“Hyung! I have an urgent report…”

“Shut up brat. You are being too loud.”

“At least knock on the door before entering.”

In a remote corner of Gangwon Province, there lies a small residential area.

The appearance of this place had changed quite a bit from the past.

Now it was surrounded by a wall made up of old fences and miscellaneous junk.

There were even small guard posts set up outside the wall, making it hard to imagine the place as a typical village.

It looked more like a fortress.

This was the territory of the plunderers operating in that area.

Among them, this was the stronghold of the most powerful faction.

At the center of the compound stood a building.

That was where only the high-ranking members resided, and a low-ranking plunderer had just come barging in to make a report.

“What’s the matter?”

“The boss is asleep. If it’s not important… you know the drill, right?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Now, go ahead.”

The high-ranking members were all top-level awakened individuals.

The lowly plunderer, trembling, began his report.

“Well, the third combat squad that went out on a mission has returned.”

“Oh.”

“That’s good news, isn’t it?”

“If it’s about third squad’s mission, you mean the information provided by the newcomers, right?”

Not long ago.

One of the survivor groups had expressed their desire to join them.

Such cases were not uncommon.

The life of a plunderer was far more luxurious compared to ordinary survivors.

However, they couldn’t just accept anyone for free.

They had proposed a deal, offering to take them in if they provided something valuable.

The negotiations had dragged on without much success.

Finally, the other side had offered quite an attractive condition.

‘Haha. Still, I didn’t expect someone to sell out a group they were in contact with.’

The information they handed over was valuable.

They provided the locations of other survivor groups they had been in contact with.

And even provided the travel route of one particular group.

Indicating where they were heading.

As per the information provided by the newly joined survivor group,

A certain group was heading towards the military zone.

Even though their leader doesn’t have any special abilities she possesses an array of diverse information.

Which would be useful to the plunderers’ group if they capture and enslave them.

For the plunderers’ slave trade was one of their most important businesses.

The deal was struck, and they generously assigned an entire combat squad to the mission.

However.

“The operation failed. Not only did we fail to capture the survivor group, but we also couldn’t loot any supplies…”

“…These useless bastards.”

The combat squad was composed exclusively of elite members, including the awakened individuals.

They had been entrusted with this task because failure seemed impossible with them around.

Yet, they had failed.

Just as the executives were about to explode with anger…

“It turns out they were up against soldiers… deserters.”

“Deserters?”

That word.

It was like cold water had been poured over their fury, instantly quelling it.

“Tsk. If they were up against deserters, there wasn’t much they could do.”

“Even a combat squad can’t win against guns. Not right now.”

“If they were deserters, it means those guys who were operating near the distant military base have wandered into this area.”

In the current state where the level of the awakened individuals had not yet risen significantly, deserters armed with guns were like a natural disaster.

Just as they were about to chalk it up to bad luck and move on…

“I want guns.”

A deep voice interjected into the conversation.

“Hyung?”

“Why aren’t you still asleep…?”

From within the building, a massive figure emerged.

The one they called hyung.

This man had a physique that defied any description of an ordinary human.

He stood over 3 meters tall, with grotesquely swollen flesh.

His whole body was visibly pulsating with abnormal veins.

The leader of the plunderers.

Gwang-jin.

As the officers caught sight of him, they thought,

‘Damn it. Wasn’t he sleeping?’

‘Why’s he coming out now?’

The reason this group could occupy a villa and leap to become the strongest band of plunderers was mostly due to this man’s strength.

However, even to his own allies, his grotesque appearance was horrifying.

The officers who followed him couldn’t help but shiver as they looked on.

“But he wasn’t like that just a while ago.”

From the beginning, his appearance wasn’t like that.

He was originally a normal human, but after awakening, he had faced the crisis of starving to death due to the lack of food.

In the end, he turned to “food” that a normal person would not have chosen.

And the result was his monstrous transformation.

On top of that he was gradually losing his humanity.

“You want to loot those deserters and get some guns. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yeah.”

When the officers heard it, they were at a loss for words and hesitated,

A subordinate plunderer who had come to report spoke up,

“But even for you, hyung. Going against those with guns might be too difficult, right?”

“What?”

“This crazy bastard…!”

Shocked, the officers responded.

“Uh, yes? Why are you all…”

Sensing the strange atmosphere, the subordinate finally realized, but it was already too late.

“You. Talking back?”

