Chapter 153: Grilled Clam

“Huh...?” Minhyuk muttered dumbly, his head tilting in confusion. A faint red light flashed in the Rabbit’s Liver as the notifications rang. However, the light just flashed and disappeared immediately. Minhyuk checked the information, just to be sure.

(Rabbit’s Liver)

Material Grade: A

Special Effects:

Abnormal State Resistance +5

?WIS +5

Description: The Rabbit’s Liver hidden by a rabbitman. It has the same flavor as the liver in blood sausage but is much more delicious than regular blood sausage.

‘OMG?!’

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Minhyuk was in shock. It said that it tasted just like the liver in blood sausage! The thinly sliced liver that tasted a bit dry, but still had a deep flavor when dipped in salt or tteokbokki sauce?! And it was even more delicious?!

‘Wait. Will it taste better if I used Ingredient Appraisal on it?’

Minhyuk gulped. He would receive a huge penalty whenever he used the Ingredient Appraisal skill. Three points would be permanently deducted from his stats, while he needed to consume 1,000 MP just to activate the skill. However, in front of the delicious Rabbit’s Liver, such a penalty was nothing.

“Ingredient Appraisal.”

[Ingredient Appraisal.]

[Penalty. Permanently deducted -3 from all stats.]

Minhyuk’s hands glowed brightly. The white light then slowly engulfed and penetrated the small Rabbit’s Liver, causing it to grow bigger in size.

‘Kyaa! The liver is getting bigger! If it gets bigger then I can eat more!’?Minhyuk thought in admiration as the notifications rang in his head.

[You have appraised the ingredients.]

[You can now check the sealed unique and hidden abilities of the Rabbit’s Liver.]

Minhyuk immediately clicked on the Rabbit’s Liver and checked the information.

(Roves’ Treasure of the Seas)

Material Grade: Medicine Bestowed by God

Special Effects:

?Abnormal State Resistance +200

?WIS +100

?Holy Power +400

?Increase in defense and attack towards undead monsters depending on the amount of Holy Power.

Description: An excellent treasure hidden by Sea God Roves inside the Rabbit’s Liver. This divine treasure is said to be much more delicious than the Rabbit’s Liver from before.

“...!”

Minhyuk’s eyes widened. The change was very surprising, especially the part about the material grade.

‘Medicine… Bestowed by God... there’s a class like this among the medicines?’?Minhyuk thought, rubbing his chin. That was when Minhyuk recalled the update that he saw with Genie, Locke and Khan in reality. The update said that there would be new classes of medicine that were yet to be discovered in the Northern Continent. It seemed like Roves’ Treasure of the Seas was one of them.

Besides, the effects that one would be able to obtain from this material were not that simple. The most eye-catching effect was the final effect, where the attack and defense against undead monsters would increase depending on the amount of holy power. Minhyuk already had an additional 30% attack power against undead monsters. There was also Pandora's Helmet’s effect wherein it doubled the force of his holy power. In other words, Minhyuk could already exert an additional 60% attack power against undead monsters.

With the addition of this special effect, aside from the attack power, Minhyuk would also have an increase in his defense against undead monsters, which would further protect him from their attacks. In other words, Minhyuk could have as much as a 60% increase in his defense if he was attacked by undead monsters.

Most importantly...

‘It’s much more delicious. Hahaha!’

Minhyuk smiled in satisfaction. Then he thought,?‘But if you look at this Rabbit’s Liver...’

The Rabbit’s Liver reminded him of a folktale, in which, the rabbit was deceived by a turtle’s lies and was dragged into the Dragon King’s Palace. However, it was able to successfully run away by tricking its captors, telling them that it had to retrieve the liver that it had hidden on land.

Perhaps?Athenae?had used a real Rabbit’s Liver for this setting? Minhyuk hesitated for about 0.1 seconds wondering if he should eat it or not. He shook his head and thought,?‘How do I know if that rabbit is a bad guy or not?’

After that short contemplation, Minhyuk nodded to himself and called out, “Well, let’s go Beans! Let’s eat grilled clams!”

“Oiiink!”

The two of them ran off excitedly.

***

Minhyuk looked around happily after he finished his set-up.

Shwaaaaa!

The refreshing sound of the waves crashing by the shore, the cool wind that tickled his face, together with the griller placed on top of a coal briquette stove, everything looked picturesque at that moment. On top of the griller was a silver foil made into a box and filled with a special red sauce that was personally made by Minhyuk. It was currently reaching boiling point. Lined up next to the sauce were grilled clams and their perfect partner in crime, grilled prawns with coarse salt sprinkled on top of them!

