Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 224: How to Make Demigod Artifacts

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Kentaro suddenly approached Minhyuk.
He said “I won’t lose next time.”

Minhyuk did not answer him.
After all, Kentaro had also saved his life once.

Kentaro’s lips curled up.
He felt a strong desire to become stronger! He was very determined to improve himself and become stronger, so he asked Minhyuk, “I have a question.”

After all, while he felt that his pride had been hurt, his desire for strength outweighed his ego.

“How can I be as strong as you?”

Minhyuk just answered it simply.
Then, Ali, Kentaro and Minhyuk acquired all of the dropped artifacts.

Before logging out, Ali said, “Minhyuk, I’ll always run to you when you need me.”

“Thank you.
Ali!”

It was absolutely unimaginable to get help anytime from the world’s most powerful mage, Ali!

After they had left, the Haochen Guild members were all resurrected by the Absolute Commander’s ability.
They could see that not only were the other artifacts missing, even their own artifacts had disappeared.
Since Beas Village had opened, the only thing that they had done was the entrance quest for the entire two months of their preparation.
What was worse was that even their artifacts were gone.
Of course, they still had some backups that were worse than the usual, but it was still a fact that they had suffered a great loss.

“No waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!”

When they finally revived and came back to their senses, they grabbed their heads and wailed loudly.
The birds in the surrounding area were startled and flew off the trees.

Meanwhile, after Kentaro ended the game, he directly went to the kitchen.
After all, he was told about the way to become strong!

‘That’s right.
This way, I can be stronger too!’

Kentaro ate three bowls of rice first before slouching down and rubbing his stomach.
After digesting the food to some extent, he immediately went out to his yard.

“Haa! Haa! Haa!”

Then, he started to wield his katanas with all his might.
Sweat dripped down continuously from his forehead, but Kentaro did not feel tired at all.
Contrary to that, he was even feeling a sense of thrill and excitement.

At night, once the clock ticked to nine o’clock, he had already tucked himself under the covers just like a child who came to a new country.

‘Eat well, exercise hard, and sleep well!’

Minhyuk’s words were a bit vague, but Kentaro was still moved.

‘Aaaaah! This is life’s insight and realization! Eat well, exercise hard and sleep well! Is there a better saying than this?’

Kentaro was excited.
He thought that he could finally see why Minhyuk was so strong.

‘When a person eats well, exercises hard and sleeps on time, it means that they grind themselves regularly.
Even though he just told me those words simply, I believe that those words can speak to one’s soul!’

That was when Kentaro decided that he could do it too.
He could eat well, exercise hard and sleep well! Kentaro quietly pulled the blanket up to his chin as he fell in his dreamland, dreaming sweetly of the future where he was finally stronger.
A smile curled up on his lips after realizing that he could finally be stronger.

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He did not know it, but Minhyuk only said that he should eat well, exercise hard and sleep well, because he somehow really became stronger by doing that.

***

Athenae Temple was the largest and greatest place where believers and devotees gathered in the virtual reality game Athenae.
In addition, the Athenae Religion was the most powerful ‘religion’ among all of the gods present in the world view.
Most of the Priests and Paladins in the global rankings were members of the Athenae Religion.
However, that was just it, they were just literally rankers.
In fact, being a member of the Athenae Religion was very difficult.
In addition to having a strict discipline, only those with at least 500 points on their holy power stats were allowed to join the congregation.
Even so, due to the Athenae Religion, the gaming lives of the players were blooming splendidly.

A woman stared at a distance as she stood by the window in the Athenae Temple.
She was quite astounded by the foreigners that visited Athenae Temple every day.

“It… it’s the Saintess Loyna!”

“Wow… So, so beautiful! I have never seen someone as beautiful as her in the world!” 

In the virtual reality game Athenae, there existed an NPC that was described to be the most beautiful woman.
That NPC was none other than the figure in front of the window, the Saintess Loyna.
Loyna was the Saintess personally sent down by God of Athenae and she was more beautiful than anybody else.

The reason why Saintess Loyna was standing in front of the window was simple.

“A foreigner is going to challenge and move the Saint’s Sword.” 

The Saint’s Sword! It was a legend that was passed down along with the Athenae Religion.
It was said that whoever moved the Saint’s Sword, that was deeply embedded in the ground, was most likely the one that would become a hero.

