Chapter 33: Buffed Tonkatsu

“You were able to learn everything, that’s great!” Len said, as he looked at Minhyuk in surprise.

“It’s all thanks to you, Master!”

"Master..."

“You taught me how to cook, so you’re my master!”

Len grinned when he heard Minhyuk’s words. It seemed like he did not hate the term at all. Minhyuk wanted to check his new skills right away, but he could not just ignore Len and say,?‘Ah. Wait a moment, Hyung. I’ll just go and check my skills.’

"Come over here."

"Yes?"

"I'll teach you how to fry tonkatsu," Len said, as he led Minhyuk to where Brock was frying tonkatsu.

When Brock saw them coming over, he retreated from the frying pan and took a break from frying the tonkatsu. Then, he said, "Damn, bro. Captain Len never taught anyone how to cook, isn't he being too biased towards you?"

"Hehe," Minhyuk chuckled happily. With Len’s help, he would be able to learn more recipes. Besides, the more he cooked, the more his skill proficiency would increase.

‘But, according to the notifications earlier…’

The notifications earlier had told him that he had learned the Food God’s Cooking Skill.

“Alright. Let’s look at the meat first. The blood should be completely drained out of the meat before you season it with salt and pepper.”

"Yes, yes," Minhyuk answered with a nod as he listened to Len’s explanations. Then, a notification suddenly ran in his head.

[The meat will become less juicy and the taste will drop and deteriorate if you use too much salt to season the meat. Make sure that you use the right amount of seasoning.]

The notification that rang sounded so natural as if it was something that Minhyuk had already known.

'Gasp...?!'

Minhyuk’s eyes widened in shock as he thought,?‘Is this because of Food God’s Cooking Acquisition…?’

He might not have the time to check the skill yet but he could guess that it was because of this skill.

“Next, let’s coat the meat with flour.”

[Flour is generally used for coating the meat. However, you can also use frying powder as an alternative. Using frying powder will make the dish become crispier and crunchier once it's fried.]

The notifications kept on ringing as information continued to enter Minhyuk’s mind.

“After that, we will dip the coated meat in egg and coat it with breadcrumbs before laying it down on this plate over here. Adding some parsley powder to our breadcrumbs will make the flavor and texture of the tonkatsu come alive.”

"Yes!"

“Alright. Then, I’m going to fry one first. Watch me closely,” Len said as he took a breaded pork cutlet and walked in front of the hot frying pan. To test the temperature of the oil, Len dropped some pieces of breadcrumbs first.

Sizzle—

“Drop some breadcrumbs in the center of the pan. The temperature is roughly around 170oC when the breadcrumbs float up. That’s the perfect temperature for frying tonkatsu. If you find the temperature to be higher, add more oil to adjust the heat. If it’s lower, adjust the heat of the fire.”

The breadcrumbs that Len dropped in the center of the pan floated up. Then, he dropped the tonkatsu into the hot oil.

Sizzle!

The sizzling of the tonkatsu rang out loudly as the meat quickly changed color indicating that it was already being cooked.

“The temperature of the oil is?very?important for this dish. If it’s too hot, it might look cooked on the outside, but the inside will not be,” Len said, before taking the tonkatsu out of the pan. Then, he placed the tonkatsu on top of a kitchen towel and drained the oil out of it, before cutting it in the middle using tongs and scissors.

Gulp—

Minhyuk gulped. In fact, Minhyuk was barely able to resist shoving Len away after he finished cooking and saying,?‘Step aside, I’ll eat that!’. Minhyuk fought the desire to eat, instead admiring the perfectly fried tonkatsu, tilting his head to get a better look.

“Wow!” Minhyuk exclaimed, looking at the perfectly cooked meat. The inside was cooked perfectly as well. So, what about the breadcrumbs? It was crispy and crunchy with no signs of being burnt at all.

Len smiled warmly at Minhyuk as he said, "Check it out."

"Yes!"

Just like any other items in the game, it was also possible to check the information of dishes. So, Minhyuk did just that.

(Tonkatsu)

Material Grade: E

Grade: Magic

Requirements: None

Shelf Life: 2 days

Preservation Time: 1 hour

Special Abilities:

6% increase in attack power.

?7% increase in defensive power.

Description: A little special tonkatsu made by Chef Len.

"Oh…! There really is a buff effect!" Minhyuk shouted in surprise.

