Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 112: The Birth of the Fast Eater Religion

[You have acquired 34,132,132 gold.]

[You have acquired the Phoenix Lord’s Feathers.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[...leveled up.]

The leveling up notifications rang out continuously in Minhyuk’s ears! Reaching the 95% fullness for the egg had increased his level to Level 190. However, after feeding the Phoenix Lord, his level increased by 31 levels at one go. It was truly an incredible bombing through of levels! In other words, just by feeding the Phoenix Lord, Minhyuk was able to raise his level to Level 221. This meant that he could now finally head to the beach and eat flatfish and rockfish. He smiled happily at the thought. However, he realized that something was strange. The Phoenix Lord had an extremely ridiculous picky appetite, but when she ate her fill, there were no artifacts that dropped.

At that moment, Chronicle spoke out, as if to explain, “He will give you the remaining rewards.”

He! The subordinate of the Food God!

Chronicle smiled at Minhyuk. Minhyuk was able to feed all of the monsters in the Monster’s Paradise until they felt full! Even though he did an atrocious act like grilling hotbars on the fire from her body, she was still extremely grateful to him. The skinny Chronicle had now become plump and energetic, and along with that, the flames on her body had intensified.

Crackle, crackle, fwoosh!

“Kkiiiiiiieeeeeeee!” The Phoenix Lord screeched loudly as a blazing fire shot out towards the sky like a firework. The flames that fell from the aftermath of such a huge pillar of fire fell to the ground and did not extinguish. Then, at that moment…

Crackle, crackle!

A man walked out of the blazing flames.

***

[Crackle, crackle!]

Flames blazed brightly as they shot high up in the sky! The members of the Special Players Management Team all fell silent as a man came out of the blazing flames! The man had a head full of bright red hair and was wearing an armor plate made with dragon bones. This man was someone that was supposedly already dead. He was one of the myths of the game.

[Player Minhyuk has met Balzarc, one of the Seven Myths.]

[Player Minhyuk has gained 100 REP.]

[Player Minhyuk has received the title: The One that Approached the Myths.]

“The subordinates of the Food God were heroes who shook the world...”

“And Taming Lord Balzarc is one of them,” Lee Minhwa said, her heart pounding wildly.

The Seven Myths of the continent! They were heroes that once saved the continent that was shrouded in darkness. Balzarc’s character was considered to be the idol and king of all of the Tamers in the world of?Athenae. He even had temples all around the world with Tamers serving in them.

The door of the Special Players Management Team banged open as people rushed inside. Lee Seokhoon, the Development Team Leader, along with some members of the Customer Center Team entered the room. Even the president, Kang Taehoon, came along with them.

“President!”

“Don’t mind me, just continue monitoring.”

President Kang Taehoon was the number one contributor of?Athenae?of today! He was the person that was largely involved in creating the?Athenae?world, its folklore and background. A laugh spilled out of Kang Taehoon’s lips. He said, “So, that’s the Player Minhyuk who has been giving the Special Players Management Team and the Development Team a hard time?”

“Yes.”

Kang Taehoon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the monitor with amazement. He said, “Amazing...”

“Yes?” Team Leader Park asked in confusion.

“Did he really finish feeding all of the monsters in the Monster’s Paradise...? How in the world did he do it...”

“He tempted the monsters with food.”

“...Hmm?”

“After he cooked for them once, he offered to cook again for the monsters who were enamored with the taste of his cooking. In return, they have to help him perform tasks.”

“....He has a good head on his shoulders, right?” President Kang Taehoon remarked with a grin.

This was why?Athenae?players were fun and interesting. They kept on playing the game in a completely unexpected way!

“If he’s able to feed the Phoenix Lord, he would be able to receive a legendary artifact. That player already has one. He’s going to receive a second one? How happy that player must be,” President Kang Taehoon exclaimed, his hands sweating in excitement. It was the highest grade that everyone wanted and admired.?Legendary!?However, the members of the Special Players Management Team, together with Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa, all fell silent when they heard his words.

“...”

“...”

“What’s wrong?”

“That…. President, didn’t you see our report?”

“I saw.”

It was Player Minhyuk’s playstyle! The Special Player Management Team had compiled a report and sent it over to the president.

“It’s a legendary artifact though... Is food more important than that?” President Kang Taehoon said.

However, Team Leader Park and Lee Minhwa were at a loss for words. Then, not long after, they saw Balzarc give something to Minhyuk.

‘It’s not a frying pan, but a real legendary artifact!’ ?Team Leader Park thought.

