After the radio ended—
And after the Association people reached the conclusion that they would gather forces to investigate the Source of the Cold—
“We’re back! Master’s master!”
“Oh.”
The vampire siblings who had moved to deliver orders to the Legion—
Returned into my shadow.
“Timing must’ve been tight. Good work.”
“Hehe...!”
“This much is nothing!”
Because it was a plan I’d come up with in quite a rush—
They’d had to reach the Wall before the Legion sent out the broadcast.
Especially since that side was “the Demon Realm,” with that many monsters, it couldn’t have been easy for them either.
‘Either way, I owe them a lot.’
They’d held me back when I was all worked up and trying to charge recklessly into enemy territory.
And now this.
Considering that until Ariella captured them, these two had been enjoying pleasure-kill sprees, it honestly felt a little creepy every time I looked at them—
But seeing how hard they worked, I was starting to feel a sort of affection.
“And this too!”
“Hm?”
“Master told us to bring this to Master’s master!”
But—
It seemed they hadn’t just completed my mission and come back.
“This is...”
What the two siblings handed me—
Was a small, rectangular object.
Its outer surface was grotesquely warped, as if it had once melted and then cooled again.
At first I had no idea what it was.
[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]
[Flame-Resistant Orichalcum]
[A rare mineral, Orichalcum, which can be specialized for a specific use through certain methods.]
[Through special treatment its resistance to heat has been greatly enhanced, but in exchange its other abilities have declined—]
‘...!’
Once I identified it—
It was a mineral name I’d seen before.
The mineral the dwarves in that [Underground Mine] had used.
Back there, it had existed only for sealing or ritual purposes—
But in fact, depending on how you processed it, it was a mineral that could be specialized in any field.
Once you specialized it for a given field, its performance as a general-purpose mineral bottomed out—
But in that specific field, it displayed tremendous performance.
And.
The fact that this had come here meant—
‘They pulled it off.’
I immediately drew my [Kitchen Chef’s Knife]—
And cut into the melted mineral.
Because it had been specialized for flame resistance, it seemed it had lost all resistance to knife cuts.
The mineral sliced smoothly.
Then—
The items that had been carefully stored inside revealed themselves.
‘This is...’
And seeing those items—
I thought.
‘Perfect.’
These were—
Things far beyond what I’d expected.
****
Not long after the people of the Southern Branch departed—
“Are you really sure you don’t want to come back with us?”
“Yes. There’s something I need to do here for now.”
It was time for the Awakeners of the Northern Branch to head back to their own Branch as well.
“I don’t know what that is, but... hmm. If you say so, it must be something.”
Park Junggu had naturally assumed I would return with them—
“Sorry to trouble you.”
“No, it’s your choice, nothing to be sorry for. You’re not the only group member staying behind here either.”
I told him that I still had business at the Central Branch.
That I’d remain here and head for the Southern Branch later.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one staying because trade and such hadn’t finished yet.
“Then I’ll gather troops as quickly as I can and head for the Southern Branch.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And, just like you asked, I’ll bring the other two leaders along as well. You especially said to be sure to bring Miss Iseo... anyway, I’ll take it that way, and we’ll see each other again at the Southern Branch before long.”
At the last meeting—
The conclusion had, in the end, followed the Legion’s suggestion from the radio.
The Branches would cooperate to investigate the Source of the Cold.
‘The Architect from the Eastern Branch seemed pretty defensive; he was lamenting it right up to the end.’
But once even Jo Beomseok of the Southern Branch insisted that side was correct—
He fell silent and nodded.
However.
Only one leader from each Branch had attended this meeting.
They would now return to their respective Branches, inform the other leaders of what had happened—
Rally the forces spread across the various groups and concentrate them at the Southern Branch—
Then depart to investigate the Source of the Cold.
And...
Most likely.
‘What the General asked of me was to get involved in that process.’
The reason Brigadier General Jo Beomseok had spoken to me—
Was so that I would intervene in that process.
