“Cold.”
Just as Han Iseo said.
For now, since I’d at least succeeded in getting permission to walk around inside this group,
for the first time since arriving in Gyeonggi Province,
I was able to look closely at the inside of this survivor group.
Their trust in me was still low,
so even if I wanted to help with something, I was in a situation where I couldn’t help with anything.
“Helping them to earn trust is good and all... but before that, I need to understand the structure of this group.”
My job is Chef.
To fully use my ability, what I need first is the kitchen.
And—
‘People who’ll eat my cooking.’
To earn their trust,
and to shove my food into their mouths,
I first needed to understand their living environment well.
With that in mind,
I decided to carefully walk around inside the group.
“Hello?”
“...Not interested.”
“......”
Whenever I tried speaking to someone,
they would glare at me coldly and then go back to whatever they were doing.
‘So their trust in me really is rock bottom.’
Well.
Rumors about where I came from have surely spread everywhere the moment this outsider suddenly showed up.
It’s understandable they think I’m suspicious.
‘That aside, everyone’s expressions just aren’t bright.’
Everyone’s hearts were strained.
There was no room left inside to treat a stranger kindly.
At this rate,
trying to gain something through conversation or observation seemed difficult.
All I could do was—
wander around, looking at this and that.
‘Hmm. The interior looks similar to the bases of other Awakener groups.’
A base encircled by wide walls as far as possible to create a safe zone,
and then buildings inside that zone being put to use.
The one fortunate thing was that they didn’t seem short on firewood.
This wasn’t a region like Chuncheon where all the trees were wiped out,
and they seemed able to gather wood freely.
‘Though considering that, it still looks like there’s a lot of wood... are the Combat folks chopping endlessly?’
Anyway.
Outside, a murderous cold snap was blowing.
But inside the Wall, the logs burning in several places warmed the air, so it was tolerably warm.
Right.
Looking at just this aspect, it was similar to other survivor bases in Gangwon Province.
‘If there’s something different—’
I moved my steps.
Then I approached the gigantic, towering wall that enclosed this entire wide territory.
I extended my hand toward the wall.
[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]
[Safety Wall Filled with a Mid-Tier Architect’s Devotion]
“...This is seriously incredible.”
Our guild’s combat engineers had also built various bases and walls near the unit.
Combat engineers specialize in making anything used in war.
And because “anything used in war” was absurdly wide in scope, they had become ultra–all-terrain specialists.
But—
‘For building walls, this might be better.’
This wall didn’t fall short even compared to those built by combat engineers.
No—beyond that—
its completeness as a structure slightly exceeded the engineers’ work.
‘They probably didn’t have the same material resources as our unit, so to produce something like this...’
Its massive height, toughness, solidity, and evenness.
Compared to engineer-made walls—
this was closer to comparing it with Vimana’s outer hull.
‘It’s inferior to Vimana... but far ahead of the engineers’ walls.’
There was only one reason something like this was possible.
Unlike combat engineers, who can work in many fields but whose highest-level expertise is somewhat narrow,
‘there’s an Awakener in Gyeonggi Province whose job specializes in making structures like this wall.’
This...
was an ability that would greatly help humanity survive.
Indeed.
This structure confirmed the thought I’d been carrying.
‘The more surviving humans there are, the better.’
As the number of Awakeners grows,
rare Awakeners with abilities like this will occasionally appear.
When such Awakeners create synergy with other Awakeners,
their combined power will grow endlessly.
If Awakeners like this are hidden all across the country,
saving them will directly connect to humanity’s survival.
As I brushed my hand along the wall,
admiring it blankly while walking—
“...Are you trying to find a weak point in the wall?”
“?”
From far away,
someone called out to me.
“No use even if you try. This wall was made by a powerful Awakener from the Central Branch. No monster has ever broken through it, and even if you try to find a weak point, you won’t find any, so stop wasting your time.”
I turned my head.
A man stood there—long hair grown out haphazardly, giving off a strangely “natural hermit” vibe.
‘No, compared to the vibe, he’s actually young?’
The face visible beneath the messy hair looked unexpectedly young.
Probably around my age, or at most slightly older.
Seeing his face,
I finally guessed who he was.
“Iseo said you seemed trustworthy enough to wander around. But I’d prefer if you didn’t act too suspicious.”
