Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 972

World of Hybrids, Utopia.

Minhyuk had been running around all day, trying to find the Food God’s progeny, Rhoando, and the Barov Kingdom.

‘Ridiculous! How can a place like this exist?!’

Despite being on their feet all day, they could not find a single food ingredient in Utopia. Thankfully, they were able to find a vast kingdom.

“Beans, let’s go!”

“Oiiiiink!”

Minhyuk and Beanie charged toward the kingdom. The new world’s unique dishes! The two ran while thinking that they had to eat that. The guards blocked their path when they arrived at the kingdom's entrance.

“Half-human, half-pig?”

“Ho? That’s a bit unusual.”

Beanie was rendered speechless. He looked at them sarcastically, his face screaming, " What do you mean by half-human, half-pig? I’m clearly a pig.

Fortunately, Minhyuk, whom Aesden helped transform into the figure of a half-human, half-elf, safely passed through security. It was made more accessible since the guards were also half-human, half-elf. It was evident with their sharp and pointy ears.

The moment he entered the kingdom, Minhyuk quickly moved to try and find the specialties of the World of Hybrids. But there was no single place that sold food anywhere in the kingdom. There weren’t even restaurants, which should have been commonplace.

In frustration, Minhyuk stopped a middle-aged woman and asked, “Hi?”

“Yes, hello,” the woman greeted him warmly. It seemed like she had a favorable impression of him.

“By any chance, where can I find a restaurant here?”

“R– Restaurant?” The woman stuttered. She looked flustered when she heard the word come from Minhyuk’s mouth. Her expression even changed. Now, she looked like she had heard something she shouldn’t have heard. “How dare you say the word ‘restaurant’ with your mouth?!”

[Your favor with Berin has decreased.]

The woman looked at Minhyuk from head to toe before quickly disappearing from his sight. She acted like she did not hear anything from him at all. Minhyuk was left flustered after seeing her react like that. Puzzled, Minhyuk turned to others to ask the same thing.

“Are you nuts?! How dare you say such a filthy word…?!”

“Ha… This is completely ridiculous!”

[Your favor with Brachan has decreased.]

[Your favor with Bendwin has decreased.]

Minhyuk was left in doubt and confusion when he saw their reaction after he said the word “restaurant.” What was a restaurant? For people today, it was a place where they could rest after a difficult day.

In the end, Minhyuk gave up on asking the people. ‘I’ll probably know once I meet the Food God’s progeny, Rhoando.’

He must have a massive appetite since he was born with the Food God’s blood. And he would most likely be related to cooking. Instead of asking about restaurants, Minhyuk began to ask around about Rhoando. Surprisingly enough, he found out about Rhoando’s location in a much more straightforward way than he had expected.

Minhyuk imagined Rhoando to be a chef who could make excellent dishes. After all, he was the food enthusiast, the Food God from another world.

‘But why is he with the mercenaries?’ Minhyuk was quite puzzled about this fact. However, he soon shook his head. Even Len, once an imperial chef, became the subjugation forces’ cooking team leader. Maybe Rhoando was in charge of making the mercenaries’ meals, no?

It did not take too long for Minhyuk to reach the place where more than 1,500 mercenaries had gathered. And just like he expected, most of them were sporting the same sharp and pointy ears that he currently had.

“Excuse me, do you know where Rhoando is?”

“Rhoando? Rhoando’s over there.”

Minhyuk followed the guidance of one of the mercenaries and soon came face to face with a man with a gigantic build. For a moment, Minhyuk felt like he saw Venteio before him. Rhoando looked like an ordinary mercenary. He had an overgrown beard, a muscular body, and a bald head.

“Hello,” Minhyuk greeted politely.

Rhoando, wiping his gigantic axe, looked at him in confusion. “Who are you?”

Although the man’s appearance was far from what Minhyuk imagined him to look like, there was no doubt that he was Rhoando. After all, the quest was pointing at him.

That was why, without any hesitation, Minhyuk said, “I’m the Food God.”

“...!” Rhoando’s face was colored with surprise when he heard the words “Food God.” However, his expression immediately returned to its initial nonchalance. Then, he placed his hand over Minhyuk’s shoulder and laughed. “Hey guys! Look over here; this guy says he’s the Food God!”

“Wahahahahahaha! Food God?! Are you saying he’s a Food God when there’s no food here?”

“You’ve inherited a useless bloodline!”

Minhyuk frowned when he heard the mercenaries’ ridicule. At the same time, he thought, ‘A world without no food?’

The words were like a bolt out of the blue for Minhyuk. Could a world truly exist without any food?

