Leveling Up Through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

The flavor of the soup changed greatly with the addition of the flower crab, cheongyang peppers and bean sprouts. All in all, it could be described in one word…

Refreshing!

Just that word alone was enough to describe the flavor and taste of the soup.

“Then, next.”

Minhyuk picked up the noodles from his bowl and…

“Sluuuuuuurp!”

He inhaled all of the noodles that he took from the bowl in one go.

“Hooooo. It’s really delicious!”

Steam came out of his mouth with every word. The taste was truly delectable that he couldn’t help but get another bite of noodles. This time, the bite of noodles was also packed with plenty of bean sprouts.

“Sluuuuurp!”

He slurped it all at once and the taste of the crunchy bean sprouts and the chewy noodles permeated in his mouth. Then, he took a sip of the soup with a bite of kimchi.

“Kgghk!”

Minhyuk couldn’t help but let out a sound of happiness. When he looked at the person sitting in front of him, he could see Ben inhaling the soup from the pot.

“Keoheo! This soup tastes amazing! It will be better if we have that thing here.”

Ben proceeded to make a gesture as if he was holding a small cup and flicking his wrist as if he was drinking the content of the cup in one shot.

“It would be a dream if there is soju in here. It’s a shame that I can’t drink in such a dangerous sea.”

As he said this, Minhyuk also picked up the flower crab. Then, he cut the crab in half with his scissors.

“Ooooh. Look at all this fat.”

“The creatures that you can catch here in the Dragon King’s Sea are all fresh, juicy and plump.”

Minhyuk picked half of the crab and tried to suck off the white flesh from the red shell. As soon as he sucked the shell, the white crab meat immediately went in his mouth. The flower crab meat was chewy and sweet but it still had that savory flavor that was amplified by the soup. And the skin that was eaten together with the meat tasted a bit different but it was not that bad.

“Sluuuurp!”

Minhyuk copied Ben and also held the pot as he slurped the soup down. It might be a spicy flower crab ramyeon but the taste was also similar to a spicy hangover ramyeon. It was truly both refreshing and delicious. Minhyuk’s nose was already running without him even realizing it. After finishing his meal, he blew his nose loudly and the sound even strangely sounded like ‘Shwiiiiiiii!’. Once Ben finished eating, he heard a string of notifications in his head.

[You ate a dish from a recipe specially made for you.]

[You won’t be able to eat another dish from a recipe specially made for you for a month.]

[You can’t receive any duplicate buffs during the duration of the buff retention period.]

[Flower Crab Ramyeon.]

[You have received an increase of 10% on your fishing skill and a +2 on your skill: Ghost Spear for 10 days.]

“......!”

Ben looked at Minhyuk in surprise.

‘I did not expect such a young and shabby chef like him could be such a great chef……!’

Ben was both in awe and admiration of his skills. Meanwhile, Minhyuk decided to check the progress of the satisfaction bar from his ‘To Have a Feast with Other People’ quest.

Earlier, when he fed God Juis, his satisfaction level went up by 33% and with the rest of the people that he fed, he was at 50% now. When he looked at the satisfaction level, Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion.

[Satisfaction: 56%]

“......?”

He was quite confused with the numbers displayed in front of him.

‘What’s this?’

The ranker Crow only gave him a 2% increase while King Varen gave him a slightly higher increase in the bar at a  5% increase. Meanwhile, God Juis directly catapulted his satisfaction level to 50% with an increase of 33% once she ate.

But now…

‘6%?’

This meant that Old Man Ben was someone that was more influential and stronger than both Crow and King Varen.

“Shwiiiiiiii!”

The surprised Ben blew his nose loudly before he spoke of his admiration for Minhyuk’s cooking.

“Hoho. I have never eaten so well like this before. And boy, the strength of your cooking is also great!”

[Ben’s favorability has increased.]

[Ben’s favorability has increased.]

“And your fishing skills are also out of this world.”

Ben had thought about this when he saw him catch a fish whenever he casted his line.

‘I wonder if this guy can catch the Golden Salmon?’

Ben couldn’t stop his excitement and anticipation as he started to tell his story.

“Boy, there’s a favor that I want to ask of you. Will you listen to my story?”

Minhyuk could smell the scent of a quest.

‘There’s a chance that something delicious will come out, right?’

Then, Ben began his tale.

“A few years ago, I was still wandering all over the world. At that time, I had a son. My one and only son.”

Minhyuk nodded his head when he heard him begin his story.

“Once a year, I would go and meet with my son. Whenever that time comes around, my son would run to this sea, you know? It’s because my favorite food can be found here.”

