The Cook of a Perished World - Chapter 42
Episode 42: Ghost in the Mart (3)
[Ingredient Identification]
[Blue Drops]
[Quality: Good]
Objects on which this phrase appears.
It’s none other than the usual bag of snacks.
It’s a drop of water.
It’s not a name that should be on a bag of snacks.
I slowly moved in front of him.
Boldly.
“hey.”
“yes?”
“Sergeant Shin? “Did you call me?”
Let me say that as I stand in front of the snack.
Strangely enough, the soldiers guarding the area answered.
Sorry, but I’m ignoring that a little bit.
“Hey man.”
“What are you doing…”
“Hmm, this guy is pretty shameless, isn’t he?”
“yes?”
He points accurately at the bag of snacks and holds out a kitchen knife.
“You got caught, man.”
It was that moment.
Paaaaagh!!!
I thought the bag of snacks was distorted strangely.
Something like a gray thorn came out and aimed at my head.
“What the hell!”
“Sergeant Shin!?”
The soldiers who were watching my antics were also taken aback when they saw it.
‘It’s not difficult to avoid if you’re expecting it!’
I avoid those thorns.
Rather, he swung the kitchen knife towards the snack.
Mulkyung.
What can I say about that texture?
It was similar to cutting jelly.
OK.
[Acquire experience points.]
Grumble….
The appearance of the seemingly ordinary snack bag has changed.
A silver-grey jelly-like substance flowed from the shelf in the snack section.
“Sergeant Shin? “What on earth is this?”
“The identity of the ghost.”
“yes?”
What are ghosts?
It’s ridiculous to see it like this.
“It’s worth noting that you can’t see it. “It’s because they’re so well hidden.”
“We don’t know what you’re talking about earlier…”
“It’s mimicry.”
[‘Chef’s Eye’ activates]
[‘Low Cooking Secret – Blue Droplet Preparation Method’ acquired.]
[Blue Droplet Preparation Method.]
[Blue Droplet has the habit of attracting prey by imitating the surrounding environment. As a magical life form with -.]
[The original form, not mimicked, consists of a silver-gray body made of a large amount of liquid and a main body core in the center where magical power is concentrated. Some people classify it as a subspecies of slime, but the mainstream opinion is that it is difficult to consider it as a slime due to its nature of being restored as long as the main body, the core, is intact.] [The core of the care is the central core, which is no different from the main body of the water drop.] “
Ghost
. It’s not the same thing. “It’s a mimicry ability that allows you to blend into your surroundings to a degree that gives you goosebumps.”
“You mean this jelly thing?”
“okay. I thought it wasn’t visible, but in fact, it was clearly visible. “It was just the same as the things around it.”
After completely assimilating into the surrounding environment.
It attacks enemies passing nearby from an invisible angle.
The reason why no additional attacks were made when we stopped was simple.
It’s just that these guys weren’t around at the time.
‘Are they going to make people around them lose their guard by mimicking them and then lure them deep into the depths and start hunting them?’
When the prey is panicked by an invisible attack and runs away.
These guys, who have assimilated into the environment, attack humans running around them like traps.
The fact that the siblings survived may have been due to the sacrifices of adults.
Basically, it’s probably a big deal that these guys didn’t go through hiding places.
I was lucky.
And…
“Those guys are unlucky.”
I end up repeating what I said just a little while ago.
An enemy hiding and hiding?
There is no reason to do that if you are strong in the first place.
There is no need to use a strategy like that.
‘It means I’m not confident in an all-out war!’
I looked around at the soldiers and shouted.
“The weakness is simple! There must be something like black jelly in the center of these guys’ transparent bodies! Just kill it and it’s over!”
“yes? “No, it’s easier said than done.”
“There’s no point in knowing its weaknesses if you don’t know what the monster is!”
“Leave that to me.”
After confirming that there were no other monsters on the shelf in front of me.
I scattered the above snacks on the floor and stood on top of them.
And then I looked at the entire store.
[Aluminum]
[Glass fiber]
[Filament]
[Synthetic fiber]
[Blue water droplet]
“Gwangil!”
“yes! Corporal Jeon Gwang-il!”
“Dairy refrigerator next to you! Attack!”
“Search!”
The unit members still have the ‘courage’ they gained through cooking.
The soldiers who heard the identity of the monster still seemed a little confused.
Once the order was given, we took action without the slightest hesitation.
Corporal Jeon Gwang-il swings his fist at the refrigerator without even questioning it.
OK.
Fuuuuk.
Corporal Jeon Gwang-il’s fist goes into the inside of the refrigerator.
“There’s something!”
When the hand came out.
A black sphere in his fist.
The core of that monster was held.
Kwasik.
A guy who shatters the core with the strength of his grip.
Then the refrigerator itself turned into gray jelly and fell to the floor.
“Got it!”
“Good job kid! Next Byeongmin!”
“Private Lee Byung-min!”
“The table in front of you! Grind it!”
“Loyal loyalty!!!”
Kwasik.
