Leveling Up Through Eating

QC: MattForgenti

"Me too!"

Some female users started to shout as they quickly moved forward.

"Woow! It\'s delicious!"

"It\'s delicious…!"

The owner\'s expression was not good.

\'Two people only gave me a 1% increase in my experience… jjeob [1]...\'

His forehead wrinkled in dismay. He had no choice but to feel dismayed.

These users weren\'t really hungry. In fact, they did not even feel that the food was delicious. They were only doing this just so they could catch Binz\' s attention.

Or some of them were doing this just to get a little bit of Binz\'s attention.

\'How much will it increase when Binz-nim tries?\'

The shopkeeper was also very curious about it.

"I\'ll try it now."

Binz picked up a stick of eomuk [2]. A good-looking man was eating a stick of eomuk quite well.

Everyone around him was quite mesmerized by the sight and all cried out \'he…\'

Then, the owner\'s eyes widened in shock.

[You have leveled up.]

"Heok…!"

"...What\'s wrong?"

"M, my level increased. It increased by 1 just now. When the others ate my level only rose by 1%... I have 66% in my experience bar but…"

"Eh?"

Binz looked at him in confusion.

He leveled up already?

Binz really felt that it was quite delicious when he ate the eomuk.

How can it increase already?

\'Wow… My experience increased a few dozen times higher compared to other users… So this guy is a heavenly mukbang BJ, huh?\'

Everyone thought so.

"Waaaaaah…"

"Binz-nim, it seems like you are really eating happily…"

"You\'re not just making a play, right?"

"Ah, no. I took a screenshot before Binz-nim ate and another one when I leveled up. I\'ll post it on the user\'s bulletin board later."

"T, then it\'s real?"

"Did you really level up because he felt that your food was delicious?"

Binz smiled happily at the other user\'s surprised expression. In fact, the streetfood he was selling was really delicious. Everyone\'s lips curled up in a smile.

Just when he was about to eat another eomuk he saw a user making his way through the crowd.

He was wearing a white face mask that covered his nose and mouth. He stood next to Binz and said…

"Wow! Wow! It\'s tteoktwisun [3], waaaaah! Wow!"

"......?"

"W, what\'s wrong with that guy?"

"Shit, Binz-nim was just about to eat but now he has lost his flow…"

However, the user did not even respond to them at all. He continued to burst out in exclamations then turned towards the owner and said…

"Uncle. Do I pay after I eat eomuk?"

The man who was asking was about 5cm taller than Binz.

He\'s probably about 185cm tall.

"Ah…"

The owner looked at Binz in embarrassment.

He prepared a lot of food today, one reason was because Binz was going to eat and the other reason was because the other users would buy from him later. However, right now, he was still doing the mukbang with Binz.

Binz just smiled and nodded at him.

Why would I stop a person who wants to eat?

"Yes, you do."

"Then I\'ll eat then pay! Uncle, first give me 10 servings of tteokbokki, 10 servings of fritters and 10 servings of sundae, ah right. Please add the guts and the liver too!"

"......?"

Binz turned his head to look at the man.

The man in that mysterious mask ordered quite a ridiculous amount.

However, Binz could see that he was having a hard time suppressing his joy.

\'That smile…\'

It\'s a smile that looks really happy.

***

"Ughh… So cold."

It\'s freezing cold!

Minhyuk felt that the weather had turned a lot colder compared to a few days ago.

The weather in Athenae changes very quickly, huh?

Well, there was nothing he could do about it. Time flows four times faster in Athenae compared to the real world.

It was a refreshing autumn when he first logged in so it was no wonder that it has gone a bit colder now.

Minhyuk munched on a yanggaeng as he walked towards Isbin Village.

\'There\'s only a few of this yanggaeng that\'s left.\'

Minhyuk felt sad and at the same time it also made him hungrier.

I feel cold and hungry. There\'s only one food that comes to mind at times like this.

It was street snacks.

\'He… Just thinking about it…\'

Guuulp—

He gulped at the thought of eating street food. At that moment, Minhyuk saw a crowd of people.

"Well, are you giving me something delicious for free?!"

