The Cook of a Perished World - Chapter 18

Episode 18: Threat (2)

There is a threat to our unit.

I’m sure it is, but I can’t figure out who it is.

a few days ago.

I also discussed this with Minjae.

“The biggest clue is the man Youngjun talked to you about. First, I figured out which room it was. Even people who share the same room.”

The room in question was shared by five men.

According to the information the soldiers secretly shared with the survivors, they seemed to have known them before the zombie outbreak broke out.

“But not everyone who is close can be considered an accomplice.”

“okay. On the other hand, all five of them could be that threat.”

The line of suspects has been narrowed.

But that doesn’t mean they suddenly go and say, ‘You guys might be a threat to us, so I need you to follow us for a moment.’ And it’s impossible to take him away.

Not only will other survivors protest, but as several of them may fall under the threat, it may end up only increasing the number of victims.

In the first place, we still don’t know what kind of threat they will pose to us.

“But we can’t wait for the threat to come true.”

It would be too late to catch the culprits after the threat to our unit is realized.

As you don’t know what type of threat it is, it can cause more damage than you think.

It has to be resolved now that it hasn’t happened.

“…There is no way.”

There is no way to find the culprit.

There are many methods that have been used so far.

“You said that from now on, survivors will help the unit with its work, right?”

“okay. “It may be limited to tasks that civilians can do, such as cleaning dormitories or restaurants.”

“Then let the man I mentioned be assigned to the restaurant.”

The request itself had nothing to do with finding threats.

Normally, the question would be asked at this point, ‘What method are you trying to use?’

“…ha. Are you going to do what you call ‘persuasion’?”

“hmm. “Of course.”

Sergeant Lee Min-jae speaks with a sigh.

Gwang-il, who was so scared of the monster that he couldn’t move, makes the monster bite its weak spot.

The ‘persuasion’ that sent all the anxious soldiers to the place of awakening.

‘…I wrote it so openly. There’s nothing strange about noticing it.’

Minjae, who had personally witnessed all the persuasion, seemed to have already sensed that I had some kind of special means.

“I don’t know exactly what kind of power it is… but I’m sure there’s a situation where such power is needed, so I won’t say much. Still, it may not be a good idea to rely too much on that ability.”

“I know. “I’m paying attention too.”

[Chef’s Special Sauce]

The power to control the emotions of those who eat food.

It’s definitely a powerful ability, but…

‘If it were known that I had this ability, no one would want to eat my cooking.’

As if Minjae had already vaguely noticed.

If this ability is overused, the chances of its identity being discovered increase.

‘You shouldn’t use it sparingly when you need it, but you should be careful not to get caught when using it.’

[Misutgaru ice cream made with the honest heart of a novice chef]

The same goes for this dish, which was made with great effort.

The important thing is not to get caught.

“I guess I could just bring that guy over and force him into my mouth.”

A man who said he would enjoy my food and ate it suddenly becomes ‘overly honest’?

Everyone who saw the incident could not help but suspect the food that went into their mouths just before the incident.

Not only the survivors but also the soldiers will be reluctant to eat my food.

So this is the method I prepared.

‘Support with dishwashing.’

Give snacks to people who come to help in the restaurant to thank them for their help.

This is something that has been done even when the unit was in normal condition, and it is a natural reason to hand over food.

If you hand it out a few times, word will spread.

‘If you help out at the restaurant, they’ll give you snacks.’

That is enough.

‘Because it’s a dish that everyone else has eaten, even if something goes wrong, I won’t doubt the cooking.’

There may be enemies who pose a ‘threat’ and are on the lookout for our unit members.

They said they would give me snacks that everyone else had eaten, but I wouldn’t be wary of that.

* * *

“I made a snack for you. Let’s eat it and go.”

“Oh, this is the famous ice cream.”

Just like this man.

“Are all the rumors out?”

“Haha, you don’t know how much I envy the people who are missing out because of the dormitory cleaning support. “Everyone who goes to the restaurant comes back smiling.”

People in the dormitory are jealous?

