Leveling Up through Eating

What did I just hear?

This thought flashed through the sorcerer’s mind. 

Meanwhile, Krakana suddenly paused mid-attack. His pupils that had been dominated by black suddenly started to shake. 

“As expected, my sincere words worked!” 

The sorcerer denied him vehemently in his head.

‘It’s just a coincidence!!! The Dragon of Destruction, Krakana, cannot be shaken by such a cringey line!’ 

But Black Dragon just continued to speak. 

“Just imagine it. You, Krakana, flying in the vast and open sky with Ambacca, Destiny and Britney! You will save those who are in danger and we will all speak our lines!” 

The sorcerer wanted to cover his ears so badly.

‘What lines do you want to say?!’ 

Then, Black Dragon spoke of the lines that he wanted them to speak. 

“Hero? If you want one, then I’ll become one. I’ll become the hero that will save you.” 

“Keoheok!!!” 

The 2nd year middle school syndrome and cringey lines looked like it was distracting the sorcerer. But then…..

[Krakana of the Destruction’s explosive state has calmed down. He is now beginning to heal.]

‘This, this is ridiculous……!’ 

That was when the sorcerer realized that Krakana of the Destruction had similar tendencies with the black clad man that had the 2nd year middle school syndrome. 

‘No. What if……’ 

I don’t know but what if that guy really knows everything about the dragon!!!

“Kiheeeeeeee!” 

As if to prove his thoughts, he clearly saw Krakana slowly freeing himself from the craze. His eyes that were covered with black also started to return to normal. And Krakana looked like he was really listening to Black Dragon’s voice. 

“Ah! I already thought of a name for you!” 

Black Dragon knew that anyone would be shaken once they heard his wonderful lines. And to deal the final strike…… he even prepared a name for him!

“Breaker!” 

Then, the notification rang.

[You have successfully ‘Communicated’ with Destruction Dragon Krakana in his explosive state.]

[Destruction Dragon Krakana’s explosive state has been lifted.]

[Destruction Dragon Krakana accepts you as his master.]

[You can now change Destruction Dragon Krakana’s name.]

“Breaker.” 

[Breaker Lv547]

Black Dragon could tell what was going on in Krakana’s head after seeing the dragon fail to control his curling mouth. 

‘This kid is thrilled with the name that I gave him……!’ 

He could tell by the twitch of his lips. And Krakana, no, he was now named Breaker, hunted the Demon Sorcerer with Black Dragon. Since Krakana broke free of his explosive and crazed state, the sorcerer was defeated easily. After all, the sorcerer wasn’t that strong of an opponent. 

Suddenly, the notifications rang one after the other.

[You have gathered all four of the Legendary Dragons.]

[You have met all of the conditions to transfer to the Royal Class.]

[You have now transferred to the Royal Class ‘Dragon Monarch’.]

[New skills will be added to your repertoire.]

[Your commanding ability has increased by +300.]

[The Job Class Quest: Monarch’s Qualifications has been created.]

[The Job Class Quest: Monarch Among Monarchs has been created.]

[You can only select one out of these two quests to proceed. There is no time limit for the selection.]

[The birth of the first Royal Class has been spread to the world.]

‘Choose between the two quests?’

Black Dragon quickly checked the two quests. He first clicked on Monarch’s Qualifications.

‘Ho?’

The Monarch’s Qualifications quest was simple. It lied with the word Monarch. In other words, it wanted him to create a ‘kingdom’. There was no other user in Athenae who had built a kingdom as of yet. No. To be exact, there was no territory that had enough land and financial power to reach even half of the requirements to build a kingdom. 

And the second quest, Monarch Among Monarchs. 

‘Choose a person and help him ascend the throne?’ 

It literally meant king of kings. The Dragon Monarch was also a ruler job class. But this one wanted him to make a king of kings. It wanted him to choose a user and help him become king.

***

A deceiving and deceived company. Callauhel couldn’t help but laugh deep inside.

‘It wouldn’t make sense if he noticed this.’ 

