Leveling Up through Eating
chapter-25

Chapter 25: The Food Fighter (Food God) Knows How to Eat Samgyeopsal

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

QC: MattForgenti

‘Wahahahaha! It’s really spear. blood. damage! Black Dragon-nim!’

Everyone came to an agreement and told him…

‘Wow. Black Dragon-nim, I think it will definitely be cool to use this phrase when you’re angry.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘My right arm… has gone crazy and unruly…’

‘Wow, fXcking awesome…!’

‘Really awesome!’

‘Aha, is that so?’

All the party members fell into the hands of this Black Dragon!

He finally came over to Isbin Village.

‘Hmm, where’s my Minhyukie?’

He already learned about his son’s whereabouts from General so he’s pretty sure that Minhyuk was here.

While he was looking for Minhyuk, he suddenly came across a man.

“Ah, fXcker, son of a bXtch. I’m going to kill you. Minhyuk you motherfXcker!”

‘Hmm?’

Black Dragon’s forehead crumpled in irritation.

That’s my son’s name, right?

His expression suddenly turned cold.

I may not know what’s going on, but I believe my son. Whoever is speaking must have done something wrong first, that’s why they’ve had some friction.

He silently followed the unknown user to check things out.

‘This bastard, he went out of the village.’

He continued to track the unknown user silently. When they have walked quite a distance away from the entrance of the village, he once again heard him speak.

“Wow, this is a record-breaker in my PK life. I have never seen a rascal like that before. Who keeps on eating poisonous apples? I’ll PK him again and again. Son of a bXtch.”

‘As expected… He really did something first…’

When Black Dragon heard him talk about someone eating apples he was completely sure that he was talking about his son so he stopped the man.

“What the hell? What’s your problem, Nim?”

“…Black Dragon.”

“Yes? What? Your nickname is… Pfft! Your nickname is Black Dragon?!”

Roy laughed without restraint.

Why is a crazy user blocking me and calling himself Black Dragon?

Black Dragon nodded silently as he pulled his sword silently.

“My right arm has gone crazy and unruly!”

“…pfffft!“

Before Roy could even burst out in a laugh again, the overgeared Black Dragon had already attacked him. He killed him in his chaotic state so easily.

“I’ll show you what an infinite PK is.”

You’re my beloved son’s enemy.

Black Dragon showed his true colors in front of his enemies and made an example out of him.

From that day forward, Black Dragon would do everything he can.

After he finished chasing Roy, he eventually deleted his character and registered a new ID.

***

Tak, tak, tak, tak!

The sound of the knife was a bit unsophisticated but it rang loudly inside the Twilight Graveyard’s boss room.

Minhyuk has already started to prepare his ingredients. The first on his list was doenjangjjigae. The doenjangjjigae that was served in BBQ restaurants.

This is the best combi for the greasy samgyeopsal.

Some people would go to BBQ restaurants just so they could eat this stew.

He finished chopping the zucchini and onions. He looked over at his pot and saw the water boiling. The water he used to make doenjangjjigae was the water used to wash his rice.

He pulled out the dashi he used to make the broth then proceeded to add the soybean, ssamjang and a bit of chili powder. After adding the seasonings, he mixed it thoroughly and slowly let it boil in low heat.

Usually, the seasonings used for the doenjangjjigae in BBQ restaurants were stronger compared to the seasonings used at home.

However, that was its natural charm.

Minhyuk also added cheongyang chili peppers to add that mildly spicy flavor that he always wanted.

After he skimmed off the foam, he added his thinly sliced square tofu, covered the lid of the earthen pot and slowly let it boil until it was finished.

Minhyuk then placed the freshly prepared samgyeopsal on a well-heated grilling pan.

Sizzle!

“Kgghk! This is amazing, so wonderful!”

What laid in front of him were hot rice, pickled garlic stems, scallions in sesame oil and chili powder, sliced garlic and ssamjang, lettuce, perilla leaves and asagi chilies.

Minhyuk watched the meat skillfully and…

Time to flip!

Sizzle!

Oil trickled out of the samgyeopsal.

Minhyuk was beaming brightly. He was completely satisfied with what he was doing.

