“Hoo─” Minhyuk blew on the steaming grilled eel and placed it in his mouth. The grilled eel was perfectly grilled. Every single bite of the golden, grilled eel was crispy and bursting with savory juices. It was as if the crispiness and juiciness were testimonies to how well the eel was grilled.

Minhyuk nodded and smiled happily after he tasted the original flavor of the eel. Then, he slowly picked up another piece of meat while wondering about how he would eat it. After a moment of pondering, Minhyuk chose the perilla leaf. He grabbed a piece before adding half a spoonful of steaming rice on top of it. Then, he placed the grilled eel that he had dipped in soy sauce on top of it. He also did not forget to add a slice of ginger. After adding everything that he wanted to eat, he rolled the leaf and placed it in his mouth.

Chew, chew.

Minhyuk savored the scent in his mouth with great gusto. The unique fragrance of the perilla leaf made him feel comfortable and relaxed. Every time he chewed the wrap, the taste of the perilla leaf, the distinct flavor of the grilled eel, as well as the sliced ginger would meet and dance in his mouth.

“Haha. Isn’t it delicious?” 

It was so good that Minhyuk’s mouth curled into a smile uncontrollably, one hat came out because of how delicious the food was.

Eel was an ingredient that was good for replenishing energy, generally considered to be one of the best ingredients that were good for one’s health. As soon as he tasted the deliciousness, Minhyuk could also feel the heat that was climbing in his body. It was the power of the 3,000-year-old eel that could warm up the body even during the harshest of winter days.

When Minhyuk looked in front of him, he could see Beanie eating happily as well, scooping up a spoonful of rice with its tiny little paws, before placing it in its mouth. After it chewed the rice in its mouth well, Beanie stretched out its spoon towards the eel soup and took a sip, savoring the flavor of the various ingredients that were added to the soup. It could taste the flavor of the soybean paste, the dried radish stems, as well as the perilla leaves.

Minhyuk said, “Beans, one of the biggest charms of the eel soup, or even the bone hangover soup, is the dried radish stems.”

He then took a sip of the eel soup while lifting some dried radish stems up. Having been boiled in the soup, the dried radish stems absorbed much flavor. He quickly placed the dried radish stems on top of his rice before chomping on it. As soon as he chewed, the soup that was soaked up by the dried radish stems flowed out and spread in his mouth. He happily tasted the soft texture of the radish and rice.

Then, Minhyuk quickly picked up another piece of grilled eel meat before dipping it in his previously prepared sauce and placing it in his mouth. The spicy and sweet flavor of the sauce, together with the delicious protein from the eel, tasted fantastic in his mouth.

This time, Minhyuk spread a piece of perilla leaf that was seasoned with soy sauce on his plate. Then, he placed a large piece of eel meat on top of it before rolling it up and placing it in his mouth. The seasoned perilla leaf had a savory and tangy flavor to it that added some salty and sour flavor to the meat.

‘Isn’t this plain grilled eel wrapped with seasoned perilla leaf very delicious?’

As he munched on this delicious combination, Minhyuk took two cans out of his inventory.

Fwiish─

Minhyuk opened one of the cans, poured it in a glass with ice and placed it in front of Beanie.

Fwiish─

Then, he also opened a can for himself. It was beer. Minhyuk felt the icy coolness through the can of frosted beer. He said, “That’s right. Beer should taste like this!”

Beer tasted the best when one drank it after toiling in front of the warm and fiery charcoal. So, Minhyuk gulped it down happily after working hard.

‘Doesn’t the first sip of beer taste better if you drink it all in one go?’

Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp─

“Kyaaa!” Minhyuk exclaimed in awe.

“It’s amazing! Really great!” He cheered loudly, smiling happily at the taste of the cold beer.  This time, Minhyuk picked a piece of lettuce and perilla leaf, placing them on top of each other. Then, he dipped the piece of eel in spicy dipping sauce and placed it on top of the leaves. He also did not forget to add garlic, ginger and a chili pepper on top of it. Eating this combination allowed him to enjoy the tingling sensation of the spicy and strong ingredients.

Minhyuk wiped the sweat off of his forehead after eating a big wrap like that. Then, he grilled the ones that he had marinated earlier.

