Chapter 1441: Side Story 50
Chapter 1441 - Side Story 50
The You Eat, I Eat skill and the passive skill Joy of Eating Together were two inherently different skills. Both skills could replicate dishes with the same taste and flavor but without the effects. However, the Joy of Eating Together could only replicate a dish that he had cooked and handed over to another person, while the You Eat, I Eat could allow him to replicate the dish and eat it right away, even if the other person was not around.
Since Philos was by Minhyuk’s side, he chose to prepare and cook the dishes by himself and use the Joy of Eating Together instead of the You Eat, I Eat skill. It was precisely because of this skill that each of them had a plate of Saw-Edged Perch sashimi and a whole belt fish in front of them.
Minhyuk and Philos stared in awe at the more than ten-meter-long Leviathan’s Whole Belt Fish and the perfectly sliced Saw-Edged Perch sashimi. The two were truly amazing rewards! Of course, both dishes were also accompanied by a bowl of piping hot rice and seaweed soup with sea urchin. There were also several side dishes lined up right behind them!
He stretched his spoon and scooped out some of the whole belt fish’s flesh. With his extremely high DEX, Minhyuk was able to easily remove the entire belt fish’s spine and thin bones. So, when he raised his spoon, it was filled with the entire belt fish’s fat and meaty flesh!
‘Where else can you eat belt fish like this aside from Jeju Island?!’
Minhyuk shoved the spoonful of belt fish in his mouth. The skin was savory and very, very crispy. The flesh was incredibly soft. Minhyuk hummed as he savored the fish, a smile naturally forming on his lips.
Philos was also savoring the fish with a happy smile on her face.
The two scooped another spoonful of belt fish. This time, they put it on the rice. They could not help but admire the taste of the fish once more as they ate it with rice. After all, the savory and slightly salty belt fish was the perfect rice thief! “Kghhk.”
Then, Minhyuk put the other half of his rice into the bowl of sea urchin and seaweed soup. Minhyuk personally liked adding his rice to the soup, especially when it came to seaweed soup. He believed that only by doing this would one be able to taste its deep and rich flavor.
After taking a bite of the rice and the soup, he added some kimchi and ate another bite.
Crunch!
Minhyuk believed that seaweed soup was one of the soups that went perfectly well with kimchi.
In Jeju Island, grilled black pork would taste even better when paired with some salted anchovies. Among the side dishes was a bowl of salted belt fish guts, one of Jeju Island’s specialties. It was a type of salted product made from the intestines of the whole belt fish.
Minhyuk scooped out a spoonful of the reddish brown salted belt fish guts and put it in his mouth.
“Owww. Saltyyy~” He hummed as he took a massive bite of the still-hot white rice.
Minhyuk finished two bowls of rice in no time at all. After finishing his rice, he stopped and waited for Philos to finish her belt fish. Unlike Minhyuk, Philos had not yet been cured. So, even after finishing her own share, she still stretched her chopsticks to the remaining belt fish in front of Minhyuk and ate it all up.
After the delightful belt fish time, it was now time to taste the Saw-Edged Perch sashimi!
A serving of naturally caught saw-edged perch could easily cost around 100,000 won. That just went to show how hard it was to catch and how precious and rare it was. And this rare and precious fish was now sliced perfectly and turned into mouth-watering sashimi.
Minhyuk picked a piece of the white and almost translucent sashimi and put it in his mouth. The fish was chewy and tasted refreshing. When dipped in soy sauce and wasabi, it could take on a savory and slightly spicy taste.
After tasting the sashimi as it was, and with wasabi, Minhyuk grabbed a piece of perilla leaf. Then, he added some saw-edged perch sashimi on top, some ssamjang, garlic, and Cheongyang peppers, wrapped them all together, and put them in his mouth.
‘As expected! After all, wraps originated from sashimi restaurants!’
The flavors and textures of all of the ingredients in the wrap combined perfectly with the sashimi’s chewiness.
