The Cook of a Perished World - Chapter 103

Episode 103: Divine Punishment (2)

Kwarung…

Kwarung –

A huge amount of lightning struck from the dark clouds in the sky.

Lightning that can convey a sense of intimidation even from afar.

Let the lightning strike the ground.

Floating….

A huge number of fish.

no.

The bodies of the fishmen were seen floating above the water.

Although the center is not clearly visible because it is obscured by other buildings.

Still, it seems like a huge number.

and.

[Those who served your food left an astonishing performance in battle!]

[The chef’s fame spreads.]

[You gain experience.]

[You gain experience.]

[You gain experience.]

‘Ugh.’

I felt a huge energy rush into my body.

I even felt a little pain from the sudden rush of energy.

‘Is this how I indirectly share experience?’

then.

Wizards who participated in that magic.

And how much experience does Minjae, who manifested magic, gain?

‘Amazing, Great.’

I guess it wasn’t a lie to say that the density of monsters increases as you go towards the center.

On the other hand, if you just tried to get through those monsters, how much trouble would you have had to endure?

Just when I was about to feel good about the results that exceeded my expectations.

Gooooooooooooo-

“!?”

“This sound.”

The center of the city struck by lightning.

A loud sound echoed from inside.

Something screaming in pain.

He must not be an ordinary guy, seeing as his screams echo this far.

‘Boss monster.’

The person who turned this city into a dungeon.

It must be that guy.

That lightning just now was the maximum attack our guild could unleash at this point.

I guess that also influenced the boss hiding in there.

The aftermath appeared immediately.

“Uh oh. “Look over there.”

“The water level is falling…!”

Terraforming called dungeon.

It’s the boss monster that makes it happen.

The water level increases toward the center.

In the central part of the city, the water level was at the level of a high-rise building.

‘The water level is falling.’

It wasn’t just the central part of the city.

The water level of the entire dungeon seems to be lowering little by little.

This area, where it was already filled to the top of my chest, was also full.

Now it is low enough to barely touch my thighs.

‘I didn’t expect something like this.’

I suppressed my laughter as best as I could and looked back.

“I’m crazy.”

“That water is getting low. “It can’t be a coincidence, right?”

“Is that possible? I’m not sure. “Those soldiers must have done something.”

People who can’t come to their senses about what just happened.

They were looking at the soldiers with astonishment.

“I heard that the problem is that the deeper you go into the center, the more monsters there are and the higher the water level.”

It’s as if nothing like this is happening.

With the attitude that miracles like calling down lightning from the sky are just everyday occurrences.

“So we tried to reduce the monsters and lower the water level.”

“….”

“oh my god.”

gulp.

People looking down at the ground in cold sweat.

There were a lot of corpses of fish people floating around there.

People who saw it muttered cautiously.

“This is enough.”

“It’s a strategy. I don’t know if it’s possible…”

* * *

“Is it really possible?”

“haha. “If you just trust us and follow us, there will be no problem.”

The people Changsu brought were entrusted to Lieutenant Kim.

Lieutenant Kim gives people confidence with his bold and confident demeanor.

“I thought I was destined to die, stuck in that building.”

“What scary words. No matter how dangerous a moment is, isn’t there always a way to survive? “The reason we entered this city was because we had it in mind.”

“also…!”

“They’re not soldiers for nothing. “You’re trustworthy!”

These are the people who already had hope in conquering the dungeon after seeing the lightning strike.

Add to that Lieutenant Kim, who is full of baseless confidence.

People began to become increasingly confident that the dungeon raid would be successful.

at that time.

As I was watching Lieutenant Kim and the others, a medic came up to me and said,

“Sergeant Shin.”

“uh.”

“All of the wizards who just participated in the attack have fainted.”

“…Let’s talk quietly.”

After moving to a place where other awakeners cannot hear.

I heard the medic’s report.

“What is your condition?”

“It’s like experiencing a runaway of magic power and exhaustion at the same time. “I felt like I needed to stay in bed for a week.”

“….”

“Even if I come to my senses, it will be difficult to use that level of magic again.”

There is no way there is no cost to activating that level of attack magic.

