Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 1044

The world message was a notification that would ring when a particular player had done something others still needed to achieve. The odds of a player triggering a world message at least once while playing the game would be only one in tens of millions. That was how difficult it was to trigger a world message. And it was very unusual for just someone “trying” to do something to trigger the world message.

[The one trying to cook the Supreme Ingredient is Minhyuk, right?]

[I think so, too. There’s no God of Cooking’s Descendant in Athenae yet. And there haven’t been any notifications about an NPC trying to do something about a Supreme Ingredient.]

[Woah, shit. The Supreme Ingredient is the best ingredient among all of the ingredients, right? And he’s trying to cook it?]

[But even though Minhyuk did not receive any preferential treatment during the third-anniversary event, he’s the one who’s sitting at number one among those who had achieved the highest growth…]

[What in the world is he doing?]

[Wow. I’m so curious…]

[The Supreme Ingredient will definitely be hard to cook, right?]

[I bet that’s the case. A lot of chefs die when trying to cook God-grade ingredients.]

Community sites were in a huge buzz. As the buzz intensified, the term “Supreme Ingredient” also began to dominate all of the portal sites in the world. This was because the players were curious about the Supreme Ingredient and how difficult it was to handle. Then, at that moment…

[Awesome! Hey guys, Minhyuk has turned on a live broadcast of Supreme Ingredient Cooking. Did you see it?]

[Are you sure it’s Minhyuk?]

The experts were all in awe of Minhyuk when they heard he turned on a live broadcast.

[Right now, the Supreme Ingredient is in the world’s spotlight after the world message. By sharing this live broadcast of the process of cooking the Supreme Ingredient, he will not only scratch the viewer’s itch and curiosity but also prove to the world what kind of person he truly is.]

[This is the first time a notification about the Supreme Ingredient has been released to the world. All viewers are curious about how difficult it was to deal with. Many viewers have now tuned in on Minhyuk’s broadcast.]

[Since Player Minhyuk will ease their curiosity, we can expect that he will receive massive donations. Perhaps he will receive billions in donations in just one day.]

This may prove that Minhyuk is the best chef in Athenae.

The viewers watched Minhyuk’s live broadcast while listening to the experts and were soon shocked by the sight on their screens. It was because the God of Cooking and the Battle God were also present. Even the Battle God’s Five Generals had been summoned. But despite the lineup, they were all cut down in just thirty seconds.

[...]

[...]

The viewers were left stunned by the ridiculous level of difficulty. And just like Minhyuk, they could see that the Supreme Monarch’s HP and MP were infinite.

[How can one break through this…?]

Everyone was thinking the same thing.

***

[This is the first reset.]

[Time will reset to the time before you start cooking.]

“Haaa… Haaa…!”

“Ugh!”

The moment their consciousness returned, Minhyuk and the God of Cooking felt panic. The two were gasping for breath.

Despair settled on the Battle God’s face. He said, “Nothing has changed. Not in the past and not now…”

When the Battle God lost the previous God of Cooking and was left severely injured, he made a vow to meet the bastard again and kill him. He thought about how he would deal with the bastard over and over and over again. But those hundreds of times of planning were all useless when it came time to face him.

“Cooking is already a huge problem, but the Supreme Monarch is an even bigger problem…?”

The Battle God had warned God of Cooking Arlene about the Supreme Monarch. But this was beyond anyone’s imagination.

But Minhyuk was the one who was most shocked about this situation. After all, he was the one who saw the heads of the Battle God, the greatest god, and the God of Cooking fall down without being able to fight back. Even he, the Supreme among the players, was helpless and forced to log out.

Minhyuk gulped dryly. He, who had turned on the live broadcast, knew, ‘Those watching the live broadcast must have been going nuts too.’

Godly Editor Carron suggested that Minhyuk turn on his live broadcast whenever he did something special or was about to do something new.

