Gourmet Gaming

'All I really have to do is to lose weight.'

As he thought about it, the two of them slowly pushed their way out of the sea of players.

"I'm definitely not used to you looking like?that."

"Me too, I'm not used to your face either. Wah… You really look like a general."

General was wearing crimson armor with a shiny sword on his waist.

‘From what I’ve gathered, his class is known as the Golden Knight.’

It was a hidden class.

It was also said that the Golden Knight could activate a buff when fighting alongside Ordinary-Class warriors or soldiers. This was one of the reasons why General's name was quite well-known as the vice-master of his Guild.

"Do you need anything? I could give you gold and a full item set!"

"I am very happy with what I have."

Minhyuk looked at the items he was wearing. General was somewhat convinced as well.

"Well, at the rate you’re progressing…"

Minhyuk's equipment couldn't be bought with money. There was also nothing like those he possessed: equipment with no limits nor requirements on power: on the market. Minhyuk could probably use it until his level increased to a much higher level.

"Then, do you need gold? You should have nothing right now, right? You're still a beginner so you shouldn’t have earned much gold yet. I'll give you 2 million gold for now."

2 million gold. It was a huge sum of money, but General just silently stretched his hand out. A trade could be initiated with a handshake.

Minhyuk shook his head as he stared at General's hand.

"Ugh. I won't accept it."

"Eh? What?!"

"I wanted to eat something that I know I worked hard for."

"You can eat everything you want,?right now, with 2 million gold. Isn't it your wish to eat everything you want?!"

Minhyuk smiled wryly.

"That's why I'm telling you, I can't do that."

"Why can't you do that?!"

"Hyung, even before… I know how important food is. Someone's daily meal might be quite precious for others. To those starving children in poor countries, food is something that they truly desire."

"..."

"A steak may not cost much for someone, but a student has to save his pocket money just to treat his girlfriend to a fancy meal."

"Yeah."

There were children in some countries who were dying of hunger. Money could be common to some, but for others, it was something that was out of reach.

Just like Minhyuk in real life.

"I don't want to eat precious food as though I'm in a buffet, just because I have the money. I want to eat delicious food properly. With my own power."

"...Is that so?" General smiled softly.

‘How one wants to eat differs for everyone.’

It was Minhyuk's freedom and right to do what he wanted.

"I'll just tell you one thing," General grinned at him. "You fXcker, my brother, is really cool."

Minhyuk could have benefited from his parents but he had unlocked achievements by himself. He had not asked for a private tutor when he was studying, but he still obtained first place. It was the same even for exercising, he could have taken a rest any time he wanted, but he kept on doing it.

‘He can do it all on his own.?This Minhyuk is a really cool rascal.’

"Ah, Hyung."

"Huh?"

"I have to get going."

Minhyuk was as restless as a puppy that needed to pee.

"I… I have to go eat red bean jelly!"

Minhyuk was back to his usual, mischievous self. He then turned around and headed off.

General grinned at his retreating back.

"Someone's daily meal might be quite precious for others."

‘It was a cool phrase.’

He murmured those words as he waved his hands at the running Minhyuk.

‘You'll definitely do it. Your Hyung's cool too, so let's go and get some attention, my dongsaeng! Let's go!!’

General sincerely supported him.

***

Minhyuk was able to find Allon after asking nearby players and NPCs. They said that Allon ran a red bean jelly store. It was very shabby and tiny.

When he was asking around, the other players told him…

“You're looking for Allon the NPC? I don't recommend that you go. He once caught hold of me and talked for two hours straight. He talks too much.”

“Red bean jelly?! Why would you go and eat that?!”

“That person gave me a useless quest. You have to get chestnuts, then he will give you chestnut red bean jelly, or something like that. That was the quest.”

The other players did not understand Minhyuk, who was quite excited about red bean jelly. People were definitely split in their preferences of red bean jelly.

However, it was a good memory for Minhyuk, one with his grandmother when she was still alive.