Rhoando looked at Minhyuk for a moment. He could see that Minhyuk was genuinely ignorant of the ways of this world. He was like a clean slate regarding matters of this world.

“You probably inherited the blood of the Food God and an elf, huh?”

Rhoando’s thinking was only natural, especially with Minhyuk’s ears being that sharp and pointy. At this moment, Minhyuk realized he did not need to reveal to anyone here that he was a pure Food God.

‘Rhoando, the person who inherited the blood of the Food God, laughs when he hears the word ‘Food God.’ And a world without food.’

For now, Minhyuk deemed it necessary to learn more about this world and his situation.

Then, Rhoando said, “You probably have just been sent to this world, huh?” He rested his arm on Minhyuk’s shoulders and continued, “Since you have inherited the blood of an elf and the Food God, you’d probably live to around 500 years old.”

Minhyuk listened and pieced together the puzzle pieces as he listened to Rhoando’s unexpectedly friendly and kind(?) explanation. From what he had gathered, the average life expectancy in Utopia was around 300 years old.

Of course, this was only the average life expectancy for half-human, half-elves. Those who had the blood of a god coursing through their veins could live up to a thousand years. This was only natural. After all, a god would not die unless they wanted to die on their own.

However, the most crucial information he had gleaned from Rhaondo’s words was that there was no food in this world.

“I’m telling you this, so don’t forget about it. Those words are forbidden. Never mention words related to the ‘Food God’ or ‘cooking’ in this world.”

“Why?” Minhyuk really could not understand.

Rhoando pointed toward the sky with great fanfare and exaggeration, saying, “Because the great god had forbidden it. An ordinary person needs to eat at least three meals a day. It would take around two to three hours from meal preparation to eating. God had said that wasting time on something this useless was not necessary. So, he forbade it. And it has been like this for hundreds of years.”

Minhyuk’s face grew ugly when he heard Rhoando’s explanation. “This is more like hell.”

“...”

Rhoando’s eyes were filled with an unknown glint as he looked at Minhyuk. However, the twinkle in his eyes disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. Then, he cackled. “This is the reason why you, who inherited the blood of a useless god like the Food God, will be completely useless in this world. If you just inherited the blood of a regular god, then you would probably be able to gain a strong and powerful body. But the Food God? It’s a god who only knows how to eat, right?!”

Rhoando scoffed. Funnily enough, according to the quest that Minhyuk received, Rhoando also had inherited the blood of the Food God. But there was no way that Rhoando could know that Minhyuk knew that fact.

“It’s better for you to try and find a way to survive in this land. Let go of that useless power and just become a strong mercenary. Like us! Ah, I also do not have any strong power or something like that. After all, I also inherited the blood of the Food God!”

“Keuhahahahahaha!”

“Hahahahahahaha. You’re the one who said that!”

The mercenaries around them guffawed.

Minhyuk, who listened to all of them, grew angry. “Is it funny to laugh at someone just because they like eating?!”

“Hahaha…”

The laughter slowly subsided.

“You have to eat three times a day. And it takes you to cook and eat for two to three hours every single time.”

“...”

“But if you remove the excitement one would feel before eating food in one’s life, then what should we soothe ourselves with? How should we relax after a long day of work?”

One of man’s greatest pleasures was food. Perhaps it could also be considered as man’s greatest comfort.

But then, Rhoando drilled Minhyuk’s head with his finger and said, “We don’t need such a thing. Just let it go.”

If this were in Minhyuk’s turf, he might have already thrown hands with how they acted. However, he was in a completely different world. Since this world lacked anything that could be eaten, he had to adapt and understand their thinking.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Even if he could not talk with his fist, there were many ways to crush them and bring down those heads that had been staying high up in the clouds because of their arrogance.

Minhyuk tried to gently and surely induce them to say the words that he wanted to hear. “The Food God is not such a useless and trivial god as you think. He is a greater and more noble god than any other god.”

Everyone present knew that Minhyuk was a half-elf, half-Food God. There was a chance that they were also aware of the fact that he possessed the ability to raise his stats just by eating. However, those not in the know might just view the Food God as a god that was not good at anything except eating. Of course, this would usually be the case.

“That’s ridiculous–” Rhoando looked at Minhyuk in disbelief. “–The Food God is nothing but a trivial and useless god. Can he even do blacksmith work like a blacksmith can? Of course not.”

Minhyuk was pretty good at blacksmithing.

“Does he even have good DEX, allowing him to make everything well? Not at all.”

Minhyuk’s DEX was higher than any other gods’ DEX.

“Can you even say that he is strong? Can he strike a falcon in the sky with his arrows? Can he cut steel with his sword? Can he do those things that those born from other gods can do?”

Minhyuk was Athenae’s Supreme.