The tricks and deceptions of the Great Thief Elion were truly spectacular. In addition, Great Thief Elion was not only a simple thief, he was also a God Class. His level was around 480 but his estimated level of strength was only at Lv250. Elion gave up his other abilities so he could focus solely on deceiving others.

So the party moved on smoothly.

[You have reached the first trial.]

[A powerful spell has been cast upon you. You have gone blind and cannot see anything in front of you.]

[The spell blinds you and makes the sound surrounding you turn quieter.]

“It’s dark.” 

Minhyuk remained vigilant. He also did not act like a fool like usual. In the first place, the people around him knew who he was. It was counterproductive if he exaggerated his acting. 

Darkness surrounded them to the point that they could not see even an inch ahead of them. The sounds ringing in their ears were also small. It felt like someone had lowered the volume of the speaker to the lowest level. 

Inside this space, the assassin class Amber displayed her Five Senses. Using her five senses, she instructed them to destroy the tricks while figuring out where the magic and monsters would attack them.

That was how they passed the first trial.

[You have passed the first trial.]

[Those who passed the trial will be given a piece of the broken blade.]

The notification was only heard by the person who had received the piece of the broken blade. And Callauhel, who introduced himself as the Black Monarch Orden, explained to Minhyuk. 

“As mentioned before. All of the pieces of this blade must be collected so we can hunt the Sly Devil Diablo.” 

And along with his words, the assassin Amber handed the piece of the broken blade to Callauhel. 

They kept on moving on and on like this. 

In the 2nd trial, they were tasked to tame a beast that was known for its power in the Demon World. In the 3rd trial, the archer had to shoot an arrow through a small, needle hole-like space to turn off all tricks and magics that would come their way. In the 4th trial, the tanker and the Great Iron Golem, which boasts a tremendous defense, had to compete against each other. 

The pieces of the broken blade kept on piling up one by one just like that. And finally, only the last trial was left. The problem that Callauhel and his party couldn’t get through no matter what they did. The Chef’s Trial. 

[You have reached the sixth trial.]

[Verogan, the giant monster, is hungry. However, he has an extremely picky taste.]

[Please prepare a dish for Verogan.]

[The cooking ingredients for Verogan are prepared in front of you.]

[The dish that he wants is a Gigantic Samgyetang.]

Then, Verogan, a gigantic monster that was 4m tall appeared chained to the wall. He was literally a giant monster. However, Verogan overwhelmed the other giant monsters in terms of strength. He was at Lv500 and he also had the power to rip apart a twin headed ogre with his bare hands. That was how frightening Verogan’s existence was. 

“Grrrrrooooooooar!” 

Verogan broke into a roar.

“Can you satisfy him with your dish?” 

“Leave it to me.” 

Minhyuk nodded under everyone’s eyes.

The ingredient that lay before him was none other than chicken. The problem was that it was a bizarre and mysterious chicken that looked like it was about 30kg in weight. 

Minhyuk was already aware of this trial. 

‘Chefs’ dishes would taste different even if they used the same ingredients.’ 

 His challenge was already given. He needed to cook a gigantic samgyetang. However, he did not try it right away. After all, the Create a Recipe skill would help him check things more clearly. 

[Creating a recipe that the other party desires.]

[You can now check the recipe for gigantic samgyetang.]

[The amount of buff that can be used has been decreased due to creating a recipe.]

(Gigantic Samgyetang Recipe for Verogan)

Required Ingredients: Large native chicken in front of you, hundred years old ginseng, Bapae’s jujube…… (omitted)

Expected Dish Grade: Unique ~ Legendary

Expected Effects:

━ Verogan’s recovery.

━ Verogan’s attack as well as defense, and magical attack and defense will increase.

“Can you do it?”

This was quite the tricky trial. He needed to cook a lot. However, the problem was that the cooking would usually become harder as the number of people increased. Of course, he could think of a way to cook things separately but there was a crucial and decisive reason why something like that was impossible. 

[If the dish is not completed within 2 hours, then the trial will fail.]

He needed to cook the chicken within 2 hours. 

Minhyuk shook his head. In principle, samgyetang should be cooked only after the intestines, the head, the dirt as well as the feet had been removed from the chicken. He had to follow the rules. However, if he did that, then it was nigh impossible to cook a chicken that weighed nearly 30kg. 

