Chapter 1427: Side Story 36
Chapter 1427 - Side Story 36
The Black Gourmet Lion Dragon had approached Minhyuk in an arrogant manner. Now? It was trembling fiercely from what seemed to be terror. If one looked at the other lion dragons, they were also in a very similar situation. They had been charging forward like a pack of hungry wolves, but now they were cowering and trembling in fear.
[The Gourmet Lion Dragons are trembling in terror!]
[They don’t dare to bare their ferocious teeth in front of those who have reached the pinnacle of cooking.]
‘It was real?’
He had truly reached the pinnacle of cooking? The only reason why Barlan had asked if he was a Pillar was because he had heard that there was an existence like that in a faraway land, and that existence had reached the pinnacle of cooking. From what he had heard, the Pillar was more outstanding than the God of Cooking and could produce a greater dish than anybody else in the world.
‘So, he wasn’t just boasting.’
The young man’s words were true. He truly had no shortcomings. At that moment, Barlan felt ashamed for trying to find ways to teach this man and even make him kneel in front of them. Barlan’s hands clenched into fists as he finally came back to his senses.
“Ki… Kihyeeeeeeeck…”
Meanwhile, the terrified Black Gourmet Lion Dragon’s drool began to create a pool beneath its feet. Monsters generally fall into two different categories when left in a very terrifying situation. Those who fell into the first category were those who chose to run away, while those who fell into the second category were those who decided to pounce and lunge at their enemies after being driven crazy by their fear.
‘Even if they are terrified, if that bastard lunges at Minhyuk, then he will die!’
Barlan held the bottle of poison tightly. The moment the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon opened its mouth would be his only opportunity.
“I have told Erlev of the exact location of the excellent ingredients that I know of!” Barlan shouted as he tried to force his mouth into a smile. “I am happy that I was able to meet a great man like you!”
Pop!
Barlan did not hesitate to pull the cork off the bottle.
In the past, there was a young chef who received the praise and love of the entire Grania Continent. The kings admired the dishes she made, and the nobles were scrambling to get her to cook for them. Even at such a young age, she had surpassed many of the chefs on the continent.
Barlan was once a person who had nothing to envy in the world. After all, he was content with his world, especially with his good and precious child, who was supposed to be the chef who represented the Grania Continent.
Alas, one day, he heard his child’s screaming. When he rushed to her room, what greeted him was the collapsed roof and the blood that stained her bed and the flickering dragon tail before it disappeared completely.
With her death, he seemed to have lost everything in the world. He felt as if he no longer had any reason to live. He was only waiting for this moment ever since that day.
Flinch!
He flinched before he could drink the poison, his movements stopping for a moment as his instincts kicked in. Then, he was able to force himself to move again. He slowly put the mouth of the bottle to his mouth.
Clang!
However, Minhyuk was faster than him. He snatched the bottle away and threw it on the floor.
“You! What are you doing…!” Barlan shouted, his expression crumpling as he watched the poison splash and seep into the ground.
“I thought that this had nothing to do with me.”
Minhyuk had met many people in Athenae and heard plenty of stories. He could not judge if someone’s story was sadder than the rest, but there was one thing that he was sure of.
“Live.”
“...?”
“If you don’t want shame to wash over you when you meet your daughter later in the afterlife, then you have to live. Do you think that your daughter will be happy knowing that her father chose to die on his own because of her? I don’t think there’s a daughter who will be happy with that?”
Barlan trembled as tears fell down his cheeks. He finally came back to his senses.
“Grrrrrr!”
The Black Gourmet Lion Dragon opened its huge mouth.
“Attack the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon!!!”
“Mages! Send magical attacks!”
Bang!
Bang, bang, bang!
Explosions erupted nonstop from all over the place.
“Grrrrrr!”
Unfortunately, not a single scratch appeared on the body of the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon, despite the overwhelming amount of explosions and attacks that landed on it.
“Roaaaaaaaar!”
[The Black Gourmet Lion Dragon gives a command to all of the lion dragons present.]
[The lion dragons cannot disobey the orders of the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon.]
There was one fact that Minhyuk had overlooked. The troops present could not kill the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon.
“Boy! Return quickly!”
Minhyuk stared at the return scroll that Barlan had given him.
“E… Everyone! Prepare for battle!” Knight Commander Kaden commanded.
“Prepare for battle!!!”
Despite the fear, the knights moved to follow his orders.
“Ughhhh…”
“We’re going to die…”
All of the knights present thought that they had come here to kill just one lion dragon. Unfortunately, there were hundreds of them present. With the situation that they were in, the only outcome would be their annihilation. And that left them terrified.
[The Black Gourmet Lion Dragon is going berserk.]
[The berserk Black Gourmet Lion Dragon will eat anything and everything in its path.]
