Leveling Up through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

73 Ramyeon Making Sword Art

‘……?!’

Minhyuk was somewhat surprised. Her potential was comparable to Old Man Ben’s potential. Even her ‘rank’ said that her name could become a legend. What was more, she was a child that could become a legend if she became a tactician, a strategist or a merchant!

Then, he checked her skills.

(Elaborate Language Skills)

Passive Skill

Level: None

Effects:

― There’s a saying that one word can repay a thousand nyang debt. She can speak well enough to make such a thing possible.

― Once she starts talking, the people will start to unconsciously empathize with her.

― She might be able to sell water from the Nakdong River for millions of gold.

(Legendary Aptitude)

Passive Skill

Level: None

Effects:

― Born with the talent to become a legend. If she becomes a tactician, she will be able to show great skills on the battlefield. 

― Whatever she learns, she will learn and grow much faster than anybody else.

― She hasn’t opened up all of her powers yet.

Even her passive skills looked quite special.

For the NPCs that one could usually find in the market, most of them did not have any passive skills. That was the case when he checked. In addition, her powers still hadn’t been opened in full yet. 

Minhyuk shook his head as he heard the voices of the children all around him.

“Hungry……” 

“I’m going to die……” 

“If I just have something delicious to eat, I would not wish for anything else even if I die.”

There was nothing in this prison. It was like they were preventing them from picking something up to commit suicide because of their hunger. 

Meanwhile, Conir’s spiritual body crouched in front of Haze as he tried to stroke her head. But there was no way that he could stroke her head since he did not have a physical body. His hand could only brush through air.

[Ha…… z…… e……]

“Am I going to die tomorrow?”

Minhyuk quietly asked Haze. He looked like he had finally calmed down and had reared his fear and sadness to some extent. She spoke to him as if she did not know what to say to him.

“What do priests usually do?” 

She tried to ask him about trivial things. It looked like she was trying to keep his nervousness down. Minhyuk answered her question. Then, the stories about food started to come out.

“Out of all the food, I’m good at making curry.” 

“Curry?” 

Minhyuk saw the interest in her eyes.

“Yeah. Curry. I have loved curry since I was a kid so I have been studying how to make it ever since then. Hehe. No one can be as good as I am when it comes to making that.” 

Minhyuk’s expression looked like he was bragging.

Curry was curry. Right now, anyone could easily find a curry shop in their neighborhoods. Curry shops were usually run by foreigners. People would usually dip a bread called ‘naan’ in curry. The dish called curry would usually come with a choice of chicken, lamb or beef in the bowl filled with curry sauce. One would find it extremely delicious if they dipped garlic naan in curry. Tandoori chicken would also taste good partnered with curry. It would also taste good if you have a sip of an Indian traditional drink called ‘Lassi’.

To put it simply, lassi was a type of yogurt but traditional lassi had a strong salty flavor. But recently, lassis that were sold in cafes had a sweet flavor that tastes similar to plain yogurt.

Not long after, Haze spoke.

“I’ll make it deliciously for you later.” 

At that moment, a notification rang in Minhyuk’s head.

Ring―

[Surprise Quest: Save Haze.]

Rank: S

Restrictions: Favorability with Haze

Rewards: Indian Curry Set

Penalty for Failure: Haze’s death

Description: Haze is good at making curry. Save her and you’ll be able to eat a curry set that consists of Naan & Curry & Tandoori Chicken & Lassi.

There was a reason why she must live.

***

The next day, Barchel had started to prepare and make arrangements for his meeting with the dragon in the Dungeon of Sin.

After he had gone and checked on the dragon, Barchel had realized that the dragon was much more terrifying and more powerful than what he had originally thought. The dragon was none other than one of the four legendary dragons, the poison dragon, Ambacca. He was a dragon that was well-known for his formidable poison.

Right next to Barchel were three men that came from the Knight’s Tower. They were the people who served Barchel, the successor of the Tower’s chief, and were selected due to their greed and ambition. If they did this mission perfectly, then they would also be able to receive money from Count Peru. 

They began to move. 

As soon as they entered the place, they could see the priest and the children tied tightly with a rope. The exact number of children was five. This was exactly the room that held Haze and the other children. 

Usually, when they were making chimeras, they would not throw in dozens per day. They would instead make a few of them, usually in this amount, on alternating days.

‘These are the materials that will bring me great fame and fortune.’ 

