In the city of Chuncheon, there was once a police officer.

When he was young, a robber broke into his home.

It was an incident that could have left a lifelong trauma.

But then—

Boom!

The police broke down the door and rushed in.

Thanks to their swift action, his family was unharmed.

He thought they were incredibly cool.

Inspired by what he witnessed that day, the boy grew up with a dream to become a police officer.

*[Service and Order]*

No matter what anyone said, he was a rookie officer dedicated to punishing the wicked and protecting citizens.

He was determined to give his all to any task within his reach.

But, unfortunately...

The next thing that happened was beyond his control.

The city became submerged.

Communication with the outside world was cut off.

Monsters appeared.

As people died and order within the city collapsed, there was little a freshly minted rookie police officer could do.

There was only one thing he could do.

To protect order within the city, he hunted down monsters that threatened peace.

-Are you asking to join our group?

He encountered others with similar goals.

People who hunted monsters out of revenge.

Though their motivations differed slightly, in the end, they weren’t so different.

If those people were avenging the deaths of their loved ones, the officer was avenging the loss of order.

But there was a problem: food.

While the group offered some rations, the officer found it difficult to accept them.

With everyone worried about their food supply, he couldn’t bear to waste precious rations, feeling responsible for the breakdown in order.

Many were baffled by his choice, but the officer shared his rations with others instead.

He wasn’t completely without food, after all.

-You’d eat a monster? That’s some serious hatred.

-...You sure have a strong stomach, Officer.

The taste was revolting, but he thought it was enough as long as it filled his belly.

* * *

Thud...

The giant body of the creature collapsed onto the floor.

The sound of it hitting the empty chamber echoed loudly.

Cough.

I had managed to take it down somehow, but my own condition was far from ideal.

“Heh... This is brutal.”

This one was on a different level than the Insatiable Glutton from the raider group.

I’d been able to handle that one alone with the [Nemesis] buff, but this one had been a challenge even with it.

I glanced down at myself.

There wasn’t a single part of my body left unharmed.

Thanks to the layering effect of [Absolute Taste]’s cooking, I was still alive, though anyone else would have likely been a corpse by now.

Thankfully...

Sss...

The torn flesh on my body was slowly healing on its own.

“No matter how many times I see it, I can’t get used to this.”

Watching my mangled flesh regenerate was still a disturbing sight.

Drinking vampire blood raw, without cooking, had left my body “somewhat” vampire-like.

I had no desire to become a monster, of course, but it seemed I was still considered human despite this level of regeneration.

Because of that, I could suppress the penalties of [Absolute Taste] as well.

This regeneration had made survival easier in moments like these, so I figured I should count it as a blessing.

‘At least I’m in decent shape...’

I looked around.

-Squeak.

Kkamang, who had been growing in size by eating up debris from the battle, was now back to the size of a kitten, whimpering as it rested.

And scattered around it were...

[Rear Leg of a Lesser Vampire Knight]

[Head of a Lesser Vampire Knight]

“...Tch.”

The bodies of vampires lay torn apart in various places.

“Even if they had an extra life thanks to [Mist Form], there’s still a cooldown.”

When they were caught once, they could escape using Mist Form.

But on the second capture, they were swallowed whole without mercy.

There was a reason they were called Insatiable Gluttons.

Each time it devoured a vampire, it seemed to regain some strength.

It was almost as if the creature grew stronger each time it ate, much like how my dishes buffed my soldiers.

“...Pathetic.”

As I took in the scene around me, I heard a faint click of annoyance.

Looking over, I saw Ariella, grimacing.

She didn’t look pleased at all.

“What’s with you? Don’t you enjoy a good fight?”

“It’s not the fighting I enjoy; it’s watching myself and my subordinates grow stronger.”

Is that so?

I thought she was thrilled about these grueling battles, but it seemed she wasn’t as much of a battle maniac as I had assumed.

If she seemed angry now, it was likely because...

Well, it wasn’t out of affection for her subordinates; that much was clear.

“It’s a blow to my pride.”

Her reason was straightforward.

“This monster wasn’t even shielded by holy power, nor did it know any other skills aside from physical attacks. It was just a brute relying solely on strength... In terms of matchup, my subordinates and I should have had the advantage.”

Yet the outcome, as you can see, was that we barely scraped a win with me and Kkamang joining in.

Without us, the vampires alone wouldn’t have been able to bring it down.

“We still won, didn’t we? Is that really something to be ashamed of?”

“...If my powers and subordinates had been at full strength, we could have won on our own.”

Is that so?

Well, she did have an entire legion of subordinates before our squad wiped them out.

Ariella was much stronger back then, too.

Maybe she could have overwhelmed it with sheer numbers.

‘It looks like I should start investing in their growth a bit more.’

Ptooey.

I spat out some blood that had pooled in my mouth and dragged myself up to approach the collapsed Insatiable Glutton.