He placed ripe kimchi on one side of the grilling pan, then placed mushrooms on the other side. And when he saw that the meat was almost cooked, he skillfully chopped it up. Finally, Minhyuk pulled up the lid off of the well-boiled doenjangjjigae.

Shwaaa!

Mist slowly floated up.

“He…”

He couldn’t help showing a satisfied smile.

What should I eat first?

Well, let’s get this guy first.

He picked up a perfectly grilled and juicy mushroom from one side of the pan.

“This guy is best to eat when you’re trying to get your energy and stamina back!”

Minhyuk stretched his hand that was holding his chopsticks and he gently, very gently, dipped the mushroom in the soup.

This is the main point.

He then scooped up a spoonful of soup, and without wasting a drop, slowly brought it to his mouth for a sip.

“Keuhaaa!”

The taste of the warm mushroom and the flavorful soup whetted his appetite.

He swallowed the mushroom smoothly then picked up a well-cooked samgyeopsal. Then, he dipped it in his pre-mixed sauce made from sesame oil and salt. After dipping the meat, he placed it in his mouth and slowly chewed on it.

Chew, chew, chew.

“S, so happy…”

Minhyuk smiled widely.

The samgyeopsal is cooked thoroughly.

As he chewed on the meat, Minhyuk could feel the savory and salty taste of the oil sauce spreading in his mouth together with the meaty flavor that comes out of the grilled pork belly.

I boiled it for a long time, that’s why it’s so tender.

Minhyuk prepared a wrap by placing the meat, ssamjang, garlic, scallions, and kimchi on top of a lettuce leaf. He opened his mouth widely and quickly gobbled up his freshly made wrap.

“Hahaha!”

He yelled in delight as he quickly scooped up a mouthful of rice that he delivered straight to his mouth.

Chew, chew, chew—

Without pause, he took a spoonful of doenjangjjigae and placed it near his mouth.

“Hoo, hoo.”

He puffed his breath to let it cool then opened his mouth and sipped on the stew.

“Slurp!”

The moment the mildly spicy flavor of the doenjangjjigae met with plain rice, Minhyuk’s eyes widened in delight.

This is the taste of heaven!

He made another wrap which he finished in one bite. He tasted the combination of the savory, meaty juices of the samgyeopsal and the sour flavor of the well-ripened kimchi.

He took another bite but this time the wrap was filled with samgyeopsal topped with garlic stems and ssamjang.

“Isn’t this too delicious?! Hey, Porky! Isn’t your flavor too much for a human being?!”

As he said that, Minhyuk did not stop his actions of making a wrap and eating it in one bite. He ate as much as he wanted.

In fact, Minhyuk’s earthen pot could feed 50 people and his grill was as big as 4 grills combined together.

And thus, Minhyuk’s delightful meal continued.

***

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

In the Special User Management Team, more than five people were watching the monitor in a daze.

Whenever Minhyuk placed a piece of meat in his mouth, Lee Minhwa would unconsciously open her mouth.

‘Come on, give me a piece. Put it in my mouth!’

She wanted so badly to eat a piece of meat but unfortunately no food came her way.

She unknowingly chewed, as if there was a piece of meat in her mouth. She suddenly woke up from her daydream and turned her head around.

“Heok?! What the hell?! Why is the development team here? Huh? Someone came from the customer center too?”

“Ah, we have some business to do, just stop… Shit, why can’t I stop watching this? Wow, I’m a big fan of BJ Binz’s mukbang but I have to switch lanes starting today.”

The people from the development team cried out in surprise. Everyone came to their senses when they heard the noise.

“Hmm, hmm. Who wants to eat samgyeopsal today?”

“Me! Me!”

“Me too!”

Everyone raised their hands.

Team Leader Park wiped the drool off of his face.

“User Minhyuk eventually received the Food Fighter class. The maintenance team will have a hard time.”

Team Leader Park smiled bitterly as he agreed with the words of Lee Seokhoon, the development team’s team leader.

“I acknowledge him receiving the Food Fighter class since I haven’t seen anyone who can eat as much as him.”

“Really?”

