Gourmet Gaming

[Explosion.]

[Lightning Storm.]

Minhyuk was shocked when he heard the notifications that rang out consecutively.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—

The meteor that fell from the sky shook not only the ground but also Minhyuk’s body. That was not all. The explosion that bloomed all over the place also struck him.

Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt, bzzt—

There was also a lightning storm that blew strong gusts of wind while zapping and electrocuting Minhyuk.

“Keuhaaaaaaaack!” Minhyuk unknowingly let out a scream.

Athenae was a game that did not really relay pain to its players. However, since it was a virtual reality game that had graphics that could be said to be almost lifelike and similar to that of reality, just having these magical attacks fall down and engulf the narrow area of five-meter radius was enough to gnaw at Minhyuk’s spirit and mental strength.

The worst was that even Mandala’s Recovery Elixir could not keep up with the amount of damage he was receiving from the continuous bombing of the magical attacks.

With the thick cloud of dust and the loud sounds of explosion ringing in his ears, Minhyuk did not have any way to check on the situation outside of his barrier.

[Your HP has dropped below 20%!]

[Your HP has dropped below 17%!]

[Your HP has dropped below 15%…]

Minhyuk’s lips had already turned dry and cracked from the heat around him. To make matters worse, there were several magical attacks that were all getting ready to be triggered.

[Wind Cutter.]

[Fireball.]

[Lightning.]

This time, they were all low-class magical attacks. However, the magic that was being cast by this ingredient could be considered to be on a similar level to those by mages at Level 600 or higher. That was why it did not matter if the magic was low-class or high-class. Minhyuk knew that he would not be able to endure if hundreds more magical attacks came his way.

Crackle—

A small fireball shot toward Minhyuk. As though it was a signal, the rest of the magical attacks moved to strike him all at once.

Shwaaaaaaa—

But then, a strange thing happened. The fireball, which was almost right in front of Minhyuk’s eyes, sizzled and disappeared into nothingness. When he looked around, he realized that the same thing happened to the other magical attacks.

When the hundreds of magic spells disappeared, Minhyuk finally saw the man, who had his hand on his transparent barrier. The man, who was in the form of a spirit, smiled softly at him.

“Your, Your Majesty Effer?”

The man was none other than Effer, who died not too long ago in Happy Island.

[Benevolent Ruler Effer’s power is protecting you.]

[Effer’s power and protection will last for three minutes!]

“Noble, it’s been a while.”

It was quite a fresh and novel feeling to see Effer like this.

‘This is the Tomb of the Kings.’

Minhyuk never dreamt that Effer would be in this place. However, he was here. Right now, Effer’s gaze as he looked at Minhyuk was filled with one question.

‘Are my people living well?’

Effer smiled in relief when he saw Minhyuk nod.

Meanwhile, Calauhel and the troops of Rothschilde Kingdom looked at the scene in shock and astonishment.

‘He received help from one of the kings inside the Tomb of the Kings?’

‘How far do his connections reach?’

On top of that, the king who helped Minhyuk was the one recognized as the ‘Legend of the Benevolent Ruler’ in history.

Effer looked like he had something to say to Minhyuk. “Minhyuk, this…”

However, Effer could not open his mouth any further than that. It was as if some sort of power was restricting him and stopping him from saying the rest of his words.

Effer could only sigh as he looked at Minhyuk once again. Then, he said, “Are you going to cook a God-grade dish?”

Minhyuk nodded while Effer looked at him with a bitter smile on his face.

“You have to make it.”

At that moment, Minhyuk noticed something strange. Effer did not say anything more than that. However, the idea that the Tomb of the Kings was not as simple as what he initially thought had already sprouted in his head.

Then, Minhyuk smiled at Effer. “Of course, I will succeed.”

Even if one used God-grade ingredients, there was no certainty that the dish would come out as a God-grade dish. There were many factors as well as several probabilities involved in making one. In the end, God-grade ingredients were just another way to help them get closer to the level of ‘God.’

Minhyuk was very glad to see Effer. However, time was short. He no longer had the leisure to talk with him.

Tak— tak, tak—

He quickly chopped and diced the kimchi, carrots, potatoes, and onions into bite-sized pieces. Then, after the pork ribs boiled once, he threw the water away and refilled it again.

Crackle—

The flames underneath the cauldron crackled into life once again. Minhyuk hurriedly made the sauce and spread it evenly in the cauldron. After that, all he had to do was to close the lid and wait for it to finish cooking.

However, according to the description of the Vicious Magic’s Pork Ribs, complex and intricate control of fire was needed when cooking. This was the trickiest part of the process.

