Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 713: Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s Shadows

“Your Majesty, thank you for the food!”

“Your Majesty Minhyuk, thank you!”

Minhyuk smiled faintly as he listened to his people’s greetings and words of gratitude. This challenge was both very meaningful and rewarding to him.

‘Well then, now that the week-long hard work was over…’

Although he still felt a bit tired, Minhyuk could tell that his condition was fine.

‘Is there something more delightful than having a good rest after eating to your heart’s content?’

Of course, sleeping right after eating was not good for the body. But did it matter? Athenae was a virtual reality game. Besides, his body in reality was most definitely hungry too. Minhyuk unknowingly rubbed his hands in anticipation as he looked at the spread of food in front of him.

There was a round grilling pan in front of him filled with glossy red spicy stir-fried chicken. Even if he was just going to eat once, Minhyuk always preferred to eat properly. He looked like he was inside a shop that specializes in selling spicy stir-fried chicken.

There was a bowl of buckwheat noodles with a thin sheet of ice covering it placed near the grill, along with some radish, ssamjang, garlic, perilla leaves, lettuce, kimchi, and dongchimi. In the middle of the spicy stir-fried chicken was a long stretch of cheese and some udon noodles on top.

The first thing that Minhyuk grabbed was a piece of spicy stir-fried chicken.

Munch, munch, munch—

Since the dish was stir-fried really well, the meat was completely soaked with sauce.

“Kghkk…”

The amazing flavor struck him even more because he ate it after a hard day’s work. However, Minhyuk did something different today. Today, he opened a can of beer.

Fwiiiish—

The loud and cheerful sound of the can opening rang loudly in Minhyuk’s ears. Usually, whenever Minhyuk was eating, he was solely focused on eating. The same was true for drinking. He would only drink when it was time to drink. Perhaps it was because of how hard he worked these past few days, but strangely enough, Minhyuk was craving for some beer.

‘Well, it’s just one can of beer.’

Minhyuk smiled faintly as he gulped down the cold and refreshing beer in one go. Beer tasted the best when one drank a lot in one gulp.

“Fwaaaa!”

He savored the refreshing taste of the beer before picking a piece of chicken meat and dipping it in the cheese. The cheese that stuck on the chicken stretched all the way to Minhyuk’s mouth.

“Hahahaha!”

The delightful taste caused him to burst into laughter. This time, he grabbed a piece of sliced radish together with two pieces of the spicy stir-fried chicken and placed everything in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch—

The sweet and sour taste of the radish was a tasty addition to the savory flavor of the spicy stir-fried chicken. Then, he grabbed a piece of chicken and placed it on top of a perilla leaf. Of course, he did not forget to put some garlic dipped in ssamjang and some radish slices before placing everything in his mouth.

“Kghhk…”

Minhyuk could not help but shrug his shoulders in a happy dance as the fragrant scent of the perilla leaf wafted through his mouth. This time, he picked up the chicken with some cabbage.

‘Yo! Yo! Seasoned cabbage is also very delicious. If prepared and cooked properly, it could have a crispy texture.’ A happy smile curled at the corner of Minhyuk’s lips when the spicy stir-fried chicken and the cabbage entered his mouth.

Then, he held the plate in one hand and grabbed some udon noodles with the other. The still steaming udon looked so scrumptious as he placed them on the plate. He could even feel drool pooling in his mouth at the sight. Then, Minhyuk opened his mouth wide as he chomped on a huge mouthful of udon noodles. The pleased smile on his face grew even wider as he continued to chew the food in his mouth. Well-seasoned udon noodles were the charm and the highlight of spicy stir-fried chicken.

This time, he stretched his chopsticks towards the cold buckwheat noodles, shaking it to loosen the noodles inside the soup. Then, he added some vinegar and mustard based on his preference before taking a huge bite of the ice-cold buckwheat noodles.

“Sluuuuuuuuuuuuurp!”

The cold and refreshing chewy noodles cleansed his palette immediately. The buckwheat noodles had a much softer texture than the ordinary cold noodles, a true delight to the mouth. Of course, Minhyuk did not forget to hold the bowl to his lips and drink the cold soup.

“Kghhhk—“ An exclamation escaped his mouth at the taste.

This time, he grabbed a piece of spicy stir-fried chicken and added it on top of the buckwheat noodles. The sight brought a delighted smile on his face.

He also did not forget to gulp some of the dongchimi that was also covered with a thin layer of ice. His eyes, which had been closed as he savored the dongchimi, snapped wide open from the coldness that pricked his head.

After finishing his meal, a set of notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[You have eaten Spicy Stir-fried Chicken.]

[The dish is Magic Grade.]