Sizzle─

He silently lifted the tail while he grilled the marinated eel. It was popular knowledge that the tail of the eel was filled with nutrients. Minhyuk asked aloud, “It’s good for energy, right?” 

The problem was that there was nothing written about it. However, the texture of the tail was very elastic and chewy. As soon as the marinated eel was grilled, he quickly cut off that piece and chewed on it. The marinated eel was just like marinated pork and beef ribs. It could be seasoned and marinated with red chili paste, or soy sauce. However, Minhyuk preferred the red chili paste marinade better. Hence, his marinated eel looked glossy with its red seasoning.

The plate was filled with the freshly cooked and glistening red marinated eel, and Minhyuk brought it close to his mouth. Then, he placed some sliced ginger on top of it before placing a portion in his mouth.

“Hmm. Delicious!” 

The combination of the sweet, spicy flavor of the red chili paste and the tangy flavor of the ginger created a perfect harmony. Then, Minhyuk chomped on the grilled marinated eel with some rice. The grilled marinated eel tasted delicious even if he did not add anything to it.

Sometimes, Minhyuk would even pick two large pieces of marinated eel and place them in his mouth all at once. The texture and flavor of the eel gave his mouth a strange feeling of pleasure and happiness. 

Finally, Minhyuk added his remaining rice into the pot of eel soup and finished everything. He did not even forget to tilt the earthen pot and scrape it down to the last drop. After finishing everything, Minhyuk smiled in satisfaction.

“Waaaa! Delicious!” 

“Oink!” 

Beanie was also smiling in satisfaction.

After they finished eating, Minhyuk heard the notifications once more. When all the notifications finished ringing, Minhyuk decided to open the ‘notification window’ to check everything one by one from the very beginning.

***

Demoness Gremory was looking at a man through her crystal ball.

[Ore Pordinium? What’s this? What’s the Hero’s Will quest?]

‘Are they almost there?’ 

The Episode Quests: People who received the Will of the Heroes all had one thing in common. The players that would clear this quest would be able to obtain special ores.

Gremory did not know who the man projected in the crystal ball was. Unbeknownst to her, this man was the 31st ranker in Korea’s official rankings. He was known as Shining Ron. Based on the situation, Gremory could tell that it would not take too long until the day when someone completed the ‘Hero's Will’ quest. The minerals that they would get from these quests would give them a variety of special powers. These special powers would be the force and strength of the ‘heroes’.

Gremory remembered the foreigner who had presented her with dried black bean noodles, tangsuyuk, and plenty of other foods not too long ago. The foreigner, Minhyuk, had the antarinium.

‘The most powerful mineral.’

He was also able to finish all of Gremory’s trials without a hitch and was even able to strike a deal with her regarding the ‘antarinium’.

‘But didn’t he just place it in front of me as soon as he said that?’

Then, another thought suddenly popped up in her head. 

‘He’s not going to do something weird with that mineral, right?’ 

However, she dismissed it as a pointless thought. No matter how much he liked to eat, there was no way that he could use those minerals to eat, right?

However, Gremory’s expression was suddenly distorted. She thought, ‘He wouldn’t put it in his mouth and think that it’s some sort of candy, right?’ 

Grin─

Gremory grinned at the thought. It seemed like she had lost her mind for a moment there.

***

[Eccentric Chef]

[You have made a Grilled Eel with Charcoal made out of the World Tree and a 3,000-year-old Eel.]

[Food God’s Greatness dwells in this Eccentric Dish.]

[Adding up your Eccentric Score.]

[Your Eccentric Score is 68.]

[You will be able to acquire bonus stats based on your Eccentric Score.]

[You have acquired +3 on all five of your basic stats.]

[The Unique ranked ‘Eccentric Grilled Eel’ has been born.]

‘Food God’s Greatness dwells in this Eccentric Dish?’ Minhyuk thought for a while. Then, he understood. According to the Athenae system, medicines could not be cooked. However, thanks to Minhyuk’s ‘Food God’s Greatness’ he was able to ignore such limitations. Right now, he had cooked a dish of the greatest medicines. On top of that, there was his Eccentric Chef and Food God’s Greatness ingrained in the same dish. It seemed like the effects did not disappear but got ingrained inside of the dish instead. Then, he looked at the notifications about the 3,000-year-old eel.

[You have eaten the ‘Eccentric Grilled Eel’.]

