The notifications rang the moment Minhyuk got warped after stepping foot on the first step of the stairs.

[The First Trial of the Innocent Hero has started.]

[Either hunt the Hell’s Gatekeeper, Cerberus, or find other methods to climb up to the Second Step.]

The trial was a choice between hunting, or finding other ways to move forward. Then, another notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[With the influence of the Wishing Stone, you can obtain Capri’s Buckwheat once you complete the trial with outstanding results.]

“Oh…!”

Minhyuk’s expression changed, as he quickly checked the information about Capri’s Buckwheat. From what he gathered, buckwheat naturally changed flavors depending on the season that it was planted. However, Capri had devoted his time to studying it, and found a way to enjoy delicious buckwheat through all four seasons. In fact, he had succeeded in it. Even the taste was said to be more delicious than any other buckwheat in the world. Capri’s Buckwheat also had a special ability that allowed one random artifact skill to increase by a level.

‘Hiyaaa… Buckwheat, huh…’

Minhyuk was thinking about the things that he could eat with buckwheat when he realized that the temperature of the surroundings was getting hotter than normal.

‘Why is it so hot?’

When Minhyuk looked around, he was surprised to see a river of lava flowing to the side, with scalding steam puffing out from time to time.

‘If it’s this hot, then…’

There was only one food that came to mind and that was none other than ‘cold noodles’. Minhyuk decided that he would eat cold noodles and spicy mixed noodles the moment he cleared this trial.

‘Also, isn’t there that dish that can pair perfectly with cold noodles and spicy mixed noodles?’

It was none other than charcoal-grilled meat and dumplings! Just the thought alone could make Minhyuk’s mouth water.

That was when he saw a huge door in front of him. The door was around nine meters tall and was very wide.

‘Cerberus…’

Cerberus was a monster that was well-known to most. He was the three-headed Hell’s Gatekeeper.

Creaaaaaak—

The huge door slowly opened on its own as the three meter tall Cerberus walked out.

“Grrrrrr!”

“Grrrrrrrrruwoo!”

“Graaaaaa!”

Cerberus growled ferociously as Minhyuk looked at the level floating above his heads.

[Hell’s Gatekeeper, Cerberus. Level 650]

Cerberus was a very high-leveled monster that rarely appeared in Asgan Continent. That very same Cerberus suddenly dashed forward.

Dash—

“Graaaaaa!”

Cerberus leapt high up in the sky as Minhyuk used his Rampant Sword. No, he tried to use his Rampant Sword. Just when he was about to activate the skill, the mouth of the head in the middle opened and a white light flashed, shooting towards Minhyuk’s sword. He had no time to avoid the attack. Then, he heard the notification.

[Your skill has been nullified.]

“…!”

Then, Cerberus’ right head let out a breath of blazing flames, and they were as hot as the Hellfire that Ali usually summoned.

Puhaaaaaa—

Minhyuk immediately summoned Beanie as he used his passive skill, Absolute Defense. Beanie and Minhyuk became invincible for two straight seconds.

“Oink!”

Beanie sat on Minhyuk’s shoulders as he looked at the ferocious Cerberus drooling out in front of them. Then, Cerberus leapt again and tried to bite Minhyuk with all three of his heads.

‘He’s quite fast and very strong.’

Minhyuk could already imagine how sharp those teeth were, after seeing them gleam under the light. He could tell that anything would be ripped and torn apart with just a single bite from those mouths. Then, the left head opened its mouth as a cold, frosty breath sprayed out.

“…!”

Minhyuk intuitively felt that he needed to get out of range of that cold breath. So, he tried to block, before using Like the Wind to retreat. Then…

Shwaaaaaaa—

…Cerberus shot his cold breath and immediately froze the ground solid. Unfortunately, Minhyuk’s arm got caught in the aftermath, despite using Like the Wind to retreat.

[Your arm has been temporarily frozen and has been restricted from moving.]

[Your HP has fallen below 80%.]

‘Strong.’

It was already difficult to deal with one head, but Minhyuk had to deal with all three heads attacking him at the same time. Each of the three heads even had different characteristics and attributes. The head on the left could use frost, the head on the right could use fire, and the head in the middle could nullify attacks. It even had the skill that could allow its body to harden, using it to attack Minhyuk.

‘Their level might be above 600, but their powers are beyond that.’

