The notifications regarding the 15th trial poured into Minhyuk’s ears the moment he got warped into Albero Territory.

[You are not allowed to equip any kind of armor or protective gear inside Albero Territory. Your currently equipped armor will be temporarily removed during the trial.]

[You will only be provided with rag-like clothes.]

[You cannot use any gold in your possession.]

[You cannot open your inventory and use the items inside.]

[You cannot disclose about your ‘Food God’ class unless the system allows you to.]

Minhyuk could tell at a glance that Albero Territory was a territory that used to be under the Food God of the past. To understand the trial better, he went around Albero Territory to investigate. To be exact…

Growl—!

…he went around with his grumbling, hungry stomach. Albero Territory was like heaven on earth, a paradise for someone like Minhyuk. There was a long line of stores in the territory! The best part was that they were mostly stores related to food! And since this was a chef’s territory, it seemed like their cooking skills were superb.

However, Minhyuk was presented with a very huge problem. He could not use his money! Even the items in his inventory were currently unavailable to him. What kind of absurd scenario was this?!

With his hungry stomach, Minhyuk quickly moved to find out what he needed to accomplish so he could fill his empty stomach. To put it simply, Minhyuk wanted to try and receive quests from the people here. Doing so would most likely give him a hint, or a link to his trial.

With his plans set, Minhyuk set out and went into one of the restaurants in the street. The restaurant was large, with a huge, majestic signboard that said, ‘Paradise Restaurant’.

“I’m so hungry. Please give me some food! I will do any chores for you, be it washing dishes or cleaning!” Minhyuk said, bowing politely to show his firm will to do anything for food, despite looking shabby with his rag-like clothes.

Minhyuk was completely unaware of the fact that this restaurant housed the best chef in Albero Territory. The head chef, Balza, had reached the master craftsman level in cooking. Head Chef Balza came out, and looked at Minhyuk from head to toe, before pinching his nose and saying, “My god, this smell! It stinks! Get out of my Paradise Restaurant! I will never let a beggar and bum like you work for my restaurant. And even if you have the money, I will never sell you my food!”

Minhyuk was left in disbelief after hearing his words. This restaurant was considered to be quite luxurious! It seemed like it was a restaurant that would even screen its customers before accepting them inside. So, he asked, “What do you mean that you won’t sell me your food, even if I have the money?”

“Look at yourself. You’re a beggar. The food of my Paradise Restaurant is something that someone like you can never taste.”

“So, you’re telling me that the people that can eat your dishes will depend on their status?”

“Of course! A bastard like you only deserves the cheap ingredients sold in the market!”

The head chef was telling Minhyuk that only those wearing luxurious and good clothes and had a lot of money could eat at his restaurant. This principle was completely absurd in Minhyuk’s point of view. People could be picky with their food, but the food could never distinguish the people that would eat them. However, the tone of one of the chefs of Albero Territory had turned out to be conceited and arrogant.

Minhyuk left this restaurant. He had a reason to be angry, but he needed to be patient, since this might be a part of his trial. If he acted rashly here, he might never be able to find the clue to his trial. Minhyuk kept on walking around and trying his luck with other restaurants, but most of the chefs from these restaurants had the same thoughts as Balza. Minhyuk truly could not understand why they were like that. He thought, ‘Why? Why are they like this? This is clearly a territory under the Food God of the past… so why?’

Minhyuk had the chance to meet the Food God of the past and he could tell that he was a person that was like him. He did not want to see others become hungry. However, the people that served him and continued his legacy did not have the same views at all. No, they were more like the run-off-the-mill restaurants.

‘This is like…’

For Minhyuk, this felt more like a premium restaurant. They served under the Food God and used his name to produce excellent delicacies, only to let people with money and power to taste their dishes.

‘This is not what the Food God’s territory is supposed to be.’

Then, the fragrant scent of fresh bread wafted towards Minhyuk’s nose. The scent was very appetizing, that his body moved on its own and followed it to its source. The scent brought Minhyuk in front of a shabby bakery. Inside, he saw a man baking bread. The man looked to be lost in thoughts as he waited for his bread to be baked. From what Minhyuk could see, the man also did not have a left hand.

‘Smells, smells delicious…’

The bread was completely baked not long after. The appetizing and fragrant scent of the bread intensified as the man took it out of the oven. Just as Minhyuk started drooling, the man made eye contact with him. The man shrieked when he saw his figure outside of the transparent glass. The man quietly patted his own chest, before smiling kindly and beckoning to him. Minhyuk swiftly rushed inside and ate the bread that the man gave him.

‘I’ve… I’ve never tasted a bread that’s as delicious as this one!!!’

Minhyuk was in awe. Then, he realized that he did not have any money. When he told the man that he did not have money to pay him, the man just laughed and told him, “It’s alright. I just don’t want to see anyone go hungry. So what if you don’t have money? Haha!”

His words made Minhyuk’s keen intuition ring. He could tell that this man was related to the trial. He was definitely the hint that he was looking for. Besides, even after he saw the state that he was in, the man still smiled gently and naturally at him. He was a man that definitely did not want anyone to go hungry! This man had the same values as Minhyuk. The owner of this shabby, old and desolate bakery had a value and principle that could not be bought, even if someone gave him billions of money. However, there was something that Minhyuk could not understand…

‘Why? How come it’s like this…?’

Why was this bakery without a customer? Minhyuk had roamed the entire Albero Territory and found that there were more than 80 restaurants, bakeries, and food related stores. Minhyuk had already played Athenae for quite a long time now, and he could proudly say that the bread that this man made was the most delicious bread that he ever had. So, why were there no customers in this delicious bakery? Was it because it was expensive? No, it did not seem to be the case. And, there was also his missing left hand!

