The Cook of a Perished World - Chapter 113
Episode 113 Combat Rations (1)
The submerged city…
No, the awakened people released from the dungeon and released into the world.
The number is in the thousands.
But there was a problem.
There is an absurd amount of food compared to the thousands of people who have the power to fight.
It would not be surprising if thousands of looters were to arise if a mistake was made.
thud!
“I brought the corpses of the monsters just as you said.”
Originally, it was an ordinary commercial building.
An unidentifiable gray barrier was being erected around the building.
The gray barrier, reminiscent of steel, gave off the feel of a military facility.
‘The Steel Corps… it lives up to its name.’
The man looked at the scenery of the building and opened his mouth in a somewhat suspicious tone.
“You said you would give me food if you brought me the monster’s body, right? I thought I was being tricked, but… honestly, it’s hard to believe. “If you’re lying…”
“Let’s see.” yes. Has confirmed. Write your name here. Please come back in 2-3 days.”
“…greatness.”
A soldier listens to the man’s words with one ear and calmly writes down something like a journal.
‘Because the monster’s body is useless anyway.’
Even if it is a lie, there is no loss.
The man turned back with a slight feeling of discomfort.
And a few days later.
“Let’s see.” yes. “This is it.”
thud.
The bag the man brought was half filled with beef jerky.
The man who saw that said.
“There must have been more than one or two monsters I brought. “Is this all?”
“Did I tell you that the commission is 80%?”
“80%….” This
is an absurd figure to consider as a simple labor cost.
The man’s expression visibly frowned.
No matter how useless the monster’s body is, tearing it apart to such an extent can’t help but feel unreasonable.
However, the soldier who saw that expression laughed and said, as if it was ridiculous.
“Trust me. “It’s even 80% cheaper.”
“…Is it okay for noblemen in the military to make profit like this?”
“No matter what I say now, it will sound like I’m being sarcastic. what. “Try it and you’ll know.”
How much trouble did it take to hunt that monster?
To be honest, I don’t like it.
These soldiers are the force that annihilated the monsters in that sunken city.
The soldier in front of me was also carrying a gun.
‘It’s a sin to be weak.’
The man had no choice but to step back bitterly.
Still, the situation wasn’t all that bad.
“But we still got food.”
Beef jerky in a bag.
With this amount of food, I felt like I could last for a week or two even if I ate my fill.
They had already used up all their food while hunting monsters, so they had already been starving for two days.
To fill his stomach, the man took out a piece of beef jerky from his bag and took a bite.
That moment.
“…uh?”
A confused sound came out of the man’s mouth.
Meat that melts softly the moment it enters your mouth.
Even the juice that leaks out every time you move your teeth.
In the past, he was a man who often ate high-quality beef jerky.
“It’s delicious.”
It had a taste that couldn’t even be compared to other high-quality beef jerky.
“what. Is it because I’m so hungry…? “No, the taste is not at that level.”
It is even questionable how the monster was processed to be edible.
Moreover, the processing site was the military.
No one would expect the combat rations from the military to taste good.
Unbelievable taste.
The man was moved by the taste and devoured the remaining meat as well.
Then another strange thing happened.
‘Do you feel lighter?’
It wasn’t just because my hunger was resolved.
Let’s open the status window.
A bonus was added to his abilities as if he had actually received a buff.
The man had received a buff from a priest-type awakener in the past.
I was quite impressed when I saw the level of ability that had improved at that time.
“The buffs back then were nothing compared to now.”
Tremendous increase in abilities.
Although it was only temporary, his combat power nearly doubled just by eating the dish.
Only then did I understand what the soldier I had met earlier said.
‘If you have this level of buff, you can hunt the monsters you hunted last time much more easily.’
What if this dish makes it easier to supply monster corpses?
It would be possible to obtain more food through the Legion.
The 80% commission was really nothing.
To the point where I wonder if I might have to pay even more.
“Haha… those military barbarians. “They were pretty good guys.”
More than a week’s worth of meat still left in the bag.
Just looking at that reassuring figure naturally made me smile.
* * *
Recently, one thing was added to my daily routine.
Mass production of combat rations.
‘In the old days, it would have taken quite a while to make even one combat ration.’
But it was different now.
[Talent: Large-scale cooking]
[Cooking speed is greatly increased.]
It did not take a long time to turn one monster into jerky.
Because the meat has to be dried, it takes at least two days.
Considering my working hours, there is no burden.
[Battle rations are complete.]
[Experience points are gained.]
Experience points can be gained with just that little work.
also.
“Food is piling up.”
“I won’t have to worry about meat for the time being.”
A huge amount of meat brought by the city’s awakeners was piled up in the unit’s temporary warehouse.
When it comes to ingredients, more is more.
In addition, fish with useful characteristics were removed and stored in the shadows.
As I said, you don’t have to worry about meat.
“Sergeant Shin.”
“ok?”
at that time.
A soldier in charge of food-related work came to see me.
“what’s the matter? “The materials I brought you earlier have already been completed.”
“Are you saying that all that has already happened…? ah. “That’s not important.”
A guy scratching his head as if he was in trouble.
“I informed them that it would take about two days to complete the combat rations, but there were people who insisted that they could not wait those few days.”
“How difficult is it to wait for that?”
Honestly, it was a little absurd.
A minor issue like this could have been resolved by sending the soldier back from the ship.
Even though their skills in combat had improved, problems arose because many of them were still at the level of new recruits when it came to work.
I was planning to tell you properly, but…
“You keep saying you need food to go somewhere, but I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“You said you were going somewhere?”
After hearing that, my thoughts changed a little.
