Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 24: The Food God Knows How to Eat Grilled Pork Belly

"Kwiiiik!"

A pig was truly behind the huge door. However, it was a bit different from ordinary pigs. The pig was twice the size of the ordinary pigs, and had shiny, golden fur covering its entire body. It also had two curled tails hanging on its forehead, instead of its butt.

[You have entered the boss room.]

[Once you finish hunting the boss monster, a warp gate will appear that will lead you outside of the dungeon.]

"I…it's the Golden Pig! It's a special boss mob that rarely appears in Twilight Graveyard!"

"Is it a special boss?"

"Yes. As far as I know, you can get double the item drops and experience points compared to ordinary pig monsters. But it's definitely stronger…!"

Minhyuk nodded, grasping his sword tightly.

'Grilled pork belly… Pork neck… Pork loin…!'

Those were the food that he was really craving. Grilled pork belly was something that colleagues ate together while drinking soju after a hard day’s work. It was also a stir-fried dish that most mothers would prepare for their children every day, with their sleeves rolled up in determination.

However, it was not the case for Minhyuk. If he could eat everything that he wanted in reality, then he would not be here right now. With those complicated feelings, he ran towards it.

Clench!

[Bardy Swordsmanship]

[+9 to all 5 basic stats for 5 minutes.]

Power surged through Minhyuk’s entire body as he rushed towards the Golden Pig. Seeing the incoming Minhyuk, the Golden Pig also let out a loud cry as it ran fiercely to meet Minhyuk.

However, just before the two of them collided…

Slash!

Minhyuk easily twisted his body away as he slashed the sides of the Golden Pig’s body with his sword.

"Kwiiiiiiik!" The Golden Pig squealed loudly in pain, before quickly turning around and glaring at Minhyuk with its beady eyes. As for Minhyuk, he let out a calm and even breath.

Dash!

He knew that if he let the Golden Pig ram into him, he would take huge damage. However, the Golden Pig was already rushing fiercely towards him. This time though, Minhyuk did not think of evading. He stared at the Golden Pig as he gripped his sword tightly.

[Vital Strike]

[Additional 17% attack power for each successful strike.]

Through Minhyuk’s vision, five vital points were suddenly marked out with a red light on the Golden Pig’s body. He needed to stab any of these points accurately. He then took another deep breath to steady himself with his sword held tightly in his hands.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

The?Golden Pig’s?steps were so heavy that the ground shook violently.

"Kwiiiiiik!"

Cold sweat dripped from Minhyuk's hands. Then…

"Ha!"

Minhyuk calculated the timing, speed and distance with care, before stabbing out his sword with all his might. With that strike, he was able to accurately stab the Golden’ Pig’s neck.

Stab!

"Kuuwiiiiiiiik, kuuuwiiiiik!"

However, the Golden Pig was not going down without a fight, and it struggled fiercely. It was thrashing so violently that Minhyuk’s body swayed and bounced from side to side as the Golden Pig tried to throw him off.

‘Ah wait, I can just let go of my sword.’

Just when the pig was about to attack Minhyuk…

[Magic Missile.]

Bang!

Rakku released a magic missile, causing a white fist to strike the pig on its face. Her timing was perfect.

"Good job!"

Minhyuk rolled away from the Golden Pig, and then proceeded to dash forward quickly, grabbing onto his sword again.

Stab!

"Kuuwiiiiiiik…!" The pig cried loudly. Minhyuk gritted his teeth as he tried to pull his sword out of the Golden Pig’s body.

"Kuuwiiiiiiiiiik!"

The Golden Pig bounced around, trying to shake Minhyuk off.

Swish!

Fwoooosh!

Minhyuk was finally thrown off together with his sword that had been lodged deeply in the Golden Pig’s neck. That was when bright red blood gushed out of the Golden Pig's neck.

"Ugh."

Minhyuk stood up. He realized that the battle was finally almost over.

Thud, thud, thud!

The Golden Pig caused a huge commotion, struggling to remain standing.

"Kuuwiiiiik!"?It squealed loudly, staggering around. Then, Minhyuk’s sword shone brightly.

[Dauntless Strike]

[Each attack inflicts additional 20% damage.]

Slash!

Minhyuk slashed once more at the bleeding wound on the Golden Pig’s neck. With that slash, the Golden Pig stumbled and finally collapsed.

