Chapter 34: Buffed Tonkatsu

In fact, the skill that he was most hopeful about was something that could be along the lines of?‘the taste will become more flavorful’!

"Ta…taste…?"

"Yes..."

Len and Brock looked at Minhyuk silently after seeing how sullen and disappointed he was. To be honest, Len found his reaction absolutely ridiculous. He thought,?‘The person who used grade E ingredients to create a dish with plenty of buffs is disappointed because he did not make the food taste better?’?He wondered if someone could truly be like this.

‘Was his life solely dedicated to eating or something?’

However, Len still approached the teary-eyed Minhyuk to comfort him. He said, "Boy, your cooking skills allowed you to fry the?tonkatsu?well. I’m sure it will taste much better than ordinary tonkatsu."

“Oh…!” ?Minhyuk exclaimed loudly, his face turning bright from his words.

'That's right, I shouldn’t be this discouraged!'

Minhyuk bounced back from his slight depression after receiving the Food God’s Cooking Skill. Then, he immediately checked the Food God’s Cooking Acquisition skill.

(Food God's Cooking Acquisition)

Passive Skill

Level: None

Effects:

Significantly increases your ability to learn cooking skills.

?You can acquire and learn better recipes for ingredients.

.

In other words, the Food God’s Cooking Acquisition was a godly assist. Minhyuk was able to confirm the first effect―significantly increasing his ability to learn cooking skills―when he made the tonkatsu earlier. He was as skillful as a Master Craftsman that devoted his life to frying tonkatsu. For the second effect―acquiring and learning better recipes―the notifications continuously popped up in his head and instilled tips and tricks in his mind.

Lastly, Minhyuk checked the last skill that he acquired.

(Ingredient Tracking)

Passive Skill

Level:?1 (Currently unable to level up)

Penalty on Use:?You will be unable to use Food God’s True Worth for the day.

Effects:

?Once the skill has been triggered, the system will search for the ingredient that will correspond to the type of effect and cuisine that you have chosen. The skill will search within a one kilometer radius. The skill will also suggest recipes according to the buff effect + ingredients + cuisine and will also suggest alternative ingredients for the dish.

?It can only be used 3 times

?Additional number of uses can be acquired once the skill has leveled up.

?Current available number of uses: 3/3

The skill was easy to understand. Minhyuk would be asked to select a cuisine, for example, Chinese cuisine, then he would be asked to input the buff ability that he wanted the dish to have. Once those were set, the system would search for the appropriate ingredients in the vicinity. Once he made a dish with the ingredients that he tracked, he would be able to express his desired buff effect.

'This means…'

Simply put, it would help Minhyuk make a dish that he needed. However, there were also limitations to the skill. One, the ingredient could only be found if it was within the set radius. Two, he would have a penalty for a whole day. Although Minhyuk was not sure, the penalty for a day was a pretty big deal. However, after checking everything, Minhyuk still had a few doubts in his head.

'Currently unable to level up?'

‘Currently’ pertained to the words ‘right now’.?In other words, he could not increase the level of the skill at the moment.

'In other words...'

Minhyuk just needed to accomplish and meet the conditions needed in the future to level up the skill. Then, he turned his sight to his status window and was taken by surprise. The 20% beside the Food God had now soared to 50% in the blink of an eye.

'Gasp?!'

It seemed that the percentage of his class could also be influenced by the cooking skills that he learned.

‘Once that reaches 100%, I will definitely be able to level up. And…’

Once that happened, Minhyuk believed that he would be able to cook better and eat more delicious food. With that, Minhyuk finally finished checking his new skills. Then, he let out a deep and long exhale.

“Phew!?I kept it in for too long!”

‘I feel hungry after looking at all those skills!’

To be honest, the thing that caught Minhyuk the most was the tonkatsu and not his skills. Others would definitely look at him in shock if they knew what was on his mind. Perhaps they would even ask him…?Tonkatsu is more important to you than the Food God’s skills?!?However, Minhyuk would surely answer them,?'Of course, isn’t that obvious!'

