Leveling Up through Eating

Chapter 1134

The audit team was precisely what one usually saw in movies. If the audit team revealed any corruption, the person in question would receive disciplinary actions or even be removed from his position, regardless of rank or position. Because of that, an audit team could make anyone tremble even if their position was not that high in the company. However, Team Leader Park questioned if they held an official position.

Team Leader Chen Shihao looked like a goldfish as his mouth gaped open. He thought, ‘What is this crazy guy saying?’

“You, do you know who I am…?”

“What? Are you referring to you being the son of the head of the Chinese Branch?” Team Leader Park asked, his tone completely relaxed.

The situation was just like Lee Minhwa said. There was no need for them to cower in front of the audit team. After all, their conscience was clear, and they were very proud of their work.

Then, at that moment, another person appeared.

“What’s going on here?”

Chen Shihao hurriedly explained the current situation. They were distinguished guests that had to be treated courteously. But President Kang Taehoon had seen Lee Minhwa sprawled on the ground and Team Leader Park glaring at Chen Shihao.

President Kang Taehoon said, “Can I also hit you?”

“Yes…?” Chen Shihao was dumbfounded. He realized that something had gone very, very wrong.

“Ah. I don’t fight with people in a lower position than me. Then, should I just visit your father and hit him on the back of his head?”

‘No. What is this? Is this deja vu?’

How could the team leader and the president agree? Furthermore…

“If you dare to touch my employees again, I will remove the audit team.”

“...”

Chen Shihao, who failed to get even, blinked blankly.

“You kicked his butt? Alright. Let’s call it even since you kicked her chair,” President Kang Taehoon said as he glanced at the CCTV in the room. That one glance put an indescribable and unspoken pressure on Chen Shihao. It was as if he was telling him that he had caught his tail and would not stay still if he did not keep his hands to himself.

“Wh-what… what kind of ridiculous place is this…”

Team Leader Chen Shihao could not understand what was happening. He vowed to return, then ran away after his subordinates collected all the data they needed.

***

Team Leader Chen Shihao had made a very unexpected visit with his subordinates.

After gathering all of the data, he judged there would be a ledger somewhere that detailed all of the transactions the headquarters had with the Korean players. But no matter how often they scoured the data they had collected, there was no such ledger. In fact, a closer look at the data did not show any signs of corruption. It was clean.

Even so, Team Leader Chen Shihao was still unconvinced.

“We will monitor the Special Players Management Team for four days. Each team member will also go to your designated team and department and monitor them.”

In his head, it did not make sense for a company to be this clean. So, Chen Shihao thought, ‘Someone must have leaked the information.’

After giving his orders to his team members, Chen Shihao recalled the humiliation he suffered yesterday. If he could shake this company, a speck of dust would definitely come out.

They also came here for one more important reason. In fact, the audit team has the authority to intervene with matters related to Player Minhyuk. This was actually the main reason why the audit team was dispatched to the headquarters.

Information about a player performing a surprising action or achieving something unexpected was usually distributed following three stages.

In the first stage, the information would only be sent to the branch’s Special Players Management Team and tagged for observation.

In the second stage, a warning message would be sent to all of the branch's teams and departments.

‘This is the first time the third stage has been triggered.’

In the third stage, a notification will be sent to all branches. This meant that this was an emergency. This was the notification that has been sent to the Chinese Branch:

[Player Minhyuk is going to create a Supreme Skill.]

Athenae consistently adhered to the strict protection of a player’s personal information. But this could be considered to be an unusual stage. This was because the situation had already reached the third stage. Why was the most unusual third stage triggered?

‘This means Player Minhyuk’s Supreme skill will affect the world.’

Of course, even if they learned about it, the people from the branches worldwide were not allowed to speak about it. And they would not speak about it. Why? Every country hoped that their own country would be the one to create the very first notification of this kind. The problem was that a player from another country triggered this notification. So, every single country demanded a thorough investigation of the matter.

Chen Shihao also attended the meeting at the headquarters because of this matter.

“Player Minhyuk is trying to make it so his Supreme Skill: Ingredient Creation will produce ingredients with better effects than other ingredients of the same grade.”

That was right. If the Food God’s Ingredients were no different from Athenae’s normal ingredients, then the Food God’s Ingredients would simply be created and added to the world. But if the ingredients he created were superior to the other ingredients of the same grade, then the power of the dish cooked with these ingredients would increase.

“Now, we have to talk about the conditions for this.”

The notifications that rang in Minhyuk’s ears told him that the conditions for making ingredients superior to other ingredients on the same grade would be given to him later. This was because the skill was literally being created right now. And Supercomputer Athenae had judged that this was a very important issue. Thanks to that, Joy Co. Ltd. could set the conditions for creating the skill.

Right now, Chen Shihao, the one appointed by the other countries, was trying to intervene with the setting of the conditions. He said, “Many branches worldwide suspect that the Korean headquarters is giving preferential treatment to Korean players.”

Chen Shihao looked at the people present in the conference room.

“I believe one of the preferential treatments is related to setting the difficulty level and rewards. So, this is what our audit team has to say about these skill creation conditions.”