Barchel believed that he would be the very first and only person in the empire to evolve into a legendary class if that happened.

He was staring at the children with greed as he led them deeper underground.

Right below the castle was the entrance to the ‘Dungeon of Sin’. It was quite surprising that it was located in this place. However, what Barchel and his three knights needed to do was simple. They would hunt the regular mobs in the Dungeon of Sin and once they arrived in the boss room, they would push in the priest and the children inside before closing the door. After a while, they would go inside and raid Ambacca.

The three knights that came with him were at the bottom of the Knight’s Tower but even if that was the case, they were still far stronger than the Empire’s Knight Commander.

‘There seems to be no problem at all.’ 

He did not see any disruption in their work.

“Pl, please! Help us! Please!!!” 

The priest that they dragged along collapsed as soon as they stood in front of the entrance to the Dungeon of Sin. He looked like his legs had softened from fright as he grabbed his legs and begged.

“Is a priest of the Athenae Religion afraid of death? Shouldn’t you be happy? You will now meet with your God, Athenae.” 

“Please save us. I’ll do anything if you let me live!” 

Barchel smirked at them. He could see that Haze and the children were all clenching their teeth as they tried to hold back their tears. Their legs were even trembling like the trunks of cottonwood trees that were being blown by the wind. One of the boys even dropped to the floor as he peed his pants.

“Tsk, tsk. Poor NPCs. In your next life, please be born as a real person and not as an artificial intelligence.” 

Barchel clicked his tongue and kicked the priest as he said those words.

“Keok!” 

The knights threw the priest inside as they continued to drag the children in the dungeon.

***

President Kang Taehoon was sitting in the conference room with a grim look on his face. He was talking with the other executives of Joy Co. Ltd.

“The problem looks serious. The users have been constantly asking.” 

“That’s right. The Food God, User Minhyuk’s holy power seems high enough to be able to cripple all of the systems that we have built.” 

The topic of their conversation was none other than the Food God, User Minhyuk, and his holy power.

Due to the effects of the x2 buff, his holy power had exceeded 4,000. And he even had the Saint’s Sword which was an artifact that was not meant to be pulled in the first place.

It was quite laughable. A single user had increased his holy power, a stat that couldn’t easily be increased by bonus points, to 4,000. It was a result that none of them had expected. Currently, the person who was second in terms of holy power was Bavecka’s Child. However, his holy power was only less than 1,000. So one could imagine how strong Minhyuk was.

In particular, what made Minhyuk stronger was the additional strength that he had received based on his holy power stat. He had as much as 100 additional attack power and a 10% additional defensive power based on his holy power.

Even the Saint’s Protection that was attached to the Saint’s Sword was also a problem. This skill could increase the attack and defense power of the user by 30% of their holy power. And this could even increase his vassals, allies, party members and guild members power too.

As a result, Minhyuk shone brightly in the battle. However, the balance had collapsed too much. But Joy Co. Ltd. was not such an irresponsible company that they would immediately patch the broken balance.

“What that user has achieved is something amazing. I believe that we should do a reasonable patch for that. According to the current patch, the benefits of the holy power had now changed from what it was before. The paladins’ % in healing has increased and their HP’s self recovery rate has  also increased. I believe there’s no problem at all.”

If their healing % had increased as well as their HP self recovery rate, then the users would definitely applaud the patch and praise it as a good patch. However, for those figures on the same stage at Minhyuk, it was something different.

“The Saint’s Sword should be retrieved and he should be compensated for his 4,000 holy power.” 

Kang Taehoon tapped the table with his finger. He seemed to be playing a rhythm as he continued to tap. 

He did not know what Minhyuk would ask for. The 4,000 holy power and the Saint’s Sword were not that light of a reward. And the only person who could decide about that in Joy Co. Ltd. was him and only him alone. 

“I will meet with User Minhyuk personally and negotiate.” 

***

Barchel and his knights had easily slaughtered the monsters in the Dungeon of Sins. The monsters lurking inside of the dungeon were mostly undead but they were not that strong so they were easy to handle.

Before they knew it, they had already reached the entrance to the boss room. Barchel quickly pulled his sword out.

[Continuous Draw]

[One draw sends four continuous attacks.]

Shwa, shwa, shwa, shwa!

The monsters that were blocking their way were quickly dealt with by Barchel’s quick draw. Then, Barchel and the knights quickly shoved the priest and the children inside the bossroom.