To root out the traitor.
Something like that was probably what he wanted...
‘I’ll try, but I doubt it’ll be easy.’
If we had more time, maybe.
But with time itself running short, doing something like that in my current position was quite difficult.
‘If this were the “Legion,” I’d just abduct everyone who seemed suspicious, throw them in a cell, and feed them my cooking. Problem solved.’
Here, if I decided someone was suspicious and just force-fed them a dish, that moment—
My relationship with that person would be finished.
The chance of failure was more than high enough.
Which was why—
Rather than chasing a traitor-hunt with a high probability of failure—
I thought up a more efficient way to ensure that even if a traitor existed, the operation would still be fine.
“Your knife work isn’t bad, Senior, but you have a tendency to try to cut every ingredient the same way.”
“Do I?”
This was it.
‘Cooking, of course.’
After declining to return to the Northern Branch—
I stayed at the Central Branch and stopped by its kitchen.
“Look, watch, Senior. If you cut this part like this... how is it? It’s faster and the texture shows better, right?”
“Ohh...!”
I was learning to cook.
‘Because no one in Gyeonggi knows the potential of cooking.’
Even if the operation leaks—
I’ll somehow cover it with the power of cooking that no one else knows.
To do that—
I decided to exchange know-how with another chef and raise my own skill.
‘To be honest, this is something all the other job classes have been doing all along.’
Warriors with warriors.
Mages with mages.
They share the know-how they each have and raise their skills.
Even that “Abnormal Appetite User” Lee Hyunjin—
Is basically a combat type, so he’s been sharing knowledge similar to the soldiers in the warrior platoons.
Only I, the chef, hadn’t been able to improve my skill that way.
“Ah, that? The cookbooks might say to do it like that, but that method’s written so ordinary people can do it easily. If you want to bring the flavor out properly, you do it like this...”
“Wow...!”
Now that I’d met another chef—
I could finally do it.
And then—
[Your previous bad habit has been corrected.]
[You have gained experience!]
[You have acquired new cooking know-how.]
[You have gained experience!]
‘This is sweet...!’
The effect—
Was better than I’d expected.
‘I can even get experience from this.’
Well.
When I saw the Dasmur chef’s ultimate technique, I’d gone up an entire level.
I’d been shocked at the time—
But thinking about it now, at a point where even gaining a single level in the 30s is hard—
I’d gained one full level, and the experience bar had still filled up a fair bit afterward.
The amount of experience I’d gained back then was truly absurd.
‘The amount is way less this time, of course.’
The chef in front of me—
Howard—might fall short compared to the Dasmur chef—
But as a chef, he was surely far ahead of me.
Unlike me, the mess hall soldier—
He was someone who had been a “real” chef.
‘To me, who’d planned to walk the chef’s path after discharge, he’s basically a Senior who achieved my dream.’
Naturally—
As an Awakener chef, my level and cooking-related Traits are higher.
Because of my cooking Traits, the flavor of my dishes surpasses his by far.
But.
‘When it comes to knowledge and know-how as a chef... I can’t compare, obviously.’
The knowledge and information you can only obtain through long study of cooking.
In that area, the difference between us was incomparable.
Happily, I decided to absorb as much of the knowledge and know-how he’d built up as possible.
Even if I didn’t gain levels—
What I learned here would have a huge impact on my dishes.
‘...In fact.’
I stared down at my own hands and thought.
Up to now, I’d been improving my cooking by leveling up and increasing my stats.
But my “pure cooking skill”—
Was now rising faster than ever.
That skill would be reflected directly in the effects of my dishes—
And become a big help to survival going forward.
“...By the way.”
“Yeah?”
“Ever since you suddenly asked me to teach you cooking, I’ve been thinking this, but... there are a lot of really basic things you don’t know.”
As he was teaching me—
Howard said that.
“Like I said last time, just how did you become a chef? And how did you make that flavor back then?”
“What, you want another cooking battle?”
