Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 31: Food Fighter Becomes a Cook

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

QC: MattForgenti

"...Then do this too?"

Brock pointed at the sack of onions next to him.

There were at least 20kg of unpeeled onions in one sack. But as soon as Minhyuk touched the sack all of the onion skin just disappeared.

"I'm done. Does this mean that I could be a cook now?! Wow!"

Minhyuk was already notified about the completion of the quest. After some time, Len came out from inside the carriage. He came out with an uproar.

"Just peel it if you're going to peel it, quit yapping around!"

"......Captain Len, this guy. He really finished peeling the garlic. Ah, the onions too."

Len frowned at his words.

The cloves of garlic were really peeled. There wasn't even a speck of blemish on it.

'Does he have some kind of special ability?'

Even people with their job as a cook or a chef would rarely have a skill that can help them with processing ingredients, though?

"Hoo…… I understand."

Minhyuk smiled cheerfully when he saw Len nodding his head.

"What should I do first?"

***

Team Leader Park Minggyu looked very tired as he went to work early in the morning.

He came in while holding a pack of red ginseng [1] in his hand. He was sucking on it to give him enough energy to work through the day. When he looked up, he saw Lee Minhwa, the new employee under his team.

"Good morning."

"Ah, Team Leader. You're here."

She looked as if she was waiting for him to arrive.

Team Leader Park, with his clean and crisp suit, sat down on a chair as he looked towards her curiously.

"Why, what's happening?"

"User Minhyuk has been in contact with the secret NPC."

"The secret NPC?"

His forehead creased in doubt.

A secret NPC.

They were strong people who were hiding their strength or were retired, reclusive masters that looked like normal people. They would always give users quests with amazing rewards.

"He became a cook for the Bordy Subjugation Force."

Team Leader Park's eyes widened in surprise.

"I remember that the military kitchen's list of volunteers were already full, right?"

"User Minhyuk's favorability with the soldier in charge of personnel management has increased."

"This guy is really a free spirit…… Why does the secret NPC have to be the cooking NPC? That user, does he think that he was born to eat?"

"Well, eating good food deliciously is definitely a good thing."

She grinned.

"Hmm, yeah. But isn't the quest that's related to the secret NPC Len being tracked and pursued by someone else?"

"Yes, that's correct. The 'Twilight Chef' is looking for him. He has already reached Isbin Village."

Team Leader Park tapped on his chin as he thought deeply.

Lee Minhwa smiled slightly.

"We've been paying too much attention to User Minhyuk these past few days. Anyway, there's probably no possibility of User Minhyuk receiving that quest……"

"No chance of getting it at all…"

Team Leader Park thought about it some more.

If you think about it normally, then that would be right.

The NPC, Len, would ask the Twilight Chef to get the essence of the Lv50 Orc Tribe Leader.

The quests were divided into shared and non-shared quests.

Shared quests were quests that anybody could receive. It depends on the NPC but in this case, the NPC could still give the quests to others even if someone already received it and already had progress on it.

However, the non-shared quests were different. If someone was already working on the linked quest, the NPC would not be able to give out the quest to another user or any information about the quest whatsoever.

The Gods of Athenae will notify the protector Len about it.

However, Team Leader Park still shook his head in denial.

"Len will teach User Minhyuk basic cooking and will allow him to acquire cooking skills."

"Is that so?"

"However, as soon as the Food Fighter learns how to cook, a different power will open for him again."

"Yes."

The Food Fighter's cooking was different. It was different from the ordinary users. But it would only show if the user with that class learned how to cook.

Every game needed users to find things to add different flavors to the user's experience.

The Food Fighter would have his stats increase happily in the beginning and when he learned how to cook then he would have another nice surprise coming his way.

"We don't know if it's possible for User Minhyuk to receive cooking skills yet."

"......Yes?"

"He has to get close to Len for that to happen."

"Are you saying that it's impossible?"

"It's possible. If you think about it, the odds are not in his favor. So the possibility is quite slim."

His eyes suddenly shone brightly.

