Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 902

Conir had brought a Hefty Pocket filled with cooking ingredients. For five years, whenever he finished training, he would use these ingredients to practice making the dishes from Gimbap Heaven. Conir only sold ramyeon because he liked ramyeon. However, he started trying to learn other dishes.

“Conir worked hard for five years to make hyung happy! Conir ran out of ingredients during the process, but I practiced in my head!” Conir happily shared his experience when he saw Minhyuk finish the tuna gimbap.

‘Conir is a very special NPC. He has the power to create quests on his own.’

This was all thanks to Conir’s passive skill, Tenacity. Minhyuk felt his eyes grow misty. He could tell that Conir had gone through dozens of quests through this passive skill so that he could make dishes from Gimbap Heaven that could give him something whenever it was eaten.

So, what should Minhyuk do to reciprocate Conir’s care and love? Of course, it was to eat it more happily and enthusiastically.

“Maybe it’s because my dear Conir is the one that made it; that\'s why it tastes even better?”

“Conir is happy! Conir feels very happy!”

Minhyuk smiled faintly when he saw Conir looking all happy. There was still a lot of food left.

Minhyuk quickly stretched his chopstick toward the chewy jjolmyeon covered with halved eggs and shredded cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, and bean sprouts. After mixing everything, the jjolmyeon looked quite glossy and very tasty. He quickly picked up a mouthful of noodles and vegetables covered with the red sauce.

“Sluuuuuuuuuurp!”

The spicy and chewy noodles immediately greeted his mouth when he took a bite.

‘Jjolmyeon should have a lot of vegetables.’

The crunchy vegetables added a touch of flavor to the chewy noodles. Minhyuk continued to eat jjolmyeon while pouring some sauce over the tonkatsu and cutting it.

‘Kghhk. As expected of Gimbap Heaven, it’s really worth every penny.’

Wasn’t it amazing? Even if he ate all these, he would only need to pay around 25,000 won. After cutting the tonkatsu, he picked up his fork, took a large piece into his mouth, and mumbled, “Kghhk...”

The tonkatsu had turned slightly soggy with the sauce, but the taste was still excellent. When Minhyuk’s mouth felt dry, he gulped down the remaining soup from the ramyeon bowl he had finished earlier.

“Keuhaaaa!”

Unfortunately, the ramyeon had no special abilities like the tuna gimbap earlier.

‘Well, Conir was originally already a master of ramyeon. He did not need to study it anymore.’

Of course, whether those special effects were there did not matter. Minhyuk was just grateful for the chance to eat this meal. He had already finished eating the jjolmyeon before him in just a blink.

[You have eaten the Jjolmyeon made by someone who has studied the art of making jjolmyeon for five years!]

[Your attack skill’s attack power has increased by 1.6%!]

And the same was true for the tonkatsu.

[You have eaten the Tonkatsu made by someone who has studied the art of making tonkatsu for five years!]

[Your HP and MP volume have increased by 0.8%!]

[You have eaten the Tteokbokki made by someone who has studied the art of making tteokbokki for five years!]

[Your skill cooldown has decreased by 2%!]

The meal was very satisfying, both the taste and the rewards.

Just then, Haze entered, saying, “Your Majesty, our migration rate has increased by around three times more than usual. We expect this rate to be maintained for the time being.”

“Is that so?” Minhyuk sounded as if he expected this to happen.

They not only meant to weaken the Luvien Empire by killing all of the Luvien Imperial Army with this dungeon attack but also to make the Beyond the Heavens Empire grow stronger. Before Minhyuk had triggered the episode related to the dungeon, he had already met several empires and kingdoms. They had already promised to confront the Luvien Empire with the Beyond the Heavens Empire standing at the forefront and acting as their main pillar.

“The Luvien Empire is currently in the process of Duke Ruffiso’s funeral. The nations that have declared war against the Beyond the Heavens Empire are still silent.”

They expected that this situation would remain for quite some time. Now that many people had joined hands with the Beyond the Heavens Empire, the other nations that had declared war against them would not be able to take any reckless and hasty actions against them. The Luvien Empire had lost Duke Ruffiso and many elite troops. They desperately needed reorganization.

Meanwhile, the nations that were hostile to the Luvien Empire were all prepared for war and were ready for combat. Of course, the same was true for the Beyond the Heavens Empire. If the Luvien Empire gathered their troops immediately and launched an attack, they might win but suffer huge damages.

“I also found the whereabouts of the person that you told me to find.”

“Well done, Haze.”

“Will you be going in person?”

