The weather in Athenae was still very cold. Minhyuk, Lucia, and the coachman were all sitting in front of the carriage, around a pot of boiling water that Minhyuk had taken out of his inventory.

"Ack?! I think you’ve added too much water? There's too much water!" Lucia shouted urgently.

Minhyuk and Lucia had finished introducing themselves and were now a bit closer. They could even be considered acquaintances. When Minhyuk heard her words, he looked at her seriously and said, “You know that there’s a much easier and simpler way to deal with this, right?”

“I know, just simply take out some water…”

“Just add another bag of ramyeon!”

Lucia was both shocked and amazed. She rubbed her chin in thought, pondering deeply and seriously about the proposal. She said, “It really is easier.”

Lucia suddenly scratched her head and thought, 'Why am I convinced by this logic?' For some reason, it seemed like she could easily relate with Minhyuk.

Minhyuk opened another bag of ramyeon noodles. Lucia had quite a lot of ramyeon with her. She had received this as a reward for the hidden quest that she did before and found it to be ridiculous. From what Minhyuk heard, the ramyeon came from Isbin Village, so he had high expectations for it. In fact, Minhyuk saw that it was made from Sun’s Wheat when he checked it earlier. Hidden quests would usually give out absurd rewards like that. This might just be an insignificant reward for Lucia, but for Minhyuk, receiving such a reward would have definitely made him happy.

'I also thought of making ramyeon out of Sun's Wheat before!' 

Minhyuk wanted to taste real instant ramyeon, not the 'healthy ramyeon', or the 'I added onions for the calories~' type of ramyeon. The noodles of this one were made out of Sun's Wheat, and was labeled as instant. It even had 'Spicy Jin Ramen' as its name on the bag.

When Lucia looked at Minhyuk humming happily, she also seemed to feel better. She thought, 'It's strangely relaxing...'. For some reason, she also felt that she had received some sort of notification.

[You have received Minhyuk’s favor.] 

That was just how much Minhyuk had become friendly with Lucia! Minhyuk quickly placed the noodles inside the boiling pot, before stirring skillfully to cook the ramyeon well. He then brought out some cold rice and kimchi from his Food Storage Inventory.

"We should definitely put cold rice in the hot soup...!" 

"We'll never know if one of us will die while eating!" 

"Hehehe!" 

"Hohohoho!" 

"Didn’t the two of you just meet in the carriage today?”

"Yeah." 

"That's correct." 

“It seems like the two of you are very close,” the coachman said, smiling at them. 

After a while, the ramyeon was finally cooked perfectly. Minhyuk quickly turned off the fire. Ramyeon was a delicious meal that was best eaten when one was hungry. It was the perfect thing to eat at one in the morning, whenever one was at the beach, or in the valley to play in the water. 

Minhyuk had heard plenty of stories from General during his stay in the army. He had told him that he always brought a thermos filled with ramyeon whenever he was assigned to guard duty, telling his juniors, ‘Hey, watch over that side well!’. From what he shared, ramyeon still tasted delicious despite being soggy and a bit cold.

Right now, the weather was cold enough that anyone would feel their exposed hands start to freeze from the wind. Furthermore, Minhyuk was very hungry. Of course, he had finished eating his rest-area potatoes and potato pancakes, but then again, he was someone who was always hungry. Minhyuk quickly stretched his chopsticks towards the steaming hot pot of ramyeon and grabbed a bunch of noodles to transfer to his own bowl. Then, he quickly grabbed a mouthful of the noodles, blew on it to cool it down a bit, and then put it in his mouth.

"Sluuuuuuuuuuurp!" 

…Minhyuk inhaled the noodles. He exclaimed, "Kyaa! It's very delicious…!" 

In awe, he lifted the entire pot to pour some soup in his bowl. Then, he slurped another mouthful of noodles, before lifting his bowl and gulping some soup down.

"Kgghk!" Minhyuk shouted as the chill in his body started to melt away. Just as he expected, warm and spicy ramyeon was more delicious when eaten outside. After Minhyuk ate the noodles and drank the soup, he picked up some kimchi and placed it in his mouth. 

Crunch, crunch—

Lucia saw him eat and truly thought that kimchi and ramyeon was the perfect match. Watching him eat suddenly gave rise to a competitive desire in her!

‘I cannot lose to him!’

"Sluuuuuuuuuuurp!" 

So, Lucia used the lid of the pot and grabbed a mouthful of noodles, before eating it just like that. She said, "When I was a kid, I used to eat cup noodles with the lid half-folded." 

"Nice! You already know how to eat it since you were a kid!" 