"There's an orc tribe living near the Bordy Plains. Unless there's a strange variable, User Minhyuk will definitely not be able to hunt the orc tribe."

"You're right."

"Right, let's put this aside for now. What's the copycat doing now? Isn't he changing his job class to the legendary class?"

"Ah, please wait."

The two people quickly changed their topic of discussion.

***

The Subjugation Force has left for the Bordy Plains. And the military cooks in the kitchen carriage have started to prepare meals for the soldiers.

The inside of the kitchen carriage was about 9 pyeong [2] in area. Of course, the carriage was not that big. But it was possible because they used a special magic on it.

Tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak—

Len's hands moved quickly as he sliced the cabbage thinly with his knife. He looked back and saw the new recruit, Minhyuk, entering the kitchen.

He had a hard bread stuffed in his mouth as he started to wash the dishes diligently. After he finished washing the dishes, he soaked all of the tableware in hot water to disinfect them.

"Is it hot?"

"Nope, I'm fine!"

"The first thing you have to learn in cooking is hygiene and sanitation. Disinfecting the tableware can kill the bacteria that can cause food poisoning."

"Yes, I'll clean them all!"

Minhyuk was working diligently.

It was true that he joined the military kitchen so he could eat more food, but it was also because he wanted to make the food he would eat more delicious.

Maybe, there really was an impure intention just like what Len said but he wasn't going to force them to give it to him.

He intended to pay them back as much as he could. That was why he was fulfilling his job to the best of his abilities.

He disinfected the dishes and made sure that there was no speck of oil left on it.

So, is he done?

He quickly placed the potatoes in a large basin and then he poured water in it. He then started to peel the potatoes diligently.

"Captain, that guy's working really hard? Maybe he wasn't just empty words."

"......Is that so."

If you think about it…

Who among the other users would want to log in the game just so they could peel garlic and wash and disinfect the dishes? It was better to just go out in real-life, work in a restaurant and get paid for their time. However, Minhyuk was surprisingly working really hard.

Then they heard a commotion from the outside.

Kkiiii, kkiiii!

Kkiiii, kkiiii!

"It looks like the monsters have shown up."

"Aren't you going to help them?"

"The duty of a military cook is to cook food and feed the soldiers. No one will be more pathetic than someone who cannot uphold such a duty."

"That's right, each and every one of us should fulfill our own duties! Chew!"

Minhyuk continued to eat his hard bread again.

"Why are you still eating that? Haven't you been eating that since earlier?"

"I'm hungry."

"......Hmm."

Len shook his head at him, however, his interest has already been piqued.

***

It's the time for the distribution of food.

Minhyuk quickly moved while carrying the container for the food distribution.

"Aigoo, I'll do it. Brock-nim!"

"Haha, don't run around like that or you'll get hurt!"

"Brock-nim, it's better for me to get hurt instead of you and your cooking hands."

"Is that so?"

The chef's hands were both their treasure and weapon.

A chef could not cook with a cut on his hands. There was only one reason why… The blood that would come out of the injury in a chef's hand could probably cause food poisoning in the worst case scenario.

Minhyuk shouted after he moved all of the food containers for distribution.

"Soldier-nims, please have a meal!"

"Oh, it's finally time to eat."

It would take at least 5 days for the subjugation forces to reach the Bordy Plains.

The monsters they met early in the morning were goblins. But there were just twenty of them. It was said that no one had sustained severe injuries. They only have had minor injuries, like scratches and gashes.

"What's the menu for today?"

"It's spaghetti with the special touch of our mother-like Captain Len!"

"Oh, by the way friend. Where did you see that Captain Len looked like a mother? Doesn't he look more like a bandit?"

Minhyuk's eyes narrowed as he whispered to the soldier.

"Actually, I know that too. It's a spaghetti that has the special touch of a bandit-like Captain Len! But I heard that our soldier Venetto has the best face among all of the soldiers."

"Kwahahahaha! This friend knows what he's saying! Look at him, Rand. You really picked a good cook this time!"