“I have to go in person and show our gratitude.”

“Also, Your Majesty.” Haze smiled faintly at Minhyuk. “I think Your Majesty can eat something delicious just like usual.”

“Mhm...” Minhyuk groaned.

The probability of the Luvien Empire attacking them was very low, even if the Beyond the Heavens Empire was obviously at war. But Haze was thinking differently.

“Your Majesty always brings something back whenever you come back, right?”

Every time Minhyuk left to eat something delicious, he would come back stronger or perhaps bring something special back, just like the right to rule the God-rank dungeon they used this time.

Haze and the executives had talked about this matter before.

–Minyuk should go out and look for delicious food rather than stay here and do his job as an emperor.

–Yes. Even if he only eats delicious food, he will still be able to help the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

–Haze. I have checked the accounts. Strangely enough, when Minhyuk leaves his throne and returns, our Beyond the Heavens’ funds will always experience a significant jump. Not only that, the number of migrants would also increase.

That was certainly the case. Whenever Minhyuk went out, he would attract migrants or bring huge funds back. It would be a waste of time for them to keep Minhyuk back here to run the Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“I believe in you, Your Majesty. Fufufufufu.” Haze left the office, a crafty smile on her face.

“Conir! It’s been a while since Conir greeted the people!” Conir shouted as he stepped out of the office with her.

Minhyuk leaned back on his chair as he watched the two leave. He ate the Gimbap Heaven dishes that Conir made for him when he returned from the Transcendentals’ Holy Land. Because of that, he could not check the rewards he received earlier.

‘We were able to secure additional God-rank artifacts and several legendary ones and skill books.’

Many legendary rank artifacts and skill books they obtained would be sold. As for the God-rank artifacts and skill books, they would try to distribute them, but it was likely they would need help to meet the conditions to use them. One of the God-rank artifacts that he had obtained was the Summoner’s Flute.

‘This is an artifact that Bastien dropped.’

It was even one of the excellent ones among the God-rank items. But even if Minhyuk gave this to someone, they would be unable to use it because of the requirements and restrictions.

‘I think we can use it in a different way later.’

The next best thing to the artifacts were the Star’s Armor and the Seven-colored Elixir. Minhyuk was left speechless when he saw the Star’s Armor Set.

‘This is amazing...’

However, he shook his head. In the first place, it was a set artifact that Minhyuk could not equip. However, one thing was for sure. The Star’s Armor exceeded the Slaughterer’s Armor. And the description written in the armor?

‘This is a set of armor gifted by the God of Blacksmiths to the Stars.’

In the first place, the craftsman was already ridiculous enough. The requirements written in the description were on another level.

‘This Set Armor for the Stars can only be equipped by those that received Duke Ruffiso’s recognition. Dismantling and reassembling this equipment is only possible if you receive Duke Ruffiso’s explicit permission.’

It was ridiculous, especially since Duke Ruffiso had already died.

‘In the first place, it’s nigh impossible to disassemble and reassemble this artifact, right?’

The armor that far surpassed the Slaughterer’s Armor had become something he could not devour or use. Since that was the case, Minhyuk quickly threw this to the back of his head and left behind the regret to check something else.

The next thing that he checked was the Seven-colored Elixir. A liquid flashing with seven colors sloshed inside the potion bottle.

“...?”

Minhyuk was left in shock when he saw the potion bottle.

“Are you telling me that the Luvien Empire’s Stars only drink things like this?”

So that’s why they were so strong. This thought crossed Minhyuk’s mind as he popped the bottle open and drank the contents.

[You have consumed the Seven-colored Elixir.]

[You have gained 2 STR.]

[You have gained 2 STM.]

[You have gained 2 AGI.]

[You have gained 2 INT.]

[You have gained 2 WIS.]

[Two random stats will be chosen.]

[You have gained 2 DEX.]

[You have gained 2 CHA.]

The elixir was a precious item that could increase seven stats in total by two. Then, Minhyuk checked the remaining two– Something that He was Chasing and Sun’s Salt. Minhyuk opened Something that He was Chasing, in the form of a book. The information immediately flashed in his head when he opened the first page.

(Something that He was Chasing)

Rank: None

Description: This is the archive of all of the data that Duke Ruffiso had gathered in his long pursuit to unravel the secrets of his birth.

Below were the words, letters, and records that Duke Ruffiso had written.

[The Transcendentals exist. The world has hidden them. However, I found some clues and traces that the transcendentals have stopped High Sorceress Helenia in the past.]

