Gourmet Gaming-Chapter 1310

Chapter 1310

Demeter was aware that everything in the Gaia Continent had a higher standard and level than in the Western Continents. The Gaia Continent’s population was less than half of the Western Continents. Regardless, in the event of an intercontinental war, victory would most likely belong to the Gaia Continent.

How did Demeter know this? Because she was the Goddess of Agriculture, the one who created every single field in existence in the Gaia Continent, and was the one who personally gifted the gods of Olympus with their fields. She knew it was impossible for someone else to dig up and harvest the ingredients grown in those fields.

Minhyuk had acquired Hades’ Ingredient. This was thanks to his friend named Louis, the Pillar of Life and Death. He was only able to obtain the ingredient because Louis clicked with Hades. In fact, Louis was the only one who had gotten close to Hades in a very long time. The situation was different now that he had come to Zeus’ Fields. Minhyuk had to obtain the ingredients solely by using his abilities.

“It’s not going to be easy. Of course, you have been given the privilege to acquire and eat the ingredients planted in his field for an entire week as a reward, Minhyuk. Even with that privilege, it won’t be easy for you,” Demeter warned.

To put it simply, this was just Zeus’ tricks and jokes. There were thousands of ingredients in Zeus’ Fields. All of them were ingredients related to the sea, basically seafood. And just like the situation in Hades’ Fields, the ingredients were hidden inside flower buds.

Minhyuk gave a wry smile when he looked at the field before him. He said, “Since Zeus and Ares want to play some tricks on me then I will make sure to sweep their fields clean and make them eat shit.”

‘A human’s arrogance and conceit are beyond measure,’ Demeter thought. And she believed this was still the case even if the man before him was the Pillar of the Gourmands. Demeter smiled bitterly as she said, “You have great ambitions.”

Demeter had already fallen head over heels for Minhyuk. Because of that, his enthusiasm for the challenge had easily infected her and left her feeling excited. At the same time, she also felt heartbroken. She could already imagine how frustrated and disappointed the man would be.

“But Demeter...”

“Yes?”

Demeter still did not believe that Minhyuk could do it. She created this field, and she knew it better than anybody else.

Minhyuk stared at her and emphasized deeply, “You don’t know anything about me.”

“What?”

“You don’t know what path I have taken, how I lived my life, and how I came to be the Pillar of the Gourmands.”

“...”

“I haven’t done anything yet, but you’re already looking at me with eyes filled with judgment. Demeter, I’m telling you this since you’re the one who created these fields.”

Minhyuk admired the ingredients planted in Zeus’ Fields. Every single one of the ingredients here could increase something permanently. Of course, they could only raise a stat by a few points. However, if one considered the value of an elixir that could increase stats, then the value of these ingredients could be astronomical.

‘Unfortunately, I will no longer be able to increase my stats once I eat more than a certain number of these ingredients. I will have to wait a bit before ingredients like this can increase my stats again.’

If a single person monopolized all ingredients here, they could increase their stats by more than a thousand points. Such restrictions must have been placed to prevent this.

Anyway, Demeter was truly excellent as the creator of the fields. That was why Minhyuk felt greedy. He had heard from Demeter herself that she had not yet decided where to go once she was free from the Gaia Continent. Even though she liked Minhyuk, it was not to the point that she felt as if she needed to go to his Beyond the Heavens Empire.

“Demeter, if I can do it then,” Minhyuk said, his words blunt and straight to the point. “Can you stay in our Beyond the Heavens Empire and create a Minhyuk’s Fields for me?”

Demeter smiled faintly. She looked at the man and promptly agreed, “Alright, I will.”

As for the help that she was allowed to give Minhyuk in this field, she had already thought about it.

‘I will pass down my power of farming to him.’

Demeter believed it was the only thing she could do for him. Interestingly enough, Minhyuk could obtain an Olympus God-grade skill thanks to Demeter’s passing down of knowledge. Olympus God-grade was equivalent to Absolute God-grade in the grading system. Just like any other skill at that level, not everyone could learn them.

