Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 1212

Chapter 1212

The God of the Directionally Challenged had met Minhyuk in the Gaia Continent. His strength and abilities made the Gourmet and everyone who followed the man lost forever. After that, he turned around and tried to go back to where Minhyuk was. Unfortunately, he lost his way again.

The God of the Directionally Challenged had made a promise with Minhyuk. According to their promise, Minhyuk would cook a meal for him if they ever met someday. It had been 300 days since he went out to find him. He still could not get a meal from Minhyuk.

After crossing the Gaia Continent, the God of the Directionally Challenged reached the Demon World. Then, he continued walking until he reached Heaven. After walking some more, he returned to Earth. Finally, he reached a certain human empire.

The God of the Directionally Challenged felt highly moved. He said, “At this rate, I should not be called the God of the Directionally Challenged but the God of Finding the Way!”

While emotional, he was also curious about where he had ended up. At that moment, a player with a kind smile approached him.

***

The player was named Jo Sang-Bok, a member of one of the active religions, the Heretics Religion, in Athenae. He was recently dispatched to Beyond the Heavens Empire and was ordered to lure as many NPCs and players as possible.

There were many Koreans among the people of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. And of course, there were many good people among these Koreans. These good people did not know how to refuse. Of course, Jo Sang-Bok was also a Korean like that.

And right now, Jo Sang-Bok was still searching for prey. Suddenly, he found a man who was looking around stupidly. Seeing such a naive and gullible man, he immediately approached. And with a gentle smile, he said, “Excuse me.”

The man looked at him in confusion.

“I can see that your ancestors have cultivated a lot of fortune.”

“Are-are you talking about ancestral fortune? Me? Ho. It seems like I have been a bit lucky as of late...”

The man that Jo Sang-Bok met was none other than the God of the Directionally Challenged. It was the same god who had no tact and could not read the room.

“Well, well. Is this the reason why I can find the way well these days? As expected, I’m fortunate. Thank you, previous generations of gods! Thank you for granting me your ancestral blessings.”

Jo Sang-Bok was flustered. He had never met someone like this before. He had considered using ancestral rites as an excuse to catch the prey and milk them dry. Unfortunately, it was challenging to find a Korean who had not heard the words, ‘I can see that your ancestors have cultivated a lot of fortune.’ After all, they had heard this many times before.

Ring!

[The Hidden Quest: Go with God to God’s Temple.]

Jo Sang-Bok was left surprised at the sudden appearance of a notification. And what was more surprising was that the notification was about a hidden quest with an SSS-rank difficulty!

‘Temple?! Did it say temple?!’

Jo Sang-Bok had a special and unique class: the Heretic Missionary. He would receive great rewards if he could bring someone special or great and trick them into performing an ancestral rite or a memorial service in their church.

Just then, a hidden quest suddenly appeared in front of him. The description said, ‘Go with the god and accompany him to his temple. If you agree and say you will accompany him, you will be his companion. '

As his companion, you will not die.

As his companion, you cannot leave his side.

As his companion, you cannot give him any directions.

As his companion, you cannot go any further than the allowed twenty-meter radius of activity.

Please be careful. You cannot stop being his companion until you reach your destination.’

The description was quite strange.

‘No, wait. How many hours would it take? It was just going to his temple, no?’

He then checked the rewards.

‘My level will increase by 20?! And I’ll also be given 100 platinum?!’

While he found it surprising that the stupid and foolish man in front of him was a god, the rewards he would receive just by accompanying him to his temple were enough to blind Jo Sang-Bok. In his eyes, this was a freaking lucky quest! The best part? Jo Sang-Bok believed that he could bring this god back to his church.

With natural ease and grace, Jo Sang-Bok said, “Lord God, please accept my greetings. My name is Jo Sang-Bok. I’ll accompany you to your temple and even help you give offerings to your ancestors!”

“Alright! Let’s do it like that! I’m finding my way these days because of my ancestors’ grace. Hahahahaha!”

“Wahahahaha!”

The two laughed out loud.

“Ah. I usually get lost and have difficulty finding my way. Is that fine? Even so, I still can’t wait to greet and give offerings to my ancestors!”

“No. It’s fine with me. How hard is it to find the road once you've lost your way? I’m pretty sure it’s not that hard.”

Then, the two began their journey. After an hour, Jo Sang-Bok, who walked beside the man, had finally lost his way.

Jo Sang-Bok, mired in confusion, blurted, “No. I get that we’re lost. But why are we in the Demon World...?”

After ten days.

“W-wait. Isn’t that Athenae...? How did we get here...?”

A hundred days later.

“Where are we? Is this... heaven? Am I dead?

A thousand days had passed.

“This place is... Olympus...?”

Shockingly enough, this was the end of the Heretic Missionary, who often bullied the Korean people.

***

Obren sat in his seat, which would always remain there regardless of the timeline, and ate the dishes that Minhyuk had prepared.

[You have succeeded in feeding the other party the second meal.]

[You have acquired the reward that Fabro has hidden.]

[All of your stats have increased by 0.7%.]

