Leveling Up through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

Before the invasion of the Demon World’s Commander-in-Chief Rufel, Minhyuk had used 400,000 contribution points to purchase the ‘Chinese Cuisine Set’ from the ‘Food God Shop’ after he rescued Prince Argon. At the same time, Prince Argon, who was a vegetarian, was eating the salad that Minhyuk gave him after his stomach complained of hunger.

Minhyuk believed that it was quite a relief.

‘Huhu. If Prince Argon-nim ate meat then I would have been in great trouble!’

Along with those thoughts, the Fantastic Chinese Cuisine Set appeared in front of him.

‘My goodness……!’

Ganjjajang, jjampong, over there were some tangsuyuk placed side by side with the mandarin roll and a chili japchae. When the set of food appeared in front of him, a smile immediately formed on Minhyuk’s face.

He had purchased this set first and foremost so he wanted to taste it quickly. He grabbed the wooden chopsticks that came with the set and ripped it apart. Then, he poured the ganjjajang sauce in a bowl filled with noodles.

“Hiyaaa……”

Minhyuk drooled over the gleaming black sauce that he poured all over the bowl. The onions looked crunchy and the juice seemed to be overflowing with juices.

And, doesn’t this ganjjajang look darker than the regular jjajangmyeon?

He mixed everything well, making sure to poke the fried egg on top and mix it together with the rest of the dish.

‘It seems like the development team really knows how to eat, huh?’

Sometimes, there were days when the ganjjajang would only have one quail egg in it but the ganjjajang that was included in the Chinese Cuisine Set that was purchased through the Food God Shop had two fried eggs on it.

After mixing everything well, he turned his attention towards the tangsuyuk. He divided the dish in half and poured sauce on top of the other half while leaving the rest untouched. The other half was for him to enjoy the crunchy and crispy texture of the meat while the other half was for him to enjoy the soft texture of the skin that was coated with sauce.

Well then, all the preparations are done.

He first picked up the ganjjajang. He made sure to get a chopstick full of noodles and egg before slurping it together in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch—

The pleasant sound of crunching from the crispy onions resounded in his mouth. In addition, he found out that the ganjjajang that was purchased in the Food God Shop had a really strong flavor.

“Wow. Delicious!”

His shoulders twitched in happiness.

After eating the ganjjajang noodles for quite some time, he turned towards the tangsuyuk and picked one that had not yet been soaked in sauce. Just like that, he dipped the piece in the sauce and placed it in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch—

The crunchy ‘dipped’ tangsuyuk always gave off a pleasant sound as he chewed on the excellent texture of the meat. This time, he picked up a piece of tangsuyuk from the ones that were soaked in the sauce.

‘Ah. This is really an art!’

The fried skin of the ‘poured’ tangsuyuk that had been poured with the sauce was soaking with the flavorful sauce. After eating the tangsuyuk like that, he reached out for the jjampong next.

When you’re eating jjampong, you will crave for jjajangmyeon. And when you’re eating jjajangmyeon, you will crave for jjampong.

He stirred the jjampong well with his chopsticks, making sure that the mussels that were smaller than two of his fingers and the squid and onions were all mixed together. After stirring everything together, he lifted not just the noodles, but the entire bowl before blowing on it gently. Then, he sipped the warm soup and savored its flavor.

“Refreshing.”

He couldn’t relate to the adults’ words back when he was younger when they said that it was refreshing to drink spicy soup but now, the words flowed out of his mouth easily.

Only after tasting the spicy soup did he use his chopsticks to clamp, inhale and slurp the noodles. He also dipped some raw onions on the chunjang before placing it in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch—

After eating the jjampong, he turned towards the manadarin rolls. The mandarin rolls were warm as if they were just taken out of the fire.

Then, he stretched his chopsticks towards the chili japchae. The chili japchae was a dish that was stir-fried in chili oil and had a spicier and deeper flavor than normal japchaes. Various ingredients like red pepper, green pepper, onion, and pork neck were stir-fried together resulting in the colorful and appetizing dish in front of him.

He placed the chili japchae on top of the mandarin roll before placing everything in his mouth.

Munch, munch—

The first taste that entered and spread in his mouth was the flavor of the spicy chili japchae which was then followed by the soft and warm flavor of the mandarin roll. The taste was something that put a smile on his face so he closed his eyes to savor them deeply.

Grin—

A chuckle unknowingly escaped from his lips.

‘Wow, the food in the Food God Shop is comparable to the real God’s Legacy Dish……’

The taste was clearly different when he tasted them with his own tongue. He did not know how the same food could taste so different.

After he finished everything, Minhyuk heard the notifications.

