Leveling Up through Eating

The quest that would lead him to where Rocado’s power was would only be triggered once Minhyuk had reached Level 700. Right now, Minhyuk was looking at this very quest. So, he went ahead and checked the quest first.

[Sudden Quest: Successfully Create Something using a Pillar Ingredient or Pillar Artifact.]

Rank: SSS

Requirements: The one who receives help from Rocado’s system.

Rewards: 1 success: Imperfect Work Gloves; 2 successes: Perfect Work Gloves, 5% increase in DEX.

Penalty for Failure: You will no longer be able to find Rocado’s power.

Description: This is the work glove that Rocado used in his prime. According to the legends, these are the work gloves that Rocado had worn to produce some of the most outstanding items back in the day.

Coincidentally, he had just obtained a Pillar Ingredient.

“Lucky…” Minhyuk smiled in delight.

Minhyuk had been searching for information about the Pillar Ingredient for a long time. The problem was that he could not find a single clue about it. The same was true for the largest empire, the Luvien Empire.

In exchange for saving the Luvien Empire’s current emperor, he asked them for information about the Pillar Ingredient. Despite using their entire intelligence network to search for this information, it took them a long time to get a single piece.

‘Nevertheless, if I had not received the help of the Luvien Empire, then I probably would not have been able to find it in years.’

The process of triggering the quest and completing it was arduous. As soon as Minhyuk got a hold of the ingredient, the quest broke out. So, it was very great timing for him.

However, he knew it was still too early for him to be happy.

‘The one who cooked the Pillar Snow Crab was Rocado.’

Back then, Rocado had to move swiftly yet delicately to remove the Sea Leeches that were trying to suck and nibble at the Pillar Snow Crab while cooking. When Minhyuk witnessed it, he thought that he would never be able to do it.

‘And there’s also the fact that the Pillar Snow Crab will have lower special abilities if it is not prepared and cooked well.’

Minhyuk, who had recalled the scene, then checked the information on the newly obtained Pillar Assorted Pork Set.

(Pillar Assorted Pork Set)

Ingredient Grade: Pillar

Special Abilities:

•All of your stats will increase by 2.1%.

•Your DEX will increase by +7%.

•Your STR will increase by +6%.

•Your STM will increase by +5%.

•Your resistance to the Earth Attribute will increase by +19%.

•Your attack and defensive power will increase by 8% when fighting against earth-attributed monsters.

•Cooking this ingredient will be much trickier and harder than God-grade ingredients.

Description: This pork assorted set, the Pillar of the Earth, is a challenging ingredient to cook. Using sauces and seasonings when cooking can significantly reduce its unique abilities, and boiling it in water can melt the ingredients.

No matter what process or cooking method you use, you can obtain the Pillar Assorted Pork Set again without any penalties. However, if you burn, melt, or leave it undercooked, the special abilities will change.

‘It’s a bit unusual.’ Minhyuk rubbed his chin in thought.

If he succeeded in cooking, then the successfully cooked pork set would disappear. However, he would be given a pork set without penalties. Once he had the newly obtained pork set in his hands, he needed to grill, boil, or even steam it. Of course, the key would be in how well he cooked the ingredients of the first dish.

‘If I don’t cook it well, then the special abilities I will obtain will probably be far less than those that a Pillar Ingredient should have.’

Minhyuk’s DEX had already gone beyond anyone’s imagination. The problem was that DEX and various other factors influenced a high-grade dish.

‘I’ll have to go back and find a better way to cook this ingredient.’

Minhyuk immediately went back to the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

***

Beanie was currently on a diet. He has been on this diet for three straight hours.

“Oink, oink oink! (I have too much belly fat, oink!)”

Unlike Minhyuk, the beings who lived in Athenae would gain weight if they ate a lot and lose weight if they did not eat. And Beanie, who ate around thirty kilograms of food per day, had gained two kilograms of fat in just a few short months.

Beanie, who did not gain weight comparable to the amount of food he ate, could be considered the prime example of the mystery of a pig body that has surpassed the mysteries of a human body.

Anyway, Beanie had decided to go on a diet starting today. He entered the restaurant he frequented and sat in his usual seat with a cheeky and arrogant expression.

A player ran this restaurant. The player was a woman in her mid-20s named Ashmin.

Ashmin familiarly approached Beanie and said, “Are you going for the usual? Five fried chickens, five yangnyeom chicken, a kilogram of fries, a lot of catsup, and five liters of cola?”

Beanie was Ashmin’s shop’s VVIP customer. Beanie accounted for almost a third of her daily sales. That was why she was very grateful to this baby piggy. Also, she has this urge to touch his plump belly whenever she sees him enter her restaurant.