However, even if he wanted to eat it so badly, he had no choice but to check his skills after seeing the sparkling gazes that Len and Brock directed at him.

Since he was finally done with the cumbersome part, Minhyuk hurriedly sat down in front of his tonkatsu and asked, “Can I eat it now?”

"Of course," Len said. Len did not particularly ask him about his Food God’s Cooking Skill. Len was someone who believed that it did not matter if a person had outstanding skills and abilities, they would be considered a chef as long as they cooked for others.

"Hiyaaa..." Minhyuk said, rubbing his hands in anticipation.

Tonkatsu was a simple and common food. However, it was a dish that could not be described by just one word. It was so delicious that only a select few disliked its taste. The first thing that Minhyuk did was to get a bowl of warm udon soup. The soup was one that was often found in places like?Kimbap Heaven.?Then, Minhyuk let go of the knife to pour the special sauce on the tonkatsu. The warm tonkatsu sauce, with thinly sliced onions and mushrooms in it, was still steaming as it covered the crispy and crunchy tonkatsu.

"Kgghk!"

Minhyuk suddenly felt his mouth water. Then, he immediately stabbed the tonkatsu with his fork as he held the knife in his other hand. However, he did not use the knife on the tonkatsu. That was because…

‘This knife will not be used to cut the tonkatsu, it will be used to protect it from others!’

Usually, whenever friends hang out together to eat tonkatsu, one of the friends would say,?‘Just give me one bite.’. However, that one bite would become two, before it would become three and in the end, become the entire tonkatsu.

"I..." Brock began.

"No way!" Minhyuk answered loudly, without any hesitation! He even raised his knife ever so slightly the moment Brock spoke out.

"...am sad."

"Hehe... This is my first ever tonkatsu so I wanted to eat it alone. Once I finish this, I'll make you one," Minhyuk quickly said. He had to make up for what he said so as not to lose Brock's favor. That was how meticulous Minhyuk was. Then, he took a huge bite of the tonkatsu that was dripping with sauce.

Crunch, crunch―

The well-fried, golden-brown tonkatsu was crispy on the outside but soft and juicy on the inside. It even boasted a perfect harmony with the warm sauce that coated it. Minhyuk’s every bite was also accompanied by the tonkatsu’s crispy crunch. The strong meaty flavor brought a smile to his lips. When Minhyuk felt his mouth go dry, he immediately sipped a mouthful of soup. The slight hint of soy sauce in the udon served as a perfect booster to the flavors exploding in his mouth.

Then, Minhyuk grabbed his fork and mixed the thinly sliced cabbage covered with kiwi dressing. The salad was boasting a vibrant green color, with a faint watery sheen, which showed how fresh the vegetables were. As Minhyuk took a bite of the salad, the fresh and crispy texture of the salad brought a slightly tart and refreshing flavor to his mouth, completely washing away the greasy flavor of the tonkatsu.

The next thing Minhyuk ate was the corn sitting perfectly beside the salad. It was simply corn from a can, but one mouthful of it brought a sweet and savory flavor to his mouth. A tonkatsu meal might look very ordinary and common, but each part of the meal played their respective roles faithfully.

Minhyuk smiled blissfully as he ate his tonkatsu. He was able to clean up the tonkatsu in no time at all.

"He didn't even leave a drop of sauce at all... I won't even need to wash that plate with how clean it is right now."

"Heh...?"

Then, Len said, "Boy."

"Yes, Master!"

"You fry the rest of the tonkatsu and distribute it to the soldiers. You’re almost done, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Brock answered swiftly.

"Good. Go ahead and fry it, I’ll watch on the side.”

***

Runie was a woman that was pleasing to look at. Right now, she was taking a break among the players and NPCs in the subjugation troops. They had just finished dealing with the goblins’ recent attack on their way to Bordy Plains, so they were taking a break. That was also the reason why they were having dinner pretty late at night. Recently, Runie’s attention was drawn to a man.