“Ah… I feel sorry for the people who went to this dormitory with support. I should have done something there too…”

“You don’t have to. Anyway, the rotation takes place in turns. “The people there will also be anxiously waiting for the day when they can go to support the restaurant.”

I really didn’t know this.

Fortunately, it seems like the complaints from people who are into living room cleaning aren’t that big.

“Then I will eat well.”

A man who puts ice cream in his mouth like that.

“Mmm!”

It seemed to suit my taste quite well.

‘Mmmmmmm!’ A man who keeps playing with his spoon while making a sound.

I worked hard to make it so it must be delicious.

The menu especially for you is a special one, so I didn’t skimp on the ingredients.

“I really enjoyed the meal! Wow, it’s really delicious! “How long has it been since I had such sweet food?”

The man who emptied his bowl so quickly.

The smile didn’t go away even as he returned the dish.

‘Now then…’

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Haha, I’m more grateful.”

shall we start.

“But can I ask you one question?”

“hmm? Do you have any questions for me? “Ask me anything.”

They are kind, probably because they feel better after eating something sweet.

Thanks to that kindness, I asked questions without hesitation.

“You asked me about my job last time.”

“yes?”

“that. “Why did you ask?”

“….”

If this man wasn’t the ‘threat’ and the question was just a question for light conversation.

The answer will be that you didn’t think much of it.

Then all you have to do is listen to the answer and send it.

In that case, this man was just one of the ordinary survivors.

The person concerned will probably just say it was an insignificant question and move on.

But…

“Oh, I needed to check if there were any awakened people in this unit.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“I don’t know, but if it’s a military unit with guns, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were people who succeeded in awakening. In that case, the strategy would have had to be different. “I was so relieved to hear that it wasn’t the case?”

I answered casually.

A man who talks as if he feels something is out of place.

“….”

“Well, I thought so.”

Always smiling and saying haha.

A man who approached me pretending to be bright and friendly.

“…this.”

I never thought his expression could become distorted like that.

It was surprising.

“I’m asking this out of curiosity, but if there was an awakened person in our unit, how would it have turned out?”

“…I would have checked the size first. A unit with many awakened people would have no chance of winning in an all-out war, so they would have quietly infiltrated the unit and waited for an opportunity. “What the fuck did you do to me…!”

“Well, it means that if we had confirmed that our awakened power was strong, we would have hidden more thoroughly. “Is it because you thought that wasn’t the case that you became a little lax about your boundaries?”

There are many types of awakened people and they have various abilities.

If only this man knew that we were the unit producing the Awakened.

He wouldn’t have eaten the food I gave him so lightly.

As the awakened people have various abilities, they would not have relaxed their guard in any area.

If that were the case, it would have taken much more time and effort to catch it.

‘Is this what it means to hide one’s abilities?’

Even if you know there is a threat, if you hide it without revealing it, there will be no way to catch it.

“Shit…!”

“Uh huh.”

The man must have realized something was wrong and quickly turned around to run away.

But…

“Wait a minute, I have something to ask you.”

“….”

Without any coercive attitude.

A casual way of saying ‘I have something to ask you.’

At those words, the man’s steps, which were about to turn around and run away, suddenly stopped.

And then.

Geek.

I turn my head back and forth.

“Anything… ask.”

He came face to face with me and opened his mouth with a cold sweat on his face.

‘Hmm, the effect is good.’

[Chef’s Special Sauce] has a few rules.

One of them is that as the effect of the dish itself is maximized, the power of the special sauce is also maximized.

The ice cream I gave to others was made with rice flour and sugar syrup.

[Misutgaru ice cream made with the utmost care and effort by a novice chef]

As the name suggests.

Even though it was handmade, using the little condensed milk left in the bag, a huge amount of effort was put into making sure that air got inside to create a smooth taste.

“You know rationally that you shouldn’t say it, but you still can’t, right?”

“…yes.”

“It seemed like something like that.”

He has now become more ‘honest’ than anyone else in the world.

So much so that just hearing that there is something to ask makes my body move to answer.

‘A similar phenomenon to what happened when excessive courage turned Gwangil into a berserker.’

