Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 558: God of Cooking’s Trial

Chapter 558: God of Cooking’s Trial

The entire world cheered when they saw Joy Co. Ltd.’s announcement.

[Joy Co. Ltd.’s Announcement.]

On the same day as the server integration, we will be holding a ‘Battle of the Thrones’.

The Battle of Thrones is open for all countries with an Athenae Server. Only one person can be chosen as king per server. Each king is given the chance to choose one ‘agent’ that will act on their behalf. Each country can only send out 1,000 NPCs and 50,000 players to participate in the battle. In the case of death during the Battle of the Thrones, all NPCs will be revived in their respective continents. The rules and regulations that the players should be familiar with will be explained below. Please click on the number for a more detailed description.

1. Each server can only choose one king to participate in the Battle of the Thrones.
2. The chosen king will be able to exert a stronger power than usual.
3. The simplest method to bring down a kingdom is to destroy the king’s statue located deep inside the kingdom’s castle.
4. For kingdoms that form an alliance and cooperate to attack another kingdom, the kingdom they’re attacking will receive special privileges.
5. A contribution system will be activated during the entirety of the event. Kingdoms with the highest contribution will receive special privileges.
6. Once the kings have been selected, each kingdom must create and submit their own castle’s blueprint. (Athenae will automatically assign and build a castle for the kingdoms that failed to submit their blueprints.)
7. Kingdoms that will participate in the Battle of the Thrones will receive rewards based on their final rankings. The king of the kingdom that will rank first will receive a special reward.

The notice was great enough to invoke the cheers and applause of many. Although it was only an event inside the game, each of the participating country’s governments had started to make their moves.

[China’s movements are quite unusual, or so I’ve heard? There are rumors that they are trying to equip their own Battle of the Thrones’ participants with artifacts.]

[France’s movements seem to be quite extraordinary too. I don’t understand why the governments are intervening just for an event in a game.]

[Me, I can understand it. Athenae is already considered to be another world. It is a game that is loved by many people all over the world. The world is teeming with countries that can’t wait to snap their jaws at each other and devour the weaker ones. A lot of countries want to take this opportunity to show the world what kind of country they are, an underdeveloped country or a developed country. They are trying to show the world that they have the upperhand in this match and will definitely be unmatched.]

[Instead of doing it in reality, where wars and indiscriminate killings are frowned upon, they’re trying to determine who has the upperhand and who is stronger inside this virtual world?]

[Yep, yep. That’s about right, I think? It’s great enough that each of the countries’ governments are paying attention to the matter. How much criticism do you think a developed country would receive if they ranked low in the Battle of the Thrones?]

[That’s right. The developed countries would want to keep their place while the underdeveloped ones would want to take those places. We can expect each country to go all out and fight with all they got in this.]

[It’s going to be aired at the same time all over the world, right? This event will definitely have a huge impact on the world.]

[I already can’t wait for it.]

Joy Co. Ltd.’s intentions were successfully realized with this announcement. Their original intention for this event was to create a bigger issue to cover up the issue of Akhan being an early developer. And they succeeded. Akhan’s story was slowly buried into dust as expectations for the Battle of the Thrones soared.

Since the Battle of the Thrones’ announcement was done in a hurry, the date for the start of the battle was only four days away, on the same day the Server Integration would take place.

***

Obtain ingredients from the Abyss Field and cook a dish that would unseal Arlene’s power.

This was the trial that Arlene presented to Minhyuk. Actually, the reason why Minhyuk came here was so he could recover his Absolute God’s Secret, which was sealed by those damn gods, to its original state. This was something that he had to do and for some reason, he was also tasked to gather ingredients for the dish that she had to cook for her friend. Of course, Minhyuk gained a lot during the process too.

‘If I cook dishes with these ingredients for the people in Beyond the Heavens Kingdom, they’ll be able to gain tremendous power,’ Minhyuk thought as he looked at the God’s Carefully Nurtured Abyss Cow sitting quietly inside his inventory with a pleased smile on his face.

Surprisingly enough, the way to obtain the God’s Carefully Nurtured Abyss Cow was very simple. All Minhyuk had to do was harvest 50% of the ingredients in the Abyss Field. What’s more, this was the Abyss Cow with special effects for each part.

After Minhyuk acquired the cow, all of the parts that were marked with a ‘???’ had been revealed.

(God’s Carefully Nurtured Abyss Cow)

Rank: God’s Five Delicacies

Special Abilities:

•Each cut of meat of God’s Carefully Nurtured Abyss Cow will give you a choice of selecting between buff effects or permanent effects.

•Sirloin: Permanent Effect—+1 Skill Level; Buff Effect—Skill Level increase will depend on the chef and the dish’s grade.