“See? There’s nothing else that he can do. Hmm? Ahahahahahaha!”

“Keuhahahahahahahaha!”

“In- In the end, the Food God is useless!”

Minhyuk’s acting had already matured. He could gently nudge them in the direction he wanted, even though they were laughing and mocking him.

Then, at that moment, one of the mercenaries said, “Wahahahahahaha! If you can kill one armored ogre, I will remove my underwear and dance in front of everyone!”

“Eyy! Are you saying that a Food God can kill a Steel-Armored Ogre? He should just go out and kill a rabbit!”

Rhoando, who heard those words, no longer felt like talking to Minhyuk. So, he said, “Alright. If you can hunt fifty Steel-Armored Ogres and collect a hundred kilograms of the steel armor that they have on their bodies within two days, then I will treat you as my hyung-nim for the rest of my life!” Rhoando laughed mischievously.

Even the other mercenaries were laughing out loud, too.

“You’re asking the guy who inherited the blood of the Food God to hunt a Steel-Armored Ogre?! Rhoando, you’re quite the mischievous one!”

“Hahahaha! Won’t he die as soon as he meets one?”

“Won’t he even be able to try?”

The Steel-Armored Ogre was a high-level monster with levels over Level 580. Even the mercenaries of this world would struggle to fight against one. The worst part was that Rhoando even asked Minhyuk to harvest the steel armor on their bodies personally. They were sturdy materials that were good for making swords.

“Is that all that I have to do?” Minhyuk continued to prod Rhoando, who had already taken his bait.

“And I’ll make sure to listen to two things that you want.”

Then, a quest window immediately appeared in front of Minhyuk.

[You have completed the Linked Quest: Find the Food God’s Progeny, Rhoando.]

[The Linked Quest: Hunt 50 Steel-Armored Ogres and Harvest 100 kg of Ogre’s Steel Armor has been created!]

Rank: Class

Requirements: The One who Received Rhoando’s Offer

Rewards: Rhoando will give you two things that you want.

Penalty for Failure: Unable to proceed with the following quests.

Description: Rhoando, the Food God’s progeny, mocked and laughed at you while suggesting you hunt for Steel-Armored Ogres. Show them your prowess and hunt fifty Steel-Armored Ogres and gather a hundred kilograms of its steel armor within two days. The Steel-Armored Ogres are located in the Big Tree Forest.

Just when he finished checking the quest, he received additional notifications.

Ring!

[If you can complete and achieve any of the quests given by those who inherited the blood of the Food God in Utopia, then you will be able to level up one of the Food God’s skills!]

[The Food God’s progenies possessed one or two more of the skills that you also possess. They have the power to increase the level of your skills!]

“...!”

Minhyuk was left in shock.

‘All of the progenies of the Food god have the skills that I have?’

Completing one of the quests they gave him would allow him to increase his skill level by +1. For example, if Rhoando had the skill Let’s Have a Meal, then if Minhyuk completed this quest, that skill would increase.

‘If there’s another Food God’s progeny here, then I will also have the opportunity to increase my Food God’s skills by one level.’

Minhyuk was very delighted when he heard the unexpectedly good news.

“Hey, don’t blank out,” Rhoando said when he saw him like that. “Did you suddenly become like that after hearing that you must hunt Steel-Armored Ogres? Didn’t I tell you? If you can hunt them, then I’ll make you my hyung-nim. Ah! I forgot to tell you my condition. If you fail to do this, don’t wander in front of me again.”

Rhoando even growled to emphasize his point. Minhyuk immediately turned and ran. After he disappeared, the mercenaries’ laughter died down.

“I don’t know. Don’t you think that it was a bit too much?”

A bitter expression flashed on Rhoando’s face when he heard the question of the mercenary group’s vice-captain. “We’re going to do something huge. If that guy gets involved with us and things go wrong, he will be in trouble.”

The truth was, no one from the mercenary group thought that way about the Food God.

‘You’re right. Without the joy and pleasure of eating, our lives would be boring and lifeless.’

That was why Rhoando was determined to do something to bring that back.

Then, at that moment, the mercenary group’s deputy commander approached Rhoando and said, “Then, what would you do if he could hunt them?”

“That’s impossible. Even our members would have difficulty hunting five of the Steel-Armored Ogre daily. But he has to hunt fifty of them by tomorrow. But his biggest obstacle was getting the steel armor from the Steel-Armored Ogre’s body. Even the most respected blacksmiths would have a hard time during the process of obtaining that material.” Rhoando smiled and shook his head. He firmly believed that it was an impossible feat.

However, unbeknownst to Rhoando, he would gain a hyung 675 years his junior.