“No, no, no! I’m not trying to belittle you. If anything, I think you’re amazing—your learning speed is ridiculous.”
Howard waved his hands in a fluster.
“But... I’ve seen a few other Awakeners who worked in food service, you know? Some of them knew cooking better than you do, and yet you’re the one who became a chef, and that’s what I find strange.”
“Hm.”
Fortunately—
I’d already thought about that question before.
“I’m probably not a pure chef.”
“Huh?”
“There’s something like that. To be precise, I should say I’ve got a foot in both being a chef and being a combat class.”
I’m a mess hall soldier.
A soldier and, at the same time, a chef—a strange position.
And—
‘All the other mess hall soldiers are probably dead.’
That rare status as a mess hall soldier—
Probably manifested as the chef job.
I looked at Howard.
[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]
[Awakener: Jin Yangsik]
[Job: Intermediate Chef Lv.22]
[Traits]
[Kitchen Management]
[Ingredient Management]
[Nutrition Enhancement]
[Taste Enhancement]
[Skills]
[Perfect Grilling]
[Recipe Creation]
...
...
“If we’re just talking about pure-chef Traits and Skills, you’re way better than me.”
“...Huh? I am?”
Yeah.
I’d never met another chef before, so I hadn’t known—
But.
‘He doesn’t have a single Skill or Trait that looks suited for combat.’
Well, except for [Dagger Mastery], which all chefs share.
Aside from that, he didn’t have a single thing that looked usable in a fight.
‘Instead, he’s got a lot of Traits that focus purely on cooking.’
As a production type, I’d complained plenty that I didn’t have combat Skills.
But even so, I had things like [Absolute Palate], [Field Cooking], [Combat Rations]—
Skills I could at least repurpose for combat-related use.
Compared to that, the contrast was dramatic.
‘He’s closer to a pure chef.’
I had to see myself as the odd one out—a chef and a soldier.
“I don’t really get it, but... okay. Got it. Then the next thing I’m curious about is what?”
“No, what I mean is, that’s it for you teaching me today.”
“Hm?”
“Next ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ it’s your turn.”
Right.
Before I went to investigate the Source of the Cold, what I wanted to prepare was cooking.
But—
Raising my own skill wasn’t the whole of that preparation.
Unlike me, who straddled combat and production—
He was a pure chef.
“I’ll teach you the difference between a ‘chef’ and a [Chef].”
I was going to—
Turn this guy into a true [Chef].
****
“...Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
I was going to train him.
I’d actually had that thought for quite some time.
Back when we had that cooking duel yesterday.
At the time, I hadn’t been routinely dosing myself with the [Calm-Emotion] dish like now, so I’d been in a pretty desperate state—
But even in that frantic situation, I’d thought it.
‘If he’s properly trained, he’ll be extremely useful.’
By learning cooking from him, I could raise my own skill quite a bit.
So it was only fair—
That I pay him back by teaching him in turn.
...The only problem was.
“Uh, really? You want me to eat this?”
“Have you really gone through life getting tricked this easily?”
If his reaction to step one of becoming a [Chef] was like this—
The road ahead looked a bit long.
“...It’s actually delicious?”
“How many times do I have to tell you.”
What he was hesitating to put in his mouth—
Was a dish made from monster meat.
Meat from the stash I’d been keeping in my shadow.
“To be honest, I felt so grossed out that I thought it was going to be the worst thing I’d ever tasted before I even tried it...”
“That’s kind of insulting to the guy who cooked it.”
“When you’re that scared going in, it’s hard to enjoy even a genuinely good dish. But for it to taste this good regardless...!”
After resisting for a long time, saying he couldn’t eat it—
He finally took a bite, then exclaimed in shock.
“This is [cooking].”
Step one on the path to becoming a [Chef].
Was accepting monster meat.
“The ‘chef’ you knew and the Awakener [Chef] are a bit different as concepts. In most ways they’re similar, but... let’s say, taste and health aren’t the whole story.”
“If you take taste and health out, what’s left in cooking?”
