The Sword of Rebellion was covered with a bright light when the assimilation ended. As the light dimmed down, the once-black Sword of Rebellion had now completely changed.

“Ellie’s Kitchen Knife is an Equip Artifact. It can be changed into a kitchen knife, a blacksmith’s hammer, or even a fishing rod. It will always be clean too, with its self-cleaning function.”

The Sword of Rebellion had a completely different appearance now. The hilt had now turned red with the phoenix engraved on it. Minhyuk checked the information right away. 

(Ellie's Sword) 

Class: Epic

Requirements: No requirements for primary level. Level 120 required to unlock secondary level.

Durability: ∞/∞

Attack Power: 211 + 50

Special Abilities

•STR +4, AGI +3

•Skill: Dauntless Strike

Primary Level's Special Abilities:

•DEX acquisition rate x4

•DEX +40

•Can be equipped with a sword. 

•Can automatically clean itself. 

•Can change to any type of cooking tool. 

Secondary Level's Special Abilities:

•Sealed

•Sealed

•Sealed

Description: This was an artifact that the empress bestowed upon Len, the best chef in Eivelis Empire. 

The item was literally equipped. After equipping Ellie’s Kitchen Knife onto the Sword of Rebellion, the sword’s attack power had increased by +50. It was also a much greater artifact than what he initially thought since he retained the +40 on DEX just by equipping it. Minhyuk smiled happily as he said, "Thank you, Master!" 

“But… who’s Ellie? The information said that it was Ellie’s knife?” Minhyuk asked. Of course, he had already checked it. Ellie was the empress of the Eivelis Empire, and this item was something that she bestowed to Len. Minhyuk continued to say, “Right. Master is definitely much greater than what I imagined, for you to receive a knife from the empress.”

Len grinned and said, "She used to be my lover." However, his smile soon turned bitter as he continued, "I used to work as an imperial chef in the past." 

"Y… you're a big shot." 

"Ellie loved my cooking. She had a very hard time when she was young, thinking about stepping up and sitting on the throne at a young age. But, every time she ate my food, she said that she would always get her strength back." 

Minhyuk was starting to see where this was headed. 

"But in the end, a chef like me and someone like her, we could never be together. Her vassals framed me and accused me of false charges. As a result, I was driven out of the palace. And the day before I left the palace…" 

Len recalled his memories as he continued, "...we both made a promise to each other." 

Minhyuk perked his ears up and listened attentively. 

"Her father, His Majesty Ellen, was called the Sword Emperor. Since she was a genius, I promised that I would treat her to a very delicious meal once she inherits that title." 

"Oh…! Master, you're really cool!" 

Perhaps, Len did that so she could focus on what she wanted to do and not grieve over him leaving her side.

"A long time has passed since then, I heard that she has already surpassed the former emperor, His Majesty Ellen." 

"So you're going to the palace now?" 

"No." 

Minhyuk looked at him strangely. 

"Her vassals would definitely not let me enter the palace." 

Minhyuk nodded. It was definitely possible. From what he heard, the empress had reached the peak. Her vassals would definitely not allow her to play some sort of love game at this point in time.

"That's why I want to ask you for a favor, boy." 

"A favor?" 

"Yeah. Cook for the empress on my behalf." 

[Linked Quest: Meet Ellie.] 

Rank: B

Requirements: The one recognized by Len.

Rewards: 15,000 EXP

Penalty for Failure: None

Description: You have received Len’s recognition and he is now asking you for a favor to cook for the empress on his behalf.

"I understand." 

"Thanks," Len said, smiling lightly.

Minhyuk might have accepted the quest, but he was still unsure if he would do it or not. After all, he was playing this game for the food, right? Besides, the empress was not someone that a person like Minhyuk could meet just because he wanted to. Based on the things that he heard from Len, there was a high possibility that he would get kicked out of the place before he could even step foot inside the palace. Not to mention if he went there and said, ‘I’m Len’s disciple!’. That meant that he had to make a way for him to meet with the empress. 

It did not seem to be easy though. Of course, the reward was tempting but, wasn't it better for him to just eat than getting the reward? 

