'All I really have to do is lose some weight.'
As he thought about it, the two people slowly pushed their way out of the sea of users.
"I'm definitely not used to you looking like that."
"Me too, I'm not used to your face too. Hyaa… You really look like a General."
General was wearing crimson armor with a shiny sword on his waist.
As far as I know, his class is known to be Golden Knight.
It was a hidden class.
It was also said that the Golden Knight could activate a buff when fighting with ordinary class warriors or soldiers.
This was one of the reasons why General's name was quite well-known as the guild's vice master.
"Do you need anything else? I could give you gold and a full item set?"
"I am very happy with what I have."
Minhyuk looked at the items he was wearing. General was a bit convinced.
"Well, at your rate…"
Your equipment can't be bought with money. There's nothing like that with no limits and restrictions on power.
Minhyuk could still probably use it until his level has increased to a pretty good enough level.
"Then do you need gold? You should have nothing right now, right? You're still a beginner so you don't get much gold yet. I'll give you 2 million gold for now."
2 million gold.
It was a huge sum of money but General just silently stretched his hand out.
A trade would be initiated with a handshake.
Minhyuk shook his head as he stared at his hand.
"Ugh. I won't accept it."
"Eh? What?"
"I wanted to eat something that I worked hard for."
"You can eat everything you want now with 2 million gold. Isn't your wish to eat everything you want?"
Minhyuk smiled wryly.
"That's why I'm telling you I can't do that."
"Why can't you do that?"
"Hyung, even before… I know how important food is. For some it's just their daily meal but for those hungry children it's something that they truly desire."
"A steak may not cost much for someone else but a student may need to save their pocket money just to treat their girlfriend to a fancy meal."
"Yeah."
Some children in other countries were even dying of hunger. It could be common to some, but for others it was something that was out of reach.
Just like Minhyuk in real life.
"I don't want to eat that precious food like I'm in a buffet just because I have money. I want to eat delicious food properly. On my own power."
"…Is that so?"
General smiled softly.
How one wants to eat differs for everyone.
And it was Minhyuk's freedom.
"I'll just tell you one thing."
General grinned at him.
"You fXcker, my dongsaeng [1] is really cool."
He could have benefited off of his parents but Minhyuk can achieve it on his own.
He didn't ask for a private tutor when he was studying but he still took first place. Even in exercising, he could have taken a rest but he kept on doing it.
He can do it all on his own.
This is why Minhyuk is a really cool rascal.
"Ah, hyung."
"Huh?"
"I have to get going."
Minhyuk was as restless as a puppy who wanted to go pee.
"I, I have to go eat yanggaeng!"
Minhyuk was back to his usual mischievous self. He then turned around and moved.
General grinned at his retreating back.
"Someone's daily meal might be quite precious for others."
It was a cool phrase.
He murmured those words as he waved his hands at the running Minhyuk.
"You'll definitely do it. Hyung's cool too so let's go and get some attention my dongsaeng, let's go!"
General sincerely supported him.
Minhyuk was able to find Allon after asking nearby users and NPCs. They said that Allon runs a yanggaeng store. It was very shabby and tiny.
Other users have told him…
'You're looking for Allon the NPC? I don't recommend that you go. He once caught me and talked for two hours straight. He talks too much.'
'Yanggaeng? Why would you go and eat that?'
'That person gave me a useless quest. You have to get chestnuts then he will give you chestnut yanggaeng, or something. That was the quest.'
The other users did not understand Minhyuk who was quite excited about yanggaeng. People were definitely split in their likes and dislikes of yanggaeng.
However it was a good memory for Minhyuk. It was a memory with his grandmother when she was still alive.
His grandmother was frugal even if she had a son like Minhyuk's father. Whenever Minhyuk came to visit her, she would take out his favorite yanggaeng that she saved from her drawer and put it in his mouth.
He could still remember the sweetness of the red beans and the way it melted in his mouth.
"He…"
Minhyuk gulped and quickly hastened his pace. Not long after, a small store appeared in his sight.
It's name was 'Tasty Yanggaeng'.
In Athenae, many things were sold the same way they were sold in real life. It was also one of the charms of playing the game.
There were no people present in front of Tasty Yanggaeng but the front was filled with well-packed yanggaengs.
"Excuse me~"
Minhyuk's heart fluttered with excitement. A middle-aged man came out from the inside of the store.
"You're not going to ask for directions, are you?"
"No."
"You're not a customer who's expecting a hidden quest, right?"
"That's not it either!"
"Then what?"
"I want to eat yanggaeng!"
Allon's eyes widened.
There were a lot of delicious things to eat all over the world.
But to be honest, at this moment Tasty Yanggaeng's store only had flies flying all over [2]!
He slowly went in front of the stands.
"Is that so? Huhu, kids these days don't really like to eat food like these."
Allon grinned as he took out one yanggaeng.
"Did you make it yourself?"
"Of course. I made everything by hand."
Then he cut the yanggaeng with his knife.
"Free taste. People don't even look at my yanggaeng at all. But, I'm very confident about it!"
He straightened his chest in confidence.
"You'll definitely be speechless once you eat my handmade yanggaeng."
Minhyuk received his free yanggaeng.
The yanggaeng was as firm and bouncy as dotorimuk [3]. It was also black and shiny.
He carefully placed it in his mouth and slowly chewed on it.
The flavor of the sweet red bean spread out as it softly melted in his mouth. Whenever his tongue tasted the sweetness, a smile would bloom on his face.
It has the same taste as what my grandmother usually gave me before.
I can feel it.
Allon's yanggaeng is definitely delicious!
"Wow...…! It's really delicious!"
