Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 78: Chocolate Mine

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

PR: MattForgenti

It was literally a sharp increase in the numbers. Originally, there was only a 10% improvement every 100 points increased in DEX. However, it suddenly increased to 40% after it reached 1000. In other words, if the power of Minhyuk’s skills and abilities related to DEX were originally at 10, right now they would become 20.

But that wasn’t the end to the notifications.

Minhyuk quickly opened the Beginner’s Bandaging Skill.

‘Huh? Material restoration?’

Minhyuk looked at it strangely before clicking on it. Fortunately, it opened without a hitch despite its name saying that it was sealed.

Minhyuk’s hands trembled when he read the effects.

‘Wow……! This is really good!’

The special privilege that he got for the Beginner’s Bandaging skill was really really awesome.

In our daily lives, we would never buy spoiled meat and milk or bruised fruits. Improperly storing these materials would eventually fade and rot over time.

However, the special privilege could allow him to return these ingredients to their peak state. But in order for him to do so, he would need to be at the intermediate level in his bandaging skills. In addition, this special privilege was randomly picked among his skills and abilities that were related to DEX. It even excluded the skills he had in his Food Fighter job class.

I didn’t know that there would be another special privilege after the first one.

After he finished checking everything, Minhyuk was left in deep thought.

‘I can’t believe that he cried while he was eating……!’

Ron had never seen anyone quite like him in all of the years that he’d been alive.

“Boy, you must really like food.”

“Hehe, that’s right!”

Minhyuk nodded his head as if answering in agreement was still not enough to show his love for food.

“Actually, there’s this legend that has been going around since long ago.”

“A legend?”

Minhyuk’s nose twitched, he could definitely smell the scent of another quest.

Ron shook his head at him.

“There’s only one mine near the vicinity of the Kingdom of Barras and it was said that there was a chocolate tree that will never wither in there.”

“……Cho, chocolate tree. Did you say chocolate tree?!”

“Chocolate?!”

Both Minhyuk and Hyemin reacted at the same time to the word chocolate. Ron shook his head helplessly as he explained it to them seriously.

“Yeah. They said that no matter how much you eat chocolate from the chocolate tree, there will always be chocolate the next day. I don’t know if this will count as proof but if you go and mine in the Brethni Mines, you can dig up iron ores but sometimes you will be able to dig up chocolate ores along with the iron ores.”

“Wow!”

“Woooow!”

Minhyuk and Hyemin both let out gasps of admiration.

Then his mind started to wander and imagine…

‘If I eat a lot today, chocolate will still grow the next day……!’

Today I can eat just the chocolate, tomorrow I can melt the chocolate and eat it like it was the devil’s jam, Nutella! I can also make chocopie with the chocolate and eat it deliciously!

“Chocolate…… If you freeze it…… then it would be the best.”

Minhyuk and Hyemin both licked their lips and gulped down their saliva. Then Hyemin suddenly said…

“No! Chocolate tastes better if it’s melted. It’s more delicious if you suck the chocolate on each finger after every bite!”

“That’s good too!”

“Hehe!”

Ron interjected in their conversation.

“The most important thing is that the chocolate tree still has many abilities that are way beyond what anyone can imagine. I think one of the skills was ‘Can Cure Someone at Death’s Door all at Once.’ or so I’ve heard?”

“Ooooooh.”

“There’s a miner named Leton. Boy, why don’t you go and meet with him?”

Ring!

“Poopy piggy, since you ate all of my chocolate you should also let Hyeminie taste the Chocolate Tree, okay?!”

Minhyuk hesitated for a moment but he soon nodded at her with a smile.

“Sure!”

“Hehe!”

Hyemin recently gave Minhyuk some ABD chocolates. Those chocolates were the first chocolates he had ever eaten after so many years. It was the chocolate that he couldn’t eat no matter how much money or things he had in real life.

Hyemin’sDad called Minhyuk their benefactor but for Minhyuk, perhaps, Hyemin was his benefactor.

‘Chocolate tree…… Let’s get it!’

Minhyuk thought like this but he needed to log-out soon.

It was time for his exercise.

Minhyuk followed Changwook to the swimming pool as soon as he got out of the capsule to exercise. As soon as he finished exercising, he sat down on a chair and rested for a while.

He then started to browse through Athenae’s official homepage as he munched on his cherry tomatoes. He searched about the Brethni Mines as he continued to eat.

Minhyuk now understood.

The chocolate came from the mines. And there would be someone who would ask Is this thing special? at least once. But the Kingdom of Barras, where Minhyuk is currently located, was like the home for all of the production classes.

If fishermen could even receive bandages just by fishing then blacksmiths could also mine for iron ore but receive chocolate, an ingredient used for cooking. A painter could also sell sculpting materials that he received from completing a painting to a sculptor from the next town. In other words, the system also allowed the users to learn about trading and transactions.

However, just by looking at it, he could tell that chocolate was something that they have neglected from the drops or loot they got through hard labor.

Minhyuk was confused.

“Hyung.”

“Huh?”

“There’s a weird guy here. Why are they saying that it’s crazy to become a miner if they want to eat chocolate? I think he’s weird the moment I saw his comments?”

Minhyuk twirled his hand beside his head, it seemed like he really thought that the person was weird.

“Y, yeah. That person is weird. Ha, hahaha!”

“Why are you laughing like that?”