His grandmother was frugal, even when she had a successful son like Minhyuk's father. Whenever Minhyuk went to visit her, she would take out his favorite red bean jelly that she had saved, from her drawer and put it in his mouth. He could still remember the sweetness of the red beans and the way they melted in his mouth.

"Hehe…"

Minhyuk gulped and quickened his pace. Not long after, a small store appeared in his sight. It had a sign reading?'Tasty Red Bean Jelly'.

In?Athenae, many things were sold the same way they were sold in real life. It was one of the charms of playing the game. There was no one outside the shop, but the front was filled with well-packed red bean jellies.

"Excuse me~"

Minhyuk's heart fluttered with excitement. A middle-aged man came out from the inside of the store.

"You're not going to ask for directions, are you?"

"No."

"You're not a customer who's just expecting a hidden quest, right?"

"That's not it either!"

"Then, what?"

"I want to eat red bean jelly!"

"......!"

Allon's eyes widened.

There were a lot of delicious things to eat all over the world. However, to be honest, at this moment, the Tasty Red Bean Jelly store was so empty that Allon had the spare time to catch flies!

Allon slowly went in front of the stands.

"Is that so? Huhu, kids these days don't really like to eat food like these."

Allon grinned as he took out a piece of red bean jelly.

"Did you make it yourself?" Minhyuk enquired.

"Of course. I made everything by hand," Allon answered and cut the red bean jelly with his knife. "Here, have a taste. People don't even look at my red bean jelly at all. But, I'm very confident about it!"

He straightened his chest in confidence as he proclaimed, "You'll definitely be speechless once you have a taste of my handmade red bean jelly."

Minhyuk received his free red bean jelly. The red bean jelly was as firm and bouncy as acorn jelly. It was also black and shiny. He carefully placed it in his mouth before chewing on it slowly.

The flavor of the sweet red bean spread out as it softly melted in his mouth. As his tongue tasted the sweetness, a smile bloomed on his face.

‘It has the same taste as what my grandmother usually gave me before. I can feel it,?Allon's red bean jelly is definitely delicious!’

"Wow...! It's really delicious!"

"Haha. Boy, you really eat well!"

[You have gained Allon's favor.]

Allon laughed as he watched Minhyuk eat with a smile. He then heard a notification.

[Player Minhyuk has tasted your red bean jelly.]

[E-rank Quest. Please propose that he collect 50 chestnuts.]

The truth was that the quest could only be triggered once the red bean jelly was tasted. Since there were not a lot of players who wanted to taste the red bean jelly, tasting it was in itself a requirement to trigger the quest.

Furthermore, the quest’s rewards were not promising.

'I'll give him chestnut red bean jelly if he managed to collect 50 chestnuts.'

When they get notifications like this, the NPCs could then propose the quest at a suitable time. If they did not like the player, they could terminate the quest.

"Well, how many pieces of red bean jelly do you want?" Allon asked.

"......!"

Minhyuk gasped. This was probably what Roina said about the store owner giving free samples for the red bean jelly.

'But Instructor Roina already showed me the way to these delicious red bean jellies!'

Minhyuk smiled happily and asked, "How much is a piece?"

"One for 1,000 gold."

He felt that it was a bit expensive. In comparison, hard bread was 500 gold a piece.

‘Maybe this is the reason why his business is a little underwhelming…’

However, Minhyuk still piped up, "Please give me 20,000 gold worth of red bean jelly!"

There was still some money left from when he caught the golden chicken after buying all the ingredients from before.

"......!"

Allon was very shocked when he heard Minhyuk.

‘20 pieces… That's quite a lot.’

"Are you going to give them away?"

"Nope. I'm going to eat them all."

Allon smiled to himself before instructing, "The red bean jelly is handmade, so it's not good to store them for a long time. It's best to finish all 20 of them in a week."

"I'm going to eat them all today! It was very, very delicious, so I have to eat all I can today!"

"Is it really that delicious? Hahaha, since you said that, I am feeling very generous, so I will give you five more!"

