Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 167: The Temptress

Minhyuk was happily smiling when he had received the Moon’s Wheat quest right after logging back in to?Athenae.

‘Delicious noodles!’

There was now a ‘0 kg / 5 kg’ flashing on the upper left corner of his vision, beside the name ‘Moon’s Wheat’. He was also holding a bow, all prepared to train hard and raise his DEX.

(Abyss’ Bow)

Rank: Epic

Requirements: 400 DEX, 300 AGI

Durability: 5,000 / 5,000

Attack Power: 126

Primary Special Abilities:

?For every 100 DEX, the Hit Rate, Critical Hit Rate and Critical Strike Power will increase by 10%.

?AGI +13%

?Active Skill: Master Archer’s Archery.

Description: A bow used by a Master Archer in the past. He’s now slumbering deep in the bottom of the abyss.

This item was one of the artifacts that he received after hunting the Clam Golem, and was the perfect artifact for Minhyuk right now. The attack of this artifact was significantly lower than most of the artifacts that Minhyuk used, but the usage took into consideration the attack of the arrows as well, so it was alright.

Before Minhyuk came here, he made sure to buy plenty of arrows with an attached ‘10% increase in Critical Hit Rate’ from Valkyrie Kingdom. He also briefly unequipped Ellie’s Kitchen Knife from Barraca’s Greatsword, before equipping it on the bow. He only had one reason for doing so.

‘I can’t give up the x4 increase in my DEX Acquisition Rate.’

After all that, he was finally on his way to Ructo’s Tomb. He needed to travel on a half-a-day journey before he?would?reach Ructo’s Tomb. During that journey, he would need to face monsters like the Owl Bear. However, it was the perfect itinerary since he could eat noodles and collect Moon’s Wheat.

Not even a few meters in, Minhyuk already came across?an?Owl Bear. Owl Bears were given their names because they had the huge body of a bear and the head of an owl. They were approximately two-meters tall, and had an attack that was comparable to mobs at Level 330, despite being at Level 300. However, they had very low defense power.

“Grrrrrrreuoooo!”

Minhyuk reached behind him for an arrow, and?nocked?it on his bow. The moment he pulled the strings of the bow, Minhyuk saw a large red spot appear in the middle of the Owl Bear’s body. Even a child could understand the meaning of this red dot. Minhyuk pulled the strings taut, before releasing his hold.

Shweeeeeeek!

The arrow flew rapidly before piercing straight through the Owl Bear’s neck.

[You have dealt a critical hit.]

“Keuooooo!” The Owl Bear shrieked before falling down with a thud.

“...OMG?”

Minhyuk was quite surprised. He could tell that his Hit Rate, Critical Hit Rate and Critical Strike Power had all increased by 150%, thanks to the special effect of his Abyss’ Bow and his high DEX. Archer artifacts generally increased the probability of critical strikes depending on the player’s DEX. Epic artifacts usually have a 3%-5% increase in this probability, but the Abyss’ Bow could increase it by as much as 10%. The destructive power of Minhyuk’s bow was comparable to an archer player at the same level as him. No, perhaps it was higher than theirs.

Then, Minhyuk saw it… the Moon’s Wheat drop!

[You have acquired 2,031 gold.]

[You have acquired 210 grams of Moon’s Wheat.]

“Yes!” Minhyuk shouted in joy. Just like that, he was filled with motivation to hunt Owl Bears. Once he had gathered around three kilograms of Moon’s Wheat, he whipped out the noodle maker that he had purchased at Valkyrie Kingdom and prepared some noodles.

“Hiyaa...”

Minhyuk quickly prepared the dough and passed it through the noodle maker. Thin, long strips of noodles slowly came out of the noodle maker. Then, he boiled the noodles before putting them in his pre-made broth. He added some garnishes on top of the noodles, which included eggs, shredded zucchini, julienned carrots, chopped kimchi, and some seaweed flakes sprinkled on top. The steaming bowl of banquet noodles was prepared just like that. There were even plates filled with the red, appetizing kimchi and radish kimchi beside it.

“Banquet noodles can only be complete with kimchi and radish kimchi.”

Minhyuk grabbed the bowl as he stirred the noodles with his chopsticks, before lifting up a mouthful. The amount of noodles that he lifted could already be considered to be quite a lot, but he believed that banquet noodles were best enjoyed by placing as much as he could in his mouth.

“Sluuuuuuurp!”

Minhyuk inhaled the noodles in one go. The noodles that were soaked in the savory and tasty broth brought a happy smile to his face. Only after his cheeks were bulging did he decide to cut the noodles, but not before placing some kimchi in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch━

Thanks to Gorac’s Aging Jar, Minhyuk could now make perfectly ripe kimchi with ease and convenience. Chewing on the crunchy, sweet and sour kimchi added a bit more flavor to the savory noodles. Then, he put his lips near the lip of the bowl, blew gently on the soup and then gulped it down.

“Sluuuuurp. Hoo. Good.”

Minhyuk exclaimed in admiration at the flavor that spread in his mouth. This time, instead of eating kimchi with his noodles, he clamped on some radish kimchi and chomped on it.

Crunch, crunch━

The chewy texture of the noodles and the crunchy texture of the radish kimchi met, creating a perfect harmony of texture in his mouth.

“Sluuuuurp!”

Minhyuk easily finished the banquet noodles made from Moon’s Wheat. He had made dozens of bowls with the three kilograms that he had gathered, and finished them quickly and easily.

“It’s really delicious.”

There was a big smile hanging on his mouth, but he still said, “I…I’m hungry...!”

