The Cook of a Perished World - Chapter 98

Episode 98: The Avengers (3)

Those whose purpose is to hunt monsters.

I also seemed to understand why Taewan was reluctant to join them.

It’s best to avoid crazy people.

It’s definitely not wrong.

‘People obsessed with revenge.’

Those whose only goal is revenge on the monsters who took away their daily lives.

Even outside, there were often people burning with hatred for monsters.

This is a group made up of only those people.

‘I understand why you fought without sacrificing your body.’

For those whose purpose in life is revenge, the safety of their own bodies is not that important.

Changsu scratched his head and said.

“what. Something like that. “Do you roughly understand our situation?”

“yes. “Roughly.”

“We are fighting with those fish every day. But as you can see, everyone is desperate to kill the monsters as painfully as possible. “Capturing him alive is not as easy as you think.”

“ah. so.”

“It was fortunate that some of the fish people you hunted were alive. After the battle is over, people’s excitement tends to decrease. Thanks to this, the number of awakened people will increase by three. “It’s a really good thing.”

-Kyahahahaha!!!

A woman was seen repeatedly thrusting a spear into the dead body of a monster.

Is it okay to say that this is a good thing?

I glanced sideways at Changsu and asked.

“then. “Do you have a similar situation?”

“Me? Compared to other people, I am not in a great situation. “I thought I was finally going to get rid of my bachelor label and get married, but my marriage partner disappeared.”

“….”

It sounds like a pretty big situation.

“I think that’s enough of our story.”

It seems like he doesn’t want to talk about this any more.

Changsu changed the topic of conversation.

“You came to visit us on purpose?”

“yes. “I heard about you guys from other people I met before I came here.”

“okay? “People in other buildings won’t look upon us very kindly.”

“Did you know?”

“Do we look like clueless bastards? what. “Let’s hear the story of why those guys came here.”

Changsoo crosses his arms and poses as if to say something.

Those who are burning with revenge.

They all have pretty sad circumstances, though.

Of course, it burns with hostility towards monsters.

These people have reached an average level due to long battles.

‘The best ally.’

* * *

“therefore. “This is the dungeon, and you are trying to catch the boss of this dungeon…?”

“you’re right.”

“Hmm.”

I told the same story I told Tae-wan.

Changsu scratches his head at the complicated story.

“First of all, let me ask you, what happens if the dungeon is closed like that? “Are we all going to die together when the dungeon collapses?”

“No way.”

The dungeon is the result of terraforming by beings from another world.

The collapse of the dungeon means returning the distorted environment to its original state.

“A distorted environment is the point where the sun does not rise or the water that covers the city. And I’m guessing you’re talking about monuments with strange characters erected here and there.”

I guess there was something more unusual that we didn’t know about.

Anyway, that kind of thing disappears.

When Changsoo heard that, his eyes suddenly lit up.

“No, wait. “That sea of water disappears?”

“That will most likely happen.”

“Then since the fishmen can’t breathe outside of the water… they will naturally be wiped out.”

He rubs his chin and smiles grimly.

“Not only is it not enough to kill the monsters, but they also dry out the seeds… and suffocate them to death. Isn’t it one of the most painful deaths…”

“Yes?”

“ah. I’m just talking to myself, so don’t worry. your suggestion. “I like it very much.”

I was a little dumbfounded when I heard that reaction.

‘Don’t you usually focus on being able to go outside?’

They didn’t seem to be interested in anything else at all.

As a result, the monsters are annihilated.

A man muttering as if he liked only that part.

But whatever.

What’s important is that they seem to like our proposal.

‘As long as it helps you conquer the dungeon, you don’t need to worry about anything else.’

I thought I could persuade them more easily than I thought.

“But it will be difficult.”

“yes?”

What is this person?

Didn’t you just giggle as if you really liked it?

“I like the offer. “Especially the fact that you can kill all the monsters.”

“Then why…”

“How can I trust you?”

Changsu crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.

“I’m not lying.”

“Let’s take a hundred steps and say that the story about dungeons and such is true. But I don’t know if you guys are worthy of fighting together.”

“….”

hmm.

It’s not wrong, though.

“In the first place. “I wonder why you came here.”

“what do you mean?”

“There is a clear reason why we kill monsters. “Revenge.”

He gestured around and continued talking.

“As I said before, Lady Yeongja’s entire family was eaten by monsters. That young man over there barely survived because of his brother’s sacrifice. That’s not all. excuse me. Can you see that room?”

“yes.”

“It’s the biggest room in this building. “There are people lying in there.”

Lying down.

I thought it was a room used as a bedroom.

“I lost my mind and just stared into space.”

“…?”

“People lost a lot because of the last incident. “Some of them were busy thinking about their future, and some of them were just like us, driven by a desire for revenge.”

As Changsu continued speaking, his expression suddenly darkened.

