Leveling Up through Eating

Thanks to Beradon’s Disciple System, Minhyuk had realised something. Without knowing it, he had already become a monster.

When Minhyuk first started Athenae, he played solely to eat delicious things. But because he became an emperor and had to become stronger, he had to carry everything on his shoulders.

‘I cooked because I had to become stronger. I cooked because I had to receive the recognition of the gods.’

The only thought left in his mind was, ‘I will eat them no matter what and grow even stronger.’

But because of Beradon’s Disciple System, he had awakened from his stupor.

‘Alright. Let’s make the most delicious dish in the world,’ Minhyuk thought as he moved around this land, a complete replica of Athenae, and followed the information he had in his hand.

‘An ingredient that can heal the exhausted.

‘An ingredient that can give a reason for someone to feel happy.

‘An ingredient everyone can enjoy regardless of what they liked or disliked.’

Minhyuk wanted a dish incorporating all of these special abilities. Most of the ingredients were legendary-grade.

‘In Athenae, those classified as outstanding ingredients are those with special abilities.’

Although there were times when legendary-grade ingredients could sometimes taste better than God-grade ones, taste alone could not get them classified as outstanding. As mentioned, only the ingredients classified as excellent in Athenae were those with unique abilities.

Minhyuk put the ingredients together and began to cook once again.

‘Looks yummy. Kghhk. I can’t wait to take a huge bite!’

At this moment, Minhyuk looked like he had returned to himself when he first started Athenae. He seemed so happy. The thought alone of mixing and taking a massive bite of the delicious food he was cooking was enough to put a broad smile on his face.

It was strange. His consciousness was clearer, and his concentration was higher than when Divine Will was activated.

‘Nothing, and no one can beat someone enjoying what they are doing.’

Minhyuk was now enjoying the cooking process more than anybody else.

[You have fallen into Extreme Trance.]

The notifications rang, but they did not register in Minhyuk’s ears. His only thought was to make this dish the most delicious dish in the world. When he finished cooking and checked the dish, he could not help but be delighted.

‘The most delicious dish in the world.’

It was because this dish was finally born to the world. Although there was no system notification, which responded and only announced things with outstanding or great power, Minhyuk was convinced that this dish went beyond the Dish Across All Eras.

And while he was cooking, he realised, ‘I don’t know if Beradon’s Disciple System knows about this or not.’

There was only one way to win this competition.

‘It’s about making a more delicious dish than the Dish Across All Eras.’

But would he win with just that? What would be the reason for his victory?

‘In the first place, the Dish Across All Eras would be replicated to the number of Absolute Gods.’

The replicated dishes would have similar tastes and flavours but wouldn’t have the dish’s unique abilities. Initially, this bet was a way to treat them to a meal. Since the Absolute Gods could not and would not be able to obtain the unique abilities of the Dish Across All Eras, they had to judge it with taste alone.

Besides, Minhyuk had also created a buffed dish, which was different from Arlene’s dish, which had a permanent power. Unlike most dishes with permanent power, buffed dishes could be made with more servings so everyone could experience their effects. Minhyuk did not even need to replicate the dish like Arlene.

Then, Minhyuk said, “Please check it out.”

(Spicy Pork Bibimbap)

Rank: Legend

Requirements: None

Special Abilities:

•The moment you take a bite of this dish, you will feel that this is the most delicious dish you have ever tasted. The feeling will remain the same regardless of what you like or dislike.

•All of your fatigue will disappear. Your body will be reinvigorated.

•The moment you take a bite of this dish, you will feel like you are the happiest person in the world.

Description: The Food God is a god who loves to eat. This dish was created by that god using only ingredients related to taste and flavour. Regardless of your special ability or likes and dislikes, you will feel as if this is the most delicious dish you have ever eaten.

“...!”

Arlene was shocked. This dish had pinpointed the essence of this bet.

‘Even if a dish is hailed as the most delicious dish in the world, it will be useless if it does not suit the taste of the person eating it.’

Of course, one could choose to cook the most popular dishes. But even then, there would still be some picky people who would not like their taste. This was something inevitable.

But Minhyuk’s dish was able to catch that point perfectly.

‘You will feel as if you are the happiest person in the world once you take a bite of this dish?’

It was not easy for someone to feel happy. When eating dishes, one would usually think that they were delicious, but it was rare for someone to feel happy. When someone felt happy, a smile would linger on their faces, and they would be overcome with delight without realising it. And this dish would give them that feeling of happiness?

‘In the end, without its special abilities, the Dish Across All Eras was just a delicious dish.’

Indeed, the special abilities were unnecessary for Minhyuk to receive the gods’ recognition.

