Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 946

Awards ceremony hall.

Alexander and Minhyuk had indeed won against many challengers. This was especially the case in the Infinite Battles, where the two only had the slightest differences in the number of opponents they dealt with.

Of course, the same was true for the Battle of the Stars. Minhyuk took the lead initially by firing all his skills at the challengers who flocked to the bridge. He even summoned his Immortal Knight Order to deal with more enemies than Alexander.

However, as mentioned before, the two still slightly differed in the number of opponents they dealt with. These were the notifications that rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[You have won 2nd place in the Infinite Battles!]

[You will earn 50 Infinite Points for every player you defeat, calculated as the amount you have accumulated.]

[Unable to calculate the total amount of Infinite Points!]

“??” Minhyuk looked at the notification window in front of him in doubt. He kept receiving notifications about how his Infinite Points could not be calculated.

Alexander was also standing right next to him with a similar expression. The two were experiencing similar situations. Joy Co. Ltd. thought a player could only fight and win against 100,000 enemies. But the two of them dealt with over 300,000 players by themselves.

After receiving the notification about his Infinite Points, the notifications about his rewards immediately rang for Alexander.

[You are the Infinite Battles’ MVP! You will now receive 500,000 Infinite Points!]

[You are the Infinite Battles’ MVP! You will now receive 100,000 platinum!]

[You have acquired the Title: Infinite Battles’ MVP!]

[You will earn 50 Infinite Points for every player you have defeated!]

[You will be rewarded with more points!]

[You have earned 700,000 Infinite Points!]

[You have met the requirements to obtain the additional skills of the first Eight Pillars’ class: Weapon Master!]

Alexander had to gain 1,000,000 Infinite Points to obtain additional skills for his class. Now that he had heard the notification, he was delighted.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk stood beside him, still listening to his notifications.

[You have made a shocking feat of fighting and defeating more than 500,000 players!]

[Even though you have not won the MVP title, you have made an outstanding achievement that shocked everyone!]

[You will be rewarded with more points!]

[You have earned 800,000 Infinite Points!]

Minhyuk gained more points per person he defeated than Alexander. Alexander could take home a larger pool of rewards as the MVP, so this was nothing to him.

‘Fufu... I can eat that Assorted Pork Set with this,’ Minhyuk thought. This was the same Minhyuk who had difficulty dealing with many enemies just a few minutes prior. But now? He was looking forward to eating samgyeopsal. He even started to fantasize.

‘Just imagine it. After a long and exhausting day, you, your friend, or maybe your co-worker go to a nearby samgyeopsal restaurant. Imagine gently placing a row of samgyeopsal on that hot grill and...’

Sizzle–!

Minhyuk gulped as he imagined the white smoke rising from the grill.

‘Then, you take a sip of whatever drink–a shot of soju, a glass of beer, or a can of coke–is beside you.’

The thought alone made him shiver in excitement. This time, the notification for the rewards for the Battle of the Stars rang.

[The rewards for the Battle of the Stars have been calculated!]

[You have forced a total of 720,000 players to log out!]

[Among the ten Defenders, you are the one who forced the most number of players to log out!]

[You will be given 800,000 Infinite Points as a reward for winning first place!]

As far as Minhyuk knew, the second place would receive around 400,000 Infinite Points as a reward for the Battle of the Stars. It was a significantly lower reward than the reward received in the first place.

At that moment, an unexpected additional notification rang in his ears.

[The Infinite Store’s Platinum Class has been opened!]

[This class is only open to those with more than one million points!]

Minhyuk looked at the notifications in doubt. When he looked up, he met with Alexander’s similarly confused gaze.

‘Platinum Class...’

A player who had reached one million points was special. Currently, only Minhyuk and Alexander have accumulated one million points. As for the future, one had to wonder if there would ever be another player who could accumulate that much.

Immediately after the awards ceremony ended, another notification went off.

[You will now be sent out of the Infinite Battlefield!]

Minhyuk disappeared with a flash of light.

***

After returning to the Beyond the Heavens Empire, Minhyuk rushed to the walls.