“Hiyaa... Look at how the color changes.”

The almost-translucent flesh of the prawn was slowly turning red as it started to get cooked. On the other side, a grayish-white clam slowly opened its mouth. The shellfish lined next to it were cut in half as it slowly got grilled. The large pen shell, scallops and abalones looked completely appetizing.

Minhyuk layered a pair of plastic gloves on top of the cotton work gloves that he had worn earlier. Then, he turned to Beanie and said, “Beans. Hyung will peel it for you.”

“Oink!” Beanie oinked loudly as it looked at Minhyuk in anticipation.

Minhyuk smiled deeply and thought,?‘Fufu. The person who grills eats the most.’

Minhyuk volunteered to peel the shellfish for Beanie not because he wanted to help Beanie, but because he wanted to eat more! Minhyuk quickly lifted one of the clams and pried it open with force.

Crack━

“Wow...”

“Oink...!”

Steam rose from the clam as soon as Minhyuk opened the shell. Once the steam cleared, they could see the plump meat of the clam, as well as the white soup inside. Minhyuk excitedly pried open all of the cooked clams, then he used his chopsticks to pick up a lump of clam meat off of its shell.

This was the start of their mukbang.

Minhyuk sighed in amazement at the white and plump clam meat. He quickly took a sip of the refreshing soup from the clam and let the flavor slowly spread out in his mouth. The clam meat was also surprisingly chewy and soft!

Next, Minhyuk focused his attention on the boiling special red sauce in the middle! This sauce was filled with plenty of seasonings and ingredients like cheese, butter, red chili paste, and other vegetables. Minhyuk quickly dipped a piece of clam meat in the sauce. A string of cheese stretched out, connecting the sauce and the clam meat as Minhyuk lifted it up. When he placed it in his mouth, he could immediately taste the cheese and red chili paste. The greasy flavor was the best combination, complementing the bland and refreshing flavor of the clam meat.

This time, it was the pen shell. Since this shellfish was large, Minhyuk had to cut it into bite-size pieces with his scissors. Minhyuk clamped a piece of the pen shell meat and dipped it in chili paste vinegar before placing it in his mouth. The sweet, sour and spicy flavor of the chili paste vinegar added flavor to the chewy meat in his mouth.

“Hiyaa...”

This time, Minhyuk’s chopsticks stretched towards the king of the shellfish, abalones. Minhyuk skillfully cut the abalone meat with his scissors, clamped one, and dipped it in chili paste vinegar. Abalones were chewier than other shellfish meat.

Then, it was time for the scallops. Minhyuk made sure to add ample amounts of butter and cheese on the scallops before grilling them. Just one look at the pristine-white scallop meat being covered by a layer of melted cheese was making Minhyuk’s saliva drip down his chin. As if in a trance, Minhyuk lifted a scallop shell and slurped the meat and cheese. The scallops and the stretchy and chewy cheese tasted wonderful together, which gave Minhyuk plenty of joy.

What should one do when things start getting a bit greasy? The answer was to drink clam soup, of course! The clam soup was filled with different types of shellfish such as clams, pen shells and mussels. Minhyuk quickly scooped a spoonful of the white soup.

“Kgghk! It’s so refreshing and cool! Beans, try this one. The greasiness in your mouth will definitely be washed away!”

“Oink!” Beanie burst out in admiration after taking a sip of the soup.

Minhyuk swiftly threw some shellfish meat in the red sauce that was boiling in the middle of the griller. The red sauce permeated the meat well and added a deep savory flavor to the refreshing taste of the shellfish meat.

In between bites of the shellfish meat, Minhyuk did not forget to eat corn cheese. The white corn was covered with cheese! When Minhyuk scooped some corn, the cheese would stretch out in an appetizing manner. Once he took a bite, the corn popped out deliciously and the sweetness hidden in each kernel would fill his mouth.

After eating a variety of shellfish meat, the prawns were finally cooked and were perfectly red. Minhyuk immediately pulled the head and legs from the prawn. After all, he was a man who knew how to eat! Then, he swiftly dipped the prawn in red chili paste before taking it to his mouth. The juicy and plump prawn meat jumped up in his mouth as the savory flavor of the lightly-seasoned shrimp spread in his mouth!

