Users ate food in Satisfy to fill their satiety and recover. Food was an essential energy source.

But the dishes made by Idan were often poisonous.

[You have eaten bad food.]

[You have received food poisoning.]

[You have resisted.]

[You have consumed something that shouldn’t be eaten.]

[You have been poison (large).]

[You have resisted.]

“...”

“How about it? Isn’t it delicious?”

The road to Kars, capital of the Cho Kingdom.

Grid travelled with Idan and Yang Fei, suffering terrible pain every time he ate food. He was being tortured by a torture expert.

‘I want you to make food that people can at least eat, even if it isn’t delicious... Nine out of ten dishes are just food waste.’

It wasn’t possible to supply the current food made by Idan to the Overgeared members and soldiers. If all of them received food poisoning, it would be an unprecedented situation where the government was paralyzed.

‘I have to constantly eat in order to improve Idan’s cooking skills.’

Grid was determined to sacrifice himself.

Throughout the journey, he had Idan constantly make him food. It wasn’t something that could be done with ordinary mental power.

Grid was placing himself in the abyss of hell for the sake of Overgeared.

“Grid, have some tea.”

Grid wanted to vomit while suffering from food poisoning.

Yang Fei made a sad expression and approached with tea.

“T-Thank you...”

[You have drunk Berenas tea.]

[Your mind and body have become calm. Health recovery rate has increased by 10% for 1 minute.]

His rotten taste buds were healed thanks to Yang Fei.

Intelligent and versatile, Yang Fei was also a tea master. The grass, flowers, leaves and twigs she gathered along the way were made into tea that showed amazing effects.

"Where did you learn this technique?”

"It is a skill I learnt from working in Idan’s restaurant for several years. Sometimes the customers suffer from food poisoning and fall into a crisis...”

“...”

It was indeed an absurd answer.

However, Grid was pleased that learn that Yang Fei was kind-hearted.

‘She is good at spotting talent but this child also knows that people’s lives are precious.’

But it was a misunderstanding.

This impression didn’t last long.

"It was only a matter of time until a customer was killed by Idan. If the restaurant closes, won’t I lose my job? There are many unpaid salaries.”

“...I see.”

The more he looked, the better Yang Fei’s compatibility with Rabbit seemed.

'If I hand Yang Fei to Rabbit, she will support him properly and his work efficiency will increase.’

First and foremost, he couldn’t give Yang Fei to Lord.

‘That great guy will make any girl his lover, irrespective of appearance or age.’

Of course, the young Lord still didn’t know about it. He thought lover was the same as friend. The problem was that women didn’t accept it.

‘The maidens dream about someday becoming a prince... Wait?'

Grid suddenly imagined something when he thought about Lord.

‘If the 12 year old Lord is taken to the empire as a hostage...’

Wouldn’t all the women in the empire become his lover?

'My Lord is wonderful!’

Hedgehogs also said that their young were beautiful.

It was natural for Grid to praise Lord, who was the best genius of the continent.

Grid’s confidence in Lord was greater than a mountain.

‘In the empire, there is a lot of room for Lord to play... No, Lord can’t be taken hostage.’

Clang.

Grid caressed the necklace he received from Lord.

‘For Lord’s sake, I need the power to resist the empire. i can’t let Lord have any painful experiences.’

He could bear eating Idan’s dishes if he thought of this.

Grid braced himself as Idan cooked food using the meat of a newly hunted monster.

***

"It isn’t as easy as I thought.”

Mute operated a small to medium-sized business with a monthly trading volume of nearly 10,000 gold.

He was currently the third ranked merchant and pioneering the East Continent.

He had a dream to explore the East Continent and increase his customers.

However, the East Continent was too difficult compared to the West Continent. Trading with most NPCs wasn’t easy, regardless of their status. In addition, the level of the monsters in the field was so high that it wasn’t easy to navigate between towns and villages.

‘The reputation I built on the West Continent isn’t applied here so I feel like a complete rookie.’

If he increased his number of customers on the East Continent, he would gain many special products and become more competitive.

Once his trading volume and profits increased considerably, he would rise to the top of the merchant rankings.

Muto dreamt of a brilliant future but he now became nervous. He didn’t have any customers for 10 days already so his enthusiasm started to decline.

‘If the people of the East Continent believe that I can move freely between the East and West Continents, I will be able to easily expand my business.’