Stuff piled up in the supermarket.
A monster hiding among those objects and hiding its identity.
Guys.
Pajik.
Wow.
Squid…
one at a time.
It lost its core and became mushy and spread across the floor.
“…what about Sergeant Shin?”
“How do you recognize these?”
Soldiers who were killing monsters but didn’t recognize them until just before.
They were looking at me curiously.
I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to respond to that gaze.
“Next is Hanil!”
Fortunately, unlike the skill Chef’s Eye, the Ingredient Identification attribute does not consume magical energy.
Otherwise, I think I would have fainted again.
Was it possible to kill such a significant number of ‘blue droplets’?
Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
suddenly.
A loud sound echoed throughout the store.
“What is it?”
“What is it? “Look over there.”
“ah.”
I was able to immediately identify the sound.
A monster hiding in various places disguised as objects.
“I’ve finally realized that there’s no point in hiding.”
Guys.
The mimicry was removed, revealing its silver-gray body.
“oh my god.”
“I can’t believe there were so many people hiding in here.”
Let’s solve all the mimicry.
What appeared before my eyes were dozens of giant jelly-shaped monsters.
If you say they are too powerful entities.
Just like when I dealt with Mac before, I would have had to somehow stuff the food I made into my mouth.
but.
“What should we do with mimicry?”
“I can hunt more comfortably!”
The problem with these guys is their mimicry ability.
Not that strong.
That time when I was about to rush in to hunt without hesitation.
“Uh huh?”
“These guys. “I’m about to transform into something else!”
I thought all the jellies were floating around.
Its form has changed significantly.
That appearance is quite familiar to us.
“Is it a person?”
“It seems to be a feminine form.”
Holding a sword and shield.
A woman in her late 20s to early 30s.
Even though she is a woman, she looks quite muscular.
What’s a little bit interesting is.
Excluding the sword and shield, the outfit was extremely modern.
It was in the form of a career woman wearing a tattered suit.
“Auntie Suni….”
Suyeon muttered after seeing that.
what?
“Is that that lady Suni?”
“yes?”
“…Do you look a bit young to be an old lady?”
“What do you mean, to kids, if you’re over 20, you’re considered an ajumma?”
Aunt Suni.
It was the name of the leader of the survivor group that Sooyeon belonged to.
“For sure. “You said he was an awakened warrior.”
“yes.”
indeed.
“There’s no point in hiding, and it’s hard to fight in jelly form.”
“So you’ve taken on an appearance suitable for battle.”
There must be a reason why they took that look.
Are you saying that you can only take on the appearance of objects you have personally hunted?
It’s not like they changed just to have a variety.
That’s probably the strongest form he can take.
“I don’t know, but I don’t know. “Wouldn’t the combat power be similar to the original?”
“Do you mean that number…?”
The number of monsters you see in front of you.
Similar to this side or slightly better than that side.
in other words.
The point is that we have to think of ourselves as dealing with an equal number of awakened warriors.
“I did something stupid.”
“We have to run away quickly…”
“Huh? Why us?”
“Auntie Suni is an awakened person! Even though there are that many. “It might be too much to run away…”
Now that I think about it.
There was a rumor going around among the survivors that that woman was quite strong.
An awakened warrior specialized in combat.
But I’m sorry.
“Hehehe, it’s finally becoming a little fun!”
“Make us more happy!”
Kwasik.
Faaaaang….
The monster that imitated that amazing awakened person.
They were being cut down by the hands of our soldiers.
“…uh?”
“So you said it.”
He spoke calmly to Soo-yeon, who was speechless at that sight.
“It was a stupid thing to do.”
If you were going to copy, you should have copied Gwangil.
An awakened warrior who was famous for being strong among the survivors?
“It’s a word that doesn’t have a single factor that could cause our soldiers to lose, right?”
I didn’t come down after spending a long time on the mountain for nothing.
The level raised by catching lizards.
Combat skills developed by hundreds of awakened people through competition with each other and honed in actual combat.
Equipment made from lizard leather that can withstand even bullets.
Plus a buff through my cooking.
I’m sorry.
It’s hard for just one famous awakened person to catch up.
The difference in rank is too big.
* * *
The battle ended without any crisis.
And the battle was won.
The time of the spoils has begun.
“Look! “There’s a ton of rice here!”
“I can’t use the fresh food because it’s all rotten, but I think I can take the packaged side dishes.”
“How long has it been since I last saw ramen?”
food.
“It’s toilet paper!”
“thank god. We can now protect human dignity….”
Daily necessities.
“Because it’s not a pharmacy, we only have basic over-the-counter medications.”
“Right now, this is enough to make me feel good. “More importantly, we were able to secure bandages and alcohol.”
medicine.
“Write… Ha….”
“I missed this taste.”
Even luxury goods, including cigarettes.
‘Amazing, Great.’
Considering the number of people in the group is over 100, I don’t know when these will run out.
At least you can put out an urgent fire.
no.
‘And then it’s still going to last a while, right?’
