Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 824

Before Minhyuk could voice out his doubts, notifications began to ring in his ears.

[Vassal’s Voice has been triggered!]

[Your vassal, Obren, is in danger.]

[Obren’s HP has fallen below 3%.]

Vassal’s Voice was a skill attached to the Forgotten Monarch’s Crown. It could report the status of three designated vassals whenever they were in danger and how his vassals got in danger.

“…”

The shock brought about by the notifications made Minhyuk feel numb all over. He was so shocked that he could not move or make a sound.

‘Obren…?’

Obren was the Evil God. He had displayed his might during the episode with the God of Death, where his original power had been completely unsealed, and swept away millions of powerful men with Kronad. Minhyuk had always regarded Obren as strong. To him, Obren was stronger than anyone else. However, this powerful Obren was now on the verge of death.

Thanks to the Vassal’s Voice, Minhyuk found out about Obren’s situation.

[Your vassal, Obren, fought against the first to tenth ranked Devils in the Demon World.]

[He’s currently being protected by Master Xuanxang’s barrier, but it would only last for three days.]

[However, Obren no longer has any means to recover.]

Minhyuk was left confused when he read the words Demon World in the notifications.

‘Why are you in the Demon World?’

Of course, Minhyuk was aware that Obren left with Master Xuanxang to welcome new changes in himself. However, he also knew that Obren was only willing to do so because it would help him and protect him.

Minhyuk bit his lips. ‘Obren, I will protect you too.’

At that moment, Minhyuk recalled a skill that Hell Horse Velma possessed.

‘Transcending Space.’

Transcending Space allowed the user to go to any place that they wanted in one breath. Basically, Velma could go anywhere, even places that she had never gone to before.

Minhyuk had not yet returned the ownership of Velma to the God of Death. However, if he used Transcending Space with Velma without explicit permission from the God of Death, then his already bleak relationship with the God might fall apart completely.

“God of Death.”

“…”

The God of Death, who was still infusing the power of the Origin Authority into the Sword of Aeon, glanced at Minhyuk.

“I have someone that I want to protect. May I borrow Hell Horse Velma to save him?”

The God of Death silently stared at Minhyuk for a very long time. Perhaps the look in his eyes was similar to what the God of Death had when he tried to protect Hella, that was why he did something that he would not do normally.

“…Remember this.” The God of Death looked at Velma, who had curled in on herself as she sat down on the grass. “Velma is the mother of all Hell Horses.”

Minhyuk instantly understood what the God of Death meant. To call for Velma meant that he was also activating all of the Hell Horses.

However, Minhyuk did not make a move right away even after he had received the God of Death’s explicit consent. He still had three days left to prepare. Obren had left his side to obtain a stronger power. However, during the process, he was forced to his knees and collapsed. This meant that Obren needed greater power.

Minhyuk took out the three ingredients that he obtained from the first God of Farming Hella; the Shining Bean Sprouts, the Noble and Lofty Zucchini, and the Energetic Bean. Minhyuk stared at the three God-grade ingredients before putting the zucchini and the bean sprouts back in his inventory.

Even if he used all three of the God-grade ingredients in his hand, it would not guarantee the appearance of a God-grade dish. Besides, it was hard to find a dish where all three of the ingredients could create a great combination. Finally, as Obren’s friend, Minhyuk knew that the man loved to eat tofu.

—What a strange dish. They’re made from mere beans but they taste delicious whether you stir-fry them or boil them.

Minhyuk recalled the bright and happy smile on Obren’s face as he ate the tofu that he gave him before.

—Obren, I’ll make some sundubu-jjigae[1] next time.

—Sundubu-jjigae?

—It’s a jjigae made from tofu that is softer than ordinary tofu. It’s also very hot and spicy!

Obren had turned his head to hide the smile on his face back then.

—Well, I’ll take your sincerity into consideration and eat it.

However, Minhyuk had been very busy since that time and had never had the chance to make some for Obren. So, Minhyuk would cook it for him now. Before everything else, Minhyuk checked the beans’ information first.

(Energetic Bean)

Ingredient Grade: God

Special Effects:

•It restores the energy that has been lost from exhaustion.

•This can help those that have grown old, those that have lost their power or those that have their powers sealed.