If Minhyuk were to be honest, the rewards from this dream would definitely be very sweet. He did not put much effort into obtaining the rewards that Fabro had hidden in these dreams. On top of that, he couldgettain the Pillar Ingredient once he finished all of his dreams.

‘Since he had realized the true importance of his weapons, is he telling me about the importance of the vassals and the people related to me?’

If that was the case, Minhyuk should be grateful to Fabro. The rewards were so generous that he could already consider Fabro as the Master of Pushovers and not the Master of Weapons. On top of that, he was given the opportunity to look back and see through his vassals and the people related to him.

As for the Pillar Ingredient, it was sweet and tempting. That was why even though Minhyuk was quite tired, he still took on the third dream immediately.

Once again, the darkness that enveloped him slowly cleared away. Finally, his last dream began.

***

A caterpillar was an insect hatched from an egg and had not yet reached its full growth. When Minhyuk opened his eyes, he thought the version of him standing before him was just like a caterpillar.

The caterpillar grabbed his hoe and dug into the ground. After a while, he cooked and ate like crazy. The pressure the caterpillar felt weighed down on Minhyuk, who was very familiar with that heavy feeling and pain.

The caterpillar moved on and chewed on the leaf called Emperor. Then, it moved forward and chewed on the leaf called Pillar of the Gourmands. After that, it ate the leaf called the Supreme.

The caterpillar began to wriggle desperately once he devoured all the leaves he could eat. The caterpillar did not stop wriggling. In his desperate struggle to wriggle and crawl forward, the will to survive and continue to live sprouted.

The caterpillar ate several leaves, drank the dew of effort and hard work, and sat on the grass. Its will to survive was oppressive. He continued this cycle over and over again. At one point, the caterpillar started to grow exhausted.

Minhyuk knew the caterpillar and the caterpillar knew him. It was because he was the caterpillar.

‘The thing that I’m having a hard time is...’

“Is this the end for me now?” Minhyuk asked the version of Minhyuk that he found in his dream.

That was right. Minhyuk’s final dream was a bit different from the rest. Unlike what was said in Fabro’s description, it did not show Minhyuk’s vassals or the people related to him but Minhyuk himself.

His caterpillar struggled desperately to gnaw on whatever leaf he could, but when Minhyuk asked himself if this was the end, he already knew the answer.

Minhyuk was delighted to become the Battle God. He was also reliable as an emperor, and powerful as the Supreme. However, as someone fond of food, his real goal had always been to see where the path of the Food God would take him next. Alas, the Food God was no longer growing.

It was Minhyuk’s favorite thing in the world. He even wanted to take the role and make it into the most significant Pillar in the world. Regardless, as mentioned before, the Food God had remained stagnant.

‘I want to become a more special Food God. I want to become a better Food God. I want to become a much stronger Food God.’

This was what the caterpillar hoped and wished for.

The caterpillar stopped in front of Minhyuk. Sweat beaded the caterpillar’s forehead, some of it dripping down his chin. The exhausted caterpillar looked at Minhyuk and laughed, “It’s the end.”

“...”

Minhyuk could not say anything and only looked at this version of himself. He already knew it. For a long time, he had not received any hint, quest,, or answer related to the Food God. He knew he had finally come to the point where he had to stop. He had reached the end, and he had to put down the hoe, the cooking, and the sword that he swung non-stop.

The two continued to look at each other. Minhyuk had comforted his vassals. So, he would comfort himself here, too.

“Minhyuk,” Minhyuk whispered, his voice gentle and soft. “Does this mean that you’re going to stop?”

Because this was the end of the road for the caterpillar, so the caterpillar had to stop what it was doing. So, did that mean that he would stop?

The one Minhyuk knew best, the one he loved most, answered, “No.”

Then, he clenched his fists.

In dreams, he could make even the impossible a reality. He held the hoe again and began to dig the ground like crazy. Just like that, he had swung it a hundred times, ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times.

“Although this is in our dream, we both know...”

Minhyuk laughed when he heard the words from his lips. Then, they completed each other’s sentences.

“If we look back, the dangerous and difficult path we have walked on.”

“Is the most beautiful path.”

The two smiled at each other. Minhyuk was being comforted by himself. The true end of the caterpillar, who was still swinging his hoe, finally approached.

Swoosh–

When the caterpillar reached the Food God's true and final end, he thought it meant death.

***

President Kang Taehoon looked at Team Leader Park, who participated and led the press conference.

They had always held press conferences. This was so they could answer questions from several journalists and reporters on behalf of the viewers. And today’s topic was special.

“Team Leader Park, what do you think is a Pillar?”

“It is the highest level that a player or an NPC can achieve in Athenae. It is also the most impossible level to reach.”

“Recently, there have been issues and topics of discussion about how a player was able to obtain a Pillar Artifact Material.”

“Some people have obtained artifact materials and skill books at the Pillar grade. Even so, they can still be counted on one hand.”

“From what we have gathered, Player Minhyuk has already obtained two Pillar-grade items. Don’t you think that the balance is a little skewed?”

