Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 987

Haze, who was busy writing and updating the ledgers, sighed lightly. ‘It’s just one or two days, but the losses are far too great.’

Each executive had a set schedule every day. Since they were the greatest talents of the Beyond the Heavens Empire, the mere fact that they ignored this set schedule to go to Utopia disrupted several contracts. The losses that they had received were quite bigger than Haze had expected.

‘We need more funds to get ahead of Luvien.’

The Beyond the Heavens Empire was not in a stable position. It had to secure more funds than ever and quickly expand and develop its territories. But in the past few days, Haze could clearly feel the limits of its financial capacities.

‘According to His Majesty, we will only start gaining benefits from Utopia three months from now.’

The exchange between the master of the new world, Utopia, and the Beyond the Heavens Empire would undoubtedly bring them astronomical profits. However, Utopia had changed regime. Because of that, they needed time to regain their stability. And just as what was mentioned before, it would take three months before they could reap the benefits.

They might have money soon, but if it was not in their hands, they could not speed up their expansion and development. What was important was to get cash right away.

At that moment, a commotion appeared outside. The Beyond the Heavens Empire's talents had already returned. Haze’s expression immediately grew bright.

‘Your Majesty!’

Haze, who hadn’t seen Minhyuk for quite a long time, rushed out, hoping to see the man faster. But Minhyuk was a step faster than her; he had already knocked on her door before she could even get out.

“Haze, have you been well?”

Haze’s fatigue seemed to have melted when she saw the refreshing smile on Minhyuk’s face.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you for readily approving my request.”

Minhyuk was the emperor of this empire, but when it came to making important decisions, he would also listen to and consider the opinions of his subjects. This was especially the case for Haze. There were times when Haze would correct Minhyuk and guide him on the right path whenever his thoughts strayed.

“Creating a connection and having exchanges with Utopia would greatly help us in the future,” Haze said. However, her expression had already grown a bit dark.

Minhyuk knew the girl better than anybody else. He said, “The people of Utopia had given me money. They said that it’s payment for their meal.”

“Payment for their meal? If we’re talking about payment for the meal made by Your Majesty, they would need to pay quite a lot, right? Hoho.” Haze smiled as she joked around.

Thud–

Minhyuk slammed the massive bag of money in front of her and said, “It’s a million platinum.”

Haze’s eyes grew wide. ‘N- No... Didn’t he say that it’s just payment for a meal?’

What kind of meal cost a million platinum? A million platinum was a considerable sum of money. Even the Beyond the Heavens Empire would have difficulty gathering a million platinum in sales even after working hard for three months.

Minhyuk smiled faintly and retold the story about how he fed the citizens of Utopia with pumpkin porridge and how Rhoando gave a proposal to the people.

Haze immediately understood. “That single meal must have been extremely priceless in their eyes.”

That should have been the case. The amount of money they paid for the meal Minhyuk made for them must have had a variety of meanings. It must have conveyed their gratitude, respect, trust, and faith in him.

And considering that Minhyuk’s cooking was the best in Athenae, they must have been delighted to taste the dish, right? Nobles also existed in that place. Collecting a million platinum to pay for a meal was not impossible. After all, these nobles could pay a lot of money, right?

“But.” Haze chuckled, her eyes squinting. “It would be better to get payment for meat next time, no?”

“Right? Just as I expected.”

“For the meat that Your Majesty will provide, I think around ten million platinum would suffice. Hoho.”

“What are you saying, Haze?” A grave expression appeared on Minhyuk’s face. “It should be around twenty million platinum.”

Of course, the two of them were just joking around. In the first place, they did not expect to get any payment for what they had done. Now, there was only one thing left.

“Ah, wait. Can you look at this steel?”

It was none other than the Ogre’s Steel Armor. Haze nodded after checking the information.

‘A weapon produced from this steel will have 13% higher attack power. If one can use aura, their cutting power will increase by 20%. This is an excellent steel.’

However, it would be hard to say that it was outstanding or incredible.

“We have agreed that they will provide us 1,000 tons of this steel every month.”

Haze’s head turned blank when she heard Minhyuk’s words. ‘That means getting this steel is not hard, right?’

Haze thought that the fantastic steel that Minhyuk obtained from those who knew where was quite rare. But now, he said they would be provided a thousand tons every month. There was nowhere in Athenae to obtain such a vast amount of excellent steel.

‘Since we can obtain a thousand tons of this steel per month, then that means that we can supply our troops with great equipment. The knights would come first. Then, we will distribute the weapons and armor to our soldiers. Once that happens, our troops will be 10% stronger than our current power.’

Haze was in awe.

Not long after, she saw Minhyuk fidgeting. He looked like a restless puppy that was about to go potty. Haze had been working with Minhyuk for a very long time now. After being by his side for so long, she could already tell what his actions meant.

