Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 14: Chicken Filled With Love

The system had requirements on weapons with strong attack power; they could only be wielded depending on the level of the user.

However, it was definitely impossible for Minhyuk to be wielding a weapon with 211 attack power at his level. Even if assuming that a rare weapon truly existed in the novice zone, its attack power would only reach the upper range of 130.

That was why Minhyuk's declaration that the sword boasted an attack power of 211, was extremely overwhelming.

"The item has no requirements."

"..."

Oh Changwook's mouth straightened into a line.

"How, how about the armor?"

"Sylph's Leather Armor. I saw that it was also rare…"

Minhyuk tried to remember the stats.

"Defensive power is 314 with STR +2, AGI +6, and a +1 level increase on Bardy Swordsmanship."

"....Wooooooooow."

The women that were around immediately expressed their admiration. The same was true for the others.

"It… also has no requirements?"

"That's right, General!"

Changwook was left speechless. The usual rare items did not even exceed 150~180 defensive power.

"Sylph's Leather Armor? Anyway, it seems that whatever you do, you turn out to be the best. It's a pity you can't use the skill. Tsk… Since you haven't learned it yet."

"I've already learned it."

"You have already?learned?it? The skill is not available in the shop though?!"

"The hunting training instructor in the novice zone taught it to me?"

Minhyuk told them with an innocent expression as he continued to chew on his cherry tomatoes.

Changwook was speechless once again.

"What the hell are you even doing inside the game….?"

"I get to eat very well inside! It's truly the happiest time of my life!" Minhyuk exclaimed with a very wide smile.

Changwook raised both his hands in surrender.

Sitting comfortably on his chair, Minhyuk continued to chew on his cherry tomatoes while scrolling through his handphone with one hand.

"Ah, Hyung. I also received a legendary quest or something."

"A legendary quest? Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's true."

"How in the world…" Changwook was surprised once again. "What was the class? Ah, no, did you manage to see the reward yet?"

"It's the Berserker class."

"Be... Berserker… You’re sure that the reward class was?Berserker?"

"Yes."

There were cases where the class name was identified for the quest. This was usually the case for easy, Legendary-class quests, where the rewards were made known before the commencement.

"Wow… That's really great. Awesome."

"Is it good?"

"No one would pass on a Legendary class. Most of the popular top Rankers are holders of Legendary classes. There’s even a saying: You're a blockhead if you don't get into the top 100,000 with a Legendary class."

"I want to eat bread with a block of butter."

"Are you listening to me?! You look like you don't even have a shred of interest in what I'm saying! Some people even hoard Legendary class quests, and they sell the information for?hundreds?of millions in cash!"

"Uh-huh, I see."

However, Minhyuk remained dispassionate about Changwook’s words as he went back to the search on his handphone about Legendary class quests.

[Nims, I have received the legendary quest for Archmage, I can't believe a day like this has finally come to my life…!]

—AChunkOfLittlePoo: Oh… it will fail anyway. gj?.

—MingguJonStyle: Oh… Fail, 2222 hehehe

—Cacacass: Fail 33333

—KingPororo: I'm an Archmage?

—ghdgs432: I have a spear, frauds will be hit in a strike. Hehehehehehehehe

Minhyuk continued to search for more information related to legendary quests.

Sure enough, people online were very enthusiastic about the legendary quests. Some students even promised to study hard if they received a legendary quest.

He found the comments below.

—[CheolsuMommy: This kid. What did he just say now?

—CheolsuDaddy: Son, don't use studying as an excuse for playing games.

—CheolsuNoona: Cheolsu. Don't talk nonsense, go and make some ramyeon.

—CheolsuHyung: You can't do that~ You can't lie to me like that~

—CheolsuAunty: Our Cheolsu, let go of the pretty capsule.

—CheolsusAncestorfrom200YearsAgo: Ahem, I can't believe I have a descendant who uses studying as an excuse to play games, damn this bastard!]

‘These people have really great chemistry. They even changed their nicknames to leave comments.’

Minhyuk giggled to himself, then stood up.

"Minhyuk, are you going to do the legendary quest?" Changwook asked.

Minhyuk tilted his head in response, "Why should I do that?"

"Why?! What do you mean by why?! Isn't it a guaranteed check for an easy game-play from here on out?!"