Description: It might just be a single bean but the moment it makes contact with water, it will multiply to how much is needed for your dish. The beans produced by this single bean are special beans that have restorative and anti-aging effects. It has the power to return those that consume it to their prime.

This was also one of the reasons why Minhyuk chose to cook sundubu-jjigae.

The first thing that Minhyuk did was to place the bean inside the aging jar. Making tofu would originally take at least eight hours. However, true to its name, the aging jar could ignore that time, and ripen or age whatever was placed inside it, like kimchi, doenjang, gochujang or soy sauce.

[Please set the amount of beans that you want.]

After hearing the prompt, Minhyuk set the amount of beans that he needed. Once he had set everything, the aging jar was almost full with beans. Then, he covered the jar and let the beans soak in water.

Minhyuk took out the beans that had aged in an instant and took out his Gorac’s Millstone. He immediately sat down in front of the millstone. Then, he placed the soaked beans inside the hole in the center of the millstone. After that, he grabbed the handle and began grinding.

Rrrrrrrrrr— Rrrrrrrrrrr—

At first it seemed like he was able to grind the beans well. However, a frown soon appeared on Minhyuk’s brows.

‘In the end, this ingredient is still a God-grade ingredient.’

Minhyuk realized something after cooking several God-grade ingredients so far.

‘There is no God-grade ingredient that exists in the world that is easy to cook.’

Little by little, the beans started to break apart, producing white bean water that dripped down the sides of the millstone.

[Grinding the Energetic Beans in the millstone will be 100x harder and longer than ordinary beans!]

Minhyuk just continued to turn the millstone and grind the beans.

Rrrrrrrrrrr, rrrrrrrrrrrrr—

The beans started to struggle as he turned the millstone to grind. It might sound ridiculous but Minhyuk could clearly feel the beans trying to push the millstone away. At some point, Minhyuk, even with his high STR, was forced to hold the handle of the millstone with both hands just so he could turn it around.

Cold sweat started to drip down his face. His arms started to tremble from the strain. However, he could not stop.

‘I don’t have much time.’

Either the barrier would melt away, or Obren’s HP would drop to zero. Regardless, he would die. Minhyuk had to finish cooking before any of that happened.

Just like that six hours passed by, and bled into twelve, then into twenty-four. But Minhyuk did not stand and just continued to turn the handle of the millstone in his hands.

“…”

Although he was not showing it in his expression, the God of Death was shocked.

‘He’s the one chosen by the Battle God.’

As he continued to watch Minhyuk, he thought, ‘I get why chose him.’

Perhaps this evaluation could be considered as the highest praise that one could get from the God of Death. However, Minhyuk did not feel the God of Death’s gaze. This was because he had already fallen into a deep trance. As he lost track of how much time had passed, the notification rang out.

[You have ground all of the Energetic Beans!]

Immediately after all of the beans had been ground, Minhyuk went through several processes and began making soft tofu. The process of making soft tofu and tofu was generally the same. The only difference was that soft tofu did not harden and coagulate like ordinary tofu. Because of that, soft tofu could be much easier to digest than ordinary tofu and was much more comfortable to eat.

After making the soft and jiggling tofu, Minhyuk quickly began to cook. He would use the soft tofu to make seafood sundubu-jjigae. He threw some clams, squid, and shrimps in the earthen pot together with the soft tofu.

“How many… how many days have passed since I started?” Minhyuk, who had not taken a sip of water since he started making the tofu, asked after the contents of the earthen part had started to boil.

“It has been two days,’ the God of Death answered.

His mouth parched and lips dry, Minhyuk stood still for a moment as he chugged down a bottle of water. Then, he began to focus on the sundubu-jjigae.

Oil from the chili pepper started to float around the pieces of soft tofu. Minhyuk cracked one open and placed it in the middle of the sundubu-jjigae.

[You have completed the Seafood Sundubu-jjigae.]

[Extreme Trance. It’s a dish that contains your ‘love for your friend,’ ‘dedication for him,’ and ‘will to never back down’ poured into it!]

[Due to the effects of Extreme Trance, the buff effects have become even better.]

Finally, the dish was completed.

Minhyuk listened to the notifications that constantly rang in his ears as he thought, ‘Obren, this dish is for you.’