Rumble!
An overwhelming energy began to gather and swirl in the mouths of the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon and all the other lion dragons present. It was their breath, a power unique to dragons and their kin.
As the breaths of the lion dragons grew into existence, Minhyuk stepped forward and took out a frying pan.
“...You can’t kill them with a frying pan.”
However, the troops thought that this was just a natural response. After all, whenever someone was afraid, it felt a bit comforting if they held something in their hands, no?
“Frying Pan Gigantification.”
Minhyuk’s frying pan suddenly grew until it turned into a gigantic shield.
[Absorption Frying Pan.]
[You will be able to accumulate 15% of the damage of the attacks colliding with the frying pan for ten seconds.]
[The accumulated damage can be gathered together and released in one breath toward the enemy.]
[All damage will be nullified upon activation of Absorption Frying Pan.]
“Uwooooh…?”
“What the…? What kind of frying pan is that…?”
As for Barlan? Of course, his thoughts were aligned with those of a chef. He muttered, “I want to have a frying pan like that too…?”
“It’s going to be dented!”
The breaths collided with the frying pan. Nonetheless, instead of being dented, something far more surprising happened. The frying pan was absorbing the power of the lion dragons’ breath. After fifteen seconds, the gigantic frying pan slowly became smaller until it returned to its standard size.
Vwoooooong!
Minhyuk, with the charged and humming frying pan still in his hands, leapt to the sky.
[Calculating the damage.]
[...additional damage of 13,313%...]
[Calculating the damage.]
[...additional damage of 17,413%...]
[Calculating the damage.]
[...additional damage of 23,614%...]
[The calculation has been completed.]
[The total additional damage that your attack will inflict is 25,317%!]
“The Black Gourmet Lion Dragon will not be hurt by attacks sent by blunt objects like a frying pan!”
That may be true. There was not even a hint of a scratch on the body of the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon, even after it was bombarded with countless attack magics and explosions.
CLANG!
Surprisingly enough, a dent appeared on the tough body of the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon the moment Minhyuk landed a direct hit with his frying pan. It was even sent flying at least twenty meters away by the force of the impact.
Landing on the ground, Minhyuk quickly swapped his frying pan for two swords, the Supreme Blade and the Sword of Aeon. He glared sharply at the hundreds of lion dragons that were charging toward them once again.
Bang!
He kicked the ground and leapt to the sky, slaying one charging lion dragon after another. With every swing of his sword, one lion dragon would fall and collapse.
“Absolute Defense.”
A gigantic and powerful elephant seemed to be running amok and stomping on a herd of lions as Minhyuk slaughtered more than a hundred lion dragons in just ten seconds. Regardless, the battle was not yet over. Dozens of the surviving lion dragons lunged at Minhyuk.
“Supreme Overlord’s Technique.”
Rumble!
The flames that shot out from the blade of Minhyuk’s sword burned the bodies of the lion dragons, leaving behind their bones that slowly turned into dust and disappeared with the wind.
“Roaaaaaar!” The Black Gourmet Lion Dragon roared.
As if on cue, the Ego Chain Sickle fell from the sky and bound the roaring Black Gourmet Lion Dragon tightly. Then, it pulled the lion dragon to where Minhyuk was.
Bang!
The Black Gourmet Lion Dragon sent a terrifying breath toward Minhyuk. Unfortunately, it failed to inflict any lasting damage.
“Sword of Carnage.”
When it was almost by Minhyuk’s side, he used his most powerful sword skill. Still, he was not yet done. He immediately chased after the falling and bleeding lion dragon.
“Frenzied Blade.”
Minhyuk attacked all of the vital points of the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon relentlessly. He did not even give it a chance to breathe and just tore it apart with the effects of Crazy.
[You have hunted the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon.]
The notifications rang in his ears nonstop.
[...EXP.]
[...platinum.]
[You have acquired the Gourmet’s Seasoning.]
“Grrr! Grrr, grrr, grr!”
“Kiiiiiiiiing!”
Finally, the surviving lion dragons ran away. But Minhyuk did not let them go. He used his Intangible Sword and let the Ego Chain Sickle lose, killing every single one of the escaping lion dragons. Just like that, the screams of the lion dragons filled the world.
Two minutes and twenty seconds. That was the time it took for Minhyuk to wipe them all out.
“What… Who the hell are you…?” Barlan murmured in awe as he stared at Minhyuk, who was slowly descending from the air.
Chefs were weak. Even if this man reached the pinnacle of cooking and stood at the top of all the chefs in existence, the fact that a chef had weak combat power would always remain the same.
Yet, this young man was different. He was strong.
[The souls of the devoured chefs have been freed.]
