Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 1036

Of course, the same was true for the executives of Beyond the Heavens. They spent every minute of their log-in time doing quests and hunting monsters and repeated this schedule every single day.

And since they were rankers at the top, they used their intelligence networks to get or buy information about Named Monsters. They even formed a team to hunt said monsters. They had been doing their best and even resorted to reducing their sleeping time to hunt more.

Even the strict Haze had declared that all of the Beyond the Heavens Empire players should focus and do their best in hunting and doing their quests for a month. Why? Because doing so would further strengthen their empire. Once they returned to Beyond the Heavens Empire, they would bring in the money.

After hunting the Named Monster called Antaras, the executives returned and gathered in the conference room. They received the report and a briefing of what had been happening in the empire while they were away and were enthusiastically checking how much each of them had grown.

Then, Genie said, “I was able to level up six times in just ten days.”

Genie shrugged, reveling in her outstanding achievement. Well, it was indeed the case. After all, a Level 600 player could increase their level by six in just ten short days.

Ascar said, “I leveled up by five.”

Khan and Ares shrugged as they said, “We leveled up by five.”

Locke, who was sitting among them, smiled evilly. Then, he said, “Keuhahahahahaha! This body of mine has leveled up by seven times!”

He was hell-bent on hunting to the point that he reduced his sleep to four hours daily. That was why he could not help but straighten up in joy. Having achieved such a feat in just ten days, Locke believed that he could increase his level by fifteen times in total during this month.

“Locke, you’re the one with the lowest level among us.”

“Isn’t the number of level-ups we get this month the most important?” Locke grinned.

With each passing day, the Beyond the Heavens’ executives all felt they were getting stronger.

The difference between someone not being able to level up and someone leveling up by one was huge. This was more so the case for high-rankers. The main reason for this was because the power of their skills, titles, and artifacts was attributed to a few percent of their power and was affected by their stats. With each level up, they would receive a slight increase in their stats, increasing the % or even double the effect of their powers.

While everyone was delighted, Khan said, “What is Minhyuk doing these days?”

“Actually, I don’t know either.” Genie shook her head. She had been busy hunting, and the only thing she heard from Minhyuk was that he would leave to get some lessons or something.

Then, the expressions on everyone’s face suddenly grew solemn.

“Let’s not make such a huge fuss in front of Minhyuk...”

Even the tactless Locke nodded in agreement.

“He’s the only one who did not receive the 3x EXP Acquisition Rate benefit. He must be distraught. There’s also the fact that he has to accumulate ten times the EXP an ordinary player needs to level up.”

They could already imagine how sad and bitter Minhyuk would be if they saw them talking happily about how much they had leveled up.

“Minhyuk must have already leveled up by at least one now, right?” Locke said.

But Khan looked bitter as he said, “It’s going to be very difficult for him to level up since his level is much higher than ours. When I calculated last time, the difference in the number of monsters at the same level that we need to hunt to level up and the number that Minhyuk needed to hunt was at least twenty times.”

“It’s that bad?”

Even if they all hunted monsters at the same level as their own, Minhyuk still had to hunt twenty more times than them to level up. These shocking words made everyone grow silent.

Genie broke the silence and said, “Alright. Let’s not brag and make anything too obvious before Minhyuk.”

Everyone nodded.

“What do you mean? What should you not make too obvious?”

Then, Minhyuk came inside after a brief knock. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

“Ah. We’re talking about Locke’s ugly face. We shouldn’t show it too much.”

“K– Keuhahahahahaha! Do you think I have only been ugly once or twice, huh? Don’t slap it on my face!”

The panicking executives tried to cover up their words. Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion as he looked at them. But soon, a smile appeared on his face. Then, he said, “Have you all been working hard to level up?”

They were trying to avoid the topic, but Minhyuk brought it up, which flustered and embarrassed them.

Locke coughed. “Ahem. Well, I was just hunting here and there. I haven’t raised my level as much as I thought I could, Minhyuk.”

“Is that so? But I want to brag a bit since I have greatly raised my level. Would that be too rude?”

He raised his level by a lot? Everyone focused on Minhyuk’s words.

‘Minhyuk leveled up by a lot? Did he level up twice?’

‘Wow... He needs to hunt twenty more monsters at the same level as him to level up. If he leveled up by two, that’s equivalent to leveling up by twenty according to our standards, right?’

‘And Minhyuk did not even get any 3x EXP Acquisition Rate privilege. That’s quite amazing.’