"But… I won't be able to eat delicious food while I'm doing that."

"You're just trying to eat in the game… Ah, right, you're playing to eat..." Changwook looked at him blankly.

‘It's a legendary quest, though?’

‘It's a damn legendary quest!!’

"They said that if I go and meet an old man, I would be able to get some red bean jelly. Hehe… That would be delicious."

"You're going to eat?red bean jelly?instead of doing the legendary quest?!"

"No, Hyung! They would give me red bean jelly! Wow, Hyung… I'm totally speechless. You're being really frustrating, don't you understand me at all? How can a legendary quest be more important than red bean jelly?!"

"..."

At that moment, Minhyuk was so convincing that Changwook rubbed his cheeks, almost doubting himself.

'Is..is that so? Am I the strange one? Yeah. It might be better to eat.'

Changwook had fallen for his words.

"Ah, right. I'll meet you later when you log in at the Central Plaza in Isbin Village. Got it?"

"Okey dokey yo!"

"Did you change your hair color?"

"I only changed my weight to something that's 100kg less."

"Is that so? Got it. Anyway, let's go exercise."

"Yes! General!"

"Ple…please. Stop calling me general. Even the lady at the restaurant calls me general now…"

"Uhm…"

Minhyuk groaned as he still had to continue to exercise in reality.

‘You cannot be lazy both in-game and in real life.’

He was losing a bit of sleep these days, but it was alright since he was having a lot of fun.

***

General went straight to the Warp Wizard as soon as he logged in the game.

"Where will you be going?"

"Isbin Village."

"It will cost 20,000 gold, is that fine?"

General nodded coolly. This was the suave aura of someone in the ranking!

[You will be warped from Austin to Isbin Village.]

[You will be charged a fee of 20,000 gold.]

His eyes closed instinctively as a bright light flashed. When General opened his eyes, he was already standing in front of the Warp Wizard in Isbin Village. He took a step out of the Warp Point and went towards the central plaza.

'He reduced his weight… I'm curious as to what he looks like.'

General grinned, as he had not seen Minhyuk when he was still slim. He walked slowly, deep in thought.

'If a person were to lose 100kg in weight, could the changes in their appearance be groundbreaking? Even losing 10kg can yield huge changes.'

After walking for a bit, General arrived in front of the central square.

"Looking for Level 5~10 party members to hunt in the Goblin Fields. Only one spot left!"

"ROYGBIV! Vio! Violet potion for sale! Buy ten, get one free!"

"Buff service! One for 1,000 gold!"

"Looking for an?Athenae?GF! I'm thirteen years old and I'm called Fire Fist Ace in school! I like the Nami-type!"

"Hey hey, Jintae, I got a new item!"

"What did you get?"

"It's a unique spear. Wanna see? It's very dope!"

It was very crowded. General's forehead wrinkled in annoyance as tons of people swarmed around him.

‘Let's see, where's that guy? Should I send him a whisper?’

General turned on his whisper chat.

[General: Where are you?]

[Minhyuk: At the central plaza.]

[General: Plaza, which direction…]

As the two of them continued to send whispers…

Bang!

"Ah, I'm sorry."

He bumped into a man. General nodded his head in a bow. He then looked at the man's face.

'He, he's really handsome…!'

The man nodded his head in a bow too. He was 185cm tall and had a sharp nose, doe-like eyes, and a smooth jawline.

‘Isn't this what Kang Dongwonbin looks like??Wow, I must be dreaming. Is this person a model in real life? Won't he be a total hit if he becomes a celebrity?'

Oh Changwook was originally a health trainer for famous celebrities and entertainers, so it was normal for him to be particular about appearances. He thought briefly about the man, before turning to reply his whispers.

Tap, tap.

"Uh, excuse me."

General turned to look at the person who tapped him. It was the handsome man from before.

Then…

"Loyalty. Salute to the General, sir!"

"Oh… oh my god…"

The man was holding a bag of bread and his voice… the playful voiced sounded all too familiar…

It was Minhyuk.

***

When Minhyuk re-entered the game, he found himself standing in front of two guards at the entrance to Isbin Village. It was the same place where he logged out of.

"Hello! It's a good day to eat something delicious, right?"

