Team Leader Park and Employee Lee Minhwa were both flustered after seeing Minhyuk meet with the God of Cooking. So far, no other player had made contact with any of the Absolute Gods. Even Supercomputer Athenae had only expected this to happen once all of the servers had integrated.
“Team Leader, what do we do…?”
Team Leader Park stared at the monitor for a long time after hearing Lee Minhwa’s question. The God of Cooking was the master of the previous Food God. In fact, the Food God’s cheat-like cooking skills were the abilities that were born with the God of Cooking’s god-like skills as the framework and base.
“Miss Lee Minhwa.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“What can the Food God gain from the God of Cooking?”
Team Leader Park did not ask the question because he did not know. It was because in this situation, the Special Players Management Team had the job to report and check all of the rewards that any of the special players might get.
“The God of Cooking’s amazing tools, artifacts, even her very own cooking ingredients. Or…” Lee Minhwa’s lips thinned into a straight line before continuing, “…a buffed dish with more amazing effects.”
***
Minhyuk actually did not have any information about the woman named Arlene. The only reason why he came to her was because he could obtain the rewards that he got from killing Akhan and the fourteen elders from her and unseal his Absolute God’s Secret.
However, Arlene only continued to stare at Minhyuk’s figure, even after he bowed politely in greeting.
‘What’s wrong…? Why does she keep on staring at me like this?’
This was the woman with the hint to unlock Minhyuk’s Absolute God’s Secret! Minhyuk believed that she was an extraordinary woman and would have already probably noticed who he was right away even without him introducing himself. As he watched the old lady’s mouth slowly open, Minhyuk could not help but gulp dryly.
“So handsome…”
“…???”
“You’re definitely my type.”
[You have received Arlene’s favor.]
[You have received Arlene’s favor.]
“…???”
Minhyuk was very flustered by this very unexpected situation. The woman was a complete face-con! He was very surprised to find that her favor towards him had increased when all he did so far was to breathe in her presence. When he saw her squint, he hurriedly brought up the main reason why he came here, “Th, thank you. I heard that Grandma Arlene is looking for ingredients so I came here to find out if I can help.”
Arlene looked at Minhyuk in doubt. She wondered if he already knew the ingredients that she needed before coming to her. Arlene was not someone that anyone could just find because she could not be found through the quests that foreigners received. That was why Arlene was convinced that the young man in front of her found her through some other means. Of course, Arlene knew who Food God Minhyuk was. After all, she used to watch him before. Plenty of thoughts flashed in Arlene’s head when she saw another Food God coming to find her.
‘Perhaps this is fate?’
Food that she made with her ingredients and someone to eat that food. Arlene could not help but smile bitterly.
‘Ah, fate, what a very mysterious and wonderful thing.’
“It would be hard for you to get the ingredients that I want. Ah, before everything, you look like you’re a chef?”
“How did you know?”
If one looked at Minhyuk’s appearance, they would not think that he was a chef. After all, the stylish and cool armor, as well as the sword on his waist, would definitely steer them away from that thought.
“You have thick and rough calluses on the tip of your index finger. It’s something that you’ll only get if you always hold a kitchen knife.”
“Ah…” Minhyuk looked down at his hands. Athenae was a virtual reality game and they implemented things like this very well. True to Arlene’s words, the pad of Minhyuk’s index finger was covered in thick and rough calluses. With this fact alone, Minhyuk could already tell that the NPC in front of him was one of the ‘cooking-related’ NPCs. Even her desire to find ingredients was a testament to that fact.
“I can’t tell you the reason why right now but I lost my power to make buffed dishes for a while.”
God of Cooking Arlene was one of the Absolute Gods, but even with her identity, there were things that she could not do. Above the Absolute Gods stood Athenae, the God of Origin. When the Absolute Gods suddenly decided to go down to earth whenever they wanted, Athenae imposed sanctions on them and sealed their powers. These sanctions were imposed so that the Absolute Gods would not be able to reveal their power on earth. That was why even though Arlene was the God of Cooking, she could not use her skills and make buffed dishes.