The Korean headquarters’s story and rewards teams had already finished all the discussions. They already discussed what actions Minhyuk needed to complete before he could create ingredients superior to other ingredients of the same grade. Of course, the difficulty was very high.

These were the conditions that they set:

–If you wish to create normal-grade ingredients that are more outstanding than other normal-grade ingredients, you have to personally make 400 of your dishes and offer them to the Briah’s River as a sacrifice.

–Required dish grade: 100 epic-grade, 18 legendary-grade, and 3 god-grade.

–Finally, bow 20,000 times to the Briah’s River.

–All of these conditions must be completed within a week. You cannot cook multiple dishes at the same time.

Of course, the headquarters believed that this was still not that difficult.

‘In the first place, a condition already restricted Minhyuk and his vassals from using this skill at will. So, this difficulty is already enough,’ Kang Taehoon thought.

At that moment, Chen Shihao laughed. “We have set it at an incredibly high level of difficulty. Of course, we’ve opted to take in the concept that the headquarters had set. We will require a sacrifice for him to create ingredients superior to other ingredients of the same grade. As you all know, except for a few of my men, the audit team mostly comprises members from the story and rewards teams from all over the world.”

Chen Shihao spoke confidently as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“He needs to make 250 normal-grade, 14 legendary-grade and 2 god-grade dishes.”

“...?”

“...?”

The headquarters’ executives were aware that the conditions that Chen Shihao was setting had an infinitely lower level of difficulty than the level they had set. And they all could not help but look at him in confusion.

Whether he knew this fact or not, Chen Shihao continued to speak with an expression that clearly said, ‘This is the highest level of difficulty!’

“Ah. And to apply these effects to all of the ingredients that he will create, Player Minhyuk has to sacrifice those dishes and bow 1,000 times to the Briah’s River.”

Chen Shihao spoke confidently. He looked like he was telling them, ‘Try it if you can!’

“However, Player Minhyuk has to complete everything in ten days.”

“...?”

“...?”

“...?”

All headquarters executives looked bewildered as they stared at Chen Shihao.

At this moment, President Kang Taehoon realized something. He thought, ‘Ah. Come to think of it… us, Koreans…’

They have been known as a gaming nation since time immemorial. Koreans have broken the Hell Difficulty of games that no other country could break. There was also Faker, a person who led and commanded the world with just his skills. He was one of their pride and joy.

Of course, among the pride of South Korea were…

‘The country with the coolest PC rooms.’

‘The country where people go to PC rooms for dates.’

‘The country where you go to PC rooms to eat.’

‘The country where a 13-year-old kid can win in a 1v4 in Starcraft.’

‘The country with the highest(?) number of people with turtle neck syndrome.’

And the most important one…

‘The country that does not tire of playing games all night after being trained by overtime work.’

‘This is my win.’ This was what Chen Shihao’s expression was clearly saying when he looked at President Kang Taehoon’s grave expression.

“Ah, this… Did I set the level of difficulty to be too high?”

“...”

“...”

“Your expressions do not look good. Why is that so? You’re the ones who offered high rewards for the level of difficulty that you have set, so why are you surprised that I put something like this on the table?”

When President Kang Taehoon heard his words, he thought, ‘What the hell? Is he f*cking nuts…?’

“Fufufufu. Our audit team will discover the transaction between the Korean headquarters and the Korean players. This will serve as the cornerstone for that discovery.”

The confident Chen Shihao looked at the executives, staring blankly at him.

“I see. So this is what other countries consider as a high level of difficulty. But, if I may say so, the difficulty level we have set is much…”

But Chen Shihao cut them off. “That’s right. This difficulty level is required for something to be proven as a Supreme. It’s much higher than what you want to present.”

If this was the case, Minhyuk would have already proven himself as the Supreme around 190 times over.

“I’m declaring this now. The audit team will not lower the level of difficulty that we have set. No one will be allowed to change this.”

‘Ah, is that so?’

“The audit team will assign members to all teams and departments. We will monitor you for a few days. If you leak any information about this condition or manipulate the rewards, I hope you are prepared for the consequences.”

Chen Shihao finally stepped out of the room.

Typically, President Kang Taehoon would have stepped forward and said, ‘The level of difficulty is too low.’ However, it seemed like Chen Shihao did not intend to change the terms they had set. Right now, they have an even bigger problem.

“Then, does that mean that those conditions are the primary conditions? Then, if he fulfills those conditions several times over, will the ingredients he creates grow better and better than other ingredients of the same grade?” Team Leader Park asked, his question hitting the bullseye.

President Kang Taehoon nodded. Because of some stupid guy, they were left in a situation where ingredients superior to other ingredients in the same grade would come out even better.

President Kang Taehoon sighed and said, “That guy… how did he become the team leader of the audit team?”

Park Minggyu answered, “Isn’t it because he’s the son of the Chinese Branch’s manager?”

“Isn’t the situation right now like someone jumping off a spaceship with just a parachute…?”

***

Briah’s River.

Minhyuk, with a wildly thumping heart, stood in front of the wide river as he triggered the Ingredient Creation skill.