‘Make cuts as deep as possible while maintaining the shape as much as I can.’

That will help cook the insides well.

So Minhyuk began to cook.

***

Callauhel and his group looked at Minhyuk with interest.

He was making deep cuts on the chicken after transforming his weapon into a giant kitchen knife. Then, before they knew it, the giant kitchen knife had already turned into a huge cauldron. He placed the huge chicken inside the cauldron together with the garlic, salt and other ingredients before starting to cook with firewood. Then, he covered the cauldron and controlled the fire to make sure that the dish was cooked thoroughly. If sweat dripped down from his forehead, then he would dab it with his towel.

‘A gourmand……’

Callauhel found it funny. 

This was a game where power was dominant. However, he did not know how he did it, but the Frying Pan Killer was able to gain enough strength while being a chef. But he knew that he was walking on the wrong path. 

If he had sought power from the very beginning, then he might have already surpassed Mei Wei, the world’s number 1 in the integrated rankings.

Cooking was basically just a part of a human’s routine. It was on par with clothes and daily necessities. So Callauhel was not interested in cooking.

Buff ability?

‘Buff ability is useless in the face of great power.’

He had also tried an excellent buffed dish. It was a dish that Twilight Chef Black had cooked. All of his stats had increased by 8% after he ate it. But that was it. He’d rather gain strength than learn cooking that would increase his stats by 8% temporarily.

This was his theory. 

He would spend all of his items, money and everything necessary just to become strong. That was how you get to the top. Cooking was only a ‘small thing’ for him. 

But that man was weird.

‘He’s having fun?’

Is cooking in the game fun?

He was smiling broadly as he toiled in front of the fire. Although he was sweating, the smile that grazed his lips was still bright. Then, he spoke.

“Hungry?? Just wait. I’m making you a really good meal.”

Then, he opened the lid of the cauldron that was cooking the samgyetang. He carefully removed the dark oil that floated on top of the soup with a ladle. 

“Grrrrrr……”

Giant monster Verogan was an extremely vicious creature. However, the brutality and violence that brooded in his eyes died down when he looked at Minhyuk. 

Minhyuk continued to cook the huge chicken with all his might. He looked like a blacksmith that was working hard to produce a huge artifact. 

And in the end, he finished it in time. Then, Minhyuk transformed his weapon into a spoon. He even placed the 20kg kimchi that he made with the Aging Jar in front. 

“Just a moment. Can you taste it first?”

Callauhel could not understand why he worked so hard. He was even as keen as a blacksmith working on an artifact. A blacksmith’s artifact would remain permanently. But a chef’s dish would not. 

Why are you putting so much effort into it? Is that even worth it?

With those thoughts floating in his mind, he tasted the dish. 

‘……!’

He did not say anything. 

Then, at that moment, Minhyuk spoke to Verogan. 

“Try it.”

Verogan ate it with the huge spoon that Minhyuk gave him. His body trembled as soon as he tasted a sip of the soup. Then, he began to eat with relish. 

“Keuheeeeeeee!”

His roar transmitted his joy. He quickly picked up the chicken leg as he ripped it like crazy. He even sipped the soup and ate it with some kimchi. 

Minhyuk just stood in front of him with his arms folded on his chest. 

Callauhel’s body was still trembling as he watched Minhyuk and Verogan. 

By the end of it, Verogan grabbed the cauldron with both of his hands before gulping down the last dregs of the soup left inside. 

Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp―

Verogan drank it all. After finishing everything, he let out a rough puff of breath from his mouth. 

“Guwoo……”

Then……

Baaaaaaaaang―

He slowly, very, very, slowly, bent his knees. Then, he lowered his head on the ground and thanked Minhyuk.

Everyone who witnessed the scene was left speechless.

“……!”

“……!”

“……!”

Verogan had always been vicious and ferocious every time they came here. And when the other chef cooked, he just tasted a bit before throwing the food away. But right now, he was bowing deeply to the man in front of him to show his deep gratitude.

***