Leveling Up Through Eating

PR: MattForgenti

There was only one reason for their shock and disbelief.

This was because the skill of blacksmithing has a higher risk of failure compared to farming or bandaging. Although it was not explicitly specified, saying that you had learned the skill of blacksmithing just a day prior was equivalent to saying that you were a novice in the field. It was like when a person who has never cooked before tried to make rice without following the recipe then they would not be able to make a well-cooked rice. This was the same case as a novice blacksmith who would try to repair a tool, the same failure might also happen.

As for the case of failure in blacksmithing? It would depend on the probability but if the durability of the weapon or tool drops down a certain level then it would definitely break.

“Ah, h, huh? Ah. It, it’s alright!”

“It’s not alright at all. How can you even dig for minerals with pickaxes like that?!”

“......”

Leton hesitated when he saw his shining eyes. He could even deduce that his eyes were screaming something along the lines of ‘I want to help you, please let me help you!’. His eyes were blazing with the desire to help him fix his pickaxe.

Then, as if a lightbulb shone on top of his head, he thought of something.

‘Ah, wait. The durability of this tool is already at the brink of breaking. This was something that I was going to throw away, anyway.’

So he handed the pickaxe over to Minhyuk.

“Please fix this for me!”

“I understand.”

Ruan clicked his tongue when he saw the scene.

‘It’s definitely going to break.’

The iron part of the pickaxe will definitely break. Tch. This is like giving the cat a fish with how he gave his pickaxe to a novice blacksmith!

Ruan was aware of this because he had a lot of blacksmith friends.

Minhyuk transformed Ellie’s Kitchen Knife into a blacksmith’s hammer then placed the pickaxe on top of an anvil that looked like it was used by novices.

“Repair!”

After activating his blacksmithing skills, it showed the places where he needed to beat down with the hammer.

This is the magnificence of the DEX!

And it did not end there…

With 1,000 points in his DEX, Minhyuk was able to see another change. It did not rang out like a notification. Originally, the marks and points that he could see for the bandaging skill were only white. However, right now he could see spots of red in between the white spots. In other words, he would have to bandage these red spots more carefully if he were bandaging. In the case of blacksmithing, then he has to tap on it much more gently compared to when he was beating down on the other spots.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Minhyuk diligently moved his hammer and beat along the spots with varying strength depending on the color of the light. The way that he moved looked like he was as skillful as a blacksmith that has been working for quite a long time.

‘H, he said that he learned yesterday. Right…..?!’

In fact, Ruan would sometimes try and beat some metal in the anvil. Because the foundation and basic skills were extremely important for a blacksmith! However, no matter how much he tried he could never achieve that posture or that kind of skill.

Then, after working on the pickaxe for quite some time… the pickaxe glistened and shone brightly as if it was brand new.

[You have achieved the best repair for the pickaxe.]

[The durability has sharply increased.]

[It won’t rust easily.]

[The mining effect has increased.]

“......?!”

Even Minhyuk looked at the pickaxe with surprise coloring his face while the shocked Ruan muttered under his breath.

“D, don’t tell me that it triggered the ‘best’ thing?”

“Yes!”

“......My goodness. I can’t believe that a novice blacksmith will be able to trigger a one-in-a-thousand effect so easily.”

“Eh?”

Minhyuk looked at him with a puzzled expression as Ruan explained it to him.

“The higher the skills of the blacksmith, the higher the probability of the blacksmith triggering the ‘best’ effect. However it isn’t an easy task. Have you felt something different when you triggered the best effect? Triggering the best effect will give out special privileges.”

“Ah.”

That special privilege.

Just like the special privilege in the bandaging skill, there was also a special privilege in the skill of blacksmithing! However, it was good that the special privilege of the blacksmithing skill seemed like it was something permanent.

Leton marveled at the shine of the almost broken pickaxe that he handed over to Minhyuk.

“If you like, I can repair your pickaxes for you.”

“Ooooh. Would you really do that?”

“Yes!”

And in no time at all, Minhyuk’s beginner blacksmithing skill’s special abilities has increased to 5. It even included sharpening the blade and polishing the armor! Minhyuk quickly used sharpening the blade.

[You have achieved the best sharpening of the pickaxe’s blade.]

[The durability has increased.]

[The mining effect has increased.]

As expected, another best!

Minhyuk smiled and laughed with a huhuhu as if he was very pleased with what he had done.

‘If I asked about the chocolate tree right now, maybe he will teach me a lot!’

Then, Leton picked the pickaxe and checked its information.

(Well-Sharpened Pickaxe)

Rank: Normal

Restrictions: None

Durability: 368 / 800

Attack Power: 76

Mining Power: 152 + 42

Leton first saw the sharp increase in the durability which was originally at 6/800 there was also a +42 on the mining power. In other words, that was the effect that Minhyuk himself has attached to the pickaxe. As he looked at the pickaxe, Leton suddenly thought of something…

‘I can’t believe such a talented person came into our mining team!’

