Leveling Up Through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

Isn\'t this the Golden Salmon that I wasn\'t able to find for the past 5 years?

Splash!

At that moment, the Golden Salmon went back to a deeper part of the waters. At the sound of the splash, Ben quickly came back to his senses. He had no time to be in a daze! He quickly rummaged in his boat to find his net. Once he found his net, he spread it a bit before throwing it out of the waters.

Shwaaaaaa!

A big net unfolded into the sea.

"Heave-ho!"

After quite some time, Ben decided to pull the net up to check if he caught it. However, Minhyuk shook his head at the side. He was thinking something along the lines of \'He didn\'t catch it.\' as Ben pulled harder on the net. And just like what Minhyuk had expected, the net was empty.

\'Crazy……!\'

A scarlet red circle was clearly visible to Minhyuk\'s eyes. There were circles that were visible to Minhyuk like this before but there were two reasons why he was quite surprised.

One. The red circle was as small as a needle. For him, he felt like it was somewhat impossible to throw a bait and cast his line over something as small as that.

Second. It was the speed of the red circle. It was moving at such a crazy speed that he couldn\'t even follow it with his eyes. It was extremely fast.

In fact, there were plenty of other red circles in the area. However, most of them were moving slowly or were big enough for a bait to be thrown into. On the other hand, the Golden Salmon had a smaller radius and was too fast for him to throw his bait and cast his line.

Minhyuk quickly moved his hands as he casted his line over the fast moving circle.

Shwaaaaa!

As if the circle was mocking him, it swam straight out of his line.

Then, how should we go about it?

"Old man! Spear! The spear!"

Ben was one of the Most Powerful Men and could wield the Ghost Spear. If they couldn\'t catch it, then the next best thing would be to poke right through it. However, not long after, Ben said something that placed Minhyuk in a desperate situation.

"A dead salmon…… Can\'t lure out a great predator like the clam golem."

"......"

Minhyuk\'s brows creased in frustration.

No, now that I think about it, if Ben threw his spear and directly hit the Golden Salmon… Even if it was bigger than normal fish it will still be blown to pieces.

There was only one thing that Minhyuk could do right now.

Cast my line!

Krrrrrrrrrr!

The punk got away.

Cast it again!

Krrrrrrr~rrrrrrr!

So he kept on casting his line, reeling it in and casting it again. He had no other choice but to do this again and again since the bastard was moving around like crazy. It didn\'t even leave the vicinity of the boat as if it was mocking and teasing them.

An hour had already passed and Minhyuk still kept on casting and reeling his line.

[You have gained 1 DEX.]

Nevertheless, he still had not caught the Golden Salmon. And after quite some time, it leisurely disappeared as if it had become tired of playing with them.

"......"

"Goddamn!"

Ben looked at the water desperately. He had been looking for it for 5 years straight but he still lost it right now.

Then, Minhyuk spoke up.

"We\'re not done yet."

"......"

"We can find it again."

Based on the direction of the red dot, Minhyuk pointed to a place as he urged Ben to move.

"Let\'s go, once more!"

The boat set sail once more and arrived at the area where the Golden Salmon was again.

They casted their lines.

The bastard escaped.

Casted.

Escaped.

Minhyuk believed that there was nothing in the world that he could not eat if he put all of his efforts on it.

He who does not work, neither shall he eat! No pain, no gain. The food will taste more delicious after working hard!

In addition, his will was burning ever so brightly since the Golden Salmon that he had caught a glimpse of earlier looked truly delectable.

After using it as a bait, then I can eat it!

So he kept on casting and casting his line in hopes of catching the elusive fellow.

In a blink of an eye, two hours had already gone by.

[You have gained 1 DEX.]

[Your Skill: Will has been triggered.]

[All skills and abilities related to DEX will increase by 27% temporarily.]

As he heard the notifications, it seemed like the tiny dot that represented the Golden Salmon grew a tiny bit bigger.

Minhyuk\'s will had grown stronger. He kept on casting his line for 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 7 hours. Until the sun set and even until a new morning dawned on them. However, Minhyuk kept on chasing and casting his line over and over again.

[Beginner\'s Fishing has leveled up.]