The artifact that Balzarc handed over was an armor. The armor that was worn by the previous Food God! The armor looked shabby and a bit?worn?out since it was shaped like a loose animal bone, but it was still the bone of the Black Dragon.

“Show me the armor’s information.”

Then, the information was displayed on the monitor for everyone to see.

(Armor of Immortality)

Class: Legendary

Requirements: Food God

Durability: 30,000 / 30,000

Defense: 1,148

Special Abilities:

?All stats will increase by +12%.

?Magical Defense +50

?HP and MP can be recovered instantly to 100% once per day.

?Passive Skill: Physical Damage Reflection

Description: This is the Armor of Immortality. It boasts an extremely enormous defense. This was made by the Legendary Dwarf, Golden Hammer, with the bones of the Black Dragon, the breath of Cerberus and many more.

“Kgghk...”

“Wow...”

“OMG... It’s really awesome...!”

All of the people who looked at the information hissed in surprise. Then, Team Leader Park clicked on the passive skill, Physical Damage Reflection.

(Physical Damage Reflection)

Artifact Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: 50

Cooldown: None

Effects: There is a 10-30% chance of returning physical damage received by the owner. In addition, the returned damage will be twice the original damage that the owner had received. The player that equipped the item will not receive any harm once the skill has been triggered.

“Wow... It literally reflects the damage, right?”

“And the returned damage is even twice of the received damage?”

It was an incredible skill to be attached to an artifact. What was more surprising was its defense.

“Its defense is 1,148…..”

Currently, Minhyuk’s frying pan already had a defense of 800. This defense was something that only worked when the frying pan was used to block. However, for an armor, it would be able to protect almost all of the parts of the body, with the exception of the head. This meant that almost all parts of Minhyuk’s body had a 1,148 defense. And the reason for that would be the Armor of Immortality!

“There’s even a 100% HP and MP recovery once a day...”

None of these abilities had appeared in the country yet! It was so great that everyone was left speechless in their awe and admiration.

On the other hand, Kang Taehoon tilted his head and asked, “Why doesn’t Player Minhyuk check his item’s information?”

Lee Minhwa hesitated as she looked at Team Leader Park, who laughed helplessly and said, “He’s not that interested.”

***

Minhyuk was filled with excitement and anticipation.?God’s Dish!?He would be able to get the hint about where one out of the five dishes was. He was actually a bit calm when he met Balzarc. The only thing that gave him a bit of a surprise was the 100 REP that he received. Then, the handsome red-haired Balzarc approached Minhyuk and handed him armor.

[You have acquired the Armor of Immortality.]

“I can’t believe that you were able to satisfy and feed Chronicle. I’m grateful,” Balzarc said with a grin.

In fact, Balzarc was completely surprised when he saw Minhyuk. He thought,?‘I didn’t expect that someone would really succeed and receive the legacy of the Food God.’

Balzarc was the one that was closest to the Food God! He personally saw and interacted with the Food God himself. For him, the Food God was an exceptionally good and kind man except for one thing…

‘That bastard was really crazy about food!’

However, the person in front of Balzarc was like that Food God? He thought that Minhyuk looked better than the previous Food God. On the other hand, Minhyuk’s heart was thumping wildly.

“Does Mr. Balzarc knows about God's Dishes?!”

“Ah. Of course I know. He left one to me. But boy, aren’t you going to check that armor?”

“I can do that later! Is that important?! Food is more important.”

.

“Hmm?” Balzarc hummed. He was taken aback.

‘That’s the Armor of Immortality. It has an enormous power! What do you mean by doing that later? And what else? Food is more important?!’

Then, Minhyuk with his face full of expectations, said, “You have a God’s Dish? Come to think of it, Mr. Balzarc looks really handsome, no? Wow. Your red hair looks so out of this world! That reminds me, that armor is made out of bones… it looks like it would be delicious to boil... no, no. It looks really tough and sturdy!”

“...”

Balzarc was flustered. What did he mean by boiling? Balzarc’s expression at the moment was really the personification of dumbfoundedness. He thought,?‘What the hell?! This guy is much worse than Allen!’

Minhyuk’s expression was practically begging Balzarc to hurry up and give him something to eat. One could even tell from his eyes, that he was thinking?‘I don’t care if you’re a Taming Lord or whatever, I’ll fight you if you don’t give it to me.’

Balzarc shook his head and said, “There are orders for these things.”

“...The order will naturally be followed!”

“If you don’t settle down, then I won’t give you anything.”