•Foreshank: Permanent Effect—+7% increase in AGI; Buff Effect—…will depend on the chef and the dish’s grade.

•Ribs: Permanent Effect—Random % increase in chosen stat’s volume upon consumption; Buff Effect—…will depend on the chef and the dish’s grade.

•Hindshank: Permanent Effect—Artifact strengthening…

Description: God’s Carefully Nurtured Abyss Cow is a cow that can exert buff or permanent effect with every cut of its meat once eaten. Cannot be obtained through force.

That was why God’s Carefully Nurtured Abyss Cow could be considered as an excellent and outstanding ingredient that could easily surpass any god-grade ingredient in existence.

For the ingredient’s buff effect and the permanent effect, if the permanent effect had the effect of increasing AGI by 5, then the buff effect would be able to increase the AGI by 15. It was a tremendous increase in force. However, the buff effect would disappear in a short amount of time.

In other words, these cuts could give Minhyuk and his guild members an insane increase in power depending on the situation. Also…

‘What if I cooked God's Delicacy with the ingredients grown in the Abyss Field?’ Minhyuk gulped dryly at the thought. To that extent, one could say that the power of the ingredients that Minhyuk ‘obtained’ from Arlene was enormous.

Now, it was time for Minhyuk to do something better. He took out a huge cauldron filled with water together with the ingredients that he harvested from the Abyss Field; the wild ginseng, the jujube, the garlic, the onion and many more. Then, Minhyuk lit a fire under the cauldron.

He could summon his trailer but Minhyuk felt that there was no need to do so. The reason why he took out a cauldron and not his trailer that could create bulk dishes, was so he could show the God of Cooking his own skills and show her what kind of dish the Food God could make. Also, the cauldron could bring out the most authentic flavor of the dish, the ‘chicken soup’, that he would make.

He placed the ingredients that he got as they were in the cauldron. He did not cut the wild ginseng, the garlic, the jujube and the onion. Then, he took out a large native chicken and dropped it in the cauldron.

“Why are you cooking there?” Arlene, the God of Cooking, asked curiously. She knew that the cauldron that Minhyuk took out was a very troublesome piece of cookware. One had to continue stoking the fire to control the heat which would produce lots of smoke that hurt the eye.

“The cauldron can take on a strong fire. Also, since it’s made with a thick material, it can preserve heat for a very long time. If I cook with this, I will be able to boil the dish better and preserve the heat for a long time while eating. It also has its own unique charm and effect on the taste of the dish.”

Arlene nodded in answer, opting to continue watching Minhyuk cook.

Minhyuk continued to stoke the fire, the heat from both the fire and cauldron making him sweat profusely. He just slung a towel around his neck and used it to wipe off his sweat, while tending to the fire. He boiled the chicken soup inside the cauldron for a very long time.

“I think it’s already done cooking though?”

“Chicken soup is known for its meat’s superb and chewy texture. But in my personal opinion, just cooking the chicken soup by following the normal amount of time to boil the dish will make the chicken more ‘rubbery’ instead of ‘chewy’. If it’s like that, then the meat will be tough to chew. However, if you continue to boil it like this before serving, then the meat will become softer and chewier.”

Minhyuk cooked the chicken soup for a long, long time. Then, using a wet towel, he grabbed the handle of the cauldron’s lid and lifted it up.

Shwaaaaaaaa—

Seeing the steam rise from the depths of the cauldron, Arlene became curious. She slowly approached and peered at the contents inside. What greeted her was the boiling feast of scrumptious chicken soup. The perfectly boiled native chicken shone with its natural oils, surrounded by whole garlic and jujube, while bobbing up and down in the boiling soup.

Gulp—

Arlene, the God of Cooking who found even a decent dish to be subpar, gulped unknowingly at the sight. At the same time, the notifications rang for Minhyuk.

[You have completed the Chicken Soup.]

[Arlene’s dish is the only dish with the buff effect.]

[Legendary Grade.]

[You have gained 30 DEX.]

[You have gained 200 REP.]

[You have gained 5,000 AP.]

[Your five basic stats have increased by +2.]

The chicken soup was a legendary grade dish! When Minhyuk checked the information and the effects of the soup, he could not help but be surprised.

‘It’s only at legendary grade but the effects that it has is far more powerful than any other legendary grade dish. Is it because of the excellent ingredients?’

Either way, Arlene would be able to check it herself when she ate it. So, Minhyuk just brought out a tray and plated the chicken soup on it. He also prepared and mixed salt and pepper in a saucer and placed some well-ripened kimchi as a side dish. Right after finishing everything, Minhyuk triggered his ‘Joy of Eating Together’ skill and created the same set of dishes in front of him.

“…What’s that skill? I kind of want it,” Arlene said, eyes sparkling with desire as she looked at Minhyuk’s skill. This was proof that the ‘Joy of Eating Together’, the Food God’s Innate Skill, was a truly special skill.