Right now, Arlene was nothing more than an old lady with excellent cooking skills. That was also why Arlene was going to find a talented chef and ask him to make her a buffed dish. The effect of the buffed dish made from the ingredients that she was trying to get her hands on would allow her to awaken her powers for a moment. Besides, this process was also a test, one to determine if the man in front of Arlene could take her quest.
“I want you to go to the Abyss Field, find these ingredients, and cook a dish for me.”
Ring!
[Linked Quest: Cooking for Arlene.]
Rank: ???
Requirements: Favor with Arlene.
Rewards: Your Cooking Skill’s proficiency will increase depending on Arlene’s satisfaction.
Penalty for Failure: You will not be able to carry out Arlene’s Ingredient Acquisition Quest.
Description: Arlene’s powers are currently sealed. Go to the Abyss Field, gather the ingredients, and make her a meal.
“…”
Minhyuk was very shocked when he saw the rewards.
‘My skill proficiency will increase?’
Minhyuk’s cooking skill proficiency could not increase anymore since it had already reached its limits. Actually, since it had already reached its limit, Minhyuk’s cooking skill was already showing tremendous power.
However, the rewards marked in quests were usually what the player could get. This meant that even if the level of Minhyuk’s skills were at the limit, he could still increase his proficiency.
‘Don’t tell me, this person…’ Minhyuk thought. There was only one person that could give this much reward, especially when it was related to cooking.
“Are you…”
“Even when I look at you again and again, you’re still handsome… Haaaa…” Arlene said strangely as she looked at Minhyuk.
“…”
Minhyuk thought that perhaps that was not it.
‘After all, there’s no way that a god would be this perverted right?’
Instead of asking about her identity, he asked her another question, “Can you tell me why you’re looking for ingredients that have not been revealed yet?”
“There’s this old friend that I really want to lend a helping hand to.”
Minhyuk nodded. Since Arlene was already an old lady, it was only natural that she would want to help that friend of hers.
“What kind of place is the Abyss Field?”
“Well, I can’t tell you that. But it’s a very special field that I was managing before. But I’m sure you’ll find out the rest once you arrive there,” Arlene was not a kind and generous person. Those were the only words that she left for Minhyuk.
Before Minhyuk left, he asked, “If I pick ingredients other than what you asked me to take from the Abyss Field, can I eat or take them away?”
“If you can, then sure.”
“Oh. Then can I take it as you not minding me eating as much as I want?”
“Right,” Arlene answered confidently. With that, Minhyuk, whose eyes turned into crescents, turned around with a dark smile on his lips. Arlene just grinned, “That is if you can though?”
Arlene’s quests were never easy. Besides, even if Minhyuk inherited the power of the Food God, Arlene did not have any reason to help him. In the first place, Arlene was a cranky old woman. So, why would she help him?
“Well, I don’t think you will even be able to get one~?”
In fact, the only one capable of getting ingredients from that field was Arlene herself. This was because her DEX had exceeded 6,000! More than 6,000 DEX! If others heard about this, they would say ‘As expected of an Absolute God!’.
Alas, unbeknownst to her, Minhyuk’s DEX had already exceeded 5,000 and it could exert power beyond 11,000, thanks to Ellie’s Kitchen Knife’s special effect.
***
Land of the Gods.
The Land of the Gods was the world where all of the gods lived. Some used to call this place heaven because of the celestials living there. And these celestials were currently gossiping.
“Did you hear? The guy that came up from earth killed the Winged Hydra.”
“I heard that too, but did you know? I heard that the guy also hunted the Four-Headed Gryphon.”
“Why in the world is he hunting those beings that even the gods from heaven can’t hunt?”
“From what I’ve heard, it was because he received a trial from the Absolute Gods.”