“Hyung, it’s not like that…!”

“Death Penalty!!”

The massive mass of flesh pounced on to the low-ranking plunderer.

Thunk…!

The officers turned away from the gruesome scene.

The plunderers lived by committing crimes.

But they too, not long ago, led ordinary lives.

Harsh realities often unfold unexpectedly.

“I want a gun. Get it for me.”

“Yes, understood!”

“As the boss desires.”

The officers responded, but they also had to ponder how to handle this.

“A full-scale confrontation might be tough but luring them nearby could work.”

“As if we don’t know that. The problem is how to lure them.”

“Suggesting they join us outright… but…”

However,

They soon realized their deliberations were futile.

It didn’t take long.

“Trouble! Big trouble!”

“What now?”

“Scouts reported soldiers approaching nearby…!”

“What?”

The plunderers, who were just pondering how to lure the deserters found themselves in quite a favorable situation.

The villa was fortified, considered to be a hell to soldiers.

Then,

“They seriously underestimated us.”

“Hahahahahaha. It might be better this way.”

It’s time for the hunt.

***

“The siege team has been deployed.”

This battle split into two teams for execution.

The assault team.

And the siege team.

When the plunderer extermination by the assault team begins, there will likely be those who would try to flee.

The siege team was formed specifically to capture those escapees.

Confirming the placement of the siege team,

Our assault team also began their approach towards the fortified villa.

“It turns out they’ve built a fortress.”

“That’s quite impressive.”

Iron plates sticking to the fence.

I wonder how they managed to build such walls in such a wide area.

It was kind of amateurish, but still seemed sturdy in its own way.

Then, swishhh!

Suddenly, a piercing sound cut through the air.

“Sergeant Shin!”

Clang!

The first to react to that sound was Private Jeon Gwang-il.

His glove caught the projectile flying towards me.

“What was that?”

“A crossbow bolt.”

Gwang-il showed me his hand, revealing a broken bolt from the crossbow.

“It wasn’t an ordinary attack. Probably.”

“An awakened.”

Unbelievable.

If it weren’t for Gwang-il, I would have been clueless and would have died.

Turning our gaze towards the place where the crossbow came from,

We noticed several makeshift buildings like outposts on the outskirts of the fortress.

Among them, a man rose from the ground.

Seeing his face, Jeong Soo-ah frowned and said,

“Mr. Kyung Su… I had a feeling it might be you.”

“Do you know him?”

“He’s one of the leaders from a group we used to interact with. Awakened as a crossbowman. Honestly, I suspected if there was a traitor, it might be him. Looks like my guess was right.”

In other words,

The man Jeong Soo-ah wanted revenge on was that man.

The man rose to his feet and locked eyes with her.

Smirking,

As if to say, what are you going to do about it?

He chuckled and turned around to flee.

“Are you laughing at us?”

“Showing us arrogance, huh?!”

“Gwang-il.”

“Yes, Corporal Jeon Kwang-il.”

“That guy. Capture him.”

“As you command, sir!”

The crossbow shot came from a considerable distance, and the man immediately fled at full speed.

Normally, it would be impossible to catch up to him.

But

Thud!

“I’ve got him!”

“Heh, heh…”

That’s not normal by any means.

Corporal Jeon Gwang-il, who has recently been buffed by my cooking and Lieutenant Kim’s abilities, has had his abilities further enhanced by acquiring new weapons.

Like a kitten, the man was caught by the neck and brought in.

Standing in front of him, Jeong Soo-ah spoke.

“Mr. Kyung Su. Long time no see.”

“Wh… Who…?”

“After betraying me, you’ve already forgotten my face?”

“Soo… Soo-ah, is it you? Damn…”

Maybe it’s because his vision cleared up, but the man who initially didn’t recognize Jeong Soo-ah lowered his voice.

“Can I take this person with me?”

“If that’s what the contract stipulates, feel free to. Just return him later.”

“Thank you.”

“No, please…!”

As the boy was dragged away by soldiers, she turned away and looked towards the fortress.

The guys at the outpost can be taken care of quickly, but…

“The problem is that fortress.”

Though it’s just a wall, it looks quite sturdy.

***

Attempting to break through or climb over it would expose us to attacks from enemies waiting inside.

But well, we already knew the fortress was there.

Naturally, we had prepared countermeasures.

***

“The outer patrol guards have been eliminated!”

