Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 154: Grilled Clam

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

PR: MattForgenti

Lee Minhwa and Team Leader Park were both looking at the monitor with a serious expression.

“Wasn’t the reward only supposed to be Ghost Spear Ben accompanying him for two weeks?”

“……Yeah.”

Even if the rewards were marked as ‘???’ it was still somewhat fixed. However, having the ‘???’ on the rewards also meant that there might be unpredictable changes that could change the rewards.

In addition, it was supposed to be Ben who would hunt the Clam Golem while using the Golden Salmon as bait. However, the one who hunted the Clam Golem successfully was Minhyuk which in turn increased the favorability between him and Ben to the highest.

“The two-week reward was already huge……”

Two weeks accompanied by Ghost Spear Ben?

Of course it was a huge reward! After all, he was one of the Most Powerful Men in the past. Of course, there would be strong unofficial and official rankers in the world that could rival the person that was ranked eight in the Most Powerful Men. However, they were only a few among the hundreds of millions of Athenae. To be exact, these people only make up 0.001% of the players of Athenae. In other words, being accompanied by someone like Ghost Spear Ben, they could immediately go to a high level hunting ground and ride on his bus. Then, they would be able to get plenty of artifacts and even increase their level. This was literally a reward that could never be bought with money.

However, Ghost Spear Ben wanted to be User Minhyuk’s subordinate.

At that moment, User Minhyuk, who was currently reflected in the monitor, was trembling.

“Is it because he’s so happy?”

“Well, this reward is too extraordinary after all.”

Then, they watched Minhyuk through the monitor as he slowly moved and lowered himself. He promptly held Ben’s hands and looked at him seriously.

“Eh?!”

“Keok?!”

Lee Minhwa and Team Leader Park both made eye contact.

However, Ben became overly excited when he heard his words.

Lee Minhwa looked at the monitor in awe.

“User Minhyuk…… I think he really is a warm-hearted person.”

“I, is that so……”

Team Leader Park scratched his head.

My goodness! This is the first time I have seen a user show such a warm-hearted approach towards an NPC!

User Minhyuk looked like he truly and sincerely(?) wanted Ben to live the rest of his life happily.

But, why would you even reject one of the Most Powerful Men so strongly?!

“……He’s a really cool guy.”

Minhyuk was going crazy.

No, maybe it’s this grandpa who’s crazy?

Old Man Ben jumped up and latched onto Minhyuk’s arm. His expression screamed that he wouldn’t let go at all so he had to take him along.

“I’ll do whatever you want me to do, I’ll be your sword or even your shield!”

Minhyuk faltered when he heard his words. Then, he pondered deeply. He realized that Old Man Ben would definitely not let him go. It was a bit embarrassing but it was a complete failure on his part. Then Minhyuk remembered something.

‘Come to think of it, there was that thing called vassals. Right?’

If a title or a territory was granted a vassal could be the person who would perform his or her duties in the guild.

‘I’ll just have Old Man Ben run the territory……!’

But what should I make him do in the meantime?

In hindsight, Ben became skilled at coffee making once Minhyuk turned on his nagging(?) mode.

Right. Let’s make him make coffee for me while he’s with me.

In addition, Minhyuk thought that he would be able to have some tea time whenever he was desperate for it and came back to the territory.

Then what?

‘Oh. I’ll ask Old Man Ben to become a barista!’

Minhyuk thought that it was an extremely good plan.

“You’ll do anything?”

“Yes!”

Ben nodded his head energetically. He could see Minhyuk’s eyes shining brightly as if he had thought of a good idea.

“Then, let’s have you make some coffee. How can I let Old Man Ben do something rough(?) like going on a monster hunt? Let’s live a comfortable life~ A very comfortable one~ So please make coffee~!”

“……”

Ben’s mind turned blank when he heard his words.

‘B, but I’m Ghost Spear Ben……?’

His throat was blocked and he couldn’t speak. He remembered the nightmare from before. The nightmare of making 200 cups of coffee in one sitting! Nothing was more embarrassing than doing that.

“You don’t like it?”

“N, no. Of course not……!”

But Ben was nodding his head.

‘How happy I would be if I could feed this young man who’s like a son to me!’

