The Cook of a Perished World - Chapter 285

Episode 285 Druid (4)

Past.

Kang Jae-ho was a strong man with a well-known name even in the small awakened society of Gyeonggi-do.

Using the profession called [Druid] to the limit.

A man who not only excelled in his own combat abilities, but also had the ability to assist party members in combat.

The group he led also achieved a large scale in its own way.

A fierce struggle for survival in Gyeonggi-do.

Although he was running at the forefront.

Then one day.

“The group that went to collect food….”

“They’re not coming back.”

It happened that some of the group did not return.

Kang Jae-ho became anxious.

This was because his own brother was even included in the group.

As time passed and he did not return,

Kang Jae-ho thought.

‘He must be dead.’

If you were alone.

People who followed him or his own older brother.

They may have searched the place they were heading to in order to retrieve their remains.

but.

‘There are a lot of people to lead.’

Now he was the person leading a group.

There are more than 40 people in that group.

The disappearance of group members means that danger lurks there.

It was impossible to drive the living group members to their deaths for the sake of the group members who were certain to have already died.

So in the end.

I was depressed at the thought of giving up everything and losing my last remaining family member.

Right at that moment.

“It’s back too!”

“!?”

“The people who went to collect food… came back!”

Kang Jae-ho stands up.

They ran at a tremendous speed to the place where the people had returned.

OK.

“brother…!”

“…Jaeho. “My brother is here.”

The last of his family was there.

The fact that my brother has returned.

He quickly ran over and hugged his brother.

“Welcome back, bro! “You went somewhere and now you’re back!”

“…I have work to do. “Thank you for welcoming me.”

and.

That moment.

‘…?’

Kang Jae-ho felt a little uncomfortable.

Although they are brothers.

Like most brothers.

The two brothers did not have a very close relationship.

Himself too.

I was depressed for a while because I lost the last of my family, but I was just excited because the person I thought was dead had returned.

Normally, I wouldn’t have hugged my brother.

okay.

If it were your older brother, at times like this…

‘Ah, what is a grown kid doing in such a disgusting way!’

By saying this.

It would have been normal to have pushed myself away with a half-disgusted expression mixed with a half smile.

but.

At that time, Jaeho had no intention of letting go of that sense of discomfort.

The last remaining family in a destroyed world.

That family has returned.

He has been missing for a long time.

A lot must have happened in the meantime and you must be very tired.

Just think about it that way and move on.

In the first place.

I can’t believe I’m suspicious of my brother because of such a small sense of incongruity.

Because it was ridiculous.

“So what happened?”

“…I came here to say that, Jaeho.”

“huh?”

“I found a place where I can get food.”

“…what?”

like that.

The meeting with all the group members began.

“I kind of doubt it.”

One of those attending the meeting said:

“It’s amazing that people who were thought to be dead suddenly came back, and they know where they can get food.”

“…They were originally people who went to look for food, weren’t they? “Something happened and my return was delayed, but my mission was completed.”

“Well, if you think about it that way, it’s something to be proud of. But why don’t you tell me what ‘work’ is? “There must be a good reason for returning this late.”

“that.”

He didn’t know either.

“…There’s something strange about everyone who came back.”

“That’s right, Captain. “I think we need to be a little more cautious.”

What they say is right.

Reason was clearly positive.

For sure.

As they said, something is strange.

Although I was talking in my head.

‘What if this is just my imagination?’

Emotions had no choice but to deny him.

‘I thought he was dead… but he finally came back alive.’

‘I don’t know if it’s really weird, but if it’s just that I’m a little tired and look weird.’

‘I came back after living the best I could, but if our group members are suspicious and wary of those people…’

‘What will happen to you, brother?’

After going through many thoughts.

at last.

“But my brother has never said anything he hasn’t said before.”

“…Captain.”

“I’m sure it will work out this time too.”

What took over his body.

It was affection for blood relatives.

