Leveling Up through Eating

The Papal Knight Voloch hurriedly rushed towards the prayer room where Pope Carunu was currently at. He knelt down on one knee as he waited for the pope to come out of the room. After waiting for quite a long time, Voloch saw the pope come out of the room.

Pope Carunu was wearing a pristine and white priest robe with a crown made out of the branches of the holt tree on top of his head. He was known to be the greatest and the strongest pope in history.

“Voloch, what’s going on?” 

“Your Holiness, Carunu-nim. The Saint’s sword has been pulled out today.” 

“……The Saint’s sword?” 

Pope Carunu’s eyes widened in surprise as Voloch bowed his head to answer his question.

“Yes. It’s also pulled out by a foreigner.” 

“Hoo…… How can that be……” 

Pope Carunu rubbed his beard in surprise as he nodded his head.

“He’s probably coming to see me soon.” 

“That’s right.” 

Voloch nodded his head in confirmation to the pope’s words. Everyone knew that the person who moved the Saint’s sword must come and see him so they expected Saintess Rowena to send the foreigner to Pope Carunu.

“I see. This is God’s will too.” 

Voloch shook his head as he stood up from his position to go outside. After Voloch left, Pope Carunu went back inside the prayer room.

Only Pope Carunu was allowed entry inside the prayer room. He stood inside as he stared at the large faceless statue of God Athenae as he spoke.

“This is God’s will….. But what are you thinking, Athenae?” 

Pope Carunu glared sharply at the statue. It was an unbelievable attitude for a pope who was serving God. Not long after, he sat on a chair in front of the statue and got lost in thought.

‘Everything is going wrong.’ 

The man that was sitting in front of Athenae was not Pope Carunu but the Demon Verus. He had entered the body of the pope just in the nick of time.

‘Originally, the Demon Worshipper Carn should be the one who moved the sword……’ 

The Demon Worshipper Carn was the fifth most powerful among all of the demon worshippers. He was also the fourth among the Most Powerful Men of the past. He was tasked to move the sword under Verus’ orders. Today was the day when Carn was expected to move the sword so Carn should naturally be in this place. He was also tasked to bring Rowena the ‘wine and tteok’ that would bring the entire Athenae Religion down to hell.

On special occasions, the people who served under the Athenae Religion would also drink and eat the wine and tteok that was made by the papacy. And those items were items that Verus had corrupted. As soon as they ate that tteok, Saintess Rowena would become a demonic human and all of the priests of Athenae Religion would lose their holy power just like being devoured by a plague.

But then he thought of Carn……

‘Let’s see……’ 

The foreigner? He’s obviously going to come and see me himself. Anyway, I can just give him a ‘mission’ to deliver the wine and tteok to Rowena. This was originally Carn’s job but I’ll give it to him instead.

‘And if I reward him generously……’ 

Everything will work out perfectly.

Pope Carune, to be exact, Demon Verus stared at the tteok in front of him.

It was none other than a tteok set consisting of ‘honey tteok, injeolmi, sirutteok, baekseolgi, and chapssaltteok’.

***

When the Saint’s sword was pulled out, the Paladin Commander Corr was explaining things to Rowena inside.

“That’s what happened…… But is that even possible?” 

Rowena still could not believe it. They were priests who had served God Athenae their entire lives but these priests were now trusting, liking and following Minhyuk. They even gave their blessings to him. Corr nodded his head solemnly when he heard her words.

“Saintess-nim. We are prohibited from eating meat all our lives. It was not different from the vegetables that we usually ate but the taste was truly too delicious. I also tried that tofu steak and the flavor……”

Corr unknowingly gulped his saliva. Just imagining the dish could make his mouth water. In fact, Minhyuk’s existence was something that was truly special to these people who had led a vegetarian lifestyle from the moment that they entered the church. The taste and flavor of the dish was surprising and strangely enough it really tasted like ‘meat’.

“Co, Corr…… even you……”

“……It was really delicious.”

“Hoo…… I understand. Let’s listen to what he has to say for now.”

“Yes. I understand!”

