Leveling Up Through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

The weather was still very cold. However, Minhyuk, the coachman and even Lucia were all sitting in front of the carriage.

There was water boiling on the burner, that Minhyuk took out of his inventory, in front of them.

"Ack?! I think there\'s too much water? There\'s too much water!"

Lucia spoke loudly.

The two of them had already finished introducing themselves to each other.

Minhyuk looked at her deeply when he heard her.

"You know that this is the easiest way, right?"

"Yep, but you should take out some water…"

"Then let\'s just put another bag of ramyeon in!"

Lucia was shocked.

Then, she touched her chin with a very serious expression.

"It really was an easier way."

She scratched her head…

\'Why am I both surprised and convinced by this?\'

She felt that she could relate with Minhyuk.

Minhyuk, then, opened another bag of noodles.

Lucia has quite a fair amount of ramen. It was the reward that she received from the hidden quest. She was even dumbfounded when she found out that the rewards were ramyeon. She even received the ramyeon once she woke up and arrived at Isbin Village.

And Minhyuk had high expectations for this ramyeon. He checked the ramyeon earlier and he saw that the ramyeon was made from Sun\'s Wheat.

Hidden quests usually would give out absurd rewards like that.

This might just be an insignificant reward for Lucia but Minhyuk would be extremely happy to receive such a reward.

\'I should probably make ramyeon out of the Sun\'s Wheat then eat it!\'

Minhyuk wanted to taste the real instant ramyeon and not the \'Healthy Ramyeon\' or the \'I added onions for the calories~\' type of ramyeon. But the noodles of this one were made out of Sun\'s Wheat, and it was also instant and the name written on the bag was \'Spicy Jin Ramyeon.\'

When she saw him look like that, Lucia unknowingly felt better.

\'It\'s strangely relaxing……\'

As she thought of that, she heard a notification.

[Minhyuk\'s favorability has increased.]

It was a fact that Minhyuk has become much more favorable towards her.

Splash!

Minhyuk placed the noodles in the pot and skillfully stirred the pot. He then pulled out the rice and kimchi from his food storage inventory. The rice was a bit cold.

"We should definitely put cold rice in the hot soup……!"

"We\'ll never know if one of us will die while eating!"

"Hehehe!"

"Hohohoho!"

"Didn\'t the two of you meet for the first time in the carriage today?"

"Yeah."

"That\'s correct."

"But the two of you look very close."

The coachman smiled at them.

Before they knew it, the ramyeon was already boiling well over the fire.

Ramyeon.

It was the food best eaten when one was hungry. It was good to eat at 1 o\'clock in the morning or when one went to the sea to play in the water.

Like one of the anecdotes of General when he was in the army and they were assigned on guard duty in the guard post, they would bring a thermos filled with ramyeon and tell his other comrades \'Hey, watch over that well!\' then they would eat ramyeon in the middle of their duty and it would still taste delicious.

Right now, the weather was still a bit chilly and Minhyuk was already really hungry.

It was an undeniable fact that he already ate his rest area potatoes and his potato pancakes but he was a man who was always hungry.

He reached out his hand that was holding the chopsticks towards the boiling pot. Then, he picked up a whole bunch of noodles and moved them to his bowl. After placing a portion of it in his bowl, he picked it up again then blew on it with a hoo! hoo! and slowly placed it in his mouth. When the noodles were finally in his mouth…

"Sluuuuuuuuuuurp!"

He inhaled the noodles.

"Keuhaaa! It\'s really very delicious…!"

Then, he lifted the entire pot and poured some soup over his bowl.

He slurped the noodles once more, then lifted the bowl up and gulped down some soup.

"Keohoo!"

He felt like the chill in his body was melting.

It tastes better when you\'re eating outside.

After he ate the noodles and drank the soup, he picked up some kimchi and placed it in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch—

Isn\'t kimchi and ramyeon such a perfect match?

I can\'t lose to him!

"Sluuuuuuuuuuurp!"

Lucia took a whole bunch of noodles over using the pot lid and ate it just like that.

"When I was a kid, I used to eat cup noodles with its lid half-folded."

"Kgghk! You already know how to eat it since you were a kid!"

"I\'m that kind of woman."

Lucia grinned. She was suddenly struck with curiosity.

"You\'re Lv79, right? Why are you going to Emperor\'s City?"

"Because of the tournament."

"The tournament?"

Lucia was quite surprised that they have the same objective. She proceeded to ask him cautiously.

"Do you not know me?"

"Aren\'t you Lucia?"

"......No, not like that."

There wasn\'t any place in the newspapers that did not have her face these days. That was the reason why she kept on wearing a mask. It was so she could continue to be discreet.