"Boy, are you going to use the Return Stone now?" 

"Nope." 

Usually, most of the players would choose to use the Return Stone and go back to the village immediately once the subjugation quest was over. In fact, Minhyuk was the only player left right now.

"If I hunt the monsters from around here then I would be able to get an extra Sun's Wheat, right?" Minhyuk asked. He had already received an additional notification after the subjugation quest had ended, saying that he would be able to get Sun’s Wheat as drops if he hunted monsters like goblins in the area. All the other players had paid no attention to it and just directly used the Return Stone to leave the camp. 

"That's right." 

"I was thinking of killing some of them." 

"Alone?" 

"Yes." 

"But, boy..." Len started. However, he knew of Minhyuk’s skills, so he was not too worried.

Minhyuk bowed and told him, "Thank you for everything!"

Len smiled at him and said, "How about having another mukbang battle sometime in the future?" 

"Hohoho. I won't go easy on you." 

"You should keep in mind that I’m not an easy opponent." 

Not long after, Minhyuk left the cooking carriage.

***

Roughly fifteen minutes later, Twilight Chef Black appeared. He was finally able to catch up with the returning subjugation troops after riding on his own carriage.

‘Two billion is probably enough for him. He’s probably on his toes waiting for me.’ Black thought, chuckling darkly.

He planned to deal with the chef first before finishing Len’s ongoing linked quest. Throughout his progress with the quest, Twilight Chef Black received a hint that he would be able to receive a treasure personally granted by the empress. Twilight Chef Black also learned that one of the rewards as he progressed further, would be the opportunity to learn from the person hailed as the Sword Emperor herself. The epic-ranked skill, Ellie’s Swordsmanship, would give him the chance to possess enormous strength once he acquired it. He would show those who had mocked and ignored him for being weak. Soon, Black’s carriage came to a halt.

"Neigh!" The horse neighed loudly.

"I heard that there is a talented chef in your military kitchen," Black spoke.

Vald suddenly became wary after hearing his words. He was also someone who liked and loved Minhyuk. He asked, "What's your business with him?" 

“Ah. I found out that he has outstanding skills, so I came here to make a proposal to him.” 

It seemed like the unknown man’s purpose was just to recruit Minhyuk. But unfortunately, Minhyuk did not go back with them. He had decided to stay in Bordy Plains for a while.

"He's gone." 

"Eh? What do you mean?" 

"The subjugation is already over, you know?" 

"N, no. That can’t be!" Black said dumbly, his expression turning weird. He believed that Minhyuk would be waiting for him to come here. He wondered why Minhyuk had dropped those hints before.

‘What about those buffed dishes that he sent out for free to the players? After all, doing something like that would quickly spread his information and location. Was he really smart?’ Black was confused, mistakenly believing Minhyuk’s actions to be signaling for his attention.

"What are you so surprised about? It’s only natural that the foreigners would go back since the subjugation is already over." 

"T, this can't be...!" Black said in disbelief. Then, he calmed down and thought, ‘Phew. It’s ok. I’m supposed to come here for that epic artifact anyway.’

Black coughed with awkward laughter, before asking, "Then, where is the cooking carriage?" 

"Over there,” Vald said, pointing to the cooking carriage. And as if on cue, Len walked out of the carriage, sporting an uncanny resemblance to Minhyuk as he munched on some hard bread happily.

"Are you Len?" 

"Yeah." 

"I'm Twilight Chef Black." 

"I see." 

"...Well, don't you have anything to say to me?"

"I don’t think so?" Chew, chew. Len answered as he continued to munch on his bread. 

"T… the quest told me to come here!" 

"Ah, that. Sorry. My disciple has already taken it." 

"What are you saying?! That's impossible!" 

"Sorry about that, but what can you do if my disciple has already completed the quest?" Len said, patting him on the shoulder.

Black trembled as he asked, "T… then the epic artifact...?" 

"Gone." 

"Then, is there anything else for me?" 