Thud!

The Golden Pig trembled violently. The scene looked very realistic. Minhyuk could tell that while it had not died yet it was definitely let out its final breath soon.

'If that’s the case, then…'

Although Minhyuk was distracted at the thought of finally eating pork, he still recalled the quest that he received from Roina that was related to the Twilight Graveyard. Just as he was thinking about it, a series of notifications rang in his ears.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[...]

[You have completed the?Quest: First Party Hunt.]

[You have acquired 10,000 gold.]

[You have gained 5 bonus points.]

However, the notifications did not end there.

[You have completed the?Quest: Attack Twilight Graveyard.]

[You have obtained?God Class: Food God.]

[You will now need three times the experience before you can level up.]

[The Food God's skills have been unlocked.]

"...Food God?" Minhyuk asked himself in confusion.

Minhyuk was quite familiar with the words ‘God Class’. It was a very special class in a way that a player would need to undergo several rounds of trials before being able to obtain such a class. There were only a few rare cases where the players had received easier trials and completed them.

Regardless, he was sure of one thing. It was a class that was much rarer compared to the hidden, secret and legendary classes.

Minhyuk checked his stats window first.

(Minhyuk)

Level: 13

Class: Food God 0%

HP: 431?MP: 280

STR: 47+14??AGI: 37+32 ?STM: 25+12

WIS: 20+8 ?INT: 20+8 ?Rep: 16

Fullness: 50%

Bonus Point: 15

Minhyuk could see that his class had already changed to Food God. However, he was still doubtful about a few things.

'What does the 0% after the Food God mean?'

He also wondered why the / after the fullness stat had disappeared.

'Hmm…'

Minhyuk pondered deeply before closing the stats window, then checking the skills window. He quickly skipped over his old skills and went directly to his newly acquired skills.

(Charm of Freshness)

Passive Skill

Level: Master

Mana Required: 0

Cooldown: 0

?If you cook any ingredients you had gathered or hunted within an hour of procuring them, the food will taste infinitely better. Your stats will also increase.

"An increase in stats?" Minhyuk asked in confusion.

Minhyuk could understand the first point of this skill. It goes without saying that freshly caught fish tasted delicious whether eaten raw or cooked. For this skill,?freshness?was very important.

However, Minhyuk found the 'stats increase' part in the skill description to be very odd.

'Does it mean that my stats will increase whenever I eat?'

Minhyuk continued to check his other skills while thinking about the increase in stats.

(Food God’s True Worth)

Passive Skill

Level:?Master

Effects:

?Whenever you eat a new food, your stats will increase depending on various factors and elements.

????

????

'Question marks?'

Minhyuk felt his confusion grow. He wondered how every new meal would give him an increase in stats.

‘How could that be? It's too…Fraudulent?’

This thought flashed in Minhyuk’s mind. However, he still had yet to finish checking out all of his new skills.

(Ingredient Acquisition)

Active Skill

Level: Master

Mana Required: 100

Cooldown: 0

Effects:

?You will be able to get cut meat, fresh vegetables and other food materials all at once.

(Food God’s Greatness)

Passive Skill

Level: ?

Effects:

????

????

'Woah…!'

For obvious reasons, Minhyuk liked the Ingredient Acquisition skill more than Food God’s True Worth.

In fact, Minhyuk had found it hard to deal with the chicken in the novice zone before. When someone who knew how to process meat already had a difficult time trying to do it inside the game, what more for someone who did not know how?

Furthermore, that had been just chicken, what would happen if it was a pig or a cow? It would be completely impossible for Minhyuk. That was why Minhyuk had stopped by a butcher shop before coming to Twilight Graveyard. He had asked them if they could butcher a pig for him.

The butcher shop owner told Minhyuk that he would do anything as long as he was paid 100,000 gold. With this, a huge weight had been lifted off of Minhyuk’s back.

'That's right, this is a game after all!.'

Minhyuk was extremely satisfied. He closed the skills window after checking out all of his new skills.

"Minhyuk, look at all the items that dropped!" Rakku exclaimed. She had been keeping quiet for a while when she saw Minhyuk stand silently in front of the Golden Pig. She thought that Minhyuk was dealing with something and only called out for him after he moved.

There were plenty of items that dropped from the Golden Pig.