“I lost…”

Minhyuk was surprised when he heard God of Cooking Arlene say those words. It could be said that the God of Cooking’s victory was already cinched by her dish’s unique ability alone. After all, the dish he made did not have much power. But in the end, the essence of cooking lies not in its powers to make someone stronger but in how delicious the dish would become and how much it would make one happy.

[The God of Cooking praises the Food God.]

[The God of Cooking, one of the Absolute Gods, has never praised the Food God for his cooking.]

[Your DEX will increase by 2%.]

[You have gained 300 CHA.]

When God of Cooking Arlene chuckled, a commotion broke out among the gods and the Absolute Gods. Why? Because the God of Cooking directly said that she had lost.

Not long after, both the gods and the Absolute Gods finished checking the details of the dish.

‘What the…?’

‘This dish is more excellent than the Dish Across All Eras?’

‘Has the God of Cooking gone senile?’

The Absolute Gods were all in disbelief, finding the situation ridiculous. Even the gods were puzzled. That was right. Only the God of Cooking had realised the essence of this bet.

Now that the cooking was finished, Arlene replicated the Beef Galbi-jjim Across All Eras and gently placed them in front of the Absolute Gods. On the other hand, Minhyuk deliberately cooked enough servings for the Absolute Gods. When he put his dishes in front of them, he remembered to place some Cheongyang peppers and bean sprout soup.

And the gods? They could not hold back their curiosity.

‘What on earth is that for the God of Cooking to act like that…?’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘I want to try it.’

While they were simmering in curiosity, Minhyuk triggered For Everyone’s Joy.

(For Everyone’s Joy)

Food God’s Secret

Level: None

Mana Required: 30,000

Cooldown: 240 days.

Effects:

•You can make tens of thousands, tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dishes from a single dish.

•However, regardless of what ingredients are used, the dishes will have no special abilities. The taste will remain the same for every dish.

•Can be applied to villages, territories, kingdoms and empires.

And the place where Minhyuk chose to apply the skill was none other than the Land of the Gods. The number of gods would be in the tens of thousands at most. Even if Minhyuk could only apply the skill to the size of a territory, he could trigger it with that number alone.

And there was something more important here. The skill For Everyone’s Joy did not have any special abilities. But the taste would remain the same. In other words, even if there was no happiness or recovery effect, they could still taste the most delicious dish in the world.

All of the gods held the spoon in their hands. But they dared not move and only stared at the Absolute Gods. Not long after, the Absolute Gods finally made a move and took a bite of the Beef Galbi-jjim Across All Eras.

***

The God of Judgment was the strictest and most stubborn among the Absolute Gods. Perhaps it was only natural. After all, he was the god who upheld the law, justice and discipline. He was also very inflexible. That was why he could not understand why Arlene said those words.

‘She must have gone mad.’

One look at the effects, and he could tell that the Beef Galbi-jjim Across All Eras was a dish that one would only encounter once in one's life. So, how could Arlene acknowledge a dish that was merely delicious without any other special abilities?

And there were also the ingredients that the next generation Battle God used.

‘They don’t look like they are valuable and expensive ingredients, no?’

The God of Judgment clicked his tongue at the spicy pork bibimbap before him as he stretched his hand toward the Beef Galbi-jjim Across All Eras. Of course, the other Absolute Gods also did the same. Everyone’s attention was only focused on the Beef Galbi-jjim Across All Eras.

The God of Judgment took a bite of the ribs that had turned glossy from the soy sauce it had braised in. The softness of the meat immediately spread in his mouth along with the sauce's slightly sweet yet savoury and deep flavour. He slowly closed his eyes and savoured the flavour of the dish. He had never tasted such a luxurious and exquisite flavour in his life.

‘This is a Dish Across All Eras,’ the God of Judgment thought as he looked around him. He could see that all of the Absolute Gods were sighing in admiration.

“Goodness. I have never tasted a dish like this in my life.”

“This is not a dish. This is art.”

“What an amazing flavour.”

Their assessment? It was indeed worthy of the title of a Dish Across All Eras.

After rinsing their mouths, they turned to look at the spicy pork bibimbap. A perfectly cooked egg half fry was on top of several special ingredients, such as well-chopped perilla leaves, seaweed powder, bean sprouts, and well-cooked spicy pork.

The God of Judgment looked displeased as he mixed the bibimbap half-heartedly. He sighed and thought, ‘I can’t believe I must eat something like this.’

But he had to be fair. Ultimately, he cut the egg in half and began mixing everything completely. At that moment, the savoury scent of the sesame oil wafted to his nose and stimulated his senses.

‘It seems like it will be much more delicious than I initially thought?’

Drool started to pool in his mouth. Before trying the spicy pork bibimbap, he sipped the clear bean sprout soup.

‘That’s refreshing.’