The noodles made Minhyuk feel like his stomach was quickly emptied. Of course, it was also true that he was always hungry. Minhyuk continued to hunt as he headed towards Ructo’s Tomb.

[You have gained 1 DEX.]

[You have gained 1 DEX.]

After hunting for quite a while, Minhyuk finally heard the notification of his DEX increase, something that had remained stagnant these past few days.

‘Oh...? It’s increasing much faster than using my production skills? It feels the same when I just started learning production skills.’

Minhyuk was quite confused at the speed, but he still welcomed it happily. After all, a higher DEX meant that he would have more delicious food in the future.

***

“T…Team Leader. Player Minhyuk has started to increase his DEX quickly again.”

“Huh?” Team Leader Park asked dumbly after hearing Lee Minhwa’s words. He quickly moved away from the screen showing other players and approached Lee Minhwa to see what she was talking about.

“...He’s increasing his DEX by using a bow.”

Acquiring DEX points by using a bow was a very good method. Especially in the case of Player Minhyuk whose DEX had remained stagnant after reaching his current level, the usage of a bow to deal with the shackles of stagnation was a good one.

The Archer class was the only combat class that required DEX. Their accuracy, attack power, and critical hit rate tend to vary depending on the player’s DEX. However, there was a hidden fact that the archer players were unaware of.

‘When you use a bow, the DEX will increase quickly until the player reaches a certain DEX.’

This was simply because the bow was the biggest manifestation of the ‘DEX’ stat. In fact, anyone could wield a sword, or an ax, but not the bow. It was very difficult to use because of the accuracy factor. Depending on the player that shot the arrow, the accuracy and hit rate would vary greatly. To compensate for such inconsistencies, the DEX was set to increase quickly until the player reached a certain level. The speed at which the player gained DEX would not decrease even if their level increased.

However, Player Minhyuk’s DEX Acquisition Rate had a 4x increase thanks to his Ellie’s Kitchen Knife, so his speed was much faster than any regular archer player.

“Team Leader...” Lee Minhwa said, looking at Team Leader Park seriously. She asked, “Wouldn’t he get that opportunity once his DEX reaches 2,000?”

Team Leader Park nodded solemnly. He said, “That’s right. Dual Class.”

***

Minhyuk paused after he finished eating almost another two kilograms’ worth of banquet noodles. He cursed silently,?‘This idiot... moron...’

There was only one reason why he was admonishing himself. It was because he forgot to make spicy mixed noodles after being exposed to the deliciousness of the banquet noodles. The problem was that the quest would be completed the moment he collected five kilograms of Moon’s Wheat. Minhyuk was aware that the remaining 300 grams of Moon’s Wheat that he needed to gather was not enough to make enough spicy mixed noodles that could satisfy him.

However, Minhyuk still shot another Owl Bear. Once it fell down, he harvested the Moon’s Wheat that dropped.

[You have acquired 300g of Moon’s Wheat.]

[You have completed the Quest: Hunting those who have stolen Farmer Carn’s Moon’s Wheat.]

[You have gained 30,000 EXP.]

[Your EXP Acquisition Rate will increase by 5% for one week.]

“This is the final Moon’s Wheat...?Sigh...”

Three hundred grams was enough for ordinary people to make some spicy mixed noodles. However, for Minhyuk, a person who was not satisfied even after eating three kilograms of noodles, how could three hundred grams be enough to satisfy him? He sullenly thought of using regular flour to make some noodles to fill the gap in his stomach. At that moment, he suddenly felt a vibration from the ground.

“Huh?”

As soon as he turned around, he saw...

“Kyaaaaak!”

…a female player being chased by a total of five Owl Bears and Harpies.

“I’m really sorry, but if you help me hunt these monsters, I’ll give you everything that drops!”

Minhyuk could see the things that dropped when she killed some monsters that grazed her.

‘...!’

It was Moon’s Wheat. That was when Minhyuk realized…

‘This woman got the Moon’s Wheat quest too!’

Minhyuk’s eyes shone with a cunning glint when he recalled the words ‘I’ll give you everything’ from earlier. In other words, the Moon’s Wheat would be a compensation and reward of some sort for him.

As for Javin? She smiled darkly inside, thinking,?‘Will you be able to resist helping me?’

Javin was a very beautiful woman. In fact, she had long straight hair, a great figure and an innocent appearance that men found hard to resist. So far, most of the men that had offered to help her had even gone as far as to scream?‘You vicious monsters! Take my sword of light and justice!’?whenever she screamed pitifully for help. Some would even pretend to be a man of great honor and tell her?‘But Miss also did a good job so you should take the items and the gold.’?It was such a good feeling that she even thought of risking her work to become an?Athenean?girlfriend, or possibly a real-life girlfriend, to some.

Minhyuk started to pull his bow. She could see that his eyes were blazing.

‘As expected, you’re just like the rest of the guys.’

Fwooosh!?Fwooosh!

[You have dealt a critical strike.]

Minhyuk’s arrow easily shot through the spot where he wanted to shoot. Even the harpies, an aerial monster that was difficult to deal with for regular players, dropped one after the other the moment he shot their vital points.

‘Wow. That’s really good.’

Javin had no doubts about Minhyuk being an archer. She also believed that he was an archer that was beyond Level 360. His artifact’s damage and hit rate were proof of it.

After all of the mobs were cleared, she smiled brightly and said, “Just like I told you earlier, you can keep all the drops.”

Javin tried to show a gentle side as much as she could, while trying to show off her beautiful white teeth at the same time. She even emphasized the tight leather armor that she wore, which was highlighting her breasts.

She thought,?‘He’ll say ‘No, it’s not fair’, right?’

Then, Minhyuk said, “Right. I’ll help myself to it then.”