‘There’s clearly a story behind this,’ Minhyuk thought, as he decided to stay here for a while.

He introduced himself and said, “I will help you with the chores here! I have to pay for the bread that you gave me!”

“Ho, hoho?”

To Lucaro, it sounded like this, ‘I will live here and help around. Haha!’

However, Lucaro just smiled kindly at him.

***

Albero Territory’s Lord’s Castle.

Lord Anton, the one hailed as the ‘New Food God’, was a chef that was bestowed with the title of a Count. He was currently examining his kitchen knife as he listened to the reports of his personal aide.

“Lucaro has also applied.”

“Is that so?” Anton said with a nod.

“He applied for the Gourmet Dragon’s Banquet. The last descendant of the previous Food God.”

Anton burst out in laughter after hearing his remarks.

The previous Food God was already dead. His body, his glory and honor, even all of his followers. Everything was dead. However, there was one man that tried to carry the burden of that pride and honor by himself. That man was none other than Lucaro, the owner of a small bakery in town.

Meanwhile, Anton took over and became the new Food God after his death. He immediately came here once Food God Allen was laid to rest. Anton had always been trailing behind the Food God. He might be hailed as the best chef, but he could never go beyond the Food God.

However, after his death, Anton finally got the title ‘Food God’.

Anton immediately took over the territory, slandered the Food God, and showed the chefs here what money was. Over the years, the chefs here became greedy for money and had changed rapidly.

“He doesn’t have money to buy ingredients. His left hand is also broken, and won’t be able to bake properly. He will be eliminated in the preliminaries.”

The Gourmet Dragon Banquet was a very important occasion. The Gourmet Dragon would visit this place every few decades. He would then go back after eating the dish created by the best chef in this place. Up until now, the only person that could satisfy the Gourmet Dragon was the previous Food God. But now, Anton was confident that he would be the one cooking for him. After all, Lucaro would be easily eliminated in the preliminaries.

“Pfft,” Anton tried to hold in his laughter. This was Anton, whose original class was the Twilight Chef.

***

Minhyuk had been working for Lucaro for a few days now. He did not mind the hard work that he did in the bakery. Minhyuk learned one thing over the course of his stay. Everyone in the territory hated Lucaro. There were plenty of people who would stop in front of his bakery to spit or curse at him. Among the curses that they used to swear at him, the most common was ‘Get out of here!’. The reason? Minhyuk did not know yet, because Lucaro always avoided telling him the whole story.

Today, Lucaro was working hard in making bread today. From what he said, it was in preparation for his participation in the Gourmet Dragon Banquet.

‘Gourmet Dragon…’

From what he heard, this territory would often invite the Gourmet Dragon for a meal every few decades or so. The Gourmet Dragon was a dragon that was strong enough to easily mess around with the ordinary dragons. They would be able to gain ‘peace’ by offering a banquet to the Gourmet Dragon. If the Gourmet Dragon was not satisfied with their food, then he would lay waste to the territory. The Gourmet Dragon was powerful enough that even Food God Allen could not stop him!

‘Don’t tell me…’

Minhyuk knew that this territory did not exist in the future. With that knowledge alone, Minhyuk could already tell that the territory was destroyed by the Gourmet Dragon.

Lucaro groaned lightly and said, “N…no… I won’t be able to pass the preliminaries at this rate…”

Unfortunately, cooking needed a lot of different ingredients. However, the poor and unfortunate Lucaro could only afford the cheapest of ingredients.

“The Delicate Mountain Goat’s Milk…! If I only have that…!”

“The Delicate Mountain Goat’s Milk?”

“That’s right. Delicate Mountain Goat,” Lucaro said, smiling bitterly at Minhyuk.

Lucaro’s affection for Minhyuk grew over the days that they had been together. Minhyuk might be a poor man without a cent on his body, but he willingly became Lucaro’s left hand. When Lucaro woke up in the morning, he would see him cleaning the store front. Even the interior of the store was very shiny. He would just laugh awkwardly at the swearing people whenever he went outside to shout ‘Come and buy Lucaro’s fantastic bread!‘ to promote the store. Lucaro grew to like Minhyuk.

“Delicate Mountain Goats are much bigger than ordinary mountain goats. They are very picky and fussy creatures by nature. Their bodies are also very sensitive to the point that they would kick people with their hind legs if touched just a bit wrongly. There have been only three people who have successfully extracted milk from these Delicate Mountain Goats. The previous Food God Allen, the current lord Anton, and me.”

“Oh…” Minhyuk said in admiration. Lucaro was the only other person that has extracted milk from the Delicate Mountain Goats, aside from the previous and current lords of the territory. That was very amazing.

“However, to do so, I need to gently and softly squeeze the goat’s tits with both of my hands, but I can no longer…” Lucaro said, looking at his missing left hand with a sigh. He knew that he could no longer milk the Delicate Mountain Goat.

“The Delicate Mountain Goat’s Milk tastes completely different from the milk of ordinary mountain goats. It also has an amazing ability that can keep the bread from going stale and becoming spoiled. If I use that to make bread, I believe that I would be able to pass the preliminaries but…”

‘But, it’s impossible.’

Lucaro knew that Lord Anton would never milk the Delicate Mountain Goat for him. No, he was already lucky that Anton did not kick him out of the preliminaries.

Minhyuk pondered deeply. He thought, ‘These three people have something in common.’

He wondered if it was their excellent cooking? That was a given, but he knew that there was something else. Minhyuk could tell that Lucaro had a high DEX. After all, he could still knead bread excellently even though he only had one hand. As the current Food God, he knew that the previous Food God would definitely have a high DEX too. The same must be true for Lord Anton, the person hailed as the second Food God. If that was the case, then…

“I will extract the Delicate Mountain Goat’s milk for you.”

…He might just be able to extract the milk himself.