After the dungeon raid ended.

Although it was a success, there were still two things weighing on my mind.

'One is the man who escaped from the dungeon and came to us for help.'

The squad members seemed unconcerned, barely paying attention to anyone outside the unit.

But that man had definitely escaped from the dungeon.

How he managed to flee and reach us was a mystery that would only be solved when he woke up, now lying at the munitions base.

And the other thing was—

The last battle inside the dungeon.

The strange phenomenon that occurred within my own body during that fight.

‘An absurd regenerative power.’

The sight of the hole in my abdomen healing at a visibly fast pace.

Even now, thinking about it feels bizarre.

“Did you... turn me into a vampire?”

This sudden regenerative power.

If it wasn’t the effect of some dish, there was only one event that came to mind.

‘A vampire.’

A creature capable of transforming a perfectly normal human into one of its kind.

If I’d been turned into a vampire without even realizing it—

“No way. Master, you’re saying scary things!”

However, she waved her hand as if dismissing such an idea.

“Is it the term 'vampire' that's the problem? I’m asking if you made me one of those nobles of the night you mentioned.”

“I said no.”

She sighed, flexing her fingers with a hint of sharp nails.

I tensed, gripping the knife in my hand, wondering if she intended to attack.

But the moment her nails touched my skin—

Thump...

It was as if there was an invisible barrier.

Her nails stopped right before my skin.

“I can’t even scratch you without your permission, Master. That’s the nature of the vow to become a thrall.”

“...Then what is this regeneration?”

“Even if you say that... Hm, I do have a guess.”

She furrowed her brow and tilted her head, as if pondering something.

I wondered what she was about to say.

“If my guess is correct, this regenerative power might be a result of your own choice.”

“What?”

“Oh, you really don’t know, do you?”

A faint smile crossed her lips as she spoke.

“Master, do you know how I create thralls?”

“You’ve mentioned it before, I believe.”

The process she described for creating thralls—

First, she would drain the target’s blood completely.

Then, with their veins left empty—

“You fill them with your own blood... Isn’t that right?”

“Exactly. So do you remember what happened when you overpowered me?”

“Well... To be honest, it’s a bit hazy.”

That time was a blur.

All I could recall was the insatiable thirst that came over me after acquiring the vampiric trait and drinking her blood to quench it.

“You drank my blood, and I drank yours, right?”

“...Ah.”

Could it be—

“So, your ordinary human blood went to me, and my blood, imbued with my power, filled you up. Doesn’t that sound familiar?”

“It does sound like becoming a thrall.”

I massaged my forehead, trying to remember.

Now that I think about it—

There was a system alert when I drank her blood.

[Warning!]

[Excessive blood consumption can lead to bodily changes.]

Damn it.

“You didn’t just take a sip; you drained me dry, even up to the point where I was on the verge of ascending to a baron.”

“There were no changes when I fed you blood before. Why only now?”

“You don’t see the effects of a nutritious meal in just a day, do you? It seems the changes are only manifesting now.”

A dull headache throbbed in my temples.

“Then... does that mean I’m becoming your thrall? If so, what happens to the master-servant relationship? From what I can tell in the system—”

“Oh, I wish that were the case, but it’s not the same.”

“Not the same? How so?”

“When I create a thrall, I infuse my power into the blood I return. That power holds the command over the thrall. But the blood you took was pure, undiluted.”

“So even if your blood affects me, I won’t become your thrall.”

“Yes. What a shame~ It would have felt great to be the Master’s master.”

Was she actually pleased that I had become something akin to her kind?

She spoke with a wide grin.

'I've been letting her get too comfortable lately.'

I’d have to deal with this later.

“I heard from my thralls that magic wasn’t originally part of this world, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Even when I look at other humans, it’s strange how low their resistance to magic is. And with the blood of a noble of the night mixed into someone already sensitive to magic—”

She smirked.

“Master might be closer to a noble of the night than a human now. Would you like to test it?”

With that, she lowered her collar slightly, exposing her neck.

“If you take just a bit more, you might fully become one. How about it?”

“...”

“If I made you my thrall, you’d be limited to one job, but this way, you could still remain a chef. I’d prefer to bow to a fellow kind rather than a human.”

“Absolutely not.”

There might be advantages, like gaining more power through blood consumption.

But there were also considerable drawbacks, like vulnerability to sunlight and decreased abilities without regular blood consumption.

Even putting those aside—

I had no intention of giving up my humanity.

‘Becoming a vampire... what a terrifying thought.’

When I drank her blood, the stat boost was significant.

I’d considered using that method again once she regained her strength.

“That could have ended very badly...”

Attempting that trick again could have been the end.

I’d cease to be human and transform into Shin Young-jun, the noble of the night.

...No.

But doesn’t that seem odd?

“No matter how much a race is associated with blood, changing just by drinking blood sounds absurd, doesn’t it?”

“As I said, humans in this world have a particularly low resistance—”

“If that’s the case, then how many monster dishes have I eaten?”

Most of my body’s makeup should be attributed to monsters by now.

In that case—

I should have become a monster long ago.

‘Ah.’

Something.

A thought lingered in the back of my mind.

Before I could fully grasp it, Ariella spoke up.

“Couldn’t there be a difference?”

“...?”

“You said you cooked those monsters before eating them, right? But when you drank my blood, you did it raw and without hesitation.”

Cooking might have refined it.

The idea that a chef’s power could have influenced things.

We’d had a similar conversation in that dungeon.