[Please turn down the heat. If you don’t reduce the heat quickly, the ingredient will no longer be edible.]

‘Shit.’

Minhyuk’s face turned ugly. The water inside the cauldron had not even boiled yet. However, the ingredient said to reduce the heat.

[Please raise the heat to medium heat. If you don’t put it on medium heat quickly…]

Minhyuk controlled the fire once again.

[Please raise the heat to the highest…]

He hurriedly controlled the fire and followed the instructions that the notifications said.

‘I didn’t expect that using a cauldron would backfire on me like this.’

There were two main reasons why Minhyuk chose to use Ravier’s Bizarre Cauldron. The first one was because the buff effect would increase by 15% when the Bizarre Cauldron was used for cooking. The second one was that cauldrons could endure stronger flames. This meant that Minhyuk could skip the ordinary burner stove and opt for something stronger, which meant that he would be able to boil down his dishes faster.

‘I have to succeed in making a high-grade dish here so that Calauhel and the other players can be stronger.’

Minhyuk grew restless and impatient. He was constantly controlling and changing the level of flames underneath the cauldron while checking the time he had left of Effer’s protection. Of course, there was also the pressure of having to make a God-grade dish.

‘Huff, huff…’

He looked like he was being chased.

Effer, who saw him like that, said, “It seems like I made a slip of the tongue.”

“…Yes?” Minhyuk turned to look at Effer.

“I don’t know if this is because I said that you have to do it or not…” Effer looked bitter. “But your expression when cooking right now? It looks like you’re just cooking to become strong, Minhyuk.”

“…”

Minhyuk felt like he had been hit by a hammer on the head when he heard Effer say those words.

“I don’t know if this is because I told you to do it, but the way you look right now is not the one that I saw when you cooked the Great King Large Hairtail for me. It doesn’t look like you’re doing your best to eat something delicious.”

Only after hearing those words did Minhyuk realize it. When he looked back on everything that he had done so far, he realized that he had recently viewed cooking as a means and tool to become strong and not as a way to ‘taste delicious dishes.’ Of course, he had always thought of eating something delicious whenever he cooked. However, his thinking had clearly changed when compared to the past.

‘That’s right. I originally started Athenae so I can eat something delicious.’

But now, it had become a method to become stronger, a way to win the hearts of the people.

“I think it’s time for me to go back now.” Effer’s translucent body started to blur.

Minhyuk, who was pondering over his words, looked up at him with a small smile on his face and said, “Thank you for your reminder.”

Effer disappeared with a small smile on his face. His words had become a great lesson for Minhyuk.

‘Yeah. I’m playing Athenae to eat something delicious.’

At that moment, Minhyuk, who was cooking urgently as if he was being chased by something, relaxed as his mindset changed. He would not make these braised pork ribs as the most powerful dish, but as the most delicious braised pork ribs in the world. That was the dish that he would cook.

Crackleeee—

Minhyuk continued to control the fire. However, with Effer’s disappearance, the magic bombing continued once again.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—!

Most of the magic that fell upon him was exploding magic like Explosion. However, compared to the beginning, there was significantly less magic that bombed him. But Minhyuk ignored everything that was happening. All that was left in his head was the thought of how delicious the braised pork ribs would be once he was done cooking.

‘The sweetness of the braised short ribs will explode in the mouth once you bite on the meat and pull it off the bone.’

There was no other thought in his head except the thought of achieving the best harmony of flavors in the braised pork ribs that he was making.

Slash, slash, slash, slash—!

Calauhel and the soldiers of the Rothschilde Kingdom were at a loss for words as they continued to watch the violent exploding magic that ran amok inside the barrier.

“His expression is so…”

“He looks so happy…”

It was that look of excitement on one’s face when they were about to eat something delicious. Despite the magic bombing that constantly fell on him, Minhyuk did not even budge an inch. In fact, he looked like he was truly enjoying what he was doing.

Cooking was Minhyuk’s shelter, his salvation and home. It was not a mere means to become stronger. It had made him happy and fulfilled, especially because he had always been hungry.

[You have fallen into an Extreme Trance.]

[You truly take delight and enjoy the process of cooking.]

[The dish that you made with your happiness might become more special.]

‘That’s right. I’m very happy right now.’

The fact that he would be able to eat this delicious dish made Minhyuk focus to the point that he could not perceive his surroundings. All he could think about was how he would eat this once he was done.

[The God of Cooking has turned your dish, which is being made with a ‘Happy Heart’, into something more special.]

[The God of Will is helping you realize new things and is stopping anything from getting in your way.]