Before the two knew it, the meal ended. Minhyuk stared at Philos, whose belly was all plump and bulging.
‘Did it work? Did they have any effect?’
Philos was Joy Co. Ltd.’s special management target. They had set up a system that could calculate her daily meal volume. It was through this special monitoring system that they determined she was improving.
Kevin, one of the researchers of the Rare Diseases Institute, told him that eating incredibly delicious food could help Philos reach a complete cure much quicker and proposed trying this treatment. The only way they could verify its effectiveness was through the data provided by Joy Co. Ltd.
‘My remaining goal is you, Philos.’
Minhyuk smiled faintly as he watched Philos enjoy her after-meal dessert, mandarin orange juice.
***
One week after.
Team Leader Park Minggyu, the one in charge of monitoring Philos, has arrived. He greeted Minhyuk and said, “You look very restless and anxious.”
Team Leader Park had never seen Minhyuk like this before. Even throughout Minhyuk’s tenure as the Supreme, he had never shown any sign of anxiety like this ever before.
“It’s because I know how terrible this disease is. I don’t want Philos to suffer any longer if possible.”
Humans were beings who needed to eat only when they felt hungry. But eating addiction, this very rare disease, completely ignored and overruled those signals.
“Team Leader, have you ever thought about what it’s like? Imagine this. During lunch, I ate until my stomach was full and I could not breathe.”
It was a somber and crippling story to hear.
“But my brain will still say that I’m hungry. Although I’m full and I feel like throwing up, my brain still keeps on saying that I have to keep on eating. Then, I will keep on putting food in my mouth. I will keep on eating even though I know my stomach can no longer accommodate any food.
“I will even run to the bathroom, relieve myself, and come back to eat again. I will eat until I go to bed. I will eat and eat until my stomach is bulging and almost bursting to its seams.”
The thought of suffering from such a disease alone was already very horrifying; what more if someone experienced it for themselves?
“What’s even scarier is when I have to ‘control’ myself. Being hungry is really, really hard to endure. It’s to the point where I feel like I will die because of hunger. For someone ordinary, it’s already challenging to endure the hunger after skipping one meal. But for us? It’s much worse. We feel hungry all the time. We feel so hungry as if we’ve been starved for a few days.”
Just hearing and imagining the experience alone was enough to make those who were listening feel as if their world was collapsing. Team Leader Park was sure that he would have already gone crazy if he were the one suffering from that. But to control himself? Even he, who was confident with his patience and endurance, knew that he would not be able to control himself if he were in that position. Team Leader Park stared at Minhyuk in admiration.
“I don’t want Philos to go through that pain for a very long time.”
“Fortunately…” Team Leader Park nodded in sympathy, a small smile forming on his face. “...the precious and rare ingredients in Grania Continent were set to be among the most delicious ingredients in our system. And Minhyuk has given all his effort to feed Philos these ingredients. Joy Co. Ltd. and the Rare Disease Institute hope that we can destroy the signal that your brain sends to your body that is telling you that you are hungry with these extremely delicious ingredients.”
Team Leader Park showed a graph.
“Before eating the ingredients from Grania Continent, Philos ate an average of 15,000 calories in Athenae.”
What if this were in reality? None of them even dared to imagine it. If this happened in reality, then Philos would have already ballooned in size, and she would suffer from various complications and symptoms at a very young age.
“If you look at this graph, her calorie consumption has started to drop by a few dozen calories every day. In particular, when the two of you ate the whole belt fish and the saw-edged perch, her calorie consumption for that day dropped by 2,000. This means that our hypothesis is correct. If we continue at this rate, then Philos’ eating addiction will be completely cured within two years.”
The difference between having a clear and direct path of treatment and the absence of one was the difference between heaven and earth. Hearing that there was a proper treatment left Minhyuk’s eyes red. Regardless, the smile on his face was unmistakable.