Ben had taught Minhyuk his fishing skills. In fact, just based on Minhyuk’s dexterity level, he could already be considered as an amazing fisherman. However, there would be additional benefits that he could get once he raised his skill from beginner to intermediate to master level so he decided to learn it for now. Right now, his beginner’s fishing skill had already reached Lv8. This was because Minhyuk kept on casting his line without any rest.

Ben looked at him with admiration in his eyes.

‘F, for my child’s revenge……!’

For his child’s revenge, this young man that he had only met just recently was trying his hardest. He kept on casting his fishing line with a solemn expression on his face without even a single wink of sleep. Sweat was even dripping down from his forehead as he tapped his sore back before casting the line once again.

However, the thought running through Minhyuk’s mind was completely different.

‘I want to catch this fellow quickly so I can eat something delicious!’

Trapped in his own illusions, Ben thought……

‘I’m willing to do anything for him……!’

But in reality, he had nothing left to his name. After his son had died, he had given up all the power and riches that he had and turned his back on everything. Perhaps he had done so because he strongly believed that his son had died like that because of him so he gave up everything and focused his all on fishing here. He left behind all of his gold, treasure, power…… everything that he had.

Because of that, I have nothing. If only I have something…

He looked down at his callused hands.

***

Genie, Khan, Locke and the rest of the guild members of Legend Guild were all looking for quests all over the Northern Continent.

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Keuhahaha. My heals can treat you. Would you like me to give you a treatment?”

“Are there any girls who look like Robin here? I’m Ace who beat the red-footed Jeff from Dongha Elementary!”

All of them were looking for quests that had some things in common. One, it should be a shareable quest. And two, it should be a quest that could give them liege.

Liege. It was literally about faithfulness. This was also one of the things that were necessary for the guild. Especially because the NPCs were the people who were local to this place. It was very important for the guild to be able to capture the hearts and loyalty of the influential vassals from different households. In particular, they needed someone who would fully support the person who would receive the title from their guild.

“Why isn’t Minhyuk answering our whispers? It’s not even turned off, right?”

When Genie sent a whisper to him, this was what she sent.

[Genie: Minhyukie, do you want to be a nobleman?]

Of course, Genie could also fill in her work and increase her reputation. However, it would take longer for them to expand their territory and establish such a position as their own. Rather, it would be more efficient for the GM, Genie, to step back and yield to Minhyuk. But Minhyuk hadn’t replied to any of their whispers at all.

Not long after, Genie saw Khan running forward to where she was.

“I found a good vassal!”

Genie grinned widely.

“Oh?”

“He used to be one of the Heavenly Spear Masters in the continent?”

“Wow. It’s really true, right?”

They had all checked the rewards in the shareable quest and had clearly seen the Heavenly Spear Master as part of the list. They had estimated his level and they believed that he was at about Lv400. A level on par with the current top rankers!

“We really need to have such a vassal!”

Genie grinned happily. Now, the only thing that they needed to do was share the quest once Minhyuk came.

Then, Khan said…

“But for some reason…… Why do I feel like Minhyuk will ask the vassal to do plenty of chores when we’re away?”

“Huh?”

“Like picking lettuce or maybe cooking ramyeon?”

Genie grinned at his words.

“Eyyy. There’s no way~”

***

Ben made coffee for Minhyuk who was still struggling to fish.

Minhyuk slowly savored the scent of coffee before sipping. Once he tasted the coffee, his forehead suddenly crumpled.

“Why is the coffee so bland?”

“......I, is it?”

“It’s really too bland. Eyyyy. Ah! You got the amount of water wrong!”

‘I, I’m the Ghost Spear Ben but I’m being criticized for making bland coffee……!’

Ben looked blankly at Minhyuk. He wanted to make coffee for Minhyuk who was tirelessly working hard for him! The only problem was…… He drank one cup, and then two, three, four cups!

“As expected of Maxim Coffee~”

Once Minhyuk drank 150 cups……

[You have become addicted to caffeine.]

[Your heart will beat fast and you won’t be able to fall asleep.]

[You have an invincible body that can ignore and resist all abnormal states.]

[You have resisted an abnormal state.]

“Yeah. It’s zero calories if it’s delicious~”

Minhyuk drank 200 cups of coffee in one sitting.

“Right! You’re good at measuring the water now!”

“Hohoho! And you’re good at drinking coffee! Hohoho!”

“Just keep on doing it like that! You’re doing it right!”

