Emperor Cardin had quite a lot of worries these days. Not only was he worried about the Beyond the Heavens Empire, a newly emerged and fast-rising empire, but he also had to worry about the emergence of the hidden Pillar Candidates and their constant threats to the Luvien Empire. Specifically, it was because there weren’t many people in the Great Luvien Empire who had the power to handle and deal with the Pillar Candidates. The constant worrying had left the emperor without an appetite.
As Cardin stood on the walls of his empire, he said, “What’s that line for? And why is it so long?”
Even though it was late at night, many people had been waiting in the capital. He had been curious and concerned because this line had been going on for a few days.
“It’s Conir’s Ramyeon & Herakel’s Gimbap’s 45th Branch.”
“...From the Beyond the Heavens Empire?”
The Luvien Empire and the Beyond the Heavens Empire maintained friendly relationships. Of course, they were just keeping up appearances. The two empires could go to war at any given moment. Yet a restaurant from the Beyond the Heavens Empire had entered and opened a store in their territory.
Everyone knew that Beyond the Heavens Empire boasted of having the continent's most outstanding and flavorful ingredients. Many people who had visited and tasted the food at its restaurants hoped that the Beyond the Heavens Empire would come to the Luvien Empire and open a branch.
Of course, the Luvien Empire would gain something from them. After all, they would have to pay taxes to the Luvien Empire with the money they had gained from their sales.
Nevertheless, Emperor Cardin remained reluctant. The problem was that they still owed the Beyond the Heavens Empire a lot because of the incident during the recent kiddie swordsmanship competition. He could only console himself by saying that all nations had to coexist and supply each other with what they needed, even if it meant contributing to the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s steadily increasing financial prowess and adding to the more than a hundred branches of their restaurants all over the continent.
“It doesn’t look good. Have the nobles of the Luvien Empire... have you tried it?”
Cardin’s aide blushed in embarrassment.
Emperor Cardin was not an old and stubborn emperor. He did not embarrass his aide further, saying, “If it’s delicious, then it’s fine. How much is it?”
Emperor Cardin, who had had no appetite these past few days, walked down from the walls with his aide and visited the restaurant. As he, who had his face covered with a mask, approached the restaurant, he realized that it was much more popular than he expected.
“There are currently 1,074 people waiting in line!”
There were even nobles waiting in line! Thankfully, Emperor Cardin had an emperor’s free pass and could go straight inside. When he sat down, he ordered the most popular dishes: ramyeon and gimbap.
Emperor Cardin’s expression looked ugly as he thought, ‘Are you telling me that the nobles line up to eat this kind of food?’
Aside from not looking good, the piping hot ramyeon looked utterly unhealthy. And the food called gimbap? It looked like something that only miners would eat. Even so, Emperor Cardin still decided to try it. With his sloppy chopstick skills, he tried a few strands of noodles.
As mentioned before, Emperor Cardin had no appetite these past few days. However, when these strange yet chewy noodles entered his mouth, an unknown flavor burst and stimulated his appetite.
He immediately took another bite, this time a considerable one.
The moment the noodles entered his mouth, his appetite was instantly revived. Then, he slowly tasted the soup.
‘How can this taste so...’
Emperor Cardin was completely unfamiliar with the flavor. After all, he had only been eating healthy, bland dishes daily, and his dishes did not have the mighty seasoning MSG.
The taste of instant dishes, which he never had before, made him shudder.
As Emperor Cardin inhaled his ramyeon, he slowly picked up this red thing in front of him and put it in his mouth.
A cool and refreshing flavor spread in his mouth when he bit the red thing. As he continued to slurp his noodles, he grabbed the gimbap, which he deemed was something that only miners could eat.
When he took a bite, he felt like he had tasted various delicacies simultaneously. However, it made his mouth and throat feel a bit dry. So, he grabbed the ramyeon bowl and sipped the soup. He could not help but sigh in admiration as the gimbap, pushed down by the soup, finally went down his throat.
Even the eggs cracked on top of the ramyeon and cooked with its heat tasted like a delicacy. The astonished and awestruck Emperor Cardin even put cold rice in the soup.
After eating, he went back to his castle. However, he could not shake off the afterglow of the dish. He continued to recall the flavor of the dishes even if it was already late into the night.
‘H-how? How can it taste like that...?’
It was pretty strange. And when dawn came, he could not help but feel hungry as he thought of that dish called ramyeon. Of course, it was not just him. Even his aide was thinking about the same thing.