‘He has to meet some of the conditions first.’

Demeter looked at Minhyuk as he began to move and start harvesting. Then, she said, “The more ingredients you harvest from this field, the more difficult it will be to harvest the others.”

This was a system that Demeter had set up herself. She was worried that someone would dig up all the ingredients she had planted in the gods’ fields.

“Zeus has given us a ten-day deadline. If you can harvest the representative ingredient from both Zeus and Ares’ Fields in just a week, you will be allowed to go to the field of the god of your choice and harvest their ingredients.”

Minhyuk nodded as he held a hoe in one hand. There was only one method of harvesting the ingredient: digging around the flower buds and uprooting them.

‘Hephaestus had previously tried to harvest the ingredients in Ares’ Fields.’

Hephaestus was, to be exact, coerced to do so. After hearing that Ares would beat him to a pulp if he could not harvest any ingredients from his field, he had no choice but to harvest the ingredients. Alas, even Hephaestus failed and was only able to harvest a few ingredients.

‘Considering his power of dexterity...’ Demeter thought.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk could see dozens of red marks in front of him. He raised his hoe and hit those marks accurately and swiftly.

[You have acquired Zeus’ Field’s Shrimp.]

Minhyuk harvested the ingredient in fifty seconds, which was quite a long time to him, but this feat left Demeter looking at him with wide-open eyes.

‘...Eh?’

Was it a coincidence? Or was it something else? Then, Minhyuk harvested another ingredient. This time, he was faster than before.

“...?!”

Demeter’s breath hitched. She stuttered, “Wh-what the hell... Do you have any power related to agriculture and farming?”

“No. Not really.”

Although Minhyuk had harvested countless ingredients, he had never properly learned any farming skills. To harvest better ingredients easily, he needed to obtain the power of farming. Farmers were often given the most basic passive skill, Farmer’s Path. This passive skill would give them a 20% increase in the chances of harvesting better crops.

“How many ingredients are planted in each field?”

“There are 34,724 ingredients in total.”

“Let’s aim for twenty thousand then.”

In Demeter’s eyes, it was impossible. After all, it was tough to forgo sleeping to continue harvesting.

‘As he harvests the ingredients, the time it will take for him to harvest the next one will be longer.’

Perhaps it was even impossible to harvest everything here because of that. Thus, Minhyuk started the process of harvesting. An hour, then two hours passed just like that.

‘Is he getting faster?’

Three hours, four hours passed by.

‘His harvest time keeps on getting shorter?!’

A day passed by.

Demeter could not help but admire Minhyuk as he stared at Zeus’ Fields, which was quickly turning into a wasteland. And when she saw how energetic he was, even without a hint of sleep, she fell deeper in love with him.

Demeter had now fully acknowledged the man’s abilities. She thought his skills and abilities were enough for him to learn the powers of the God of Agriculture.

The God of Agriculture’s farming skill was divided into several chapters, just like any kind of swordsmanship. There was one basic passive skill, and the rest possessed excellent powers. The skill was available in grades from low-grade, mid-grade, upper-grade, to Olympus-grade levels. Demeter had only learned the Olympus-grade farming skill, and its power was beyond imagination.

Minhyuk was struggling to harvest the twenty thousand ingredients he promised to get. Nonetheless, if he learned Demeter's Olympus-grade power, he would be able to do it.

Demeter had been passing down the God of Agriculture’s farming skills for a long time. The kind Demeter had nurtured countless outstanding farmers by teaching them this power. Of course, they had to have talents that shocked her. Unfortunately, even the most outstanding farmer she taught could only master the lower-grade version of the skill. Even so, by mastering the lower-grade version of the skill, these farmers were being called the God of Farmers among humans.

Anyway, Demeter was praying intensely that this man in front of her would be able to break through the walls of the lower-grade version of the skill and learn the power of the mid-grade version of the skill.