Aside from cooking this dish, another reason why Minhyuk did not immediately take Velma and rushed to where Obren was currently at was because he did not want to put pressure on the man. Besides, Minhyuk knew that he himself would also be under extreme pressure once he went there and would not be able to cook properly in a situation where Obren was helpless.

“Hihihihihihihihihihing!” Velma cried loudly as Minhyuk rode on her back.

Then, the God of Death said, “Come back right away. I won’t wait for you.”

The Sword of Aeon’s final reinforcement would soon be finished. Minhyuk nodded in response to the God of Death, despite his blunt words. He crouched down and told Velma, “Velma. Use Transcending Space. Our destination will be the Demon World.”

“Hihihihihihihihing!!!”

With Velma’s loud and ferocious cry, the Hell Horses scattered all over Hell began to gather around her. Then, she charged to the sky and opened a path. Following behind were all of the Hell Horses that she had summoned. Just like that, Minhyuk and Velma ran through the path and made their way to the Demon World.

***

Everything was burning. The demons and the demonic beasts tried to stop the galloping Hell Horses that run rampant inside the Demon World. However, it was to no avail. They just burned from the heat of the flames that covered the Hell Horses the moment they made contact.

A small smile appeared on the dying Obren’s face.

“Hihihihihihihihihihihihihing!” Velma, who stopped just right in front of the barrier, raised her hooves and threatened the Devils that were inching closer.

“Hihihihihihihihihing!”

“Hihihihihihihihing!”

“Hihihihihihihihihihihihing!”

The hundreds of thousands of Hell Horses gathered around the barrier. At the order of their mother, Velma, the Hell Horses released their blazing flames at the same time. Clusters of flames fell down from their bodies and exploded, forcing the Devils to retreat.

“Obren,” Minhyuk called out, his hands touching the barrier as he looked at the man who was slowly dying.

Minhyuk had heard it clearly. He had heard Obren shouting that he wanted to live and that he wanted him to save him.

“…Why… why are you… so late?”

Minhyuk felt relieved when he confirmed that Obren was not yet dead. Seeing him appear, Master Xuanxang hurriedly terminated the barrier. Minhyuk quickly approached the two while casting ‘Let’s Have a Meal’, erecting another barrier that would protect Obren once again.

After doing all of that, Minhyuk took out Mandala’s potion and poured it slowly into Obren’s slightly parted mouth.

[Obren has received very severe injuries that even Mandala’s Potion cannot cure!]

Gulp, gulp, gulp—

That was what the notifications said. However, at the very least, the potion was slightly effective. After all, Obren, who did not have any energy to lift a single finger, was finally able to move.

The pale Obren slowly sat up. He said, “Why are you so late, idiot?”

“…Sorry,” Minhyuk answered, a small smile on his face as he looked in front of them.

He could see Velma leading the Hell Horses to push the Devils back with their blazing flames. However, he knew that this situation would only last for a brief moment. In fact, even if millions of Hell Horses appeared here, they would still be unable to do anything against the Devils inside the Demon World.

“Velma, let the Hell horses return.”

“Hihihihihihihing!

The Hell Horses began to retreat after hundreds of them had been slaughtered by the Devils. Even Velma was asked to retreat. After all, there was only one person that could fight and kill all ten Devils together.

“Obren, enjoy your meal.”

Minhyuk placed the earthen pot containing sundubu-jjigae in front of Obren along with piping hot rice. Then, he held out a spoon to Obren, who was looking at the dish in front of him.

“I told you that I would make it for you before. I’m sorry, it took so long.”

Obren stared at the sundubu-jjigae for quite some time. Then, he heard Minhyuk’s raspy voice saying, “Thank you for calling out to me, Obren.”

‘Thank you for not carrying it all by yourself. Thank you for calling out to me to help you.’

Obren smiled faintly as he looked at Minhyuk. Then, he said, “That’s enough. You can go now. We’re both going to get busy.”

“…”

Minhyuk understood what he meant. ‘I believe I can take care of this on my own now.’

If someone knew about this, they would be very shocked. After all, the Devils present were ranked first to the tenth. On top of that, there was a chance that Verus might awaken. There was no way that a single person would be able to deal with the ten Devils along with the Great Demon.

