“Th...thank you very much! You will definitely be blessed. You’ll live a long life! You’ll do amazing in the CSAT… No, you’ll definitely be happy!!!” 

“…?”

Ali tilted his head in confusion. To be honest, the snack random box was a ‘rare’ artifact, but otherwise, it was something that was completely useless to him. Snacks that one could find in reality were also sold in Athenae, and it was also cheap enough that one could buy with just 500 to 1,000 gold. It was the reason why this item was considered to be something that was worse than normal, even if it was a rare item.

However, Minhyuk was looking at it right now as if he had received a ‘legendary’ artifact. Then, he took the snack out of the snack box.

[You have acquired the Tako Snack.]

It was a snack with a pink octopus printed on the package! Minhyuk quickly tore the package as he took the tako snacks from inside. Then, he placed them in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch─

The first reason why most people like the Tako Snack was because it was crunchy. The second reason was that it was salty. And the third reason was that it was shaped like an octopus. As Minhyuk continued to eat the Tako Snack, the seasonings that coated each piece of snack seemed to stain and stick to his thumb and index finger. He quickly squished his fingers together before licking it. He felt really happy at the saltiness of the seasonings.

“Kghhk!”

“…Y…you like it that much?”

“Yes. It’s very, very, very delicious!”

Ali grinned at him. It was at that moment when the initial tension between them turned less hostile. Then, Minhyuk said, “You said that you wanted to challenge the Hall of Kings, right? I wanted to repay you since I received such a good thing but…”

Minhyuk’s father had taught him that he should give as much as he received.

“Do you know of any quests that might let you enter the Hall of Kings?”

It was common knowledge since the operators had announced that taking on SSS-ranked quests and some other quests would let one enter the Hall of Kings.

Ali answered him and said, “Yes. The operators have announced that we will be able to hear the notification for the Hall of Kings if players are able to hunt the Ancient Monarch at a high speed, or score points beyond what they expected. Unfortunately, many rankers have tried and failed. That’s how difficult it is.”

Minhyuk did not know of this, but it really was just like what Ali had said. This was also the reason why the rankers from all over the world would gather in this place from time to time. They were all hoping to be able to climb into the Hall of Kings. 

Minhyuk nodded and said, “Should I lend you a hand?”

“Yes?” Ali asked in confusion. He could not understand what Minhyuk was saying.

‘Are you saying that you’re going to help me reach the Hall of Kings? No, how are you even going to do that?’

“My cooking buff is a bit amazing, you know?”

‘Eh?’

Ali smiled awkwardly, but deep inside, he was also wondering how good his cooking buff was for him to call it amazing. However, no matter how he looked at it, the expression on Minhyuk’s face was similar to a mother that wanted to let him eat breakfast. It was at that moment that Ali realized…

‘Ah, this person does not want to live with a debt to others.’

Ali thought to himself that Minhyuk’s cooking buff was something that would definitely not live up to his words, but it was still good if he just enjoyed it. Ali himself was someone who did not have many friends, but he believed that if he got one, then he would definitely take care of them well. As for Minhyuk, he also believed that it would be good if they became friends.

Then, Minhyuk used his Create a Recipe skill.

***

Director Kim Daesik and Employee Lee Minhwa were both staring at the monitor with bated breaths. They had just been contacted by the Athenae China Branch about the strange and unusual movements of Haochen Guild. 

Looking at the monitor, Director Kim could already tell what they wanted to do. He shouted, “Shit…! Once the Monarch wipes off all of the rankers, they will go there and pick up the dropped items!” 

It was quite a meticulous and well-detailed plan. They even had a ‘Secret Class’, the ‘Absolute Commander’ with them. Among the unique abilities of the Absolute Commander, he had the ability to ‘revive’ some of his party members who had died. With this revival skill, the party members who had died within 20 minutes would be revived with 5% of their HP. Once all the rankers were wiped out, they would then be revived within 20 minutes. Then, they would take all the items away before disappearing. However, that was not the biggest problem on their mind.