One of the executives of this Northern Branch.
The man who openly distrusted me.
And—
“Especially this place—this orchard that produces our food—you’d better not approach it any further.”
The one who kept this group’s people fed.
****
One of the Northern Branch’s executives.
The man who fed this group’s people.
‘His name was... Gang Jaeho, right?’
He didn’t even try to hide that he was suspicious of me.
He stared at me with a cold expression.
Because I’d wandered around, absentmindedly touching the wall that seemed even better than the ones made by combat engineers,
without realizing it I had approached the restricted zone.
“That wasn’t my intention. My apologies if I bothered you.”
“Well, if it wasn’t, that’s good.”
I even raised both hands to show I wasn’t planning anything suspicious.
But that didn’t soften his suspicion at all.
I stepped back at his warning
and surveyed the surroundings.
Then—
‘It really is an orchard.’
Despite the overwhelming cold that froze the ground and buildings,
a vast orchard stretched out before me—
as if it were the peak harvest season.
And—
the one who made this orchard was—
[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]
[Awakener : Gang Jaeho]
[Job : Intermediate Druid Lv.26]
[Nature Communion]
[Growth Acceleration]
[Naturalization — Wood]
[Beastform — Bear]
......
......
‘This guy. This is it.’
His job was Druid.
Originally a Celtic shaman, was it?
It wasn’t something I knew deeply.
But it was a job that appeared often in games.
Glancing through his traits,
a few things stood out.
‘A transformation into wood... and a transformation into a bear.’
Druids were common in games—
but this was my first time seeing one among Awakeners.
Definitely a rare job.
His job was somewhat similar to the shaman in our unit—
Borzjin.
‘If Borzjin communed with the earth spirit or read the stars, this guy seems more focused on communing with nature itself.’
His transformation abilities were intriguing, sure.
But what mattered far more in this world was—
something else.
[Growth Acceleration]
[Pulls up the earth’s vitality to rapidly accelerate a plant’s growth.]
[Vitality consumption becomes extreme, but plants can grow in any environment.]
‘Insane.’
In this extreme climate of deadly cold—
the reason an orchard like this could exist...
was all because of this man’s ability.
‘This man... compared to our unit, that would make him similar to Uncle Cheoruk.’
Similar to our unit’s farmer Awakener.
A food-production specialist.
Our unit’s food problems had been solved relatively early.
But after the world collapsed—
what people needed most to survive was food.
In our unit too, it was only because I could cook monsters that the food shortage was solved quickly.
Before I distributed combat rations,
even the people of Gangwon had to risk their lives just to get food.
‘Being responsible for food production alone is enough to make someone a key figure in a group.’
Besides—
when I was dragged here at first I didn’t notice it, but—
this orchard protected by that wide wall
occupied nearly half the area inside the Wall.
“...Impressive.”
“Impressive? What exactly?”
“An orchard like this, in an environment like this. It’s unbelievable at a glance, but you made it possible.”
I spoke honestly, full of admiration.
Because I truly never expected this to be possible.
‘Even Uncle Cheoruk couldn’t pull this off.’
He was amazing at growing crops as a Farmer,
but he couldn’t avoid the effects of seasons and environment.
When the environment was bad, there were bad harvests.
Even then, because he could grow crops so widely, he never left us lacking—
but if Cheoruk tried to farm here, it would be impossible.
What made it possible
was this man’s skill, [Growth Acceleration].
“Flattery won’t get you anything.”
But—
he answered me with eyes filled with wariness.
“You said you haven’t interacted with people since the Day of Ruin.”
“...Honestly, I don’t really believe that, but I’ll play along. If that’s true, then let me explain something you might not know... the world right now is not one where you can trust others easily.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The discovery of some unknown outsider like you is enough to shake our group’s atmosphere.”
As expected.
He was extremely wary.
They brought me in thinking I might be allied with those criminals.
Once that idea was dismissed, they let me walk free—
but to them, I was still someone they couldn’t trust.
And since the Shaman, another executive, said I was okay, they couldn’t just lock me up again.
So I became...
a deeply bothersome presence to them.
“I’m sure you heard. I truly have no intention of harming anyone.”
“...Well, you’re free to make that claim.”
“......”
He had absolutely no intention of believing me.
If anything, he looked hostile.
