Leveling Up through Eating

Translator: ChubbyCheeks 

PR: MattForgenti

While the ribs were getting cooked over the grill, Minhyuk broke apart the yolk. The egg yolk flowed down and soaked the yukhoe along with the shredded radish and thinly sliced pears.

Then, he mixed the yolk and the yukhoe thoroughly. The bright red yukhoe and the golden yolk that was mixed well resulted in an extremely appetizing color. 

Minhyuk placed some sliced pear over a big piece of yukhoe before putting it in his mouth. The yukhoe would only taste better if a slice of pear was eaten together with it.

“Aaaaang.”

He chomped on the yukhoe and chewed it well. The first thing he tasted was the sweetness. As he continued to chew on the yukhoe, he could feel the crunchiness of the pear. Another chew and he could taste the savory flavor of the beef. The more he chewed, the more he could taste the sweetness and savoriness of the yukhoe and pear. On top of that, the sesame oil that he sprinkled moderately added on to the savory flavor of the yukhoe.

After he finished tasting the yukhoe, he took out one bowl each of the naengmyeon and the bibimnaengmyeon. Then, using a pair of scissors, he cut the noodles twice. The noodles that were formed in a circle were now sliced into four pieces. Then, according to his personal preferences, he mixed some vinegar and mustard on his bowls.

Minhyuk used a spoon to scoop out and taste the soup of his naengmyeon.

“This is perfect!”

After he evaluated the taste, he picked up the bowl and slurped loudly on the soup.

“Uhmmmm! Good, this is really good!”

The coldness of the broth with a hint of some sourness brought forth a refreshing feeling that spread out in his mouth.

He picked up some of the noodles and…

Sluuurp.

Hamhung noodles are really thin and chewy.

After tasting a bit of the food that he prepared, he faced the grill and turned the ribs that he was grilling over.

Sizzle━

He cooked it for a bit then turned it over again. After turning it over and cooking it for quite some time, he picked up his scissors and cut the meat into smaller pieces. The cooked beef marinated ribs that were glistening with the seasonings and sauce looked extremely delicious.

Minhyuk quickly broke the yolk in the bowl of the bibimnaengmyeon and mixed it well with the rest of the sauce. Then, he hurriedly placed it on his mouth.

“Sluuuuuurp!”

The sweet and spicy flavor that permeates in his mouth put a smile on his face.

His hands stretched out to reach for the meat on the grill. He blew on the meat before taking a bite out of it.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Even after he had picked it up with his chopsticks, the beef marinated ribs were still steaming hot and glistening with oil, so he continued to blow on it to cool it off before trying out its taste.

“Waaa……”

As soon as he placed it in his mouth, he could taste the sweetness in the meat and the more he chewed on it, the softer the meat became. The flavor of the well-made and matured seasoning even made Minhyuk shudder.

Then, he picked up a piece of ribs and placed it together with the bibimnaengmyeon. He picked up both the meat and noodles and ate them together in one chomp. The sweet and spicy flavor of the bibimnaengmyeon and the sweet and mellow flavor of the beef marinated ribs danced together in his mouth.

Minhyuk continued to eat his beef marinated ribs with a satisfied smile on his face.

“Sluuuuuuurp! Chew, chew!”

He quickly finished 100 bowls of both naengmyeon and bibimnaengmyeon. In addition to that, he also finished 20 servings of the beef marinated ribs. He even munched on the bones.

“Buuuuuuuuurp!”

Flap, flap, flap, flap!

Minhyuk’s loud burp scared the birds from a nearby tree and made them fly away.

Minhyuk smiled brightly after he finished eating.

[True Worth of Food.]

[You can acquire the Minotaurus’ skill ‘Earth Quaker’.]

[Would you like to acquire the skill?]

Of course, before he started eating he was asked by the True Worth of Food to choose the main ingredient. And without any hint of delay Minhyuk chose the Minotaurus’ meat.

[Acquisition rate 4%…… 8%…… 18%…… 41%…… 58%…… 75%……  88%……   94%……   100%]

[You have successfully acquired Earth Quaker.]

“Ahem.”

Minhyuk nodded his head as he lay down on the ground. He believed that the happiest time in the world was when he lays down after eating a satisfying meal.

He then checked the contents of the skill Earth Quaker.

(Earth Quaker)

Active Skill

Level: 4th Class

Mana Required: 250

Cooldown: 20 minutes

Effects: A magical attack with a 500~600 damage can cause a violent earthquake within a 10-m radius.