"Wow, the staff has been dropped too!"

The items that dropped were completely different from the expected drop from an ordinary pig boss. Perhaps it was because the one that had appeared was the Golden Pig.

Rakku quickly collected the items. Since the auto-distribution system?was still on, the items were distributed evenly to the party, with the exception of the two people who had been forced to log out.

[Party: You have acquired 67,354 gold.]

[Party: Minhyuk has acquired Golden Pig's Leather (1).]

[Party: Rakku has acquired Golden Pig's Bone Staff.]

[Party: Minhyuk has acquired Twilight Beads.]

[Party: Minhyuk has acquired Golden Pig's Tusks.]

"Minhyuk, please hold out your hand."

"Why?"

"It's for a trade. I have to give you 40,000 gold and the Golden Pig's Bone Staff. It's a?rare?item, you know!"

Grin―

Minhyuk smiled. He thought that Rakku was doing this because she felt sorry that he was the one who did most of the hunting. However, the truth was Minhyuk was not even interested in the items at all. Right now, his attention was solely focused on one thing… Pork.

"You should use the staff, and the money was split evenly between us, so it's fine. I'm not a mage so I have no use for the staff."

"Ah, then I'm sorry…"

"If you feel sorry, then you should exit the dungeon first."

"What?" Rakku asked in confusion.

"There's still something that I have to do."

"...?"

Rakku looked at Minhyuk strangely. However, all she could do was nod in agreement after seeing Minhyuk’s expression. Minhyuk looked like he was ready to commit PK if she did not leave right away.

"Okay, I got it, I got it. Stop making that scary expression already."

The warp gate was already opened since the hunt was over. Rakku was walking towards the gate when Minhyuk called out after her.

"Ah, right. Do you happen to know about the 0% right beside the class? Do you know what it means?"

"Ah, yes, I know. Usually, if you fill it to 100%, then you can upgrade the class to a second stage."

"Oh, I see," Minhyuk said as he nodded in understanding.

‘Food God. Hmm. It doesn't seem like it would just end with Food God.’

"Then, have fun!"

"Yes, you too!"

The moment Rakku disappeared, Minhyuk stretched his hand out towards the golden pig.

"Ingredient Acquisition."

[Tenderloin, sirloin, rib eye roll, pork shoulder, pork neck, front leg, pork picnic, pork jowl, cheek, ham leg… pork belly… belly bacon… ribs… boston shoulder… omitted]

A hologram popped out in front of Minhyuk, showing the figures corresponding to each part of the pig. Even the other parts like the bones, guts, and blood were shown.

[Please choose the ingredients you wish to acquire.]

Minhyuk extended his finger towards the hologram, and began to click on the parts that he wanted, one by one.

[You have acquired Pork Belly.]

[You have acquired Bacon Flank.]

[You have acquired Tenderloin.]

There were plenty of ingredients that could be acquired from a pig. It could generally be split into seven larger parts and twenty-two smaller parts. No part of a pig would be wasted since each part of the pig could be cooked and eaten. Minhyuk grinned after acquiring everything, including the fur and the skin, into his inventory.

'It was nice meeting you, Porky.'

Minhyuk gulped in anticipation.

***

Minhyuk’s father, Kang Minhoo, had named himself Black Dragon inside the game. He was now on his way back from his most recent party hunt. He wanted to increase his level high enough before going to see Minhyuk. However, during the gaming process, he found that?Athenae?was really fun. He enjoyed the game so much that he had willingly spent a lot of money to buy expensive set items.

'Fufu, everyone must have been surprised.'

Black Dragon was currently at Level 30. However, the low-leveled players that met up with him during the party hunt had all looked at him in surprise. All of them were shocked at his good items. But no matter what they said, Black Dragon just smiled without saying anything. Even if he did not say anything about his items, everyone still laughed.

‘It’s definitely because of my good sense of humor.’

Black Dragon had a strong belief: that everyone should have fun whether they were playing or working. That was why he would usually throw out jokes ever so often.

Jokes like this…

‘Everyone, do you know why you should never argue with my spear?’

'W…why, Black Dragon!'

They had all been trembling, trying to stifle their laughter, before he could even complete his joke.

'Because it always has a point!'

'Eh?'

A spear was sharp and had a?point?so it would always be right in an argument.