“Hoo~ Did you say the Absolute Gods?”
“That’s right. But do you know what’s more surprising?”
“What? What?”
The celestials that were talking suddenly turned to one person alone.
“The Absolute Gods did not expect the guy to do a good job like this so they’re preparing a more difficult trial.”
“Hoo~ Isn’t this similar to saying that the Absolute Gods are furious?”
“Hey, what do you mean furious? The Absolute Gods are just going back on their words, right? Since the guy is able to overcome the trials that the gods have made, they are just trying to prevent him from becoming stronger. That’s why they’re making more difficult trials. What kind of gods are like this?”
“Shhh! You’re going to lose your head if they hear you. Actually, I heard that the guy already went through dozens of crises and close calls with deaths but he overcame everything.”
“He’s a really great guy.”
“What’s his name again? Ah, I definitely heard his name but I just can’t remember his name. I’ll come back and tell you when I hear his name again.”
One of the celestials rushed to find out about the guy’s name.
***
Arlene came up to the Land of the Gods for a moment and frowned at the scene that was presented to her. Three thousand of the prisoners locked up in the Heavenly Prison were all collapsed on the ground. Among the corpses that littered the ground sat a man that was bleeding all over and sat feebly. In fact, it would not be strange if that old man died on the spot right now.
But he was a strange man. Despite bleeding profusely, his eyes were still filled with boundless vitality and sharpness. From what she heard, he had overcome countless crises.
Then, she said, “The next trial that you have to face… you have to win against one of the gods. The Absolute Gods changed the scheduled trial on a whim.”
The man just silently listened to Arlene’s words.
“That’s why I will file a complaint. Since they changed the rules of the trial on their whims, I will demand that I be allowed to cook a dish for you.”
“Urk!”
Blood spurted out of the man’s lips the moment he let out an unwanted cough. He just stood up with a nonchalant look on his face while saying, “I have to hurry. He’s waiting for me.”
“Are you damn crazy?! You can’t move right now!!!”
It would not be strange if the man died right there and then, but he kept on standing up and trying to fight. Arlene looked at the man in frustration, her lips stained with a bitter smile. Because this man was such a person she felt like she was seeing her former disciple, the Food God, in him. That was why she decided to reach her hand out and help him. And for the first time, Arlene asked the man a question, “What kind of person is he for you to be this desperate to meet him again?”
A small smile graced the corners of the man’s lips when he heard her words, “A man that is sometimes like a child, sometimes like a very dignified adult,” the man’s eyes sparkled as he recalled his memories, “He’s someone that became another son to me, someone who lost his own son. He filled my hellish life with brightness, happiness, and blessings.”
Arlene felt her heart clench tightly at the smile on the man’s face.
“He’s also someone that can make the impossible possible. He cares a lot for the people around him, that's why there are a lot of people that pledged their loyalty to him.”
The man in front of Arlene kept on moving forward for such a person. And Arlene? She could only smile silently at fate. The person that this man, this retainer, in front of her was trying to go back to, had somehow found her to find ingredients for her.
‘Ah, fate is truly wonderful.’
***
The celestial that rushed away to find out about the name of the guy that was suffering from the trials that the Absolute Gods were giving came back to the gossiping celestials, “Guys! I found out his name!”
“What is it? What’s his name?!”
All of them had great expectations. After all, this man was charging forward in the Land of the Gods and putting all of the Absolute Gods into an embarrassing situation! He was only human but he was challenging the path to becoming a Demigod.
“From what I heard, he’s reached the realm of legends in the spear in the human’s world! But what’s shocking is the fact that he’s already a gray-haired old man!”
“Is, is that true?!”
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“Hoo~ He’s an old man?!”
Everyone was in shock. The existence that threatened even the gods was an old veteran?!
“His name is…” Everyone turned silent as they looked at the celestial in curiosity and bated breath.
“…Ben.”
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