Leveling Up Through Eating

Chapter 50: A Dangerous Companion

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

PR: MattForgenti

A silver bob-cut hair along with a black mask and a tight-fitting leather armor. Even though she was wearing heavy armor, the curves of her body could not be hidden.

She was a woman equipped with high class and luxurious gears that was quite incompatible with Isbin Village. This person who was receiving quite the amount of attention was Lucia.

"Are you going to the palace?"

"Yes. It will be 100,000 gold."

She nodded at the coachman, handed over the money and climbed up the carriage. The carriage was empty.

She received a hidden quest here in Isbin Village and now she was on a carriage headed towards the Emperor's City.

'Ellie's Swordsmanship…'

She was a user affiliated with the thief class. However, even for someone like her, Ellie's Swordsmanship was still something that could make her mouth water.

It was an epic skill that was still not widely spread in the country. Furthermore, if she got acquainted with Ellie then she would become a big help to her whenever she decided to build a guild and become a guild master just like Yeongji.

'That way, I will be able to surpass oppa.'

There was a reason why she was racing crazily with time like this. Because she wanted to surpass her brother, Cain.

He and Lucia were separate persons even if they were siblings. And her brother, Cain, was always better than others. Lucia was quite jealous of him so she wanted to win and get recognized. But she was never able to do it.

But it was different here in Athenae. From physical abilities to skills and even with the job classes, everything she had was overwhelming.

'Oppa will definitely acknowledge me.'

She let out a cold and murderous smile.

As she crossed her arms and legs, she slowly closed her eyes.

I'm tired.

She started to feel sleepy.

"This is the carriage headed over to the palace, right?"

"Yeah."

"Oho, I can definitely go and be free of worries with such an excellent coachman-nim pulling the carriage. Wow! This white horse looks delicious…… No, no, looks cool! [1]"

"Hahahahaha, I'm the one who kept and raised this treasure. But boy, what are you eating?"

She was slowly starting to get sleepy but then she heard the sound of them talking outside. But Lucia was just so very tired.

How long was it since I was awake? My eyes are slowly closing.

In her dreams, she saw her oppa sitting in front of her. Then, her dream Cain said…

'Lucia, you're really great. You've won 1st place in the tournament, that's really cool.'

'Thanks.'

They started to converse in her dreams. Unlike her usual self, she looked quite shy in her dreams. Then she heard her oppa speak again…

'And this oppa of yours…'

"The potato is delicious!"

'Is like a potato.'

'......Huh? Oppa? What did you say?'

Dream Cain said something weird to her, and his strange words continued to haunt her.

"Uwaaa. It's a potato. Why does it look so delicious?! Chew, chew."

Suddenly, dream Cain smiled at her and said…

'This potato is delicious.'

Then, potatoes suddenly started to pour down in her dreams. Even small potatoes started to fill in the gaps between the bigger ones.

'Kyaaaaaaa, h, help me……! Potatoes, I ca-can't breathe…… Keok!'

There were too many potatoes that she started to suffocate.

Then, at that moment…

"Woaah, there's too much potatoes!"

She was completely awakened from her dreams. She looked around and was bewildered that it was a dream.

It was very vivid.

Then she could smell the scent of potatoes.

"Huh?"

She saw a man looking strangely at another man. He was instinctively hiding something in his arms while he kept on chewing something.

When she looked closely, it was a rest-area potato placed on a disposable container.

It looked like it was roasted since it had a brown tinge to it. She saw him sprinkle some sugar over it before smearing some more butter on it as if to make it more delicious.

Then she saw the man suddenly had a sad expression on his face.

"Heuung, there's only one left……"

He looked as if the world had deprived him of everything. Lucia thought that he looked absurd.

'N, no. He did not look like he was kidding. Was he really that sad over it?'

Wait, is that a potato?

Her expression suddenly turned incomprehensible.

The man placed the potato in his mouth as he munched slowly on the potato to savor its flavor.