It was the same old discussion. No matter how much time passed, jealousy would always be present.

And Team Leader Park? He answered them with, “Then, Mr. Reporter... Are you saying that you want to obtain a Pillar-grade item too?”

“Eh? That’s impossible...”

The reporters and journalists were all taken aback. Why did he answer like this? Even so, they still did not let up with their questions.

“It’s not easy to obtain a Pillar-grade item. Not only would you need overwhelming luck but you also have to be an outstanding player like Alexander, Minhyuk, and a select few others...”

“That’s correct. So, are you saying that you are among the select few that you are saying?”

“...”

The journalists and reporters were all stunned into silence.

“Every time we do this, you always ask about the balance. Why is it like this? Why is it like that? Then, can you tell me if you, or the rest of us here can do that?”

“But that doesn’t mean a single player can just monopolize...”

“If the rewards remain the same regardless if someone puts in twice the effort or ten times the effort, will anyone still play this game?”

“...”

All of the reporters were rendered speechless once again. It was because this was a fact.

“Let me put this straight. If someone has monopolized something or someone has gotten way too far ahead of the rest, you should not be asking if the balance is broken.”

Team Leader Park was a man with firm and strong beliefs.

“He’s cool. He’s really very cool and amazing. That’s what you should be saying.”

The faces of all the journalists and reporters present grew red. They were all ashamed. After all, they, who had only put in ten times the effort, wanted to stand on equal ground with someone who had put in more than 20,000 times the effort.

Now, the journalists and reporters no longer asked what they were curious about. They asked what the viewers were inquisitive about.

“The Pillar is the endpoint. It’s the highest level that we can reach. Countless experts and players have predicted that something special will happen if one person obtains a lot of Pillar-grade items. Is that truly the case?”

This was something that everyone was truly curious about.

Joy Co. Ltd. decided not to hide anything about this. Why? Well, the reason was simple. Would anyone be able to get it even if they did not hide it? Of course not. Even if somethextraordinarycial happened, they could not get it.

However, it would give humans a push. They would think, ‘How about I give it a try? I can do it, too. What if I get it?’ And this thought will make the fire of competitive spirit burn brightly within them.

And once they realized the truth and eventually gave up, they would end up staring blankly into space. The person who had reached that end would think that everything was truly over and they had indeed reached the end of their path.

Following Joy Co. Ltd.’s intentions, Team Leader Park did not hide anything. He said, “If you collect several Pillar-grade items, then what they could receive should be related to something, right?”

If they were a blacksmith, then they would collect artifact materials. If they were a jeweler, they would collect gems and precious stones. If they were a sculptor, then they would collect sculpting materials. If someone was looking desperately for a Pillar-grade item, it must be related to them, right?

Flashes erupted all over the place and almost filled the entire hall as the reporters and journalists woke up from the daze that they were left in after hearing Team Leader Park’s answer.

Meanwhile, President Kang Taehoon just smiled bitterly. Team Leader Park's words were words of comfort and encouragement to him, who had already reached the end. Team Leader Park had carefully crafted these words of support and added to his answer after much consideration.

At the same time, President Kang Taehoon felt that it was a shame. Why? Because he wanted to add this line to Team Leader Park’s answer, ‘Fly high! Reach for your dreams!’ Once again, President Kang’s weird taste appeared. Honestly, he felt this was much better than what Team Leader Park had said.

***

When Minhyuk saw his dream, he could tell that he would stop after reaching the Food God's end, just as the caterpillar eventually reached the end and found peace after struggling to survive and desperately eating the leaves.

Minhyuk slowly broke away from the dream that had comforted him and told him, ‘Let’s keep trying together. Even if it means putting down everything we have worked so hard for.’ Yet even after he accepted that it was the end, he still felt a bit uncomfortable.

At that moment, the scene that was slowly disappearing gradually returned to clarity.

[You have completed all of the dreams.]

[Because of certain variables, you can acquire the Pillar Ingredient even if you failed to feed the third and final meal.]

[A variable has been detected. You can view an additional dream.]

Minhyuk could not hide his confusion. At the end of his dream, he had already felt relieved and comforted.

As for the caterpillar? He believed that what awaited him at the end was death. And the proof was the pupa. The caterpillar had turned into a pupa and was waiting for his end. Instead of death, a pair of wings stretched out from the pupa.

Excitement filled Minhyuk when he saw these wings. He and the caterpillar thought they would have to face the end of their path. What greeted them at the end was this pair of wings unfolding from the pupa.

[You have collected all three Pillar Ingredients.]

[You dream of becoming the Pillar of the Gourmands.]

[You are the Food God.]

[The Class Quest: Successfully Cook the Final Pillar Ingredient to Proceed with ??? has been created.]

[The cooking process of the final Pillar Ingredient is much more special.]

[You need to show proof.]

At this moment, Minhyuk realized that it was not yet the end.

[You can now challenge the Food God’s final quest.]

[You have reached the end and the pinnacle of your class. You can now listen to a story.]

‘The moment the caterpillar thinks it has reached its end in the world, it turns into a butterfly.’