Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 402: Vassal Brod

Minhyuk seasoned the meat and tried to start grilling on his now well-heated pan. But before he could do so, a set of notifications rang in his head.

[God’s Cooking Ingredient does not recognize and approve of you.]

[You will receive a huge restriction while cooking.]

“…?”

Minhyuk looked at the notifications in doubt. It did not recognize and approve of him? What did it mean?

‘Are you telling me that I’m not yet at the level where I can handle God’s Ingredient yet?’

This was the only conclusion that he could come up with. Minhyuk might have a God class, but he was not yet a ‘God’. The Athenae management had also informed him that he was not a true ‘God’, but a ‘candidate’ to become one. Even if Minhyuk had made a ‘God-grade’ dish, the ingredients that he used back then were only the ‘Five Legendary Ingredients’. These ingredients were inherently different from God’s Ingredients.

However, even after knowing that, Minhyuk did not have the leisure to back down and step away from this challenge. He quickly placed the steak on the frying pan to grill it. But then, at that moment…

Sizzle—

…around a hundred droplets made of light appeared on the surface of the meat before shooting toward Minhyuk.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab—

[God’s Barrier has interfered with you.]

[Your HP has dropped below 85%.]

“Keheok?!”

It was only then that Minhyuk realized that the attack of those light droplets was beyond what he could imagine. He was so shocked to discover that these droplets, which looked smaller than his fingernails, could deal so much damage to him.

‘If things continue at this rate, then I will die cooking.’

However, Minhyuk did not have any other choice.

Sizzle—

He had already placed the steak on the pan, and it was already starting to get cooked. The way to cook steak was short and simple. However, it was vital that the meat get flipped at the right time. If he missed the timing even just by a little, Athenae’s Beef Tenderloin would be turned into scrap.

The notifications before just told him that he was not acknowledged, but it did not mean that he could not cook the ingredient. This meant that Minhyuk could cook it using any method possible. However, if things continued at this rate, he might die while cooking. That was when Brod stepped forward.

“I will try to stop this power.”

“You’ll do that?”

Brod nodded. And just when Minhyuk grabbed the tongs to flip the meat…

[God’s Barrier has interfered with you.]

This time, there were more drops of light that shot out to attack Minhyuk. But then…

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping—

…Brod started splitting the small drops of light.

‘Crazy…!’

Minhyuk looked at him in shock as he continued to cook. However, despite Brod’s spectacular display, he was still unable to block all of them. There were hundreds of droplets, and it would only take two seconds for these droplets to hit Minhyuk. Within that time frame, Brod was able to cut down 90, while the remaining 10 continued to shoot toward Minhyuk. Then…

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, stab—

…Brod used his own body to stop the water droplets. Minhyuk could tell that he was suffering from immense pain. As a player, he did not really feel that much pain from these attacks, but for Brod, an NPC, Minhyuk was sure that the pain would be borderline torturous.

But Brod just frowned and continued to swing his sword toward the forming droplets of light. The ones that he could not stop with his sword, he used his body to block.

“Spat!” Brod suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. He did not even mutter a sound, but it was obvious that he was suffering from the drops of sweat that covered his body. Brod staggered and in the end…

Thud—

…he was forced to support his body with his sword as he collapsed on one knee. Shockingly, he did not let out a single groan from the pain.

“Are you alright?”

“Don’t stop!!! Don’t ever stop!!!”

“…Yes.”

Right then and there, Minhyuk decided to concentrate and put his all into cooking this steak. As he grilled the meat, Minhyuk thought that the figure that blocked the attacks for him was dazzling and eye-catching. Brod was fighting with his life on the line for Princess Iris whom he loved since he was a child. And his will to save his beloved was clearly transmitted to Minhyuk. At that moment, Minhyuk thought that he did not want to see these two people part ways forever. Unknowingly, Minhyuk fell into a ‘trance’.

Sizzle—

And finally, he flipped the steak for the last time and grilled it for a bit more.

Thuuuud—

Brod had collapsed on the ground, but Minhyuk did not hear it. However, there was a smile gracing his lips from the notifications that announced the completion of the dish.