However, Minhyuk knew who the person in front of him was. He was one of the Eight Pillars, the Evil God that had once threatened the entire mankind before.

“I’ll just watch you eat before going.”

Obren smiled as he looked at the jiggling soft tofu in the steaming pot of sundubu-jjigae. The moment he ate a mouthful, a spicy and hot flavor instantly spread in his mouth.

‘It’s… delicious.’

He sighed in admiration as he mixed the eggs, which were not yet fully cooked in the soup, with his spoon. Although the color of the soup turned a bit dull with the mixing that he did, a different flavor spread in his mouth when he ate another mouthful.

‘The flavor has become richer. I think that’s the correct word to describe it?’

Obren smiled softly as he scooped a spoonful of white rice before taking a sip of the soup. Of course, he also did not forget to scoop a lot of soft tofu to go along with the rice and the soup.

The soft tofu glided softly around his mouth before sliding easily down his throat. The faint smile on his face grew clearer and clearer with every bite of the dish. Sometimes he would eat the sundubu-jjigae with rice. There were also times where he would take the clams out and enjoy their contents one after another.

Scratch— scratch, scratch—

Soon, the sound of his spoon scratching the bottom of the earthen pot could be heard. Obren had finished his meal very swiftly.

Badump, badump, badump, badump—

Meanwhile, Verus’ egg that was in the form of a heart suddenly began to thump wildly. It seemed to have realized that Minhyuk was in its vicinity.

[Great Demon Verus is in a turbulent state!]

[Great Demon Verus has noticed your existence! He is overcome with rage!]

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa—!

Red blood dripped down from the egg and slowly encroached upon the Demon World.

[Great Demon Verus’ Wrath has boosted the strength of the Devils!]

[All of the Devils’ attack has increased by 11%!]

[The Devils’ recovery rate has grown better.]

[Great Demon Verus has summoned the Demon Corps!]

Thump, thump, thump, thump—

The entire Demon World shook and trembled.

‘There’s at least a million and a half troops coming this way.’

That was how many demonic beasts and demons were marching toward this place. Master Xuanxang, who realized the situation that they were in, felt numb all over.

However, Obren just said, “You’re still not going?” Then, he smiled at Minhyuk and slowly stood up from his seat.

In a blink, almost two million demonic beasts have arrived, their roars resounding loudly in the area. The Devils also stepped forward and glared fiercely at Obren.

Swoosh—

Minhyuk released the barrier created by the Let’s Have a Meal skill. There was a sharp glint in Obren’s eyes as he looked at the enemies beyond the slowly melting barrier.

Vwoooooooooooong—

At the same time, there were countless notifications ringing in Obren’s ears.

[You have eaten the Seafood Sundubu-jjigae!]

[The dish is Legendary Grade!]

The seafood sundubu-jjigae that Minhyuk made might sound a little lacking. Some might even think that it was not enough for them to escape this very dangerous situation. After all, the dish was a mere legendary grade dish. However, the beans had anti-aging properties and had the power to restore one’s energy and vitality. In other words, it was a dish that could rejuvenate whoever consumed it, its buff effect allowing one to return to their peak state.

[The seal on your power has been temporarily lifted! You can use your entire power during the buff duration!]

This effect was more than enough.

Rumbleeeeeeeee—

Even though Obren’s power had just awakened, the entire Demon World could not take on the pressure and was forced to tremble and shake from his majesty. The terrifying pressure made it harder for them to breathe while the ground shook under their feet.

Then, at that moment, the Food God’s Voice resounded all over the Demon World.

[The true Evil God…]

“Hihihihihihihihihing!”

Minhyuk rode Velma, who had opened the Hell’s Gate. Before he closed the threshold completely, Minhyuk turned to look back at Obren, who was facing the two million strong Demonic Beast Army and the ten powerful Devils.

At that moment, millions of Evil God’s Books appeared in the sky. Then, millions of lightning bolts and streams of flame shot down and slaughtered the demonic beasts that were marching on the ground below them.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—!

Obren stood in the middle of the dazzling storm. He turned to look back at Minhyuk, a faint smile showing on his handsome face.

Relieved, Minhyuk turned back and went on his way back to Hell as he finished the words that he wanted to say using his Food God’s Voice.

[…has awakened.]

1. Spicy soft tofu stew ☜