[Acquired ‘Novice Grade Cooking Secret: Enlightenment of Primate Preparation’] 

As per the system’s info “Chef’s Eye” only worked on food ingredients. Turns out it also works on humans too, and that too his own comrades. 

“……” 

I could sense multiple pairs of eyes on me while I was busy reading the system description about Primate Preparation. Wondering what was going on, I looked around, only to find some soldiers giving me uneasy looks. 

“What’s going on?” 

Was it because I was unarmed, while everyone else was on guard and fully armed? Or could it be that the information about primate preparation was visible to others too? 

Fortunately, it was neither. 

“Sergeant Shin?” 

“Huh, what?” 

“What’s with that appearance…?” 

Taking a look at myself, I realized my condition was beyond words. 

My face was smeared with grease and monster blood from the kitchen, and my once navy blue colored kitchen uniform was soaked dark with the monster’s blood. 

The sushi knife in my hand was sticky with the monster’s flesh. 

‘It’s not even a horror movie.’ 

No wonder everyone else was feeling unsettled looking at my present get-up. 

“It seems difficult now; But I should wash up as soon as I get the chance later.” 

But what concerned me more was… 

“What happened to you guys?” 

I might not have been in my best shape, but the others gathered there weren’t either. They all had pale faces devoid of color, and some soldiers were trembling with fear. 

The one who spoke to me seemed to have a strong mentality, but upon closer inspection, he was trembling slightly all over. 

“We…,” 

After listening to their explanation, it wasn’t much different from what I expected. They were just chatting and watching TV on the weekend when suddenly the TV went blank. As they were all trying to figure out what happened, monsters smashed through the windows and invaded. 

Many people died. 

The surviving soldiers managed to grab guns from the armory and fled to the ammunition depot, where they replenished their bullets and fought. 

“Normally, the keys to the armory should be kept at headquarters, but our unit didn’t bother with that.” 

“Thankfully we were a combat unit.” 

The keys to the armory, which should have been kept at headquarters, were in the living hall, and the keys to the ammunition depot were in the pockets of the ammunition control soldiers. 

Normally, they would curse about military life, but if the keys had been farther away, even more people would have died. 

Should I say they are lucky…? 

“And, Sergeant Shin, how about the rest of the cooks…?” 

After finishing the story, the guy cautiously opened his mouth. 

“They’re all dead except me.” 

“I-I’m sorry.” 

“It’s not your fault.” 

My subordinates, Jun-hyuk and Yong-jun. 

“They were good guys.” 

Jun-hyuk, like a seasoned cook, was good at kitchen work and had a sharp personality. Yong-jun, the youngest, was a bit slow and not that good at work, but he had a very kind personality. 

In the kitchen, I used to scold and yell at them, as their senior. But they didn’t deserve to die like this. 

“…I’m the only one left.” 

Perhaps because I realized I had survived, my tension eased a bit. 

Now, I finally felt the reality sinking in. 

Feeling melancholic for no reason, I looked up towards the sky. 

A soldier approached me from the ammunition depot. 

“Sergeant Shin. Lieutenant Kim wants to see you for a moment.” 

“Me? Why?” 

“Not just you. He is calling all the top officials from different departments and counting the number of heads who escaped from those monsters.” 

“Oh, I see. Since it’s the weekend, there aren’t many officers left in the unit, so we should listen to the soldiers’ opinions too.” 

Normally, in emergencies like this, officers would exchange opinions and then convey them to the soldiers. 

But today, when the incident happened, it happened to be the weekend. 

There wouldn’t be many officers left in the unit, and they would want to listen to the soldiers’ opinions too. 

“…That’s, it’s not just a small number.” 

“Huh?” 

“Of the five officers who were at the unit today, excluding Lieutenant Kim, all of them have passed away.” 

As he continued speaking, the soldier’s complexion gradually darkened. 

“Even the officers…” 

I didn’t know what was going on, but one thing was for sure: the situation was not good. 

Some of the soldiers were sitting in corners, hugging their knees and sobbing. 

And some were staring blankly into space, as if they had completely lost their minds. 

“Oh dear…” 

Heading to where Lieutenant Kim had called, I saw that some other unit members had arrived before me. 

And among them, there was a man sitting in the middle. 

“Young-joon finally here? Sit over there.” 

Lieutenant Kim Hyun-seok. 

*** 

At first glance, he wasn’t such a bad guy. 

Or rather, you could even say he gave a favorable impression. 

He was young, tall, and had a somewhat trustworthy face. 

Many people initially wanted to be friendly with him because of his appearance. 

But when you get to know him, you will find he is incompetent and greedy, and a rather troublesome officer at that. 

At first, I tried to impress him by cooking decently. 

But later on, whenever an unappetizing dish came out, he would say, “Young-joon, make me another dish later,” and even place an order separately. 

“And this guy is our unit’s top ranking officer now.” 

