Leveling Up through Eating

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

PR: MattForgenti

25 The Start of a Hybrid Character

‘The legend of the Food God is something that almost all of the chefs in the Chef’s Tower know about.’

He nodded his head in agreement, however he still erred on the side of caution and explained some things to him before starting his story.

“There are plenty of unrealistic stories that you can hear out there, so you can just think about them as legends.”

“Yes.”

“I heard the stories related to the Food God from the tower master of the Chef’s Tower, Boroto-nim.”

Minhyuk nodded his head as if to tell him that he was listening intently.

“I heard him say that there was a man who was so strong to the point that he could split the sky and shake the earth. I also heard that he loves to eat and that his cooking skills were so superb that no other chef could catch up to him. Everyone who has tasted his cooking all fell in love with him and the taste of his food.”

“Yes.”

“There were also a lot of people who followed him. However, this legend is just so outrageously absurd.”

“Outrageously absurd?”

“Yeah.”

His lips curled up into a smile at the ridiculousness of the story.

“The Food God had the chance to sit on the Emperor’s throne. But the Food God said ‘Ah I’m hungry, being an Emperor is such a nuisance! Hey, Cairon. You will be the Emperor. I’m going to eat.’”

He shook his head as if to disagree with the story that he was telling.

“And that Emperor Cairon? He was the Emperor of the Bocelli Empire, he was also known to be the greatest Emperor in the history of the continent. And that’s not all.”

Gordon, who started to get excited with the flow of his stories, slammed his hands on the saliva and continued to tell his story with his saliva splashing everywhere.

“He met with the Black Dragon, Lord Khan, who was known to be the most atrocious and brutal character in history. Did you know what he said to him when he met with him?”

“What did he say?”

“‘I’m going to eat barbeque today so use your breath so I can roast these. If you burn my food I will rip your scales, you know it right?’ You see, does this legend make any sense at all?”

“Using breath to roast meat sounds delicious.”

“Yeah. It sounds delicious…… No! That’s not the point. The story just doesn’t make sense, that’s the point.”

Minhyuk looked at him as if he couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Why does it not make sense? How come?”

“No, of course it doesn’t. It doesn’t make sense to ask a dragon, the greatest creature to ever exist on earth, to use its breath to grill barbeque!”

“But what if he wanted to eat barbeque so much!”

“Huh……?”

Gordon tilted his head as he stared at him. His expression looked like he was asking him about what he was talking about.

“It doesn’t make any sense. He even went to the Dwarf King, Golden Hammer Rant, and told him ‘Make me a tool that can help me grill vegetable pancakes well!’ and he even brought God’s mineral amantadium! My god! I can’t believe that he asked the Dwarf King to make him a pancake making tool using amantadium. It’s the mineral that was dubbed as God’s mineral!”

“Wow, how nice would it be to have a tool like that? I’m so jealous.”

“……”

Gordon looked at Minhyuk’s face that was filled with regret with an expression that says ‘Hey, what’s wrong with you?’.

“That’s not the end of it. The Mother Tree, the guardian god of the fairies and pixies, grows a flower called Lefender. And that Lefender produces sacred honey but this crazy Food God, stole the Lefender and squeezed its honey just so he could dip his goraetteok in it. I can’t believe that he used that valuable and expensive Lefender’s Honey just to eat goraetteok!”

“He knows how to eat it!”

“Yeah. I know that dipping goraetteok in honey is really delicious!”

Gordon gulped after he finished his words then he looked blankly after he realized what he said. He coughed loudly as if to clear away his embarrassment.

“You’re not the descendant of the Food God, are you? No, how can you even understand those situations well?”

“That’s right, I’m the Food God.”

“Yes?”

“I’m the Food God. I don’t know about the descendant thing but my job class is the Food God.”

Minhyuk felt that he did not need to hide it. It also occurred to him that he might find more clues relating to the Food God if they knew about his class. Of course his intentions and purposes were something different.

‘I don’t know but it’s possible that the Food God has hidden something delicious!’

Gordon pondered something for a moment.

‘Boroto-nim said that the Food God would one day appear at the Chef’s Tower. He also said that I should tell him where he was if he ever appeared. Back then, I thought that he was crazy.’

He tried to suggest it to Minhyuk. He was very careful with his words too.

“If you’re really the Food God, why don’t you go and meet with the Chefs Tower’s tower master, Boroto-nim?”

Then, Minhyuk heard a notification in his head.

[This quest overlaps with the Food God’s Legacy quest.]

‘Ah……!’

Minhyuk remembered that he received the ‘Food God’s Legacy’ quest during his 2nd job class and his class changed to Eccentric Food Fighter. However, because of level restrictions the information about the quest was not available.

‘Perhaps I’m supposed to meet with the chef named Boroto?’

He was half-sure of his conjectures.

“I understand.”

Gordon also thought about something else, but before he could even say it to Minhyuk…

[The God of Athenae is imposing sanctions on you.]

[Please don’t disclose any more information.]

That was the moment that Gordon realized that what he said was the truth.

‘H, he’s really the Food God!’

