Gourmet Gaming

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.

A crunchy and crispy chicken. The stretchy cheese on pizza, and eating ramyeon at 1 in the morning! I only wanted to eat delicious food. So why is my life in danger because of bulimia*?!

There’s a place where I can fulfill my most cherished dream of eating everything I want!

The virtual reality game Athenae!

I’m just eating well but isn’t this a bit weird?

The true value of food

(Acquired +1 STR)

The stat went up.

Note: *Raw says 폭식 결여증 which literally means deficiency in binge eating. I’m assuming this is the Non-purging Type of Bulimia.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Leveling up by only eating
Leveling Up through Eating
LUBOE
밥만 먹고 레벨업
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Reader (2)
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Disappointing Prince (2)
The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor (1)
A Certain Middle-aged Man’s VRMMO Activity Log (1)
VRMMO Chef (1)
Dungeon Predator (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Isekai w slow life no harem tags
  2. Fantasy NO romance
  3. Awesome Novels I've Read
  4. no romance ^_^
  5. enjoyable manhwa with 90+chapters

Latest Release

Date Group Release
02/10/22 woopread translations c302
02/10/22 woopread translations c301
02/10/22 woopread translations c300
02/10/22 woopread translations c299
01/29/22 woopread translations c298
01/29/22 woopread translations c297
01/29/22 woopread translations c296
01/29/22 woopread translations c295
01/29/22 woopread translations c294
01/29/22 woopread translations c293
12/16/21 woopread translations c292
12/16/21 woopread translations c291
12/16/21 woopread translations c290
11/10/21 woopread translations c289
11/10/21 woopread translations c288
Go to Page...
Go to Page...
Review
17 Reviews


Nagisa
Nagisa
Dec 16, 2020
Status: c36
It was enjoyable up to a certain point.

the concept is really interesting and fun to read. Even tho not much happened and the MC seems to get things quite fast. (I would otherwise say easy but he actually works hard, but hes a genius at everything so it dosent really take too long before he masters things) .

Still the deal breaker for me was the mc’s personality. The novel goes on andon about how hes a good person and a gentle person but I dont see it. I dont know... more>> if its supposed to be a gag but when someone even so much as aproches or talks to him while he’s eating he imidiately loses it and becomes a complete psycho threatening to stab people.

Spoiler

the final straw was a scene where a female player worried about his class tries to advise/warn him about the difficulty in being a chef. She does this very respectfully and accepts when she realizes hes just in it for the food and leaves.

she is then contacted by a superior and asked to send a messa To the MC about a contract offer. She tries to call out to him but since hes eating he ignores her. She then stutteringly touches his shoulder and he goes ballistic threatening to stab her. She runs off afraid cuz of the killing intent he blasted her.

Really after that I couldn’t really buy into the lie that he was a good guy. I mean the girl did nothing to him and we later learn he was pissed off because it was discussing money and him being the Son of a rich CEO he disdains such “things”. I gotta say that the MC lost all my respect after that.

[collapse]

Anyway the story is good the plot is good. Things seem to move a bit fast but since the focus is more about him eating rather than gaming its more ok since its a more slice of life feel. I even became quite hungry when reading this and im not the type to have an adventurous palate.

So If you can stand the Mc’s weird personality flips than you might just enjoy this story. <<less
34 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Birguslatro
Birguslatro
Jun 14, 2022
Status: c36
I'm still currently reading available chapters for this, but I thought I'd chime in and give my arguments against people criticizing the MC's personality. I don't quite understand the hate.

... more>>
Spoiler

People going off about the MC's bad personality... where?

I don't find him to be unreasonable. He's not doing anything overboard like lying, cheating, stealing, etc. He treats people courteously and isn't racist or sexist or whatever. He's actually quite a bland character. The only instances of him behaving out of social norms is when food is involved, and this is his most prominent (perhaps only) flaw. And I don't feel that this flaw detracts from his overall appeal. Bland though he is, I wouldn't call him unlikeable.

