Chapter 16  : Proposal

ChubbyCheeks

Proposal

"Whaaaaaaaaat?!"

Minhyuk has found himself and his life as a foodie in a crisis.

"Twilight Graveyard only allows level 10 to level 15 users to enter."

"Is, is that so… ahem…"

He was disappointed for a moment but Minhyuk quickly decided to first eat his fill of yanggaeng as he mumbled sadly.

Allon went inside to get 1L of milk and poured him a glass.

"Here, don't be too disappointed. Drink this. I'm not someone who's usually this generous."

As soon as he gave him the glass, Minhyuk's hands instinctively reached out for the carton of milk.

"I, I don't know how to stop…!"

He wanted to get more milk. Allon, who didn't know whether he should laugh or cry, handed him the whole milk.

"Here, it's fine to drink it all."

Gulp, gulp—

Minhyuk took the 1L milk and gulped it down. Drinking milk while eating yanggaeng was like an icing to the cake.

"I have to go and level up…"

He mumbled to himself.

Allon thought that right now was the perfect time.

"Then boy, do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Yes?"

"If you go to Mount Rumad, there are 'Chestnut Demons [1]' there. If you catch those guys, it would give you 'chestnuts'. Can you bring me those?"

Ring!

[Quest: Collect 50 chestnuts.]

Rank: E

Restrictions: Open only to those who have tasted Allon's yanggaeng.

Rewards: 50 chestnut yanggaeng, 20,000 gold

Penalty for Failure: Allon's favorability will decrease, you won't be able to buy any more yanggaeng from him.

Description: A quest that will only be triggered if you tasted Allon's yanggaeng. He's the master of making chestnut yanggaeng, however he does not have any chestnut to make them. Hunt chestnut demons and bring him chestnuts.

"Chestnut?"

Chestnuts are usually piled together in a bunch, it was usually grilled but it was an ingredient that could be used in a variety of dishes.

For example, it could be used to make the very delicious 'Chestnut Braised Spicy Chicken'.

Minhyuk kept quite a lot of chicken in his food storage inventory. Minhyuk only kept on thinking about eating every day.

In addition, there was the chestnut yanggaeng as a reward.

The chestnut kernel that could be chewed inside the soft yanggaeng.

Just imagining it can make me feel happy.

"Hunting chestnuts and eating chestnut yanggaeng sounds good, yeah?"

"Oh, I think so too!"

"You can only obtain the chestnut quest from me, plus if you give me 100 pieces instead of 50, then your rewards will double in the same way that if you give me 200 then your rewards will quadruple."

Minhyuk nodded enthusiastically.

I need to get to level 10 so I could eat pork so before I could do that I should eat my fill of chestnut yanggaeng or I could also steam or grill chestnuts.

"But you have to be careful, the chestnut demons are stronger than you think. If you don't pay attention, you might die from their sharp thorns. Boy, I can see that you're quite stronger than others on your level."

"I can do it. Hehe. Also…"

"Hmm?"

Allon saw Minhyuk reaching out his hands with a brilliant smile.

"Please give me an additional 5,000 gold worth of yanggaeng!"

"Keok, al, already… are you a hippo?!"

It took Minhyuk less than 40 minutes to finish off 25 pieces of yanggaeng.

Minhyuk bought an extra 5,000 gold worth of yanggaeng then turned around and went to the chestnut demon's hunting ground that Allon told him about.

Allon thought about something as he watched his back.

'Perhaps he may be able to hunt the chestnut demon king and change the quest rewards? Hmm… Eyy, that's impossible. That friend is just level 1.'

He then found a user passing by.

"Oy [2], come and taste my yanggaeng."

***

When Minhyuk started climbing the mountain, he noticed that there weren't other users present in his surroundings.

Instead, what he saw was a patrol guard.

"Boy, are you going to hunt chestnut demons?"

"Yes. That's right."

"I see. Usually, they form parties to hunt for chestnut demons. Boy, I guess you're level 10, huh?"

"I'm level 1 though?"

"......Go back."

"What?"

Minhyuk looked at him strangely.

Patrol guard Hans sighed.

'There are always guys who come here without knowing anything.'

"Chestnut demons are level 4 but they're usually stronger than other monsters of the same level, even though they can't take blows well their attack power is still at level 6. With your level, you'll be dead in one hit."

"Ahh… Thank you for your concern!"

"Yeah."

Hans smiled innocently at him thinking that he was a very good listener. So he told him more.

"In addition, hunting chestnut demons gives you lower EXP and item drops compared to other hunting grounds. It's better for you to go somewhere else."