"Anything else... Sorry, but I don't have anything else to give you. You should be a bit hungry after your long journey, so take this,” Len said, handing over a piece of hard bread. Then, he continued to console Black, "You've worked hard." 

Black silently looked at the bread, his hands shaking in anger. He had spent two months on this quest. The quest that would have probably given him an epic artifact, and even allow him to learn the empress’ swordsmanship. But, all he got was this piece of bread?!

Throw! 

Black threw the bread on the ground and trampled it under his foot. Seeing this, Len’s eyes narrowed sharply as he remarked, "I guess I was right in giving it to my disciple as a gift. He is really the right owner of that item. I don't think I will ever regret that decision." 

"Are you telling me now that the bastard from before is better than me?!" Black shouted, his anger boiling at Len’s words. He could not believe that he was being compared with that mysterious chef, and that someone else was better than him. After all, he was the best!

"That’s precisely what I said. That’s right. My disciple is better than someone like you, who can’t appreciate how precious food is. My disciple cherishes even this hard bread. ‘Twilight Chef?’ Tsk,” Len said, clicking his tongue at him. Black was completely frustrated.

'I…Impossible!’

Black had been too angry to realize that Len was an excellent chef that would have probably given him anything, and the value would have been priceless. He only realized it too late.

"It was my fault. I was overwhelmed with anger. Please, give me a quest." 

"Get out!" Len shouted. Black became dispirited. At that moment… 

"Len. Is it true that our rookie left already?" 

"He just left." 

"No! I promised to marry my beautiful daughter to him!" 

"No! I need to get the quest! Give me the quest, not the bread!" 

Black and Venetto’s eyes met. Venetto looked suddenly happy as he said, "Boy, you're very handsome. Would you like me to introduce you to my beautiful daughter?" 

'W… what the hell is this again?!' 

Then, Venetto showed him the picture that he showed to Minhyuk. 

"Ugh, aaaaaaaaack. Damn it!" Black shrieked, shutting his eyes and grabbing his head in frustration and fear.

***

Minhyuk immediately sat down after disconnecting from the game, and proceeded to eat his cherry tomatoes and gulp down a variety of nutritional supplements.

"Puhaa… Why aren't there any nutritional supplements that tastes like meat?" 

There were plump and chubby animals running around in the wild so how could there be no meat-flavored nutritional supplements?! After imagining the taste of the meat-flavored supplement, Minhyuk calmed down and organized his thoughts.

'I should first focus on getting more of the Sun's Wheat until the subjugation troops return to the village.' 

Vald had told Minhyuk that he would be given thrice the amount of Sun’s Wheat as a special reward. However, considering his rate of consumption, thrice the amount of the regular reward would not be enough. He would finish it too quickly. Besides, the percentage next to his class had already reached 90% too.

'Who knew that unlocking and finding out new things can be this interesting.' 

Minhyuk realized that discovering how these systems worked was quite pleasant too. Of course, eating was still number one for him. Minhyuk went to the Athenae’s official website to browse and search for ‘Ellie’. He was still undecided if he would do the quest, but it would not hurt to know more.

'Well, what if something delicious comes out? Ha...' 

There were quite a lot of articles related to the search term that he used. 

[Wow. Today I went to the Emperor’s City and saw Empress Ellie…  She's really pretty… My legs almost turned into jelly…

kdkcml5: Propose! Haha! He who has the courage gets the beauty! 

BeautyLovesApples: Oh, a virtual marriage transcends above interracial marriage.] 

Minhyuk saw a lot of articles praising her beauty. Then, the next article…

[Guys. I went to see the empress since I wanted to go and learn the empress' swordsmanship. She was like the devil of the sword. I went to her and said: Please accept me as your disciple! But! She locked me up in the dungeon ㅠㅠ waaaaah. I’ve been sentenced to 10 years in prison... Someone save me... ㅠㅠ

hjbja52: LOL. Hahaha. Delete character hahaha. 

WatchOut: You should go and broadcast live on Paprika. It's going to be fun! Hahaha

nbhyqwm7: Ah, guys. I'm being serious here ㅠㅠ Can anyone please save me ㅠㅠ?]