And—
this situation wasn’t good for me.
‘Of all things, the supplier of ingredients is the one doubting me.’
Earning the people’s trust was the priority.
But among those people, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) there were priorities within the priority.
Honestly, the Barbarian who might throw an axe at me any moment—
his trust didn’t need to come first.
It wasn’t like my combat power was lacking right now.
What I was desperate for was ingredients.
My shadow was completely empty.
This environment looked even worse than Gangwon when it came to getting ingredients.
So being distrusted by a rare ingredient supplier—
was terrible for me as a Chef.
‘...But still.’
I felt a bit puzzled.
Him distrusting me—
I had no issue with that.
Even I thought I looked suspicious.
But...
‘He’s openly showing hostility toward me even though outsiders surely aren’t a first-time occurrence.’
Normally—
people would still try to hide their guard on the surface.
But he was openly hostile.
“Why are you suspicious to this extent?”
Feeling strange about his attitude, I asked.
He frowned, clearly displeased.
“Then am I supposed to trust someone who claims to have come from Monsterland?”
“That Han Iseo woman seems to trust me.”
“...I admit she’s got good intuition. But.”
He glared at me.
“In this world, you can’t rule out the possibility that even she has been controlled.”
“......”
“To be honest, you talking to me like this is extremely unpleasant, so... I’d appreciate it if you’d back off.”
Something—
told me that wasn’t his only reason.
‘With this level of rejection—’
I couldn’t keep talking.
At his prickly attitude, I gave a dry laugh and stepped away.
****
I did step away.
...But I stepped away.
‘This orchard is huge anyway.’
This orchard built inside the Wall—
you could actually see it from almost any building if you tried.
Meaning—
‘Even if I don’t get close, I can still see it from nearly anywhere in the Wall.’
I felt sorry for the guy—
but he’d been openly rude to me from the start anyway.
‘So why should I show him any courtesy?’
His work in this orchard really bothered me.
So I moved far enough away to avoid bothering him,
and secretly watched him work from a distance.
‘I’m curious how they produce food here.’
More importantly—
the one I needed to earn trust from most urgently was him.
‘I’d love to solve this with cooking if I could.’
But I lacked the ingredients,
and now that I knew this power was more dangerous than I thought,
carelessly using my ability would be risky.
Force-feeding someone my food was a last resort.
Finding another method came first.
“...Looks like he left.”
As I moved far away and suppressed my presence—
Gang Jaeho cautiously glanced around, then muttered.
‘Guess I’m too used to suppressing my presence.’
Maybe because I’d done so many missions after eating Environment Blend dishes.
It wasn’t hard to hide myself from someone without detection skills.
Thinking I had left, the man relaxed—
and went back to work.
“O nature...”
He placed his hand on a tree.
“Grow... a bit faster.”
Then—
Sssrrrk.
A tree that had borne no fruit at all,
suddenly grew fruit on its branches—
the fruit swelling at incredible speed—
and then falling to the ground in completed form.
‘...Amazing.’
Not just ignoring environmental limitations—
but even the growth speed—
looked stronger than Uncle Cheoruk’s skill.
But—
I also felt something odd.
‘He’s outperforming a Farmer in food production?’
His job was Druid.
Meaning—
‘He’s not a production job.’
No matter how much I, a production job, struggled in combat,
I couldn’t beat combat jobs in real combat.
No matter how much I made good fertilizer as a Chef,
Uncle Cheoruk’s Farmer fertilizer was better nutritionally, even if my taste was superior.
No matter how talented an Awakener was,
if something wasn’t their specialty, they shouldn’t surpass someone of the same level whose specialization was that field.
Yet here was someone who wasn’t a production class
outperforming a Farmer.
‘According to the laws of this “game” that has swallowed the world... this should be impossible.’
As I pondered that—
“Huuuhp...!”
‘...?’
Right in the middle of producing fruit,
he suddenly tensed up strangely.
And—
‘...The fruit isn’t growing?’
Despite his strained posture,
no fruit grew.
Rather, the tree’s vitality felt like it was fading.
“So it’s already... here too...”
Watching him to figure out what was happening—
the young man clenched his teeth and exhaled a heavy sigh.
“Damn it.”
He lowered his head,
clenched his fist tight,
and spat curses, as if something was crushing him.