And Ruan, who was watching at the sidelines, noticed everything.

‘How can he achieve best twice in a row……?’

This is totally impossible!

Some of the blacksmiths that he knew were among the top ten in the country. He even heard from them that they could only get ‘best’ if they were really lucky on that day.

So what the hell is going on here?

***

Team Leader Park was murmuring something under his breath.

“It was because User Minhyuk’s level is low while his dexterity stat is extremely high……”

Lee Minhwa nodded her head when she heard his words.

“You know about it too, right?”

“Of course.”

She briefed him while she continued to look at the monitor.

“The dexterity stat. It is a stat that is very difficult to increase. There’s even a limit to how much you can raise it just by doing manual labor. In addition, the higher the user’s level the lower the dexterity stat acquisition rate will become.”

“That’s correct.”

Team Leader Park nodded his head as Lee Minhwa continued her briefing.

“And usually, Lv100 non-combatant users would only have at most 200 for their dexterity stat. And if by any chance, you’re a bit special and your dexterity stat is higher than 200 at Lv100 then you will be able to continuously get privileges. What’s more, he got 1,000 before he even reached Lv100. This is not just a simple double increase in the power of the dexterity stat. Every time he uses a skill related to dexterity it will always turn out to be the most powerful and the best.”

“And for someone like User Minhyuk, his dexterity stat will only continue to increase from here on out.”

“......Yes.”

When that time comes?

Then the dexterity stat would continue to go in an unpredictable path and would definitely show them a strength that they could never imagine.

“You can’t wait for his level to increase so that his acquisition rate will go down, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Then, Team Leader Park looked at another monitor. The monitor was showing the situation of the other God Class, Hepas’ Descendant. It was Hyemin’sDad.

***

Hyemin’sDad wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the towel hanging off of his neck.

‘I can’t believe that Hyeminie’s eating so well in the hospital now……’

He grinned when he remembered what happened. As soon as Hyemin logged out of the game and came back to reality, she ate a lot of the meals the hospital had prepared for her. The moment her resistance to food disappeared, her appetite exploded like crazy. Hyemin’sDad who looked at her with a fatherly smile all the time had no choice but to laugh at her helplessly.

Then, as he was finishing the frying pan he muttered to himself.

“But why should it be a frying pan! Why!”

He continued to murmur as he stared blankly in space.

“Ting…… tingtingting. Taeng…… taengtaengtaeng. Tingting taengtaeng fry pan game. Taemin, two. Taemin, Taemin.”

He had a blank look on his face after realizing what he just murmured.

Now the frying pan was already housing the Spirit of Gryphon. This was a frying pan with the strength and options that could rival that of the trendy Dragon Sword! But this wasn’t the end yet. He was a perfectionist by nature and so was his skill as Hepas’ Descendant. People would definitely be surprised if they heard that this frying pan was still incomplete and unfinished. The Spirit of Gryphon was already an excellent material for artifact making and the one who used such a material was Hepas’ Descendant. And strangely enough, the frying pan was made very well and was an existence that could never be imitated.

But I still feel like I’m lacking and that I’m a few percent shorter than a 100%!

If the artifact was released right now, it would definitely garner considerable fame and influence. However, he still felt that there was a material that he was severely lacking for the frying pan.

After pondering for quite some time, he finally realized what it was.

‘The frying pan will be used by that guy to cook.’

For Minhyuk, he wanted a frying pan that could possibly(?) help him cook and season a stir fried pork well. As he thought of that, he thought that it would be good to add a mineral with fire affinity and property.

“It shouldn’t be just fire, the mineral should have a variety of properties…... I wish there was a material like that.”

After he finished his musings, he thought of something he heard from before. He heard it a long long time ago. It was about a material with all of the properties.

“It would be nice if I could get my hands on a material like that……”

He murmured softly, whispering his wishes to no one in particular.

***

“Oooooooh! Boy, this is really great! Fix my pickaxe too!”

“Include my worned-out work boots too!”

“Please fix my safety helmet too!”

“Repair!”

“Repair!”

“Repair!”

Minhyuk repaired all of the tools and equipment of the miners in the 5th mining team. And at the same time…

[Aru’s favorability has increased.]

[Bren’s favorability has increased.]

[Rasno’s favorability has increased.]

In a flash, he was already familiar with all of the miners in the mining team. And that wasn’t the end of it all.

“I hurt my hand while I was getting a pickaxe a few days ago.”

“This……! I’ll treat you. Bandage wrapping!”

This is a chance to master all of my skills! And my DEX will definitely increase if I repeatedly use my dexterity related skills! And it wasn’t for free either!

“From now on, if you give me the chocolate that comes out whenever you dig out for iron ore I will help you with your tools and injuries! I also need to have some profit!”

“Ah, is that it? Haha. Is that your repair fees?”