Then, Len said, “You might already know this, but the amount of buffed dishes that a chef can make depends on the level of the chef. Normally, a chef can make three buffed dishes in a day. But since I’m at the level of a Master, I can make up to 20 buffed dishes in a day.”

Minhyuk was surprised by this knowledge. Even the fact that Len was at a Master level also came as a surprise. Chefs were ranked from Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master and Master Craftsman. As far as Minhyuk knew, the highest rank of a chef player in the country was currently only at the Master level.

'Who the hell is Master Len?'?Minhyuk thought as he looked at Len.

Then, Len said,?“The shelf life also varies greatly depending on the dish’s ranking. That’s mainly the reason why a chef’s dish can be a hit or miss.”

"Ah..."

Minhyuk somewhat understood what he was saying. The biggest advantage of a chef was that anyone could purchase their dishes and receive the buffs whenever they were hunting alone. However, there were also requirements and limitations to this, which was none other than the shelf life being too short.

“Intermediate chefs can cook dishes with a shelf life of up to four hours. However, the shelf life also varies from one dish to another. Well then! How about you try making one now?” Len said, as he poured more oil in the pan, deliberately lowering the temperature of the oil.

“The first thing that you need to learn is to adjust the temperature of the oil.”

"Yes, sir!" Minhyuk answered, recalling the words that Len had told him earlier. Minhyuk started to move, every action meticulous and with care.

'You have to be delicious.'

After all, dishes that were cooked with care tend to be more delicious. Minhyuk’s hands were moving well. It seemed like this was the influence of the Food God’s Cooking Skill. Minhyuk was able to evenly coat the pork with flour, egg and breadcrumbs. All that he needed to do was fry it.

‘Frying tonkatsu is really important! If I mess up one thing, the outside will burn and the inside will not be cooked. This is my first ever tonkatsu! I have to make sure that it’s delicious!’?Minhyuk thought. That was why he was moving carefully. Just then, right before he could drop some breadcrumbs in the center of the pan…

"Huh?"

[The oil's temperature is at 154oC.]

An astonishing notification rang in his ears. Minhyuk immediately raised the heat of the fire before stretching his hand out again.

[The oil's temperature is at 157oC.]

[The oil's temperature is...]

Minhyuk was able to accurately check the temperature of the oil with just a stretch of his hand. It seemed like this method would allow him to create a more delicious tonkatsu.

However, Len frowned when he watched him. He said, "Are you adjusting the oil’s temperature after just?feeling?it with your hand? It’s better if ?you go and get a thermometer to check the temperature. Better yet, feel free to use the breadcrumbs method that I taught you…”

Before Len could even finish his words…

[The oil's temperature has reached the most suitable level.]

Sizzle!

Minhyuk placed the tonkatsu in the oil. The tonkatsu was sizzling and frying well, as if it was dropped in at the most suitable temperature.

'Gasp...!'

'Ack?!'

Brock and Len were both staring at Minhyuk in shock. However, Minhyuk did not notice their reaction. He was watching the tonkatsu closely. Not long after, he took a sieve and brought it near the oil, preparing to take out the tonkatsu.

If anyone were to look at Minhyuk, they would feel as if they were watching a Master Craftsman that had fried tonkatsu all his life. A few moments later, Minhyuk took the tonkatsu out of the oil. He shook the tonkatsu and patted the excess oil before cutting it with scissors.

'...He learned well.'?Len thought, looking at Minhyuk in amazement.

Meanwhile, Brock rubbed his eyes in disbelief as he thought,?‘He, he’s even frying tonkatsu better than I do…?’

"How is it?"

"It, It’s great!"

"Hehe!" Minhyuk laughed in delight.

“Since this is the first tonkatsu that you made, you can have it for yourself.”

"Oh!! Thank you," Minhyuk said excitedly. He quickly placed the tonkatsu on a plate and added some thinly sliced cabbage, buttered corn and mashed potatoes on the side. Once he completed the plating, a notification went off in his head.

[Please choose one from the two choices: Buff Ability or Food God's True Worth.]

Minhyuk decided to choose the buff ability to try and check out what it was. It was because he had yet to make any dish with buff abilities since he started cooking inside the game.

'This choice won't change the flavor of the food, right?'?Minhyuk thought. However, he shook his head at the useless thoughts and made his final choice.

'Buff ability.'

[You have finished making a tonkatsu.]

[The dish belongs to the Normal grade.]