On that day, when Minhyuk arrived at the Beyond the Heavens Empire, he immediately made use of all of the connections that he had made so far.
“Please consider this as my final request.”
He even contacted Zeus, the greatest god of Olympus. Of course, all of the gods of Olympus were willing to step forward to help Philos.
“Please help our dear Philos.”
Obren smiled.
[Don’t worry, idiot. That disease you call eating addiction? It will completely disappear in the world that you live in.]
Ben chuckled, “Hoho, Your Majesty. If that’s the case, then I will make the world’s extremely delicious cocoa and give it to our dear Philos.”
Zeus also smiled faintly.
[All of the gods of Olympus will do their best to find the most delicious ingredients in the world.]
Everyone moved quickly.
***
Time passed by.
[Philos’ Treatment, Month 1: She is improving quickly.]
By the second month.
[Philos is changing every single day. Countless players from all over the world are donating and gifting delicious ingredients for her.]
The third month…
[The entire world is moved to tears after hearing that the world’s second eating addiction patient, Philos, is improving very quickly.]
After six months…
[Philos’ eating addiction’s treatment and improvement are moving at an exponential rate. The global medical community is shocked and calls it a miracle created by the people from all over the world.]
[When asked what he planned for Philos after she is completely cured of her eating addiction, Minhyuk answered: ‘I want to send her to school and let her live her life as a normal and ordinary child.’ The entire world supports him from the bottom of their hearts.]
By the eighth month…
[Breaking news!]
[The Rare Disease Institute has announced that Philos is completely cured of her eating addiction.]
[‘The End of Eating Addiction’ has topped the search terms of all portal sites all over the world.]
[The global medical community has declared the complete end of the rare disease called eating addiction, a disease that has been called by countless names over a thousand years.]
[Rare Disease Institute's Kevin has posted an official announcement. He has declared that even if more patients with eating addiction appear, they are confident that they will be able to treat them within a year. The eating addiction is officially and completely cured.]
[Joy Co. Ltd. has announced that they will actively cooperate with the Rare Disease Institute and help with the disease treatment in Athenae if patients were to appear.]
Time continued to fly.
[Philos’ First Day at School! She goes to school holding hands with her Oppa Minhyuk and Grandpa Kang Minhoo.]
[Philos’ school photo has become a global sensation! Philos truly boasts her exquisite looks.]
[Philos’ Takes Her First Test.]
[Minhyuk has made headlines for bragging about Philos becoming the top of her class in Starstagram.]
[Philos comments: ‘Oppa, please control yourself…’]
[Unfortunately, Minhyuk doesn’t listen. He has never stopped bragging about his younger sister! Philos has now become the nation’s younger sister.]
After a year…
[Felia, the Pillar of the Devils, crawls out of Hell’s Abyss and threatens the safety of the Western Continents.]
[In this moment of crisis, Obren, Minhyuk, and the vassals of the Beyond the Heavens Empire worked hard to protect the Western Continents.]
Two years.
[Jisoo♥Da-Sol’s Official Wedding Announcement.]
[The entire world is surprised. They say that this is the real-life version of Beauty and the Beast.]
[The two decided to hold their ceremony and get married in Athenae.]
[Beanie eats the wedding cake!]
Three years.
[Ilhwa Group: Athenae Cooperation Team Leader and Successor, Minhyuk, has created another Sales Syndrome. The value of Ilhwa Group’s stock prices has soared by 330% in three years.]
[Minhyuk has been promoted! Despite his young age, he has become the managing director!]
[Everyone knows and recognizes his abilities…]
Four years.
[It has been almost eight years since the release of the virtual reality game Athenae. Nonetheless, it’s going strong and is still very much popular!]
[With the continuous and steady influx of new players, it boasts more players than it had five years ago!]
Five years.
[Minhyuk♥Jihye’s Official Wedding Announcement.]
[Their wedding was held in Athenae.]