[You have eaten the Fantastic Chinese Cuisine Set.]

[Searching for the special powers and skills that you have not yet acquired in your job class.]

[Search progress 1%, 21%, 34%, 47%…… 88%, 100%.]

Ring!

[The search has been completed.]

[The Active Skill: Shall We Have a Meal will be created.]

Minhyuk had a feeling that this would be one of the best skills that he would ever gain from Athenae. After acquiring the skill, he quickly checked the information about Shall We Have a Meal skill.

(Shall We Have a Meal)

Active Skill

Level: 1

Mana Required: 500

Cooldown: 160 hrs.

Effects:

— If you shout ‘Shall We Have a Meal!’, a barrier will be created with a 5m radius for 30 minutes. Within the created barrier, you can choose two people from your guild members, allied guilds, party members and vassals to feed buff dishes. It will be impossible for an enemy to attack or for you to attack an enemy within the barrier. In addition, the probability of having higher rankings for the buffed dishes will increase. The time inside the barrier flows six times faster than the outside. But those that stayed inside would not feel it. To the people outside, they would just see you moving six times faster. In fact, the time that will pass outside within those six hours inside will only be five minutes.

— The same food that you cooked for them will be created in the future. In addition, they will receive a temporary increase in all five basic stats as soon as the dish is created but only the buff of the highest ranked buffed dish will be applied.

— 1% buff for Normal Ranked Dishes.

— 3% buff for Rare Ranked Dishes.

— 5% buff for Unique Ranked Dishes.

— 8% buff for Epic Ranked Dishes.

— 12% buff for Legendary Ranked Dishes.

— Buffed Dishes will be applied for 24 hours.

‘Wow……’

This was Minhyuk’s completely favorite skill. It was a skill that would allow him to eat even though he was in the middle of a fight. Even the barrier that Black Mage Ali had used was a bit worse off. It was a barrier that could prevent absolutely anything. In addition, it seemed like it was also possible to use it to plan or assess their situation in case of an emergency.

Minhyuk still had a bit of contribution left so he wanted to buy the Chicken & Pizza Set right after the first set that he ate. But at that moment……

[Legend Guild and Black Dragon and the Boys have formed a temporary alliance.]

“……?!”

Minhyuk was surprised. It was because Black Dragon was none other than his father. So Minhyuk quickly sent a whisper to his dad.

[Minhyuk: Dad, are you with Genie?]

[Black Dragon: That’s right. When is my son coming?]

Minhyuk pondered for a moment while he talked with his dad. He had currently sorted out all of the things in here. And he also thought that it would be better if he brought the rescued Prince Argon to Elf King Gorn. With those in mind, he quickly made a decision.

‘I’m going to go and take care of my dad first……’

Food was also important. But Minhyuk was already planning on going to Elvenheim anyway. His reason was simple. It was because he needed to gain additional contribution points so he could purchase the rest of the dishes in the Food God Shop.

But before he started, Minhyuk pulled a stunt.

“Sob, sob, sob. My dad is in a very critical situation. And there are plenty of demons in there. Can you guys help me?” 

Among them were the Commander of the Knight’ Orders. They had already become members of Minhyuk’s Territory so it was no problem to bring them along. However, the rest of the knights were still members of the Empires so they needed to come with him out of their own free will.

And fortunately……

“This!!! Our Commander-nim’s father is in a critical situation!!!”  

“We should go now!!!” 

“We’ll just tell our Majesties that the rescue operations took a lot longer and are still underway!” 

They were all with the same mind. 

Minhyuk knew that Legend Guild was in a very precarious situation. And these people who had become more powerful right now would be a great addition to their power. But there was one problem.

“How can we get to Elvenheim……?” 

He was wondering how he would lead all of his troops to Elvenheim’s Rank A Area. Although there was a Mass Teleport Parchment, it would only work if he had been to that place. In addition, the only place that they could warp to was Roscul Village and they had to go directly to the Rank A Area.

At that moment, Argon’s eyes looked at him with interest.

“You’re going to Elvenheim’s A Area?” 

“Yes.” 

“I know a quick shortcut. From D Area we can go directly to A Area.” 

For D Area, it was a place where anyone could come and go quickly at any time. And the same was true for his troops. 

Then, Argon said……

“We’re going to need a ride.” 

Argon snapped his fingers then 150 black horses along with two white horses appeared from his subspace.

“The famous horses, Arthdal and Perth. Let’s go.” 

Argon was in a hurry because he knew that his father, Gorn, was there too. Minhyuk nodded his head as he rode the horse. They started galloping fast. While they galloped towards their destination, Minhyuk sent a whisper to someone that he could trust. The person he sent a whisper to, readily accepted his request.