After gathering together the wizards who had nothing to do.

They fed him food containing a powerful buff that made him faint from shock.

The best wizard in the unit with such insanely amplified magical power.

This was a possible result because it was cornered by Sergeant Lee Min-jae.

‘It would be impossible to use it again.’

All wizards who participated in the manifestation of magic were exhausted.

I kind of expected it to be like this.

“Please take good care of me. Because there is a lot of moisture, it is a good environment for diseases to spread. They say there hasn’t been any outbreak of infectious diseases yet, but you never know. “Maybe other people were lucky.”

“yes. “Just leave it to me.”

These wizards would have had a hard time demonstrating their abilities in this dungeon anyway.

The significance should be that we were able to use them to attract other awakened forces.

actually.

“I wonder if we are even needed in the first place.”

“I know. “If I just fire a few more shots of the same lightning, won’t the monsters be wiped out?”

“ha ha ha!!!”

Those who just saw the magic and joined.

They were talking with complete confidence that they could now conquer the dungeon.

Of course, it is difficult to shoot the lightning they are talking about again.

I think it would probably take another month at least.

‘…I don’t need to reveal it!’

We decide to bury the uncomfortable truth.

If you include all the awakened people from the groups that Changsu brought, the number is two to three times that of our unit.

It makes you wonder if you have ever seen this many people since the Day of Doom.

‘Is Changsoo’s group the only group that is as high level as our unit?’

That Changsoo’s group is also only of a higher level.

Of course, most of the points earned were invested in food.

It did not receive the effects of group skills like our guild or items made by production awakeners.

“The number has increased significantly, but in terms of power alone, it is probably 1.5 to 2 times the size compared to when we had only our unit.”

“This alone is huge.”

“That’s true.”

Corporal Seo Soo-hyuk had a look in his eyes that indicated he could not be trusted at all.

What can I do?

It’s a luxury to hope that others are as elite as our unit members.

‘We must attack the dungeon with this force.’

There was a silver lining.

“Thanks to the lowering of the water level, I think we will be able to scout it out, albeit roughly.”

Jeong Soo-ah came up to me and said.

Her occupation is a spiritist.

I guess my combat skills aren’t that great.

It is always used only as a drone.

The spirit she made a contract with was none other than the spirit of water.

‘A spirit that can move through water… This means it can be seen anywhere in this dungeon.’

Perhaps we can expect more from the combat aspect than from the outside.

From her perspective, it is a dungeon with good compatibility in many ways.

“The water level in the center was so high that you couldn’t see the inside from the outside, and if you tried to go inside, it would be obstructed, making it difficult to scout.”

“Not anymore.”

“yes. The entity that was blocking your view must have been fatally injured. “Now I can roughly scout out the central landscape.”

It is significant that reconnaissance has become possible.

The city’s survivors are operating in high-rise buildings on the outskirts.

Because no one knew how the center was going.

Even if you can figure out where the enemy fishmen are more distributed, it is a huge benefit.

however.

“uh? “This is a bit unexpected.”

“huh? “What’s wrong with that?”

The center of the city was submerged in deep water.

They say the water covering the city is relatively clear.

Because the sun does not rise, it is rare to find a single spot of light.

“There is a building.”

No matter how many survivors live in high-rise buildings.

I couldn’t look inside.

“Buildings of a style I’ve never seen before in books.”

“Hmm.”

While people’s eyes were blocked like that.

A building was being built inside.

“In the center of the city, there would have been a lot of buildings originally. What about those buildings?”

“All the buildings that were submerged in water disappeared.”

“no way. Are you saying the buildings were demolished?”

“I’m not sure. “I don’t think we should imagine the scenery before it was submerged in water.”

Buildings made of unidentified white materials.

“what. If the assumption that dungeons are terraforming is correct, they are ultimately trying to create an environment that is good for them to live in. “It’s not strange for them to build their own style of building.”

“It’s surprising that this is a race whose culture is so advanced that they can build buildings.”

The area we have visited so far is the outskirts of the city.

This is a dungeon.

Except for the special environment of being submerged in water, there was no significant difference from outside.