“But… some of them couldn’t handle the terrible reality and lost their minds. Many of us have family friends who have lost their minds like that. He joined our group with the driving force of his anger toward someone who did something to someone close to him. But what about you?”

Changsu questioned with an expression that seemed incomprehensible.

“There are people who know that this is a dangerous place, but still come here. “I just don’t understand.”

indeed.

I guess that’s why it’s unbelievable.

You can’t trust people who don’t know your purpose and motivation.

After hearing Changsu’s story, I thought.

The reason we entered the dungeon.

One is because a request for salvation came in.

One is to successfully conquer dungeons to obtain rewards and increase strength.

but.

To be honest, I had a different motive for choosing the strategy.

“Do you know that?”

“?”

“This dungeon. “It’s expanding little by little.”

“I know roughly. “We are not fools either.”

A dungeon is terraforming by beings from another world.

in other words.

“Not only have they invaded human territory, they are gradually expanding their territory.”

“What is that…”

“You’re pissed.”

If normal daily life continued.

By now, I would have been discharged from the military and become a civilian, so I would have been leisurely studying cooking.

Or maybe he was on a trip commemorating his discharge from military service.

I feel angry just because my daily routine has been disrupted.

They invade our territory and make it their own.

It’s annoying.

“Isn’t it possible to give them what they want?”

“no. “You came into this dangerous place for just that reason?”

“It may be dangerous now, but in the end, it will be the way to survive.”

The environment of this dungeon is a bit unusual.

Even if you don’t engage in a full-scale battle with the monster.

If you’re on a high floor with no water, you can somehow survive.

but.

That way, your lifespan will only increase slightly.

“If you just hang on to high rises, you’re bound to get hunted at some point.”

“….”

“We have no intention of doing whatever they want. I will continue to build strength to survive. To do that… have you ever played the game?”

It may be a random question, but.

Changsu nodded as if he understood what I was trying to say.

“…If you succeed in conquering a dungeon, you will be rewarded greatly.”

“Something like that.”

Changsoo still looks at me with suspicious eyes.

If we’re going to conquer a dungeon together, we’ll have to trust and have each other’s backs.

You’re probably trying to carefully choose whether you can trust it or not.

“I think this story is going to be a little long.”

He sighed and said.

“I need to think about it. “It will take some time, so please stay here in the meantime.”

“You mean here?”

“We have a small number of people. There’s a lot of space left. Let me give you an entire floor. I’m hungry. “Have you had your meals?”

Come to think of it.

‘I didn’t know it was because it was a place where the sun didn’t rise, but the effects of the food I ate earlier had disappeared for a while.’

It’s almost dinner time.

“It doesn’t look like there’s a lot of food, but I’ll treat you to it.”

“yes? “You don’t have to.”

I’m a chef.

Is there any reason to have someone else cook?

But Changsu probably thought I was being polite for no reason.

“Looking at it, it doesn’t look like the military equipment is light and there is a lot of food?”

“that-.”

“I’m saying this because you don’t have to refuse. Unlike other groups, we often go directly into the water. This means that you have more opportunities to obtain food than others. Compared to other groups, we have a lot of food to spare. “You don’t need to worry.”

Most of the military combat rations loaded on the vehicle were stolen by the survivors they had previously met.

It is true that soldiers’ uniforms are light as they do not know when a battle will occur.

I guess it didn’t seem to them that we had a lot of food.

‘I have no qualms about saying that.’

Even if what Changsu said is true, his situation is only a little better than others.

There won’t be too much food.

Nevertheless, why bother offering to treat them to a meal?

“You have to treat guests well.”

“….”

“Thanks to your concessions, the number of awakened people has increased. “It’s not difficult to provide at least one meal.”

Although it is surprising.

It was a very different reaction from the people I met just before.

‘They actually threatened to give us food.’

No matter what, it is a consideration that I am grateful for.

If you say something like that, it would be rude to refuse even more.

“All right.”

“uh. Sergeant Shin…?”

The unit members were a little upset because they couldn’t eat my meal.

Is there any way to look at it that way?

“Can’t we just eat combat rations?”

“They said they would treat me to a meal. “Isn’t it polite to refuse?”

“But still.”

“You won’t die from eating bad food for just one meal. Hey guys .. hey guys.”

“Keueuung.”

After saying that to the soldiers in a low voice.

For now, I decided to wait for the meal to come out.

Rattling.

Chiiik….

People who start cooking by relying on the light of a torch.

Even if it was cooking, there was nothing special about it.

Cleaning and grilling fish in the corner.

Just add some rye bread from the store.

‘It’s poor.’

From the point of view of cooking sickness, I am worried that it may cause malnutrition or something like that.

If you think about it, you said that awakened people are not prone to malnutrition.