“No, nothing…… Are you going to work as a miner so you could eat chocolate?”

“Yes.”

“……”

Changwook scratched his cheek.

In fact, mining was a really tough job that no other job could even compare. And because of that, the mine itself was neglected and dismissed. Even though it seemed that some blacksmiths would go and mine in there, they would also walk away and dismiss the idea soon after.

There were plenty of other mines outside of the Kingdom of Barras where there were much better minerals and much better treatment for miners compared to the Brethni Mines.

“You’re really going to mine just because you want to eat chocolate?”

“Yes!”

“Not for the mineral and ores?”

“Of course. What’s the use of minerals when I can’t even eat them?”

“Goo, good luck……”

Changwook shook his head in defeat as Minhyuk turned to look at him.

“Ah, that’s right. Hyung. Do you know Hyemin’sDad?”

“Isn’t that somebody’s father?”

“No, it’s a nickname.”

“I don’t know?”

“Then, do you know about the Dragon Sword?”

“Hey, of course I know! Does it even make sense for someone who plays Athenae to not know about the Dragon Sword?!”

Changwook’s expression screamed like it was only natural.

Dragon Sword!

It was the artifact that was sold with the highest auction price ever! There were even rumors that the man who made the artifact was hailed as the number 1 in the unofficial blacksmith rankings. In fact, even players of Athenae from overseas were interested in the Dragon Sword.

“The guy who made that said that he would make an artifact for me.”

“R, really? Is that the Hyemin’sDad person you were talking about earlier?”

“Yes.”

“……What did you ask him to make you? Huh? A sword would be great. A sword with a dragon motif! Waaah, it’s so cool even if I’m just imagining it. Wow! Or is it a shield? Invincible shield! Can defend against anything! Kyaa, I’m really jealous……”

“But I asked him to make me a frying pan though?”

“That’s right. A frying pan is really coo……”

He rubbed his ears hard, Changwook thought that he might have misheard what Minhyuk said.

“W, what……?”

“I asked him to make me a frying pan. Pfft. He even readily accepted my difficult request.”

“B, by any chance… Did he look like he wanted to beat you with a frying pan?”

“Actually, he had tears in his eyes.”

Changwook suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie with Hyemin’sDad.

‘You were dumbfounded, right……? Each and every single day I can feel this sense of loss and dumbfoundedness too.’

Without knowing what’s going through his mind and heart, Minhyuk just continued to talk.

“Frying pan. I can’t wait for it!”

Horden Guild’s Bronny. He was known as Lee Sangmin in real life.

Before he accessed the game…

‘I think I have 30 minutes until the appointment?’

It was the appointment with Card, who contacted him not too long ago!

He asked them to meet at the Kingdom of Barras. Their meeting place was a shabby inn located in the kingdom.

In the meantime, he went and approached his father who was reading the newspaper. He wanted to ask about the user, who looked like Kang Minhyuk, who he PKed and robbed off of all the items recently.

“Dad.”

“What’s wrong, did you have another fight?!”

It was a scolding just from the get go! This just showed how much fighting and accidents Brony have done despite his age.

“N, no. It’s not that. I was just curious about something.”

“You’re curious? I can’t believe that there’s something that you’re curious about in your life. This lowly one is very thrilled.”

“……”

“Why?”

“……No, nothing.”

Lee Sangmin suddenly realized what sorrow truly was. Then he carefully asked him…

“Do you remember Kang Minhyuk? The guy who took my money.”

“Of course I remember. Didn’t he rip you off of your money together with your friends? Weren’t there at least 20 people who he hit and begged for forgiveness from him? I, your dad, even want to remove you from the family register at that time but I endured out of pity for you.”

He was dumbfounded. For a moment, Lee Sangmin thought that he was just a child picked up from the streets by his stinking father.

Why is he hitting me with these facts?

“But Dad, you told me back then… Don’t ever touch him again if you don’t want our house to fall down in ruins. How can he even make our house fall if I touch him again. No. What did his dad do that he can even make our house fall to ruins if I ever did that again?”

His father placed his newspaper down as he heaved a huge sigh.

“It has been a long time ago. And you’re old enough to not talk around so foolishly. Right?”

“Ah, yes. Well, I have grown up.”

“I’d like to believe so. Even the next door neighbor’s stinking dog has grown up… Anyway.”

He looked around for a moment.

“What mobile phone do you use?”

“It’s from Ilhwa Group.”

“Your laptop?”

“Ilhwa Group.”

“The TV in front of us right now?”

“The TV is from Ilhwa, right?”

Ilhwa Group!

There was no household that this group could not reach. Even the groceries are from Ilhwa! Household appliances? Ilhwa! There was even a saying that Everything is from Ilhwa Group.

But, why is my father asking me about all of these things?

Lee Sangmin was already getting frustrated.

“Ah. Why do you keep on asking me about this nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense. Even this lowly one still could not believe it.”

“Huh? What are you saying?”

At his question, his father grinned at him mockingly.

“That child’s father is Kang Minhoo, the CEO of Ilhwa Group.”

“……”

TL’s Corner!!!

Well, well… what a rich person. No wonder Minhyuk has a lot of money in the bank. Please hire me as a nanny. Or just someone who will wipe the floor. Thanks. LOL.

PR’s corner!

Hmm…would Kang Minhoo be the Steve Jobs, or Jeff Bezos of their world?