[You have completed the Filet Mignon Steak.]

[Trance. It is a dish that has your ‘Admiration for Love’, ‘Efforts’, ‘Hope’ and ‘Courage to Offer Everything’ poured into it.]

[This dish is graded Legendary.]

[You have gained 30 DEX.]

[You have gained 200 REP.]

[You have gained 5,000 AP.]

[You have gained +2 on all five of your basic stats.]

[You are the first player that cooked a God’s Ingredient!]

[You have gained 500 REP.]

[You have gained +20 on all five of your basic stats.]

[You now have the privilege to cook one dish using God’s Ingredient without any restriction.]

Only then did Minhyuk have the time to look at the collapsed Brod. He slowly stood up with a smile on his face despite the blood dripping down his body. Brod was the one that took most of the damage, but there were still droplets that occasionally slipped through him and dealt huge damage to Minhyuk and made him bleed all over. The two, who were covered with blood, were smiling at each other. The scene was bizarre, yet wonderfully warm.

“Quickly give the steak to Iris…”

“Of course!”

Minhyuk hurriedly moved to hand over the steak to Iris. But then, he thought of a problem…

‘Will she even be willing to eat it?’

Just when this thought passed through Minhyuk’s head, her eyes that had turned black turned to look at him. Then, she reacted to the steak, “The dish called steak that I wanted to eat! The steak that I really wanted to eat! Hihihihihihi!”

It might be true that her mind was blurred and being controlled by the brainwashing, but there were still parts of her memories that remained clear to her. Iris hurriedly grabbed and ate the steak. And fifteen minutes later…

Iris stared at the bleeding Brod that was lying on her lap. Brod, who had endured for a long time, had reached his limits and eventually collapsed. Iris patted his cheeks gently and lovingly. Brod smiled at her as he lifted his sword to Minhyuk.

“Boy. This is yours now. However, I have a favor to ask of you. Please save her kingdom.”

Then, Minhyuk heard the quest completion notifications. He also heard the notifications about gaining Iris’ Authority. Minhyuk was shocked when he checked the description, but he did not have much time and quickly rushed out.

Iris watched Minhyuk’s departing back, before saying, “Sir Brod.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

Brod, who regained his senses, looked at Iris with a smile on his face.

“I gave him two of my most powerful authorities. I did a good job, right?” Iris sniffed as tears fell down her cheeks.

Brod grinned and said, “You did a really great job.”

At the same time, Minhyuk had arrived at the gates, only to discover a new type of undead. He moved quickly to block them and stop their advance at the front of the gates.

***

Death had no choice but to be shocked. Basic attacks, in gaming terms, were general attacks that did not use any skills. And yet, the basic attacks that were sent out just a few moments prior had destroyed many Lord Legends.

But was that the end?

No. Every swing of his sword had destroyed dozens of Skeleton Knight Lords and turned them into dust.

Baaaaaaang! Baaaaaaaaang!

In the end, the man destroyed all of the undead that slipped past the gates before coming out of Rocard Kingdom. The man ordered the people of Rocard Kingdom to close the gates as he dashed in the middle of thousands of undead.

“Kyahaaaaack!”

“Kiyeeeeeeee!”

“That’s right! These drakes have extremely high defenses! What can you do against hundreds of drakes when you can’t use any skills?! Huh?!”

Death was thrilled. It was foolish of him to come out alone, especially against him that could control the undead during battle. His powers were far beyond any of the ordinary necromancers who could not control the majority of their summoned undead.

“Everyone, kill that guy!!!”

Hundreds of bone drakes made the ground shake and tremble as they rushed toward Minhyuk! At that moment, Minhyuk jumped up and slammed his sword down strongly on the head of the drake leading the pack.

Crackle, crackle—

Baaaaaaaaaang!

A bloody lightning bolt fell down and devoured the surrounding area. The lightning strike decimated a huge number of drakes leaving no traces behind.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Minhyuk quickly advanced among tens of thousands of the undead. And this was him still in the ‘Death Zone’! Each swing of Minhyuk’s sword created a bloody lightning bolt that struck down and devoured the undead in his path. Even the aftermath decimated those that surrounded him.