"Haha. Boy, you really eat deliciously!"
[Allon's favorability has increased.]
Allon laughed at him as he watched him eat with a smile.
He then heard a notification.
[User Minhyuk has tasted your yanggaeng.]
[E-rank Quest. Please propose that he collect 50 chestnuts.]
The truth was that the quest would only be triggered once the yanggaeng was tasted. This was because there weren't a lot of users who wanted to taste the yanggaeng, so tasting it was in itself a requirement to trigger the quest.
Plus, the quest in and on itself was not that rewarding.
'I'll give you chestnut yanggaeng if you collect it.'
And when they get notifications like this, the NPCs could propose the quest at a suitable time. If they don't like the user then they could terminate the quest.
He then said…
"Well, how many should I give you?"
Minhyuk gasped. This was probably what Roina said about tasting and giving the yanggaeng.
'But Instructor Roina taught me how to get these delicious yanggaengs!'
Minhyuk smiled happily.
"How much is it?"
"One for 1,000 gold."
He felt that it was a bit expensive. Hard bread was 500 gold a piece.
Maybe this was the reason why his business is a bit worse.
But Minhyuk said…
"Please give me 20,000 gold worth of yanggaeng!"
There was still some money left from when he caught the golden chicken after buying all the ingredients from before.
Allon was very shocked when he heard him.
20 pieces.
That's quite a lot.
"Where are you going to give it?"
"Nope. I'm going to eat them all."
Allon secretly smiled.
"The yanggaeng is handmade so it's not good to store it for a long time. You could probably finish all 20 of them in a week."
"I'm going to eat them all today. It was very very delicious so I have to eat all I can today!"
"Is it really that delicious? Hahaha, I am very generous so I would give you five more!"
"Thank you very much!"
He's a person who really loves food.
Was he really that happy with just this?
[You have purchased 25 yanggaengs.]
[20,000 gold has been deducted.]
Minhyuk quickly ripped the wrapper off so he could start munching on his yanggaeng.
"Boy, it's quite difficult to see a young man like you. I can't believe that you're eating yanggaeng so happily… mumble mumble mumble."
It seemed like the chatter motor that the other users were talking about was triggered.
Minhyuk could have left but he didn't. He thought that he could somehow buy more after he ate it all up.
"I used to be an alchemist, that's why I'm telling you… Back in the days… Mumble, mumble..."
"I see!"
Minhyuk finished eating his yanggaeng as he listened to his story. He would have found it annoying if he wasn't eating delicious yanggaeng, but he was so he just let it go.
Minhyuk tilted his head as he continued to chatter.
"I used to go to Twilight Graveyard. I tagged along some soldiers who wanted to go there. So I was saying…"
'Twilight Graveyard?'
Something popped up in Minhyuk's memories.
Isn't that where the ? quest was supposed to be done?
"And the boss monster there was a very unusual guy."
"Unusual?"
"Yeah. Don't be surprised."
He raised one finger as if to raise anticipation.
"It was a pig."
"...Yes?"
Wait.
For a moment, Minhyuk thought he heard the wrong thing.
"What did you say?"
"The boss is a pig."
Minhyuk's hands trembled. He almost dropped his yanggaeng.
Everyone would agree that Minhyuk was very surprised, the way that he almost lost his hold on his yanggaeng was a testament to his surprise, right?
That was how surprised Minhyuk was.
"Tenderloin, sirloin, chuck roll, ribs! The pig for samgyeopsal [4]?!"
"Yeah, that pig. Boy, why are you so surprised?"
At that moment, Minhyuk couldn't hear Allon.
Just imagining it is so awesome.
The first thing he imagined was samgyeopsal.
Samgyeopsal placed on a well-heated grill…
Sizzleeee—
While he listened to the sound of meat grilling he would order doenjangjjigae [5] and a bowl of rice.
He would then cut the meat up after cooking it well. Then he would place the samgyeopsal on top of a lettuce with a bit of rice.
Next he would place some garlic and ssamjang on it, then he would add either kimchi, seasoned scallions or pickled garlic leaves in the wrap depending on his taste.
Finally he would place it in his mouth so he could eat…
Guulp—
Minhyuk was shocked to see that he unconsciously made the gesture as if he was going to eat a wrap.
And he was truly regretting that he did not have the wrap in his mouth.
"Kgghk… That's really awesome."
There wasn't much to throw away from pigs, in addition to that, there were a lot of things that one could cook from it.
So the pig is at the end of Twilight Graveyard?
"Pork! Pork! Pork!"
It was at that moment when Minhyuk decided his next destination.
He suddenly stopped.
'No way… Did the instructor help me so I could eat pork?'
At that moment, he suddenly felt very grateful towards Instructor Roina.
Perhaps Allon the chatterbox has always talked about the Twilight Graveyard.
Minhyuk smiled when he thought about that.
Allon looked at Minhyuk who was chanting pork, pork and talked to him…
"Boy, are you going to Twilight Graveyard so you could eat pork?"
"Yep."
"But they sell a lot of pork at the butcher shops."
"It tastes different when I eat something I worked hard on!"
Minhyuk smiled brightly while Allon was confused at his words.
"Boy, what's your level?"
"Level 1."
"Unfortunately, level 1 users cannot go inside the Twilight Graveyard."
Ttirori— [6]
It was a bolt from the blue.
Footnotes
[1] dongsaeng; younger brother or sister
[2] Means that the store was very empty that there were only flies flying around… Like my wallet.
[3] dotorimuk: acorn jelly, jelly made from acorn starch
[4] Samgyeopsal is pork belly.
[5] doenjangjjigae : soy bean paste stew
[6] sound to express shock and disappointment