A city submerged...

No, a world now released from the dungeon’s hold and filled with awakened individuals.

There were thousands of them.

But there was a major problem.

Even though there were thousands of people capable of fighting, there was a severe shortage of food.

It wasn’t surprising that, if mishandled, thousands could turn into raiders.

Thud!

“We’ve brought the monster corpses, just as you requested.”

The surroundings of what was once an ordinary commercial building were now lined with an unidentified, steel-like gray wall. The ash-colored barrier evoked the atmosphere of a military base.

‘The Iron Legion… they live up to their name.’

The man looked around, then spoke with a doubtful tone.

“You said we’d get food in exchange for monster corpses. I came here hoping it’s true... but honestly, it’s hard to believe. If this turns out to be a lie—”

“Let’s see... Yes, confirmed. Write your name here and come back in two or three days.”

“...Hmph.”

The soldier dismissed the man’s words, jotting down something in a log.

‘The monster corpses are useless to us anyway.’

Even if it was a lie, there wouldn’t be much to lose.

The man turned away, feeling uneasy.

A few days later—

“Let’s see... Ah, here it is.”

Thud.

A bag half-filled with jerky was handed over to the man.

When he saw the contents, he spoke.

“I brought quite a number of monster corpses. This is all I get?”

“I told you the fee is 80%, didn’t I?”

“80%...”

An absurd figure for what was essentially a processing fee.

The man’s expression visibly darkened.

Even if monster corpses were considered useless, taking that much felt unfair.

Noticing his look, the soldier smirked.

“Trust me. 80% is a bargain.”

“...Is it right for soldiers to exploit people like this?”

“No matter what I say, it’ll sound sarcastic to you. But once you try it, you’ll understand.”

The man recalled how much effort had gone into hunting those monsters.

He wasn’t happy about it, but these soldiers were the ones who wiped out the monsters in the sunken city.

The soldier in front of him was even carrying a gun.

‘Being weak is a sin, I suppose.’

Reluctantly, the man stepped back.

Still, the situation wasn’t entirely negative.

“At least I got food.”

Jerky packed in his bag.

It was enough to last a week if he ate heartily or up to two weeks if rationed.

He’d exhausted his food supply while hunting monsters and hadn’t eaten for two days.

Eager to fill his stomach, the man grabbed a piece of jerky and bit into it.

At that moment—

“...What?”

A sound of surprise escaped his lips.

The meat melted in his mouth, soft and flavorful with each bite releasing juicy richness.

He had tasted premium jerky before, but—

“This is... delicious.”

No expensive jerky could compare to this.

“Am I just that hungry...? No, this taste is on another level.”

He couldn’t fathom how they processed the monster meat to make it edible.

And the source was the military.

Who expects military rations to taste good?

The man, astonished by the flavor, devoured more of the jerky.

Then, something else happened.

‘My body feels lighter?’

It wasn’t just that his hunger had been sated.

He opened his status screen.

It looked as if he’d received a buff, with bonus stats showing clearly.

The man had once received buffs from an awakened priest-type.

He had marveled at those increased stats back then, too.

“That buff was nothing compared to this.”

An incredible boost in stats.

Even if temporary, just by eating this food, his combat power had nearly doubled.

He now understood what the soldier had meant earlier.

‘With a buff like this, hunting the type of monster I did last time would be a lot easier.’

If this food made acquiring monster corpses easier—

He could get even more food through the legion.

80% felt like nothing at all.

He even wondered if he should be paying more.

“Haha... those soldiers aren’t so bad after all.”

Seeing the week’s worth of meat still in his bag, he couldn’t help but smile.

* * *

Recently, my routine had changed.

Mass-producing combat rations had become part of my daily life.

‘In the past, making even one combat ration would have taken a lot of time.’

But now, things were different.

[Talent: Mass Cooking]

[Significantly increases cooking speed.]

It didn’t take long to turn a monster into jerky.

While drying and curing the meat took at least two days, my active time spent preparing it wasn’t significant.

[Combat rations have been completed.]

[Experience points acquired.]

Even with minimal effort, I earned experience points.

And—

“Stocking up on food, huh.”

“We won’t have to worry about meat for a while.”

The city’s awakened individuals brought in an enormous supply of meat, now stored in the unit’s temporary warehouse.

The more ingredients, the better.

I even set aside special cuts with unique properties in my shadow stash.

As they said, there was no need to worry about meat.

“Sergeant Shin.”

“Hm?”

Just then, a soldier handling food-related duties approached me.

“What is it? The ingredients you brought earlier have already been processed.”

“You finished all that already...? Oh, that’s not the issue.”

He scratched his head, looking troubled.

“We told them it takes about two days for the combat rations to be ready, but some people can’t wait and are insisting.”

“What’s so hard about waiting a few days?”

Honestly, I was a bit taken aback.

This was the kind of thing soldiers could have easily handled on their own.

But many of the newer recruits, despite their improved combat skills, were still at rookie-level when it came to logistical tasks.