“What?”

“There wasn’t even gunfire.”

“Well, perhaps there were awakened among the deserters.”

The outer patrol guard refers to those stationed outside the fortress.

It was risky entrusting recent recruits with this duty.

They were essentially seen as expendable forces.

But

“Already wiped out?”

We thought they were just civilians wielding guns.

It seemed that wasn’t the case.

Nevertheless, the officers didn’t consider it a major threat.

“Since entering the fortress is futile anyway.”

“Boss hopes to obtain firearms. Once we defend the fortress and the tired enemy retreats, we can send in the combat squad.”

Although we can’t accurately gauge the enemy’s size,

they were likely more powerful than the nearby militia.

The fortress-like residential area.

And inside it was their leader.

Gwang-jin.

They are like monsters, even more monstrous than the monsters that swallowed the residential area.

“Why did they dare to attack us? Ha ha ha.”

While they chuckled, they soon discovered what gave the enemy such confidence.

“What’s that?”

Something was approaching on the road leading into the residential area.

“…A battering ram vehicle?”

A massive vehicle resembling a battering ram, with a large horn attached, was charging towards the fortress wall at full speed.

“Kwaaaaang!!!”

It rammed the fortified outer wall of the fortress with its massive horn.

Originally, it took over a month to build the fortified outer wall, but it was instantly broken by the battering ram vehicle.

***

“Operation complete!”

One of the combat vehicles modified by the engineers destroyed the fortress.

The engineers, upon hearing about the fortress, quickly built the vehicle in just a few days.

Those who witnessed the vehicle approaching the fortress attempted to attack it, but the vehicle, reinforced with magical materials, effortlessly demolished the fortress without a scratch.

“The wall has collapsed!”

“Damn it, a battering ram vehicle!”

“Why would something like that even exist in this era…!”

As the wall crumbled, voices of astonishment echoed from inside.

Human figures began gathering around the collapsed wall.

***

“Hmm.”

Facing each other across the fallen fortress wall, our soldiers confronted the plunderers.

Each of them held makeshift crossbows, bows, cheap swords, and armor bought from point shop.

Compared to that,

“Weren’t they supposed to be deserters?”

“We expected them to come armed with guns. Why these weapons?”

“Their equipment seems… vastly different from ours.”

Weapons made from the front legs of Arachron spiders.

Military uniforms made from Steel Lizard leather.

Lieutenant Kim’s command and buffs from my cooking.

And the Awakened on the other side didn’t seem to make up even half of our forces.

In other words,

“Suppress the criminals!”

“For the Legion’s victory!!!”

The outcome of the battle was obvious even without looking.

“Cough…!”

“Damn it, they’re not easy to deal with…!”

Plunderers were being swept out helplessly.

Among them, there were those aiming crossbows at us from the rooftops of villas.

But,

“Kwoong…!”

“Hehe, over there!”

“Yaaa!”

Among the awakened warriors, some made battle cries and leaped towards them with Sergeant jump.

Kwajik!

With just one jump, they reached between the building’s second and third floors, stabbing their weapons into the wall.

And then,

“Pa-babababack!”

“Hehehe…!”

“What are they? Cockroaches or something?!”

Driving knives into the building’s outer walls, they crawled at an incredible speed.

In an instant, they threw themselves onto the villa’s rooftop, overwhelming the plunderers.

“…Those guys. They were capable of that too.”

Robust soldiers climbing the building’s outer walls in eerie stances.

Even I found it somewhat chilling.

I wonder how the victims of this raid would feel?

“Insane.”

“What is this? They’re monsters!”

“They’re not monsters. These bastards. They’re all awakened!”

“This many? How does that even make sense…!”

It seemed they finally realized the difference in power.

Plunderers fleeing into the interior.

“Chase them!”

“If we let them escape, they’ll cause trouble elsewhere. Don’t let a single one slip!”

Our soldiers pursued them, charging forward.

However,

Jolt.

The footsteps of our soldiers, who had been charging forward for a while, came to a sudden halt.

Inside the fortress, around the central part of the villa village,

“Gooo…!”

A colossal, monstrous creature was emerging.

“A monster? Are these guys… raising monsters?”

We also kept monsters like ‘Mac,’ so it seemed possible,

but it didn’t look like it.

“That’s our boss, our hyung!”

“Everyone, gather around boss! We’ll counterattack around him!”