For example, chapters 34-35-36 heavily feature a female character who randomly decides to foist unsolicited advice on MC to the tune of "you should quit your class because it's hard to level up" and MC disregards her.

Uh, yeah? I would too! Why is this considered a bad thing? What should he do? Cry and delete his character? Kneel and thank her for her profound wisdom? Everyone has their own way of playing! Should everyone just follow walkthroughs and play the "right" way or the "efficient" way? It's very highhanded for someone approach a complete stranger to offer unwanted advice like this.

Next chapter, same female approaches MC while he is eating, (bad move) and tries to recruit him for some famous chef guy. (Later, it is revealed that the famous chef had ill intentions, but that's not really the point. Anyway--) MC ignores her. She's a stranger. He's busy and he's hungry.

She touches touches his shoulder to get his attention. He freaks out, knives out.

Yes, his reaction is over the top, yes, he's borderline psychotic, (it has been established that he has mental issues.) But can you really blame him for reacting like he did, mental illness or not?

What should he have done? She's a stranger, he doesn't owe her anything, and she has proven to be a rude person that doesn't respect personal boundaries. Think about it. If you were eating in a restaurant, how would you feel if a complete stranger came up to you, randomly solicited you for a third party and then TOUCHED YOU after you expressed that you didn't want to talk to them? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be happy.

Not to mention MC is like a mean dog with a bone when he's eating. Never bother a dog when it's eating.

If the girl had a trace of politeness in her, instead of the entitled "how dare he show no interest in me the very nerve" mindset she has, it could have gone down differently. Hell, she could have just waited until he was finished eating to talk to him. But nooo.

Next chapter, MC explains why he's not interested in the offer. Basically, MC is rich and uh... the other party didn't show him a modicum of respect by throwing money at him.

If the famous chef person truly valued MC, he would have appeared in person to introduce himself and then make an offer after getting acquainted with MC. They way MC was approached shows that the other party simply doesn't care about him and is only interested in exploiting him. Why should he treat the messenger gently?

[collapse]
<<less
12 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Incompetence Hunter
Incompetence
Oct 04, 2020
Status: c35
A really heartwarming story about a man trying to overcome his eating disorder:

The main character has binge-eating disorder. He cannot stop eating, or he feels sick and collapses. This has caused him to be obese, and led to health complications.

Since he has to keep eating, his dietician decides to treat him with a VR game. Thus, our MC begins to play the game so he can eat all he can in game.

The story is focused. It is focused on his eating disorder, the VR game, and eating in game. The... more>> MC is likeable. The supporting cast is likeable. The author understands that there does not need to be excessive drama/familial problem with the MC, and that the premise and good writing can carry the story.

As such, his father and friends are all good people. There is no excessive baggage or ridiculous stakes. The MC's adventure in the game, and his improvement in real life, carries the story. The MC does not have random, nonsensical, and irrelevant flaws which detracts from the story. The MC's character conflict is solely focused on his eating problems.

As a story about a VR game, it presents the game as just that, a game. While it is extremely realistic, and the NPCs are basically human, and the players are expected to treat them as such, there are no excessive stakes common in the VRMMO genre. The in game stakes are realistic, in game stakes. They are stakes most players would expect to find in an actual game. The game-play is also reasonable, though with creative liberties. There are minor unbelievable aspects of the game, but for the most part, the game is just an actual game.

The MC is exaggerated, but believable. He is extremely focused and driven, and he is extremely obsessed with eating in game. Food is a major part of the story. The supporting casts, both the NPCs and other people, are people-like and believable. Even the first 2 NPCs has a hilariously concise romance between them, which ends up being helped along by the MC.

The translation quality is a bit iffy, but readable.

Overall, it's a great story about VRMMOs that is actually about VRMMOs. It stays true and focused to its premise with no bullsh*t drama, and has the MC progress with a cool lit-RPG system in game. <<less
9 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
grandplex
grandplex
Dec 18, 2020
Status: c22
It is OK, as long as you can get past the MC's personality/backstory. It is OK because it is pretty generic, it is pretty similar to other korean MMO level up novels.