When Chang-soo mentioned a certain figure—

A being who lost their humanity after consuming too many monsters and even began eating people.

‘The Insatiable.’

I felt like I’d stumbled onto an answer.

Humans are vulnerable to monster magic.

If consumed recklessly, it could turn them into a monster themselves.

‘Refining magic so it’s safe for human consumption.’

Maybe that’s the essence of a chef.

‘My species hasn’t changed, so having this regeneration isn’t all bad.’

This could be seen as a positive change.

However, I needed to look into the mysteries surrounding chefs a bit more.

“I’ll have to investigate this later.”

“Pardon?”

Luckily, there was a way to confirm things nearby.

The man Chang-soo mentioned—the human who became a monster.

Chang-soo and his group hadn’t been able to defeat him.

That creature must have been wandering around the city since we cleared the dungeon.

Now that the dungeon was closed—

He was probably holed up somewhere in this city.

‘I’ll run into him eventually.’

When that time comes—

I might finally find the answers I’m looking for.

* * *

“I’m back from patrol!”

“Alright. I’ve prepared a meal for the replacements, so eat up and rest.”

“Yes, sir!”

There was one main reason our unit decided to stay here.

It was to recruit the awakened individuals scattered around the city into our ranks.

And now, a few days later—

“So... how many people have signed up to join today?”

“Just two, sir.”

“Hmm.”

Only two.

Even the soldiers munching on their patrol meals scratched their heads in embarrassment.

“Fewer people are willing to join than we thought.”

The goal of staying here was to increase our numbers, but—

The number of recruits was disappointingly small.

“Why is that? These people wouldn’t have encountered deserters turned raiders, so their perception of the military shouldn’t be negative.”

“It’s not exactly positive, either. Word’s spread that we were the ones who sealed the dungeon.”

“Still, most would interpret that as proof of our strength, considering we defeated the dungeon’s boss.”

In a world overrun by monsters and chaos—

I thought that the military would be seen as a pillar of stability.

I didn’t expect the turnout to be this low.

“Why? I mean, there could be various reasons.”

I decided to ask Chang-soo, who was from this area and somewhat friendly with our unit, for his insight.

“It’s probably because the people in this city have always been hard to unify.”

“?”

“Didn’t I tell you before? There was a huge fight among the people here.”

Ah.

“A battle between those who had managed to stockpile food and those who hadn’t. A lot of people died during that conflict. My group was relatively well-off and strong enough, so we weren’t attacked, but—”

“I see.”

“Anyway, that fight fractured many groups. People from disbanded groups joined others, causing tension. It’s not uncommon for someone’s mortal enemy to be in a new group.”

Chang-soo shrugged.

“I heard from some soldiers that if a group of more than 100 awakened individuals forms, it becomes a guild, right?”

“Yes.”

“Despite the number of awakened individuals in this city, there’s not a single guild. There’s a reason for that. Relationships are too complicated for people to band together just because it seems like a good idea. Each person can fend for themselves without needing to join a larger force.”

I was reminded of my thoughts when I first awakened.

—If I had been a swordsman or assassin, I might have gone solo.

These people were capable of being solo operators.

If they had been ordinary, powerless individuals, they might have been eager to join us.

But those who could survive on their own didn’t feel the same urgency.

Joining us wasn’t appealing due to tangled relationships with other groups.

In fact—

“This makes it more of a shame. You’re still not planning to join us, are you, Chang-soo?”

The man standing in front of me—

Chang-soo and his group were no exception.

“Indeed, Captain.”

“Come on, join us.”

His group, which already had few members, had seen about half of them decide to join us.

‘Those who were healed by my cooking and their families.’

The ones who had been bedridden until recently would slowly go through the awakening process, but—

Those who had taken care of them already had enough experience to be considered assets.

We weren’t joking when we welcomed them with open arms.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve made up my mind.”

But Chang-soo and a few others refused to join.

“I don’t like being tied down... And there’s something I want to try with this group.”

“?”

“You mentioned that a group of 100 or more becomes a guild. I want to grow our group to that point. And once we’re strong enough...”

His gaze shifted to a distant point.

“I plan to find out why the world ended up like this.”

Since the dungeon raid, Chang-soo had clearly been doing a lot of thinking.

“To those monsters, I thought humans were nothing more than food, savage beasts. But... that wasn’t it. They were just trying to save their own young. I don’t plan to forgive them, but—”

It seemed that Chang-soo had come to the same realization I had after clearing the subway dungeon.

My conclusion had been that we were two species that could never truly understand each other.

Both fighting for survival, and only the strong would prevail.

“Think about it. If the monsters had reasons for their actions, our true enemy isn’t just those fish creatures.”

The monsters I originally sought revenge against were all dead.

The creatures that had spread across the city had suffocated when the dungeon was closed.

But he didn’t seem to find his revenge hollow or meaningless.

“As long as the phenomenon that brought the monsters remains, our fight isn’t over.”

He intended to pursue his vengeance further, deeper.

“Well, it’s not like I want bad blood between us. With most of my group joining your unit, we’ll end up staying friendly anyway. If you ever need our help, come find us.”

True.

Even within the military base in Inje, not everyone had joined up.

We should be grateful for having another friendly group on our side.

“Understood. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Oh, can I really take you up on that?”

“Pardon?”

“There’s actually something I’d like to ask for.”

It seemed a bit shameless to bring it up so soon.

Chang-soo smiled awkwardly as he spoke.

“Could we get some of those combat rations?”