The sharp and spicy flavour of the Cheongyang pepper gave the soup a fleeting spiciness that gave it a clean and refreshing taste.

‘It doesn’t taste too bad.’

Then, he stretched his spoon toward the well-mixed bibimbap. When he scooped a huge spoonful, he was met with glossy red rice mixed with various colourful ingredients.

“...!”

The moment the God of Judgment put this spoonful of bibimbap in his mouth, he felt an unknown feeling. He was in charge of many things and had to deal with so many tasks that he could only sleep for less than three hours a day. But the moment he took a bite of the dish in front of him, the fatigue and exhaustion that was eating away at him immediately disappeared.

“What is this?”

The God of Judgment’s face remained expressionless even after he ate the Beef Galbi-jjim Across All Eras. So, why?

‘Why can’t I help but smile?’

Unknowingly, a faint smile curled at the corners of his lips. He also felt excited about taking another bite of the dish before him.

‘I don’t even like marinated or stir-fried meat.’

But the spicy pork in this bibimbap tasted very delicious. It tasted even better than the Beef Galbi-jjim Across All Eras.

The God of Judgment’s hands kept on moving. His movements even began to accelerate.

Munch, munch–

The God of Judgment was eating hurriedly. He even forgot his dignity and went ahead and drank the bean sprout soup when he felt thirsty right away.

“Ha– Hahaha…” The God of Judgment laughed.

It had been such a long time since he felt this way. He could not even remember the last time he had ever laughed or felt happy since he was left in charge of all of the rules and laws of this land.

‘I feel happy. I feel so happy eating this kind of dish!’

He felt so happy that he could not stop the smile on his face.

The God of Judgment finished his portion so quickly and looked around.

“Wow…”

“This…”

“This flavour is so…”

The Absolute Gods were in awe.

And the gods? They were all rendered speechless. This was because they had witnessed the Absolute Gods throw away their dignity to eat the dish in front of them in a hurry when they had always eaten calmly and quietly.

Only after they finished eating did the Absolute Gods return to their senses.

‘I’m smiling.’

‘I feel happy after eating.’

The Absolute Gods were people who had everything they ever wanted. They have the strength, the authority, the money, everything. There was nothing that they did not have. But this was the first time they had felt happy after eating a dish.

Of course, the Beef Galbi-jjim Across All Eras was fantastic. It was to the point where they would be craving to taste this kind of dish again. But even more funny was that they found the dish, which was a shabby and cheap bibimbap, to be more delicious than the Dish Across All Eras.

The Battle God smiled faintly. He knew precisely what Minhyuk intended to do.

‘Minhyuk lost. But he also won.’

The dish that Minhyuk presented did not have any special abilities, but it tasted better. This was no longer a bet or a competition. It was now just a matter of whether Minhyuk received recognition.

The Battle God did not hesitate.

[The God Who Rules Over All Armies acknowledges you.]

[You have levelled up.]

Then one after another.

[The God Who Does Not Know How to Back Down acknowledges you.]

[You have levelled up.]

[...Rules Over All of the Dead…]

[...who Loves to Help Others…]

[...who Loves to…]

[...who Loves to…]

The notification constantly rang. Minhyuk was able to achieve the feat of increasing his level by seven all at once.

The gods were quite nervous. And the rest of the Absolute Gods were all looking at one god. This god was none other than the God of Judgment.

As someone as stubborn as a mule and completely inflexible, the Dish Across All Eras that the God of Cooking had made would be the better dish by his standards.

Because of that, the Absolute Gods thought he would never admit anything other than this. But then, at that moment, a completely unexpected notification rang.

[The God Who Rules Over All Creation acknowledges and thanks you.]

[You have levelled up.]

“...!”

Minhyuk’s eyes grew wide. This was a completely different reward from his bet with the Absolute Gods.

Minhyuk had used For the Joy of Everyone and applied it to the Land of the Gods. This meant that all of the gods in this land, including Athenae, could receive a copy of the dish that he made. Athenae enjoyed the dish that she tasted.

A commotion broke out among the gods.

“Even mother?”

“That’s impossible…”

“This is crazy! Absolutely crazy!”

While the gods were in awe and admiration, the God of Judgment closed his eyes and was left lost in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk’s heart was already at his throat. Everything depended on this man’s choice. His choice would determine whether Minhyuk would be significantly rewarded or receive huge penalties.

Not long after, the God of Judgment opened his eyes. There was a slight smile on his face as he said, “I give you my recognition.”

[The God who Protects the Laws and the Rules acknowledges you.]

[You have levelled up.]

[You have won the bet against the Absolute Gods.]

[You have received the acknowledgement and recognition of all gods.]

[You can ask the Absolute Gods for one thing if it is within reasonable means.]

[You have acquired the Beef Galbi-jjim Across All Eras!]

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