‘I’m sure that man’s a chef.’

There was an extremely popular male player among the subjugation troops. The man was around 185 centimeters tall and had a very handsome face. He was kind, amiable, and could strike up a conversation with anyone about anything.

In fact, all of the players believed one thing…?That player was a chef.?However, Runie knew about the drawbacks of being a chef. One of her friends had chosen the chef class and ended up deleting her character to start anew.

‘The higher the chef’s level becomes, the harder it is for them to level up…’?Runie thought. Then, she shook her head.

'Why should I even worry about others?'

However, strangely enough, she felt calm and at ease whenever she looked at the man.

'Does he have a Calmness stat or something?'

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Just as that thought crossed her mind, the man came out carrying food containers.

“Everyone, the meal is ready! Today’s tonkatsu is specially made by myself, Minhyuk!”

"Oh. You made the tonkatsu?!"

"Don’t give us some kind of charcoal, alright!"

“Not at all! Don’t get surprised the moment you eat it!” The man answered, his expression one of disdain as a response to the man.

Then, the food distribution finally started. Runie also stood in line to get her meal.

'Maybe he doesn't know about it?'

Perhaps that was really the case. After all, some players chose their class without researching any accurate and concrete information beforehand. No, in fact, there were quite a lot of them. Then, Runie’s turn finally came.

"Enjoy your meal!"

"Ah, yes!" Runie answered, her cheeks turning a bright red upon seeing Minhyuk’s face. The man really looked really handsome up close. Even his smile was nice to look at.

'That's right, I should tell him,'?Runie thought. She thought that it would help him right now. He could delete his character since he was still a novice, and start over to raise his power with a new class. Of course, it was also because Runie had a bit of?‘interest’?in the man. Perhaps her?‘help’?was also just an excuse.

"E…excuse me."

"Yes?"

"...The higher the level of the chef, the harder it is for them to level up."

"Ah. Yes," the man answered, nodding calmly with a smile.

"An… and even if you do get close to these NPC soldiers… You really wouldn't get anything from them at all."

"That's not true," The man refuted as he laughed, it seemed like he was not that interested in Runie or what she had to say.

"It may look like I'm being nosy but..."

"Ah, thank you for your care. But it's fine. I’m doing it because I want to eat delicious food."

"...Eh?"

"I only want to eat delicious food. By the way, the people behind you are already glaring daggers at you. They might kill you if you linger anymore…”

"Ah!" Runie shouted, immediately leaving the line after feeling the prickly glares at her back.

‘Tsk... He wasn't interested in me at all,’?Runie thought, looking at the tonkatsu in her hands. The tonkatsu was golden brown and enticing, so she immediately sat down at a nearby table.

'He said that he only wanted to eat something delicious? Does that even make sense? He might as well just say that he’s not interested in me.'

Runie sliced her tonkatsu as she grumbled to herself. Then, she placed it in her mouth.

'Huh?'

She curiously placed another bite in her mouth and said, "De…delicious...!"

Runie was very surprised and in awe. She had never had tonkatsu like this ever in her life. She even believed that Minhyuk would be a very successful chef if he ever opened a shop of his own!

'The meat is quite thick, so how did he cook it so well? It's so crispy that it seems like it just came out of the frying pan.'

Runie would never know that the secret to the crispiness of the tonkatsu was Minhyuk’s Food Storage Inventory. The surprise did not end there…

[You have eaten a tonkatsu.]

[Your attack power will increase by 3% and your defensive power will increase by 3% for 5 hours.]

Runie looked at the notifications curiously.

'What's this? Wasn't he just a novice?'

This was the chef's buff ability. She overheard this from some players before. It seemed like the man was much better than a chef with a beginner's cooking skill.

'Didn't they say that they could only make one or two of these in a day?'

She tried to recall her friend's words, but she stopped when she started to hear the people around her making a ruckus.

"Huh...?"

"Gasp?!"

"Hey, hey!! This is amazing!"

The shocked and astonished voices of the players suddenly sprang out from all directions.