What was going on here?

Beanie shook his head as he held his heavy belly. “Oink, oink…!”

Ashmin immediately understood that Beanie was trying to go on a diet. Although he was her shop’s VVIP customer, she still responded calmly to the situation. After all, a lot of people went to her restaurant to dine anyway.

“Then, should I prepare some chicken breast, tomato salad, and a water bottle for you?”

Glare–!

Beanie’s eyes narrowed sharply when he heard her words. His gaze looked like he was asking her what she was talking about. Ashmin looked at Beanie with a puzzled expression on her face. She offered the menu that most of those who went on a diet often ate.

The all-mighty Beanie said, “Oink. Oink, oink. Oink!” Since I eat ten chickens daily, I’ll cut it down to nine.

“Ah…”

“Oink!” Instead of one kilogram of fries, I will only eat 800 grams today.

“Oink, oink. Oiiiiiink!” As for the cola, please give me Coke Zero.

“C-coke Zero…?” Ashmin was flustered. Nevertheless, she still served the dishes that Beanie requested in front of him.

When the food came out, Beanie used his paws to taste, eat, and enjoy his meal. He even drank a lot of Coke Zero. Despite finishing a hearty meal, the disappointment on Beanie’s face was evident as he paid for it.

“Oink. Oink, oink, oink…”

“You’re on a diet, so you can’t eat a lot and are still hungry?”

“Oink!”

“Even though you’re still hungry, you’re holding it in because you want a slim body?”

“Oink. Oink, oink!”

“You’re trying to lose weight?”

Rumble–

Ashmin was speechless by the thunderous roar from Beanie’s belly.

Anyway, Beanie was proud of himself. He felt like he was going to do this diet successfully.

Then, Haze, who was looking for Beanie, came in.

“Beans, His Majesty is looking for you.”

But Beanie shook his head.

“Oink. Oink, oink, oink!”

“You don’t have the energy to move because you’re hungry? You’re on a diet?”

Haze looked at Beanie in confusion, her head tilting to the side after seeing the mountain of chicken bones in front of the baby piggy.

“Are you really not going? Even though His Majesty bought a cake for you? And it’s even your favorite sticky Calorie Bomb Choco Cake that you like, Beans.”

Beanie’s eyes flashed open when he heard Haze’s words. But he immediately grew sullen. Wasn’t he on a diet?

‘Ah! But I controlled the amount of food that I ate today, right? Even the cola that I drank is Coke Zero.’

Not only that, but he also did fifty sit-ups and fifty push-ups before coming to the restaurant. He even breathed louder and stronger on purpose. He truly worked hard on his breathing exercises!

‘I’m very proud of the progress that I have made today. I deserve a sticky Calorie Bomb Choco Cake. Oink,’ Beanie thought as he ran like the wind and disappeared from their sights.

Ashmin, who watched the scene, finally logged out. Ashmin had a hobby. And this hobby was writing Beanie’s Mukbang Diary on SNS. Of course, Ashmin logged an entry today, too.

[As usual, Sir Beanie came to visit our restaurant today too. But today, he’s on a diet. So, he only ate nine chickens instead of the usual ten. The fries that he ordered were only 800 grams. The cola for today was Coke Zero. Ah! He only ate nine bags of pickled radish. And because he’s on a diet, he said he would not drink the brine. After eating, there was a very proud look on his face.]

Surprisingly enough, a lot more people loved Beanie’s Mukbang Diary than expected, so many comments popped out the moment the entry was posted.

[This is a common trait among the chubby ones. Lmao. They will say they’re on a diet, eat a lot of food, and drink Coke Zero. Lololol.]

[Cutie Beanie. Lololol.]

[Do you guys think he will succeed this time? Beanie dieting?]

Amidst the countless curious comments posted by the people, Ashmin posted another update.

[This is the 105th time I have seen Sir Beanie go on a diet. He said he was very proud of himself for going on a diet and watching his food intake, so he ate a Calorie Bomb Choco Cake. His resolution… No. It’s a record-breaking three hours of determination and resolution to go on a diet.]

That was right. This was something that Ashmin was used to. After all, she had seen this many times before.

***

Beanie, who touched his bulging belly, asked, “Oink. Oiiink.” Do you think I have lost some weight, oink?!

‘What nonsense is he talking about?’

Minhyuk turned to look at Beanie with a puzzled expression on his face. Why did his dear baby piggy suddenly think that he had lost some weight?

Beanie grabbed a hand mirror and looked at his figure. Then, with a worried look, he said, “Oiiiiink. Oink, oink.” I think my face has grown a bit thinner, oink!