Minhyuk shook his head to relieve his drowsiness after he finished checking the contents of the skill. Even though his stomach wasn’t full yet, he was still feeling sleepy since he just finished eating. Without being aware of anything, he started to doze off.

He started sleeping as he lay down peacefully on the grass.

What a sweet break from everything.

***

Meanwhile, as Minhyuk took his sweet time relaxing and having a break, the entirety of the awards hall was in a frenzy.

The champion disappeared!

Cain heard the curious voices of the other users as he entered the awards hall. Alicia and Cain were originally meant to be present in the awards ceremony after all.

Cain went straight to where Lucia was with a large bouquet in his hands.

Step, step, step━

He saw her with her head drooped down.

‘She must be feeling a great sense of loss.’

He knew how much effort and practice she put in just so she could catch up with him. On the other hand, Cain felt that it was also fortunate. It shouldn’t be the case but he felt that branches that have become overwhelmingly strong would also tend to break and Cain wanted her to be someone who would become more flexible as she encountered different people in the world.

He went beside Lucia and handed her the bouquet of flowers that he prepared.

“……You did a good job. It was amazing, my dongsaeng [1].”

Lucia turned her head when she heard him and gave him a bitter smile.

‘Am I not the best, after all?’

But when she thought about it more deeply, she felt that it was a bit of a relief that the one who won the 1st place was that person.

Then she thought…

‘Where did you go without me? Were you ashamed of me?’

However, she still believed that Minhyuk blocked the Minotaurus in front of her because he wanted to save(?) her.

But why did he suddenly disappear?

She suddenly felt Cain wrap his arms around her shoulders.

“My dongsaeng was really great.”

She giggled when she heard him. Cain felt that she was warmer than usual. She was originally a warm person but right now, he felt that she was a lot more warmer. Cain suddenly had a hunch.

Is my dongsaeng going to open her heart to me now? Otherwise, I’ll try to make her do so.

Then, Lucia started speaking to him.

“Oppa [2].”

“Hmm?”

“I think I like someone.”

The moment he heard her words…

Clench━

Cain’s hands clenched tightly. He was smiling at her, but the nerves on his forehead were popping out.

“W, who is it?”

“That person earlier.”

Clench━

Cain’s hands were once again clenched tightly. However, without showing any signs, he said to her…

“D, did you do something together?”

“We just ate together.”

“What did you eat?”

Lucia tilted her head in confusion when she realized that Cain suddenly became persistent in his questions.

“Ramyeon.”

“What……?”

When he heard her words, thousands of thoughts ran rampant  in Cain’s head.

My dongsaeng, Lucia, is not a child who will do something like that. Therefore, it must be that rascal who said it first.

‘Did he ask her to eat ramyeon in his place?’

This sly wolf! You bad bastard! How dare you lay a hand on my beloved sister?!

“R, ramyeon…… Hahaha…… It must be delicious.” 

Cain smiled awkwardly as he continued to listen to what Lucia had to say.

“That person boiled it for me, it was delicious.” 

It’s definitely that bad guy who seduced(?) my sister!

Lucia continued to talk…

“And he looked really cool when he saved me earlier.”

“Sly wolf, fu…”

“Huh?”

“I, it’s nothing. Lucia.”

Cain has already painted a big picture for the bastard who seduced his sister. He then turned around and approached Alicia who was behind him. He whispered to her so as not to let Lucia hear their conversation.

“Alicia.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not going to let that damn bastard off. Should I order the guild to kill him? Or should I lock him up and keep him in jail?! Or maybe I should pull his toenails off if he tries to enter my house……!”

“……”

Alicia wanted to smack him at the back of his head and tell this to him…

‘Don’t go overboard!’

However, she also knew that Minhyuk exercises(?) just so he could get stronger. So he would definitely not be defeated.

***

Changwook was looking at his mobile phone when he saw the real-time search.

[1. The tournament’s champion has gone underwater.]

[2. The champion is an NPC.]

When clicked on the 2nd on the real-time search articles and comments flooded his phone. He clicked on one blog post to check on the news.

[The champion of Athenae’s tournament this time is an NPC. You can see from the fact that he kept on eating at the convenience store, can someone even eat like that? Look, he ate almost all of the food in the convenience store by himself. And he even solo played the Lv140 Minotaurus? That’s just impossible. I know that he is a person according to the Athenae’s administrators but I still believe that he’s an NPC.]