However, 2,000 years had passed since the Athenae Religion was founded but the Saint’s Sword was still stuck in that same place.
Nobody was able to move it at all.

‘It requires a high level of holy power.
In addition, that person needed to be pure without greed for treasure or sexual desire.’

It had been 2,000 years.
In those 2,000 long years, no one was chosen.
Currently, Bavecka’s Child, Julian, said that he was going to challenge the Saint’s Sword, even though he was not a part of the Athenae Religion.
He was a foreigner, and was said to have the highest Holy Power among the foreigners, on top of being a well-known and distinguished priest.

“Wow.
Bavecka’s Julian!”

“The man who threw away all of his greed even inside the game!”

The players were all in a buzz.
People were allowed to try and move the Saint’s Sword regardless if they were a member of the Athenae Religion or not.

The foreigners began to gather while Loyna looked with great anticipation from above.
She saw Julian grab the golden hilt of the Saint’s Sword.
He held it with both hands before pulling it up.

“Keuuuuup!”

“…”

Alas, it did not budge at all.
Perhaps feeling the embarrassment from being watched by a lot of people, Julian exerted a lot of strength.

“Keuaaaaaaa!”

Then…

Pooooot~ 

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…no matter how strong he was, Julian still rushed out of the area with his face as red as an apple after accidentally farting.

Loyna turned around and bit her lips tightly.
She thought, ‘There are a lot of movements on the demon’s side these days.
Something is about to happen.
There’s definitely something.’ 

***

Steam was rising from the pot of soy sauce braised chicken.
This was the Monarch’s soy sauce braised chicken that Minhyuk had received after successfully hunting the Ancient Monarch.

He smiled happily when he saw the bowl of rice and soy sauce braised chicken in front of him.
Then, he quickly stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a chicken leg first.
He happily took a bite out of the steaming chicken leg.
The salty flavor of the soy sauce, as well as the tender, soft texture of the chicken meat put a smile on his face.

After eating all of the meat on the chicken leg, he ate a spoonful of rice.
Then, he stretched out his chopsticks to pick a piece of the well-diced potato.
The light, salty and soft taste of the potato spread in his mouth.

This time, he sprinkled a spoonful of sauce on top of his rice before adding the potatoes and mashing it in the rice.
Then, he chomped on a mouthful of rice and potato.
Next, he lifted the flat noodles that were usually used in soy sauce braised chicken, before placing it in his mouth and slurping it down.

“Ah.
Delicious.”

The flat noodles had absorbed the flavor of the soy sauce more than the chicken, so the taste could already be said to be truly delicious.
Minhyuk could also taste the strong flavor of the seasonings in other parts of the dish! There was a saying that when one ate chicken, they should eat it without knowing whether it was a fried chicken or a seasoned chicken.

Just like that, Minhyuk cleaned everything on his plate.
Then, the notifications began to ring.

[You have eaten the Ancient Monarch’s Soy Sauce Braised Chicken.]

[You have gained 500 points of Holy Power.]

[You have learned ‘Food-related Quests’, one of the Food God’s Divinations.]

“…Huh?” 

Minhyuk was somewhat surprised.
He already read before that he would gain knowledge about the Food God’s Divination once he ate the Ancient Monarch’s soy sauce braised chicken.
However, when he confirmed the dish before, it did not state clearly what the divination was.

Minhyuk quickly checked the Food-related Quests.

(Food-related Quests)

Food God’s Divination

Effects: You will occasionally receive quests related to the food that you eat.
This is the Food God’s Divination that only a Food God could have.

“Oh…!” 

A small smile curled in Minhyuk’s mouth.
This was because his foodie senses tell him that something delicious would come out from the Food-related Quests.
Furthermore, these were quests he could only obtain after eating different kinds of food.

“This is definitely the smell! Hmm~ Smell~!”

Minhyuk smiled with satisfaction before feeling a bit of distress.
After hunting the Ancient Monarch, he was able to obtain the ‘Monarch’s seeds’.
After he added Ali as a friend, he had asked him about it and he realized that he was the only one who received such a reward.
He was guessing that it was because he had a higher individual score than the rest of them, so he had received this. 