I felt a headache coming but I sat down without showing any signs of discomfort. 

Gradually, the other senior soldiers from various departments began to arrive. 

“Seongho from the transportation unit is here? Wasn’t he a senior soldier?” 

“Oh, that. Sergeant Kim Junggyo… He’s… passed away, no… he’s gone.” 

“Uh, huh? Uh oh. okay.” 

Lieutenant Kim swallowed his words awkwardly. 

“Why are you asking that now…? What are we supposed to do about the atmosphere?” 

About half of the soldiers gathered here by department were not the top brasses of their departments. 

The original top-ranking soldiers were either dead or not in their right minds due to these sudden events. 

Only those soldiers who managed to maintain their sanity even in such situations had gathered there. 

But… 

“Ugh….” 

“Damn it. Damn it. Damn it….” 

Someone was retching as if recalling someone dying. 

Another guy was even muttering curses under his breath while clutching his head. Most of those sitting there were just trying to hold onto their sanity somehow. 

They seemed to be on the brink of madness. 

Even I, thinking such thoughts, couldn’t shake off the image of junior soldiers being devoured. 

“Ahem, then let’s start with a headcount. Could someone start by reporting the numbers for each unit?” 

In the meantime, it was necessary for us to understand the situation, and even more important was understanding and considering everyone’s opinion about this situation. 

After most of the top-ranking soldiers had gathered. 

The meeting began. 

“There are ten members in the transport unit.” 

“The radar unit has seven… members.” 

“Only one member left from the cooking unit,” I answered. 

I listened carefully to the numbers other soldiers were reporting. 

I learned a very shocking fact from their conversations. 

“About a hundred people have survived.” 

As a cook, I knew well the number of people eating in our unit. And I can roughly remember that there should have been over 200 people staying at the base on weekends. 

“Nearly half of them died.” 

I expected there to be many casualties. 

But to this extent… 

“May I give a report as well?” 

The one raising his hand was Sergeant Lee Min-jae from the communications unit. We were only a rank apart, so we were like brothers to each other. 

Amidst the confusion of most soldiers, Min-jae maintained a semblance of composure. Come to think of it, Min-jae was the last to arrive at this meeting. 

“We checked with the newcomers before coming here, and it seems we’ve lost contact with the outside.” 

“What?” 

“All regular communication channels are down, and emergency networks are dead too. TV, radio, everything. Intranet, military frequencies… we tried all possible means of communication, but it seems everything’s cut off.” 

What? 

What’s going on? 

“Is this… some kind of nonsense?” 

It wasn’t just me who was taken aback by the sudden news. 

I could feel the murmurs of confusion among the other soldiers nearby. 

“So, so you’re saying there’s absolutely no way to contact with the outside?” 

“What? Did North Korea set off an EMP or something?” 

“No. The military has safeguards even if an EMP goes off!” 

Confusion was already spreading subtly among the gathered soldiers. 

While a handful of remaining rational thoughts tried to suppress it, the news of the severed contact with the outside world ignited a rapid spread of confusion. 

“Oh my, are we all going to die here!?” 

“If we can’t contact the outside, then what about our families…?” 

Everyone’s gaze turned towards Lieutenant Kim amidst this clamor of the confused soldiers 

“Lieutenant Kim… What should we do now?” 

Humans tend to seek refuge when anxious. 

The only officer left in the unit. 

In other words, Lieutenant Kim, who was currently the commander of our unit. 

I secretly hoped that he, being the only officer, would organize this chaos and give rational orders. 

At least if there were clear objectives perhaps the soldiers’ anxiety would diminish somewhat. 

But… 

“Well, um. I’m not sure either….” 

What? Rational orders? 

It was unreasonable to expect that from Lieutenant Kim. 

“If you don’t know, then what should we do!?” 

“Ugh!” 

“Hey, hey! Calm down!” 

Amidst the escalating confusion. 

Someone managed to restrain a frantic soldier who was rushing towards Lieutenant Kim. 

Lieutenant Kim, who had been holding his head, suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up. 

“Well, well. You said contact was lost, right? Maybe we should send a few soldiers to try and establish contact with the higher-ups? We need to receive orders from higher-ups to do anything, after all.” 

“…Isn’t that dangerous?” 

Although I reluctantly voiced my opinion. 

It was me who hastened the decision. 

Our unit was a first-class emergency unit stationed in a mountainous area at an altitude of 1,400m. 

It took an hour from the entrance of the mountain to reach our unit, which was a first-class emergency unit. 

“Even if they go by car, it will take at least two hours to reach the higher-ups from the mountain, and if monsters attack during that time…” 

It wasn’t for nothing that communication was cut off. 

Sending people to contact the higher-ups might result in them never returning. 

I thought it might be safer to stick together with the armed unit members. 

“It may be risky… but it’s necessary! Let’s select volunteers for the same.” 