Minhyuk, who was only thinking about eating, saw a familiar sign among the crowd.

\'Happy Snacks.\'

"......!"

Minhyuk trembled in excitement. It was to the point where anybody could see that his whole body was shaking. It was like he won the first prize in the lottery with how excited he was.

He felt something strange when he walked towards the crowd.

There were too many people and standing in front of them was the handsome Binz.

Minhyuk definitely knew Binz\'s face. However, his interest over BJ Binz was solely dedicated to the food that he ate.

\'Ah… it\'s definitely because he wants their attention.\'

Minhyuk did not bother with those things. He hated the attention.

He played games because he wanted to eat, not because he wanted to gain fame and attention.

At that moment, a shop that was selling masks not far from where he was caught Minhyuk\'s eyes.

Sometimes, users liked to wear masks to add a touch of mystery to themselves.

\'Yeah, I should wear a mask…\'

He was sure that he would get a lot of attention if he stood right next to Binz but if he wore a mask then he would be able to avoid that trouble.

He hurriedly went into the shop and bought a mask. He bought the mask for 20,000 gold. It was quite cheap.

After wearing the mask, Minhyuk quickly pushed his way through the crowd and finally stood in front of Binz.

The harmony of the colors is good!

The well-cooked tteokbokki and eomuk were swimming in the bright red sauce. He could even see boiled eggs in there.

And that wasn\'t all…

There were shining, golden fried snacks over to the side.

Gimari, deep-fried veggies, fried sweet potatoes, tempura, fried squid, etc. [4]

He couldn\'t help but show a smile.

Is that everything?

The chewy and bouncy sundae on the steamer along with the ears, liver, etc. seemed like they were shouting at him to hurry up and eat them.

Minhyuk burst in excitement.

"Wow! Wow! It\'s tteoktwisun, waaaaah! Wow!"

"......?"

"W, what\'s wrong with that guy?"

"Shit, Binz-nim was just about to eat but now he has lost his flow…"

However, Minhyuk couldn\'t hear them at all. His eyes were trained on the food. This time he was looking at the steaming seaweed soup with the beautifully cut fishcake swimming in it.

"Uncle, do I pay after I eat the eomuk?"

"Ah, Aaah…"

The owner hesitated for a moment. Minhyuk was confused as the owner smiled awkwardly at him.

"Yes, you do."

"Then I\'ll eat then pay! Uncle, first give me 10 servings of tteokbokki, 10 servings of fritters and 10 servings of sundae, ah right. Please add the sundae and the liver too!"

"......"

"?"

"Is it for take away?"

"No. I\'m going to eat them here!"

Taking it away is also good but, isn\'t it more delicious to eat street food in front of the food stalls.

The owner then began to prepare the food.

"Ah, who\'s that person!"

"Hey, hey. His proportions are amazing, right…?"

"Ah… What proportions… Huh? Look at that jawline…"

"T, that person… I\'m going to get my hands on that \'super handsome\' man."

Minhyuk ignored the murmurs of the crowd as he rubbed his hands in anticipation.

What to eat first?

[Please select the main ingredients for this meal.]

\'Of course it\'s eomuk!\'

[Eomuk was selected as the main ingredient.]

Minhyuk believed that the top delicacy in the snack bar was eomuk.

There was only one reason.

\'Because you don\'t have to wait for it!\'

Minhyuk pulled out a paper cup then he carefully scooped up plenty of eomuk soup.

The warmth of the eomuk soup passed through the paper cup and thawed away his frozen hands.

"Hoo, hoo."

He gently blew on the paper cup before slowly taking a sip of the soup.

"Ah… I\'m alive."

He felt like his chilled body was suffused in warmth. Minhyuk picked up an eomuk, dipped it in the soy sauce bowl in front of him and placed it in his mouth for a taste.

Chew, chew—

"De, delicious…!"

He exclaimed softly with a happy smile on his face. Then he ate, one, two, three… Ten.

"......"

"......"

"Wow……"

All of a sudden, the owner shouted in surprise.

"...My, my level increased by 4!"

"......!"

"......!"

"Heok?!"

The crowd was astonished. But Minhyuk did not hear them at all.