"Thank you very much!"

‘He's a person who really loves food. Is he really that happy with just this?’

[You have purchased 25 red bean jellys.]

[20,000 gold has been deducted.]

Minhyuk quickly ripped the wrapper off so he could start munching on the red bean jelly.

"Boy, it's quite difficult to see a young man like you. I can't believe that you're eating red bean jelly so happily…?mumble mumble mumble."

It seemed like the chatter-motor that the other players were talking about had been triggered. Minhyuk could have left but he did not. He thought that he could somehow buy more after he ate them all up.

"I used to be an alchemist, that's why I'm telling you… Back in the days…?Mumble, mumble……"

"I see!"

Minhyuk finished eating his red bean jelly as he listened to Allon’s story. He would have found it annoying if he was not eating delicious red bean jelly, but he was enjoying himself, so he just let it go.

Minhyuk tilted his head as Allon continued to chatter.

"I used to go to Twilight Graveyard. I tagged along some soldiers who wanted to go there. As I was saying…"

'Twilight Graveyard?'

Hearing the words, Minhyuk recalled something.

‘Isn't that where the ? quest was supposed to be done?’

"And, the boss monster there was a very unusual guy."

"Unusual?"

"Yeah. Don't be surprised." Allon raised a finger as if to build anticipation. "It was a pig."

"......Huh?"

‘Wait.’

For a moment, Minhyuk thought he had heard wrongly.

"What did you say?"

"The boss is a pig."

"...!" ｂ𝚎ｄｎ𝚘ｖ𝚎𝚕．𝚘𝚛𝚐

Minhyuk's hands trembled, and he almost dropped his red bean jelly. Knowing him, anyone would agree that Minhyuk was truly taken by surprise. The way that he almost lost his hold on his precious red bean jelly, that was a testament to the shock he was feeling.

"Tenderloin, sirloin, chuck roll, ribs! Pig as in…?samgyeopsal?!"

"Yeah, that pig. Boy, why are you so surprised?"

At that moment, Minhyuk was not listening to Allon already.

‘Just imagining it is so awesome.’

The first thing that popped into his mind was?samgyeopsal, placed on a well-heated grill…

Sizzleeee—

As he listened to the sound of the meat grilling, he would order soybean stew and a bowl of rice. He would then cut the meat up after cooking it well. After which, he would place the?samgyeopsal?on top of a lettuce with a bit of rice.

Next he would place some garlic and ssamjang on it, then he would add either kimchi, seasoned scallions, or pickled garlic leaves in the wrap depending on his taste.

Finally, he would wrap it all out and stuff it into his mouth…

Guulp—

Minhyuk was so engrossed in his imagination that he unconsciously made the gesture as if he was going to eat a wrap. He was truly regretting that he did not have the wrap in his mouth.

‘Kgghk… That's really awesome.’

There was not much waste to throw away from pigs, in fact, there were a lot of things that one could cook using pork.

‘So, the pig is at the end of Twilight Graveyard?’

"Pork! Pork! Pork!"

It was at that moment that Minhyuk decided on his next destination. Just then, his train of thought stopped .

'No way… Did the Instructor help me so I could eat pork?'

At that moment, he felt very grateful towards Instructor Roina.

‘Perhaps, Allon the chatterbox has always been talking about the Twilight Graveyard.’

Minhyuk smiled when he thought about that.

Allon looked at Minhyuk who was chanting ‘pork, pork’?and asked, "Boy, are you going to Twilight Graveyard?just?so you could eat pork?"

"Yep."

"But, you do know that they sell a lot of pork at the butcher shops, right?"

"It just tastes different when it’s something I worked hard for!"

Minhyuk smiled brightly while Allon was confused by his words.

"Boy, what's your level?"

"Level 1."

"Unfortunately, Level 1 players cannot enter Twilight Graveyard."

Crash—

Allon’s words were a bolt out of the blue.

1. Grilled pork belly