[The Battle God smiles in delight as he looks at you, who is very happy at the thought of eating something delicious.]

However, Minhyuk did not hear the voices of the gods. His entire focus was on making the braised pork ribs in front of him the most delicious in the world.

‘Just you wait, I will make the tastiest braised pork ribs in the world,’ Minhyuk thought, a bright smile on his face.

***

Ruin and Eveio were two of the mercenaries hired by the Rothschilde Kingdom to enter the Tomb of the Kings. While everyone was distracted and had their attention on the Food God, the two slipped away and went deeper into the ruins.

The truth was, the one that sold the information to Calauhel about the Tomb of the Kings was none other than Ian, the global number one dungeon explorer. However, another dungeon explorer had approached Calauhel under Ian’s orders.

Ian was a business-minded person through and through. Right now, he was the dog of the Luvien Empire. That meant that he would do everything in his power to help the Luvien Empire prosper. That was why he approached the two mercenaries.

—The two of you should go and join the expedition for the Tomb of the Kings as mercenaries.

—The Tomb of the Kings?

—Are you telling us to go?

From what they heard from Ian, the Tomb of the Kings’ difficulty was at an extreme level that no king in existence could clear right now. So, why was he telling them to push themselves to their deaths?

—The Rothschilde Kingdom’s King and his army will be wiped out in that place. Since Calauhel will challenge the dungeon, he will lose his artifacts, skills and even his level if he fails. However, what’s interesting is the fact that the skill will only drop and not get deleted if he gets forced to log out. However, what’s more important is the fact that the artifact drop rate is several times higher than normal.

That was right. The reason why Ian sold that information to the Rothschilde Kingdom and asked them to enter was because he was confident that the Rothschilde Kingdom would be wiped out.

—Watch over them until the very end. Watch until they get annihilated. After that, I will enter and acquire everything.

It was a thrilling thought of having the opportunity to take everything away from them. Calauhel was a bigshot and was a recognized wealthy man in Athenae. But it was not just him, even the other players would also drop artifacts. However, something unusual happened. Food God Minhyuk suddenly appeared and began to cook.

‘No way, are you telling me that a God-grade dish will appear?’

‘That’s impossible. However…’

The two were very confident that a God-grade dish would not appear. However, they were very afraid of the power that Food God Minhyuk wielded. If the Rothschilde Kingdom had him by their side, then they might truly be able to clear the Tomb of the Kings.

Still, Ian had been prepared for situations like this.

—If, by any chance, they are doing exceptionally well. Then, there’s a simple way of dealing with them. The Tomb of the Kings is the land owned by one of the Eight Pillars, Aegaeon. Pray to Aegaeon and awaken him. If you do that, then something interesting will happen.

‘Then, even the Food God will drop his skills and artifacts.’

‘It would be very amazing if we can take everything from the Food God.’

The two did not know what the interesting thing that would happen was. Regardless, Ruin and Eveio were completely blinded by the benefits that they might possibly get. After following the map that Ian gave them, the two arrived safely in the place where Aegaeon’s statue was standing.

Who was Aegaeon? He was one of the Eight Pillars who stood side by side with Pope Kronad, Evil God Obren, and even Athenae. The two did not know anything about him since no information had been released yet. They just did what they were told and prayed, just like Ian instructed them to do.

“O’ noble and great one that has been slumbering for a very long time, please heed our calls and awaken…omitted…please lend us your strength!”

The two placed their hands together and prayed. During the prayer, Ruin pulled out a dagger and cut his palm. Then, he let his blood drip on the golden bowl that was sitting snugly on the hands of Aegaeon’s statue.

Drip—

Red blood slowly filled the bowl. Not long after, a red light burst out from the statue as a shocking notification rang in their ears.

[The power of the slumbering Aegaeon has temporarily awakened.]

[Aegaeon, one of the Eight Pillars, has command over all of the kings inside the Tomb of the Kings.]

“Soldiers, prepare for battle.”

[All of the kings inside the Tomb of the Kings have awakened!]

[All of the kings inside the Tomb of the Kings have started to summon their armies!]

[All of the kings inside the Tomb of the Kings have started to charge and eliminate the intruders!]

[Challengers must survive for thirty minutes from the attacks of all of the kings.]

***

At the same time.

Minhyuk, with a bright smile on his face, murmured, “Braised pork ribs. Complete!”

As the smile on his face grew wider, notifications began to ring in his ears.

[You have achieved the Easter Egg: ‘The Most Delicious Dish in the World!’]

[Achieving an Easter Egg has made your dish even more special!]