The East Continent people didn’t believe in intercontinental movement. It was believed that Muto was pulled to the east from the west due to an accident.

"Ugh, how frustrating.”

In the past, Muto was someone who mainly focused on exchanges Earl Butin of the Saharan Empire. Earl Butin’s territory was considered a resort for nobles and Muto often sold valuables there.

But one day, his relationship with Earl Butin was ruined. It was when the sands of Reidan started to be sold as a longevity remedy.

As the ridiculous formula of ‘Earl Butin=luxury longevity remedy’ started to be established, the interest of the nobles in Muto’s valuables decreased. After that, Muto became insignificant.

Muto needed the East Continent to recover. If he didn’t increase the account here, he could no longer be able to cope with his company’s trading volume decreasing.

‘Looking at the trends these days, I might end up falling to the 7th rank.’

If he lost his rank, he was likely to lose sponsors. His pride as a merchant was smashed.

‘Once I arrive in Kars, I must see the Cho King. If I show the king the culture of the West Continent... Eh?’

Muto moved across the East Continent with the mercenaries he employed, only to stop in place.

A spectacular sight was unfolding in the mountain valley in the distance.

"This is the secret technique that has been passed down in my family for generations! Filleting! My skills have been trained in order to prepare today’s lunch!”

"N-No, this isn’t a carp but a mermaid...”

"It is still half fish. What is wrong?”

“...?”

It was a rare sight.

The level 300 mermaid monster in the valley trembled as a kitchen knife held by a middle-aged man neared them.

The most impressive thing was the black-haired man trying to hold the middle-aged man back from from the mermaid.

‘Grid...?’

The first legendary class and first king.

The most famous man in the world who achieved countless feats.

‘Why is he here?’

Was this a coincidence?

A smile appeared on the face of the bewildered Muto.

‘This might be a fated relationship.’

In fact, Muto was a person who hated Grid.

It was because Grid was the one who started to sell the remedy from Reidan.

Strictly speaking, Muto’s fall was due to Grid. It was natural to feel resentment.

But at this moment, Muto’s feelings for Grid were washed away.

It was because he thought that he was bound to Grid by strings of fate.

"I was going to rest in that valley but a guest has arrived there first.”

"Do you mind?”

A mercenary asked.

Muto shook his head.

“All your heads will be cut off if you ask him to leave.”

“...?”

The mercenaries frowned.

They were the strongest warriors of Zentu. Muto hired them because he acknowledged this fact.

Yet that black-haired man would kill all of them?

“I can’t accept it.”

Zentu.

It was a village near the queen rat community that had been destroyed by someone a few months ago.

In order to survive the rats, the inhabitants of Zentu endlessly trained and gained the title of warrior. They had great pride in their skills.

"Shall we see if he is really stronger than us?”

The mercenaries were unable to hide their uncomfortable feelings.

"Oh, don’t eat mermaids. It is like human flesh.”

Peeng!

Pepepepeok!

“...?”

An explosion took place in the valley.

It was a phenomenon that occurred when the black-haired man used swordsmanship and magic.

“T-This is impossible.”

The mercenaries were at a loss for words.

They could barely repel the mermaids of Jam Valley one-on-one. The mermaids were strong enough to be compared to the poisonous rats.

But the black-haired man took out dozens of mermaids in the blink of an eye. The dimension was different.

"How about it? Isn’t he on a different class? I heard that the warriors of Zentu admire strong people. Isn’t he strong?”

"Gulp."

The mercenaries didn’t respond to Muto. They could only gulp. They got goosebumps.

‘If we had come across him unaware...’

‘By now we would be like the mermaids.’

They got goosebumps just imagining it.

‘Huh?’

All of the mercenaries shook their head.

Suddenly, the black-haired man took out a needle and thread and started sewing.

“W-What?”

The mercenaries were surprised.

Muto was more surprised than them.

‘Sewing cloth? How can Grid, a blacksmith, deal with cloth?’

He really wasn’t just a celebrity.

They kept meeting by chance and Grid was a constant source of interest.

Muto was convinced.

‘This is my chance.’

Today’s accidental encounter would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Okay... Let's go. First of all, let’s greet him.”

Muto took a deep breath to get rid of his tension and excitement before walking up to Grid with his mercenaries.

He could smell food waste as he neared but he didn’t care.