[The dish boosts your energy and calms your body and soul.]

[The buff will last for five days.]

The buff effect of the spicy stir-fried chicken was obviously not good enough. However, considering that the dish was created for around 700,000 people, Minhyuk was still very grateful for it.

Minhyuk turned to look at his people. He watched them as they enjoyed the spicy stir-fried chicken that he had made. After watching them with a smile on his face, he turned to look at his notification window to scroll through the notifications that rang for him before he fell into deep sleep.

His eyes suddenly grew wide when he came across one among the many notifications that he was scrolling through.

‘This, this…’

He had no choice but to be shocked by what he saw.

***

Several people from different teams had gathered in the Special Players Management Team. In fact, even the employees of Athenae had been interested in watching Minhyuk challenge the bulk dishes quest.

Some of them even shouted loudly until veins popped out of their necks, arguing whether Minhyuk could not do it or not. Among them, Team Leader Park Minggyu and Employee Lee Minhwa were staunch supporters of team ‘He Can Do It’ and did not budge at all.

“Are you telling me that this is because you two know Player Minhyuk the most?” The Story Team Leader asked as he put pressure on Minggyu’s shoulders.

However, this was not the main point. The main point here was the rewards that Food God Minhyuk had obtained.

“What are the rewards?” President Kang Taehoon, who was also in the Special Players Management Team, asked.

The artifacts owned by players, especially those that were very rare and scarce, should never be revealed to others. However, there were always exceptions to the rules. Artifacts of a certain level could be checked by Team Leader-level or higher-leveled individuals that had signed a non-disclosure agreement that prohibited them from revealing a player’s personal information to others, just like the people present in this room. The main reason why they were allowed to know about the player’s artifact was so they could plan ahead and catch the future flow of the story.

Team Leader Park immediately dragged a notification window on the monitor.

[Player Minhyuk has completed the Class-specific Quest: Even More Tasty Dishes.]

[Player Minhyuk has completed the Class-specific Quest with amazing achievements!]

[Player Minhyuk will obtain the best rewards.]

[He will be able to obtain the Greatest and Mightiest Food God’s relic, Ravier’s Bizarre Cauldron.]

[He will be able to obtain the God-grade ingredient: Poiron’s Cabbage.]

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

Question marks appeared on the heads of everyone present except for President Kang Taehoon and the members of the Special Players Management Team.

‘What kind of Class-specific item is this…’

‘A cauldron…?’

Then, President Kang Taehoon said, “It’s only natural since his class is Food God. However, you have to remember that the previous Food God, Ravier, was both the Food God and the God of Cooking.”

“Ah…”

All of them agreed. The relics left behind by Ravier, who had held the titles of Food God and God of Cooking, were truly exceptional. There was a high chance that the cauldron that Ravier had left behind would be beyond their imagination.

Without waiting for any of them, Minggyu dragged the details of the Bizarre Cauldron and displayed it on the monitor.

(Bizarre Cauldron)

Class-Specific Artifact

Rank: God

Requirements: Food God

Durability: 50,000 / 50,000

Attack: 4,211

Defense: 4,513

Special Abilities:

•All stats will increase by +5

•Buffed dishes’ effects would increase by 15% when the cauldron is used for cooking.

•Attack speed and movement speed will decrease by 20% when lifting the cauldron lid.

•Passive Skill: Critical Cauldron Lid

•Active Skill: Frisbee Cauldron Lid

•Active Skill: Obscure Snacks

Description: This is the bizarre cauldron that Ravier, the past Food God and God of Cooking, treasured and loved.

“…?”

“…?”

“…?”

This time, even President Kang Taehoon, Team Leader Park Minggyu and Lee Minhwa had doubts written clearly on their faces.

“Why does a cauldron have 4,211 attack…?”

The cauldron’s attack was a ridiculous 4,211. It far surpassed Minhyuk’s Continent Destroyer Sword, which was only at around 2,000 attack.

“How can you use a cauldron to attack?”

“Maybe with the lid…?”

“Ah…”

A terrible image, the image of a person’s head being cut off with a cauldron lid, flashed in Minggyu’s head when he heard Lee Minhwa’s words. However, there was an even worse scenario that flashed in, not only his head but also the heads of everyone present.

‘The boss mob dying after getting hit by a cauldron lid once…’

Even the defense was beyond the charts. How could one defend with a cauldron? As expected, another ridiculous scenario was painted in their heads.

“If the Captain has a shield, then Player Minhyuk…”

“…Has a cauldron lid.”

“…”

“…”

The cauldron’s defense, which was around 4,000, was high enough to surpass even the god-rank artifacts in existence.