“First of all, this is information about the food that was barely obtained in a situation where there was already a food shortage. “The people who came back are so exhausted that their condition seems a bit strange… but to put it another way, it could also be said that this is information obtained as things go on like that.”

“But that’s true.”

“For now, let’s pretend we are being fooled and go. And what if the information is wrong? If there is nothing, you are just wasting your time and no matter what there is….”

Kang Jae-ho.

He said, raising his arms.

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out somehow.”

He does that.

Expressing confidence, I decided to head to the place guided by my older brother.

“Let’s go, bro!”

“….”

“brother? what’s the matter?”

His older brother showed him where there was food.

When it was time for him to head to that place.

For some reason, I didn’t move for a while…

“This is the place your brother asked you to go, right? “Let’s go quickly!”

What forced those stopped steps to move.

It was none other than him.

* * *

and.

What the group members witnessed when they arrived at the place my brother mentioned.

“It was real…!”

“Is it an orchard? “Fruit is not a food that can be stored for a long time, but…”

“If you dry it, you can somehow use it as a preserved food!”

It seems as if no one has ever visited it since its destruction.

It was a large orchard.

‘As expected… my brother was telling the truth!’

That he wasn’t wrong.

He felt great joy that his older brother, whom everyone suspected, was telling the truth, but…

“…Jima…”

“Huh?”

At the sound coming from behind me.

Let’s turn our heads.

“Don’t go…”

His older brother said with an extremely expressionless face.

He was saying something like that.

‘…what is that?’

With an expressionless face.

Saying otherwise.

Let’s feel a sense of discomfort there.

one more.

I felt something strange.

‘Those trees… they’re not talking.’

His profession is Druid.

It was a job that specialized in communicating with nature.

For convenience, we call it voice.

Rather than an actual voice, it’s the tree’s will or… emotions, etc.

It is the ability to feel such things.

however.

No voice could be heard from the trees over there.

‘In the first place… are there even trees?’

Even though the eye clearly sees a bountiful orchard.

As a druid, his ability is…

‘There… nothing exists there.’

I was coming to that conclusion.

“…Everyone please come back!”

He came to his senses.

I shouted in a hurry.

It was already too late.

What was before his eyes was…

an orchard that looked beautiful.

The bottom of the orchard.

It looked like its mouth was open.

* * *

“I found out later. “That guy was a monster with the ability to spray substances that could cause confusion or control the mind.”

An orchard that just looked beautiful.

but.

This was nothing more than a hallucination caused by the spraying of a substance that caused mental confusion.

“So, instead of eating prey that came across by chance, it kept them alive and then manipulated their minds to use them as bait… to enrich themselves by bringing in bigger prey. “Don’t you think it’s a pretty efficient way to hunt?”

The place they headed was right above the mouth of that huge monster.

In an instant, his group members felt like they had walked into the mouth of a monster.

“…How did you survive?”

From what I heard,

It was clear that the monster was quite powerful.

‘Even though this is a story from the past, it was probably a fairly powerful monster among the ordinary monsters released on earth.’

By the time we got there.

That monster wouldn’t have tried to let this man live.

I wondered how he survived.

“While I was running away from that guy… I met the old man.”

“Young Master?”

“It might be easier to understand if I say you are the president of the association.”

…also.

Is it that guy?

‘Association president.’

I’ve never seen his face.

They say he is missing now.

Despite being a missing person.

This is the name I hear most often than any other human after arriving in Gyeonggi-do.

That person.

It seems to have had an absolute influence on the people of Gyeonggi-do.

“It looks like there were quite a few groups that were hunted by that monster. “At that time, the old man was going around the area where I was active… in the southern part of the country, trying to increase his influence, and in the meantime, he noticed that the groups that were known to be heading to a specific location were wiped out after that.”

“….”

“That monster was subdued by the Association President… and thanks to him, I barely survived. But what would you do with your life like that?”

I scratched my head.

He said, gritting his teeth as if they were breaking them.