The big turn-off for me is the MC, which basically is the most critical element in a story for me, so this resulted in a really huge rating reduction. First, is the unusually bad background story. The MC is basically a broken person that no one would wish to emulate, and he stays that way through the story I... more>> have read so far, which I obviously find disgusting. The story completely skips explaining how he got that way either, so there is nothing to empathize with. It is all the more disgusting since he supposedly would be a perfect person otherwise. That leads to the other problem with the MC, his personality is flat, with little development that occurs, on top of there being little explanation of his past, despite the whole story revolving around his huge flaw being a strength in the game.

Finally, the story progression so far is really all over the place, and I can already see the MC picking up too many abilities that break the game, just a little ways in, this alone is something MMO novels have to watch out for, so even on this point the story is already not looking good.

The early rating way overrated this novel, my expectations for a mid 4 star novel were way higher than this novel delivered. <<less
8 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
kennyaugusto
kennyaugusto
Jan 03, 2021
Status: c116
In my opinion this novel is very good.

The MC is suffering from a rare disease called bullimia nervosa which causes him to keep wanting to eat and hence he plays this VRMMO which allows him to eat food that he cannot eat in real life

There are several cons I can list in this novel:

... more>> 1. Character development is a little lacking, but in the latest chapter it is progressing somewhat. Maybe it will be like overgeared where the character progression takes place very slowly

2. MC gets way too much fraudulent skill due to hidden pieces. This makes you think that the vrmmo is made by a person who really loves to eat

3. Most of the girls like the MC *well duh*

But despite the cons,

I think this novel is very good because:

1. It teaches you how to be a decent human being.

How to not look down on people when they are below you.

That perseverance and sincerity can go a long way

That a bit of flattery and respect can also go a long way

And many other stuff you can read

2. It is very light, there is no stress in reading this novel at all, no revenge theme

3. The pace of the story is pretty fast

4. No incongruency at all (at least from what I read so far)

5. And most importantly, the food sounds so amazing that I ate korean food everyday ever since I read this novel.

All in all 5 stars from me. It is not perfect, but for me it taught me many things that other books do not, and I found that the more I read, the more I want to be friends with the MC.

Give this a try if you're bored with nothing to read and want a light-hearted novel. <<less
6 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
antonio13737
antonio13737
Feb 14, 2021
Status: c39
This VMMORPG novel is actually not a vmmorpg rather than about making and eating food and mostly how tasty the food is rather than proper story build up. A lot of OP skills he has but still it's all about cooking and tasting. It feels like the author is forcing the knowledge of food too much into it. Great disappointment for a vmmorpg novel.
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
IsaacaHawke
IsaacaHawke
Nov 19, 2021
Status: c196
Let me begin with the translation is really good. Update speed is also good.

Now for my thoughts-

Okay, so I generally don't leave reviews before I complete a novel but I just need to get this off my chest. Somehow I just can't connect with this one. I like slice of life, slow plot, food heavy, etc those kinds of plots inbetween more serious ones. So it's not the genre or setting. I just don't like the MC very much. There's naive & there's gary Stu/white lotus naive. MC is the... more>> second one. I genuinely feel bad for all the people that care for him. I have nothing against selfish MC's, they can be good if done well. But here, it's repeatedly shoved down our throats that he's a kind & good man. He isn't. If there was character growth, it would still be palatable, but instead he's still the same 200 chapters in. Another thing that annoyed the crap out of me was how racist & stereotypical the depiction of the African character is. Overall, I loved the food & it was the kind of plot I usually enjoy but I don't like the MC & African child's description rubbed me the wrong way. <<less
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
kjpo34
kjpo34
Feb 13, 2021
Status: c400
I was really excited about this novel after reading the first 100 chapters - a story about food, nice character who is OP but only cares about food, and a fun VR setting, nice right? I even read the MTL a few hundred chapters ahead... but as a long time reader of novels have to say this is quite mediocre and gets very boring after a while (for me chapter 150+ lol). The problem is just that our MC is way too overpowered... there is no one he cannot beat,... more>> and he is so one dimensional caring about food and the story only involves him going to find more food and trying to cook food with rarer ingredients that I’ve really wondered if the entire game is made by really hungry people... like why are ALL OF THE KEY AND RARE QUESTS INVOLVING SOME DELICIOUS FOOD??