“Hohoho. Right. I’ll work hard on making coffee!”

Then, Ben suddenly tilted his head in confusion.

‘Huh? What’s this, why am I so happy with such compliments?’

He did not know the reason but he strangely felt happy.

It had been two days since they had started this chase and capture strategy. Minhyuk knew that catching it was impossible with what they had right now. Another method. They need to find another way.

Ben kept on refilling the coffee in his cup as Minhyuk thought hard while he one shotted the coffee in his cup! And at that moment… Minhyuk finally thought of something!

‘......Why didn’t I think of this earlier?’

I relied too much on fishing!

He looked down at the salmon that was still energetic and moving fast in the water.

‘Create a Recipe……!’

There was no guarantee that the Create a Recipe skill would work on beings that were not human-like. And this skill would show him what the person would like to eat the most. And what about fishing? Fishing required plenty of waiting and patience as you waited for the fish to take your bait. In other words, he wanted to make use of these skills to lure the Golden Salmon into taking the bait voluntarily.

That’s why, perhaps it was already easier than what I had thought?

Minhyuk quickly put his thoughts into action as he looked at the Golden Salmon that was happily swimming in their vicinity. The Golden Salmon had already come up to the point where the bastard could mock and tease them leisurely. However, no matter how hard Ben tried, the punk was still too fast for him to catch.

‘Create a Recipe!’

(Shellfish Bait Recipe for Golden Salmon)

Required Ingredients: Fantastic Flower Crab, Faded Shrimp, Giant Lobster…...(omitted)

Expected Dish Grade: Rare ~ Epic

Expected Effects: ━ An increase in the special points.

“......It worked!”

Minhyuk had called for all the luck in this world. He was not sure but he still tried it just in case it worked and it worked!

“We need some Fantastic Flower Crabs, Faded Shrimps and Giant Lobsters!”

“......Is that so? Then, let’s quickly catch them!”

Ben started fishing as soon as Minhyuk said those words. He did not have one bit of suspicion towards Minhyuk anymore since he had been observing him and his diligence since day one.

[You have acquired a Squid.]

[You have acquired a Giant Lobster.]

[You have acquired an Angler Fish.]

[You have acquired a Fantastic Flower Crab.]

They were able to fish for all of the ingredients in just six hours. Once he had collected all of the ingredients, he began to ground all of the shellfish. In addition, his Food God’s Acquisition Skill also helped him in making the shellfish bait.

After he completed the bait, he hung a fist-sized bait at the end of his fishing line. He turned to look at Ben. He could clearly see the nervousness and tension in Ben’s eyes. Then, he slowly lowered the fishing line.

Plop!

The bait went in the water with a loud sound. And once again, he could see that red dot moving quickly towards where they were.

He kept on chanting ‘Please catch the Golden Salmon!’ in his head. This was how the both of them waited. They waited and waited for 1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours.

“Eyy. I guess it’s too smart to take the bait……”

“......Hoo. I guess there’s still a fish that is smart in front of the bait that they want the most.”

The two of them sighed. They were on the verge of giving up as they talked mindlessly. Minhyuk did not even notice the red dot that was quickly approaching the bait.

Then, at that moment…

Twang━

The fishing line suddenly went taught!

“......!”

Minhyuk, with his wide open eyes, quickly pulled the fishing rod as he reeled the line in with all his strength. Ben, who was sitting right next to him, looked at the water nervously. Not long after, the huge body of the Golden Salmon was pulled out of the water.

Puhaaaaaa!

And along with it, a series of notifications rang in Minhyuk’s head.

[You have succeeded in catching one of the Legendary Fish, the Golden Salmon.]

[You have acquired the Title: Fishing King, Kang Taegong.]

***

[Fishing King, Kang Taegong] - 낚시왕 강태공, Kang Taegong is a scholar who wrote yukdosamryak. He was also a contributor of the Zhou Dynasty under the ruling of King Mu. His real name is Kang Sang. He was a person who had spent the first half of his life fishing. He had been fishing for more than 60 years until his death at the age of 139. He fished as a hobby to revive his vitality. Being called Kang Taegong meant two things, someone who had enough patience to wait and fish or someone irresponsible, passive and lazy who just fishes and does not care about any other chores. I believe this is the first one.Fishing Kang Taegong who has enough patience to wait and catch fishes! Back

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