“Well, here’s some chocolate!”

“Ah. Me too. Here you go, I have four chocolates with me!”

“I have ten! So can you fix my face so that I will look good?”

“Y, you have to be born again……”

“Huh?”

Cold sweat rained down on his back when he heard one of the miner’s excessive requests!

‘Oh my god, how do I fix an ugly face! It’s not possible with my bandaging skill, maybe it’s still not possible with plastic surgery or even internal medicine!’

However, the effects of his bandaging skill were much more effective than what he believed it to be so Minhyuk used his glib tongue and showed off his experience with a skillful speech.

“Your fist-sized nose! It represents the true virtues of a man! Your slitted eyes resemble that of a hawk! And your big, boulder-like face! It makes you look like a character from Maple Story! Isn’t it already great as it is? You’re already a handsome man!”

“Keuhahahaha! Thanks. But what is Maple Story?”

“I know about it. It’s a game about fallen leaves.”

“I see. Keuhahahaha. Hey, look. This friend here says that I’m handsome!”

Then, another man whispered in Minhyuk\'s ears.

“Boy. Did you sell your conscience and dignity for chocolate?”

Minhyuk was so surprised by what he heard that he snorted and choked up.

Anyway. Minhyuk was able to raise his skill proficiency and eat chocolates at the same time so he was killing two birds with one stone.

And in the spare time that he got, he asked Leton about the chocolate tree.

“Chocolate tree?”

Then, Leton thought about things deeply…

‘The chocolate tree…… It definitely exists. But I can’t just let anyone know.’

Minhyuk was the first person to have ever reached Leton’s standards. He also thought that he was extremely kind and amiable. However, for that same reason he also needed to know who he was before saying anything to him.

“Wasn’t it just a legend that has been passed through ages? I don’t know much about it either. Haha.”

“Ah…… Is that so?”

Minhyuk looked extremely pitiful.

Is this where the lead ends? Is it really just a legend? No. Definitely no.

He would never accept that so easily. So he went ahead and immediately used his Ingredient Tracking Skill. He was sure that the effect of the skill was ‘Cure Someone at the Brink of Death’ or something like that. So based on that, he started his ingredient tracking.

‘Use the ingredient tracking skill once.’

As he thought of that, the choices of whether he wanted Korean food, Chinese food, Japanese food or Western food came to mind. Of course, the choice of dessert was among them. And chocolate was of course a part of the dessert category.

[You have selected Dessert.]

[What is your desired buff effect?]

‘Save the dead.’

[Searching for the ingredients in a 1-km radius.]

[The search for the ingredient is successful.]

[The chocolate tree can save the dead, but it is also a legendary material that has various properties.]

[The dish is available for Lv1 Food God’s Cooking Skills.]

[Suggested Menu: Brownies.]

“......!”

Minhyuk was aware of the effects of the Ingredient Tracking Skill. The last time he used it to find the essence of the Orc Tribe Leader, the position of the ingredient did not appear clearly when he was about 1 km away from the Orc Tribe Leader but the moment he got closer by 600m to the ingredient he was able to locate the ingredient with a red mark hovering over where it was located on the map.

Minhyuk’s eyes darted around as he looked at his surroundings. He was also able to see the troops of the kingdom coming out of the mines.

“We have taken care of all the monsters inside. All of the miners can now enter.”

“Then, let’s go! Let’s go and test out these newly repaired full-set equipment!”

Minhyuk, who was walking along with them with his shifty eyes, looked different. He was staring straight ahead towards the darkness inside the cave where they were heading to. He wasn’t sure where it was inside but Minhyuk who was going in with Leton was sure of one thing.

The red mark.

It was clearly hovering over the cave where the 5th mining team was headed to. It was clear evidence that it was the entrance to where the chocolate tree was located. Minhyuk clenched his fists and pumped it silently to encourage himself.

“Brownie…”

“Eh? What did you say?”

Ruan tilted his head at him when he heard him murmur something under his breath. However, his words did not register in Minhyuk’s ears.

Even though Minhyuk was a manly man, whenever he went to a cafe to study with his friends he would still ask them ‘Hey, should we order a brownie?’ everytime. There was even a saying about it.

The soft, moist and sweet brownie will definitely melt in your mouth.

And it would even taste better if you took a sip of the bitter Americano after taking a bite of the brownie.

“It’s really delicious!”

“Heuooook?!”

“Keok?!”

All of the miners walking with him turned around in shock when they suddenly heard him shout.

“Ah. I’m sorry.”

“......That surprised me.”

“My heart almost dropped.”

Then a miner approached Leton and said to him…

“Our new recruit looks like he’s fresh, nice and even repairs our tools. He’s also good looking. But he’s just a bit strange. Huh?”

“......I know.”

***

TL’s corner!!!

Well. Well. Well. Who’s up for some brownie and some strong black coffee! I know it’s me.

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