***

Ho Sung Lee watched Woong Jang cook with his arms crossed.

Woong Jang smiled and glanced over at Ho Sung Lee.

“I heard you’ve improved. Min Sung praised you greatly.”

Ho Sung Lee watched Woong Jang’s wrinkly hands as he showed a bitter smile.

“It’s all thanks to your recipes. I’m not good compared to you.”

“You’re modest, too.”

“Stop teasing me. It looks like you’re making chili shrimp. Am I right?”

“You catch on quick.”

“Sir.”

Ho Sung Lee urged him to stop making fun of him, and Woong Jang simply laughed and nodded.

“Today’s main is shrimp. Like you said, it’s chili shrimp and butter garlic shrimp.”

Woong Jang answered with a smile, and Ho Sung Lee continued to watch Woong Jang work with the ingredients.

The way Woong Jang cleaned up the living shrimp was fascinating.

Once Woong Jang removed the shrimps from their peel, the shrimp continued to wriggle around.

The unbelievable level of freshness caused Ho Sung Lee to gulp, and Woong Jang smiled at Ho Sung Lee, thinking he was adorable.

“Can’t you do this, too? Why are you so surprised by the preparation of the shrimp?”

“Chef Woong… Is deception a hobby of yours?”

Woong Jang laughed before beginning to cook for real and focusing all of his attention on it.

Woong Jang appeared to have an opinion of his own when it came to Chinese cooking.

Since he had recipes for almost all foods, it was possible that he was highly proficient in food from all around the world.

Once a person became interested in something, they felt inclined to gain expertise, and as a result, they were bound to master the art to a very high level.

For that reason, Ho Sung Lee, who was now interested and talented in cooking, could sense just how impressive Woong Jang was as a chef just by watching him prepare food.

***

“Sir, it’s time to eat.”

Woong Jang announced that the meal was complete.

Min Sung, who learned how much the world had changed through the TV, turned it off and walked over to the table.

Woong Jang pulled out his seat, and Min Sung sat in front of the table.

Woong Jang was just about to leave after paying his respects when Min Sung pointed a seat, so Woong Jang looked at Min Sung with strange eyes and sat nearby.

“It’s Chinese food.”

“That’s correct. It’s called triple shrimp box, but I’m not sure if it’ll be to your liking.”

Min Sung smiled lightly.

“I’m sure it’s delicious.”

Min Sung picked up his fork.

The shrimp box that Woong Jang made consisted of chili shrimp, butter garlic shrimp, and a salad.

It had a simple image perfect for one meal.

Min Sung jabbed his fork into the butter garlic shrimp first.

He then put it into his mouth and chewed on it.

He felt the fatty shrimp meat bursting inside his mouth, and the sweet sauce smelling of butter and garlic tasted delicious.

“Can I bring you a can of beer?” Woong Jang asked.

“Sounds good.”

In response to Min Sung’s acceptance, Woong Jang immediately got up. He opened the fridge and brought over a cold can of beer.

Min Sung cracked it open and gulped it down.

The carbonated alcohol made him feel refreshed and pleased all throughout his body.

In order to deal with the bitterness, Min Sung immediately put a chili shrimp into his mouth.

It was sweet. The sweet chili sauce always tasted good.

And since shrimp was the main, it was bound to be delicious.

Chili shrimp was so powerful that almost everyone would agree that chili shrimp was the truth.

The combination of the sweet chili and the shrimp was perfect.

On top of that, the refreshing salad.

The sauce of the salad was so clean that it was capable of offsetting the sweet flavor of the shrimp.

As a result, despite the large portion of shrimp, Min Sung finished all of it without leaving anything.

He also finished the salad.

He could sense a special freshness and quality that was different from that of Ho Sung Lee.

‘The real thing is different.’

“That was the best shrimp dish I’ve ever eaten. Thank you.”

“Thank you.”

After praising Woong Jang, Min Sung wiped his mouth with a tissue and leaned back in his seat to catch his breath.

“I heard the prices have skyrocketed.”

In response to Min Sung’s remark, Woong Jang nodded.

“It’s to be expected. The tree that appeared in your backyard absorbed so much nutrients at a fast speed that it affected the crop industry, so the food prices skyrocketed as a result.”

“What’s the current situation?”

