When I’d just crossed into Gyeonggi Province.
I was placed under all kinds of restrictions.
Because the act of crossing that Wall itself had been judged as bug-like play.
But.
Even if it’s true this world is packed with a ridiculous number of annoying restrictions in every direction.
If you solve something difficult.
Always.
“You get a reward.”
[A quest is given.]
[Return to your home region, or survive until inter-region protection ends. (0/1)]
This time was no different.
A pretty serious penalty had been slapped on me.
But if I endured that and survived, I’d be given a reward to match.
That quest had told me so.
And, it’s awkward to say it myself, but.
Surviving in Gyeonggi Province...... was fucking insanely hard.
And.
If I say that the other way around.
[Reward: Differential payout based on influence exerted in the moved region.]
[Checking the influence caused by your actions.]
The moment I pulled it off.
It also meant I’d be getting a ridiculous reward.
[Calculating.......]
[You have succeeded in unifying a human organization that had become unable to fulfill its role due to the disappearance of key figures.]
[You have succeeded in rescuing those who were fated to be kidnapped and exploited by the enemy, and turning them into allied strength.]
[You have succeeded in warning humanity about a threat that had not yet been properly known, and leading them so they can respond.]
[You have succeeded in subjugating enemies that could not have been overcome with humanity’s weakened strength alone, resolving the abnormal climate that had covered the region.]
[By mobilizing your vassals and the monsters of the Inhuman Demon Realm, you prolonged a battle that was fated to be annihilation for as long as possible.]
[Calculation result.]
[You have succeeded in prolonging the survival of humanity in Gyeonggi Province—who would have otherwise been completely wiped out—by at least 2 months 2 weeks 4 days 15 hours.]
What that message told me was.
Pretty surprising.
“2 months 2 weeks.......”
If I hadn’t crossed into Gyeonggi Province.
Then around two months and two weeks before the Legion crossed the Wall.
Humanity would’ve already been wiped out.
Even calculating it from the point I crossed into Gyeonggi Province, it hadn’t been that long.
If I think about it roughly......
“General Jo Beomseok’s group almost got taken by # Nоvеlight # those monsters about two months ago.”
If Jo Beomseok got captured by the enemy.
Then from there, within about two weeks, humanity was fated to be wiped out.
“The Southern Branch’s knowledge and power would’ve been handed over to the enemy.......”
Even back then, the numbers were clearly in their favor.
And on top of that, General Jo Beomseok and the people of the Southern Branch were specialized for group battles.
If the enemy had launched an invasion based on their knowledge, that timeline made sense.
[Calculating quest achievement for reward.......]
[Calculating.......]
[You have overturned the fate of destruction that descended upon tens of thousands of humans.]
[Unbelievable results!]
[Unable to calculate achievement due to excessive overachievement.]
[The maximum payable reward will be granted.]
[Will you receive the reward?]
“Yeah.”
That reward I’d kept putting off until now because I was busy with other things.
[You intervened in a fate where destruction was certain, opening a new possibility.]
[A rare great feat—even among the chefs of the entire universe, no, among mortals themselves!]
[Achievement: Fate Alteration]
[Reward for a great feat will be granted.]
Finally.
Appeared in front of my eyes.
[Achievement: Fate Alteration]
[Reward for a great feat will be granted.]
[Stat Increase Potion (Strength) - 3]
[Stat Increase Potion (Agility) - 3]
[Stat Increase Potion (Magic Power) - 3]
[Stat Increase Potion (Luck) - 1]
The first thing to appear was potions.
Ten in total.
Holy shit. How much is all this?
If you converted it into points, these were potions worth ten thousand.
And the “Luck” potion wasn’t even something the shop sold.
Skills and traits matter, sure.
But stats are the power that decides how strongly you can bring out those skills and traits.
And I’m already someone whose potion efficiency is better than other people’s.
Just swallowing those potions alone would shoot my stats up like crazy.
“Even this alone is an insane reward.......”
And.
That wasn’t all.
[The trait - Taste Bud Enhancement is granted.]
[Taste Bud Enhancement]
[Your taste buds, the organs that sense flavor, are strengthened a little further.]
[You will be able to sense a wider variety of sensations as “taste,” and you will be able to learn far more through “taste.”]
A new trait.
It says I’ll be able to feel more kinds of sensations as “taste”......
Uh.
How do I even put this.
“What is this?”
Up until now, I could at least get a feel for whether something would be good or bad.
But this wasn’t even something I could classify as good or bad.
“I thought it was like Absolute Palate, but reading the effect, it doesn’t seem like that either.”
It isn’t power that affects something like my stats.
This trait felt like something I’d need to research more.
[The skill - Healthy Meal is granted.]
[Healthy Meal]
[You can infuse special magic power into your cooking, making it possible to create healthy meals.]
