My unit and I managed to return to Chuncheon using the railroad.

“It hasn’t been that long since we left, but a lot has changed.”

“Wasn’t it a mess when we left, Sergeant?”

“Was it?”

Even though only a short time had passed, the cityscape of Chuncheon had changed significantly.

Monsters still roamed the streets, and certain buildings were marked as high-risk zones where even approaching them was forbidden. However, in other areas, people had gathered to form safe zones.

One prominent safe zone was near our temporary base.

As we approached the building serving as our makeshift headquarters, we noticed handwritten signs displayed on the collapsed storefronts nearby:

**[Various usable items for sale.]**

**[All items verified to be in working order.]**

**[No refunds due to buyer's remorse.]**

“Eh?”

After all, this was a city now populated by thousands of Awakened individuals. When people come together, a semblance of society forms, and within it—

“It looks like trade is becoming active.”

“This feels strange.”

This type of society probably formed around the ammunition base in Inje first. But that settlement had a communal living vibe—everyone contributed, and everyone shared. There didn’t seem to be much trade happening there.

Chuncheon, however, was different. The Awakened were spread across various groups, and the experiences within the dungeon had left many with strained relationships. Even within the dungeon, there had been exchanges whenever people needed supplies, so it made sense that trade had taken off here.

“It’s not a bad thing.”

Many items could be bought through the points shop, but they were usually overpriced and of poor quality. Trading unwanted items among the Awakened could help save points, which could then be used to enhance stats or buy random skill books for growth—definitely a better deal.

‘Investing in growth using points is far more advantageous… Wait, what?’

But something caught my eye.

**[Large-capacity camping power bank (verified working)]**

**[Price: 3 Jeon]**

It was displayed in the window of a crumbling store: a large power bank, the kind used for camping trips. I was surprised that items like that still existed in decent condition.

But the issue wasn’t the power bank itself—it was the price listed below it.

“Three Jeon?”

Jeon.

Not Won, but Jeon?

“What is this, the Joseon Dynasty?”

I stopped in my tracks, puzzled by the unfamiliar currency.

“How much for this battery?” someone asked.

“It’s written right there: 3 Jeon,” replied the shopkeeper.

“You’re telling me this battery alone costs 3 Jeon?”

A customer had entered the store and started haggling.

“It’s already been verified to work, and its capacity is over 90%. Plus, you know the power’s been out everywhere.”

“I know that, but still. This thing wasn’t even 300,000 Won back in the day.”

“What does that matter? I saw someone using a 100 million Won bill as toilet paper recently.”

“Ugh.”

…So, was 3 Jeon expensive?

“If you don’t want it, don’t buy it. I’m not forcing you. Go find a generator and some gasoline and make your own power if you’d like. Though, with the noise it makes, you’d attract monsters and zombies in no time.”

The man haggling seemed to debate for a moment before reluctantly pulling something from his pocket and handing it over.

“Consider yourself lucky I need power urgently. I wouldn’t even have looked at it for this price otherwise.”

“Thank you for your business,” the shopkeeper replied, grinning as he handed over the battery.

The item exchanged between them made me scowl.

‘Why is that here?’

It was something I knew very well.

Of course, I did—it was something I made.

‘It’s combat rations.’

* * *

“Ah, that? Yeah, I know, but I’ve been ignoring it,” said Min-jae when I brought up the fact that my combat rations were being used as currency as soon as I returned to the base.

“‘Ignoring it’? My combat rations are being used as currency—should we just let that happen?”

“Ah, does it bother you as a chef?”

“To be honest, a little.”

“I get it. But, Young-jun, don’t you want as many people as possible to survive? Isn’t that your aim?”

“Well, yeah.”

I wasn’t some saint who couldn’t stand to see people die for moral reasons.

‘The more people we have, the better our chances against the monsters invading this world.’

Besides, the more survivors there were, the more people could potentially join our unit.

More customers for my cooking, essentially.

“I was surprised at first, too. At first, the rations were just used in small trades. But soon enough, they became the standard currency.”

“...It’s a little off-putting to think that the rations I handed out to keep people from starving are being used for trade.”

“I get that. But for non-combatants, getting their hands on combat rations any way they can is essential. The buffs can save their lives in a pinch.”

As I listened, I realized I’d overlooked something.

I processed the monsters we hunted into combat rations.

It was beneficial for us as the number of monsters in the city decreased, and people got the food they needed.

But not all Awakened were combatants.

“Since they can’t hunt, they’d have to trade for the rations. The buffs could be lifesaving.”

I learned that trade in this area had taken off due to the non-combatant Awakened.

‘Non-combatants are vulnerable to looting, but no one in their right mind would try to loot near our unit.’

And since the source of combat rations—our base—was right here, it was the perfect environment for trading.

“So, through trading, my combat rations basically became currency?”