Minhyuk turned to the seeds and checked the information again.

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(Monarch’s Seeds)

Material Grade: ???

Special Abilities: ???

Description: Only the pope or the candidate for papacy can awaken its power.

The question marks remained the same even after he checked it again.
Even the description was a bit cryptic.

‘Ah… I think it would be better if I grew these seeds.’

That was right.
Minhyuk was only interested in delicious things.
And for that reason, Minhyuk sent another whisper to Abel.

[Minhyuk: A~ beeeeeel~]

[Abel: Min~hyuuuuuuk~]

[Minhyuk: I have a question.]

[Abel: Yep! Ask me anything.]

[Minhyuk: Who is the pope? Or maybe the candidate for papacy?]

[Abel: The current pope is Pope Carunu, he is the 21st pope and is well-known to be the most powerful pope alive.
And there is only one candidate for the papacy.
It’s the one they call Saintess Loyna.
Loyna is famous for being the woman that Athenae’s absolute god has personally sent down.
By the way, don’t tell me that you don’t know about Loyna?]

[Minhyuk: Yep.]

[Abel: You don’t know about the most beautiful woman alive in Athenae…]

[Minhyuk: Will it be hard to meet her?]

[Abel: It will be possible to see her face from afar if you stayed in Athenae Temple for about ten days.
But it’s almost impossible to get a direct audience with her unless you’re a high-ranking priest.]

[Minhyuk: Ah.
I see…]

Minhyuk thought that it was a pity.
He thanked Abel, but his thoughts still continued to churn in his head.

‘Do I really need to give up?!’ 

The Monarch’s Seeds were definitely something extraordinary.

‘I’m sure something delicious will grow out of this!’ 

***

Loyna looked at Corr, commander of the Paladins, then watched the Athenae’s crystal ball.
The Athenae’s crystal ball could measure the amount of demonic energy in the surroundings.
However, her face right now was distorted.

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‘The crystal ball is indicating that the amount of demonic energy is more than the usual…’ 

It was clear that Demon Verus and his devil worshippers were all moving.
Then, Corr said, “A foreigner has been asking me to meet you for about 15 days now.” 

“…Is that so?” 

“Yes.” 

“But why are you reporting this to me?” Loyna asked, smiling coldly.

The number of foreigners who wanted to meet her up close and personal were overflowing.
Some people even waited for a month, not just 15 days.
However, she was the Saintess and the only candidate for the papacy.
Was she supposed to care about one foreigner just like that? She was also slightly put off about the fact that the Corr had reported something this trivial to her.

“He’s a completely unique foreigner, already adored and loved by all of the priests of the Athenae Religion.” 

“…What do you mean?” Loyna asked in confusion.

‘Adored and loved by all of the priests of the Athenae Religion? That can’t be true.
Those people all had their nose up in the sky.
They believed that Athenae Religion is the superior ‘religion’.
They’re even more snobbish than most of the nobles in the continent.’

“I also adore him, that’s why I’m reporting this to you.
It seems that he’s going to challenge the Saint’s Sword today.” 

Loyna frowned at his words.
She was a bit curious about this person who was loved and adored by all of the priests.

She opened the door and went out.
The sight in front of her had left her speechless.
The priests and foreigners were all gathered around the area.
A man stood at the center of all these people.
He grasped the hilt of the sword with his hands.
No.
To be more exact, he held the hilt of the sword and lightly lifted it.
The sword was actually easily pulled out.

“Huh? It came out?” 

The moment the sword was pulled out, the Saint’s Sword shined brightly.
Its light covered the entirety of the Athenae Temple.
Loyna’s body trembled.

‘He, he, he’s the man of the legends…!’ 

She was so excited that she shouted unknowingly, “Why did you pull it out!!!” 

The man was caught in surprise.
He said, “Ah! That’s right! It moved at my touch.
Wait! Sorry!” 

Then, he put the sword back in.

“N…no!! Why did you put it back inside?!!” 

“Ah.
All right!” 

Then, the man pulled it out again.

“Keok!” 

An indescribable sound came out of Loyna’s mouth.

‘What kind of joke is this? Why can he easily pull the Saint’s Sword out?! He even looked like he was just pulling up some radish from the ground?!!’