Corr stepped forward to lead the way.

However, Rowena still did not like this foreigner that he talked about. She had no choice. After all, she believed that his method was expedient. It’s not like any outstanding chef would go and attract the priests so they could move, no, pull out the Saint’s sword. This was the reason why Rowena still denied the fact that he was the ‘legendary’ figure. But it was only polite for her to meet with the man who pulled out the Saint’s sword.

Not long after, the foreigner came inside.

“Hello!”

“……”

The foreigner who came in was lively and polite. Rowena just smiled at him as she continued to stare.

‘Men……’

All of the men around her fell in love with her external appearance. They used to make a fuss just so they could hear her voice or brush her hands just once. However, what did they want to do? Rowena was the child of Athenae. He was the only man that she would love. She was the type of woman who would love no other man and would maintain her premarital purity for him and him alone.

“They said that you wanted to meet with me?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Your reason?”

“I received something that’s called ‘Monarch’s Seeds’. The seeds are sealed but it could only be awakened by either Rowena-nim or the Pope.”

“Is that so?”

Rowena shook her head before continuing to speak.

“You do know that there’s a price to pay for me to awaken that, right?”

“Of course!”

“Then, let me taste your dishes too.”

It was not that Rowena wanted to eat it but she was just curious. Then she thought……

‘I won’t fall for something like a simple dish. But I need to identify and check the identity of the dish that has captivated the priests.’

Rowena’s eyes narrowed sharply.

***

Minhyuk watched as Rowena ate the bean sprout bibimbap in front of him. The Rowena, who had a pretty chic and arrogant look earlier, was now hurriedly eating the bibimbap that one could even hear the loud clattering of the spoon in the stainless steel bowl.

After he stared at her, he decided to check the Saint’s sword which he was not able to check earlier after the commander of the Paladins dragged him away.

(Saint’s Sword)

Rank: Legendary

Restrictions: Minhyuk’s Attributed Artifact

Durability: ∞ / ∞

Attack Power: 931

Special Abilities: 

— 10% increase in STR, 15% increase in AGI.

— Charisma +100

— 60% possibility of ignoring the defenses of beings that have magi.

— Will receive a higher treatment than most priests of the Athenae Religion anywhere in the world.

— Passive Skill: Advanced Sword Mastery.

— Active Skill: Saint’s Protection.

Description: This was the Saint’s Sword that God Athenae had stabbed into the ground. Legend has it that whoever pulls this sword out will be the hero and the Athenae Religion’s salvation.

(Saint’s Protection)

Artifact Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: 1,000

Cooldown: 168 hours

Effects:

— The user’s physical attack and defense as well as magical attack and defense will increase by 30% of the holy power stat for 15 minutes.

—  The user’s party members and guild members’ physical attack and defense as well as magical attack and defense will increase by 20% of the holy power stat for 15 minutes.

“……” 

Minhyuk was left speechless. The only reason was because of the skill Saint’s Protection and the 60% probability of disregarding the defenses of anyone with a magi.

When talking about those with magi they were referring to the demonic race, demonic human or demons in general. Although the contents of the Demon World was not yet officially received, he believed that this was an amazing strength to have.

He was especially surprised with the ‘Saint’s Protection’ which had a buff ability that could increase his physical attack and defense by 30% for 15 minutes. Right now, Minhyuk has over 4,000 in his holy power stat. Having a 30% increase based on the holy power meant that he would have a 1,333 point increase for 15 minutes in his physical attack, physical defense, magical attack and magical defense.

And if he equipped the Saint’s sword……

‘I think I can kill the Demon Race in just one stroke, right?’ 

Minhyuk was completely satisfied. It was not something delicious but increasing his strength meant that he could find more delicious things to eat.

Then, at that moment……

“Y, you……” 

Rowena had finished each and every single grain of rice in her bowl. When her eyes made contact with Minhyuk, she couldn’t help but redden. She was at a loss for words for quite some time. After deliberating for a long time, she finally decided to just spit it out.

“It, it’s fluttering in excitement.” 

“……?” 