He was starting to get confused. At that moment an employee from the customer center team spoke up.

“The skills for the God class, Food Fighter, were much more ordinary than what I thought. Except for the one where he gets an increase in stats whenever he eats.”

Lee Seokhoon looked at him and smiled.

“Really?”

“I don’t think that it’s ordinary.”

“……Was there something else?”

“Do you know what the ‘?’ in the skill True Worth of Food means? Well, Seonwook-ssi doesn’t know since he’s from the customer center team.”

But the employees of the development team and the special user management team knew.

“Those question marks are the real charm of the True Worth of Food. Maybe you’ll find out about it soon?”

After 30 minutes.

“You said that I will find out about it soon. But he’s still eating?”

Before they even knew it, the employees working under the development team had all gone back to do their work and the only one left was Sunwook from the customer center team.

“Cough… No. You’ll find out soon enough.”

After 2 hours.

“…He’s still eating?”

“Seonwook-ssi are you not going to leave?”

“It’s my day off today, I just came here to get something. Ah…… I’m just hanging around because I’m very curious…”

“Hmm…”

After 2 more hours.

“Oooooh, he’s done eating. I’ll finally know… What, is he going to eat pork neck now?”

“……Shit, I’ll definitely learn about it today!”

After another hour.

“H, he’s really finished, right?”

“I thought I watched Animal Kingdom’s ‘The Elephant’s Way of Eating’……”

“Well, now you’ll see something interesting.”

Team Leader Park’s eyes shone brightly.

“However, this is just a small part of it.”

***

“Buuuuurp!”

Minhyuk, who scared almost all of the monsters with his burp, patted his stomach in satisfaction.

“Well, I’m not even half-full yet but I’m going to take a break for now.”

Minhyuk grinned widely as he finished his meal.

It was truly delicious that I couldn’t contain my happiness.

He drank his water as he excitedly thought about the other dishes that he could cook using pork.

[You have activated the True Worth of Food.]

[You have gained +1 STR and +1 STM.]

“Oh? My stats really did increase. Omg!”

Minhyuk was very surprised.

So it really was a special ability?

The skill was really the perfect fit for someone like Minhyuk. However, the notifications still hadn’t ended yet.

[Perfect Combination]

[There is harmony between the doenjangjjigae and the samgyeopsal.]

[You have been granted additional stat points.]

[You have gained an additional +2 STR.]

“……Huh?”

Perfect Combination?

This is a bit unexpected.

Truly, the combination of food is important.

Could you imagine eating chicken and powerade together, do you think it would be delicious?

How about eating ramyeon with chocolate? This combination was a bit terrible.

This was why the combination of food was important.

Sweet chocolate cake with Americano.

Hamburger, french fries and iced cola.

In the morning, General sang about the ultimate jjambap [1] experience he had in the army. It was having the combination of beef seaweed soup, vienna sausage and laver as their meal. This was why the combination of food was important.

‘The first notification clearly rang after I finished eating…’

Minhyuk thought about it carefully.

Then the second one…

‘Hmm, this may be one of the question marks in the True Worth of Food. So one of the question marks shows the harmony when the elements and ingredients in the food is combined.’

It seems like True Worth of Food has a lot of strengths yet to be found.

Minhyuk thought: Wouldn’t it be fun to find and explore the different combinations of flavor?

And he also found one more thing…

‘Eating a lot doesn’t mean that I can have a tremendous increase in my stats.’

Well, if that was the case, then Minhyuk would already have his stats rise to 100 in just a day.

‘Don’t tell me that if the combination of the flavors and the taste falls then my stats will also fall?’

A possibility suddenly occurred to him but after having ten minutes of break…

“Well, shall we eat samgyeopsal again?”

His eating spree has not yet ended.

***

Minhyuk was smiling brightly when he came out after disconnecting from the game.

“Everyone, I ate samgyeopsal today!”

“Wooooooo!”

“Congrats~!”

“Congratulations, Minhyukie.”

All the people surrounding Minhyuk were in applause. Including his father, who was standing near the entrance of the room.

“Father. Huh? Why do you look so tired?”

“Ah, no. It’s because I had a bit of work to do.”