That was usually the case for beings with tricky abilities that were hard to deal with. Then, Minhyuk hurriedly took out some bread from his inventory to restore his STM with the help of ‘Absorption Conversion’. Just then…

“Grrr?”

“Grrr?”

“Grrr?”

…Cerberus’ three heads suddenly looked at Minhyuk with interest, their tails wagging fiercely. The left head looked like he was saying something as they continued to wag their tail.

“Grrrr. (Hey. Don’t wag our tail. We, Cerberus, have our own pride to maintain.)”

“Grrr. (It’s not like I can stop it from wagging just because I want to.)”

The attention of Cerberus’ three heads was focused on the bread in Minhyuk’s hands. When Minhyuk brought the bread to the left, the heads followed along and turned together to the left. When he brought it to the right, they all turned to look at the right.

‘Ho?’

Minhyuk recalled that dogs had very large appetites, in fact, they were several times larger when compared to a human’s appetite. Minhyuk pondered deeply. He was aware that if things continued at this rate, it would be difficult for him to clear this trial. If that was the case, what would happen then?

‘I won’t be able to eat my buckwheat noodles.’

Minhyuk would only be able to obtain cooking ingredients if he cleared the trial and obtained a good enough result. But if things went on like this, he would not be able to get anything at all. So, Minhyuk slowly placed the bread on the ground as he watched Cerberus stop in front of him, while watching the bread intently.

“Wait!”

“Grrrrrrrr? (What did he say?)”

“Grrrrr! (I don’t know!)”

Cerberus ignored what Minhyuk said and tried to approach him. Seeing this, Minhyuk quickly picked up the bread and ate it. He also made sure to eat it very, very, very deliciously. It was as if he was teasing Cerberus with the food.

“Kyaaa! This red bean bread is really, really delicious!!!!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Cerberus’ three heads turned to look at Minhyuk as if they had lost everything in the world. Then, Minhyuk took out another piece of bread.

‘Repetitive training is very important for dogs!’

“Wait!”

“Grrrrr! (What?)”

“Grrrrr! (It seems like we won’t be able to eat the bread if we get closer!!!)”

Cerberus stopped in their tracks for a moment and when they tried to walk, Minhyuk ate the bread again. Then, Cerberus finally stood still as Minhyuk used his ‘Create a Recipe’ skill. The food that they wanted to eat the most right now was dried pollack soup.

‘The dog’s healthy food, dried pollack soup!!!’

This was the food that was usually fed to dogs that had undergone surgery during hot summer days. It was a dish that could help them feel energized and rejuvenated.

Minhyuk started cooking, leaving the piece of bread in front of him. When he saw Cerberus started to approach him, he said, “Oho~ No~”

“…”

“…”

“…”

He quickly removed all the salt from the dried pollack soup, added the tofu and thoroughly beat the eggs. Minhyuk quickly finished the soup. After he let it cool down for a bit, he placed it in front of Cerberus.

Gulp, gulp, gulp—

Slurp, slurp, slurp—

Cerberus bowed all three of their heads and ate the dried pollack soup in three separate bowls! In fact, the only things that Cerberus ate in hell were rotten centipedes, decaying humans, and the stinky water from a nasty river. After eating only those things before, they were suddenly fed with the food that Minhyuk, someone who’s DEX reached 3,000, had made. Food that had reached a godly level!

As the three heads continued to eat, they seemed to hear an angelic voice singing in their ears. The voice sang, ‘Destiny~~~’. This was fate! Cerberus emptied three bowls in an instant. They suddenly pretended to sit down as they wagged their tail at Minhyuk, who had no desire whatsoever to accompany them, nor be with them.

‘From what I heard, dogs eat a lot more than humans. If that’s the case, then how much can they eat?’

So, Minhyuk just wanted to talk with them and move peacefully to the next trial. But…

“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”

“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”

…they grinned at Minhyuk and continued to shake their tails gently. Then, all of a sudden…

“Kiiing, kiiing, kiing…”

“Kiiiing, kiiingg….”

“Kiiing…”

“…”

…their faces looked like the epitome of the words, ‘You, become our master!’

Minhyuk felt a sense of foreboding as he said, “N… No. Guys?”

However, no matter what he said, Cerberus had already decided by themselves.

“Grrrrr! (We’re taking you as our master! Come on, quickly take us in. Master!)”

“Grrrrrr! (I want to eat some more, master.)”

“Grrrr. (Yeah! You have to be the one. Master.)”