"That's alright."

However, Minhyuk still went past the guard.

"B, boy! Do you think what I said was just for fun?!"

It was Patrol Guard Hans' job, guiding those who were unaware to the right hunting grounds.

The hunting ground that matched Minhyuk the best was the Cobalt Rock since it was where level 1~4 users could easily hunt.

"That's not it. I didn't look down on Mr. Patrol Guard!"

"Users who come here are at level 3~5 and they usually form parties. And apparently no one was able to properly hunt…"Before he could even finish what he was saying Minhyuk discovered a chestnut demon nearby.

The chestnut demon that appeared was literally a thorny chestnut with tiny arms and legs attached to its body. Anyone could see that their hands were round because they did not have any fingers.

"Kkaebi, kkaebi!" [3]

The chestnut demon cried loudly as he observed it closely.

'Delicious chestnut!'

Minhyuk couldn't hear Hans who was talking behind him.

Fortunately, the chestnut demon was not a seon mob [4] who strikes the users first.

"There are always users who don't want to listen."

Hans clicked his tongue.

[Bardy Swordsmanship]

[All 5 basic stats have a +9 increase for 5 minutes.]

At that moment…

Shiiing!

Minhyuk pulled out the sword on his waist and slashed it towards the chestnut demon.

The sword flashed with a crimson light.

[Dauntless Strike]

[Your strike will have an additional 20% attack power.]

Minhyuk believed that what the guard said about it being dangerous was not nonsense. This was the reason why he also used Bardy Swordsmanship when he attacked.

Slaaash!

"Kuuaack!"

The chestnut demon was soon felled.

It was only one strike.

"......gasp?!"

Hans had his eyes widened like a startled rabbit.

"H, how?"

Before he could speak, Minhyuk heard a series of notifications.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have acquired 3 chestnuts.]

Since Minhyuk received the chestnut quest, he could receive the chestnuts without touching them separately.

Minhyuk also reached out to pick up what dropped from the chestnut demon.

[You have acquired 61 gold.]

[You have acquired the chestnut demon's thorn.]

"Hmm?"

Minhyuk's forehead creased.

The chicken gave about 50 gold. But this common mob gives only 60 gold?

He tilted his head in confusion, but he smiled happily when he saw the chestnuts in his inventory. He then proceeded to check his stats window.

(Minhyuk)

Level: 2

Class: None

HP: 230 MP: 200

STR: 19+11 AGI: 15+14 STM: 15+5

WIS: 15+5 INT: 15+5 Rep: 10

Fullness: 100%/10

Bonus Point: 5

Minhyuk added 3 of his bonus points to his STR and the remaining 2 to his AGI.

He felt it when he was cleaning the chickens. It was easier for him to clean and trim the chickens when his STR is good.

Minhyuk thought to himself as he observed his stats.

'It's really higher compared to other users.'

The regular stats were already high but the stats of items with '+' were extremely high.

There was also the combination of Bardy Swordsmanship and the Dauntless Strike, so it was completely possible to get the monster in a single hit.

Maybe it's possible to actually finish it off without the skills.

"Boy, you're not level 1, right?"

"Yes, I'm level 1. Ah, I'm level 2 right now."

"......"

Hans looked at him blankly. That was a neat and efficient move without any superfluousness and his movements were very quick.

'This guy.'

He didn't know how he raised his stats but he had his thoughts.

"Boy, I'm sorry I disregarded you. You're much stronger than what I thought."

Hans cleared his throat.

As a soldier, he wanted to know the secrets to getting stronger.

If he was that good at Lv1 then there must be something special, right?

"So, is it possible for you to tell me your secret?"

"Hmm……"

Minhyuk hummed in a low voice for quite some time before he started speaking.

"I eat well and exercise diligently."

"Is, is that it?"

The guard looked at him with a blank face.

Minhyuk quickly turned around and left to hunt for more chestnut demons.

It might have sounded weird to the guard back then, but what Minhyuk said was the truth.

***

Minhyuk had a thought as he hunted chestnut demons.

'There are no users around.'

This could simply be interpreted quickly…

There are a lot of mob monsters.

And him?

'Chestnut demon, one shot.'Even the seon mob was no exception.

So what was it?

He was able to monopolize the chestnut demons so he could level up.

[Bardy Swordsmanship]

[All 5 basic stats have a +9 increase for 5 minutes.]

Fwooooom—

Minhyuk's body was filled with strength. Without using Dauntless Strike, he was still able to one shot the chestnut demon by using the Bardy Swordsmanship with his sword.