‘That action means “I’m happy to see you, but I’m famished right now.”, right?’

Haze chuckled. “Your Majesty, just come back here after having your meal.”

When Haze’s words ended, Minhyuk used Like the Wind and disappeared from her view.

***

In Minhyuk’s eyes, Utopia was nothing short of hell. Why wouldn’t it be? He came to play this game because he wanted to eat. He was bound to have a hard time in a world without food ingredients.

And even after he obtained some excellent ingredients, there were just a lot of things he needed to do in Utopia. In the end, he still could not eat. The superb ingredient was none other than the Oppressions’ Beef Grilling Set.

The set, which consisted of thick cuts of tenderloin, sirloin, beef rib steak, and chuck flap tail, was truly out of this world.

‘The thicker the meat, the more juices you would get when chewing!’

Minhyuk, who was just about to grill the meat, suddenly stopped. His instincts were screaming at him to stop.

This very same instinct had prevented him, who was moving swiftly in front of this food, from moving any further. It was not just his instinct; even the expectation that he could eat more of this kind of delicious and precious food in the future had stopped him from moving any further.

This Oppression’s Beef Grilling Set was an utterly unfamiliar ingredient. Its rank was even written as “God and Transcendental.” Of course, much has changed from the ingredients after the fiasco before.

(Oppression’s Beef Grilling Set)

Ingredient Grade: God and Transcendental

Special Abilities:

•Your level will increase by 4.

•All of your stats will increase by 4.5%.

•All of your skills’ proficiency levels will increase by 50%.

•Your HP and MP will increase by 8%.

•A chosen skill’s proficiency level will increase by 30%.

•Your divine power will increase by 5%.

•This ingredient is more special than any other ingredient in the world. Its taste is more delicious than ordinary ingredients. The taste would remain unchanged even if the Heart of Oppression is destroyed.

Even after looking at it again, the only word that Minhyuk could use to describe it was “crazy.” Even though only 10% of its special abilities had been left, it could still be considered an outstanding ingredient.

‘I won’t be able to get an ingredient like this in the future.’

Minhyuk was almost sure of this. Of course, he could obtain ingredients with the same effects as this, with only 10% of its special abilities left. But the chances of finding that were rare and hard to come by.

‘Even if I can obtain one, I think it would only be possible around three or so years from now?’

As time went by, more and more artifacts and ingredients became available to them. So, it did not mean that his chances were zero. However, there was one thing that he knew.

‘A seed can produce an ingredient I can harvest in just a year.’

In other words, Minhyuk could possibly obtain a cooking ingredient of this caliber in just a year, but only if he could create the skill that he had envisioned.

‘It wouldn’t be too late for me to eat after creating the skill.’ Minhyuk smacked his lips. ‘If it succeeds, then I will be able to obtain the skill that I wanted. It would be like a dream come true for me.’

He had always felt that it was a pity he could no longer eat the delicious ingredients he had eaten before. So, the thought that he could obtain it again made him ecstatic. Besides, he might also be able to obtain the same effects from this ingredient once again.

If he succeeded, then the world would be born with the best and most outstanding skill, which was basically derived from the essence of the Food God.

Minhyuk slowly recited, “Food God Skill Creation.”

[You can now create a skill related to the Food God. Only a skill closely related to the Food God can be made.]

[You have ten total attempts at creating the skill. If you fail to create a skill within these ten attempts, your chance at creating a skill will disappear.]

At that moment, a hologram appeared in front of Minhyuk. Following Minhyuk’s thoughts, a picture started appearing on the hologram's screen.

Excellent ingredients appeared on the hologram screen that Minhyuk was looking at. Then, a small portion of the ingredient was shaved off. This shaved-off portion was used as a seed and planted on the ground.

Following that, the scene on the screen showed the seasons changing rapidly: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. These seasons passed by until spring arrived once again. Then, the ingredients that had been planted slowly squeezed through the ground and started to bloom.

Immediately after that, a notification rang.

[The skill cannot be created.]

“...”

It was as he expected. After all, the skill was just too outstanding to be allowed to be born so easily.

‘When creating skills, even the ones with the most trivial abilities could also fail.’

What seemed to be the reason for this? In the end, skill creation was largely dependent on one’s luck. In a way, it could be similar to how artifacts were reinforced.

‘The more the system recognizes the skill as better or more outstanding, the lower the possibility of it being created.’

Of course, the Food God’s Skill Creation was something that Minhyuk obtained from the Food God’s final quest, so it would most definitely allow him some leeway when creating his skill.

The problem was that the skill that Minhyuk thought of was too groundbreaking. This skill directly broke Athenae’s “cannot obtain excellent artifact materials and cooking ingredients a second time” rule.