Minhyuk became as quiet as a mouse when he heard Balzarc’s threat. He looked like he was determined enough to not squeak or speak a word for the rest of his life. Looking at him, Balzarc thought that he was such a cute kid. He said, “You’re amazing. I don’t know how you did it but...”

Swoooosh━

As soon as Balzarc waved his hand, the monster egg that was suspended in the middle of the Monster’s Paradise quickly flew to where they were.

“Aren’t you going to check it?”

“No.”

“Check it.”

“Yes!” Minhyuk answered. It seemed like Minhyuk listened to him well.

(Monster Egg)

Rank: ???

Race: Pet

Description: You have filled the fullness bar to 100%. You can confirm the details about the ??? with Balzarc.

“It was legendary earlier, why did it?become???? so suddenly?”

“Because you can choose right now.”

“Eh?”

You can choose.

For a moment, Minhyuk did not understand what he meant by those words.

“Boy, I’ll send you to another Monster’s Paradise. There, you will be able to see many rare and powerful monsters. You can watch them carefully and closely for a day, choose one from them and place them in the egg.”

“Oh. Just like in a food court. Choose what you want to eat...”

At that moment, Balzarc could not believe his ears. He looked at Minhyuk dumbfoundedly. How could he compare such a great opportunity to something like that… Others would have jumped up and down and told him?‘Oh my god, thank you so much.’?if they ever heard that they would be able to choose whatever monster they wanted for their pet. But what about this punk? He was thinking of eating his pet! This was the first time that Balzarc had heard someone in this world wanting to eat a pet!

“It’s a pity, but you can’t eat pets.”

“...How come?”

“Pets exist to give you strength and support you.”

“...”

Minhyuk was a bit disappointed. However, he also knew that he was still not qualified to eat higher leveled monsters at his current level.

‘I wonder what dragon meat tastes like? What about the king of the seas, the Kraken?’

Minhyuk was extremely curious about their taste, but unfortunately, pets could not be eaten.

“You should first pick a monster and come back. Once you're back, I’ll give you the God’s Dish that my friend has left to me.”

“Is it possible to know what dish it is?”

“It’s the Pork Trotter Set.”

“...!”

Minhyuk gasped in surprise when he heard those words.

Pork Trotter??What kind of existence was this dish? It was a dish that tasted light and chewy once you placed it in your mouth. And if you placed a thinly sliced pork trotter on top of a piece of lettuce, with a bit of some spicy pepper, spicy dipping sauce and garlic together with the crispy kimchi and pickled radish it would be very delicious! And if you ate radish water kimchi after taking a big bite out of that wrap, then you would definitely taste a refreshing flavor in your mouth. It would be even more perfect if there was a tray beside you that had black bean noodles and tangsuyuk !

“Don’t think of it as your normal, run-off-the-mill pork trotter,” Balzarc warned. The first time Balzarc heard about the origins of this dish, he shook in fright. Even now, after all this time, he could still feel a shiver run down his spine.

“Boy, you know about the story of the Golden Pig. Right?”

“No.”

“The Golden Pig in the legend was said to have lived an immortal life without killing anyone. The Food God Allen, spent half a year just to find this Golden Pig. The moment he found this golden pig, he quickly cooked it to eat for himself. He even used the lava from Valkan to cook the pork trotter and make it more delicious.”

“Lava?”

“Yes. Artifacts that can’t be melted, would melt in that lava.”

“Wow...”

Minhyuk was in awe. The Food God did his best to make the dish taste the same as his mom’s cooking! He was very thankful for his hard work and at the same time, he was also looking forward to its taste.

“Please hurry and send me there!” Minhyuk said. Minhyuk thought that the faster he chose the monster for his monster egg, the faster he would be able to taste the first God’s Dish!

“I understand. Ah. There might be a lot of monsters in there, but you only have two opportunities to check for the monster’s status and strength. No matter how strong a monster is inside that place, it would be a different story if you fail to cultivate them properly or make them go sick. Choose carefully.”

Minhyuk soon disappeared in a flash of light. Once he felt that the glaring light was gone, he opened his eyes slowly and carefully. A set of notifications rang as soon as he opened his eyes.

[You have entered the legendary ‘Paradise of All Monsters.’]

[You are the 35th player who has stepped foot in this legendary place.]

[You have 24 hours before this area closes.]

[Number of Legendary Dungeons found: 2]

[You have gained 50 REP.]

[You have been temporarily summoned to this place by Balzarc. You will not be able to get any rewards when you see legendary and mythical monsters.]

[EXP rate increase and item drop rate increase are not applied here.]

1. Korean style sweet and sour pork