***

Saintess Rowena felt like her mind was being corrupted by the devil. She kept shouting in her head as she ate the dish.

‘No, Rowena! You’re the Saintess, you should maintain your dignity!!’ 

But her hands and mouth did not stop moving. She couldn’t get enough of the spicy and savory flavor of the dish in front of her. No matter how hard she tried to reprimand herself, her spoon kept on moving without any pause at all.

After she finished eating, she realized that she ate everything down to the very last grain. Her bowl looked like the person who ate it did not even want to leave anything to waste.

Then, her eyes met with his. She was both flustered and embarrassed as her mind went blank for a moment. It did not occur to her at first but as she stared at his eyes, her heart continued to tremble. 

Aaaaaaaah! I was charmed by a sexy man who cooks!

Then, an idea floated in her head.

‘If I marry this man, will I be able to eat the dishes that he will make for the rest of my life?’

But Rowena was a Saintess. She couldn’t do something like that at all. 

Should I show him my admiration and that I enjoyed his meal? Or should I pretend that that wasn’t the case at all? It’s too delicious for me to pretend that I did not enjoy it at all. What should I say?

Then, she spat out the words that she kept in her chest. She shouted that it was fluttering!

“……?”

“……”

Rowena’s face flushed even more. She quickly hid her face behind her palms as she was left at a loss. 

Then, Minhyuk smiled at her.

“My heart also flutters when there’s delicious food in front of me. My heart will thump wildly whenever I smell such a delicious scent and I will always want to look for them. This is what cooking is all about.”

Minhyuk smiled widely as he spoke to her.

‘I, is he trying to curb my embarrassment like this?’

No, Minhyuk was just talking about the essence of cooking. His heart would flutter whenever he saw chicken and he loved pizza more than anybody else. Without knowing that fact, Rowena mistakenly thought that he was being considerate of her. 

Then, she reached out her hands towards him.

“Please give me the Monarch’s Seeds.”

Minhyuk gave her the Monarch’s Seeds as she held it gently in her palms.

“God Athenae who governs over the entirety of this world, please awaken the new power that is concealed within these seeds. Athellujah.”

A bright light suddenly burst out from the seeds. When she saw this happen, Rowena couldn’t help but be surprised. She felt that the power that was in the seeds was something that was surprisingly familiar.

“These seeds must have been sealed by the power of the former Pope of Athenae Religion. But even though I touched and unsealed it, it seems like there is still some unavailable information in it.”

Then, she handed the seeds back to Minhyuk as he quickly checked the information.

(Monarch’s Seeds)

Material Grade: God

Special Abilities: ???

Description: These are the seeds that have been unsealed by Rowena. However, the power within them is still hidden behind a veil. Plant and grow the seed and you’ll know what it is.

Rowena continued to talk to him.

“I’m not certain but I think the former Pope and the previous owner of these seeds have predicted the future and decided to seal them. Just like in the description, you’ll only know what it is if you plant it.”

Minhyuk smiled wryly before speaking.

“Do you think something delicious will come out?”

“……I don’t know about that but one thing’s for sure, something with a vast amount of holy power will come out of those seeds.”

“I see.”

Rowena opened her mouth to speak again.

“Now that you have drawn the Saint’s Sword, there’s one thing that you have to do.”

“What’s that?”

“You have to go to the Papal Office and meet with the Pope.”

***

Food Discussion Corner

Tteok – rice cake

Honey tteok – rice cake covered with honey

Injeolmi – rice cake dusted with roasted soybean powder

Sirutteok – made by steaming glutinous rice flour in a siru, a large earthenware pot. It is regarded as the oldest form of tteok. It also has multiple layers of red beans inside.

Baekseolgi – rice cake made with rice flour dough. Usually colored white to symbolize purity and holiness and is eaten on special occasions. 

Chapssaltteok – rice cake made with glutinous rice. It can be coated with powdered sesame or beans. You can also steam or boil it before coating it. Some would also fill it with various fillings. A dish similar to mochi.

TL’s corner!

Something’s telling me that no one will be able to stop Minhyuk from tasting that tteok set.