I thought I’d need to explain it properly, but—

“They keep saying they need food urgently to go somewhere, but I don’t really understand...”

“Go somewhere? Where?”

That changed my perspective.

I followed the soldier into the room.

“If you hunt monsters, you get food! That’s why I brought this!”

“Yes, but processing it into something edible takes time, at least a few days—”

“We’re in a hurry!”

Creak.

“Ah, Sergeant Shin?”

“...?”

I walked into the room.

A man was arguing with the soldier.

“You did well. I’ll handle this. Return to your post.”

“Ah, yes, sir. Understood. Respect.”

The exhausted soldier saluted and left.

I turned my attention to the man who’d been arguing.

“...Are you the commander of this unit?”

“No.”

As always, I left the leadership duties to Lieutenant Kim.

“I’m just the chef.”

“...The chef?”

“Yes. You’re here about the food, right? I handle all the cooking for this unit, so you can talk to me.”

The man looked at me with skeptical eyes.

He probably wondered who I really was, given that I was just a cook.

“Sigh. I suppose I have no choice. I saw a flyer recently.”

“Ah, my unit worked hard on those. Without a printer, we had to write everything by hand. It was quite the effort.”

“...It said that if we bring monsters, we’d get food. So I brought them. But now you’re telling me to wait a few days?”

I already knew this from what the soldier had told me.

I glanced at the monster corpses he’d brought.

[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]

Most of them were monsters we’d encountered near the base.

And—

“They’re mostly red. There are some orange ones, too.”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, just talking to myself.”

He looked startled when I mentioned colors out of the blue.

It must have slipped out.

But it wasn’t a big deal.

[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced) – Combat Power Assessment]

Recently, I’d been rewarded with the [Combat Power Assessment] trait for an achievement.

[Measure the combat capabilities of non-humans by analyzing their magic levels.]

[The strength of the target monster is represented by a color.]

Its function was simple.

I could now assess a monster’s combat strength.

‘Like a sort of radar.’

Awakened humans had levels that allowed for rough combat strength estimates, but with monsters, it was often a guess until a fight began.

Not anymore.

By activating the trait and looking at monsters, I could see an aura around them.

This aura indicated their strength by color.

‘Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet... weakest is red, strongest is violet.’

Most zombies showed a pale red, almost pinkish hue.

The monsters roaming the city were generally red, with a few orange ones mixed in.

But—

As I looked at one of the monsters the man had brought, I was surprised.

‘Yellow?’

A yellow-colored monster was rare in the city.

‘At least a lizard-class.’

The lizards that had attacked our unit were yellow.

And this one’s yellow aura wasn’t faint.

‘Similar to the adolescent Dasmurian we fought in the dungeon.’

Our unit could handle it one-on-one, but for the city’s awakened, it would take several to defeat it.

The wounds on the body suggested one type of weapon had been used.

“Did you take this down by yourself?”

“Yes.”

What?

This guy must be pretty skilled.

“If you’re that capable, why are you in such a hurry?”

“...I’m from Gangneung.”

“?”

“I

 was only here for work. My family is in Gangneung. I don’t know what’s happened to them, but...”

Hmm.

I could understand the urgency.

“There’s still a chance they’re alive. The longer I delay, the greater the risk that something could happen to them.”

“Gangneung... Are you planning to go alone? It’s dangerous.”

“There are others with business in the area. Just over twenty. We plan to travel together.”

Hmm.

Over twenty people planning a long journey.

Interesting.

“One moment.”

I went to the room we used as a food storage area and looked through the boxes.

“Here it is—yellow.”

A box of combat rations made from yellow-class monster meat.

I placed it in front of the man.

“Take this.”

“Th-this is...”

“It’s similar to, but better than, what you brought.”

“Th-thank you so much!”

The man bowed deeply.

“But remember, we usually cook with what you bring us.”

“I know, but—”

I scratched my head.

“I can’t hold back someone who’s trying to find their family.”

“...!”

“Normally, we take up to 80% of the meat as a fee. I calculated this at about 50%. Don’t go telling everyone; special treatment like this isn’t common.”

“Thank you so much...”

“And you said you’re going to Gangneung?”

“Yes.”

I pulled out a notebook from my pocket and sketched a rough map.

“According to our scouts, this route should be the safest. Other paths are swarming with monsters.”

“I can’t believe you’re helping this much...”

The man who had been yelling at the soldier earlier now trembled with gratitude.

“Thank you so much. I will never forget this kindness...”

“It’s nothing. I hope you find your family.”

“Yes!”

The man left, bowing repeatedly.

As I watched him go, I thought—

‘Thank me? I should be thanking him.’

* * *

As I stepped out of the room, someone spoke to me.

“Benefactor.”

It was Jeong Soo-ah.

‘Ah.’

Because of how my cooking had healed her eyes, she tended to revere me excessively.

Her powerful trait had been a significant asset to the unit.

I was even considering giving her a leadership role.

But her constant praise was honestly a bit overwhelming.

I wondered what she wanted this time.

“...I fear you’re being too generous to these people.”