‘Goodness! You can cook for others and eat the same dishes that you served them!’

Of course, the dishes would not have any buff effects. But for Arlene, tasting her own dishes was enough. When it was time to taste the chicken soup, Arlene turned to observe Minhyuk first. She has not actually eaten a chicken soup like this so she wanted to know what to do first. Arlene watched as Minhyuk grabbed a piece of leg from the still piping hot chicken soup and…

“Fwoo! Fwoo!”

…immediately placed it in his own bowl. Minhyuk had to blow on the tips of his fingers to alleviate the heat that lingered in them after taking out the steaming chicken leg. Of course, the first step to this was eating the dish as it was. The heat of the chicken spread in his mouth the moment he took a bite out of the chicken leg.

“Hooo~” Minhyuk exhaled a breath full of steam from the heat as he chewed on the chicken. The meat of the chicken after being boiled for a long time was soft and tender, even its natural oils would spread inside his mouth in every bite. This was one of the charms of chicken soup.

Next, Minhyuk dipped it in salt. The salt perfectly complemented the greasy flavor of the chicken in Minhyuk’s mouth, bringing him endless delight. But did Minhyuk stop there? Of course not. He ripped some kimchi with his hands and placed it on top of the chicken meat. The spicy and sour kimchi could wash away the chicken soup’s greasy aftertaste that would linger in one’s mouth and bring out a shout of admiration. The moment Minhyuk placed everything in his mouth…

Crunch, crunch, crunch—

…a delightful crunch rang loudly in the area.

“Kghhhk~” Minhyuk shouted in admiration, his fingers completely covered with oil.

Meanwhile, Arlene’s eyes widened in surprise when the meat of the chicken easily separated from the bones the moment she took a bite out of it. Of course, as the God of Cooking, Arlene was very aware that this was the natural result after boiling something for a long time. But even so, she could not stop herself from admiring the soft and tender texture of the meat that was easily pulled out from the bone. She also copied what Minhyuk did, placing a piece of kimchi on top of the meat and eating everything in one go.

Crunch, crunch—

“Amazing…”

She felt like every bite of the combination in her mouth was washing away the grease left behind by the meat. It was very surprising to witness Arlene, the God of Cooking, use her bare hands to rip the chicken apart and enjoy the taste of the chicken soup in front of her. While she was busy eating like someone was chasing her, Minhyuk stood up from his seat and walked to the cauldron. The boy added some well-soaked glutinous rice, chopped carrots, and green onions inside the cauldron before stirring everything.

“…Huh? When did you finish eating?” Arlene was only almost halfway through her own meal but Minhyuk had already finished everything.

Minhyuk continued to stir the contents of the cauldron, making sure that none of the ingredients stuck to the bottom. By the time Arlene finished eating her meal, Minhyuk had already finished the chicken porridge, complete with beautiful colors from the chopped carrots and green onions. Minhyuk scooped two bowls of the hot chicken porridge and placed it in front of him and Arlene.

Then, he began to eat the still steaming chicken porridge.

“Ugh. Hot.”

The heat of the chicken porridge felt pleasant in Minhyuk’s mouth. His throat was also warmed when he gulped down the food in his mouth.

“Hoo! Hoo!” Minhyuk blew gently on it before scooping another mouthful. That was when the salty and savory flavor of the chicken porridge registered in Minhyuk’s taste buds. Just like before, Minhyuk placed a piece of ripe kimchi in his porridge.

‘I knew it! Sour kimchi is a better match with chicken porridge than chicken soup.’

The moment he scooped a spoonful of the porridge and the kimchi and placed it into his mouth…

Crunch, crunch—

The crunchy texture of the kimchi and the soft texture of the porridge met and created a great harmony inside his mouth, his lips curling into a smile.

“Wow…”

“Wow…”

The two people exclaimed in admiration at the same time. Finally, the two finished the last spoonful of their dishes.

“Fwaaa…”

“Fwaa….”

They both let out a sigh of satisfaction after eating a very scrumptious meal. Only after she finished her meal did Arlene realize her uncouth behavior, her face turning a shade of red from embarrassment.

‘I am the God of Cooking! How can I act like that?’

While she was reprimanding herself, the notifications rang in her ears.

[You have eaten the Chicken Soup.]

[You can now use your sealed power.]

[You will only be able to use your sealed power for a total of three times.]

[With the Chicken Soup’s buff effects, your cooking skills power will increase by 10%.]

[The buff effect will last for twenty days.]

Arlene’s cooking skills, her cooking skills before her powers were sealed, would actually become 10% stronger.

“…???”

Arlene was dumbfounded. All she could do was stare at Minhyuk blankly for a very long time.