Minhyuk quickly tapped on the hologram in front of him.

‘Let’s retain the part where I will collect a portion of the ingredient for planting. Once planted, it can only be harvested after a year and a half.’

He extended the harvesting period a bit and lowered the effects of the regrown ingredients from 100% to 90%. Then, he pressed the create button.

[The skill cannot be created.]

Minhyuk’s expression twisted. ‘Alright. Let’s lower our standards a bit. My main purpose is to be able to eat those delicious ingredients again and again.’

He reduced the effects of the regrown ingredients to 60% while retaining the flavor of the original ingredient.

[The skill cannot be created.]

Minhyuk grew impatient.

‘Is the scope of the skill unacceptable?’

If that was not the case, then it was probably a failure caused by low probability. Minhyuk tried again.

[The skill cannot be created.]

And again.

[The skill cannot be created.]

Minhyuk’s face turned ugly once again. And the more he could not find why the creation was a failure, the more he grew impatient and flustered.

He knew it would already be a waste to lower the effects further, but he decided to lower them again. This time, he lowered the effects to 50% while extending the growth period to two years. This was already much lower than what he had expected.

[The skill cannot be created.]

Then, he tried again to find out if it was just a matter of probability.

[The skill cannot be created.]

Minhyuk’s face grew dark. “What the hell is the problem here?”

***

Joy Co. Ltd.’s conference room.

A few important executives with the authority to monitor players were sitting inside the conference room watching Minhyuk.

Seven times. Minhyuk had failed seven times to create his skill.

Department Head Kim Daeil finally let out a sigh of relief. “As expected. The system will not allow him to create a skill like that.”

Everyone present seemed to agree with his words. Of course, it was still within Minhyuk’s expectations.

“Since he acquired the rights to create a skill from the Food God’s final quest, he is allowed to create a skill that could reach the level of a God-rank skill. The problem here is that the skill that Player Minhyuk has thought of is just too good.”

After all, it was a power that would allow him to obtain a power that he should not have been able to obtain again many times over. The value of that was too high.

In a year, he would be able to harvest the ingredient. Then, he would collect a portion of the ingredient and use it to plant once again. Then, he would harvest again after a year. This process would repeat over and over again. Once ten years had passed? Then, his field would be filled with a bountiful harvest.

So? The system would say no.

“His chances would increase since he had reduced the effects to 50%. But... it will still not work,” Team Leader Park Minggyu said.

If the effects had been reduced to 50%, it would have entered the realm where the skill creation system could allow it to be created. That was literally what it meant.

“Today, Player Minhyuk’s luck is down the drain.”

Minhyuk had a high level of DEX, which greatly influenced and increased his chances of creating something. But it seemed like today was not just his day.

Finally, Minhyuk lowered the effects to 40% and set the growth period to two years.

[Player Minhyuk has failed to create the skill.]

Even this failed. Now, he only had two chances left.

“It seems like he’s just truly unlucky today, huh?” President Kang Taehoon said.

Of course, Kang Taehoon did not necessarily favor Minhyuk. The only reason he and the major company executives were monitoring him today was that the skill he wanted to create was just too outstanding. If he could create this skill and achieve the desired effects, they had to prepare for the future.

“He's out of luck. Do you think he can still break through this situation?”

“Who knows? Luck is not something that we, humans, can fathom,” President Kang Taehoon said.

Of course, there was still a chance that he would break through and succeed. However, considering that he had lowered his abilities to that extent and even extended the growth period to two years, he should have already succeeded based on the probability.

And just like Kang Taehoon said, luck was something humans could not control and fathom.

[I’m going nuts.]

The executives all looked relieved when they saw how flustered Player Minhyuk was. Then, they saw Minhyuk take a deep breath.

‘The reason Player Minhyuk can stand in his position now is because he can respond calmly to situations where most people will already be agitated. Not only that, he is also someone who can think out of the box and provide solutions to his problems.’

Could a variable appear at this point? Kang Taehoon had already confirmed that it would be difficult for Minhyuk to achieve anything today if Lady Luck was not on his side.

But then, Minhyuk, who had closed his eyes, started to murmur to himself.

[If today is an unlucky day, let’s change it to a lucky day.]

“...?”

“...?”

Confusion was plastered on the faces of the executives when they heard Minhyuk’s words. Then, they saw Minhyuk smile as if he remembered something.

[Let’s use our farming methods to help gain a good harvest. If I do this, I will increase my chances of creating this skill.]

“...!”

President Kang’s grew wide.

Using external factors and not relying solely on the skill's power, Minhyuk's method would definitely increase his chances of creating the skill by a huge margin.

Gulp–

President Kang Taehoon gulped dryly as he looked at Minhyuk through the monitor.