“I destroyed the group I was returning to with my own hands.”

“….”

“After that, I just bounced around from group to group. There are many places that will let you sleep because you have some skills. Then… when I reached level 20, I gained the skill to make food.”

He said it as if he himself was dumbfounded.

“I was level 19 when that happened.”

“….”

“Isn’t it funny? Even if I had leveled up 10,000 more, I could have at least solved the problem of feeding my group. “With just that little difference… a disaster that could have been avoided if we had been a little more suspicious…”

He said.

He glared at me and growled.

“You say I trust people so easily?”

“….”

“under! I’m sorry, but I will never be fooled so easily again. “I realized through first-hand experience how clever the monsters in this world are… so you won’t be able to fool me with any words.”

Having three leaders for each group.

Did they say it was because the president of their association had experienced such a monster?

“Even though my group was wiped out because of me… humanity never passes over sacrifices as meaningless. Because there we realized the existence of such monsters and how to resist them!”

that is.

It must have been this man’s job.

“okay. “I understand why they were so suspicious of me.”

Let me say so.

It seemed like he only then realized that he was excited.

“…I don’t know why I told you this. “It’s something I’ve rarely told other people… I guess it’s because I’m so damn excited.”

Sweeping my face.

He glared at me and said.

“After that, I promised myself I would never be fooled in the same way again.”

Then.

A man reaching out toward the ground.

“With this power… there would be no reason to be deceived in the same way.”

Where that hand extends.

A small tree began to grow.

In the end, it was because there was not enough food.

It happened after being caught in a trap using that food as bait.

The reason he works so hard taking care of the orchard is.

It’s not the fantasy I saw back then.

“Humans and monsters can lie, but nature… doesn’t lie.”

If these trees have a real ‘voice’.

I think I can make sure something like that never happens again.

Probably because I think so.

…but.

I thought as I watched the tree grow with his power.

“It looks slow… and difficult.”

“…Tsk!”

On my word.

Kang Jae-ho was shocked and withdrew his hand from growing the tree.

‘The intellect of this land is dry.’

No matter how much power he has, he can mass produce food.

Even if you just want to make sure other people don’t end up like you.

at last.

The moment when all the intellectual power of this land declines.

People nearby will face the same threat again.

To survive somehow.

I have to go to a place that might be dangerous, even if it means taking risks.

‘Yeah, just like back then.’

Such a crisis.

“Well, I roughly understood it.”

“What do you mean I understand?”

“Why did you doubt me so much? And other things.”

I understood this man’s situation.

How he was fooled.

Why am I so obsessed with this orchard?

I thought as I looked at that overgrown tree.

‘I will never be fooled again.’

Unlike humans or monsters.

Trees don’t lie.

so that.

Trusting only what nature says.

Everything else is suspicious…

Yeah.

I can roughly understand the cause of the suspicious disease.

‘I don’t think nature will last long.’

With the trees that ‘give a real voice’ that he is so obsessed with.

An orchard made up of such trees.

The orchard was losing strength and dying.

If that happens.

‘This man may never be able to trust anything.’

It took quite some time for me to immediately join this group and blend in with them.

That’s because I found comfort looking at those trees.

What if this orchard disappears?

He may end up becoming a person whom no one can truly trust.

but.

What can I say?

‘Should I call him a lucky person or a bad person….’

Since I came here.

You don’t have to worry about that.

In some ways, I guess I should consider myself lucky.

‘Humans and monsters lie, so I’ll only believe what nature says?’

then.

Also, how to get people to trust me.

Wouldn’t it be so simple?

Have you lost your intellect?

So food production is becoming difficult?

‘Intellect is ultimately the power of the land.’

Then what?

Of course, there is only one way.

‘Cooking.’

What is needed to generate the power that is lacking.

Because it will only be a hearty meal.

‘Just wait.’

I have never tasted rural land in Gyeonggi-do.

I’ll show you a taste of heaven.