“Technically, it’s still bartering. You know how rice served as a measure of value in the old days? It’s like that.”

It was almost laughable.

It made sense, though. Traditional currency had lost so much value that it wasn’t even worth using as toilet paper anymore.

And in contrast, combat rations could be consumed and provided buffs.

Holding them offered tangible benefits, which maintained their value as currency.

Plus, since they were regularly consumed but continually produced, they circulated steadily in the market.

...With that in mind, I could see how things got to this point.

However.

“When I think about it, it kind of annoys me.”

“What’s bothering you? Is it that people are toying with your cooking?”

“No, it’s more like…”

My cooking had become currency. That was strange but not necessarily a problem.

The real issue was what I’d seen before coming here.

“So that battery is worth around three of my combat rations…?”

In other words, one of my dishes was worth less than a third of a battery that used to cost less than 300,000 Won.

Frankly speaking, that hurt my pride.

“Should we cut the supply, Hyung? That would make them more valuable, wouldn’t it?”

“Don’t even think about it.”

“Fine.”

I momentarily let my pride get the better of me and thought something ridiculous.

*Sigh.*

What can I do? If that’s what the market says my food is worth, then so be it.

It’s disappointing that the value of my dishes is low, but there’s no point in reducing supply as a solution.

The only real way forward is to improve my skills and increase the value of my cooking.

“That’s why I think we need to find a proper base soon.”

“Is this place not working out?”

“Like I said, non-combatants gather around our unit because it’s the safest place from looting. But the environment isn’t great.”

We hadn’t chosen this building with any specific criteria. It was just an empty building we moved into to have a place to sleep, so it became our temporary base.

“People are gathering around us, but this place isn’t set up to grow that into a community.”

“True.”

“The defensive facilities here aren’t the best either. To be prepared for any emergencies, we need—”

“A proper base.”

“There are a few options: the islands floating in the river or the central area that’s now in ruins.”

We’d need to handle this soon, but not immediately.

‘First, though…’

There was something I needed to do as soon as I returned to Chuncheon.

Clarify the questions about my profession.

For that, I had to track down the unusual cannibal.

* * *

“Didn’t you take care of things well at the ammunition base?”

“I heard something there.”

During our first post-return unit meeting, I shared what I’d learned about the man who had escaped the dungeon.

And the creature likely responsible for his escape.

I explained what I knew about the unusual cannibal.

“We need to find it.”

To be honest, this was a personal matter. I wanted to clear up the questions surrounding my profession.

But if I delayed and the cannibal left the area, I might never have the chance to resolve it.

I wanted to take care of it as soon as possible.

“Hmm. But even so…”

“No one’s mentioned seeing such a creature.”

A monster that ate humans.

If it had been active after the dungeon was cleared, news would have spread fast.

A creature like that couldn’t go unnoticed.

But it had been strangely silent.

Even the officers didn’t have any leads.

“Sua’s been gathering information with her spirits

, but there hasn’t been any mention of it.”

“...Spirit vision isn’t perfect.”

It was exhausting to use for long periods and required visual confirmation to work.

It wasn’t easy to find something hiding well.

‘But I don’t want to give up.’

I wanted to find it and resolve my questions.

“...Come to think of it.”

An idea popped into my head.

“You said my combat rations have become currency, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

It stung that their value was lower than I’d hoped, but it showed how important they were to people.

And—

“The ones holding the most combat rations are…”

“Us, right?”

We produced them, after all.

Nearly 80% of the finished rations were stored in our unit’s warehouse.

We even had so many now that we weren’t sure what to do with them.

When you need information and have no leads, there’s one highly effective method.

I grinned.

“Let’s use collective intelligence.”

“...?”

* * *

In the center of Chuncheon.

A marketplace had started forming around the soldiers’ base, where the Awakened gathered.

The soldiers regularly cleared nearby monsters, making the area safe.

And no one dared cause trouble near their stronghold.

It was safe from violence or looting during trades.

“Let’s see… Today’s profit was 5 Jeon.”

In this environment, Lee Sang-hyup had set up shop.

“...Ugh. It’s low.”

But business wasn’t booming.

There were limits to what he could sell.

Most of his inventory consisted of items he’d scavenged while trapped in the city. The rest were things he’d found nearby.

“Why would this sell well?”

Sang-hyup wanted to give up on selling. Hunting monsters for combat rations seemed much easier.

**[Lee Sang-hyup]**

**[Novice Merchant Lv. 6]**

*Sigh.*

His job as a merchant wasn’t suited for battle.

‘When I first hunted that merfolk and Awakened to find out I had this job… I felt like dying.’

In a world where strength was everything, his skills and traits were—

**[Trust Boost]**

**[Negotiation Mastery]**

**[Information Gathering Mastery]**

Skills that made him more trustworthy in deals, helped him gather information, and generally only useful for merchant activities.

