Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 65: Ellie's Favorability

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

PR: MattForgenti

He was once again given another reward after his intimacy increased!

Minhyuk wondered about the rewards as he continued to eat his spam. The Imperial chefs continuously refilled his plate as he munched on his food without any thought of stopping at all.

After quite some time, one of the chefs decided to speak up.

“W, we’ve run out of spam!”

“……How much did he exactly eat?”

Ellie was looking at Minhyuk with a strange gaze as she asked the Imperial chef.

“He ate 356 cans of spam, 120 packs of salted squid and shrimp, 160 sheets of laver, and 600 packs of instant rice.”

Ellie blinked in astonishment while Minhyuk smiled cheerfully at her.

“Noona, we ate a lot right? See, I told you. If we put a lot of food on the table, then we would be able to eat a lot too, right?!”

Minhyuk displayed his flattery skills with great fanfare that even Ellie had no choice but to agree with him.

“……Y, yeaaah. R, right.”

Ellie couldn’t even keep up with his thought process.

A thought suddenly passed through Minhyuk’s head…

‘Come to think of it……’

There was a notification when he first met Ellie earlier about the completion of the quest Meet Ellie. He recalled about being able to receive 15,000 EXP. He also recalled hearing some level-up notifications.

“Ah, wait. Ellie noona. I know that I came here to see my pretty noona but I also came here because Len-nim asked me to do so.”

“Len……”

She had seen Minhyuk using Ellie’s kitchen knife during the competition. She hadn’t forgotten that fact yet.

She nodded silently at Minhyuk.

“Okay. What did he ask you to do?”

“He asked me to cook something delicious for you.”

Obviously, Minhyuk cooked some spam for her. However, it still did not result in the completion of the quest. Minhyuk realized that Ellie loves food as much as he did and along with that came a hunch…

‘I’ll definitely receive a delicious quest!’

However, Ellie’s forehead crumpled in distress.

“He didn’t come to meet me in person…… But.”

Ellie knew that Len left this place all because of her and she just meekly accepted everything that happened. However, it was quite a long time ago so even her feelings for Len would have calmed down by now to some extent.

“What dish would you like me to cook for you?”

“But Minhyuk, you… Aren’t you a warrior user?”

Ellie clearly saw Minhyuk hunt down a Minotaurus during the tournament. He made such an unprecedented move that even Ellie, herself, thought that he should be recommended as a member of the Phoenix Knights.

“Uhmm…”

Minhyuk thought deeply…

He was someone that was like a cook but he was also like a warrior. But this warrior-like user was also like a farmer, and this farmer-like user could also learn and use magic skills…

“I can do everything.”

“You learnt a lot of different things?”

“That’s right.”

“How surprising.”

Ellie was deeply impressed. A foreigner learnt a lot of different things, it was even safe to say that he had learnt all of the things that he could learn. And what was more surprising was…

‘How can a foreigner be so strong when he has learnt a lot of different things?’

His strength was already beyond that of just learning something. Even if she was looking at him right now, she could tell that he was exuding the same aura that he had back when he was in the tournament.

“I wonder where your strength comes from.”

“I just eat well and work out well.”

“……Right.”

Ellie smiled brightly.

I feel at ease when I’m with him. It’s such a bizarre feeling.

At that moment, Ellie realized that she was catering to his every whims. After realizing this, she decided to just steer the topic back to the main point.

“I can just tell you to make something that I want to eat?”

“Of course.”

“I want to eat flatfish and rockfish sashimi.”

“……!”

Minhyuk’s eyes widened.

Flatfish and rockfish? Aren’t those guys the one you hear those people say ‘You can eat flatfish and rockfish at the fish market!’?

Dip it in soy sauce and wasabi, once you put it in your mouth you would definitely feel the savory and chewy texture, flatfish and rockfish! And after you finished eating the sashimi?

‘Auntie, can we please have the spicy fish stew right now! Please add ramyeon too!’

And once the stew was set-up, you would definitely think about this…

‘Boil it some more, the longer you boil it the more delicious it gets.’

After letting it boil some more, what would happen if you took a sip of the soup? You would feel a refreshing taste with just the right amount of spicy seasoning.

She wants to eat that flatfish and rockfish?

Minhyuk was completely excited with the thought of eating those fishes.

“How does a rockfish cry?”

“……?”

“Wooreok, wooreok! [1]”

“Minhyuk-ah, I’m going to burst in fury right now.”

Pause!

Minhyuk trembled in fear because he felt that she was definitely telling the truth.

Then, Ellie continued on with a serious look on her face.

“I once went fishing with the late emperor, His Majesty Ellen. That was the first time that my father cooked for me. He used the fish that we caught to make me a rockfish sashimi and a spicy fish stew.”

Her lips unconsciously curled up as she recalled the memories of the past.

“His Majesty Ellen always stressed that I should become a strong emperor. It was also the reason why he always forced me to practice my swordsmanship. I have always hated him for that. However, I realized after he had left me that I couldn’t forget the taste of the spicy fish stew and the sashimi that he made for me.”

Ellie smiled lightly.

“My father wanted me to become a strong emperor because he loved me. That much was still vivid in my eyes.”

She closed her eyes and smiled, as if she could still see the vision of her father watching over her during her training.

“Help me to relive the taste of my father’s cooking.”

[Linked Quest: Make a Rockfish Sashimi for Ellie.]

Rank: B rank

Restrictions: Meet with Ellie

Rewards: Ellie’s Swordsmanship, Ancient cooking ingredients

Failure for Penalty: Ellie’s favorability will drop.