Showing this aspect of the Supreme will also raise the value of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. We can also receive donations, and there will be plenty of other benefits.

What Carron said was true. This was also the reason Minhyuk turned on the live broadcast but turned off the notification window. He did not want to be affected or care about them at all.

Now, the three started to organise themselves and think of a solution.

“It took us around forty minutes to remove the film and drain the blood. But it took the Supreme Monarch fifty seconds to kill us all after he appeared.”

The situation was looking hopeless. All Arlene and Minhyuk did was remove the film and drain the blood.

“Since the Supreme Monarch cannot die, then the only choice left for us is to tie him down and prevent him from attacking. Right?”

Even though the Supreme Monarch’s HP was infinite, that did not mean that he would not be affected by the impact of their attacks. However, the guy was fully aware of his advantages and was not afraid to take on their attacks head-on.

“No man is stronger than a man who knows he will not die,” the Battle God said.

And just like he said, the Supreme Monarch did not hesitate since he knew he would not die.

“Then, how about we use all our stuns and restrict him as much as possible?”

“Use all of our stuns. Hmm, not bad.”

The Supreme Monarch might be unkillable, but that did not mean he could resist everything that came his way.

After finishing their game plan, they immediately prepared and went back into action. Minhyuk and Arlene took out the cauldron once again.

Thwack, thwack–!

The two began to remove the swelling film. They were much faster than on their first try. Even though they were working together for the first time, they looked like they had been working for a long time. They worked in their respective places as they removed the film.

[Did you see it…?]

[Where the hell is the red dot?]

[Wow. What fantastic chemistry, perfect teamwork!]

The viewers watched the broadcast from Minhyuk’s perspective. Minhyuk did not know how the viewers were reacting, but he did not care one bit and just continued to cook.

Just like that, they had removed all of the film and drained the blood. Now, it took them thirty-two minutes. The time it took them to do all that had been reduced greatly, and now they were going to light up the fire.

Crackle–!

The God of Cooking’s Divine Flames shot out from her hands. These flames were strong enough to help them boil the pork backbone faster. Then, the water started to boil.

“...?”

But the scum that floated to the surface of the water turned into bubbles that floated in the air and surrounded the two of them.

Bang, bang, bang–!

Then, they created massive explosions that devoured Minhyuk and Arlene and caused severe damage to them.

[Please remove the scum.]

The notifications told them to remove the scum despite the continuous explosions that surrounded them.

Swoosh, swoosh–!

The two hurriedly took out their ladles.

Sizzle–!

But burning pain flashed in their hands when they touched the foams and broke them.

“Kghhk!”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaack!”

Their screams rang loudly in the area. It was ridiculous how a single ingredient could bring such a huge danger to them. But the two gods did not back down. They continued to remove the scum despite the explosions and the burning pain.

“Haa… Haa…”

[You have removed all of the scum.]

[Please start cooking.]

The full-fledged cooking was now going to begin. It took them a total of forty-four minutes to remove the film, drain the blood and remove the scum. And Arlene and Minhyuk’s hands? They were already burned black.

Minhyuk hurriedly took out the doenjang. But at that moment…

Bang–!

Just as they expected, the same thing happened again.

“Arlene!”

“I’ll take care of that!” Arlene quickly took the doenjang and took over.

“Battle God’s Shackles.”

Clang, clang, clang–!

Shackles carrying a golden light shot out and wrapped around the Supreme Monarch.

[The Battle God’s Shackles puts the enemy in a five-second stunned state.]

The Supreme Monarch stopped in his tracks. He looked like he had been frozen. Immediately after that, the Battle God summoned his Five Generals.

“Make it so he cannot move!”

Clack, clack, clack–!

The God of Archery’s Arrow of Suspension shot out and stabbed the neck of the Supreme Monarch, leaving him with an additional seven seconds in a stunned state.

Clang, clang, clang–!

“Divine Stun.”