“…”

Minhyuk’s face crumpled. When a shocking notification rang, he looked like he was about to cry.

[Hell’s Gatekeeper, Cerberus, swears their eternal loyalty to you.]

The scenario that Minhyuk imagined in his head was just trying to persuade Cerberus to let him go to the next trial, not one where they would become his pet dog! Alas, since it had already come to this, Minhyuk had no choice but to accept it and move on to the next trial. Minhyuk nodded reluctantly, tears brimming in his eyes.

[Cerberus is different from Hidden NPCs.]

[Please give them a name.]

Cerberus was not an NPC, but a monster. Just like Beanie and Rune, they needed to have a name. After taking a lot of things into consideration, Minhyuk gave them their names. He said, “You’re Love, you’re Happiness and you’re Hope.”

Sniff—

Minhyuk sniffed proudly, he was in awe of himself.

‘Wow. Look at my naming sense…’

So great!

The Hell’s Gatekeeper, Cerberus, now named Happiness, Love and Hope. Dubbed as the three musketeers, they smiled brightly at Minhyuk. Then, the notifications rang.

[You have completed the First Trial extraordinarily.]

[You have gained 100,000,000 EXP.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Minhyuk’s level had now reached Level 481. Considering that his guild members were all beyond Level 500, his level was still quite low.

[You can now increase the level of one of your artifact skills.]

[With your surprisingly amazing results, the artifact skills that were excluded before could now be strengthened too.]

[You have acquired Capri’s Buckwheat.]

Minhyuk could finally eat his cold noodles.

***

Minhyuk did not immediately climb up to the next trial. He first used the buckwheat that he received to make some cold noodles. My goodness! Would anyone believe it if he told them that he actually had some cold noodle machine in his inventory? Well, Minhyuk was that kind of person.

In front of Minhyuk, were bowls of cold noodles and spicy mixed noodles, all made of the buckwheat that he received and covered with a thin layer of ice. He also had some Ssamhyuk Naengmyeon[1]’s charcoal grilled meat and dumplings placed on the side.

Minhyuk first cut his cold noodles in a cross shape, then he tasted the cold broth before adding some vinegar and mustard to his bowl. Then, he grabbed some eggs, pears, pickled radish and meat together with some noodles, before slurping them up.

A smile gently hung in the corners of Minhyuk’s lips as the flavor of the cold noodles spread in his mouth. There was even a hint of sourness from the radish and sweetness from the pears.

Then, Minhyuk wrapped a piece of meat with the noodles and placed it in his mouth.

“Sluuuuuuuurp!”

The sweet charcoal-grilled meat added a dash of savory to the dish. Then, Minhyuk grabbed the steel bowl containing his cold noodles to drink the cold soup.

“Ugh! Brain freeze!”

After feeling his head start to pound from the coldness, Minhyuk then turned his attention to the dumplings. The juice of the warm dumplings spread in his mouth the moment he bit into them. The flavors of the dish blended perfectly in his mouth. Minhyuk smiled happily as he ate the remaining half of the dumpling in his mouth.

After finishing his cold buckwheat noodles, Minhyuk turned to eat his spicy mixed noodles. He quickly broke the yolk of the egg placed on top of the noodles and mixed them together.

“That’s right, this is the best way to eat spicy mixed noodles.”

Minhyuk’s mouth was watering as he continued to mix the noodles gently. After mixing the noodles, Minhyuk slurped the spicy mixed noodles in his mouth. He also did not forget to eat some dumplings together with the noodles. The dumplings were, in a way, to control the spiciness of the spicy mixed noodles. Charcoal-grilled meat was a perfect match for the spicy mixed noodles too.

“Sluuuuuuurp!”

After eating his cold buckwheat noodles, Minhyuk gently turned to the side.

“Kkiiiing…”

“Kking, kking, kking…”

“Kiiiiiiing.”

Cerberus had their bellies and faces flat on the ground as they watched Minhyuk. They looked like golden retrievers waiting for their owner to pay attention to them.

“…”

Despite them acting cute, Minhyuk still shed tears at the thought of how much food these guys would eat in the future.

At the same time…

Conir, who rewound the crystal ball to see how Cerberus became Love, Happiness and Hope, gulped unknowingly.

Gulp—

“Looks…looks delicious…”

He also muttered words out loud without realizing it.

1. A reference to 육육쌈육, a restaurant in KR ☜