***

Ruan was chuckling loudly. 

‘This is annihilation.’

Ruan was the man who dug minerals with the Food God Minhyuk in the mine where the chocolate tree was located. He eventually succeeded in changing his warrior class to the Indomitable Blacksmith class.

The Indomitable Blacksmith was an amazing job class. It was a legendary class with the power and skill of a warrior as well as an excellent blacksmith. Just like Hepas’ Descendant, he was also unable to produce a very formidable artifact but he still gained a lot of strength as both a blacksmith and a warrior.

His strength grew quickly and he was now currently occupying a very small town in the outskirts of Elvenheim’s A Area. He was now the guild master of ‘Raging Volcano’. It was a medium-sized guild that was on the smaller side; however, it was still one of the rapidly growing guilds these days.

However, the troops that had been concentrated on the front line were slowly starting to flow to the rear. And right now his HP was rapidly falling after he defeated a Hellhound.

[Abnormal State. You have inhaled the ‘Demonic Beast’s Gas’.]

[Your HP is falling at a rapid pace.]

The recovery potion that he had brought before was also on the floor of the garden. And what was worse was……

[Guild Chatting: They finally found the basement.]

[Guild Chatting: GM-nim. I think we’re going to be wiped out……]

Ruan laughed ruefully. After the demons and the demonic beasts invaded, he had led his elites to take on the ‘aggro’. This village’s special ability was the ‘cellar’ hidden under the ground. And he could hide things in that place that was hidden deeper than the basement.

He had chosen to hide his guild members in there while he went out to sacrifice himself and the elites. When the worst outcome came, he couldn’t help but suddenly remember that day.

‘I wonder how Minhyuk-nim is doing these days?’

When he and the miners thought that they would be wiped out, the chef that laughed and mined with them killed the enemies with his ghostly movements. He was truly a kind, polite and wonderful man. Before they parted, Ruan had asked him……

‘How can I be as strong as you?’

‘Eat well, exercise hard and sleep well!’

After saying something absurd, he turned around and stopped walking as he smiled at him.

‘Ruan-nim, I’ll see you at the top.’

The memory of that time brought a smile to his face.

‘Yearning……’

That was right. He was longing for that. For the real power that this world’s strongest did not show. Influenced by Minhyuk’s words, he had been reborn and had become a great guild master.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen him. I should send him a whisper later.’

And right at that moment, other demons appeared. What was worse was that these demons did not include the demons that they were struggling to kill earlier.

“I guess this bastard is the boss.”

“Kekeke. I want to kill him more painfully.”

‘Don’t touch me. I’ll die if you just leave me alone.’

The demons approached him with a weapon called flamberge. Flamberge was a brutal weapon that could tear apart the flesh. He did not feel any real pain but it was not refreshing or nice to feel his throat being cut off.

But then……

Fwoosh, fwoosh!

Ruan, who had closed his eyes in defeat, suddenly heard a strange sound coming near.

‘What?’

Clip, clop, clip, clop.

His enemies were taken down. Then, one guy said……

“Ruan-nim, hello! You’ve become a great guild master now, haven’t you? Wow!”

“……M, Minhyuk-nim?”

Minhyuk had arrived at the outskirts of Elvenheim’s A Area. He was as polite, cheerful and handsome as ever.

“Mi, Min……”

But before he could even finish saying his words……

[You have temporarily lost consciousness.]

[Your HP has dropped below 5%.]

[You will die if you don’t get treated.]

He had blacked out. And when he opened his eyes again, he saw that his guild members were all surrounding him.

“GM-nim, are you alright?” 

“Mi, Minhyuk-nim!” 

He leapt up and looked around him. But there was no one else in sight. However, his eyes widened not long after.

“Wh, what’s this? How am I alive?” 

About 80 demons and demonic monsters attacked them. Their numbers were beyond what their guild could handle.

“A man suddenly appeared and wiped them out. He said that he was close to Ruan-nim. He even had his own troops. GM-nim, do you know him?”

“It took him about 3 minutes, I think?”

“Isn’t he very strong?”

Ruan saw the bandage that was wrapped around his arm. He used to wear these bandages before. He grinned as he caressed the bandage.

“This is why I admire you.”

The Frying Pan Killer. He was still as polite, cheerful and wonderful as ever.

***

Notes

[Chunjang, 춘장] – Sauce used in jjajangmyeon.

[Elf King’s name] – Okay, so ngl, I was shooketh. Anyway, at first it was written as Coronesia so I thought, yeah, cool name. Then, in this chapter the esia was gone?! Apparently it’s just Gorn. So we will continue to use Gorn as the Elf King’s name.