It was quite hard to make coffee but Ben still felt pleased when he saw that Minhyuk enjoyed the coffee that he had made.

This was the moment when Ben unknowingly signed the barista slave contract with Minhyuk.

Then, the notifications rang!

Minhyuk thought that it was a bit too late. It was not that there were no users who were nobles but it was quite rare for an NPC to be a vassal of a user. However, most of these NPCs who were vassals to users were only at Lv100 or below.

‘That’s right. They said that you will need a peerage if you want a high-leveled NPC as your vassal.’

At least a viscount. A viscount which was a step above a baron had more influence than what was initially thought. In fact, users who received the title of a viscount were considered to be one of the best in the world.

Then he remembered something.

‘……Didn’t Genie send a whisper to me about being a noble?’

At that time, Minhyuk was having fun catching fish so he couldn’t check the message. Minhyuk opened the whisper window and clicked on Genie’s whisper. When he saw the content, she just asked if Minhyuk had any intention of being a nobleman. She even explained the reason why she was asking him. He had no intentions of being one but he was very thankful to Genie and her friendship.

She had believed that having a title and a territory could be a stumbling block to Minhyuk’s happy eating life. However, if they thought about it carefully then it would be beneficial to Minhyuk.

‘Sometimes, people in the territory would also offer grains to the nobles. Right?’

After thinking about it some more, Minhyuk nodded his head as he sent a whisper to Genie.

“Hmm……”

Minhyuk nodded his head in understanding.

‘Well, she’ll see it later when she logs in.’

Then, he went ahead and checked the status window as he wondered about the effects of the ‘Minhyuk’s Follower’ skill that Ben had received.

Minhyuk stared at the Minhyuk’s Follower skill skeptically. He knew that if the favorability between a pet or a subordinate was raised to the max, then a skill like this would be created. But it was not possible for all NPCs or pets. They have to be a special person for them to have created a skill.

‘And he has such a high level too……’

Minhyuk nodded his head happily.

He has a high level. And even if he does not have a potential like Kongie, his potential is still high.

‘I’m sure that he’ll quickly learn the art of making coffee. Kgghk!’

He knew this because people with high potential had a faster and stronger learning ability compared to others with lower potential. Minhyuk was quite happy that he almost jumped with joy.

Then, a thought flashed through his mind.

“Ah. Do you know anything about the rabbit’s liver?”

“Rabbit’s liver?”

“Yes. It’s very, very delicious, you know. So I wanted to find more to eat. I found it somewhere inside the cave, in another entrance inside.”

“I’m sorry but this is the first time I have heard of it.”

As they were talking about the rabbit’s liver, they did not notice that an unidentified creature was slowly and stealthily approaching where they were.

It was none other than a bipedal turtle.

One hour ago.

The bipedal turtle, Radin, or to be exact, Rodel who took over Radin’s body was tasked by the Great Mage Rafielt to recruit foreigners from above land. The only problem was that no foreigner had reached the Dragon King’s Sea yet. Therefore, they had no way to enter the cave where the rabbit Jevis had hidden herself in.

‘Perhaps the rabbit Jevis has already been eaten by the predator?’

Great Mage Rafielt and Rodel did not know everything, after all, they had just entered and forcefully taken over the bodies through soul exchange. Entering the body through such a method did not allow them to read through the memories of the body’s owner. So they did not know much about the Dragon King’s Palace. The knowledge that they knew were things that they also only have heard from others.

‘Kiari seems to have started to doubt our identities……’

Rodel frowned and shook his head as he recalled about the first child of the Dragon King, Kiari. All he had to think about now was the rabbit’s liver and how to retrieve it.

‘If Jevis was swallowed by the sea’s predator……’

Then the liver could be extracted from the predator’s body. If that was the case then there was a way since the Great Mage Rafielt could perform unimaginable feats through dark magic. It was a piece of cake for him to remove the liver from the stomach of the predator.

Black magic could exert a lot of power when the opponent was alive or just died. However, it had to be done by a foreigner. But right now, there were no foreigners so he had to get back to Rafielt to report and think of other methods to retrieve the rabbit’s liver.

Splash!

Radin quickly jumped back into the sea as he swam at a frightening speed. Just as he was swimming back to the Dragon King’s Palace…

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

He felt powerful shockwaves that rocked the entirety of the sea.

