"You really went all out on me, like I told you to... Damn it hurts."

"...."

Damn. It really did hurt like hell.

Before the sparring began, I had a bit of confidence. Sure, as a chef, I didn’t have much in the way of combat skills, but my base stats were impressive due to perks like **[Absolute Taste]** and the abilities I’d gained from my encounters with Ariella.

But any confidence I’d had evaporated about five seconds after we started. It was a one-sided beatdown.

“Sergeant Shin,” Jeon said, his expression cold as he looked down at me sprawled …