The God of Magic’s stun skill earned them an additional four seconds. At this moment, Minhyuk understood, ‘Stuns and the likes work on him.’

This was something that he could interpret simply. Minhyuk’s face grew bright as he triggered Overpower and used it upon the Supreme Monarch, who was about to be released from his stunned state.

[Overpower]

[The enemies, no matter who or what will be left in a two-second stunned state before you.]

Minhyuk immediately ran when he saw the Supreme Monarch freeze on the spot again. There was a smile on his face.

“I’m sorry. But you must deal with the cooking from now on, Arlene!”

Minhyuk thought that tying up the Supreme Monarch had greatly increased their chances of successfully cooking the Frenzied Ingredient.

The word “Explosion” appeared on the blade of his sword. Explosion was a mode that had a 15% chance of leaving an enemy in a four-second stunned state.

Slash–!

Minhyuk slashed and hacked at the Supreme Monarch, who was still stunned. Lightning bolts fell and struck the undying guy non-stop.

Minhyuk was the guy who could swing his sword more than five times in a second if he so wanted. Because of that, he could leave the Supreme Monarch in an infinite stunned state.

Bang– Bang, bang–!

The Supreme Monarch was tied down as Explosion constantly fell upon him.

“We– We can do it…”

“We can do it.”

The Battle God and the God of Cooking were both in awe. Minhyuk was putting the bastard in an infinite stunned state and was tying his feet non-stop.

Thump–

He suddenly felt a hand land on his shoulder.

“...?”

Then, he saw the deep smile beneath the black-horned helmet covering the Supreme Monarch’s face.

‘Wait! No way…!’

[The Supreme Monarch resists your stun.]

The Supreme Monarch had plenty of skills in his possession. What was the reason for his deep and infinite reserve of MP? It was so he could use his skills infinitely and without any restriction on the usage of MP.

Thud–!

Minhyuk’s body fell in a heap after his head got cut off.

Slash, slash, slash–!

Before his vision turned dark, he caught sight of the Battle God falling while the Supreme Monarch stabbed his sword through Arlene’s abdomen.

Only at this moment did Minhyuk realise it.

‘He deliberately let us hit him with stuns.’

Minhyuk immediately understood that the Supreme Monarch was merely examining what tricks they had up their sleeves to fight against him. But there was something very important that they could not overlook.

‘Just like how we’re resetting…’ Minhyuk bit his lips. ‘...the Supreme Monarch is also resetting ten times.’

In other words, just as they filled in the gaps they had seen after the initial reset, the Supreme Monarch could also fill in his gaps.

During the third reset, Minhyuk, the God of Cooking and the Battle God approached it differently.

Boom–!

Alas, the Supreme Monarch exited the maze in just twenty-five minutes.

“...!”

“The time he took to break through the maze has been shortened by more than fifteen minutes?!”

How did he get out of the maze so fast?!

“He’s getting used to the maze.”

Just like that, they continued to challenge the Frenzied Ingredient.

Slash–!

The Battle God’s head fell before Minhyuk and rolled down on the ground.

Crack, crack, crack–!

He saw how the God of Cooking’s body twisted and bent into a strange shape.

[Resetting.]

Once again, the Supreme Monarch used his skills upon his appearance.

“Supreme Sword Dance.”

Slash, slash, slash–!

Hundreds of swords hacked and ripped through their bodies.

“Supreme Sword Dance.”

“Supreme Sword Dance.”

They were left in despair and frustrated by the skills the Supreme Monarch was triggering. There wasn’t even a hit of a cooldown time.

[Resetting.]

Again.

[Resetting.]

And again.

[Resetting.]

Arlene and the Battle God kept on dying in front of Minhyuk. An indescribable sense of despair and loss shrouded them as they continued to fall.

[Resetting.]

[You have been forced to log out from the Maze of the Unknown for the eighth time.]

Now, they only had two chances left. Minhyuk could see that despair was dragging down not only him but also the God of Cooking and the Battle God.