The dishes made by chefs were also graded accordingly. It was also a convenient system since it followed the item’s ranking. The dishes were graded Normal, Magic, Rare, Unique, Epic, Legendary, and God.

“You must have completed a normal tonkatsu,” Len said as he crossed his arms and smiled. He continued to say, "You did pretty well on your first tonkatsu. But since your skill level is still low, there’s nothing we can do about the dish grade. This has the same concept as hunting monsters. The higher the level, the better the food, and the more money you make.”

Minhyuk immediately checked the information on his tonkatsu.

(Tonkatsu)

Material Grade: E

Grade: Normal

Requirements: None

Shelf Life: 4 days

Preservation Time: 12 hours

Special Abilities:

?10% increase in attack power.

?8% increase in defensive power.

Description: A delicious tonkatsu made by an unknown chef. This is his very first tonkatsu.

"T…there's a buff...?"

"A normal grade dish has a buff...?"

"Yes. There really is a buff."

Len knew that Minhyuk was not a person who would lie. So, he asked, "Can I check it?"

Minhyuk nodded his head. Len quickly approached the dish and checked the information.

"W…what in the world is this..." Len muttered, before becoming speechless.

Was this something possible? No. This was something that went beyond common sense. Among all of the beginners in cooking, Minhyuk was at Level 1. No one at that level could make a dish like this with such a ridiculous buff. It was almost as if the buff was at a Master Craftsman’s level.

Of course, luck might have played a huge role in this, since it had a huge influence in cooking. However, Len believed that this was something that was beyond luck.

"Ah, can I check the cooking skills that I acquired for a moment?"

"Cough.?Alright, go ahead," Len answered, coughing awkwardly.

'This rascal… Who the hell is he?'

Len had never heard someone make a dish at this level with this much buff. Minhyuk quickly checked the notifications that rang earlier. The first skill that he checked was Food God’s Cooking Skill.

(Food God's Cooking Skill)

Passive Skill

Level: 1 (Currently unable to level up.)

Effects:

?You can apply a buff that is much more outstanding than any other chef’s buff.

?The shelf life and preservation times of your dishes will be much longer compared to other chefs.

?Your buff capacity is higher than other chefs.

?You can set the buff capacity to the level that you want.

Minhyuk understood most of the skills except for the part where he could set the buff capacity. So, he clicked on the skill’s detailed explanation.

[Setting the buff. You will be given a 100% buff capacity daily. You can divide this 100% however you like. You can divide it to a smaller fraction to distribute to a lot of people, or you can choose to set the number of dishes that will have a buff. It is the same if you choose Food God's True Worth. Your dish will have additional stats. However, cooking a lot of dishes will consume a higher buff capacity.]

'Aha.'

Now that he read the detailed explanation, it was quite easy to understand. This meant that Minhyuk could add more buffs into a dish if he focused on just one single dish. However, doing so would consume more of his buff percentage than cooking for more people. Minhyuk checked his buff percentage.

'30% has been filled already.'

From what Minhyuk could infer, the buff percentage would start at 0% everyday. Once the bar reached 100, Minhyuk would probably not be able to make any more buffed dishes for that day. He wondered how much the consumer’s power would increase if he made a lot of buffed dishes.

He might be uncertain about that fact, but he was certain that it would definitely be above any ordinary chef’s dishes. Even the shelf life and preservation time would be longer than any other chefs’ dishes.

In other words, Minhyuk’s buff capacity had already gone beyond Len’s buff capacity. Len had mentioned earlier that ordinary chefs could make from three to twenty buffed dishes if they tried hard enough. As for Minhyuk, he had already surpassed that.

Food God’s Cooking Skill! Anyone who knew about this skill would definitely be shocked. And then, there was Trance too. Trance was a passive skill with no level. In other words, it could not improve further.

However, the additional effect that this skill brought to a chef’s cooking was incredible. It could help make the dish better, through various factors like the delicateness of the method, the effort put into the dish, or even the focus and concentration used when making the dish. Minhyuk had received all of these great abilities! However, he still looked very disappointed.

Len, unaware of his great skills, looked at Minhyuk worriedly and asked, "What's wrong?! Boy, did you get a different skill from others?!"

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"...How to say this, it seems like I’ve gotten plenty of awfully good things, but..."

"There’s a but?"

Brock and Len leaned closer and gulped in anticipation.

"None of the skills say that they could make the dish taste better. Sob!"

"..."

"..."

Minhyuk looked utterly disappointed.