However, Minhyuk smiled as if that wasn\'t the point.

"It will taste better if you set aside some noodles before adding in the rice."

\'H, he\'s not the least bit interested……\'

Lucia was a bit embarrassed.

People have been paying great attention to me these days, you know!

"I\'m going to participate in the tournament too."

"Ah, is that so. Uh-huh."

Minhyuk placed his rice in the soup and took a big bite.

"Crunch, crunch!"

Then, he added some kimchi and took another bite.

"Lu, Lucia-nim……!"

"Why?"

Lucia was a bit despondent since he did not recognize her.

"It\'s really really delicious, what should I do……? I want to run away with this pot!"

"P, please help yourself!"

Then he laughed.

She did not know him so he did not need to hide it. He felt more comfortable and relaxed right now.

Then she asked…

"Ah, Nim. What\'s your job class?"

Minhyuk thought about it before answering her.

\'I\'m a bit close to being a chef.\'

"I\'m a chef."

"Ah, that\'s why you\'re going to the tournament. I\'m a thief by the way."

Tournaments held in the Imperial Palace were divided into combat-type type job competitions and production-type job competitions.

\'I thought he was a combat-type because of the sword on his waist.\'

Lucia thought that she did not need to fight him in the tournament.

"Ack, leave some for me too!"

She quickly stretched out her spoon towards the pot that almost showed its bottom.

***

[Ack, leave some for me too!]

"Sluuuuuuuuuuurp!"

Lee Minhwa, who poured hot water over her shrimp tantanmen cup noodles, was concentrating on her monitor.

As she continued to look at her monitor, she blew on her cup noodles and took a sip of the soup.

"He…… I\'m alive."

As soon as her gaze went back to the monitor she started to glare at Lucia and she felt a bit sad for Minhyuk too.

\'Don\'t laugh!\'

Then she suddenly paused.

"Lee Minhwa. What\'s wrong with you?"

She was able to monitor users because she was an employee under the Special Users Management Team. However, she felt uncomfortable watching the two of them having a pleasant conversation.

She then mumbled something after she finished inhaling the last of the noodles from her cup noodles.

"Let\'s focus on our work, work!"

This was an important matter.

"User Minhyuk will also participate in the tournament… And he\'s going with the best candidate for champion, Lucia."

Whether it was through SNS or the TV, Lucia\'s name was widely known.

It wasn\'t that long ago when a video clip of her at Lv70 hunted a Lv120 Zanhak [1] monster circulated in ztube. The video in ztube spread widely both domestically and globally. It garnered millions of views and favorable responses.

Almost everyone has named Lucia to be the champion of this tournament. They were all looking forward to this competition because of her.

However, Lee Minhwa has different thoughts compared to them.

\'I didn\'t know that User Minhyuk would participate in the tournament… What\'s his reason? Is it because he wants to eat the food in the convenience store?\'

She giggled at the thought.

"Eheyy, no way. No matter how much he likes to eat, he will not participate purely because of this, right?"

She shook her head at her silly thoughts. Then she tilted her head in thought when she realized that Team Leader Park had not yet arrived.

\'The meeting must have dragged longer than what we thought.\'

Team Leader Park was currently attending an important meeting regarding the tournament. In fact, they would talk about things related to the tournament including various stories that have relation with it.

Then…

Click—

As the door opened, she saw Team Leader Park enter the room. His expression was not that good.

Then he glanced at the monitor.

"Is it really just a coincidence?"

"Why, what\'s wrong?"

"You know about the monsters that will appear in this tournament, right?"

"Ah, yes. I know. A Lv90 Velto, a Lv100 Brackan, and a Lv110 Seductive Siren. And there\'s also a Named Monster for this event, right?"

"Yes. The event\'s Named Monster."

Today was the day when the event-specific Named Monster would open for the administrators. All of the administrators were quite interested in this monster.

There was only one reason why the monsters were more powerful than users. This was so they would be able to see the talented users.

The really talented users would definitely be able to hunt high-leveled monsters that have a higher level than them. This might not be possible for individual users but it was still possible if they united together.

And finally, there was the named monster.

"This time, the final Named Monster was placed in there so they will not be able to hunt it."

"Ah, really?"

"Yeah, but it will definitely draw positive feedback and responses for the users who will challenge it. Furthermore, did you know?"

Lee Minhwa nodded along as she listened to his words.

"Did you know that it was set by the God of Athenae?"

Team Leader Park nodded his head.

The God of Athenae.

He was not just a god, he was also the supercomputer that oversees the entirety of the world of Athenae and participates in various things. Most of the settings and set-ups in Athenae has the involvement of the God of Athenae.