Description: Ellie just recalled the memories of her past. She wants to eat a fresh rockfish sashimi that you made. Give her a rockfish sashimi!

Minhyuk thought that she would ask for the dish that Len cooked for her in the past. But she wanted to eat the food that she couldn’t forget in her memory.

When he thought about it, he also had that kind of food.

Whenever Minhyuk came over to visit his late grandmother, she would always grill some rice cake for him and drizzle it with honey. The crunchy grilled rice cake was truly delicious especially when it met with honey. And whenever he ate the grilled rice cake, his grandmother would always bring him some fruits and chestnuts that he could eat together with the rice cake.

‘Grandma, I’m stuffed.’

‘My baby, you should eat some more. You’re eating so well.’

Whenever he went to his grandmother’s house, he would always eat a lot. It was such a good memory.

Then he looked at the rewards listed on the quest. It was the ancient cooking ingredients. Minhyuk did not know what it was, but he was sure that it was something ‘delicious’.

“I’ll give you a delicious rockfish sashimi!”

“Don’t forget the spicy rockfish stew.”

“Of course. That’s something that can never be forgotten. Huhuhuhu!”

Ellie grinned at him as she stood up.

“Let’s go now.”

“Where are we going?”

“You need to learn my swordsmanship.”

“Ah, that’s right. I have to learn swordsmanship, wait. Ah~ I really have to work hard~”

Minhyuk stood up as he answered her half-heartedly.

Ellie looked at him strangely.

“A, are you not happy?”

“I’m happy, I’m so happy that I’m going to burst into flames!”

“……”

Ellie was left speechless for a moment.

‘Does he really only care about eating?’

Foreigners all over the world were clamoring to learn her swordsmanship. Not long ago, there was someone who made a ruckus because he wanted to learn her swordsmanship and was sent to prison for 10 years. But Minhyuk was not even interested in anything if it wasn’t related to eating.

Ellie suddenly thought of a brilliant idea.

“Every time you complete a portion of the swordsmanship, I will give you the opportunity to get one special ingredient from the palace’s ingredients warehouse.”

“……What are we waiting for, let’s go!”

Minhyuk’s steps quickened as he followed Ellie to the training camp.

“As you can see, the wooden puppets are divided into blue and white.”

“Yes!”

Minhyuk looked like he was filled with enthusiasm. Ellie thought that her training regimen(?) was successful.

“The blue wooden puppets can be destroyed easily depending on your damage. But the white wooden puppet is different. Would you like to try hitting the white wooden puppet?”

Ellie threw a wooden sword towards him. Minhyuk caught the sword in mid-air and tried to slash at the wooden puppet with all his might.

‘Imperial ingredients! Let’s eat them!’

Slash!

As soon as he slashed, a notification rang in his head.

[You have striked the training wooden puppet.]

[499/500 hits until the puppet is destroyed.]

“Oh?”

It was a unique wooden puppet. The puppet was not destroyed with damage but with the number of hits.

“This wooden puppet can only be found in the Eivelis Empire. Every time that you hit and destroy it you will be able to get the bonus point that you want. You can also raise your stat that couldn’t easily be raised via this bonus point.”

“T, then can I increase my DEX?”

Ellie nodded her head.

“It’s possible, unless it’s a really special stat then everything is possible. This is my gift for you.”

Ellie grinned at him. If she didn’t teach him swordsmanship then Minhyuk would not be able to lay his hands on these wooden puppets.

Minhyuk pondered about how he would go about doing this.

‘If I use Three Consecutive Quick Assault and Haste then I can probably strike faster.’

However, Ellie, who probably read his mind, said to him…

“Sadly, you can’t use skills to raise the strike count. You have to strike the wooden puppet with your pure strength. And if you hit it with a lot of repetitive blows then you can raise a variety of stats just like when you first came to Athenae.”

“I see.”

“Now this time, hit the blue wooden puppet. You can use your skills, just hit it with your most powerful strike.”

When he heard her say that, Minhyuk prepared himself to give his most powerful strike.

[Bardy Swordsmanship.]

[All 5 basic stats have a +20 increase for 10 minutes.]

[Vital Strike.]

[Additional 28% attack power if attack is successful.]

He could see a lot of vital points on the body of the blue wooden puppet. Minhyuk striked one vital point with all of his might.

Stab!

However, instead of hearing the cracking sound of the wooden puppet being destroyed, the blue wooden puppet did not even move at all.

Ellie took a step forward.

“Now I’ll show you. Ellie’s swordsmanship’s first chapter has the same movement with what you did earlier. 1st chapter. Sword of Fury.”

A red light suddenly enveloped the hilt of her sword as her posture and way of holding the sword turned different. She was just standing there as she grabbed the sword and stabbed it but she did it with grace and elegance.

She stabbed the same blue wooden puppet that Minhyuk stabbed earlier. The moment she stabbed, the silent surroundings were filled with the sound of air ripping into two.

Shiiiiiiiiiiing!

Staaaaab!

She accurately stabbed the wooden puppet. The moment she pulled the sword away, the puppet shattered into pieces.

Bang!

However, it did not end there.

The blue wooden puppets behind the puppet that she striked were shattered one by one by the force that came out of her sword.

Bang!

Shwaaaa!

The remnants of the puppets scattered in the air like ash falling from the sky.

***

Footnotes

[1] On the joke: rockfish is 우럭 and the crying sound is 우럭우럭 LMAO. AN ADDITION, 우럭우럭 means to blaze in flames, to be furious or smth like that. LOL.