Netizens kept on creating and compiling rumors and it was flooding the real-time search and Changwook who knew the truth was somewhat dumbfounded. 

Just in time, he saw Minhyuk coming out of the capsule.

“Oh, NPC. Hello?”

“……Are you bored? What’s wrong?”

Minhyuk looked at him strangely while Changwook coughed in embarrassment.

Suddenly they could hear the others exclaim in admiration.

“Wow. Minhyuk are you really that strong?”

“I got goosebumps when I saw you stand in front of Lucia and face off against the Minotaurus.”

“I’m this type of guy.”

Minhyuk stroked his chin and laughed.

“Where’d you go during the awards ceremony?”

“I went to eat beef.”

“……Beef? Why did you go eat beef when Empress Ellie said that she would go there?”

“Of course beef is much more important compared to meeting with Empress Ellie.”

“Right…… Beef is much more important compared to the Empress.”

Everyone nodded their heads.

In their own opinions, meeting Ellie and building a relationship with her was important but not with Minhyuk.

“You know, when you meet with Ellie she might even give you some sort of legendary class…… Ah, that’s right. Didn’t you say that you would rather eat yanggaeng than get the berserker class? Wait.”

Changwook scratched his head in thought.

“Right. What did you get when you won?”

“Hyung, I got something?”

“……Why would you ask me when you were the one who got it?”

It was because Minhyuk acquired the ingredients from the Minotaurus and got distracted. He tried to recall the notifications that he heard after he successfully hunted the Minotaurus.

First, I got 10,000 points.

Minhyuk picked up his mobile phone to check.

“My god. You’re the only person who will eat beef instead of checking his rewards first.”

Changwook’s words came in one ear and out of the other. Minhyuk ignored him and continued to tap on his handphone.

“Ah, I got that earth quaker.”

“The one the Minotaurus had?”

“Yes.”

“That’s amazing. I’m at Lv100 but you already learned the earth quaker that only Lv200 mages can have.”

Changwook thought that it was absolutely ridiculous. 

In fact, earth quaker was a skill that could be learned at Lv200 but there were no skill books available at all. The mages had to go in the magic tower and learn it there. In addition, earth quaker was a skill with a wide range of damage and would be a huge stepping stone for Minhyuk to move from a novice to an intermediate level player.

And this was what was crucial…

“I can’t believe that you can just master any kind of skill……”

Mastering the skills regardless of type.

Skills were limited to their job classes. Warrior skills could only be learned by warrior users and mage skills could only be learned by mage users.

From what Changwook could see, Minhyuk was somewhat closer to a warrior. However, he just mastered a skill that could only be learned by a mage. The merit of something like this was completely unimaginable.

“Didn’t you get the Minotaurus’ Bone Necklace? Check that first.”

Right now, Changwook looked like he was much more excited compared to Minhyuk.

As soon as Minhyuk typed it, the real-time search keyword suddenly came up.

The artifact that has never been dropped by a Minotaurus!

Minhyuk checked it in his handphone.

(Minotaurus’ Bone Necklace)

Class: Unique

Restrictions: None

Durability: 3,000 / 3,000

Defensive Power: 20

Special Abilities:

━ +100 WIS

━ An increase of 100% in MP recovery rate.

“Wow! This is really good. Hey, hey, Minhyuk. Look at this. An additional 100 in wisdom means that you will get 1000 MP and there’s also the 100% increase in MP recovery. This is really awesome!” 

“Oh, is that a good thing?”

“If your MP recovery rate is increased by 100% then it means that instead of recovering 30 MP in 1 minute, you will be able to recover 60 MP in 1 minute. Hey, mages will go crazy for this, you know? Hiyaa, there’s even no restrictions on it.”

“Oho.”

Minhyuk already considered the thought of increasing his MP. Since his MP was less than 500, he thought that it was a bit lacking whenever he used his skills so he already thought of investing his bonus points on his WIS. That’s why Minhyuk was quite pleased with this item.

I’ll be able to eat more delicious food if I get stronger.

***

Footnotes

[1] Dongsaeng : Younger sibling. I don’t know if I have said it before but just in case.

[2] Oppa : A term for girls to call their older brother, or any older guy that’s close to them

TL’s corner!!!

Lol Cain is a siscon. Is what I want to say but I hope that he won’t bother Minhyuk and his quest for food.

PR’s corner!

You know he’ll try to at least. I wonder if that Seduction Ring Lucia picked up will come back into play…not that it has much of a chance to work on Minhyuk.

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