“Perfect skills to get mugged and killed. Damn it.”

Still.

Making 5 Jeon in profit was thanks to these skills.

‘The value of combat rations is undeniable.’

As food in a destroyed world, they were valuable.

And as items that granted powerful buffs when eaten, their worth was even higher.

But there was one more reason their value skyrocketed.

‘They’re luxury items.’

Their taste was—

Outstanding.

Sang-hyup had once tried selling cigarettes.

He thought cigarettes would be incredibly valuable since they’d been submerged in the dungeon and hard to find. People who were near death from lung cancer still craved them, after all.

He expected a pack to trade for at least a week’s worth of combat rations.

“...But it sold for just 1 Jeon.”

Even that was thanks to his skills.

Sang-hyup had been stunned.

People couldn’t taste the cigarettes.

They weren’t bad-tasting.

It was simple.

“Combat rations… taste better than cigarettes.”

As a luxury item, combat rations had completely outshone cigarettes.

“I wouldn’t buy them either.”

Even if cigarettes were tasty, who’d trade them for something better-tasting like combat rations?

Regularly circulated and protected in value, they’d become a reliable currency.

1 Jeon was a very high value.

Most trades happened in fractions of it.

‘That battery I sold today… its true value should’ve been 1 Jeon or less.’

His customer hadn’t realized, but thanks to his merchant skills, he’d overcharged them.

“Right now, I have things to sell, so I can scrape by with my skills. But…”

His inventory wouldn’t last forever.

Even with merchant skills, no goods meant no sales.

To restock, soon—

‘I’ll have to go outside.’

Outside the safe zone protected by soldiers.

Where unknown Awakened and countless monsters roamed.

*Sigh.*

Thinking about it always made him sigh.

Then.

As he was setting up for business, he noticed a sheet of paper stuck to a wall.

“What’s this?”

A piece of A4 paper with hastily scrawled handwriting.

It looked familiar.

“That careless, rushed handwriting… It’s from the soldiers.”

He’d seen it before.

Back when there was a notice offering food for monster corpses.

**[Notice from the Iron Corps]**

**[Seeking information about the cannibal that roamed the sunken city.]**

But the content was different this time.

“A cannibal monster? Did it do something?”

The cannibal that roamed the city.

There wasn’t an Awakened in Chuncheon who didn’t know about it.

When the war among the humans broke out, they’d all witnessed it executing countless raiders.

But that was all.

“I haven’t seen it for a while, so I almost forgot it existed.”

He hadn’t seen it recently, so he’d assumed it wasn’t active anymore.

But the last line of the paper made him freeze.

**[300 combat rations will be rewarded after confirmation of information.]**

**[Or an equivalent reward will be provided.]**

**[Contact the unit’s temporary base for details.]**

**[Map attached]**

“...Th-th-th… th-th-three… th-three hundred…?”

Three hundred!?

Sang-hyup’s jaw dropped.

The truth was, turning in a monster to the unit didn’t yield that many combat rations.

The fee was a steep 80%.

But no one complained.

‘Processing monster corpses into food is nearly impossible.’

Soldiers couldn’t do it without compensation.

‘It must take a lot of effort and materials. Plus, the taste and effects are exceptional. Most people agree that the fee is reasonable.’

That contributed to the high value of combat rations.

But.

Three hundred wasn’t thirty.

It was 300.

“A completed party would have to risk their lives and fight countless times to earn that… and they’re offering it for one piece of information?”

What had that cannibal done?

‘...If I could claim that reward.’

Excitement briefly surged through Sang-hyup.

But.

“Why am I getting excited? It’s pointless.”

He sobered up quickly.

The reward was only for verified information.

Without such information, it was just an unattainable dream.

“...Wait.”

Suddenly.

A memory flashed through Sang-hyup’s mind.

“...Could it be that? No… if it’s not, I’m ruined.”

One of Sang-hyup’s traits as a merchant was—

**[Information Gathering Mastery].**

Thanks to this, he was quite knowledgeable about various tidbits in the city.

One particular thing came to mind.

The problem was he couldn’t be sure it was related to the cannibal.

‘If it’s wrong, I’ll just end up resented by the soldiers.’

That would be the worst outcome.

But.

‘No, even if they hate me, I’ll still have to leave the safety of this zone when my goods run out. Whether I die out there or fall out with the soldiers, what difference does it make?’

However.

If he was right.

The reward of 300 combat rations wasn’t the main point.

“An equivalent reward… If that means…”

Gulp.

“I might be able to strike a deal with those soldiers.”

The most powerful force in the area.

If he could build a connection with them…

As a merchant, it could lead to unprecedented growth.

‘No, it definitely will.’

There was no time to hesitate.

“Damn it. Let’s gamble on this!”

Sang-hyup abandoned his business plans for the day and made his way to the building where the soldiers were stationed.