‘No… rather than not suffering from malnutrition, it feels like I’m forcing myself to maintain my broken body by consuming magical power.’

It might not be a very good way, though.

It’s not like they have a choice.

If you are an awakened person, you will not die even if you eat just that.

however.

There were people who disappeared somewhere with finished dishes.

“Where are these people going?”

“ah. “That one.”

It was a trivial question.

The answer I heard was quite heavy.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? “There are people who need to be fed.”

“…ah.”

Come to think of it.

I did say something like that.

‘There are people who have lost their minds…’

I slowly got up and followed them.

They take their dishes and enter a room in a corner of the building.

There were a few people in the room.

“….”

“Baa….”

He seemed to have lost his mind.

People sitting blankly staring into space.

‘People who have gone crazy.’

People like that almost appeared in our unit.

A sudden monster attack.

Even on the first day, there were a lot of guys staring blankly into space and talking nonsense.

‘Our unit somehow managed to keep their spirits up through cooking.’

and.

I haven’t seen them like that since I came down to earth.

There is probably one reason.

‘I guess all the people who couldn’t adapt to the changed world have died.’

Unlike outside.

There is no way to get killed in this dungeon unless you jump into the water.

So it seemed like there were still people who had lost their minds like that.

“There are many of us who joined because someone we knew ended up like that. “They are all acquaintances of someone in the group.”

“The humidity is high and hygiene doesn’t look very good. “Are there any disease issues or anything like that?”

“well. I can provide nursing care by changing positions little by little with only shallow knowledge, but that is all. Strangely, no one got sick.”

“I guess not even viruses can move around in here?”

“I’m wondering if that’s the case for us too. I don’t know if I can say I’m lucky. Even then, there are very rare cases where he comes to his senses. “It’s literally rare.”

Come to think of it.

The middle-aged woman who went through an awakening earlier also felt that way.

‘Is this an example of that person coming to his senses at some point?’

by the way.

hmm.

“wait a minute.”

“hmm?”

I approached those who were trying to feed a person who was lying down.

“Is there a problem.”

The people who take care of the bedridden people are probably family members or acquaintances.

They sent me some hostility.

I shrugged my shoulders and ignored the mixed look in my enemy’s eyes.

I approached those who were lying down and checked their condition.

It’s like a state of health, of course it can’t be good.

[Ingredients Identification (Enhanced)]

[Freshness – Average]

‘Is it because they took good care of it in their own way? ‘Not everyone is in the worst condition.’

The environment is very humid and not very hygienic.

If I had gotten sick, I wouldn’t have been able to last long, but maybe it was because of the special nature of the dungeon.

Even with an average level of care, the condition wasn’t that bad.

‘If it’s like this… will it be enough?’

After I organized my thoughts.

He said while looking at Changsu.

“You said you would treat me to a meal earlier.”

“hmm?”

“I will also refuse.”

“…? Suddenly I don’t know what you’re talking about. If your heart feels heavy after seeing them, there is no need to do so. “Like I said before, it’s about one meal.”

“no. “I’m not saying this to be polite.”

He stood up, looked at Changsu, and said.

“I think the food I cooked will taste better.”

“….”

Changsu looked at me with a puzzled expression.

That’s just ridiculous.

When you say to someone who offers to serve you a meal,

‘My cooking will taste better than yours.’

What kind of crazy person would say no to this?

But what can I do?

That’s true.

“…Are you serious?”

“yes.”

“…Then what? Do whatever you want. however.”

Changsu tilted his head and looked at the baggage of our unit members.

“As I said before, it doesn’t look like they brought a lot of food with them?”

“ah. You don’t have to worry about ingredients. As a bonus.”

I ignored the quizzical looks of those who were looking at me.

He said while squatting on the floor.

“I will prepare meals for the others, so please tell them not to eat and to wait.”

“What do you mean…”

After sitting on the floor like that.

I stretched my hand toward the floor of the building.

An awkward posture, as if picking up a coin that had fallen on the ground.

The moment that hand touched the floor.

Sigh.

“What what!?”

People’s panicked voices were heard.

Of course.

It would have looked like my hand had gone through the floor.

Ignoring the confused people.

I spread both hands that had penetrated the floor.

OK.

Wow.

I felt someone handing something into my hand.

I grabbed the item and placed it on the floor.

People who saw that muttered as if they were dumbfounded.

“…cabbage?”

It didn’t end there.

chin.

Wow.

Boom….

“Cabbage, carrot, cucumber….”

“What is that? “There are eggs and meat as well?”

“…Why is the frying pan coming out of there?”

The floor…or rather, the floor.

Cooking ingredients piled up every time I put my hand in and out of my shadow on the floor.

By the time the materials that had been taken out had piled up in huge quantities.

He said while looking at the dumbfounded people.

“This should be enough, right?”

If anything is lacking, just tell me.

I can take out as much more as I want.