Leveling Up Through Eating

With the help of the God of Cooking, Minhyuk successfully created the Supreme Dish. That dish was very difficult to make, far more difficult than any other dish that he had ever made in his life. That goes to show how difficult the path to the Supreme was.

Yet now, Minhyuk has acquired the Supreme Skill Creation Scroll. Of course, Minhyuk immediately checked the item’s information right away. His eyes were dyed with shock when he saw the details written in the information.

–The skill created by the Supreme Skill Creation Scroll possesses power equal to or greater than the Eight Pillars’ Disaster.

–Your level will drop by 3 as a penalty for using the Supreme Skill Creation Scroll.

–When creating a far too ridiculous skill, the Supreme Skill Creation Scroll will compensate and lower the skill to complete it.

–The Supreme Skill Creation Scroll can only create closely related skills suitable for the person developing them.

–In the case where the level of the skill creator is low, the creation scroll will lower the skill and complete it by itself.

–You can create skills with the effects that you want.

Minhyuk trembled. He felt immensely excited when he saw that the skill would be equivalent to or perhaps even more significant than the Eight Pillars’ Disaster.

Minhyuk possesses two skills that were on the level of the Eight Pillars’ Disaster. One was Calamity, and the other was the Growth Cultivator. However, were these two skills tailored for him? That was quite hard to say.

Calamity was a mighty skill. It was indeed on the level of an Eight Pillars’ Disaster, but Minhyuk’s skill proficiency level was still far too low for him to showcase the true power of the skill. The Growth Cultivator’s effects would disappear once he reached Level 750.

‘Should I improve my attack skills?’

He could create a Supreme for the Battle God or the Food God.

‘How about this? Once the power of the Supreme has been triggered, ten of my vassals can use their one-shot kill skills simultaneously.’

Just thinking about it had left Minhyuk all excited.

If not that, then how about this one?

‘Since I’m the Battle God, how about a skill that will allow me to bring in all of the troops of the Beyond the Heavens Empire?’

That would be a shocking sight. Minhyuk was soon forced to face reality.

“Then, I won’t be able to become a Pillar.”

Minhyuk, whose thoughts had been clouded by the thrill and excitement of the endless possibilities the item had brought him, immediately corrected his thinking. What he needed to do right now was not to create the Supreme attack.

‘I have to obtain the power to become the true Pillar of the Gourmands.’

Pillar of Death Boleyn had tens of millions of outstanding assassins working under his organization, Immune. Master of Nature Verodun could create a terrible catastrophe that could devastate an entire kingdom. So, what about Minhyuk?

‘I can only cook and eat my dish or cook and feed others.’

Of course, his power was undoubtedly impressive. But what would it take to become the Pillar who could lead the world?

If Minhyuk became one of the Eight Pillars of the world, then he would become the central figure in command of everything related to food and eating in Athenae. This meant that even if Minhyuk did not cook and feed the people, the people would still be satisfied with what he had to offer. On top of that, the people must not only be in awe of his power. They had to support and follow him. For that to happen, Minhyuk had to cook after tens of thousands, no, hundreds of millions of people and players. Wasn’t that impossible?

In other words, Minhyuk needed something that could be applied to the world.

“...?!”

Minhyuk’s eyes grew wide, and his lips started to tremble.

‘Why didn’t I think of that before?’

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

“Your Majesty, I know that you’re having your meal, but there’s something that I have to report. May I come in?”

It was none other than Haze. After announcing her presence, she immediately went inside Minhyuk’s office. However, the sight in front of her made her fall on her butt.

“H-how…”

“...?”

“Why aren’t you eating?” Haze asked, shock flashing on her face when she realized that Minhyuk was not eating.

Minhyuk, who had suddenly sat down after feeling like he had suffered a loss, looked at the standing Haze and called out to her, “Haze.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Why do humans follow and worship god?”

“Why are you asking something like this all of a sudden?”

Because Minhyuk often asked her things like, ‘Why do hamburgers taste good?’ and ‘How can samgyeopsal taste so amazing?’, and say things like, ‘I think we should go and reward the person who created ramyeon. They should receive a Nobel prize.’ Haze answered him as usual despite the sudden question.

“Of course, it’s because of their greatness and power. But it’s also because existences like gods give the things humans need.”

A smile appeared on Minhyuk’s face.

Haze continued, “The God of Fire gave the human world the fire that the humans needed. The God of Artifacts did not give all the artifacts he had made and release them to the world, but he would often leave extremely outstanding artifacts somewhere ever so often.”

That was right. Not all of the gods gave something, but humans generally received direct help from them. In fact, one of the reasons humans served and worshiped gods in Athenae was that they had received something from those gods.

Minhyuk, with a slight smile, said, “Haze, what if I can create Food God’s Crops, Food God’s Livestock, and Food God’s Hidden Ingredients and scatter it all over the world?”

Despite hearing what she deemed nonsense, Haze still replied, “It will bring a huge impact. This is especially true if the Food God’s Ingredients possess special powers. The people will try to find them no matter what. The foreigners would naturally migrate to the Beyond the Heavens Empire just to receive quests to find the Food God’s Ingredients.”

Was that all?

“Depending on those ingredients\' power, you will probably have the chance to firmly establish your position as a Pillar Candidate and take one step closer to becoming a truly almighty and all-knowing being.”

“That’s impossible, though.” Haze shook her head. “Of course, it might be possible to hide the ingredients you have obtained worldwide.”

The thought of doing something like that alone was weird.

“Hiding the ingredients that you have received all over the world is just pure nonsense. Why would you give others what you have received?”

Of course, there was also another problem.

“The number of legendary-grade ingredients that the foreigners in Athenae could acquire in a day could already reach tens of thousands.”