[You have acquired 121 STR and 113 STM.]

[You have acquired 200 Command Points.]

[You can save 21% STR, 20% STM and 20% DEX.]

[You can save 40% Elf Affinity.]

[You can save the Skill: World Tree’s Grace.]

Acquisition and Save were two different things. Acquisition meant that the things that he acquired were permanent, while ‘Save’ meant that he could delete the effects saved from the previous ‘Eccentric Dried Black Bean Noodles’ and save a new power. It had the same principle as unequipping old artifacts and equipping new and better artifacts.

When he ate the dried black bean noodles, he did not hear the notification ‘You can save’ since he did not have any saved abilities back then. Of course, Minhyuk saved the abilities that he could save from the grilled eel. As soon as he made his choice, he heard the notifications about the saved skills.

Then, he went to check the notifications window once more. He was checking the last notification. It was a notification for quest completion.

[You have completed the Class Quest: Make a Special Tool.]

[You have acquired Gorac’s Special Skill: ‘Gorac’s Ingredient Creation’.]

“Oh…!” Minhyuk exclaimed happily. He had a good feeling about this skill. So, he quickly checked the information.

(Gorac’s Ingredient Creation)

Active Skill

Level: 1

Mana Required: 1,500

Cooldown: None

Effects:

•This ability can help you make various seasonings from minerals. You can easily grind minerals and turn them into condiments.

•Creating ingredients is based on your level. There may be other ingredients and materials that you still can’t make yet based on your current level.

“Yes!” Minhyuk shouted in glee. This was a very useful skill for him. He had tried time and again to make antarinium into a ‘condiment’, but he had failed every single time. He did not know if this skill could really grind the anatrinium into a condiment. So, he immediately tested it out.

[Do you want to use Gorac’s Ingredient Creation?]

“Yes.”

[Antarinium is a mineral that can be made into a great seasoning. It can also be used as a substitute for red pepper powder.]

[The grinding of Antarinium has started.]

The figure of antarinium appeared in front of Minhyuk. Then, it was sucked into a grinder with a lot of demonic patterns engraved on it.

Crush, crush, crush!

A loud noise rang in the surroundings as red powder began to fall. Underneath the grinder, a large bowl started to get filled with red pepper powder. Minhyuk smiled happily when he saw the antarinium being ground into red pepper powder. Notifications rang loudly in Minhyuk’s ears the moment the antarinium finished grinding.

[You have completed the Class Quest: Special Seasoning.]

[You have acquired one of Gorac’s Artifacts.]

When he heard the notifications, Minhyuk immediately closed his eyes and prayed, ‘Please. Please let it be something that can help me make something delicious! I’m begging you!’

And surprisingly, his desperation and prayers bore fruit. What appeared in front of Minhyuk was none other than a ‘Gigantic Mixer and Bowl’.

***

Beas Village was a village located just below the Berest Mountains. It was a village that did not have a huge population and even NPCs that moved in and out of the village were only a few.

About two months ago, both Beas Village and the Berest Mountains opened to the public. Plenty of players cheered happily when they saw this information on Athenae’s official website. It was because Beas Village and the Berest Mountains were the ‘meeting venues’ where players all over the world could meet for the ‘first time’. This was the place that Joy Co. Ltd. prepared to test what would happen if people from all over the world met.

However, not long after, plenty of the players were left in disappointment. The only reason was because of the ‘warp stone’. Before one could enter Beas Village, they would need to have a ‘warp stone’. This warp stone could not be bought with money and could only be received through a quest. The quest was mostly available to high-leveled players. Due to this hurdle, it was rare for players to actually step foot in Beas Village.

Even now, there were only 30 global players in Beas Village.

Step, step─

Right now, there was a man walking out of Beas Village. He seemed to be heading for the Berest Mountains. The man was grinning as he walked with his robe and staff. 

‘I’m finally here! Berest Mountains!’ The man thought as he grinned widely. The man had collected a lot of information about the thousand-year-old ginseng all the while completing the quest ‘Hero’s Liberation’.

‘It’s the thousand-year-old ginseng that can increase mana reserves by 1.5x!’

He never dreamt that he would be able to step foot in this place. The man was none other than Ali the ‘Black Mage’. Excited, he started walking towards the Berest Mountains.