Two siblings idly standing in the corner.
It makes me want to pinch that cheek at least once!
While unit members were moving items to vehicles.
“Sergeant Shin?”
“Uh oh. I’m here?”
“The empty bottles you mentioned. “I brought it.”
“oh. thanks.”
“no. “I have nothing to thank you for, but…”
I asked some soldiers to bring me some empty bottles.
“What are you going to use this for?”
“hmm. “You’ll know when you see it.”
Empty bottles brought by soldiers.
I’m there.
Phew….
Silver-gray jelly spread on the floor.
I picked up the [blue water droplets].
“Sergeant Shin Youngjun? “Are you sure you want to use it for cooking too?”
“oh. “You’re kind of sharp.”
“Ugh….”
The soldiers are scared.
Still, they each held a bottle in one hand and squatted on the floor.
The guys start picking up the jellies together.
“It feels the same when you touch it. Just by looking at the cancer, it looks like jelly… Are there any dishes that use this?”
“You just have to make the recipe. Well, I guess I should try making it too.”
I don’t know, but I don’t know.
It is a monster that possesses the ability of mimicry.
“I think if you cook it well, you can make something great.”
Let’s keep doing that.
“Youngjun.”
“huh? “What’s going on, bro?”
Minjae hyung approached from afar.
My brother smells like cigarettes, as if he had just tasted cigarettes for the first time in a while.
“Are you planning on using these guys as material too?”
“for now? Even if the result is worse than expected, there will be no loss.”
“hmm. “Then… come here for a moment.”
“huh?”
Let’s head to the place Minjae calls.
Several of Wizard Joe’s soldiers were standing there.
“what’s the matter?”
“You’ll know when you look inside.”
Let’s approach a little closer to see what it means.
I saw soldiers surrounding me.
“…This can’t be right.”
“It’s as you expected.”
A silver-gray jelly similar to the one I had picked up so far.
If there is a difference.
“Is he alive?”
“It just so happened.”
That the core remains intact.
Even though he couldn’t move actively, he seemed alive.
“How did it happen? If you kill it, you kill it. Why did it become like this?
“Hmm. Because I and the wizards are not confident in close combat. First of all, we were able to render them incapable of combat by attacking them with their own magic. That’s how I joined the battle…”
“I couldn’t hit the core with magic, so I couldn’t kill him and was just suppressed like this?”
“That’s right. “I thought it might be helpful when cooking.”
hmm.
I remembered the ‘preparing method’ learned through the eyes of a chef.
[Some people classify it as a subspecies of slime, but there is an opinion that it is difficult to consider it as a slime due to the nature of being restored as long as the core is intact.] ‘It feels like the core is the key and the
rest is not important.’
then.
Wouldn’t the core have more concentrated nutritional value?
“Let’s take care of it.”
“yes?”
“Is it okay to take a living monster?”
“These guys. The means of attack was ultimately that silver-gray jelly. “The core was just a weakness.”
The body is the core.
But I guess that means there is no fighting ability there.
“It seems like the nutritional value is concentrated in the main body. “I want to leave it as fresh as possible.”
“Hmm. “That’s the sergeant’s decision.”
There were several more monsters that Minjae and the wizards subdued.
We put their cores in a bottle and sealed the entrance.
…If you manage these guys like this, they won’t dry out or die, right?
After finishing all the work.
Around the time I boarded the vehicle and was about to return to the unit.
“….”
Siblings Suyeon and Suhyuk were seen.
He is still blankly watching us.
“what’s the matter? “Like a crazy person.”
“…those monsters. “She was really as strong as Aunt Suni.”
“Ah, it seemed like it was.”
“I can’t believe that even though there were dozens of women who were that strong, I was no match for them…”
“Huh?”
“Oh no.”
Soo-yeon speaks while squeezing her younger brother’s hand.
“I thought it was a good deal.”
Eat.
“Thanks to you, we also gained a lot. “It’s a win-win.”
“Are you letting us join your unit as promised?”
“okay. However, free riding is not allowed.”
There is a difference between taking someone under protection and joining them.
“Sooner or later you too will have to take up arms. “It probably won’t take that long.”
You can’t just protect them because they are children.
Because the world has become like this.
There may be situations where we cannot protect even if we want to.
You have to develop the power to protect yourself.
“Even when I was in the survivor group, I didn’t get a free ride.”
“Me too!”
“Kuhkkk. That’s right.”
Come to think of it.
The way he was swinging the ax at me was quite harsh.
I had a feeling these guys would make good soldiers.
I’ll have to make it so that at least one person can make it.
Of course, the awakening procedure must be carried out as safely as possible.
Come to think of it.
Although it is not perfect, a temporary home called an official residence has also been established.
Restrictions on movement have been relatively reduced through vehicle modifications.
I will be able to survive for a while with what I got today, including food and other daily necessities.
hmm.
I feel like I have some free time.
then.
“Speaking of which, shall we start tomorrow?”
“…yes?”
at las.
I think the time has come to increase the number of awakened people.