In fact, it is safer than outside in that there are no zombies and monsters only roam in the water.

‘The central part is different.’

The location where the monsters’ core power and boss monsters will be located.

All the human buildings there were gone.

What remains are buildings built in their style.

okay.

It has become a place that really deserves to be called a dungeon.

* * *

Plunge…

Hundreds of humans dipped into the water.

Cold water lowers body temperature and makes clothes and other equipment heavy.

“Tsk.”

“I can never get used to this feeling.”

Because the water itself is not an environment for humans in the first place.

Of course, that would just be annoying.

The real problem came soon enough.

Babababababa.

Inside the water.

Black figures approaching at great speed.

“Over there!”

“coming!”

originally.

Most of the humans in this city were reluctant to battle the fishmen.

Even those who fought had to do so with as much caution as possible.

We are in a situation where we are losing out both environmentally and numerically.

You could see it as an obvious choice.

It was Changsoo’s group who ignored that and often clashed with the fishman.

It was rare for anyone to survive for long after fighting like that.

But now.

Things have changed a little.

“Ugh!”

A man who, not long ago, would tremble with nervousness whenever he saw a fishman.

“haha! “It’s a home run, kid!”

The huge hammer he swung struck the jumping fishman.

That wasn’t all.

“Your body is so light!”

“Ha ha! die! “Minnow bastards!”

“KIYOOOOOT!!!”

Humans who were nothing more than food for the fish-men.

Those who had become allies of our unit not long ago courageously cut down the monster.

“That’s a great buff.”

Of course, there is one reason why that is possible.

Lieutenant Kim’s shouts, my cooking, etc.

It was the effect of the wide-area buff that our unit boasts.

“There are buffer-type awakened people among us, but they are at different levels. Especially the buff called adaptation to this environment.”

Kwasik!

Changsoo stabs the attacking fishman in the heart with his spear and finishes him off in an instant.

He said, looking down at his window.

“A soldier. “Do you know why I ended up using a spear?”

“yes? “Isn’t it because of my awakened nature?”

“There is that too. To be precise, it’s a little different. “There weren’t many options when it came to dealing with enemies in the water.”

Most actions are restricted in the water.

In particular, the larger the volume, the greater the resistance to water and the greater the loss of strength.

“At least it’s a spear that stabs with a point, or a dagger that has a small area to begin with. “That was the Maginot Line, which allowed combat under water.”

“indeed.”

“Most of our group uses one of those as a weapon. It’s probably one of our unique know-hows, having gone through the most battles with those monsters. But…”

Unlike Changsu’s group.

Other awakened people did not experience frequent battles with fishmen.

I only experienced small battles when awakening new members.

“Swinging a hammer in the water. Originally, it would have been a weapon worse than bare hands…”

The weapons they wielded differed depending on the characteristics each person was given upon awakening.

The thing wielded by the awakened person who first struck down the monster was a hammer.

“Those weapons. “I’m doing my best.”

The buff through my cooking is significant in terms of improving abilities, but

the biggest thing is the attribute that can be temporarily granted.

[Environmental Adaptation – Number]

[It has excellent adaptability to a specific environment. When active in the water, behavioral restrictions due to the environment are alleviated by up to 80%.]

“It’s a ridiculous effect.”

“what. “The effect is somewhat good.”

“A little?”

Changsu laughs as if he is dumbfounded.

“I asked other soldiers last time, too. All the awakened people outside can do this. “It’s not like that, is it?”

“I wish it were, but unfortunately not.”

“Thank goodness. “It almost hurt my confidence.”

The reason why you can spray a buff like that.

This is because our unit has become stronger after going through all the hardships.

“Honestly, I didn’t think it would have much of an impact even if other groups of humans joined. “Because of the environmental constraints, I thought that at most my role would be to block monsters with my body.”

“Not anymore.”

As the saying goes.

Of course, the ability level increases.

Unlike before, the awakened people were able to demonstrate their abilities even in the water.

Let’s do that.

The fishmen, who were predators, began to lose out.

Changsoo smiled lowly and muttered.

“It would be possible to kill them all…”