Creaaaaaak―

Then, they quickly pushed the entrance to the bossroom close as they jammed a rock outside.

Haze calmly looked around. There was a head of the dragon made out of stone stuck in the wall hanging over the huge altar in front of them.

Creaaaaaak―

And with that, the boss room began to shake.

“Keuhuhuhuhuhu……”

“Don’t cry, Rona. It’s alright, Connie.”

Haze hugged them tightly. It was said that once they became chimeras, they would not be able to remember anything since their minds would be controlled and turned hazy. She was also told that they would become murder weapons and would only be used for killing. 

As she encouraged the other children, Haze’s legs began to tremble.

That was when she began to remember someone. His name was Conir. He was a chimera but strangely enough there was a very small part of him that was not controlled. There was a part of him that retained some of his personality and memories. He would sometimes sneak delicious things in Haze’s room. However, she no longer saw Conir. Conir’s eyes were always filled with sadness. 

Then……

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack―

The head of the dragon started to crack as the stones began to fall down with a bang. What appeared in front of them was a dragon that seemed to have removed its molten skin. 

“Kiyeeeeeeeee!”

Starting from its head, the dragon began to wiggle and squeeze out of the opening on the wall. Haze’s legs began to tremble.

“Noona, I’m scared……”

“I want to live…… I don’t want to die yet!”

“Mom, mom, mom! Waaaaaah!”

Haze wept silently as she listened to the children’s cries. Then, she took something out of her bosom as she threw it in front of the children. They were ‘blade fragments’ that she had stashed and kept away from sight.

“The choice is yours.”

She did not force them. She simply clenched a piece tightly in her hands despite her fear. Her hands felt hot. Blood fell and dripped down from her hands. However, she still slowly brought it towards her neck.

I’d rather die than become a chimera.

One by one, the children picked up the blade fragments. Even though they were still young, these childrens had their own free will. They should be given a choice and allowed the freedom to choose their decisions freely. During their stay with Haze, these childrens had all matured.

“Kyaaaaaack!”

And finally, Ambacca got out of the wall as he opened his mouth to devour them. During her last moments, just as she was about to stab herself on the neck, Haze turned around and looked at the children. Tears were running down her cheeks but she still smiled broadly at them.

“Let’s meet in heaven.”

Just as she was about to move her hands……

Swoooooosh―

She felt a breeze blowing past her. Haze’s eyes turned and looked to her side. The priest that was burying his head in fear was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was another man who was wearing the priestly robes.

“……?”

Just as she was about to turn her head, a baby piggy appeared in front of her. The baby piggy took away the blade fragment that was in her hand. 

“Oink! Oink!”

You can’t do this! Oink!

Haze slowly turned around. She saw three black kitchen knives popping out of the man’s body that was clad in a priestly robe.

“Protect the children.”

The black knives that seemed to have consciousness stopped in front of Haze and the children. And before she knew it, something huge had appeared in the man’s hands.

‘F, frying pan……?’

For a moment, she wondered if that was really a frying pan. But at that moment, Ambacca’s mouth reached the man.

“N, no……!”

Haze unconsciously cried out.

Then……

Claaaaaang―

Ambacca was directly hit by the huge frying pan. Ambacca flew back and slammed on the wall.

Baaaaaaang―

Crack, crack, crack―

A dense cloud of dust rose from the ground as Haze’s hair fluttered from the wind created by the impact.

The man grabbed the priestly robes and tugged. With a rrrriiiiiip the robe got torn off of his body. What appeared was a sturdy and tough-looking armor that was made out of bones.

‘D,dragon…… how……’ 

Haze also knew how strong a dragon was. 

The man slowly turned his head.

“Wh, who are you……?” 

The man smiled softly at her question as he approached her. He wiped the tears off of her cheeks with his warm and big hands.

“A good adult…… or something like that?” 

***

Notes

[One word can repay a thousand nyang debt] – nyang is an old KR currency. This means that one can get out of trouble if you are eloquent and sincere with your words.

Food Discussion Corner

Naan – leavened, oven-baked flatbread found in cuisines from Western Asia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, etc.

Tandoori Chicken – a chicken dish made by roasting chicken marinated in yogurt and spices in a tandoor (a cylindrical clay oven)

Lassi – a blend of yogurt, water, spices or fruit.

TL’s corner!

RIP Kenneth’s memento.