[The faces of countless global political and business figures were seen and captured at the wedding.]
[Evil God Obren’s flushed and crying face has become a topic of discussion.]
[Beanie gets in trouble once again! He ate the wedding cake again!]
Seven years.
[Minhyuk welcomes the birth of his son. His son’s name is Kang Soo-Hyuk.]
Eight years.
Nine years.
Eleven years.
[Ilhwa Group’s Successor Minhyuk has been sworn in as the new chairman of the group after the unanimous decision of the board of executives.]
[Ilhwa Group’s Chairman Kang Minhyuk’s Inauguration is set for today.]
Twelve years.
[Ilhwa Group has been named as one of the top five companies in the world.]
[They are said to be on standing shoulder to shoulder with companies like Apel, Amadon, Microponift.]
Thirteen years passed by in a blink.
The six-year-old Soo-Hyuk had been angry since lunch. Why? Because his dad, Minhyuk, had stolen the ice cream that he was going to eat and ate it by himself.
Soo-Hyuk was a proud kid. He thought, ‘I’m already a mature child.’
Unlike him, a child who had matured early, his dad still acted like a naughty boy. Even though his dad was always mentioned on the TV and the internet, Soo-Hyuk would never be deceived.
When he went to kindergarten, the kids there always said, ‘My dad is Superman!’ or ‘My dad used to be a very amazing person!’ When he saw that, he could not believe it. There were actually children who believed their father’s bragging! Why? Because, surprisingly enough…
‘I’m a smart kid! I already know that Daddy is actually Santa Claus! Fufu.’
Soo-Hyuk laughed. He was the only one in kindergarten who noticed this. Because of that, he was sure that his dad just made up all of the mentions of his name on the TV and the internet as a joke.
‘Huh? Maybe daddy used some kind of sorcery on me?’
At that moment, he received a message on Katalk.
[Royal Father: Son, I miss you♥~]
His dad even changed his own name on his Katalk!
Just like what was mentioned earlier, Soo-Hyuk would never be fooled. Why? Because his dad always got scolded by his mom for spilling food when they were eating. Was that all? No! He always farted. The worst part? His farts smelled terrible! However, Soo-Hyuk knew that his dad was terrifying when he was angry.
Anyway! The fact that the world had chosen his dad as the greatest businessman, that he had fought hard and won against a very terrifying disease, and that he was an amazing person in the game called Athenae was something that he would never believe in!
“It’s true, right? Grandpa? Daddy must think that I’m stupid. There’s no one perfect in the world!”
Soo-Hyuk’s grandfather, Kang Minhoo, chuckled when he heard his grandson’s words.
“You came to my room last night and said that you wanted to sleep with me because you said that you’re scared of your mom and dad!”
Minhoo laughed happily.
‘These brats. They must have wanted to sleep next to their son that much, huh?’
Minhoo stroked Soo-Hyuk’s hair and said, “It’s today, right? The first time our Soo-Hyuk plays Athenae, hmm?”
“That’s right! Hmph! He said that the Evil God is his friend. That’s impossible!”
“Soo-Hyuk, you’re going to experience a lot of things there. Regardless, what matters the most is that you have fun. It’s fine as long as you’re having fun. So go there and enjoy the game.”
Minhoo said the same thing that he told his son, Minhyuk, before.
“Yes, grandpa!” Soo-Hyuk answered as he entered the capsule with Minhoo’s help.
As Soo-Hyuk sat inside the capsule, he recalled his dad’s words.
‘Son♥~ If you go there, then you will be able to meet a lot of Dad’s friends. Remember what daddy told you, ask them to buy you a snack, okay?’
Soo-Hyuk had heard a lot about his dad’s so-called friends. Why? Because he talked about them a lot.
‘He said that one of his friends is the greatest Sword God, right?’
Today was the day that he would reveal his dad’s lies!
[Do you want to log into Athenae?]
The game started.