"Oh, that's right! Are you a traveler?"

"Is that a new way of greeting?"

The two guards laughed as they watched Minhyuk enter Isbin Village while munching on the soft bread that Roina gave him. The soft bread she had given him was much more delicious than the hard one.

Eating something delicious every day, every step of the way, is a very happy thing.

Minhyuk was able to see a huge drove of players the moment he arrived at the central plaza.

"Looking for Level 5~10 party members to go hunt in the Goblin Fields. Only one spot left!"

"ROYGBIV! Vio! Violet potion for sale! Buy ten, get one free!"

"Buff service! One for 1,000 gold!"

"Looking for an?Athenae?GF! I'm thirteen years old and I'm called Fire Fist Ace in school! I like the Nami-type!"

"Hey hey, Jintae, I got a new item!"

There were parties looking for members to go hunting and some players who seemed to be alchemists selling their potions. There were even people who came to meet their friends in the game.

"What did you get?"

"It's a unique spear. Wanna see? It's very dope!"

"Oh, frick. I'm so jealous!"

Isbin Village was full of life. Even the NPCs were selling their wares and goods on the streets.

"I've arrived."

Minhyuk weaved through the cracks in the sea of players while looking for General. However, he was not able to see him.

Just then, a message came up through a transparent hologram window.

[General: Where are you?]

To send a whisper, all the player needed to do was to think of the person they wanted to send it to. After which, they could just think or blurt out the message, and it would be entered into the hologram interface.

[Minhyuk: At the central plaza.]

When Minhyuk first learnt about the whispers function, he thought that it was quite amazing. As he was looking at some of the items for sale…

Bang!

He bumped into another person's shoulders.

"Ah, I'm sorry." The other party's reacted faster than him.

Minhyuk froze. He trembled slightly as the man kept on staring at him. He knew this voice and this face. It was Changwook, or General.

General took his eyes off of Minhyuk after a while and turned to go his own way.

Minhyuk watched General's retreating figure and saw the latter's unique walk. Changwook had been working out for a long time, that was why he walked slightly differently compared to other people.

‘How do I put it… it's like he's walking with his chest puffed up?’

'It's Changwook-hyung, so why did he go?'

As he thought about this, Minhyuk quickly caught up to General and tapped on his shoulders.

'Hoo… I'm finally seeing the General.'

The man turned around to face him.

"Loyalty. Salute to the General, sir!"

"Oh… oh my god!"

"Huh?" Minhyuk tilted his head at the exclamation. General looked pretty surprised.

"Did… Did you really not change anything at all?"

"Change??Athenae?makes it impossible to change your face, you know."

"So… so this is really your face?"

"Yeah."

"Waaaaaah, Minhyuk, you rascal!"

General suddenly hugged him.

"There are a lot of gay people in town these days…"

"Did you know? There are rumors that the rough-looking ones sometimes take on the woman's role."

"......!"

They did not even notice that other players were slowly stepping away from them. However, General hugged Minhyuk for a while before running around excitedly. Right now, he was very happy to see him.

"Hey, Hyung, what's wrong with you?"

"Yah, you're really,?really?handsome! Wahaha, Kang Minhyuk. You're really handsome!"

"I know."

"Amaaazing. You're like a scratch lottery ticket! Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

Minhyuk laughed when he saw that Changwook was sincerely happy for him. After all, who would not be happy if they were praised for their looks?

‘It's been so long. Were the others pointing at us?’

Actually, he was not afraid of them pointing at him or gossiping. Nobody would want to be born having this condition. He never asked for an eating disorder.

However, there was only one thing…

‘Father.’

Including everyone who was like a father to him. It was quite obvious how they would react when they saw his potential.

‘Father said…’

'Son, you are my pride. No matter how you look, you won't look bad to me. I would never be ashamed of you!'

However, back in the real world, it was not what Minhyuk felt like he could do. He just wanted to make his father proud of him.

‘But I can't.’

It was only natural that he would not want to go out with how he looked. Yet now, his Hyung told him…

‘You're really handsome. You're very very handsome.’

1. The raws actually used the word ?? (deungsin) which means idiot and ?? (deungsim) which means steak. I changed it here to reflect the word play.

2. gj = good job