“Please take it easy. It breaks your son’s heart to see you this tired.”

“Okay.”

Minhoo grinned at him. The reason for his tiredness was because he kept on chasing after Roy.

However, there was a reason why Minhoo, Minhyuk and even Changwook had to log out of the game.

All of them stood in front of the weighing scale.

Today was the day that they had to check for the results. He had to check his weight.

In fact, today was a very important day for Minhyuk. Today was the day that they would make a big decision.

Minhyuk stood in front of the huge scale with nothing but his boxers on. He exhaled nervously.

“Hoooooo…”

He closed his eyes and stepped on the weighing scale.

Thuuuud—

He must have been very heavy for a sound like that to come out.

The number on the scales quickly climbed up.

Lee Jinhwan and Minhoo looked at the numbers on the weighing scales with trepidation.

At that moment.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes you can, Minhyukie.”

Minhyuk slowly opened his eyes then looked at the numbers flashing on the weighing scale.

173.2kg

“…It didn’t decrease.”

He had a sad expression on his face. He suddenly became dispirited.

“Minhyukie, don’t be too disappointed.”

Jinhwan patted his shoulders.

“If your weight did not change at all, then that means that you are not experiencing the yoyo effect.”

“Ah…”

“Aren’t you eating delicious food as much as you want right now? If we wait a bit longer then I think we would get good results.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Minhyukie is a healthy piggy.”

“Ah. Prof, you’re too much!”

Both of them laughed happily.

Minhyuk turned around and walked away with Changwook to exercise. He started to complain to him.

Jinhwan and Minhoo looked at each other.

“Is it real? He’s showing signs of improvement?”

“Yes, you’re right.”

Jinhwan nodded at him seriously.

Both of them walked away to further discuss Minhyuk’s condition. The moment they arrived in Lee Jinhwan’s private clinic, he showed him a diagram.

The diagram showed how much Minhyuk ate inside the game.

“Our medical team monitors Minhyuk 24/7. We monitor the amount of food and the calories Minhyuk consumed. We check it thoroughly and basically do not miss anything.”

“That’s right.”

“Please look at this diagram. If you look at the diagram you can see that he has eaten 5,122 cherry tomatoes, vitamins and nutritional supplements.”

Jinhwan pulled out another diagram and showed it to him.

“This is the diagram before we started the Athenae therapy.”

Jinhwan placed the two diagrams side by side. Kang Minhoo’s eyes widened when he saw the contents of the diagrams.

“…It, it’s decreasing?!”

“Yes. As you can see, it’s decreasing.”

Jinhwan smiled lightly.

“Before we started the treatment, Minhyuk’s intake of cherry tomatoes was increasing by 10~30 pieces every day. For someone who eats 5,000 pieces a day, that’s not much of an increase but if it continued on until the 10th or 100th day then that would be too much to handle.”

“Yeah.”

“In fact, no treatment could ever cure the increase in the amount of food intake. Now let’s look at the diagram after the start of the Athenae therapy.”

His eyes shone brightly.

“We’re decreasing the amount by 2~4 pieces each day.”

“I, is that so. Then it’s definitely decreasing.”

“It’s decreasing little by little. But Chairman Kang.”

Lee Jinhwan patted Kang Minhoo’s hands. He was only able to do this because the both of them were friends and colleagues for a very long time.

“This is the first time that he’s showing signs of improvement ever since he had bulimia. Chairman, Minhyuk has given me hope once more.”

***

Footnotes

[1] 짬밥 (jjambap) : it was said that jjambap originates from 잔반 (janban) which means leftover food. It may also be a bastardization of 찐밥 (jjinbap) which means steamed rice. I think it basically means the food served in the army. I saw that the food there was strictly limited so that may be it. It’s also a slang that means experience (time spent on a task) thus rank. Which means that the more jjambap you have, the higher your rank is.

TL’s corner!!!

Ahhhh, he’s already showing signs of improvement. So proud of you Minhyukie! So happy.

P.S. We have a QC that’s working for LUE now. Let’s all welcome Matt. Thank you for reaching out. Let’s all have a better LUE chapter! Hehe.