but yeah... it’s just not that interesting anymore. It’s fine if you want to read it cuz you’re hungry but even I who loved this novel have lost interest. Only Overgeared is the best KR novel ever and continues to hold my ever lasting interest <<less
3 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
R-E-I-N
R-E-I-N
Oct 28, 2022
Status: c69
Personally, it isn’t that bad. I don’t mind mc’s personality as other reviews says.

Although he does acts innocently, he isn’t innocent to the point of dumb. (Maybe his I want to eat disease affected his brain into thinking of food like how a drug addicts does.)

The merit about this disease is actually no matter the suffering is when it comes to food he may actually even dive into a sea of fire or whatsoever.

Sinply said, he can put much much efforts than a normal person could ever do ‘with... more>> a condition of food’ as reward.

The only problem is, if he can put an effort, why make him so talented that he can even surprise a kendo champion or whatsoever with his kendo skill?

Why make him a son of a certain ceo?

the bigger problem to me is the story really seems sooooo convenient for the MC.
Like a certain empress, which is supposedly powerful? Is actually a foodie! What a surprise!
Then as the same foodie, she likes mc’s personality who puts his eyes on food rather than wealth, fame, items whatever he can attain.
So she like MC very much! Nice!

jokes aside, this novel feels like more of an author’s fantasy satisfying novel. Everything is too convenient for MC.
Sure maybe it’s hella fun writing this kind of story but as a reader, it’s get tiring when things go for MC too well. Not to mention these girls liking him from next to next as if this was a Chinese Cultivation Harem Novels.
And reading past to 69, I haven’t seen a situation where he suffers even once. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
alpha_reader
alpha_reader
Mar 02, 2022
Status: c180
MC has no motivation except the fit story. MC has everything in his life. His dad is like the richest person and there is no conflict between them. All mega quests involve some food and some food ingredients. I mean seriously. It's as if the whole class is made for him especially. It won't really be surprise if the developer behind the game is related to MC. MC only knows to eat and to cook and has super luck. No hard work
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Asphyxia778
Asphyxia778
Feb 12, 2022
Status: c178
This is basically a feel good novel. MC is op and levels up by eating. The appeal is about all the delicious food that makes you salivate and makes the stomach rumble in hunger.

The translation is great and easy to read.

Honestly MC is a Gary Stu but it doesn't matter much.

Overall 3 stars
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Aachiin0914
Aachiin0914
Feb 09, 2021
Status: :)
This is like that KR vr novel Reader. They both have the same plot setting. The difference is, in this novel our. MC have to face his psychological disorder.

Bulimic patients tend to do extreme measures just to lose weight. Our MC here is one of them. Doing extreme and excessive exercise after eating, is one of the symptoms already. But most bulimic patients rejected the idea of exercises. They do more extreme. Measure such as force committing and intaking laxitive.

But never mind. I love the settings of this novel.... more>> Though, I don't like the fact that they stated that MC is forced to play the game in the end. Though, not was justified in the end. The fact that our MC played vr before but failed is trully traumatizing.

Nevertheless, one thing I'm looking forward to is MC's cause. MC developed bulimia five years ago. Five years ago, he doesn't have that. It meant that he have a very bad exp that year and developed this disorder.

I wonder what it is. <<less
2 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Catofdoom
Catofdoom
Sep 06, 2022
Status: c324
Quite nice, I feel it's probably one of the better powerfantasy novels I have read. The mental illness aspect is quite strange, but makes it so the protagonist is intally weak to contrast how powerful he gets.