Lieutenant Kim seemed determined not to give up on contacting the higher-ups. 

‘…Maybe he doesn’t want to be in a commanding position.’ 

If it were a normal situation, it might be understandable, but in a situation where monsters were attacking humans… If he took the reins of judgment and made a wrong decision, the aftermath would be enormous. 

While I could understand not wanting to take on such an important role… 

‘That’s not how a commander should appear.’ 

Several soldiers, including me, who still had some judgment, wore uneasy expressions. 

But since an officer said so, we couldn’t refuse. 

In the end, it was decided to gather volunteers and send them to the higher-ups. 

“Alright, alright… Until we establish contact with the higher-ups, the principle is to stay in the unit…. Young-joon, how much food do we have left in our unit?” 

He directed the question towards me. 

I quickly racked my brain to get an answer. 

“Uh, since the rations came in on Friday, we have about five days’ worth of basic rations, and in addition, we have about six weeks’ worth of emergency rations. Considering the reduced number of personnel, it should be about two months’ worth.” 

“Is that so? What about ammunition in the unit?” 

Another soldier answered that question. 

“We used up all the training ammunition last week, so we only have combat ammunition left in reserve. It’s not a small amount, but if there’s no additional supply…” 

“It’s not enough, then? But if the monsters don’t show up then it shouldn’t be a problem, right?” 

“Well, yes. But if they appear out of nowhere, it’ll be a huge problem, won’t it?” 

Various discussions followed. 

How to deal with the remaining monsters within the camp. 

What to do about electricity and water. 

How to protect the unit until contact is made with the higher-ups. 

‘At least now we have a goal to wait for contact from the higher-ups.’ 

As an immediate goal emerged. 

The soldiers, who had been confused, were able to conduct the meeting in a somewhat calmer manner. 

“Alright, let’s go with that plan, and as for the rest… well, we’ll leave it to improvisation as we go!” 

…It wasn’t exactly reassuring. 

“Then, let’s adjourn for now.” 

As the conversation seemed to be coming to an end, Lieutenant Kim rose from his seat. 

The other soldiers were nodding and pulling their chairs back. 

Except me. 

“Huh?” 

The meeting ends like this? 

Didn’t we just skip the most important topic? 

“Um, what about awakening?” 

“?” 

I raised my hand tentatively. 

Everyone seemed puzzled by my question. 

“What’s going on? Am I saying something strange?” 

I gained some strange power after killing the monster. 

Naturally, I expected some discussion about that, but instead… 

Nobody seemed to even know what awakening was. 

“Didn’t you all say you hunted monsters?” 

“Yeah. We managed to hunt them down with guns somehow. What’s the big deal?” 

What? 

Am I the only one awakened here? 

I clearly awakened right after hunting the monster. 

“…Is awakening random, or is there an issue with hunting with guns?” 

The important thing is that they don’t know about awakening. 

In that case… 

“Well, I have something to show you.” 

I stood up and drew the blood-stained knife that I hadn’t cleaned till then. 

Ignoring the gazes directed at the knife, I focused on the table in front of me. 

Just an ordinary wooden table with nothing special about it. 

“This’ll do.” 

Since I sat at this table, I had a strange intuition that it would work. 

“Like cutting vegetables.” 

I brought the knife down onto the table. 

And then… 

Swoosh. 

Apart from a bit of blood, there was nothing remarkable about the sushi knife. 

Yet, it effortlessly sliced through the solid wooden table. 

“Insane…” 

“W-what the…?” 

Everyone around me looked astonished. 

It’s not like I used a chainsaw. 

It’s just surprising to cut through a wooden table with a regular knife. 

There’s only one reason why this is possible. 

[Trait: Novice Dagger Mastery] 

“This is considered novice?” 

I met a monster on the way before meeting the other members of the unit. 

The sensation of piercing through the flesh of that monster lightly. 

And now, effortlessly slicing through wood. 

“It’s something even lifelong swordsmen might struggle with.” 

If this is considered novice… 

What about intermediate or advanced? 

Looking at the shocked faces of the unit members, I continued speaking. 

“After killing the monster in the restaurant, I experienced awakening, which made this possible.” 

I pointed the knife towards Lieutenant Kim and said, “You mentioned earlier that we might run out of ammunition if more monsters come, right?” 

“Y-yeah.” 

“In that case, our top priority should be this.” 

If there’s no bread, just eat cake. 

If there’s no ammunition? 

Create an army that can fight without ammunition. 

I recall the message I saw right after awakening. 

[World Event – Faction War is in progress.] 

Unite to survive! 

Build a faction or join one. 

Those who establish factions quickly might receive special rewards! 

That’s right. 

I’m going to survive. 

Discharge safely and even open a restaurant. 

To survive, I need to unite. 

‘I’ll feed you all.’ 

I have to feed this group. 

‘And then I’m turning all my unit members into awakened individuals.’