However, the man in front of him still has not yet fulfilled all of the conditions to become the legitimized Food God. Gordon clamped his mouth shut to avoid punishment and further sanctions.

“That’s all the things that I could say.”

“I see. Thank you for the stories. Hoo……”

However, Minhyuk still looked oddly depressed after thanking him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I was a bit too complacent. I should have eaten much more diligently just like him……”

“N, no. You’re already eating well enough.”

“Nope. That’s not enough. I should go and set a goal too.”

“……?”

“I’ll definitely go and grill some barbeque using breath and I’ll also dip goraetteok in Lafender’s honey.”

Minhyuk clenched his fists tightly as his eyes glimmered. His actions showed his dedication and seriousness towards this goal that he had just set.

“……”

“Then, I will get going.”

Gordon stared blankly at the spot where Minhyuk disappeared from.

“That person is not in his right mind either.”

Then he looked at Harmel.

“Why didn’t you say anything back then?”

There was still the most important part that Gordon was not able to tell about the legends. However, the junior employee Harmel still did not say anything and just stayed still when he did not bring up the topic.

“The God of Athenae seemed like he wanted him to find them on his own. The Dragon Lord Khan, the Golden Hammer Dwarf King Rant, the Mother Tree and plenty others.”

Gordon continued to stare at the spot where he disappeared.

“They loved food and the Food God more than anybody else, and some of their powers are hidden within the relics that he has left behind.”

***

Blacksmith Ron heaved a huge sigh.

‘This is a problem, it’s a big problem.’

He was just informed that he wouldn’t be able to conduct any more deals and business. Ron was quite famous in the Kingdom of Barras for his extremely bad personality. Along with the foreigners, even the guards did not like his attitude. He was only able to make deals and make business because he was skilled as a blacksmith. However, a mishap occurred and he wasn’t able to deliver the goods on time.

To the owner of the basic first aid drug store, McCann. To Farmer Brett and even the others!

All of them have notified him that they wouldn’t continue to trade and make deals with him since he delivered the goods late!

The root of all this was the arrival of a young foreigner. She was a little girl.

‘But what can I do, I feel sad when the little one is left all alone.’ 

Ron lost his wife and children that was why he felt sorry for the little foreigner whenever he left her alone. So he always allowed her to stay in the smithy. 

In fact there were a lot of dangerous things in the smithy but the girl’s foreigner father asked him for this favor since he wouldn’t always be able to accompany his daughter due to the nature of his work. And even though Ron was known for his bad temper and attitude he still decided to help out the father and daughter with the memory of his lost child.

‘It’s quite a big deal for someone to not be able to eat due to the side effects of the treatment that they underwent.’

The child did not want to eat anything.

He heard that she was cured in the world of the strangers from a disease called leukemia. However she was now afraid of eating because she vomited the food out each and every day while she was being treated.

His father said that he brought her here so that she could overcome her fears but the man still continued to sigh bitterly and lament on the fact that she was still not getting any better.

And that similar sigh came out from the cold-hearted and bad tempered Ron.

What a pitiful child!

That was what he thought as he went back to the smithy.

“Kyahahahahaha!”

He could hear peals of laughter coming out from the door of the smithy. The sound of laughter was something that he was extremely familiar with.

It’s that young foreigner, Hyemin!

Ron walked quickly with a strange sense of curiosity accompanying him. He saw an oddly heartwarming sight in front of him.

An unknown foreigner was running around the smithy with Hyemin sitting on his shoulders as she laughed loudly.

And Hyemin……

“Go! Piggy!”

“Oiiink, oink! Oink!” 

She was sitting comfortably on the shoulders of the young man while the man was squealing like a pig. Then, the young man suddenly made eye contact with Ron. He became petrified like ice, as he slowly let Hyemin slide down from him. Then he coughed loudly as if to hide his embarrassment at being caught in an embarrassing situation before speaking out.

“That… I’m… I apologize for one thing.” 

***

One hour ago.

Minhyuk entered Blacksmith Ron’s smithy but he couldn’t find anyone in there.

“Excuse me? Is anybody there?”

Minhyuk tilted his head when no one answered him, so he decided to look around until he found a furnace!

“Oh……. This looks like the furnace I saw on TV, furnace for samgyeopsal [1]!”

I often see this on TV the shovel samgyeopsal [2]!

They would wrap the samgyeopsal well in the foil and would use a shovel to place it in the furnace then it would cook well in just 5 seconds.

However Minhyuk thought for a moment…

I can’t just do that in a smithy without its owner!

So he waited and waited. 

He waited for quite a while but Minhyuk was not able to overcome the temptation. He hurriedly covered a samgyeopsal that he had prepared in advance in foil and placed it on the shovel. Then he carefully opened the lid of the furnace as he shoved the shovel inside. After a few seconds, he pulled the samgyeopsal out.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle━

The samgyeopsal was sizzling in its own oil on the shovel!

Minhyuk admired his masterpiece as he directly sat down and started to eat his samgyeopsal. He even dipped it in salt and wrapped it in lettuce.

“Kgghk! This is really the shovel samgyeopsal! Huhaha!”