Curiosity stained the faces of all of the executives present.

Then, Locke said, “W– What do you mean by rude? It’s just normal bragging between friends. So, how many times did you level up?”

There were still around ten days left, so once Minhyuk left, they would use this as a standard so that there wouldn’t be much of a difference between them.

Minhyuk shrugged, then said, “I leveled up fourteen times.”

“...?”

“...?”

Everyone was rendered speechless at that moment. When they made eye contact, they could see the depression and gloom that appeared in each other’s eyes. They said that they should not brag about it in case Minhyuk got depressed, but it was them who were getting depressed.

***

The Beyond the Heavens’ executives had been using all of their time, even going so far as to reduce their sleep, to focus on hunting. Because of that, they failed to know how noisy the world was these past few days.

On the other hand, many of the players who had made fun of Minhyuk and said, ‘Minhyuk’s the only one who did not get the 3x privilege!’ were the ones who were quick to react to whatever was happening every single day.

[Hey. The Food God’s level increased by seven today...?]

[The amount of EXP Minhyuk needs to level up is ten times what we need. Where the hell is he?]

[Yo. You guys said that the Food God’s level will remain stagnant.]

[Wow. This is fxcking nuts.]

[But how can he increase his level by that much when he did not even receive the 3x EXP Acquisition Rate?]

[I think he received a 10x EXP Acquisition Rate because he’s in cahoots with Joy Co. Ltd.?]

[Hey, hey! Minhyuk is currently ranked number one on the list of players that have experienced the most growth. At this rate, he might be the player with the highest level of growth.]

[Shit. Unbelievable. He has the highest level, and even his class is ridiculous. So how did he level up by fourteen in just ten days? Joy Co. Ltd. must have something to do with this. I will report this.]

[+2. Me too.]

[+3. Me too.]

Conspiracies about how Minhyuk and Joy Co. Ltd. had an implicit deal began to emerge again. In just a few days, tens of thousands of complaints and reports of bugs from Korea flooded Joy Co. Ltd, while hundreds of thousands of reports from overseas flooded it.

Then, one of the players said.

[You shitheads. Minhyuk just did an excellent job in leveling up.]

This player clicked his tongue at them. However, the players’ suspicions did not wane.

In the end, Joy Co. Ltd. posted an announcement.

[Ahem. Guys, let me interpret this announcement for you.]

A player, famous for translating and interpreting various apology statements and announcements from companies, famous BJs, and other personalities, appeared.

–Good day. This is Joy Co. Ltd.

[Have you eaten?]

–This announcement is made because of the recent scaremongering about the relationship between Player Minhyuk and Joy Co. Ltd.

In response to the recent controversies and conspiracies, our company, Joy Co. Ltd., has gathered and reviewed the data very seriously.

[Because of you, I was forced to do something annoying and bothersome. Anyway, I have collected the data.]

–We would like to inform you of the results of our review. There were no bugs involved in Player Minhyuk’s leveling up.

[Our dear Minhyuk is impressive, right?]

–If you continue with the scaremongering and the controversies, we will consult with Player Minhyuk and release the video of his leveling up.

[You guys can’t fxxxing level up, so why are you trying to drag down our dear Minhyuk, huh? Do you want me to show you the data, huh?!]

–We would also like to inform you that any forms of scaremongering from this point forward will be dealt with legally. Our stance will be firm, and we will not stand down.

[Anyway, try to speak bullshit one more time, and we will just snap...]

–Thank you.

[Get lost, you f*cking bastards.]

The very clear and explicit interpretation of the announcement rendered all of the players speechless. According to the interpretation, they have all of the data and information on hand and ready. So, if they wanted to come at them, then they should.

At this moment, all of the controversies and conspiracies were put to rest.

***

Minhyuk stopped by the Beyond the Heavens Empire to listen to the reports and catch up on what happened in the empire while he was gone.

He had asked the Battle God to release Evan and allow him to become human. Only after giving orders to give Evan a small house where he could live and settle down did he leave to meet Beradon again.

When Minhyuk reached the forest where they had met, he saw Beradon looking at the mountain he had climbed before with his hands behind his back.

–You are a Pillar, and now, you are also an Absolute God. Do you think you can still become stronger?

Beradon tried to send back his foolish third disciple. But his disciple did not leave and continued to kneel and wait for several days. At that point, Beradon realized that he could not win against this man’s stubbornness, not then and not now.