This was another common trait among the chubby kids. Even though they only exercised and went on a diet for a few days, they would think they had already lost some weight.

The problem was that Beanie held a mirror in one hand and scooped up a thick, gooey chocolate cake with the other.

“Oiiiiiiiiink!” Please give me the low-fat one for the milk, oink!

“...”

Minhyuk poured Beanie a glass of low-fat milk.

Why did Minhyuk call for Beanie? The reason was simple. He wanted to use the Growth Egg that he obtained on Beanie.

(Growth Egg)

Ingredient Grade: God

Special Abilities:

•This egg can help others, except your vassals, grow to the next level.

•Once applied, the target of growth will be able to grow slowly in a week.

•Once applied, the growth target may experience a change in appearance.

Description: The enormous amount of EXP left behind by the Growth Devourer’s Egg has been transformed with the power of Chaos.

Minhyuk had three of these eggs. And he had already decided on whom to apply two of the eggs. One was Supreme Divine Beast Beanie and the other was Viel’s Puppet Doll.

Beanie, who could replicate other people’s skills and use them as they were, would show outstanding growth compared to everyone else.

As for Viel’s Puppet Doll, he was originally an envoy who was comparable to Brod in terms of power. Even though Viel only had a little bit of ego left and was nothing more than a puppet that could no longer grow and no longer be compared to Brod, Minhyuk was confident that he would be a tremendous boost in their military force if he could help him develop further and awaken a bit more of his ego.

[Would you like to apply the Growth Egg?]

Minhyuk gave his agreement.

“Oiiiiiink…!”

When Minhyuk agreed, Beanie’s eyes flew open, his pupils trembling fiercely. Then, his body started to shake too.

Fwoooooot–!

“...Heh.” Beanie chuckled after releasing a long and loud fart. His body seemed to have no immediate changes despite the egg being applied immediately.

Haze expertly and familiarly opened the window. Then, she said, “I found a way to help you cook the Pillar Ingredient better.”

If they could not find a way, Minhyuk decided to eat a dish to help him increase his DEX and tried to cook it.

‘I can’t waste time trying to find a way to cook an ingredient already in front of me.’

But Haze said that she found a way.

“What is it?”

“Are you aware of the concept of ‘offering’ that the foreigners use when strengthening an artifact?”

“Yes, I am fully aware of that.”

Offering deliberately listed the poorly reinforced items and reinforced them individually while leaving the most important artifact to be reinforced at the end. It had been very popular since the inception of computer RPG games.

“Foreigners have done everything and anything to increase their chances of reinforcing their artifacts. Especially the foreigners from that place called ‘Korea’? Ah, of course, Your Majesty is also a Korean.”

Minhyuk nodded proudly. Koreans were truly passionate about their games.

“Aside from offerings, many people also look for auspicious sites.”

Players referred to places where they could strengthen or create items and auspicious sites. Nonetheless, something was surprising. Athenae had declared that “offerings” actually worked. And so were “auspicious sites.” And because of that, visiting auspicious sites became a craze.

“One Beyond the Heavens’ guild member recently discovered the most outstanding auspicious site. And it has never been discovered before. According to the report, the auspicious site is more likely to create something with a better grade than the average auspicious site. That’s how much the DEX would be adjusted and corrected.”

“Oh, is that so?”

That was very good to hear.

“But… where is it?”

“It’s in hell.”

“...”

Minhyuk was rendered speechless for a moment.

“To be exact, it’s the place between heaven and hell. You have to go through hell first… Ah. It might be difficult because you must go through hell.” Haze gulped. “After all, it’s where the God of Death is. So, recklessly entering that place is…”

Minhyuk confidently and majestically said, “What are you talking about, Haze? You should know how close I am with God of Death Louis!”

“Oh? Is that so?” Haze looked at Minhyuk in surprise. His Majesty was close to the God of Death?

Minhyuk resorted to the most common bluff that a man would make. ‘I-I’m close to them!’

“That’s right! I shared a meal with the God of Death! Huh?! I even sat with him and watched his lover cross the river of reincarnation! Huh?! That’s done!”

“Your Majesty, you’re amazing. You’re close with the scary God of Death.”

Minhyuk just shrugged at Haze, who was looking at him with admiration.

***

Five hours later.

Minhyuk took a peek at the face of the God of Death, sitting on a chair made of bones, and said, “J-just one more time… C-can’t I go in… one more time?”

“...”

The God of Death narrowed his eyes.

“Please…?”

And in just a blink, the God of Death’s subordinates had pointed their weapons at Minhyuk’s neck.

It was true that Minhyuk had a meal with the God of Death and watched his lover cross the river of reincarnation.