Five thousand souls that resembled the blazing blue flames of a dokkaebi’s fire escaped from the body of the Black Gourmet Lion Dragon.
[The liberated souls greet and offer their gratitude to you.]
[You have gained a 1% increase in DEX.]
[Your chances of making higher grade dishes have increased by 1%.]
The souls shot up and spread all over the continent. It was as if they were going to visit the places where they lived and reminisce on the past before they entered Hell.
At that moment, a soul flew in front of Barlan. The soul that floated in front of Barlan was none other than his beloved daughter’s soul.
“Berie…”
Although the soul was in the form of a flickering flame, Barlan felt as if the soul was smiling faintly at him. Not long after that, the soul floated up into the sky and disappeared.
“How is it? You must be glad that you did not die, right?” Minhyuk smiled.
***
Rumors began to spread like wildfire in Aras Village.
“He saved Grandpa Barlan?”
“And that’s not all. I heard that he helped Grandpa Barlan meet Berie’s soul!”
The rumors gradually grew exaggerated.
“He did it on purpose! He knew that Grandpa Barlan’s daughter’s soul was still tied up in this world!”
“Ho?!”
Old Man Barlan was not only one of the guides, but he was their captain and commander. Not only that, he was also someone who was loved by the entire village. The villagers had also felt sad when they learned about Berie’s incident, and they were all heartbroken back then whenever they saw Barlan walking around listlessly as he grieved the loss of his daughter.
“As expected of our Minhyuk!”
“He’s not only good at cooking, he’s also very kind and generous!”
“How can we express our gratitude to him?!”
Everyone grabbed their hair and pondered deeply over the matter.
“Ah! How about we tell the people who come over here about Minhyuk’s greatness?!”
“That’s a good idea.”
The Aras Village was a key place that played an important role in the Grania Continent. It was the very first village that all of the visitors had to go through, just like the novice villages that the novices had to go through for the first time when they started the game. That was how important this place was.
At the same time, these notifications rang in Minhyuk’s ears.
[Everyone who sets foot in the Grania Continent for the first time will be able to hear your story.]
[Whenever your story is told, your influence and impact as the Pillar of the Gourmands and the Master of the Western Continents will grow and become stronger.]
Meanwhile, President Kang Taehoon was left in a stunned daze after seeing the same notifications. He murmured, “At this rate, the players will think that the Grania Continent is Minhyuk’s continent the moment they set foot in that place, no?”
Team Leader Park agreed and said, “And it’s even the chef’s continent…”
***
Aras Village was just a brief stopover in Minhyuk’s journey. Now that everything he needed to do in this place was over, it was time for him to leave.
Barlan and the villagers rushed to send him off the moment they heard that he was leaving.
“Hoho. Here, taste this.”
“Try this too.”
“Ah! This too!”
Minhyuk did not refuse them. He graciously accepted what the villagers offered him. Then, at that moment, Barlan stepped out from among the crowd.
“Do you know what our Grania Continent is famous for?”
Minhyuk trembled. He had long noticed that the Grania Continent was created with Jeju Island in mind.
‘If it’s truly like that, then…?’
Barlan handed over a small box and said, “This is our Grania Continent’s treasure.”
[You have acquired the Black Pork Samgyeopsal.]
Minhyuk’s eyes zeroed in on the part of the description that said, ‘tastes better than any other black pig in existence.’ He was sure that this ingredient would help with Philos’ treatment.
Gulp!
Of course, he had an intense desire to eat it himself. But he could not do so. The Joy of Eating Together could only be used if there was a target person. This meant that he could not trigger it if Philos were not in front of him.
Then, at that moment…
“And this is what I promised you.”
[You have acquired the parchment containing the information on all of the ingredients that Barlan knows.]
“This has been passed down from one generation after another in my family.”
[You have acquired Barlan’s Family’s Treasure: Red Banded Lobster.]
Drool started to pool in Minhyuk’s mouth.
‘Red-banded lobster? Isn’t that one of Jeju Island’s specialties, too?’
“And finally…” Barlan handed over a skill book. “This is also something that has been passed down in our family. And of course, this is also considered one of our Aras Village’s treasures.”
[You have acquired the Skill: You Eat, I Eat.]
Minhyuk immediately checked the detailed description of the skill.
(You Eat, I Eat)
Active Skill
Level: None.
Mana Required: 300
Effects:
•You can replicate your chosen ingredient or dish.
•The original ingredient or dish will not be affected or be inflicted with any adverse effects upon replication.
•The only effect that can be replicated perfectly in the replica of the ingredient or the dish is the flavor.
•You can only replicate the original ingredient or dish once.
Minhyuk’s eyes grew wide.
‘If I use this skill, then…’
Philos would not only be able to eat the ingredients that he acquired, but he would also be able to eat them!