Ben looked melancholic as he recalled the past.

“But one day, my son never came back from here. That bastard ate my son!”

“That bastard?”

“That’s right. That bastard. He’s a very scary bastard that only lives in the Dragon King’s Sea. He devours anything and everything in this sea and has now gone into a cave. As far as I know, he hasn’t been out for quite a long time now. The only way to lure him out is to use his favorite food, Golden Salmon.”

Minhyuk nodded his head in understanding as a thought flashed through his mind.

‘Golden Salmon…… Every time I hear its name, I can’t help but think that it is delicious…...’

His mouth couldn’t help but water at the thought of the pinkish flesh of salmon sashimi!

“By any chance, are you going to use that Golden Salmon to feed the bastard?”

“No. It’s too precious. It will only be used to lure the bastard out.”

Minhyuk nodded his head once more while Ben continued to talk.

“I need to lure the bastard out so is it possible that you catch some Golden Salmon for me?”

[Linked Quest: Catch a Golden Salmon.]

Rank: SS

Restrictions: Favorability with Ben.

Rewards: ???

Penalty for Failure: Drop in favorability with Ben. You will be kicked out of Ben’s Boat due to the drop of favorability.

Description: Ben saw a great possibility of acquiring the Golden Salmon through your hands. Catch a Golden Salmon!

‘SS……?’

Minhyuk was quite taken aback with the quest. And it was even a linked quest to boot which meant that aside from catching the Golden Salmon, there would be a few more quests to do in the near future.

‘What the hell, is Golden Salmon really that hard to catch for it to be SS-ranked? Or maybe it’s the process of catching it?’

He received an SS-ranked quest when he was asked to make a legendary dish to satisfy God Juis. However, right now, there was a quest that was of the same rank right in front of him and the rewards were even marked mysteriously with “???”. In the case of “???” in the rewards section of the quest, it could either turn out to be the best or the worst reward. But before he accepted this quest, there was still one thing that he needed to make sure of.

“I have a question!”

“Ask away.”

“Who are you exactly?”

“......”

When Ben heard his question, he couldn’t stop himself from showing surprise on his face.

Did he recognize me? How on earth did he know?

Then, Minhyuk spoke once more…

“There’s no harpoon in your boat but instead there’s a spear.”

If there was a spear in the boat instead of a harpoon, it was only natural for others to think that the person forgot about their harpoon and hastily brought a spear. But?

“This sea is not an easy place for an old man to venture alone in. Besides, the calluses in Old Man Ben’s hands should be from using the spear, right?”

“......”

This was something unexpected for Ben.

I thought he was just a good chef? But he has keen eyes that can help him assess the situation at hand.

Ben did not hide anymore as he explained his identity to Minhyuk. After all, it wasn’t easy to ask for a favor without any explanation whatsoever. And Minhyuk who had heard about his story and identity was extremely shocked.

‘He was one of the Most Powerful Men……’

Of course it was in the past tense. However, Minhyuk had fought with one of the Most Powerful Men and knew about their strength. In fact, he couldn’t deny it when other people deemed him lucky when they successfully hunted one of the Most Powerful Men. But Minhyuk was thinking about something entirely different…

‘He was one of the Most Powerful Men……? Then, his rewards will definitely not be the worst, right?’

Of course, Minhyuk was not that interested in the rewards but he was more interested in the Golden Salmon that he was asked to catch and the monster that it was supposed to lure. He was so curious that he asked about it before accepting the quest.

“What kind of monster is the bastard that you’re talking about?”

“It’s a clam golem.”

“......?!”

Minhyuk almost fell down with a thud when he heard his words. His sly food antenna was even twitching rapidly!

I’m sure that guy tastes delicious!

“C, clam golem?”

“Yeah. All kinds of shellfish in the world are stuck together to create his body.”

“B, by any chance… are there abalones?”

“Of course! Didn’t I tell you? All kinds of shellfish in the world are stuck in his body, mussels, pen shells, scallops, oysters……”

“M, my goodness……”

Mihyuk trembled in excitement.

“Mussel soup! Oyster pancakes! And the clams used in grilled clams?!”

“B, boy. Your eyes suddenly changed……?”

Minhyuk couldn’t help but shiver as he remembered that time when he drove to the beach with his friends. The sellers stationed by the shore would yell ‘Buy from me, I’ll make it cheaper for you!’ and trick the people who were passing by.

A feast, both for the eyes and the stomach, was laid out in the open! There were clams that were laid out on the grill, refreshing mussel soup and other necessary ingredients!