‘Meat tastes even better if you eat it out in the open,’ Minhyuk thought, smiling faintly as he opened the Infinite Store.

The upgraded Infinite Store was now divided into a regular and platinum-class store, which Minhyuk could change to with just a click. Minhyuk first looked through the items being sold in the platinum-class store. However, there was a slight variation in the items being sold.

50,000 to 300,000 Platinum Pouch (15,000 points)

Single Target EXP Increase Potion (20,000 points)

One-hour EXP Explosive Increase Potion (20,000 points)

One-week EXP Triple Increase Potion (150,000 points)

One-level Level Up Potion (150,000 points)

Amazing Artifact Reinforcement Parchment (300,000 points)

Any Artifact Material (200,000 points)

S-rank Quest in Your Desired Course (150,000 points)

Fantastic Cooking Spray (400,000 points)

There were around fifteen such items listed above in the platinum-class store. Minhyuk browsed through the items and clicked through every single one to check their information.

The One-hour EXP Explosive Increase Potion was an item with remarkably shocking power that could increase one’s acquired EXP by as much as fifteen times during the one-hour duration that it was in effect. The Single Target EXP Increase Potion could be applied to one monster to increase its value by around fifty times when hunting.

‘I can’t use the Amazing Artifact Reinforcement Parchment on any of my artifacts. I also can’t use the Any Artifact Material since I don’t need anything immediately. As for the 50,000 to 300,000 Platinum Pouches... It will give me a random amount and is not very useful either.’

Minhyuk's attention was already drawn to the end of the list, where the words “cooking spray” appeared. He looked at the description of the item with wide eyes. Why did he not check it earlier? Well, he only had one reason.

‘Fufu. Save the best for last. It’s fun to check what you’re looking forward to the most.’

This was what he saw when he checked the content.

(Fantastic Cooking Spray)

Type: Infinite Store’s Platinum Store Item

Effects:

•One spray can increase all the effects of the ingredients sprayed on by 15%.

•One spray and the ingredients' flavor and taste will significantly increase.

•Can only be used ten times. Sprays cannot be overlapped.

“Kghhk~” Minhyuk was in awe.

The Fantastic Cooking Spray was powerful and could be used ten times. Just the 15% increase in the effects of the ingredients upon spraying was powerful enough. After all, the better the ingredients were, the better the effects were, and the higher the increase.

Minhyuk bought the Fantastic Cooking Spray without any hesitation. He also made sure to purchase some items he thought he would need.

[You have purchased the Fantastic Cooking Spray.]

[You have purchased the Single Target EXP Increase Potion.]

[You have purchased the One-hour EXP Explosive Increase Potion.]

[You have purchased the One-week EXP Triple Increase Potion.]

[You have purchased the One-level Level Up Potion.]

Although Minhyuk still had many points, he quickly closed the platinum store after purchasing what he needed and moved back to the regular store.

‘I have to save some points. Some new items might be added to the platinum store in the future.’

Since he did not necessarily need them yet, Minhyuk felt there was no need to buy them immediately.

[You have purchased the Assorted Pork Set.]

Minhyuk stared at the pork set that appeared in front of him. He wanted this Sorted Pork Set because each part had different effects and attributes.

For example, if he ate the samgyeopsal, his STM would increase by 1% permanently. His total MP would increase by 0.5% if he ate the pork neck.

But Minhyuk found that each part was thick and heavy, weighing around 600 grams per part, to be highly satisfying. Of course, Minhyuk did not forget to use the cooking spray on the samgyeopsal before he ate them.

Fwish– Fwish–

The samgyeopsal was covered with tantalizing gloss as he gently lined them up on the slippery, hot cauldron lid.

Sizzle–!

White smoke and the delicious sizzling sound slowly rose to the sky.

Participating in the Infinite Battles and the Battle of the Stars was extremely fun but exhausting for Minhyuk. He poured cola into a glass filled with ice and immediately gulped it down.

“Kghhk!” Minhyuk exclaimed as he flipped the samgyeopsal on the cauldron lid.

Then, he pulled out his scissors and cut some of the well-ripened kimchi, which he placed gently on the area where the oil flowed.