"I'm just that kind of girl," Lucia said with a grin. Then, she looked at Minhyuk in curiosity before asking, "You're Level 79, right? Why are you headed to Emperor's City?" 

"Because of the tournament." 

"The tournament?" Lucia asked in surprise. It seemed like the two of them had the same purpose for going there. Then, a bit more carefully, she asked him again, "Do you not know who I am?" 

"Aren't you Lucia?" 

"...No, not like that." 

Her face can be seen on every newspapers these days. It was the reason why she kept on wearing a mask, so she could continue to be discreet. However, Minhyuk smiled as if that was not related to what they were doing. He said, "It will taste better if you set aside some noodles before adding in the rice." 

'H… he's not the least bit interested...' 

Lucia was a bit embarrassed. After all, people have been paying a huge amount of attention to her right now! Then, she said, "I'm going to participate in the tournament too." 

"Ah. Is that so? Uh-huh," Minhyuk answered. His words sounded a bit perfunctory as he took a huge mouthful of the rice that he mixed with his soup. 

"Crunch, crunch!" 

Minhyuk even added some kimchi in his bowl. Then, he suddenly exclaimed, "Lu, Lucia...!" 

"Why?" Lucia asked. She was a little disappointed since he did not recognize her. 

"It's really really delicious, what should I do...? I want to run away with this pot!" 

"P… please eat well!" Lucia answered. Then, she laughed. Lucia did not know him so she did not need to hide herself. In fact, she felt more comfortable and relaxed right now. Then she asked, "Ah, that’s right, what's your class?" 

Minhyuk thought a while before answering her. He thought, ‘I think I’m more of a chef, right?’ before answering, "I'm a chef." 

"Ah. So, that's why you're going to the tournament. I'm a thief, by the way." 

The tournament that would be held in the Imperial Palace was divided into combat class competitions and production class competitions.

'I thought he had a combat class because of the sword on his waist,' Lucia thought, believing that she did not need to fight him in the tournament. 

"Ack, leave some for me too!" Lucia shouted as she hurriedly stretched out her spoon towards the pot. It seemed like the bottom could be seen already.

***

[Ack, leave some for me too!] 

"Sluuuuuuuuuuurp!" 

Lee Minhwa slurped the noodles of her Shrimp Tantanmen Cup Ramen as she continued to concentrate on her monitor. She even took a sip of the spicy soup and said, "Hehe... I feel alive." 

Then, Lee Minhwa looked back at the monitor and glared at Lucia, feeling a bit sad for Minhyuk. She thought, 'Don't laugh!'. However, she suddenly paused and caught herself, ‘Lee Minhwa. What's wrong with you?’ 

Lee Minhwa was, after all, an employee working under the Special Players Management Team, tasked to monitor these special players. However, for some reason, she felt uncomfortable watching the two people on her screen having a pleasant conversation. She quickly inhaled the last of her cup ramyeon and mumbled, "Let's focus on our work, work!" This was the most important thing right now.

"Player Minhyuk will also participate in the tournament… And he's going with the best candidate for the champion, Lucia." 

Whether it was through SNS or the TV, Lucia's name was widely known. It was not that long ago when a video clip circulated on Ztube, of her hunting a Level 120 Zanhak monster when she was just Level 70. The video spread widely both domestically and globally, garnering millions of views and favorable responses. Almost everyone believed that Lucia would emerge as the champion of this tournament. They were all looking forward to this competition because of her. However, Lee Minhwa was different. She did not believe that to be the case.

'I didn't expect that Player Minhyuk would participate in the tournament… What's his reason? Is it because… he just wants to eat the food in the convenience store?' Lee Minhwa thought, giggling to herself.

‘Hey! No way, right? No matter how much he likes to eat, he will not participate in the tournament purely because of that, right?’ Lee Minhwa said, shaking the silly thoughts away from her head.

After waiting for a while, Lee Minhwa realized that Team Leader Park had not yet arrived. She thought, 'The meeting must have dragged on longer than we thought.' 

Team Leader Park was currently attending an important meeting regarding the tournament. In fact, the meeting was held so they could discuss matters related to the tournament, including various stories and lore. Then… 

Click—

The door opened to reveal a grimacing Team Leader Park. Seeing the scene on Lee Minhwa’s monitor, he said, "Is it really just a coincidence?" 

"Why, what's wrong?" 

"You know about the monsters that will appear in this tournament, right?" 

"Ah, yes. I know. A Level 90 Velto, a Level 100 Brackan, as well as a Level 110 Seductive Siren. Oh, and there's also a named monster for this event, right?" 

"Yes. The event's named monster." 