[Venetto's favorability has increased.]

"This rascal, he's very good!"

All of the soldiers loved Minhyuk very much. He has a fresh face and the gift of gab, besides he was always working hard.

He was inherently different from the other users who only stiffly moved when the goblins made a surprise attack!

[Rand's favorability has increased.]

[Arden's favorability has increased.]

My favorability is continuously increasing today!

The soldier named Venetto grabbed his shoulders. Minhyuk's eyes brightened as he looked at him.

"Boy, I saw you earlier. It seems like you love eating. Would you like to try this beef jerky?"

"Oooooooooh! Thank you very much. Venetto-nim you're like King God, Emperor, General, Admiral and Majesty all together!"

"Huh? What are you saying?"

"You're the best of the best!"

"Hahahahaha, I've never seen someone who was so happy just because they received something to eat. Foreigners usually hate it."

"Oh my gosh, how could they do that! There's nothing better than eating!"

Minhyuk received the jerky that he was handing over. Venetto saw him make an expression that he couldn't understand.

At the same time, Minhyuk thought about things…

Look at this. I became friends with the soldiers and they gave me delicious food!

"I want to introduce my daughter to you, do you know how pretty my daughter is, huh?! Look at this. This is my daughter's portrait. It was painted by an artist!"

Then, the soldier Venetto showed the picture of him and his daughter.

'W, what's this…! It looks like an orc that's wearing makeup!'

For the first time, ever since he started his life as a flatterer, Minhyuk faced a huge challenge.

How can I phrase this so Venetto will not feel bad?!

If he felt bad, then Minhyuk would probably lose his beef jerky.

'T, that can't happen!'

Cold sweat started to fall from Minhyuk's forehead.

"This friend, why aren't you speaking? Is she not beautiful?"

Even a newly born hedgehog is prettier than her!

"S, she's very pretty."

"I know, right? But why are you sweating so much? You should speak more specifically about her beauty."

"I was quite surprised with how free and wild her eyes and nose are…… No, I was very, very shocked."

"Wild and free?"

"Yes. He…… Wild and free, it's beautiful everywhere you look?"

"Kwahahahahaha! Friend, I'll set you up once the subjugation quest is over!"

'Ho, how terrible of a thing to say…!'

Minhyuk hurriedly got out of his seat. At that moment, Len arrived in front of him.

"Boy, let me see."

"Yes?"

Minhyuk and Len went straight to the kitchen.

He was notified about the increase in his favorability between Brock and Len while he was doing miscellaneous chores.

Then, Len placed a chopping board in front of Minhyuk.

"Grab the knife."

"Yes?"

"I'm supposed to teach you how to cook."

Minhyuk was elated to hear his words.

[You can now learn cooking skills from Len.]

[You have gained 4 reputation points.]

[Accepting his proposal will trigger a skill quest.]

Minhyuk's lips twitched for a while before curling up in joy.

He could finally learn how to cook. In addition, he would also learn cooking skills. What did that mean?

'I could eat more delicious things!'

***

Footnotes

[1] 홍삼액 it's red ginseng tea, as far as I know. Apparently, there really is a brand with this name.

[2] Pyeong: a Korean unit of measurement (척관법), it's approximately 3.3058 sq. m or 35.583 sq. ft. Korea used their own unit of measurement that was based on the Chinese and Japanese system measurement. Now it's considered as the traditional measurement system since they have switched to using the metric system. Korea has criminalized the use of Korean units in commercial contexts since 2007 but it is still used informally especially the pyeong which is usually used in residential/commercial floorspace.

TL's corner!!!

LMAO. His first ever challenge as a flatterer. I mean was she really that ugly for her to be compared to an orc. Man… having features that are wild and free are pretty impressive, I guess. ㅋㅋㅋ

QC’s corner!

Hey, it’s Matt. CC’s let me have a spot, so I thought I’d say hi. This story’s been a blast to edit so far. I have to resist drooling sometimes reading this. I want to go to a Korean BBQ now.

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