He thought that he should hurry up and eat it quickly but once he finished the first one, he grilled another set for a second time, three times, and without realizing it he had eaten and grilled the samgyeopsal for ten times.

Creaaaaaak━

Clank!

He suddenly heard a loud sound.

Turn!

Minhyuk’s head quickly turned to look at it. It sounded like it was a stray cat, but when he looked over he saw a child hiding in the corner and peeking at him.

“Huh?”

Minhyuk tilted his head as he saw the head of the little girl stick out from the corner as she asked him.

“Was it really delicious?”

“Of course! Delicious food is the best!”

“Hyeminie gets sick when she eats……”

“That’s impossible! I don’t believe that anyone will get sick if they eat something delicious! It’s zero calories if it’s delicious!”

“Poop calories?”

“No, it’s zero calories.”

The child, Hyemin, shook her head showing Minhyuk that she couldn’t understand what he meant. Then she pulled something out of her bosom.

“Then you eat this.”

“……!”

Minhyuk’s eyes widened when he saw what Hyemin handed to him. It was none other than ABD chocolate!

For Minhyuk, chocolate was something that he could not touch even if he had it. He used to like chocolate very much. But for someone who suffers from bulimia, it was akin to a poison. He used to cry a lot because he wanted to eat chocolate once or twice before.

Even though it might not be the case for others but to Minhyuk chocolate was a special ‘food’. And seeing it in front of him, of course he wouldn’t be able to move his eyes away from it.

“Where did you get this precious thing?”

“My dad gave it to me to eat, but I hate eating! I get sick when I eat this!”

“No, you wouldn’t get sick if you eat something delicious though?”

“Nope, Hyeminie gets sick.”

She rubbed her stomach pitifully as Minhyuk approached her hands that were holding the chocolate.

The sweet, sweet chocolate.

“That’s why you should eat it.”

Hyemin personally peeled the chocolate before handing it to him.

At that moment…

“Aaaaaaang!”

Minhyuk almost bit Hyemin’s little fist as he opened his mouth to eat the chocolate in her hands. Hyemin hit him on his head with her little fist.

“This butthole! You can’t eat my hands!”

“Ah, sorry. Ahmm, delicious!”

Minhyuk’s lips curled up in a smile the moment the sweet flavor of the chocolate spread in his mouth. He bit half of it and chewed on it while the other half remained in his mouth until it dissolved. The sweetness of the chocolate spread deeper and deeper with how he ate it.

Then, Hyemin gave him a whole bag of chocolate.

“Here, have some more.”

“Thanks! You’re such a good baby!”

Minhyuk started to eat chocolates like there was no tomorrow. And without noticing it, he was already holding the last piece of chocolate.

“Chew, chew?”

Minhyuk felt sad knowing that there was nothing left in the bag anymore. However, when he looked up, he saw Hyemin’s face. She was looking at the empty bag of chocolate with sadness.

“My chocolate……”

“Hueok, sorry!”

He felt a bit sorry when he realized that he could not control his appetite and ended up eating all of it.

Hyemin might not be able to eat chocolate, but children would still feel a great sense of loss when someone took something that they own! Hyemin’s expression right now looks like she has lost the world.

“You’re a piggy. You ate them all……”

Prick!

Minhyuk was shocked to a standstill when he heard her words.

***

Footnotes

[Title] Hybrid Characters or 잡캐 in KR means that the character is a jack of all trades or has learned a lot of skills and playstyles in one character. Generally used as a negative term which means that you can’t be good at the game since you have a lot of different skills that you can’t master properly.

[1] Okay, so this could either be one of the two… I searched for it and apparently one is, someone put a griller on top of a shute where burning lava (the one you use for smelting) is running and they grill meat on the griller. The griller was on top of the shute. Lol. no direct touching of the lava. The other was an open fire griller, where there’s a huge fire burning and you grill the meat in its vicinity. Otherwise I think it’s just like the traditional kitchen furnace where they have cement/rock made into a giant stove. The one where the huge iron cauldron was made, they have similarities with the smithy furnace.

[2] So there’s this famous restaurant where its called 삽자루든돼지 where the owner comes out with the meat on a shovel like griller stove. 

[calorie] Zero calories is 영칼로리 while poop calories is 덩칼로리 it’s a difference of one syllable. 영 means zero while 덩 means dung or poop.

[ABD Chocolate] So it’s really ABC chocolate and I think it’s made by Lotte.

[Lafender’s Honey] I double checked and no, it’s not Lavender so I’m guessing it’s really something different and named it as Lafender (although it could totally be Lefender).

TL’s corner!!!

Minhyuk… why did you eat them all… also… you shouldn’t be shocked when you’re being compared to a pig. At least it’s not a hippo, an elephant or a triceratops.

PR’s corner!

Huh…after hearing Minhyuk be compared to dinosaurs and megafauna, a pig feels a little underwhelming. Oh well, there’s always time to scale that up.

ANNOUNCEMENT

There will only be 4 chapters posted this week. I had some irl issues that I had to deal with. Thank you for your understanding. There will be 5 chapters again next week.

Report mistakes and chat with us at: https://discord.gg/Q3dStgu