Looking around at the surviving vampires, I gave my orders.

“No telling when it might recover and start rampaging again. Bind it so it can’t move.”

“Yes, sir...!”

“Oof... Brothers, rise.”

“The master of our master has commanded it.”

“Ugh... my back...”

The vampires who had survived the battle began tying up the Insatiable Glutton’s broken body.

-Grrr!

The creature let out a beastly growl as it was deprived of movement.

I approached it cautiously.

-Screech!

“Whoa, easy there.”

Even though it barely had the strength to stay upright, its expression was incredibly fierce.

At least it had spoken in the beginning.

Once the battle intensified, it had transformed completely into a beast.

“Hmm. It seems like talking in this state will be difficult.”

Fortunately, I came here intending to get answers from this creature.

And I had already planned for it to be like this.

I moved closer to its face.

Slowly.

Carefully extending my boot toward its mouth.

-Screech!

The massive beast lunged forward, trying to bite my foot off.

“Whoa, hold still.”

-Grrr.

I barely managed to pull back in time and grabbed hold of its teeth.

I used one hand to pull its upper jaw and my boot to press down on its lower jaw.

“Open wide now.”

With its mouth forced open, I threw the food I’d prepared into its throat.

Thunk.

As soon as my hand was out, its jaws snapped shut with a violent clack.

A second slower, and I would have lost a limb.

“That was close.”

-Grrr!

The creature continued to snarl at me, baring its teeth, with drool dripping from its mouth.

It looked like a true monster now.

But soon enough, as the dish I’d prepared began to settle in its stomach...

-...Who... What are you?

The monstrous creature’s voice suddenly softened, speaking in plain Korean.

* * *

“You back to your senses?”

-Who... What are you?

“Hm. Looks like it worked.”

Gone was the mindless beast. Now, it spoke in a somewhat harsh but coherent manner.

[Chilled Brisket of Sloth’s Rationality]

The [Sloth] was a monster resembling a sloth.

While it had tremendous strength, it remained calm, looking relaxed even in combat.

Its trait was exactly that.

[Attribute: Unshakable Mind]

[Allows calmness and rationality in most situations.]

Combined with the “cool-headed rationality” effect of my special sauce, the results were clear.

-I’m... hungry...

“Sorry, but you’ll have to bear it.”

The hunger seemed to persist, but at least communication was now possible.

“My name is Shin Youngjun.”

-...

“I’m a Sergeant and a cook in the military.”

Sitting down in front of it, I introduced myself, responding to its question.

-...I know. The soldier from outside.

“What? So you already knew me?”

The creature seemed to recognize me.

Well, that made sense.

“Since you guided my squad to the dungeon, I suppose it’s only natural.”

-...

The man who escaped the dungeon and came to our squad with a call for help.

It was this creature that sent him.

It hadn’t revealed itself during the dungeon raid, but it might have been watching us from afar.

“If I don’t need to explain that, then that’s good. But unfortunately, we don’t have much time.”

-What do you mean?

“That dish’s effect won’t last long. Soon enough, you’ll start rampaging again.”

-...

“So let’s get to what we need to talk about, shall we?”

The creature stared at me with a strange

 look.

Ignoring it, I went straight to the point.

“I’m a cook.”

-A cook...?

“Yes, a cook. I didn’t know what to make of this profession at first, but I’ve come to find it’s not so bad.”

-Then why are you, a cook, here with me?

“There’s something about this job that’s been bothering me.”

I gestured at the knife in my hand as I continued.

“I think you might have the answer.”

-...

“You used to be human, right? Tell me how you ended up like this. From the beginning to the end. In as much detail as possible.”

The eyes, buried beneath layers of flesh, glared at me.

-Must I answer your questions?

“Yes, because if you don’t, you’re going to get hurt.”

-...

“That was a joke, by the way.”

The creature seemed a bit offended at my blunt demand.

But what was it going to do? Glare at me?

“A man escaped the dungeon and found our squad, saying you had sent him to find someone to save the city.”

-...

“We answered that call for help and liberated the city. So.”

I pointed a finger right between its eyes.

“That means you owe us one, doesn’t it?”

-...Hmph.

“We helped you out. You owe us a favor in return.”

Though still displeased, it continued to stare at me.

-There’s one condition.

“A condition?”

-When I finish talking, you must grant me one request.

A request?

“Do you really think you’re in a position to make requests?”

-For you, it would be an easy task. If you refuse, then I won’t speak.

“...Fine.”

Honestly?

‘If the request is too difficult, I can just pretend I never agreed to it.’

This was a world ruled by strength.

And I was the stronger one here.

Later on, I could just deny it ever happened with no consequences.

The creature would only fume in frustration, and I’d just have to hit it a few more times.

-I’ll trust your word.

Whether it realized what I was thinking or not, the creature seemed to accept my answer.

With a careful nod, it slowly closed its eyes.