So, Demeter began passing down the skill to Minhyuk, who had stopped to take a break.

The first chapter of the skill was The Path of the One Who Farms. The Farmer’s Path, the basic skill that all farmers have, was the lowest form of this skill. The Path of the One Who Farms was the simplest chapter. It evaluated and tackled a farmer's talents and qualifications, the sweat the farmer had shed, their pickaxes, their hoes, the land they had nurtured and tilled, and their love for their crops.

A farmer once loved and cared for his field more than anybody else. When Demeter passed down this skill to that farmer, the skill that appeared was only at the lower grade. Later, Demeter realized that the farmer loved his field not because he wanted to obtain the sweetest fruit and eat it, but because he wanted to sell many crops and make huge profits. As such, the purity of the farmer’s purpose could influence the level of this skill once acquired.

The earth stirred as it began to identify and evaluate the amount of sweat that Minhyuk shed, the effort that he had made, his love for the field, and many more.

Shwaaaaaaa!

When a gust of wind blew over Demeter, she thought this man was different.

‘At this rate, it would be easy for him to get the mid-grade...’ Her thoughts trailed off, and her eyes grew wide.

Crack, crack, crack!

The ground beneath Minhyuk began to crack. The gentle whisper of the wind that blew around them suddenly turned fiercer.

[The earth is evaluating and measuring the opponent.]

[Cannot be measured.]

“...?”

[Cannot be measured.]

[The earth does not dare to estimate.]

[The earth tries to evaluate and measure once again.]

Ring!

[Passing down the Olympus-grade The Path of the One Who Farms...]

Ring!

[Anyone other than the gods of Olympus cannot learn the Olympus-grade The Path of the One Who Farms.]

[The highest grade possible of The Path of the One Who Farms will be acquired.]

“...?!”

Demeter’s jaw dropped. She was both confused and in disbelief.

‘Is it truly possible? Can someone farm and harvest crops purely for eating?’

Now that Minhyuk had acquired the passive skill, it was time for him to learn and acquire the rest.

“The first chapter is Sweeping Crops.”

It was a very difficult move. For someone to learn this chapter, they had to have a high understanding of the earth and the land, and their earth attribute resistance should also be very high. When Demeter first created this skill, she took a very long time before she was able to use it properly.

“I’ll only explain it once.”

This was a rule that Demeter had set herself. The skill grade would be determined by how much the person could fully understand and use after only a single explanation. Demeter only used as much power as she could, but had weakened it as much as possible.

Shwaaaaaa!

Water seemed to have formed and swept the land away. With water covering the fields, the ingredients buried in the ground would be forced to float above the water. Three ingredients rose above the water that appeared and covered the ground. Of course, this was only the case because she had used the weakest version of this power.

“...Hmm. That looks difficult.”

“It won’t be easy.”

“Is it like this?” Minhyuk asked, as he took on the same posture and followed the same actions that Demeter had made.

At the same time, hundreds of dots appeared in his sight. From what he could tell, he had to strike five of these dots accurately without touching any of the other dots. Minhyuk, who followed Demeter’s movements, did not move slowly. He moved at a moderate speed and accurately struck the five dots that he needed to hit.

“Huh? It’s easy?”

“...?”

[...Olympus-grade Sweeping Crops...]

[Anyone other than the gods of Olympus cannot learn the Olympus-grade Sweeping Crops.]

[The highest grade possible of Sweeping Crops will be acquired.]

“...?”

Demeter took a deep breath and continued to teach Minhyuk the next chapter.

[...Olympus-grade Proliferating Crops...]

[Anyone other than the gods of Olympus cannot learn the Olympus-grade Proliferating Crops.]

[The highest grade possible for Proliferating Crops will be acquired.]

“...?”

Another chapter...

[...Olympus-grade Whirlwind Farmer...]

[Anyone other than the gods of Olympus...Olympus-grade...]

[The highest grade possible of Whirlwind Farmer will be acquired.]

“Oh my goodness.”