[You have activated the Ingredient Creator.]

[Do you wish for the Ingredient Creator to create ingredients that are superior to ingredients of the same grade?]

At this moment, Minhyuk could tell that he could choose to create ordinary ingredients or ingredients that were far better than other ingredients of the same grade.

‘Let’s do it like this since this will be the first Food God’s Ingredient.’

If Minhyuk did not have time, he could just create ordinary ingredients. But since this was the first time that these ingredients would appear in the world, he had to make it special.

[You have chosen to create ingredients superior to other ingredients of the same grade.]

[The conditions required to create ingredients superior to other ingredients of the same grade will now be presented.]

[To create normal-grade ingredients that are 8% better than ingredients of the normal-grade, please offer 250 normal-grade dishes as a sacrifice within 10 days.]

[To create epic-grade ingredients that are 8% better than ingredients of the epic-grade, please offer 80 epic-grade dishes as a sacrifice within 10 days.]

[To create legendary-grade ingredients… 14 legendary-grade dishes as a sacrifice within 10 days.]

[To create god-grade ingredients… 2 legendary-grade dishes as a sacrifice within 10 days.]

[The sacrifice will be completed after you complete all your offerings and bow to Briah’s River 10,000 times.]

Minhyuk looked at the quest window in confusion.

‘Why did the extremely vicious Joy Co. Ltd. suddenly decide to give reasonable conditions?’

That was right. The conditions were quite reasonable. In Minhyuk’s memories, President Kang Taehoon and Team Leader Park Minggyu were heinous and vicious people who would always prevent him whenever he wanted to achieve something.

Of course, by other’s standards, this would still be a very difficult trial.

Then, at that moment, additional notifications rang.

Ring!

[You can create better ingredients by increasing the level of difficulty.]

[Each increase in difficulty level will increase the number required in the set conditions. If you fail to fulfill the conditions set by the level of difficulty that you have chosen, the Ingredient Creation skill will be temporarily sealed.]

Something caught Minhyuk’s eyes.

***

Special Players Management Team.

Chen Shihao, sitting with his legs crossed over each other, arrogantly watched the monitor while he munched on sunflower seeds.

He smirked. “Fufufufu. Player Minhyuk’s expression is amazing. He must have found the difficulty level too high that he’s already laughing in vain.”

All of Player Minhyuk’s achievements were absurd and full of nonsense. So, if he failed to do that, then Chen Shihao could use it as proof that there had been a secret transaction between him and the headquarters. Then, he would have an excuse to dig deeper.

“Koreans have always insisted that they’re the ones who created hanbok and kimchi, which obviously originated from our country.”

Chen Shihao snorted as he spouted nonsense and made a fuss. But no matter how much he talked and made a fuss, Team Leader Park remained silent. He just sat in front of his monitor and watched the situation.

Chen Shihao, who felt like he had hit cotton, wanted to make them pay for the shame and disgrace that he had suffered earlier by grabbing his collar and throwing him on the ground. But then, at that moment…

[Huh? Isn’t this much easier than I thought…? Did Joy Co. Ltd. achieve its highest sales record today? What’s the matter with those vicious people?]

Then, Team Leader Park looked up at him with a small smile and said, “Hanbok and kimchi have been historically proven to originate from our country, Korea.”

At the same time, a loud notification rang from the computer in front of him.

[Player Minhyuk has increased the level of difficulty of the conditions to create the Ingredient Creation skill.]

“I have no idea why you always claim everything good to be yours and discard anything bad. But…”

Another notification rang.

[Player Minhyuk has increased the level of difficulty of the conditions to create the Ingredient Creation skill.]

[Player Minhyuk has increased the level of difficulty of the conditions to create the Ingredient Creation skill.]

[Player Minhyuk has increased the level of difficulty of the conditions to create the Ingredient Creation skill.]

Chen Shihao’s eyes grew wider and wider with every notification that rang.

“Th-this! Is he crazy?! How can he raise the level of difficulty?! It’s already challenging to clear! If he raises the difficulty level by that much and fails, his skill will be sealed for at least half a year!”

Team Leader Park smirked.

“It seems like the audit team has to write a letter of apology when you return. Do you know why?” Team Leader Park turned around and made eye contact with Chen Shihao. “It’s because you have set a level of difficulty that’s infinitely lower than the level that our Korean headquarters wanted to set.”

“...!”

“Also, we have tried to give you our opinions, but you have chosen to ignore the headquarters and abuse your power by saying that this is what the other branches want.”

And…

“If the grade of the first ingredients Player Minhyuk creates reaches a ridiculously high level, then each branch will demand to bring it down.” A cold expression settled on Team Leader Park’s face as he continued. “That’s already a lot of reasons for your apology letter, no? In addition, we have to apologize to Player Minhyuk and reverse the rewards given to him. All of those sins…”

“...”

“...will be carried by the head of the Special Audit Team. You will lose that position. Also…” Team Leader Park growled. “The hanbok and kimchi are not yours. What’s yours is that damned infectious disease that you have spread decades ago that you’re still denying up to this day.”