‘It’s the sword! It’s the sword!’ Death finally realized that it was Minhyuk’s sword that was creating that special effect.

Death’s ‘Enemy Troops Observation’ would succeed in its observation and search if his enemy used an active skill. It was because of this that Death reached a very surprising conclusion.

‘What kind of passive skill is that…?!’

A passive skill could blow up an area with a radius of ten meters? Passive skills were inherently different from active skills. For passive skills, a critical damage or special attack would only be triggered based on chances and luck. Compared to active skills, some could not be easily used and could only be up to one’s pure luck.

But right now, every swing of Minhyuk’s sword triggered a passive skill that engulfed the entire battlefield. That was when Death suddenly realized something…

“Hi, hiiiiik?!”

The thought brought horror to Death. Minhyuk only needed to take one step, just one step, and he would get out of the Death Zone. Two steps and he would reach his vicinity. Three steps and he would be right in front of him.

“Stop hiiiiiiim!”

Those were just basic attacks. But the advantage of passive skills was that they could be applied to ‘continuous attacks’ and ‘AOE attacks’. For example, the skill ‘Light of Death’ was a skill that could stab the enemy’s vital points ten consecutive times in a split second. But what if the assassin had a chance to double the damage that they could inflict in an instant with their passive skill? What would happen if that passive skill was triggered? Then, the assassin’s attack would become much stronger. On top of that, passive skills were heavily influenced by ‘luck’. Simply put, one could trigger three critical hits after those ten stabs. So, what would happen if that powerful passive skill was triggered continuously?

Then, at that moment…

Step—

…Minhyuk left the sphere of influence of the Death Zone. The moment he stepped out of the area, hundreds of golden leaves started to fall and flutter around him!

“Fluttering Sword.”

The falling leaves turned into sharp sword lights that cut through the undead.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping—

Even the mysterious passive skill was triggered as dozens of bloody lightning bolts fell down from the skies.

Baaaaaaaang—

Baaaaaaaang—

Baaaaaaaang—

Baaaaaaaang—

The aftermath of the passive skill blew away an area with a radius of dozens of meters. The notifications that resulted from this attack brought terror to Death.

[The notification cannot determine the exact amount of damage received by the undead.]

[Analyzing the total damage incurred. 4,151 Skeleton Knights, 1,111 Skeleton Mages, 130 Skeleton Knight Lords and 120 Bone Dragon Lords have been destroyed.]

“Hiiiiiiiik!” Death shrieked when he heard the notifications. He took a step back only to fall down on the ground. This was the power that only one player exerted?!

‘Summit Five…?!’

It was a personal power that could rival a kingdom. It had to be his own personal power, otherwise, Death could not explain it at all.

‘They said that he was weak!’

For a moment, Death wanted to argue with the people from all over the world. The experts from all over the world and the people from the global community sites evaluated the Food God as just some pretty good ranker.

However, the power that he was demonstrating right now was not just a pretty good ranker! A single attack from him had made more than 5,000 undead disappear in an instant!

“Gasp, gasp!” Death gasped heavily. This was a very unexpected situation.

‘Wait… I still have a chance.’

That was right. After all, Minhyuk was alone among thousands of his undead! Besides, the people of Rocard Kingdom and his Named NPCs were already exhausted! Just when the thought crossed Death’s mind, Minhyuk looked around as he continued to stand still in the middle of the tens of thousands of undead that rushed towards him.

“Earth King’s Authority,” Minhyuk said as he looked at the undead flocking towards him.

“Worship.”

Baaaaaaaaang—

At that moment, Death felt a suffocating pressure press down on him. His entire body trembled from the pressure and fear. It was so scary that he almost wet himself. The scene that unfolded in front of Death made him shudder in fear. Tens of thousands of undead knelt down and heeded his every word.

Worship. That was right, they knelt down in worship. All of the undead knelt down and showed their reverence, as if they had accepted Minhyuk as their king.