr, crazy……!”

“OMG?”

“N, no. Why did you put it back inside!!”

“Ah. All right!”

Minhyuk thought that she was weird but nevertheless he still pulled it out again.

“Keok!”

“……”

All of the users in the area were left speechless.

Meanwhile, Kenneth who was standing behind him was thinking about something else.

‘As expected of the leader of our Minhyuk Religion. Minhyuk-llujah!’