He immediately followed behind the soldier.
“Didn’t you say that if you catch a monster, you will be given food! “That’s why I brought it.”
“No, I’m refining this and making it into an edible dish, so you’ll have to wait at least a few days.”
“One o’clock is urgent!”
Squeak.
“What, Sergeant?”
“…?”
Let’s open the door and go into the room.
I saw a man struggling with a soldier.
“Good work. “I’ll talk to this person, and you can return to work.”
“ah. yep. All right. Loyalty.”
The soldier who was struggling saluted and left the room.
I looked at the man who was in the middle of an argument.
“…Are you the commander of this unit?”
“no?”
I’m still leaving all the troublesome work that involves people to Lieutenant Kim.
“It’s a cooking disease.”
“…Cooking sickness?”
“yes. Aren’t you here to talk about cooking? Because I do all the cooking for our unit. “You can tell me.”
A man looking at me with suspicious eyes.
Since they call him a cook, you might be wondering what he’s doing.
“Whew. I can’t help it. “I saw a flyer circulating around the city a while ago.”
“ah. Our unit members worked very hard to write that down. “I didn’t have a printer, so I had to write everything by hand. It was a lot of hard work.”
“…It says that if you catch a monster, you will be given food. So I caught it. But why wait a few more days?”
Well, I already heard this from the soldier.
I saw the corpses of the monsters the man brought.
[Identification of food ingredients (reinforcement)]
Most of them were monsters that unit members had also encountered nearby.
and.
“Mostly red. “There’s some orange too.”
“yes?”
“ah. “I’m talking to myself.”
A man who suddenly gets embarrassed when the topic of color comes up.
It seems like what I was thinking has leaked out.
Talking about that color is not a big deal.
[Ingredient Identification (Enhancement) – Combat Power Meter]
Not long ago.
Trait [Combat Power Meter] obtained as a reward for achieving achievements.
[The combat ability of a different race is measured through its magical power.]
[The strength of the target monster is expressed in color.]
The effect is simple.
Being able to see the fighting power of monsters.
‘It’s like a swooter.’
Since awakened people have levels, their combat power can be roughly measured.
There are many cases where you don’t know about monsters until you fight them.
Not anymore.
When you look at the monsters and activate the trait, you can see a faint aura around their bodies.
Strength can be distinguished according to its color.
‘Red Juno Chopanambo… The weakest is red and the strongest is purple.’
Zombies are mostly light red, almost pink.
The monsters that overflow in the city are mainly red with the occasional orange monster mixed in.
however.
When I laid my eyes on one of the monsters the man brought, I couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
‘It’s yellow, right?’
Yellow monsters were rare in the city.
‘At least Lizard level.’
Monsters that attacked our unit.
Lizards were just yellow monsters.
Moreover, the yellow color seen on this guy was not that light.
‘The Dasmurian subadult I fought in that dungeon… Is it on the same level as that guy?’
Our unit members could handle it 1:1, though.
The awakened people in the city were at a similar level to the monster they had dealt with in groups of several people.
The wounds on the body showed that it was a type of weapon.
“This guy. “Did you catch it by yourself?”
“yes.”
what.
Looks like he’s a bit of a hitter.
“You seem to have great skills, but why are you in such a hurry?”
“…I’m from Gangneung.”
“?”
“I’m here for a short business trip. My family is in Gangneung. I still don’t know what will happen, but…”
Hmm.
I roughly understood the situation.
“There is definitely a possibility that he is still alive. “The longer it is a day later for me to visit, the more likely it is that something will happen to my family.”
“It’s Gangneung. Are you planning to go alone? “It must be dangerous.”
“There are people other than me who have business nearby. A little over twenty people. “I plan to move with them.”
hmm.
More than 20 humans are planning to leave for a distant place.
this.
Do you like it?
“Please wait a moment.”
I moved to the room used as a food storage room and looked around at the boxes piled up there.
“The yellow one… is here.”
Combat rations made from yellow-colored monsters.
He said as he put the box down in front of the man.
“Take it.”
“This this.”
“It will be similar to cooking with the monsters you brought… but it will be better.”
“Thank you!”
A man bowing his head in gratitude.
“But originally, we were going to cook with the monster we brought.”
“It was like that originally.”
I said, scratching my head.
“How do you hold on to someone who needs to visit their family?”
“…!”
“Originally, up to 80% of the meat was taken as a commission, but I roughly calculated that it was about 50%. “This kind of privilege is rare, so don’t go around telling others.”
“Thank you so much…”
“And you said you were going to Gangneung, right?”
“Yes.”
I took out a notebook from my pocket.
A schematic diagram was drawn there.
“According to the reconnaissance results of our unit members, this road may be at least usable. “There are a lot of monsters on the other path.”
“I can’t believe you did this…”
The man who was shouting at another soldier was suddenly trembling with emotion.
“thank you. This grace is inevitable….”
“What kind of grace is this? I hope you find your family.”
“yes!”
A man who keeps nodding his head and leaving.
I thought as I looked at the back.
‘What am I thankful for?’
Rather, I should be thankful.
* * *
With that in mind, I leave the room.
“My benefactor.”
Someone spoke to me.
Jeong Soo-ah.
‘ah.’
Is it because my cooking cured my eyes?
Jeongsooah tends to support me too much.
Thanks to its powerful characteristics, it is a great help to the unit.
I’m thinking about giving him a position as an executive in the unit out of
gratitude, but since he talks so highly, I’ll be honest, it’s often a bit burdensome.
I was wondering what you were going to say this time.
“…I think you are giving them too much warmth.”