But when she saw him eating, Lucia unwittingly imagined the taste of potato. She would smear some butter on the roasted potato or sprinkle some sugar or salt on top of it before taking a big bite.

Once she placed it in her mouth, she would definitely feel the heat and taste the melted sugar. Then, the moment she chewed on it, she would taste the flavor of the golden yellow potato. It would definitely bring a smile on her face.

She was surprised to learn that she was drooling over the thought of eating potatoes unconsciously.

'W, what… he's eating it so deliciously.'

However, she calmly closed her eyes.

'Let's get some sleep.'

She then heard another rustling sound. This time, the savory smell of oil floated towards her nose.

Doesn't this smell like the smell of oil whenever one comes home during Seollal or Chuseok? It's a smell that will continuously whet your appetite!

"Wahaha. Potatoes are the best!"

"Excuse me. Please be quiet. This is a public place."

"Ah. Yes, yes. Sorry. Sorry."

Lucia ignored the sounds and continued to calmly close her eyes.

But then, the sound kept on coming.

Crunch, crunch, crunch—

'Isn't this the sound of a well-cooked potato pancake?'

The whole point of a vegetable pancake was its well-cooked edges. If the edges were cooked to a fine crisp then the pancakes would definitely turn out chewy.

Those sounds were the sounds that came in Lucia's ears.

Gulp.

She unconsciously swallowed her saliva.

"Waaaaang."

She listened with her eyes closed. When the man opened his mouth to take a big bite, Lucia also opened her mouth.

"Chomp."

She then closed her mouth, as if she was the one chewing on it.

"Delicious…"

Screech!

Pause!

She was startled when she unwittingly said out those words.

The man sitting in front of her was also surprised. Then, she saw the man hide the potato pancake in his bosom. It was as if someone would take it away from him.

"Ah, I was just saying whatever. I'm not even hungry. I was thinking about what I will eat in real life and not about your potato pancakes."

"Really? What will you eat?"

She was a bit embarrassed so she just said something carelessly.

"B, beef."

"Beef?!"

The man's eyes grew the size of a hwajeon [2]. It has grown really big that she thought that it would pop out anytime. His head went closer to her and said…

"H, how will you eat it?"

"I'll just grill it for a bit and dip it in salt."

"Wow, wow, wow…… Is that all you're going to eat?"

He gulped down as fast as he could as if he wanted to speak as fast as he could. She felt a sense of urgency in his words.

"Of course not. I will also dip it in ssamjang then place it on top of a lettuce before adding garlic and other vegetables on it."

"Kyaa! Nim, at least you're an educated man! You're going to eat it in one bite right?"

"Huhuhu, of course. Of course."

Lucia felt that her self esteem and confidence were suddenly soaring up to the sky.

Eating beef has made me a great person!

"Kgghk, eating beef with wasabi on top is also delicious!"

"Ah, you're right. That's also delicious."

"Yeah. Nim, do you know?"

"What is it?"

"It's nice to eat beef seaweed soup for breakfast. Then after you mixed your rice with it, you can also add some well-ripened kimchi or some seasoned perilla leaves."

"Waaaaaaaah. I'm drooling."

"Were you drooling earlier?"

The two people talked about food as if they were long time friends who met again on their way somewhere. The flow of their conversation was completely natural that they didn't even notice it at all.

"If you eat beef then it will seem like you possess everything in the world……"

"Well, potato pancakes are delicious too."

Ruuuuumble!

At that exact moment, Lucia's stomach cried for food. When she thought about it, right after she completed the hidden quest what she did was go straight to the carriage. She glanced slightly at the potato pancakes in his hands.

"You……"

"......"

"Can I have a bite?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh……!"

The man suddenly wrapped his hands around his head and cried with great anguish.

***

Minhyuk was in agony, he once again was tormented by anguish!

'My god…… Am I such a good man?!'

He showed great virtue(?) towards Bran when he left him one after digging up over 800 potatoes. It was a very difficult conflict that he had to face himself. However he left one because he felt a bit sorry.

Then there's this unknown woman right in front of me!