Minhyuk and Beanie ate their grilled shellfish deliciously! After filling their bellies with shellfish, Minhyuk did not forget to make ‘dessert’. Their dessert was none other than rice cake and Rabbit’s Liver, no, Roves’ Treasure of the Seas!

“Beans. Look at this. There’s plenty for you since you worked hard today. Make sure to eat a lot, dear Beanie.”

“Oiiiink...” Beanie cried out, tears gushing out of its eyes as Minhyuk placed a plate full of the liver in front of him.

[Beanie is feeling touched.]

‘Fufufu...! My plan worked perfectly,’?Minhyuk thought. It seemed like this was Minhyuk’s scam! He pretended to cook Roves’ Treasure of the Seas, but served common pig’s liver instead for Beanie.

‘Fufufu...! Roves’ Treasure of the Seas is said to be much more delicious after all!’

Minhyuk quickly dipped Roves’ Treasure of the Seas in salt. Once he took it to his mouth, he could not help but feel impressed with the salty flavor, as well as the dry but soft texture of the liver.

“Wow. It doesn’t taste fishy at all, right?”

“Oink!” Beanie answered as he happily ate the liver on his plate, completely unaware that Minhyuk had scammed him.

This time, Minhyuk dipped the liver in tteokbokki sauce before placing it in his mouth. He said, “Kggghk! As expected, liver tastes best when paired with tteokbokki sauce!”

A set of notifications rang in Minhyuk’s head the moment he emptied his plate.

[Food God’s Greatness.]

[You have eaten Roves’ Treasure of the Seas in a variety of ways.]

[You have ignored the medicine penalty. However, it still remains ineffective for other people.]

[A Medicine Cooking. You have obtained additional stats.]

[You have gained Holy Power +434, WIS +121.]

[You gained an additional 20% attack power against undead monsters.]

[Defense against undead monsters will now be on par as your attack power.]

[Defense against undead monsters has increased by 50%.]

Minhyuk set out with Beanie after eating happily. However, the scene that greeted him out of the cave made him tilt his head in confusion. Ben’s head was buried on the ground as he weeped loudly. He cried, “Because of me, that young chef had died.?Huhuhuhuhu!”

Minhyuk suddenly felt heartbroken at the sight of Ben. He could not believe that someone that he had just met would care so much about him.

“I already told you not to go in there. Huhuhuhu! What were you so confident about, you sloppy cook!”

‘I, I’m not sloppy. Right...?’

“You’re so sloppy! You’re a chef! What the hell! What do you mean! By! Trust me! Huhuhuhu!”

“...”

Minhyuk was speechless. The ‘sloppy’ Minhyuk called out and said, “That… Grandpa Ben…”

“...Hiiiiiiiiiik?!” Ben shrieked, body stumbling back in surprise. He said, “B…boy. How...?”

“I’ve taken care of the Clam Golem on your behalf, Grandpa.”

Ben’s eyes widened as Minhyuk’s words finally registered in his dazed mind. He thought,?‘C…Clam Golem...?’

Ben did not know about the details, but if he did, he would definitely be shocked that Minhyuk fought against a monster that was twice as strong as the original Clam Golem.

“B…by any chance... in the cave... was there a pocket watch... or something like that?” Ben asked.

Minhyuk rummaged through the things that he acquired and pulled out a ‘Rusted Pocket Watch’ from his inventory. He quietly handed it over to Ben’s trembling hands.

“This... was a gift that I gave to my son when he was young,” Ben said, cradling the pocket watch as he closed his eyes. He looked like he was trying to feel the soul of his deceased son through this small trinket.

Then, Ben slowly said, ?“The moment I lost my son, I realized that power isn’t the most important thing. But... What am I to do after losing everything? I have lost my most precious treasure and now I have nothing.”

Ben’s dried and chapped lips curled into a smile as he continued to say, “Boy, I want to do something, anything for you. But, right now, I don’t have anything.”

Minhyuk had heard the notification about the completion of his linked quest. As he recalled, the reward was listed as ???. So, what was it? The next words that Ben uttered almost gave Minhyuk a heart attack.

“I, Ghost Spear Ben, swear to God?Athenae that I will become your hands and feet and follow you, and you alone from now until forever.”

“...!”

His words shocked Minhyuk. The shock even made his body shake. He thought,?‘Th…this can’t be happening...!’

This was a very shocking reward. However, Minhyuk wanted to make it clear that this was a reward that he did not like. There was only one reason…

‘I have another mouth to feed...?’