Sizzle–!

The kimchi was slowly being grilled with the oil from the samgyeopsal, which looked like it had already been cooked well. Seeing this, Minhyuk grabbed a piece and put it in his mouth. The juices of the thick samgyeopsal immediately coated the inside of his mouth when he took a bite.

‘Kghhk...’

Minhyuk admired the flavor briefly before spreading a lettuce leaf on his palm. He added half a spoon of rice, two pieces of meat, ssamjang, some garlic, Cheongyang peppers, and some pickled green onions on top of the lettuce before wrapping everything up and putting it in his mouth.

Munch, munch–

The different ingredients brought a delightful combination of flavors to his mouth. Next, Minhyuk dipped a piece of samgyeopsal in the ssamjang and ate it as it was.

“A thick slice is truly much better.”

That was right. Minhyuk preferred eating thick slices of samgyeopsal than eating thin ones. The samgyeopsal he was eating right now was thick and filled with plenty more juices than the thin ones.

A happy smile hung around the corners of his lips as he scooped a mouthful of doenjang jjigae and put it in his mouth. He immediately followed it with a considerable spoonful of rice, its sweet flavor deepening the smile on his face.

Before Minhyuk knew it, the notifications telling him he had finished eating rang in his ears.

[You have eaten the Assorted Pork Set.]

[You have applied the Cooking Spray on the samgyeopsal.]

[Your STM has increased by 1.15%!]

Minhyuk smiled in satisfaction. At that moment, another notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[The God of Magic’s Temple has been built!]

***

Black-robed players worldwide began to gather in dark and gloomy places regardless of class or nationality.

“Finally. He’s finally ready to lead us all.”

“Fu– fufufu– Fufu.”

“Kukuku– kuku.”

Then, one of them said, “It has been completed!”

“Ho! Oh my god!”

“We have to hurry!”

Around a thousand players of varying levels–novices, mid-levels, and even masters–began to move. The almost a thousand black-robed players running in one direction immediately took the public's attention.

Finally, they reached an empire. After they identified themselves, the guards readily let them in. The people inside the empire looked at them with fear when they saw them enter. Who wouldn’t? After all, they were strangers wearing black robes.

However, they continued to move until they reached their destination. And what was their destination? It was a massive temple with a man standing on a platform right before it. There was already a crowd of more than a thousand people dressed in black robes standing in front of the temple.

“Ah- aaaaaaaah– aaaaaaah...!”

The almost a thousand newly arrived players pulled their hoods back and looked at the man standing before the temple. They all looked very emotional as they stared at the handsome man with beautiful golden hair fluttering behind him.

“You have been waiting for so long!!!” Everyone nodded solemnly as the man continued, “This is the moment we have all been waiting for!!!”

That was right. They had all been waiting for this very moment.

Unable to contain his joy, one of the men in the crowd shouted, “A—Ali-chan! We have been waiting for this! We have always hoped that you would lead us!”

“A- Ali-sama!”

Die-hard manhwa and manga fans from all over the world had gathered together to witness this very moment, this moment that they had been waiting for for a very long time.

“On this day, I will declare the name of the religion that will worship me, Ali! My religion will be ‘Friend Religion’!”

“A- Aaaaaaaaaah...!”

“So- So cool...”

“Your coolness is exploding!!!”

Everyone was in awe. They watched as Ali turned around the platform. Then, he placed his right hand on his waist and raised his left arm. Everyone saw the X mark on his left wrist. The crowd immediately followed his example and raised their left arms, hidden under the sleeves of their robes.

“Frieeeeeeeeeend!!!” Ali cried loudly.

Following his cries, the crowd raised their left arms as high as possible. Then, they shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Frieeeeeeeeeend!”

“Frieeeeeeeeeeeeeend!”

“Frieeeeeeeeeend!!!”

Hot tears streamed down Ali’s face as the notification rang.

[The name of the God of Magic’s religion is Friend Religion!]

Minhyuk, who went to congratulate Ali after hearing that the God of Magic’s Temple had finished building, was rendered speechless when he witnessed Ali and his religion’s glorious and greatest moment.