“It’s already morning. Shall we have a bowl of ramyeon?”
“How about eating some chapagetti for lunch today?”
“For today’s dinner, I’ll have some cuttlefish jjamppong.”
“I want to start my morning great and relieve my stress. Let’s have some fire chicken noodles!”
The aide, who had finally felt another surge of vitality from the young emperor, smiled bitterly.
Meanwhile, Cardin was curious about something. He said, “How much does this ramyeon and gimbap cost? Is it around 100,000 gold per bowl?”
“Eh? No, Your Majesty. A bowl of ramyeon is worth 3,000 gold, and a roll of gimbap is worth the same.”
“...We have that currency in circulation?”
Cardin was shocked. Despite being so delicious, it was a dish that even ordinary people could enjoy without breaking their pockets. At the same time, he realized, “Their branches will continue to spread faster. Still, will the taste in every branch remain similar?”
The aide explained to Cardin the existence of Liaison Merchant Brau, who was running all these branch stores. He had told Cardin about his former membership in the Luvien Empire, how he was mistreated, and how he was exploited through a contract.
“Pay all his penalties and offer him three times what the Beyond the Heavens Empire offers him!”
Brau was one of the most extraordinary talents on the continent, and the Luvien Empire needed him. Of course, Cardin knew that removing talent from the Beyond the Heavens Empire could sow discord and lead to turmoil. Regardless, if he agrees to terminate his contract with them, then the Beyond the Heavens Empire would be able to receive ten times the amount they had invested in him. In the end, there would be no problems.
The aide, who extended the offer, returned and said, “He said that he would only be a person under Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor Minhyuk even if it meant that he had to owe and lose a lot of money again. He said that he has no intention of signing a contract with someone else and that his decision will not change even if a knife is put to his neck.”
“Wasn’t he a foreigner?”
Foreigners were greedy. Most even think of this world as something that could ease their boredom.
Just then, the aide said, “He said that if we continue to make this offer, then they will also consider withdrawing all of their branches in the Luvien Empire. Aside from that, they requested approval to expand their branches further in the empire.”
Cardin was left speechless for a while.
‘Amazing. That’s really amazing...’
Minhyuk willingly hugged a wounded wild dog and turned it into a fierce tiger. He could not even imagine their profits, but he would continue to gain from their branches.
However, Emperor Cardin was not the type of emperor driven by his mood and emotions.
‘It’s already good enough that my people can eat affordable and delicious food. Besides, we’re also collecting taxes from them.’
“Approve and renew the expansion of the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s branches in the Luvien Empire.”
The Beyond the Heavens Empire continued to rise at an explosive speed.
[The Great Food God’s second condition can now be viewed.]
[Please create an exceptional achievement that no other Food God has ever achieved.]
This notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears right after meeting with Philos, leaving him with many worries.
‘An achievement that no other Food God has ever made? What kind of an achievement should I do?’
From Minhyuk’s perspective, the Food Gods had already done everything they could regarding eating. Alas, no matter how hard he thought, nothing came to mind. After all, thinking about things you do not know would not give you any idea.
Then, a sudden influx of notifications rang in his ears.
[The Luvien Empire has approved the additional entry of the Beyond the Heavens’ branch stores.]
[The Beyond the Heavens’ branch stores shall give 9% of their sales to the Luvien Empire.]
[Ten more Conir’s Ramyeon & Herakel’s Gimbap branches have opened in the Luvien Empire.]
[The total sales of Conir’s Ramyeon & Herakel’s Gimbap’s 45th Branch has reached 6,543,313 gold.]
‘A simple ramyeon restaurant’s daily sales have reached six million gold?’
Of course, this was most likely because Conir’s Ramyeon and Herakel’s Gimbap were open 24/7. Also, the fact that the 45th branch was the largest in the Luvien Empire must have played a huge role too.
With this, Conir’s Ramyeon & Herakel’s Gimbap had reached a whopping 70 branch stores all over the continent.
[The total sales of Conir’s Ramyeon & Herakel’s Gimbap has reached five platinum.]
The amount was by no means small. If they could gain 5 platinum per day, they could achieve 50 platinum in 10 days and 500 platinum in 100 days.
Ben’s Cat-Poop Coffee had also reached staggering heights. Considering that it has thirty branches all over the continent, the sales that they gained from the store were also quite huge.
However, considering the number of empires and kingdoms, they had only breached 10% of the world.
‘However, it has been a tremendous help in the revival and growth of the Beyond the Heavens Empire.’
