The Cook of a Perished World - Chapter 74
Episode 74: Tank Battalion (2)
What Soo-hyuk said was not wrong when you think about it logically.
I shouldn’t risk my life to save two soldiers.
Rationally, I also think it is right.
but.
It’s a little difficult to act rationally while watching bleeding soldiers.
Seeing soldiers dying
reminds me of the day of destruction.
‘Right successor, Junhyuk. Youngest Yongjun.’
My successors who died before my eyes.
Even the corpses of soldiers he found while crossing the unit to join the main unit.
I found out for the first time that day.
The appearance of a murdered person is much more gruesome, disgusting, and ugly than expected.
‘I don’t want to end up like that even if I look back.’
and.
I hope that doesn’t happen to the soldiers with me.
It’s ideal, though.
Maybe I was lucky or something.
There have been no deaths yet.
Then wouldn’t it be okay to be a little greedy?
There will definitely be someone who dies someday, but
if it’s a situation where I can save them, I won’t spare myself.
and.
It’s a bit hard to say with my own mouth, though.
‘I have the ability to do that.’
[Characteristic – Environmental Assimilation]
[Completely assimilates into the surrounding environment.]
A characteristic of blue droplets obtained through [Absolute Taste].
“Sergeant Shin.”
“Has Sa disappeared?”
The effect could be confirmed by the soldiers’ reactions.
The soldiers were surprised and couldn’t spot me right nearby.
“No… look closely.”
One soldier with sharp eyes pointed to where I was and said.
“There’s something strangely moving over there.”
“It’s a shimmer.”
“Can’t you see anything?”
Most of the soldiers didn’t seem to notice even if they heard it.
The soldier pointing at me is clearly an awakened gunner.
If you’re a guy with good eyesight, you might be able to notice.
“That’s amazing.”
“A voice came out of thin air…!”
Unlike ‘blue droplets’, there are some loopholes in the characteristics I use as a human being.
It’s a pity, though.
On the other hand, it has a hiding ability that makes it difficult to even find anything unusual unless someone with a fairly good eye is paying close attention to observe it.
I plan to use this ability to visit the tank battalion in person.
Maybe it’s an infantry unit.
An all-out war with a tank battalion is risky.
If the tank were to be lost in the process, it would be a huge blow to those of us who came to capture the tank.
If there’s an easier way, there’s no reason not to choose it.
If they attacked us because of some kind of misunderstanding, it is enough to resolve the misunderstanding.
If done well, it can absorb entire soldiers from other military units.
of course.
If they attacked us even though they knew we were humans,
then they turned into beings no different from predators.
At that time, it would be okay to take a little risk.
* * *
I became invisible and started moving towards the tank battalion.
‘There was no artillery fire.’
Effects of environmental assimilation.
We were getting closer to the unit, but there was no artillery fire like last time.
We arrived at a place devastated by artillery fire.
A location where a tank battalion can be seen in the distance.
‘If you think about it. The bombardment did not take place until we got quite close.’
The performance of modern firearms often exceeds the imagination of the average person.
It is said that weapons such as howitzers have a range of tens of kilometers.
However, the actual bombardment took place at the location where the silhouette of the tank battalion began to be seen.
You can imagine the reason.
‘Because all radio waves were cut off… there would have been no way to get information from that side.’
Bombardment is never simple.
Identify the enemy’s location with the help of radar or reconnaissance aircraft.
After calculating atmospheric conditions such as wind.
Fires by predicting the enemy’s movement path.
The absurdly complex realm of physics and mathematics.
Since such complicated work was impossible at a time when information from other units was cut off,
they also had their limitations with artillery fire that depended on sight.
[Warning]
[The above area is a military area, so entry and exit of civilians is restricted.]
Let’s walk for a while.
I saw a familiar sign that I had seen several times in my unit.
Tank battalion.
And at the front gate, several soldiers were standing guard, holding guns.
When I saw that, I couldn’t help but be dazed for a moment.
‘I can’t believe there were actually other units that survived besides us.’
A man of the same age as me wearing a military uniform and holding a gun.
It may be an unfamiliar scene to others, but it is a familiar scene to those who have served in the military.
‘It actually looks more awkward now.’
It’s only been a few months.
Currently, our unit’s equipment is only in the form of military uniforms.
It was quite different from the modern military, except for the awakened shooters who used guns.
Even for me, the weapon I use is a kitchen knife.
Others have spiked steel gloves or two-handed greatswords, war hammers and bows.
Because there are even soldiers carrying sticks.
As Corporal Seo Soo-hyuk said.
It has become an organization that is quite distant from the existing Armed Forces.
Is that why?