In the end, Beradon gave in. He told him a way where he could protect the one that he wanted to protect.

–You might die.

It was an old man’s anxious words to his foolish disciple as he turned away. His disciple nodded, and then he turned to him with a faint smile.

–I’m not afraid of death. I’m afraid of losing ‘him’ and the things he’s trying to protect.

Just like that, his disciple left, leaving only words that implied that he did not truly care for his life.

‘The man that you want to protect.’ Beradon turned away from the direction where he had disappeared. ‘Became my last disciple.’

Beradon could not believe it. He did not want to take in any more disciples because he wanted to rest, so he gave the young man a trial that he would never be able to complete in his current state.

‘He must have encountered some kind of opportunity.’

But even if he did, it was no different from him doing it all by himself.

‘I don’t want to lose you.’

He would accept this disciple mainly because he did not want to lose his foolish third disciple.

‘I’m also curious.’

What kind of power and charm did this man have that you wanted to protect him so much?

When Minhyuk came back, Beradon turned to look at him. Then, he nodded lightly. Minhyuk greeted him with a bow and showed him courtesy.

[You have become Beradon’s Last Disciple.]

[Beradon’s Disciple System will now be applied.]

[With Beradon’s Disciple System, you will be able to receive his teachings when you are in danger, when there is something that you want to do, or when you are in trouble.]

Ring!

[Beradon is now bestowing the reward to the one who completed the Linked Quest: Visit to God’s Prison.]

“I am already old. I no longer have the energy to teach you myself. So, I will give you my power and go over your limits.”

Immediately after that, another notification rang.

[You have acquired the Teacher’s Authority: Growth Cultivator.]

Minhyuk was shocked. The Growth Cultivator was Beradon\'s power to create a quest related to the Battle God for Minhyuk. And now, he had gained such a ridiculously overpowered skill?

‘I can now make quests related to myself?’

This was a very shocking thing. Then, another notification rang.

[The Growth Cultivator can only be used up to Level 700.]

Perhaps this was only natural. After all, there was no way such a ridiculous power would be able to be permanently given to someone. If that happened, then the balance in Athenae would truly and utterly collapse.

Minhyuk immediately checked the details of the skill.

(The Growth Cultivator)

Rank: God

Active Skill

Level: None

Mana Required: 10,000

Penalty for Use: -1 Level

Cooldown: 144 hours after completing the quest created by The Growth Cultivator.

Effects:

•You can create quests related to your class, level, position, and various other things.

•You can set the quest rewards related to your character by yourself. However, the system will measure the rewards based on the quest\'s difficulty. If a reward is ridiculous for a quest, the system will change it and set a lower reward.

•If you fail thrice in creating a quest, you must wait 144 hours before you can use the skill again.

•You can observe others and create quests related to them.

•You can also create quests depending on your position. A territory lord can create territory quests. A king can create kingdom quests. An emperor can create empire quests.

Description: This is the authority possessed by The Teacher, one of the Eight Pillars. This power is said to be equivalent to the Pillar’s Disaster skills.

Minhyuk felt a shudder run down his spine when he saw the part in the description that said it was a power equivalent to a Pillar’s Disaster skill. At this moment, Minhyuk recalled his own Pillar Disaster skill.

‘Calamity and The Growth Cultivator.’

But when comparing them, Minhyuk thought the Growth Cultivator was still the better skill.

“The food that you make is very delicious. If you have good ingredients, don’t forget to come and cook for me,” Beradon said as he turned around.

“Master, please wait.”

Minhyuk suddenly recalled this dilemma that was giving him a heartache. What was the dilemma? It was none other than Athenae’s Frenzied Ingredients.

“There’s something that I really, really want to eat. But...”

Minhyuk explained about the ingredient that he had on hand.

“...no one has ever been able to cook it. Is there a way for me to cook this dish?”

It was an ingredient that even the Gods of Cooking failed to cook. But he wanted to find a way to cook it. Unlike his clueless self, Beradon might know of a way.

Then, Beradon told him, “How should I know, you brat.”

“...”

Beradon clicked his tongue. “I can’t believe you’re trying to depend and lean on me already.”

Beradon shook his head and walked toward the forest with his hands behind his back. He suddenly treated Minhyuk coldly for no reason. But then, Beradon’s voice rang in his ears.

“By the way.”

The old man looked back at him and said, “If one failed to make it, then why not do it together with someone else?”