At this moment, Minhyuk realized again how great of a talent Liaison Merchant Brau was. Brau, who the Luvien Empire had severely damaged, had been thrown out of the global merchant rankings. Regardless, after his transfer to the Beyond the Heavens Empire, he quietly made his way to the top 1,000 in the rankings.
Just in time, a whisper from the man came.
[Brau: Minhyuk, the Luvien Empire...]
Brau explained how the Luvien Empire approached him and their proposal. Of course, Minhyuk was aware that the Luvien Empire was very anxious. This was probably because they had finally realized how great the talent they had lost was.
‘They’re even willing to pay ten times the penalty and offer him three times what we had offered.’
It was no small sum. However, Brau’s worth was not just three times his initial worth. Minhyuk believed that he would become thirty times more valuable than he was now.
‘If our branches reach 400, Brau will be in the top 5 of the global merchant rankings.
[Brau: Ah, and Minhyuk...]
Brau, the boss of the Amazing Gukbap, had finally taken ownership of the building and kicked out the building owner.
[Brau: I’ve recently taken ownership of the building and have opened my Amazing Gukbap again!]
A smile unknowingly crept on Minhyuk’s face when he saw what Brau had written. He felt very happy for the man. He had been there in his moments of despair. However, he believed in him even if he was at his lowest. And now? He was shining brighter than anybody else.
[Brau: You must be feeling happy right now, right? You must be smiling as if you’re also very proud of me. But Minhyuk, you’re much younger than me.]
Minhyuk looked confused at the sudden mention of their ages.
[Brau: Let’s disregard our ages for a moment. I want to say something to you. And I’m not saying this just in the game.]
[Brau: I will follow and respect you forever, Minhyuk. If something goes wrong and you are dragged down on the ground, I will protect you.]
Minhyuk smiled awkwardly at the words from this hyung’s mouth.
[Minhyuk: It’s fine. Just buy me a meal next time.]
[Brau: Is there anything that you want to eat?]
[Minhyuk: From what I heard, unlimited galbi are famous these days. I want to go and try them.]
[Brau: Alright. I’ll take over a buffet restaurant for you. Of course, I’ll do it with my abilities!]
‘Huh? Weren’t things going well? Why is he suddenly...?’
[Minhyuk: B-Brau hyung...?]
[The player is offline.]
A few days later, Brau presented Minhyuk with an unlimited galbi restaurant. This was the class of the Beyond the Heavens Empire’s most famous merchant!
Minhyuk and Haze were having a discussion.
“You asked Brau to treat you to a meal and buy you meat but... he took over an entire meat restaurant and changed its name to ‘Minhyuk’s Galbi’ and gave it to you as a gift...?”
“Yeah. I just really asked him to treat me to a meal.”
Haze first thought, ‘I also wish I had an oppa or an unnie who will buy me an entire building even though I just said that I want to eat something...’
After all, this must be everyone’s dream. Anyway!
“The branches of our restaurants are contributing much more to the development of our Beyond the Heavens Empire. It’s much larger than we had expected. However, the taxes we must pay in each kingdom and empire we enter are enormous. It will probably be hard for us to have an 8% profit margin.”
Even so, the profits they would obtain from this would be enormous.
“The number of migrants is also increasing because of them. Hundreds of chefs are coming in every day in hopes of running their own chain stores.”
The branches were showing many benefits in many different areas.
“Did you say that the second condition for becoming the Great Food God is to make an achievement that no other Food God has ever achieved?”
Minhyuk nodded. “That’s right. No matter how much I think about it, I can’t come up with anything.”
Haze smiled faintly. When Minhyuk saw that, he realized she had already devised something.
“Your Majesty, I have thought of a great plan. This plan will increase the profit margin from the 8% we have gained from all of our branches and franchises to a whopping 16%.”
“Huh...? Is that even possible?”
That was double the profits! Was that even genuinely possible? However, considering the cost of labor, the taxes, the price of the ingredients, the rent, and many more, it was impossible unless they raised the price of their products. But if they tried to do so, they would face opposition from the kingdoms and empires.
“Perhaps it’s even possible to increase it to 25%.”
The suspense was killing Minhyuk. He wanted her to tell him about her plan right away.
Then, Haze said, “The accomplished and outstanding chefs, blacksmiths, craftsmen, and even merchants, everyone in this continent regardless if they were from the past or the present, has one dream.”
“Yes.” Haze pointed to the sky. “That dream is to sign a contract with the Land of the Gods and trade their supplies. We will become the first humans to open a franchise there.”