“Beas Village could disappear…”

Beas Village was where rankers would receive the hunting mission was given. The mission prevented the awakened Ancient Monarch from descending down upon the village. So far, the Ancient Monarch Raid had never failed. Even though the Ancient Monarch was strong, he was still an event monster in the end–a raid boss monster that the united players from all over the world would hunt and kill! However, in the event that the players were all wiped out, the Ancient Monarch would definitely descend upon the village. It was likely that he would kill all the NPCs and devastate the entire village. In all honesty, the system never planned this out. 

‘Why will anyone use the sculptures to strengthen the sealed Monarch? They will not even be able to kill him.’

However, the development team did not expect that Haochen Guild would pull a stunt like this.

“We’re in trouble… If Beas Village disappears, then all of the contents related to it will also disappear. In addition, there are a lot of NPCs in Beas Village that can help players transfer to Hidden Classes, Secret Classes and other strong classes…” Lee Minhwa said.

Ring, ring, ring, ring─

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring─

The phone kept on ringing. It was at that moment when Kim Daesik realized, ‘Th…the Special Players Management Team is the first to notice when something like this happens. I thought that being in the Special Players Management Team would be an extremely easy and comfortable job.’

In a way, he realized that they were the team with the most responsibility, as well as the team that received most of the taunts and bad-mouthing.

Director Kim Daesik quickly ordered the people around him. “Lee Minhwa.”

“Yes!”

“Is there anyone who came to Beas Village who can possibly hunt the Ancient Monarch? Pick about three of the most powerful players.”

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack!

Lee Minhwa’s fingers flew at the keyboard. She tapped on the keyboard for quite some time with a hopeful smile on her face.

“Th…there is!”

“Who are they?”

“Black Mage Ali. The number one mage in our country, Ali. He’s there.”

“…I…is that so? Black Mage Ali!!!” Director Kim Daesik said as he continued to snap his fingers.

‘Our country’s top mage!’

Ali was considered to be the number one in both the official and unofficial mage rankings in the country.

Then, Lee Minhwa continued to say, “And there’s another one!”

The smile of ‘hope’ bloomed on Kim Daesik’s face. He asked, “Who?”

“It’s the Food God, Player Minhyuk.”

“…Good. I think we have hope!”

“And I also want to tell you one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“The two of them are together right now.”

“…I…is that so?”

‘The two of them are both players from our country. Do they know each other? No, that doesn’t matter.’

“What are those two people doing now? Are they already preparing for the raid??!!”

Director Kim Daesik did not know much about Player Minhyuk. He only knew that he was there for food and he would likely only have enough drive for food.

Then, Lee Minhwa said, “They are both eating M… Manila clam noodle soup in a cave!”

“….”

The thought that ran through Director Kim Daesik’s head was…

‘The two most powerful players of our country! The two people who might be able to solve this difficulty that we’re going to face! You’re telling me that the two people that I’m pinning my hopes on, are eating Manila clam noodle soup before this huge disaster?!’

“They’re eating it with some well-ripened kimchi! It really looks delicious! Wow. Look at those Manila clams!!”

“….”

Those were the following words that came out of Lee Minhwa’s mouth as she wiped the saliva off of her chin. Kim Daesik could not help but support his forehead in distress.

‘I want to go home…’

***

[Creating a recipe that the other party desires.]

[You can now check the recipe for Manila Clam Noodle Soup.]

[The amount of buff that can be used has been decreased due to creating a recipe.]

Minhyuk had thought of making Ali a buffed dish in exchange for the magical snack box that he had received. When he saw the recipe, he immediately thought, ‘Wow! This is great!’

In cold weather, when his hands and feet were freezing all over and his stomach was rumbling in hunger, Minhyuk would zip up his padded jacket up to his chin while he was on his way home. As he walked home, he would see a store that had its window all white and fogged up so that one could not even see the view from the inside. This store was none other than a ‘noodle restaurant’.

‘When you go to such a place and order some noodle soup, won’t you be able to get some steaming and hot noodle soup? And when you take a sip of the hot soup, you will feel that the coldness in your body is melting away and you will release a deep sigh unconsciously? It’s that Manila clam noodle soup? I see, Ali is a man with great taste.’