"So what\'s the matter? You look very anxious."

"The boss monster that the God of Athenae set this time is one of the two guardians of the Eivelis Empire."

Lee Minhwa recalled the facts about the guardians of Eivelis Empire.

One was the Phoenix. But the Phoenix was a Lv350 high-leveled named monster. Just by using its extensive fire magic and its feathers all of the users will be wiped away. It was a monster that was ridiculously powerful.

Then there was the second guardian monster. After thinking for a moment, Lee Minhwa\'s eyes suddenly widened.

"I, Impossible…!"

"Yeah, that impossible thing you\'re thinking about is correct."

"I, it\'s the Minotaurus?!"

Team Leader Park nodded his head.

"But isn\'t the Minotaurus at Lv140?"

"That\'s what I\'m telling you, that\'s a monster that has a large gap with users."

"But that gap could easily kill users. I\'m guessing that almost half of them will be wiped out…"

"In the first place, the Minotaurus is not set up to be a seon mob but it will be in the tournament."

"Ah…"

"The Lv80 users will need to challenge a monster that was twice as strong as they are. People will love it and go wild about it but I personally think that Lucia will not challenge it."

Lee Minhwa nodded her head.

When the two of them observed Lucia, she would calmly fight her opponents only when she was confident in winning. She would never fight a losing battle. This was the reason why they both believed that she would not challenge the Minotaurus.

"But I\'m definitely sure that a different user will challenge it."

His words gave Lee Minhwa a sense of premonition. She quickly jerked her head back and looked at her monitor.

"Food Fighter…"

"Yeah. Probably, this competition…"

Team Leader Park\'s eyes suddenly narrowed. He looked at Minhyuk who was patting his stomach with a smile on his face and saying \'How happy!\' after he finished eating all of the rice.

"That user might grab a hold of it."

***

The carriage continued on its way towards the palace.

When the carriage stopped for a break, Minhyuk quickly jumped out and got out of there.

"I\'ll be back!"

"Don\'t go too far!"

The coachman reminded him.

Lucia closed off her connection for a while since she had work. If the user logged out while they were riding on a paid moving carriage, their character would be set to still remain \'moving\' along with the carriage.

Minhyuk found a mushroom on a tree not too far away from them.

(Brad Mushroom)

Material Grade: E

Special Abilities: None

Description: A commonly grown Brad Mushroom. It has a similar taste with shiitake mushrooms.

Minhyuk chuckled as he reached his hands out to pick the mushrooms.

It would be extremely difficult to pick these mushrooms if the user did not have a high DEX and if they did not learn the Beginner\'s Farming Skill. Just like when he tried digging the sweet potatoes for the first time and his hoe was not able to dig in the ground.

However, Minhyuk was someone who could easily get those mushrooms.

[You have acquired a Brad Mushroom.]

[Due to the effects of Beginner\'s Farming, you have acquired a Well-grown Brad Mushroom.]

Minhyuk was a bit surprised.

Currently, his Beginner\'s Farming skill was at Lv9 and he would soon reach mastery at Lv10. Once he reached the level of mastery, he could immediately achieve the next level.

(Well-grown Brad Mushroom)

Material Grade: D

Special Abilities: — It\'s good for your STM.

Description: A well-grown Brad Mushroom that grew up out of a hundred mushrooms. Maybe it will take effect as soon as you eat it?

Nothing important was really written but Minhyuk still laughed happily.

"It definitely tastes better!"

That was why he was laughing.

Then, at that moment…

"Ugh, aaaaaaaaack!"

He heard the cry of the coachman.

***

Footnotes

[1] 잔하크 is the name of the monster, if you\'re familiar with this, do contact me. I\'m at a loss as to what it is. And ztube is a parody of youtube iykwim.

TL\'s corner!!!

Okay, I must admit… I have no idea at all about the monsters that author-nim have listed. There\'s no description so I can\'t find any other English counterpart aside from the siren. But here\'s the monsters 잔하크 (Zanhak) , 벨토 (Velto) , 브라칸 (Brackan) and 미노토우르스 (Minotaurus).

Also, all of the italicized terms or names will remain italicized unless it has been given enough descriptions in the novel. So if you see italicized words it means that it hasn\'t been described yet.

For the Brad Mushroom. I don\'t think there really is a Brad Mushroom but if it helps a bit… Brad can also mean a tapered nail with an asymmetric head. Or smth along those lines. But let\'s just imagine that it has the same look as a shiitake mushroom. Hopefully.

If anyone still remembers, seon mob is the mob that attacks the users at first sight.

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