‘This……?’

Radin’s eyes widened in shock. The origin of the shockwave was from the cave where only foreigners could enter. The distance from where he was to the cave was quite long but he was the fastest when he was in the sea so he quickly arrived at his destination.

Shwaaaa!

As soon as he arrived at the destination, he could see an old man bawling his eyes out in front of the cave.

‘He’s not a foreigner.’

Radin’s eyes narrowed in scrutiny. Nevertheless, he still stayed in the vicinity to observe since he was quite curious about the old man and why he was crying in front of the cave.

“A weak chef like you, keuhuhuhu, went overconfident! You’ve overdone it, keuhuhuhuh, now you’ll die just like this……!”

‘A chef……?’

Radin tilted his head in confusion. He watched the man cry loudly. Not long after, he could see a man walking out from inside the cave.

The young man was none other than a foreigner. The foreigner that he was badly looking for. He stealthily approached them as he listened in on what the two of them were talking about. He could see the surprise in the old man’s face as they talked.

‘Hoo? That stranger hunted the predator, the clam golem……? Then what about Jevis……?’

As he pondered about their words, the two of them started to shout loudly at each other.

“Go!”

“I won’t go!”

The man who looked quite shabby and humble with his rough helmet and rodshod armor was refusing the old man intently. The old man even begged him that he will support(?) him.

‘Well…… looking at it, he’s just an old man without any strength at all.’

Of course no one would like to bring you along. That old man doesn’t even look like he’s good at anything, right?

However, the man who came out from the inside was someone that he was interested in. He couldn’t say that the clam golem was extremely strong but he was sure that it could exert a lot of power.

Radin laughed derisively.

‘It’s fine.’

Radin was originally in the ranks of the strong even before he had entered his body. However, this turtle had already unleashed the power of the Dragon King’s second child. The Dragon King’s second child was well-versed in stealth and assasination. In fact, he was wondering if any of the foreigners could win against him. That was why he believed that an old man like that could be easily killed on a whim.

Then, he heard the foreigner say…

“Ah. Do you know anything about the rabbit’s liver?”

When he heard that, Radin’s eyes couldn’t help but widen.

“Yes. It’s very, very delicious, you know. So I wanted to find more to eat. I found it somewhere inside the cave, in another entrance inside.”

Radin’s eyes widened further as he continued to listen.

‘Je, Jevis……!’

He finally knew. Jevis had the power to remove her rabbit’s liver from her own body unlike Kiari who did not have the power to do so! In fact, there was no decisive fact that said that ‘a rabbit had to die’ just for them to retrieve the rabbit’s liver. The exact method of extraction was not known even within the palace walls.

In addition, he believed that Jevis had known about the power that her rabbit’s liver had. After all, she was the only one who could communicate with God Roves. She must have hidden it from them.

If he could, he would interpret it as……

‘I don’t know why she wanted to hunt the predator but she must have taken out her rabbit’s liver as a precaution in case she did not survive the battle……’

And what can we infer from this man’s words?

‘He ate the rabbit’s liver……!’

It was clear to him that the Treasure of the Seas was inside that cave and that this man had eaten it. However, he still had a chance right now. The Great Mage Rafielt could perform black magic that could retrieve whatever a monster ate.

Plenty of sea creatures may die but we have a chance to get that rabbit’s liver from this human!

However, there were conditions that should be met. To remove the rabbit’s liver, he had to at least arrive in the Dragon King’s Palace alive. He should be alive when meeting with the Great Mage Rafielt. In other words, Minhyuk had become the rabbit. And according to folk tales, the poor rabbit was tricked into the Dragon King’s Palace by a turtle, right?

As he thought of it like that, Radin made up his mind to approach them.

However, Radin was unaware that the folk tale that fell into his hand had an unfortunate ending. He did not know that the rabbit successfully escaped the palace while leaving a big pile of shit as its present to them.

TL’s corner!

As I have told before, there’s a folk tale about this. But it seems like Minhyuk has become a rabbit. A big, fat, juicy rabbit. Kekekeke.

PR’s corner!

Chalk up another entry into the Minhyuk-animal comparison list. Though I wasn’t expecting rabbit.