Yes. That was just in a day. If the players could obtain that much in a single day, then there should be hundreds of thousands of such ingredients all over the world.

“There’s only one way to make that possible.”

Minhyuk was the one who finished Haze’s words.”

“And that’s to have the ability to create ingredients.”

“...That’s right.”

The thought of such an ability shocked Haze. God of Origin Athenae was hailed as the greatest of the Pillars because she had created most of the world they lived in.

Creating something was already very difficult. What more if someone tried to create something again and again? It would be completely ridiculous. There were a lot of reasons why this was ridiculous, but one stood out the most.

‘The creator makes thousands of legendary-grade and god-grade ingredients daily and uses them himself?’

This would ruin the balance of the world. If such a thing was possible, Minhyuk might be comparable to Athenae.

“I think I can make it possible.”

“Yes?”

“I mean, making ingredients starting with the words Food God appear worldwide. I think I can make it possible.”

Minhyuk ignored the obvious question on Haze’s face.

“I’ll make it right now.”

Minhyuk was well aware of Haze\'s concerns. He was also aware of how ridiculous creating ingredients bearing the name Food God and leaving them all over the world might sound.

Of course, Minhyuk had already weighed all the gains and losses he might obtain by doing this. And he had reached a conclusion.

‘The things I will gain are much greater than the losses.’

He immediately used the Supreme Skill Creation Scroll.

[Please set the effects of the skill that you want.]

As Haze said, if there was an ability like this, it would be beyond common sense.

‘If various restrictions are added to this ability that defies common sense, then creating it might be possible.’

Minhyuk released a shaky breath.

“Creating cooking ingredients.”

Considering that tens of thousands of legendary-grade dishes were created in a day, Athenae had to supply at least tens of thousands of legendary-grade ingredients in a day, too. Setting up too much might just be counterproductive to Minhyuk’s goals.

[The system analyzes the average ingredient supply data.]

[Based on the number of dishes made daily, 10% of the ingredients needed to be supplied.]

When Minhyuk heard these notifications, he realized he had reached a critical point. Haze was concerned about this: Would he use the enormous amount of ingredients that he had created for himself?

‘Of course, it would be fine to create around five or so monthly and use it myself.’

What Minhyuk wanted to set up right now was to create 10% of the supply of ingredients to the world. In other words, he had to make thousands, perhaps even more, daily.

Would Minhyuk use those ingredients himself every day?

‘If I can truly do that, I can eat God-grade kimchi jjigae for breakfast, God-grade samgyeopsal for lunch, and God-grade oxtail hangover soup for dinner. I can even supply God-grade ingredients to my vassals every morning. Ah. Maybe I can pay them with God-grade ingredients instead of money for their salaries?’

Minhyuk was already very excited just by imagining such a scene.Of course, reality was quite harsh. Such a scenario was impossible. Ultimately, Minhyuk had to adjust it to the appropriate level and remain in line.

[The creator can only use one ingredient he created every three months.]

And he did not forget some extra.

[The powerful vassals around the creator who receive the system\'s recognition can use one created ingredient yearly.]

Then, did that mean he could create the ingredients he wanted just like that? That was impossible. Of course, there were other important things to add, too.

‘How should I set up what I need for the creation process?’ Minhyuk pondered over this question sincerely. That was when he saw the Automatic Set-Up System. This system could be used when one was stuck creating the skill through the Supreme Skill Creation Scroll. The Supreme Skill Creation Scroll would create what was needed following the conditions set before using the system.

Minhyuk immediately clicked the button.

[The Supreme Skill Creation Scroll has started the search for the supplies needed for the creation.]

[To proceed with the creation, you must provide the seeds or some of the meat and ingredients you want to create.]

[You need 1 liter each of ‘Briah’s River Water,’ ‘Ruagalla’s Aqua Vitae,’ and ‘Ford Garaam’s River Water’ as basic supplies for the creation process.]

Minhyuk asked Haze about the different types of water that he needed.

“I don’t know about the other two but the Briah’s River Water flows on one of the lands owned by the Luvien Empire. From what I heard, it has effects that contribute greatly to creating a better life. In reality, it does not possess such a power. Nevertheless, they still sell it for around 500,000 gold per liter.”

“Eh? Even though the declared effects are not proven to be effective?” Minhyuk was perplexed.

If that was the case, then weren’t they just a bunch of thieves? But Haze? She licked her lips and said, “It’s a pity.”

“What is?”

“If that land is owned by the Beyond the Heavens Empire, then I could have sold a liter of that river water for one platinum.”

“...”

‘Ah, that’s right. We’re scammers too…?’

In the first place, it did not matter whether it possessed a mystical power or not. This world was where the rich and powerful nobles believed in superstitions and spent money on such things. Even though they knew it was nothing but a superstition, they would still willingly spend money on it. It was just like how others paid vast sums of cash to shamans so that they could find peace of mind and a sound body.

Anyway, if a liter of that river water was worth 500,000 gold, then it would be a bit difficult to create tens of thousands of high-grade ingredients, wouldn\'t it?

‘If that’s the case then… there will be normal-grade ingredients created among the ingredients.’

Of course, the value of ordinary ingredients was significantly lower. They could be sold for around 10,000 to 100,000 gold at most. Regardless, it would be a done deal if he could not procure a constant water supply. The number of normal-grade ingredients created would be significantly higher than the others.

‘The system is maintaining the balance…’

It was as if the system was taunting him and saying, ‘If you want to try it, then try it.’ But… what if…

‘What if the Beyond the Heavens Empire takes over the ownership of the Briah River?’

Minhyuk would be able to create high-grade ingredients without any worry in the world.