Today was actually the day when the event-specific named monster would be revealed to the operators of the game. Everyone was quite interested to know what monster would come out. They had placed stronger monsters in the tournament to find which among the players were talented. The really talented players would definitely be able to hunt monsters that were higher level than them. This was something that could be done individually, or as a team. And the final named monster…

“The final named monster this time was added to the roster, but it’s not for the players to hunt.” 

"Is that so?" 

"Yeah. However, I’m pretty sure that any player that dares to challenge it will be well-received by the public. Besides, did you know?” 

Lee Minhwa nodded along and asked, “Was it set by the God of Athenae?”  

Team Leader Park nodded. The God of Athenae was not just a simple god inside the world of Athenae. It was also the supercomputer AI that controlled and oversaw the entire Athenae worldview. The God of Athenae was mostly involved in various things including the settings and set-ups of stories and quests.

“But, why do you look so anxious if that’s the case?”

"The boss monster that the God of Athenae set this time is one of the two guardian deities of the Eivelis Empire." 

Lee Minhwa recalled the facts about the guardian deities of the Eivelis Empire. One of them was the Phoenix. It was a Level 350 named monster that could easily wipe out the players just by using its wide-range, fire-magic ‘Fire Feather’. In other words, the monster was ridiculously powerful. 

Then, there was the second guardian deity. Lee Minhwa closed her eyes as she tried to remember the information about the second deity. What she recalled made her eyes widen in shock. She said, "I, Impossible…!" 

"Yeah, that impossible thing you're thinking of is correct." 

"I, it's the Minotaurus?!" 

Team Leader Park nodded.

"But, isn't the Minotaurus at around Level 140?!" 

"That's what I told you. A monster with a huge level gap with the players." 

“But, that huge gap means that the players will be easily slaughtered. I can already tell that half of them will be wiped out…”

“From what I heard, the Minotaurus would not be set up as a field mob inside the tournament.” 

"Ah…" 

“The people will love it if a Level 80 player decides to challenge a monster that’s almost twice as powerful as they are. They will go wild. Though, I personally believe that Lucia won’t challenge it,” Team Leader Park said, and Lee Minhwa nodded in agreement.

The two of them had observed Lucia for a long time, and found out that she was a calm player. She would always remain cool in her fights and would only fight opponents that she was confident in winning against. Lucia was the type of person who would never fight a losing battle. That was the main reason why they both agreed that she would not challenge the Minotaurus.

“However, I’m sure that a different player will definitely challenge it,” Team Leader Park said, causing Lee Minhwa to feel a bad premonition as she jerked her head back towards the monitor. 

"Food God…" 

"Yeah. Probably, this competition…" Team Leader Park said, eyes suddenly narrowing as he watched Minhyuk patting his stomach with a happy smile on his face after eating all of his food. He continued to say, "...will probably be in the hands of that player alone." 

***

The carriage continued on its way towards the Imperial Palace. Whenever the carriage stopped for a break, Minhyuk would always jump up and go out in the field. This time was no different. He said, "I'll be back!" 

"Don't go too far!" The coachman shouted a reminder. 

As for Lucia, she had logged out of the game to finish some work in reality. If the player logged out while riding on a paid carriage, their character would continue ‘moving’ with the carriage even if they logged out. Minhyuk found a mushroom on a tree not too far away from them. 

(Brad Mushroom) 

Ingredient Grade: E

Special Abilities: None

Description: A commonly grown Brad Mushroom. It has a similar taste to shiitake mushrooms. 

Minhyuk chuckled as he reached his hands out to pick the mushrooms. It would be extremely difficult to pick these mushrooms if the player did not have a high DEX, and if they did not learn the Novice Farming Skill. Just like when he tried digging the sweet potatoes for the first time, his hoe was not able to dig in the ground. However, Minhyuk was now someone who could easily get these mushrooms. 

[You have acquired a Brad Mushroom.] 

[Due to the effects of Novice Farming, you have acquired a Well-grown Brad Mushroom.] 

Minhyuk was a bit surprised. Currently, his Novice Farming skill was at Level 9 and he would soon reach mastery at Level 10. Once he reached the level of mastery, he could immediately achieve the next level. 

(Well-grown Brad Mushroom)

Ingredient Grade: D

Special Abilities: It's good for your STM. 

Description: A well-grown Brad Mushroom that grew up out of a hundred mushrooms. Maybe it will take effect as soon as you eat it? 

Nothing important was really written but Minhyuk still laughed happily. He said, "It definitely tastes better!" before laughing happily. Just then…

"Ugh, aaaaaaaaack!" The coachman shrieked not too far away from him.