“Power!”
I folded my arms.
“Refining the power inside a monster’s body so humans can use it. That’s [cooking].”
“...”
“As for the [Chef]—you can think of them as the priest presiding over that ritual.”
“Priest...”
A completely different angle from ordinary cooking—
Was enough to make sweat bead on his brow.
“The dishes you made raised stats too, didn’t they? That’s also the result of conveying the power contained in the ingredients more efficiently to the Awakener. Stronger ingredients—monster meat, with more potent power—just make that efficiency skyrocket.”
“S-so that’s how it works.”
“Yeah. I don’t know if I should be saying this, but honestly...”
It was a bit cruel to him—
But I spoke plainly.
“If you’d managed to cook monster meat properly earlier, the situation in Gyeonggi would be a lot better than it is now.”
He belonged to the Central Branch—
The one who cooked for the people who were now missing.
‘My parents too.’
If he’d been able to make real dishes—
Maybe they wouldn’t have disappeared like that.
It’s not that any of this was his fault—
But if I wasn’t suppressing myself with the [Calm-Emotion] dish right now, I might seriously have gotten angry.
“...Come on, there’s no way a single chef could make that big a difference.”
“You really think not?”
Well, I could understand that mindset.
He hadn’t even truly stepped into real cooking yet.
I smirked and said—
“Your stats. They should’ve gone up, so check them.”
“Mm. I know food raises stats, but still, at best it’s...”
Mumbling that—
He casually pulled up his status window.
And then—
“T-this is...!?”
His face—
Filled with unhidden shock.
“Do you still think I’m ‘just’ a chef?”
Ingredients had been tight.
Even so—
We had a reasonably well-equipped kitchen.
And I’d poured appropriate care into the dish.
“T-this amount... what even...”
Because you have to eat it first—
The effects of cooking put most buffs to shame.
The numbers that astonish even the soldiers in my unit who eat my dishes every day.
For someone experiencing a proper dish for the first time, freaking out was only natural.
“...Senior, you’re an incredible chef after all.”
“Hm?”
But then—
“A buff this strong... I couldn’t even imagine it...”
Unlike when he’d been teaching me—
Now that he’d seen for himself how much my dish buffed him—
“What you said earlier was right...”
“...?”
“Just like you said—if I’d been a proper chef a little earlier... if I’d been able to provide buffs like this, maybe people wouldn’t have gone missing.”
“...Hm.”
Maybe he was overwhelmed by the sheer effect.
He looked a little deflated.
“Well, yeah, you realized it a bit late.”
Seeing that—
I scratched the back of my head.
“But that’s why I’m teaching you directly now, isn’t it? Do you know what I went through to get these insights, and I’m just giving them to you for free. Honestly, I’m almost jealous of you.”
“...I am grateful, you know. But even with your teaching, I don’t think I can become like you.”
“Huh? Well, of course you can’t be like me.”
“...”
After everything I’d gone through—
If he got on my level after learning a little, I’d be the one getting robbed.
“But.”
“Yeah?”
This guy would have a hard time becoming a chef on my level.
The gap in level alone was massive.
But.
“In some ways, you might be able to surpass me.”
“What?”
Because here’s the thing—
Unlike me, he’s a “pure chef.”
And because his Traits were different from mine...
‘If he can learn to use them properly—’
There were abilities that could display tremendous power.
[Ingredient Management]
Most notably—
This one.
[For a true chef, simply cooking well is not the end of the job!]
[Thorough management of ingredients is another essential quality of a great chef.]
[Your resolve to serve only the best ingredients to your guests has manifested as a Trait.]
...Gulp.
As I read the description of this Trait—
I thought.
[Ingredients placed under the chef’s management remain in the state the chef considers optimal.]
[Ingredients under your management suffer no negative effects from the passage of time, and even when external factors intervene, any damage to their condition is greatly slowed.]
‘If I could use this myself...’
That Trait—
Could become something that defied imagination.