‘Corn cheese……!’

The small ears of corn would be laid out in the griller with plenty of cheese sprinkled on top of it. And once the cheese melted, it would cover the whole corn!

And when the clams get cooked, they will open slowly as if saying ‘Come here and eat me~ Baby.’, right? There are clams like that here, right?

“I, I will help Ben-nim avenge your son!”

The light in Minhyuk’s eyes had changed! His eyes were now filled with seriousness and solemnity.

Ben was deeply moved when he saw how serious Minhyuk was about helping him.

‘M, My goodness…….! I can’t believe that my will to fight and live has been ignited for the first time in years……!’

[Ben’s favorability has increased.]

Minhyuk looked really serious so Ben also felt that burning desire to fight and avenge his son. Then, he replied to him.

“However, the problem is there’s only one of this creature in this vast sea. This was a story that has been circulating around in the Dragon King’s Sea. The story about needing the Golden Salmon to lure out the hiding clam golem. It was a story that has been passed on for many generations too.”

The Dragon King’s Sea was vast and wide. This was the only reason why Ben was having a hard time catching a Golden Salmon. It was because it was hard to find a single existence in such a vast area.

Minhyuk pondered deeply about this problem until he remembered something.

“Do you know about the special abilities or effects that the Golden Salmon has?”

“Hmmm. I only know that once you have eaten the Golden Salmon it will immediately strengthen your skills and abilities.”

Ho.

Minhyuk faintly guessed about it being a special bonus point. The special bonus point that could increase the stats like DEX, holy power and others of the same nature! He was not sure if the Golden Salmon could raise those stats but he guessed that it was a bit similar to that.

Then, he heard Ben say…

“I’ve actually seen the guy but I failed to catch it! It was right in front of me too!”

When he recalled about that incident, Ben still couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment. Minhyuk looked at him sighing in disappointment and he wanted to assure him immediately. There was a reason why Minhyuk asked Ben about the ‘Special Abilities’ of the Golden Salmon. It was because he had an easier way of finding it.

“I think we can find the point where it’s located right away.”

“W, what?!”

Ben’s eyes widened imperceptibly.

How?! I have only seen it once in all my five years of sailing in this seas.

At that moment, Minhyuk used his ‘Ingredient Tracking’ skill. Then, he chose Japanese Food from the selection of food in the hologram that popped up.

[What is your desired buff effect?]

‘Boosts the ability that I want.’

[Searching for the ingredients in a 10-km radius.]

[Ingredient Tracking has succeeded.]

[Golden Salmon is a legendary ingredient that can add a special point.]

[The dish is available for Lv2 Food God’s Cooking Skills.]

[Suggested Menu: Salmon Sashimi.]

‘Kyaa!’

Minhyuk couldn’t help but feel surprised. That was right. Salmon would be delicious if you eat it as sushi but it would taste best if you sliced it into large enough pieces and ate it as it is. It was delicious whether you dipped it in soy sauce with wasabi, dip it in gochujang or wrap it in seaweed with radish sprouts and sliced onions. He was also surprised that the ingredient was successfully tracked in one go.

‘It’s definitely good that the radius of the Ingredient Tracking skill has increased to 10-km.’

As Minhyuk looked at the hologram, he could clearly see the red mark.

“This way!”

“Huh?”

For a moment, Ben couldn’t understand what Minhyuk meant.

“What are you talking about?”

“I already found where it’s located. Let’s go this way!”

Ben’s eyes widened. In fact, he was quite suspicious but he had nothing to lose already so he pulled the anchor up.

Shwaaaaaaa!

The boat quickly caught the wind as it headed towards the area where the red point was marked at a high speed. Minhyuk could see that they were quickly approaching the area where the red point was located and at one point, they had approached it very closely.

‘There’s really no Golden Salmon in here, right?’

This was the thought that flashed through Ben’s mind.

Is it really here?

At that moment…

Fwiiiiish!

He saw a salmon swimming in the water with its golden scales shimmering brightly under the rays of the sun. The light that the salmon’s body was emitting was in and on itself a sight to behold.

[You have found the legendary Golden Salmon.]

[You have acquired 30 reputation points.]

Ben looked at Minhyuk incredulously.

‘H, how in the world……!’

***

TL’s corner!

Ah, the ingredient tracking skill is alive! Man. I wonder when I’ll see Minhyuk’s stats again. I’m kinda missing it.

PR’s corner!

By the time we see Minhyuk’s stats, he will love have become overpowered.

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