A soldier wearing a military uniform with a national defense color digital pattern and standing guard with the butt plate on his belt.
The pure appearance of a Korean soldier without any deformed parts.
The sight that was familiar to me until recently felt rather unfamiliar.
It probably hasn’t been that long.
Is it because the density of what I have experienced so far is so high?
It feels like it’s been years.
‘It’s not the time to sit back and watch.’
Although it is surprising.
The presence of soldiers was already expected when artillery fire poured in on us.
I came here to understand the situation and resolve any misunderstandings.
‘Nothing good will happen if you reveal your identity from the front door.’
I moved my body carefully to avoid being caught.
Trying to break through the fence where there are no guards and get inside. That
was
the plan…
‘…?’
something.
I felt awkward.
I stopped walking due to a sudden sense of discomfort taking over my head.
The cause of the feeling of discomfort are those soldiers guarding the main gate.
‘Isn’t it too FM?’
Soldiers guarding the guard post.
On the outside, they are exactly like the soldiers I know.
And that was the reason it felt awkward.
That he is too much of a true soldier.
Soldiers standing on alert and looking straight ahead.
Not even the slightest movement was felt in the body.
He doesn’t even make small talk with the other soldier next to him.
‘It’s not like there’s an executive watching… You’re sticking to a physically difficult posture like that?’
I thought about the working attitude of the members of the 423rd Battalion.
Dozing off is normal.
Wasn’t it routine for them to ask their successors if they had anything interesting to say when they were bored and then rack their brains to come up with something to talk about?
‘They say that our unit was a small unit.’
It may be a unit with a particularly strong military spirit.
The appearance of monsters may have increased vigilance.
but.
No matter how much I try to think like that…
‘Something is strange.’
I turned around again and approached the soldier guarding the guard post.
There was a possibility that I would be discovered if I got closer, but I still looked at the soldier’s face.
When I glanced at him from a distance, the soldier looked fine.
however.
‘Shit.’
A soldier who doesn’t move at all.
It is not a metaphor, but rather an explanation as it really is.
These soldiers.
I’m not even breathing.
‘What happened?’
There was no trace of life in those eyes.
like.
It feels like looking at a well-made doll.
‘I need to find out more.’
He took out a knife while maintaining a slightly goosebumps look.
Suddenly.
They returned to an area where there were no security forces, cut down the fence, and entered the unit.
Soldiers stationed at each guard post and on duty.
Soldiers waiting near the tank.
As a result of carefully looking around the tank battalion.
I realized that none of them could be said to be ‘alive’.
There is one conclusion.
‘It’s completely different from what I expected.’
I thought there was no way monsters could fire a howitzer.
Of course, we decided that the surviving soldiers were hostile to us.
But no.
The soldiers of this tank battalion.
I am being controlled by some kind of entity.
‘While still performing its function as a military unit.’
There would have been nothing to be afraid of if the controlled soldiers had rushed in like zombies.
However, these soldiers strictly follow FM as if it were a command inspection.
It perfectly reproduces the combat power of a military unit.
I don’t know what is controlling them.
It will never be an easy existence.
and.
Soon I was able to discover its existence.
I continued to look around the unit to see if I could get any information.
that.
In a very unexpected place.
It was very unexpected.
‘uh?’
At first, I thought I had seen something wrong as I was passing by.
There are no buildings or important facilities nearby.
On a road in a tank battalion.
[….]
there.
There was a huge eyeball.
‘crazy. What is that.’
A monster shaped like a huge eyeball that you might only see in old movies.
It was floating in the air about 1 meter from the floor.
The moment I spotted him and was shocked by his bizarre appearance.
Bingle.
The eyeballs that had been staring blankly into space suddenly turned wide.
It felt like I made eye contact.
Although it may sound strange to say that eyeballs have expressions.
Eyeballs looking suspiciously at where I am.
I also focused my attention on him.
[The chef’s eye activates.]
[Intermediate cooking secret – Obtain ‘Enlightenment of Geyser Preparation’.]
That moment.
[——————!!!!!!!!!!!]
The huge eyeball began to flutter as if in shock.
I thought the guy’s pupils got bigger suddenly.
The guy starts spinning like crazy in the air.
‘Shit.’
It wasn’t difficult to understand what was going on.
Just as the spirit ‘Bulli’ that Jeongsooah carries around noticed that I was observing myself,
this guy also noticed the activation of my skill.
A bizarre scream rang out from a monster that seemed to have no oral structure capable of making sounds.
[—!! ——!!!!]
It began to float upwards with a strange energy surrounding its body.
I wasn’t just watching either.
‘Get rid of it before it does something strange!’