“It’s just the chaos of the market caused by anxiousness. Now that the tree is gone, it will stabilize again. You don’t have to worry about the things you see on the news.”

Min Sung’s worry alleviated, and he then heard how the world had changed from Woong Jang.

Everything depended on how fast Min Sung would get rid of the Iris tree.

But since the people of the earth had no way of knowing when that would happen, they had no choice but to get swept away by chaos.

Since the tree was removed faster than expected, Woong Jang predicted that the market would recover sooner than later.

At that moment…

“Sir.”

Ho Sung Lee entered the kitchen and called for Min Sung.

“Commander Kim called. She said all of the citizens have been evacuated.”

“Already?”

Not a long time had passed.

The time it took for Woong Jang to prepare the food.

Even with the time it took to eat and talk to Woong Jang considered, it still didn’t take long.

So it was surprising that they had already evacuated.

“It appears that the citizens realized that the tree was going to be removed and actively responded on their own. From their stance, the quicker the tree gets cut down, the better.”

Min Sung immediately got up. He went to the yard and opened his item window.

After taking out his nail and hammer, Min Sung stood in front of the Iris Tree.

The Iris tree looked so treacherous that it was almost pitiful.

The cracking status of the tree was so serious that it looked like it would fall over on its own from rotting.

Min Sung put the nail against the tree and looked up at the sky.

“Watch carefully, you gamblers.”

Min Sung smirked and began hammering.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Following the continuous hammering, The large Iris Tree made a large cracking sound as if it was about to fall over.

Min Sung continued to hammer, and as a result, the spot where the nail was positioned broke.

Crackkkkk!

The large tree fell over.

The sight of the Iris Tree falling over was quite the sight, and in order to film it, countless helicopters and drones were in the sky.

Min Sung wasn’t happy about the fact that the tree would destroy so many buildings, but surprisingly, that didn’t happen.

Boommmmmm!

The mysterious tree shined with a silver light, and its fragments scattered in all directions.

The fragments were vibrant like snowflakes, and the bright light created a fantastic atmosphere.

That moment was very short, and the Iris Tree disappeared without a trace as if it had never existed.

And although the Iris Tree had disappeared, the nail and hammer Min Sung received from Themeus didn’t.

He got the feeling that if such a thing happened to happen again in the future, he could use the tools again.

In order to use the items again one day, Min Sung put them back into his item window and brushed off his hands.

The realization that he finally got rid of the Iris Tree made him feel relieved inside.

And that feeling not only resonated with Min Sung but the rest of the people in the world.

‘Anyway, what do I eat for dinner?’

With that thought, Min Sung went back into the house.

Deciding on what to eat was the most difficult thing to do for Min Sung.

***

The Dionysus Gods, who had gifted Min Sung experience points in Beatrice, began to gather in the function room.

They all looked angry.

They all were in the form of human beings, and they were all standing gathered around a statue.

They all stood in the way they wanted, but they all felt the same way.

They felt angry and wanted to kill Min Sung.

Upon seeing Min Sung’s potential, they gifted Min Sung with experience points.

By gifting experience points and helping the player achieve great success, they could also receive a reward in return.

And that was power.

They could put great power within their hands.

For that reason, the Dionysus Gods judged the players and gifted them with experience points.

And when they picked Min Sung as a player with great potential, they thought they hit it big, and they dreamt that they would be able to obtain great power.

So what Min Sung did to them was a huge blow.

As a result, the Dionysus Gods were not fond of Min Sung, and their rage was evergrowing.

While the Dionysus Gods who gifted Min Sung experience points gathered around, only one god had yet to arrive.

The god that had yet to arrive was in the form of the Demonic Realm’s Devil God, Veld.

“Why isn’t that dark bastard here yet?!”

One god screamed loudly.

In the midst of the savage atmosphere, the dark gate opened, and the Devil God, Veld, appeared with his shoulders hunched over.

The Devil God, Veld, crawled in.

“Hurry in here!”

One god screamed.

Veld flinched. He walked over slowly and stood at a fair distance away.

As soon as Veld arrived, the meeting finally began.

The initial topic of the meeting was no different from talking about Min Sung, who cut down the Iris Tree, behind his back.

And Veld, who was considered the lowest-ranking god and the only one considered from the dark side, had no choice but to quietly listen without the right to express any rage.