And finally, she passed down the most important and most challenging chapter of them all. Even Demeter had to admit that she still found it difficult to use this power. It was a power that required her to gather her mana in one place, then use it to accurately hit the places around the crop and harvest it safely without any bruises or scratches. On top of that...

‘This power can help when the crops are difficult to harvest and there’s not much time to harvest.’

In terms of swordsmanship, it was equivalent to their lethal and ultimate moves. Demeter struggled and moved with great difficulty to show how the skill worked. And when she finally slammed her pickaxe on the ground, a massive mana explosion erupted.

Demeter sighed and said, “It’s really difficult to...”

Minhyuk was already copying her moves before she could even finish her words. And he even moved in more smoothly and fluidly than her. And he was also more precise.

[...Olympus-grade What the Farmer Must Obtain...]

[Anyone other than the gods of Olympus...Olympus-grade...]

[The highest grade possible of What the Farmer Must Obtain will be acquired.]

Demeter was left flustered and confused. A human like this existed in the world? Meanwhile, Minhyuk, who had thought all the notifications were over, heard additional notifications.

[You have learned and executed all of Demeter’s Farming Skill chapters and displayed Olympus-grade talent.]

[However, because of the restrictions and limitations placed upon you, you cannot obtain the Olympus-grade version of the skill.]

[The system evaluates a new set of rewards to be given to you.]

[Please create your own skill within an hour.]

[You have five attempts to create your skill.]

Ring!

[You possess the highest grade possible of Demeter’s Farming Skill.]

[You have been given the chance to create a new chapter of Demeter’s Farming Skill.]

Demeter had also heard the notifications that Minhyuk had heard. To be honest, it was quite an unexpected notification for her. At the same time, the thoughts in her head grew complicated. If she were the one in Minhyuk’s position, what kind of farming skill would she create? No matter how hard she thought about it, she could not think of anything. It was an arduous task.

Demeter was the Goddess of Agriculture from the moment she was born. However, it took her over a thousand years to fully understand and complete her farming skills. That was just how difficult it was, especially since the skill was of the Olympus-grade or, in Minhyuk’s case, the highest grade possible. As mentioned before, the Olympus-grade was equivalent to the Absolute God-grade in terms of the grading system.

Demeter felt her head heat up. She could only close her eyes and press on her temples to stamp out the growing headache. Then, at that moment...

“Then, do it like this. How about doing it like this to supplement this part?”

Creating a skill was not as simple as anyone might think. They had to consider the amount of mana needed and set the power of the skill based on that amount. They also had to calculate dozens of conditions and requirements to meet the standards of a skill. Not only that, they also had to accurately envision the image of how the high-grade power had to be implemented in their head to create the skill. If the envisioning failed, then the skill creation would also fail.

That was why Minhyuk was given five chances to create the skill. Minhyuk broke off, reconnected several wooden and disjointed movements, and recreated them until he could show off the power he had imagined.

[Skill creation has failed.]

“...?”

Demeter’s mouth dropped open when she realized Minhyuk had made his first attempt. It has only been three minutes since Minhyuk started the skill creation process! What was shocking was that the implementation of the skill was sophisticated, accurate, and almost perfect.

‘What is this? This is ridiculous...!’

[Skill creation has failed.]

The implementation grew even more refined and sophisticated.

[Skill creation has failed.]

It became even better and greater.

[Skill creation has failed.]

Minhyuk raised his right foot and pointed his toe forward. Then, he looked at the flow of the skill and swung his pickaxe. With the most refined and sophisticated movement, he hit the correct dots among the hundreds of others that had appeared before him.

Finally, a skill that was more beautiful and sophisticated than before was created. It was on par with the power that Demeter had developed and perfected over a thousand years.

[Skill creation is successful.]

[The newly created power has no restrictions and will not be limited by any other reason.]

[You have acquired the Active Skill: Surging Crops.]

[The skill is Olympus-grade.]

Demeter felt a shudder run down her spine.