I gave strength to the [Dokgo Old Style] in my hand and threw myself down.
The moment I was about to plunge the kitchen knife into the guy who was rising higher and higher.
Taaaang—!
A gunshot rang out nearby.
“Big.”
I felt like something was grazing my cheek.
Heat suddenly rose to my face.
When I touched the area where I felt heat, a light amount of blood appeared.
A soldier at a nearby guard post could be seen pointing the first ball in this direction.
‘The reason there are no additional shots… is because stealth is maintained.’
[—!!!! —!!!!!!!]
When I failed to sheathe the knife.
The glowing eyeball rose to a height that was completely out of reach, and soon reached an altitude of more than 5 meters.
The guy who climbed to a position where it was difficult for the knife to reach.
I took out a pistol from my pocket and pointed it at him.
‘I guess I should say it was a good thing I carried it as a sidearm.’
As a non-shooter, my bullets are somewhat less powerful than swords.
Still, it might cause some damage.
[———! -!!!!!!!]
at that time.
The energy flowing through the body of the guy floating in the air began to spread around.
Some of that energy clung to my hand that was holding the pistol.
When something like a whitish mist touched my hand.
It felt like it was touching my nerves beyond my skin.
Was that not an illusion?
Percussion.
‘what.’
The hand opened its fingers one by one, against my will.
I dropped the pistol I was holding on the floor.
I got goosebumps.
‘I was manipulated!’
I quickly sent the magic power inside my body to my fingertips and pushed the energy away.
Then he swung his sword and chased away the approaching whitish fog.
The fog that touched the blade filled with the ‘Queen’s’ resentment was seen slowly retreating.
I somehow managed to drive away the energy that reached me.
The higher it rose, the wider the fog spread.
“Isn’t the reason why I went up so high was to avoid myself?”
I don’t know if I’m concentrating my strength or what.
The higher you rise, the wider the fog spreads.
Crash.
at that time.
The sound of military fire began to be heard from afar.
The soldiers touched by the wide-spreading fog seemed to be running towards this place.
I glanced up at the location of the eyeball monster.
It would be difficult to shoot it down even with a pistol if it got up that high.
Even if [environmental assimilation] is maintained when soldiers flock in, it is inevitable that they will be discovered at some point.
I left the ammunition battalion, promising what would happen next.
* * *
When I arrived at the temporary barracks where the unit members were located, I turned off [Environmental Assimilation].
Sreuk.
“What a surprise! Sergeant Shin!?”
“huh? What are you talking about. Why did Sergeant Shin suddenly… Ugh!?”
The soldiers were startled by my sudden appearance in front of them.
I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to explain in detail.
“Assemble the leaders. “I have a meeting.”
“Chu loyal!”
One soldier immediately moved to gather the scattered leaders.
“It was the exact opposite of what we expected.”
I immediately shared what happened in the tank battalion.
The soldiers are not against us.
That strange-eyed monster controls the soldiers.
That they attacked us.
“That kind of thing…”
“You’re not enough of a vampire, are you now a monster that controls humans?”
It was different from zombies, where dead humans move like animals, or vampires, who change races.
Of course they shelled us.
Even setting up security forces.
‘This means that while manipulating a human, you can even use that person’s knowledge from before they were born.’
If I were a soldier, I would have figured out the boss who attacked us and tried to resolve the issue in a moderate way.
“What are you going to do?”
“I have to hit it.”
There is no way to resolve this issue through dialogue with that monster.
“I can’t believe it.”
“That monster. “Didn’t you control Sergeant Shin’s hand even for a moment?”
“You’re a monster who can control not just anyone else, but Sergeant Shin.”
If it were just an ordinary tank battalion, we wouldn’t be much of a loser.
Awakened people are inherently powerful, and the more they gather together, the more synergy they create.
If you are determined and prepared, you may be able to penetrate the tank battalion through artillery fire and suppress them.
The problem is that eye monster.
Let’s touch the energy it emits.
Even though it was just a finger, I too was manipulated.
The soldiers, intimidated by its presence, advised retreat.
but.
There is something that others misunderstand.
If my prediction is correct.
“On the contrary, it is the opposite.”
“yes?”
“Be honest. “It will be easier than attacking a tank battalion.”
At those words, the expressions of several soldiers turned puzzled.
Conversely, the expressions of some soldiers suddenly brightened.
“As expected, Sergeant Shin.”
“There must be some way.”
I am a leader participating in a meeting.
I looked at one of them and opened my mouth.
“Soohyuk.”
“…?Corporal Seo Soo-hyuk.”
Our unit’s gunnery team leader.
in other words.
The best ‘shooter’ awakener.
sniper.
“You do it.”
“…yes?”