The owner quickly laid down the heavy plates in front of Minhyuk. He was scared that if he did not place the plates of food in front of Minhyuk he would be the one that was skewered with the stick. That was how ferocious Minhyuk looked right now.

Minhyuk saw the glistening, red tteokbokki. He used a toothpick to pick one up and tasted it.

The sweet and spicy flavor of the chewy tteokbokki gave him the shivers.

"Oooooooh. This is delicious!"

Then he tried the fritters. He, once again, ate the gimari in one bite.

Crunch, crunch!

The moment he bit on the crispy gimari he could taste the harmony of flavors between the glass noodles, the seaweed and the fried vegetables.

Then, he dipped the gimari in the tteokbokki sauce before taking a bite. The spicy flavor of the sauce and the crispy texture of the gimari was very impressive.

The fried sweet potatoes were best served with the tteokbokki while the fried squid and the tempura were best served with the eomuk soup.

He then focused his attention on the chewy sundae. He dipped the sundae in salt then took a bite. Next, he dipped it in the tteokbokki sauce before taking another bite. Finally he dipped it in the eomuk soup before he took another bite.

Then...

An exquisite combination of flavor showered his mouth when he went and dipped the sizzling pork liver in the tteokbokki sauce.

"Wow…"

"Omg… he\'s very crazy."

"It, it looks delicious…"

Everyone was exclaiming in surprise but Minhyuk paid them 0% attention.

"M, my level has increased by 15 in total!"

The owner\'s voice was drowned out among the other users’ voices.

At that moment, Minhyuk was splitting the boiled egg on top of the tteokbokki. He used a spoon to crush the egg white and mixed it with the yolk and the tteokbokki sauce.

"Uncle! I\'d like to have 10 more servings of tteoktwisun!"

"......Wow, crazy!"

"Omg… Just now, I was looking at that user and not at Binz."

"I, is he for real……?"

***

Binz unknowingly stopped putting a tteokbokki in his mouth.

An unknown user was eating happily while wearing a white mask. He even ordered another 10 servings of each food.

The owner spoke again…

"Keok, my level has increased by 20 in total!"

Binz turned his head towards the owner. The owner wasn\'t even paying any attention to him.

\'This person\'s experience will only increase if someone ate his food deliciously, and happily… but I heard that it only increases if the reactions were genuine.\'

Binz realized that the guy standing next to him was eating the food more deliciously and happily compared to him.

\'H, he really looks happy…\'

At some point, under the expectations of others, the food that he enjoyed happily has started to become his work.

Of course, he was still very happy to eat right now. However, that feeling was slowly starting to fade away.

But the smile of this person in front of me is truly genuine.

And…

Groooooooowl…!

\'Why do I want to eat so much when I\'m watching him?\'

This is absolutely ridiculous. I\'m Binz, the mukbang world\'s crown prince. But it was very strange how I want to gobble up all of these when I watch this man in front of me eat.

***

Footnotes

[1] 쩝 (jjeob) : sound used when you feel awkward or have nothing to say. It can also be used as a sound when you\'re chewing or when you feel like the food tastes good.

[2] eomuk, this is fishcake. Hmmm quite delicious with tteokbokki and egg. *drools*

[3] tteoktwisun (떡튀순) a set menu consisting of tteokbokki, fritters, and sundae (or blood sausage).  떡 is for tteokboki (떡볶이) 튀 is for fritters or fried food (튀긴 XXX) and 순 is for sundae (순대).

[4] Gimari is deep-fried seaweed roll. Haven\'t tried it but it looks so appetizing. Also all of those fried food were dipped in batter before frying. Yum.

TL\'s corner!!!

Tbh, I was confused about the mask. But I\'m guessing it\'s that type where others could see it but it won\'t obstruct you. Like a hologram or smth. I mean, he\'s wearing a face mask but he could still eat without them knowing what he looks like. Kek. Fiction~

P.S. If you don’t remember. BJ is a broadcasting jockey or you can just call them vloggers I think AND mukbang is the vlog about eating food. The one where they eat lots of food in front of the cam. I heard that there were controversies in KR regarding ads on mukbang channels. kek.

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