However, there was obviously one drawback to this artifact. The cauldron lid was not suitable for swinging since it was spread out widely and without a curve. Also, the movement and attack speed would decrease by 20% the moment Minhyuk raised it.

“This is crazy…”

As for the passive skill: Critical Cauldron Lid, if one attacked using the cauldron lid, they would have a 40% chance of incurring a x2 critical damage to the opponent. A 4,000 attack and a x2 critical damage? And the probability was as high as 40%?

Then, there was also the Frisbee Cauldron Lid. This skill had a thirty minute cooldown time.

“You will be able to hit the enemy with 4x the attack and 4x the flying speed?”

“…”

“…”

They were just imagining it but they could already feel how much it would hurt. There was still another active skill.

“Obscure Snacks.”

It was an interesting skill and was probably the skill that Food God Minhyuk was in love with. It was also an excellent skill. Once the skill was activated, a snack that could be easily and comfortably eaten at any given circumstances, would be created inside the cauldron within five minutes. The snacks would not have any grades but the buff effect would be set to what the item user needed the most. Also, the buff effect would be very random and would either be very helpful or very harmful to the item user.

In other words, this skill would allow one to eat during battle and receive buffs that could overlap with the effects of an ordinary buffed dish.

“This is overpowered…”

“Really overpowered.”

The fact that they could overlap the buff effects with the effects of a buffed dish was already a cheat.

After they checked the ingredients that Minhyuk received, they immediately turned their attention to Minhyuk. The Bizarre Cauldron was a bit special, but it was without a doubt, an amazing artifact. They wanted to see his reaction. Right now, Minhyuk’s figure that was reflected on the monitor could be seen to be shaking and trembling after he had received the cauldron.

“He must be happy, he deserves it.”

“He must be very shocked that he can make snacks and eat them during battle while also receiving buff effects.”

Team Leader Park Minggyu and Lee Minhwa both shook their heads at their words.

“I don\'t think that’s the reason why he likes it,” Park Minggyu said.

Minhyuk looked so thrilled on the monitor. He could not contain his excitement any longer as he shouted out.

[Kghhk! Cauldron lid samgyeopsal. I have always wanted to try it since long ago. Keuhahahahahahahaha!]

“…”

“…”

“…”

As expected of Minhyuk.

***

The Luvien Empire’s Divine Assassin Corps was the best group of assassins that Sword of the Gods Luo had raised and nurtured. Every single one of them was at least Level 550 or higher. They were so strong that even the number one player at the Assassin Rankings would not be able to contend against any one of them.

Right now, there were a total of fifteen Divine Assassin Corps members hiding in the shadow of the castle of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, which was in a festive atmosphere.

Nerva was deeply disappointed by their loss in the war earlier. So, he resorted to the dirtiest among the dirtiest tricks in the book.

‘Bring me the heads of the people that the Food God loves and cherishes.’

There was no better opportunity than today, when the entire Beyond the Heavens Kingdom was in a very festive and cheerful atmosphere. Of course, even if they were not in a festive mood, it would still be very easy for the Divine Assassin Corps to infiltrate the kingdom.

Levone, the deputy leader of the Divine Assassin Corps, checked the details of their first target on the parchment in his hands.

[Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s Prime Minister. Haze.]

Their target was a woman. Levone was confident that he would only need ten seconds to deal with her. An easy job. They had even surrounded the office where she was working while hiding all signs of themselves.

Deputy Leader Levone made eye contact with one of the members and nodded. The member slowly grabbed the door handle and pulled the door open. Once the door was fully opened, the woman would die without even knowing what hit her.

Creaaaaaaaaaaaak…

Just when the door was halfway open, the hand of the member that held the door handle was cut off, blood spurting out from the injury that was sustained.

Spuuuurt—

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Everyone was shocked. But that was not the end, blood was already gushing out from the neck of the member that had his hands cut off, his body collapsing from two quick and fatal blows.

The man that cut down the assassin quickly sheathed his dagger to his waist while using that hand to drag his mask up to cover everything beneath his eyes. The man’s eyes were fierce, killing intent spilling out from his pupils while the sleeves of his left arm fluttered loosely with the wind.

“Y, you…”

“Commander Luo…”

“Why, why is the commander here…?”

The man in front of them was none other than the Sword of the Gods Luo. However, Luo just quickly pulled out the dagger that he sheathed on his waist in response to their questions.

“I am the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom’s…” Luo spoke coldly, his killing intent growing stronger by the second.

‘They are the ones that were once my comrades, the disciples that I raised. But today, I have finally come to a decision.’

“…dog.”

Luo had decided to swear his eternal loyalty and allegiance to the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.