In fact, Minhyuk realized that he was the one who made trouble. It was because he ate in the carriage so he disturbed her sleep. Of course, there was the smell too.

He wouldn't need to give anything if there wasn't something in the first place. However, he still felt sorry for the trouble he had caused!

He soon made a difficult decision.

'Y, yeah…… Just one clamp of the chopsticks……!'

"P, please have some……"

Minhyuk held out his chopsticks after saying so.

"Thank you!"

The woman lowered her mask and revealed her face. She smiled confidently, she was very confident about her great beauty.

She was on par with how Alicia looked like in real life. The only difference was if Alicia was akin to a cat then she would be a gentle puppy. However, her cold look always managed to hide her gentle appearance.

She grabbed the chopsticks that Minhyuk was handing out but soon felt that he really did not want to let go.

"W, will you please let go?

"Aaaaaah, yes……!"

"N, no. You have to let go so I can eat…!"

"Yes!"

Minhyuk did his best…

Right hand, let go of the chopsticks now!

But in the end, Lucia was finally able to pull out the chopsticks with force. Then, she tore up the potato pancake and lifted it up. She dipped the pancake in soy sauce then placed it in her mouth and chewed on it.

"Waaaah……"

It was warm and crisp. She was in awe at the deep flavor of the potato pancakes. And it was very chewy, she felt that it was really pleasant to taste.

She coughed awkwardly as she reached out for the potato pancake once more.

At that moment…

Swooosh—

"Do you want my hands to be blown away?"

Minhyuk pulled his sword halfway out of its sheath.

"Wow, you've done it. Isn't this cheap, why don't you let me eat?! And you want to PK someone just because they will use your chopsticks to get one more bite?!"

"You were supposed to only eat one bite. Frankly, I won't even say anything even if I PK you!"

"Everyone, he's trying to kill me because I tried to eat one more bite, what do you think about him? 'Heok?! How can there be such a person?! It was just one more bite?!' Do you hear that? Did you hear what the others were saying?"

"Stop beating the drums and the janggu [3]. A no is a no!"

"Che!"

"Hmph!"

She turned herself away from him. While Minhyuk ate his potato pancake with a really sad and broken expression on her face.

Lucia found the situation very funny.

"Pffft!"

"......?"

"Ahahahahahahaha. What potato pancakes. Why are we even like this?!"

It was really nothing and it wasn't that much of a big deal but she felt hurt at that moment. But on second thought, she found that it was quite funny.

This man, he gives off a funny and interesting energy.

However, the man was still sulky.

"Nim, don't be angry."

"Hmph! You're like someone's younger sister. You said that you will only have one bite of ramyeon but you will end up eating it all!"

"Ramyeon? Ah, right. I have ramyeon……"

The moment he heard that, Minhyuk's face changed at the speed of light.

"Great! Now that I look at it, aren't you a great beauty! Wow, even your hair and eyebrows are thick, huh?! Come to think of it, the mole near your lips is also very very pretty. Wow! Even your nails are pretty!"

It was a rapid change of disposition.

"Ramyeon……"

"Wow. Now that I listened to it, even your voice sounds great!"

"Shall we eat it together?"

"Yeeeeeeeees!"

***

Footnotes

[1] So delicious is 맛있게 while cool and excellent is 멋있게 so there's a difference of one letter. I think it's a pun but maybe he was serious…. IdekIdek anymore.

[2] 화전 (hwajeon) : pan fried rice cake. It's a circle and it's big. I think there were flowers on it.

[3] 북 치고 장구 치고 하지 마세요 okay so it's literally beating the drums and the janggu (this is a two sided drum or smth like that). Thank you to our Almighty Skye. She said that it meant something along the lines of don't do everything on your own, or don't put up a one man show. Which was pertaining to her pretending to be others to give her opinion.

TL's corner!!!

The speed at which the winds changed its direction was quite fast. I think I had a whiplash.

PR’s corner!

Minhyuk’s silver tongue isn’t just good for charming NPCs it seems.

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