“Do you want some Manila Clam Noodle Soup right now?” 

“H…how did you know that? It’s because I know that it’s best to have some well-ripened kimchi together with that in this weather.” 

“Of course, I know that. I know that very well! Haha!” 

“Are you going to make some noodle soup?” 

“Yes. Please wait. Let me look at the ingredients.” 

Minhyuk first checked the ingredients and he found out that he had enough ingredients for the noodle soup. Additionally, thanks to Minhyuk’s skill, ‘The Joy of Eating Together,’ he would not suffer any loss at all.

‘But, will this be enough to satisfy him?’ 

After he checked the dish ranking and the amount of buff that he would receive based on the ingredients, Minhyuk smiled softly. Of course, he would only know once the system determined the rank but he could predict the general rank with just one look at the recipe.

Minhyuk started his preparation to make some Manila clam noodle soup. He quickly kneaded some flour before slicing them thinly. He also shredded plenty of vegetables before boiling the ingredients together in a cauldron. Just like that, he finished preparing the Manila clam noodle soup. He ladled out some of the soup in a white plastic bowl, before handing it over to Ali. 

Ali could not help but gulp at the sight of the large bowl filled with Manila clam noodle soup, as well as the well-ripened kimchi right next to it. He gingerly scooped some noodles out of the bowl. At that moment, the exact same food and setting appeared in front of Minhyuk.

‘Isn’t that amazing?’ 

Ali did not expect much from the buff, but he was quite looking forward to the taste and flavor of the dish in front of him. Perhaps it was because he did not care much about the buff and he only wanted to try the noodle soup in front of him, that he could not help but hurriedly scoop out some noodles from the large bowl before putting it in a smaller bowl.

“Wow…” 

The chewy and glossy noodles, together with the Manila clams and the shredded zucchini, carrots, and onions all looked so appetizing that he could not help but drool. After gulping down his drool, Ali lifted the small bowl and brought it to his mouth. Then, he quickly took a sip of the soup.

“Hoo. So refreshing.”

“Hoo. So refreshing.”

The same words came out of the mouths of both men. Ali smiled when his eyes made contact with Minhyuk. Then, he focused on his noodle soup again. This time, he picked up some of the chewy noodles with his chopsticks. Then he put it in his mouth and slurped it all up.

“Hoo.” 

Ali let out a puff of breath. He could feel the firm and chewy noodles dancing in his mouth with every chew before sliding down his throat.

“I feel like I’m finally alive,” Ali said. He felt like the weight that came down to him today all vanished into thin air. This time, his next bite of noodles was accompanied by the crunchy and red kimchi.

Crunch, crunch!

Ali could not help but laugh happily when he tasted the sweet and spicy flavor of the kimchi in every bite. He said, “Haha. This is really delicious…” 

After he burst out in admiration, he took out the ladle from the big white bowl. Then, he started to eat directly from the huge white bowl. A smile lit up on his face as he ate the savory and delicious clams.

Finally, Ali lifted the entire bowl to his mouth as he drank the remaining soup. He finished eating everything, down to the very last drop. Without realizing it, he was sniffing due to the heat of the soup and the coldness of the surroundings.

“Bloooooow!” 

Ali finally came back to his senses after he blew his nose.

‘Wow… What kind of noodle soup was that…’

Ali thought that it was the most delicious noodle soup that he had ever tasted in his life. He looked at Minhyuk, the man who made such a noodle soup, in admiration. However, his surprise and awe did not end there, because the notifications for the buffs finally rang in his ears.

[You ate a dish from a recipe specially made for you.]

[You won’t be able to eat another dish from a recipe specially made for you for a month.]

[You can’t receive any duplicate buffs during the duration of the buff retention period.]

[Manila Clam Noodle Soup.]

[Your WIS has increased by 25% and INT by 20% for 20 days.]

[Your skills’ cooldown will be reduced by 20% for 20 days.]

‘W…what did you say?! An increase of 25% in WIS and an increase of 20% in INT? W…what the hell?! Is this some kind of an event buff?!’

Ali’s eyes were wide open in shock and surprise.