So, it wasn’t a monster, but…

But

‘Boss’

…What’s that?

No matter how you look at it, it didn’t look human.

As I wondered about it with curiosity,

the creature spoke first.

“You. Just soldiers. Aren’t you?”

“…What?”

“Awakened ones. All of you?”

The lump of flesh asked with a puzzled expression.

It was a bit strange.

But anyway, as the hyung, this guy seemed to be the leader of the plunderers.

“Do we really need to talk to these plunderers?”

“Let’s stop fighting first and talk!”

Thanks to my cooking, which filled them with courage, the soldiers’ thought processes had somewhat become simplistic.

They rushed towards the fleshy monster.

But,

“Awakened ones… especially tasty.”

“Cough!?”

Gwaaaah!

The soldier from the first attacking warrior group was struck by the monster’s swinging fist and flew far away.

“Byeong-min?”

“I-I’m okay.”

The soldier who was thrown didn’t seem to be dead,

But it was still an astonishing sight.

“Our soldier, buffed by my cooking, losing in battle…”

No matter how non-human their appearance looked given the name hyung means that man was probably an awakened individual.

We had no idea there were Awakened of this magnitude besides us.

However,

‘Even if we fight, it won’t that far.’

In our unit, the was a soldier who matchup and suppress that level of fighter would be,

“Corporal Jeon Gwang-il.”

“A formidable foe… grk.”

“It’s your turn now… oh, you’re already ready.”

He was excited to see a formidable enemy.

Before I even called him, Corporal Jeon Gwang-il had already turned on the switch.

“Kahahahaha!!!”

He flew toward the fleshy monster.

***

“You pig bastard! Let me enjoy you!”

A massive fleshy creature that seemed over 3 meters tall.

Seeing it send our soldiers flying in one blow, it was undoubtedly a formidable foe.

But no matter how strong its power was…

“Krk…”

Corporal Jeon Gwang-il is the strongest warrior in our unit.

“Stop…!”

“Kahahahaha!!!”

“Cough…”

Corporal Jeon Gwang-il laughed like a madman as he hammered the fleshy monster.

Each swing of his fist engulfed in madness produced a sound like exploding air.

“You, you’re… not human…?”

Despite looking unmistakably monstrous, even from a distance, the fleshy creature’s mouth raised doubts about whether Gwang-il was human or not.

“P-please… spare me…”

Eventually, the creature that had endured Jeon Kwang-il’s onslaught fled backward.

There, other plunderers had gathered.

“Hyung is losing!”

“And that too from only one guy!!”

The awakened individuals of higher rank went to receive their fleeing hyung.

“Damn, where did these damn monsters come from…?”

“Let’s retreat for now!”

The fleshy monster joined the plunderers.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but frown.

“Are they trying to escape with their comrades?”

If it fled with its full strength, catching it might be difficult, even with our soldiers surrounding it.

Though our soldiers were surrounding it, it was uncertain if they could hold such a powerful creature.

“We must catch it here somehow…!”

Thinking that way,

I tried to command the soldiers,

but suddenly,

the fleshy monster didn’t retreat with the intention to flee in the first place.

“Huh…?”

Officers who had come to meet it.

One of them disappeared in an instant.

Due to the fleshy monster’s descending fist.

“Did it… kill its own ally?”’

Its actions were incomprehensible.

And it seemed like we weren’t the only ones who were surprised by it.

“This crazy bastard! It can’t even recognize its own allies anymore!”

Crunch.

Squelch.

The bizarre actions of the lump of flesh didn’t stop there.

Not to mention the other senior ranked plunderers nearby.

“Damn, hyung has gone crazy!”

“What do you mean that monster is hyung! Everyone, run away!”

Chasing after the fleeing plunderers,

He began to slaughter them.

But then,

There was something a bit strange.

“No bodies?”

The looters blown away by his fists.

There wasn’t a single body left behind.

And,

“It’s getting bigger.”

With each plunderer dying off,

The size of the fleshy monster was gradually increasing.

As I wondered what in the world was going on and felt bewildered,

A familiar sound reached my ears.

Ding.

[Chef’s Nemesis – Encountered with a Gourmet Glutton]

[A profession quest has been assigned]

…Quest?

[Profession Quest – Nemesis Assassination (Gourmet Glutton)]

[Slay the nemesis]

[While pursuing this quest, your combat abilities will be doubled against the enemy]