If there is a difference.

Unlike Gwangil’s case, which was unintentional.

In this case, it was completely done with my intention.

“Then I will keep asking. Do you have any colleagues? Among them, who can be called the leader based on the number of awakened people?”

“The five people who share the same room are all colleagues and awakened people. The leader is Park Kwon-chang, who was the head of the room….”

“Wow, I was just wondering, all five of you?”

Park Kwon-chang, who played the role of the captain, is the middle-aged man who tried to question why Lieutenant Kim did not appear during the conversation with the survivors.

It seems like these guys had their own standing within the group of survivors.

“What were the five of us trying to do together?”

“…attempted to take over this unit.”

I wondered if it was something like that.

What matters is the method.

How can they occupy this unit with over 100 soldiers armed with guns?

“First, take some time to make sure there are no Awakened or other threats…”

No worries about this part.

Because I have instructed my unit members not to be discovered as an awakened person.

If the Awakened had appeared later, these guys, who were judged to be a threat, could have acted more secretly.

“And after observing for several days… I determined that there are no awakened people or similar threats in this unit. “The operation will be carried out.”

The guy who keeps leaking their plans

.

‘…huh?’

Something is strange.

“Not ‘I make a decision after making a decision,’ but ‘Judgement.’ Did you say ‘I will decide’?”

“…yes. “It has been determined that there are no awakened people, so the operation will be carried out this evening.”

After hearing that, I looked outside through the restaurant window.

Time to finish dinner and clean up after dinner.

The sun had set and the darkened scenery of the unit was visible.

dinner.

…isn’t it now?

“The operation will be implemented as soon as I return.”

“crazy.”

“And me too.”

Then, the man stood up with a grin, as if asking where his tense expression had gone.

“No, me too. “It went a little wrong, but we were going to go back and implement the plan.”

That moment.

Grumbling.

“…fire?”

A hot flame erupted from the man’s body.

For a moment, I thought I might have set myself on fire.

“Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk…”

The man seemed to not feel any pain and was instead showing an evil smile.

“I was embarrassed because I didn’t know what had happened, but when I thought about it, there was no need to panic.”

Does this mean there is no need to act friendly anymore?

A guy who speaks quite arrogantly.

“There is no need to panic? The reason is?”

“Given the circumstances, it seems like there are quite a few awakened people in this unit… but isn’t the person in front of you just a cook who knows how to cook at most?”

“hmm? what. yes?”

Looking at the way he answers questions, he still maintains ‘honesty’.

‘Just because you’re honest doesn’t mean you’re quiet or anything like that.’

It happens sometimes in things like cartoons and movies, right?

An explanation-oriented villain who answers every question the other person has, but continues to attack them.

It feels exactly like that.

The burning flames gradually spread throughout the man’s body.

Soon, all the flames move to the man’s right hand.

Created a huge fireball.

“In that case, all you have to do is burn it lightly! “It’s painful to have your identity discovered, but you can join your colleagues and start over somewhere else!”

Then, he shouted, ‘Die!’ and threw a huge fireball in his right hand towards me.

A huge, colorful fire, like something you’d see in a movie, rushed towards me.

The sight of a huge fireball flying towards me was definitely very intimidating.

‘hmm.’

The heat wasn’t that scary.

‘I mean, being a chef is a pretty friendly job.’

Why don’t restaurant ladies casually hold hot pots with their bare hands?

It’s similar to that.

Wow.

Pick.

“…You really can’t do it.”

The huge fireball that touched my body

disappeared without any effect, as if something had happened.

[Lesser Flame Friendship]

[Cooking has been with fire since its origins.]

[Holding and swinging a steel pan in front of hot flames is a chef’s destiny!]

“I’m sorry, but let’s get hit.”

“What…!”

The fireball that I believed in disappeared without having any effect.

The guy looks like he’s very embarrassed and takes a step back.

Sreung.

Either that or not.

In my [chef’s eyes] holding a sashimi knife.

[Secrets of low-level cooking – ‘Learning how to prepare primates’]

‘How to effectively prepare a primate’ was being shown.