[From what I have gathered, they seemed to have hidden themselves somewhere that no one could find them.]

[Not too long ago, I was able to find an artifact. According to the artifact, it was produced by ‘Transcendental Runevur.’ The artifact was thousands of years old and had lost its function. However, I estimate that this artifact could easily exceed God-rank artifacts.]

[I estimate that there are around twenty transcendentals.]

[I don’t know how many transcendentals are currently left in existence.]

[Perhaps my parents are among these transcendentals.]

[I can’t find any more traces. If I find them alive, I will make sure to twist their necks with my bare hands. If there’s a tomb, I will crush it into powder.]

[Transcendentals... Transcendentals. Transcendentals. Someday, I will find them all, wring their necks, tie them up with a rope, and hang them to dry out in the open air.]

The item was in the form of a diary. Minhyuk knew about Duke Ruffiso’s story. And from his words, he had assumed that the transcendentals had abandoned him and bred resentment and anger toward them. However, in the end, he was already a dead man.

Minhyuk closed the book and thought, ‘Transcendentals. Those who have gone beyond even the gods. So, they exist.’

This was more than enough information. Then, Minhyuk looked at the red salt inside a tiny bottle. Duke Ruffiso had made it into a necklace and hung it around his neck. When Minhyuk lifted it toward the sun, the salt would glow a bright red.

‘Slurp...’ Minhyuk gulped his saliva down.

Sometimes, a good seasoning could determine the overall flavor of the dish. Minhyuk quickly checked the salt’s information.

(Sun’s Salt)

Ingredient Grade: ???

Special Abilities:

•You can trade one gram of this salt for 10,000 platinum at the Event’s Merch Store.

•The Sun’s Salt tastes the most delicious when used as a dip for meat.

•Even if you eat some of it, you can still sell it.

Description: This is a unique salt that Duke Ruffiso hung around his neck.

“???”

Minhyuk was shocked.

‘It’s worth 10,000 platinum per gram?!’

The total weight of the salt was thirty grams, and it could be sold at the Event’s Merch Store, where people could trade like they were in an event. If he sold them all, then he would be able to get 300,000 platinum. If ordinary players acquire this, then they will be able to receive money that could allow them to cruise freely for the rest of their lives. However, that was not what made Minhyuk so shocked.

“It tastes best when used as a dip for meat?!”

This item arrived at just the right time. Minhyuk was just about to go to a place that was selling beef. He stood up and followed the directions written on the information that Haze had found out about the man he was looking for.

***

Bard Erwell was an old man. However, he was once and still is the most influential bard in Athenae. Around fifteen years ago, he felt skeptical about how his life was going, so he hid his identity and opened a store. The store was none other than a beef restaurant.

Alas, this store also closed. Erwell recently sang a song that criticized the Luvien Empire. He had grown a lot older, unable to look silently as the Luvien’s tyrannical acts ran rampant; he decided to sing his Final Song despite knowing that the Luvien Empire would come to find him.

‘I’m going to die soon anyway.’

Erwell knew that he was going to die soon. He was suffering from a severe illness. Didn’t they say that people knew how long they would live? Erwell could tell that he only had around three days left. Because of that, he did not intend to avoid them or even run away.

‘On the other hand, my death will further drag down the Luvien Empire.’

Many would blame the Luvien Empire for his death. And that was more than enough. However, it was pretty strange. Although his mind was at ease, his entire body was shaking. Then, he saw a young man sitting down in front of him.

“You can have this for free. This is the last meal that I will serve.”

“Wow! Really? Thank you!” The young man spoke politely to Erwell. He sounded grateful.

According to him, he came here from afar because he heard rumors about how delicious the beef was in this beef restaurant. The young man was around 178 centimeters tall and dressed in a shabby outfit, his stomach rumbling as if famished.

“That’s one kilogram. Are you sure that you can eat it all?” Erwell asked, showing the meat on the plate. The plate had a lot of sirloin, chuck flap tail, flat iron steak, and ribs with a bright red color.

“Of course!”

“Hoho. I’ve given you a lot since you’re my last customer. So, eat a lot.”

Then, Erwell thought, ‘The Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor.’

Erwell gained courage because of him. Wasn’t he the one who declared war against the Luvien Empire and risked his everything?

‘I hope you don’t give up.’

Erwell smiled faintly as he finally snapped out of his thoughts. He watched the man put a large piece of sirloin on the hot grill.

Sizzle–!

Erwell watched the steam rise from the grill as the meat sizzled. Then, he saw the young man take something out and place it in front of his plate.

“A red salt?”