I have even read this novel twice. Mostly because the translation shifted to wuxia. The story itself did hold up on a second read. Although a lot of that has to do with it being inherently a powerfantasy novel. Crack usually works twice, it's why a lot of people re-read shonens.
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
picakcarson13
picakcarson1
Oct 18, 2021
Status: --
As of now I consider the story mostly good and plan to reread it, I'm disappointed that the MC is still just as obsessed with food as he still is, but that isn't really that big of a problem. It's a fun read, pretty enjoyable with plenty of details.

Also in other ratings it's said how he gets ballistic over food, I can and can't understand that. Yes he gets mad at people when they waste food, destroy dishes, or poison them, but he shares dishes is kind to people around... more>> him, and while he may reject sharing his food, he doesn't outright kill someone for trying to talk to him or interact with him while eating. (I'm trying to remember that situation stated before, but I cannot so I have no clue how much it's taken out of context).

Other points of thought is how he always gets dishes for completing rare quests, the reason for that is A. The dishes are permanent stat boosters (really good reward), B. He asks the questgiver for that or gets confirmation from them. C. He's doing the quests of the Food god and following in his footsteps, someone who does things only for food.

All in all it's a good read with good writing that needs the MC to change a bit to really make this work. <<less
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Harto
Harto
Jan 19, 2021
Status: c125
Interesting but repetitive

Let me preface this by saying that I do enjoy this novel with the caveat of it being in extremely short bursts like 1 chapter every week.

The protagonist is an unreliable narrator and this is what saves the novel for me. You slowly get the peel back more and more of the true nature of the protagonist and his background as the story progresses which is ideal for a novel like this.

The food p*rn is excellent and much kudos for the translation team to describe the Korean dishes... more>> further with pictures to boot. If this doesn’t stir up your appetite, I don’t know what will!

On to the first weak point. The progression of the story itself. It is very generic and plot armor is too obvious. The protagonist is an obvious Gary Sue, which includes all of the common traits; such as being the most powerful person in the game world breaking any semblance of balance, being liked by all of the NPC and admired by all of the normal players, able to take up any profession and master it being better than experts of their field, and finally, able to slap any of the “antagonist” without much effort. Same old, same old.

With the above plus repeating the same method ad nauseum just with a different settings, new characters, more food to eat and more antagonists to slap and you have the recipe for the entire novel.

I will recommend this novel to anyone who like wish fulfillment novels, but with a semi interesting protagonist who is a unreliable narrator.

WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS NOVEL WITH AN EMPTY STOMACH <<less
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Mishi98
Mishi98
Nov 01, 2020
Status: c53
Fun story, it is very well done when it talks about his disease. It also makes you constantly hungry with the food descriptions however I didn't feel much motivation to keep reading past a certain point, though that might just be due to my taste in books doesn't really lean towards this genre. I did like how the main character treats everyone with due respect unless they steal his food
1 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
wonlee76
wonlee76
Jan 22, 2021
Status: c129
Simply put I enjoy this light novel. It's one of my favorites and the current translation group does a great job on the translation.

MC is simply a nice guy that has a psych/physiological disorder who escapes into a VR game as a form of treatment for his bulimia. So far the story doesn't delve into why he developed this condition as it appears this developed relatively recently in the MC's life (ie. normal childhood until something happened...).

The mix between VR game and reality is nice and MC's development of relationships... more>> is nice.

The author does a great job on the food descriptions making me hungry as a reader.

Like similar novels, the MC becomes OP in the VR game but unlike most of those other novels, the MC stays true to his character and doesn't flaunt or abuse others with his powers. He stays true to form so far being a greedy pig when it comes to food. Otherwise he's a very compassionate person/player.

I've read lots of novels similar to this one and this one is on the top of my list as a favorite. <<less
0 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Leave a Review (Guidelines)
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.