If Minhyuk's level continued to increase then it would be possible for him to do it without using the Bardy Swordsmanship.

Minhyuk quickly continued to hunt the chestnut demons in his surroundings.

Stab!

"Kuek!"

Lunge!

"Kwaak!"

Slash!

"Kgghkek!"

He took a bit of time off of his hunting.

Minhyuk has become skilled.

In fact, he was a bit afraid of it because it was considered to be a real monster but his obsession with food lessened his fear which made it easier for him to overcome it.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Minhyuk reached level 7 in a flash and as usual he added 15 to his STR and 10 to his AGI.

(Minhyuk)

Level: 7

Class: None

HP: 248 MP: 200

STR: 37+11 AGI: 27+14 STM: 15+5

WIS: 15+5 INT: 15+5 Rep: 10

Fullness: 100%/10

Bonus Point: 0

He has also collected 100 chestnuts. Minhyuk has already heard the notification for the completion of the quest but he continued to collect more chestnuts.

His sole reason was so he could build up his chestnut inventory and eat whatever was left in what he collected.

According to Allon, it would be impossible for him to gather chestnuts once he submitted the quest.

At that moment…

"Kyaaaaa!"

He heard a woman scream.

Minhyuk quickly headed over with a curious look on his face.

***

She was 12th in domestic rankings.

She was known as Alicia, the Witch of Agony, in the game.

Her real-life name was…

Lee Ji-ah.

Lee Ji-ah sighed as she looked at the cherry tomato salad in front of her.

'I don't know if I'm a gamer or a celebrity.'

In a way, she could be compared to a female celebrity.

The current Athenae rankers were very popular all over the world.

What else could she say, Lee Ji-ah's appearance that was on par with celebrities was like a slap to the actors faces?

She was experiencing the same popularity as the brightest stars these days with her long black hair, misty doe-like eyes, sharp nose, slender jawline and her flawless white skin.

Her figure was also perfect.

But did they think that this figure just came out of nowhere?

Lee Ji-ah who was chewing on her cherry tomatoes roughly looked over her capsule.

'Damn it……' [5]

It wasn't that long ago when she got defeated by a non-ranker. At that time, she realized something so she made a decision.

'I'm too weak at close combat, too weak.'

Of course she was a witch, but these days even if she was a witch she still had to fight in close-combat.

She was even a top-ranker in Versal, a game before Athenae. She was a Light Knight in Versal that was why she was confident in her close-combat abilities even if she was a witch in Athenae.

That was why she was practicing in her alt [6] recently.

Athenae does not have an alt-account system, but she was given special permission. The reason was because she reached the highest level when she participated in the country's closed beta testing for Athenae.

So she practiced on her alt as she deliberately and repeatedly 'deleted' and 'trained' her character.

I have been lacking in confidence lately.

So she wanted to get back her initial passion. Perhaps this was the reason why she was repeatedly doing this… So she could fan the flames of her original intention.

She connected to the game.

And as usual, she logged on as a new character that she could train.

Her character's name was Armin.

And her face was completely changed. Athenae specially allowed her to change her appearance since she was given two IDs.

Another reason why she was training in her alt was to avoid attention from other people.

As soon as she logged in, she went through the scarecrow training grounds, hunting training grounds and quickly entered Isbin Village.

As she moved she suddenly remembered…

'Wasn't the chestnut demon hunting grounds considered to be difficult for beginners?'

***

Footnotes

[1] 밤깨비 : it's chestnut (밤) + demon, monster, goblin (깨비) so I used chestnut demon. Sounded more appropriate. Kek.

[2] 이보게 this was hey, but old fashioned so I changed it and used oy. Lol

[3] 깨비깨비 this was the sound of the chestnut demon. Ah so cute.

[4] it was written as 선몹, 선 meaning play first, or in this case attacks first. I realized that it wasn't zone since it should be written as 존 if it was that. So I retained seon.

[5] 빌어먹을 (bileomeogul) : can be translated to english as damn, bloody hell, hell, fucking hell.

[6] 부캐 : 부 (bu, as in vice, sub, under) + 캐 (short for 캐릭터 which is character) = sub character or an alternate account or a secondary account. Lit. just smurf acct in games.

TL's corner!!!

Ooooh, halfway through before catching up with the manhwa… I think… I haven't checked it out yet. Lol.

I won't be able to post later in the week so I'm posting both the promised 2 chapters for the week now. Kek. Hope you enjoyed it!!!

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