[But unfortunately, it’s hard for food that’s good for your health to also taste good!]
[Cooking made as a Healthy Meal loses some flavor, causing existing cooking effects to disappear or weaken.]
[In exchange, it gains an effect that restores the health of those who consume it.]
Next was a skill.
Like those combat rations that lose some effect in exchange for losing their expiration date.
It looked like a skill that added some kind of special capability to my cooking.
“Health gets better, huh.”
At a glance, this didn’t look like a bad skill.
I’d have to check later to see how strong the effect actually was.
And then.
The next thing granted was.
[A new title is granted!]
[Title: Chef of Hope]
A title.
This title—one kind of reward you get from achievements—was a reward that granted a kind of passive effect.
A title like [Chef of Edification] increases ability effects by 30% against evil-aligned beings.
Or a title like [KING SLAYER] increases stat efficiency against race-ruler-class targets—stuff like that.
[In a situation where everyone wants to give up, you delivered a single ray of hope, and in the end, you made that hope real!]
[From now on, your cooking will take root in new possibilities that did not originally exist.]
And.
The effect of the title I got this time was.
[1. A random line of positive effect is added to all cooking effects.]
[2. If cooking made with a specific intention contains sufficient sincerity, there is a very low chance you can forcibly draw out an effect that the chef’s skill would not have been able to bring out.]
“......Huh?”
The moment I saw that.
I couldn’t help being horrified.
Normally, the effects of the cooking I make were like this.
[1. Stats temporarily increase.]
[2. Traits are temporarily acquired.]
And.
As my ability as a chef rose, those stat and trait effects gradually grew stronger.
But even then, the effects applied to a dish were, at most, two.
If there were a lot, maybe three or four.
But.
[1. A random line of positive effect is added to all cooking effects.]
On top of that.
It says a line of effect gets added no matter what.
“That means every dish I make gets at least a 25% boost. If I’m lucky, close to a 50% boost.”
With my stats rising, my cooking effects were already going to get stronger.
And now a title like this......!
Dear god.
Even if I did a lot in Gyeonggi Province.
It was an overwhelming reward to the point I honestly never expected it to go this far.
And.
I didn’t even have time to sit there shocked.
[You have acquired a new title!]
[Due to acquiring multiple titles, the level-up condition is fulfilled.]
“......?”
The moment I achieved the feat and finished reading everything.
A message appearing in front of my eyes.
“If it’s a level up.”
After dealing with those giants.
And cutting the body of the one that was their leader.
My level had gone past reaching 39—my experience had been enough to hit 40.
“It said I couldn’t level up because the condition wasn’t met.”
It was ridiculous that I couldn’t level up.
It was also ridiculous that it wouldn’t even tell me what the condition was.
But I’d been so busy I couldn’t pay attention to it.
But now.......
[Achieve multiple achievements and titles. (1/1)]
That condition.
Had been met.
*****
[There are many chefs in the world with outstanding skill, but those who leave their names in history are extremely rare.]
[Meanwhile, chefs who left their names in history—even if their skill was lacking compared to others.]
[They were those who achieved great feats others could not dare reach.]
Only after I read that message.
Could I understand what the level-up condition was.
“Achievements.”
More precisely.
[Those who achieve great feats may be given a unique name of their own.]
[The path that chef walked becomes that chef’s new title.]
[Title]
[Chef of Edification]
[Chef of Healing]
[Chef of Miracles]
[Chef of Liberation]
[Chef of Hope]
A reward given from achievements......
Titles.
[And among them, there are those who, after piling up countless great feats.]
[Advance into a new domain, rather than remaining a merely strong person.]
[Those who have been given many names through countless achievements.]
[People call such beings this.]
[HERO!]
“Hero.......”
[You have succeeded in achieving the minimum standing required as a Hero.]
[Your level rises.]
[War Cook Lv.40]
The moment I met the standing required to become a Hero.
My level went up.
“Level 40.”
I’d been level 39 right before this, sure.
But after reaching that level, I’d basically been lying down the whole time.
Honestly, I hadn’t even properly felt the power of level 39.
And now suddenly I was level 40.
“......Heh.”
How much stronger did I get.
What became possible now.
Honestly.
Even I couldn’t really guess.
[By reaching level 40, you have entered the rank of a Hero!]
[Unlike ordinary humans, humans who have reached the realm of Heroes draw the attention of many.]
[However, be careful!]
[It will not be only other humans who focus their interest on you.]
“......Huh?”
But.
Before I could even enjoy the fact I’d reached level 40, warning text appeared in front of my eyes.
[Transcendent beings who toy with fate recognize your existence.]
[Quasi-gods, demigods, demons or angels...... or divinities of lofty standing realize the fact of your existence.]
[Not every path walked by the Heroes of history ended in a happy conclusion.]
[You, who bear the standing of a Hero, may receive their favor and become an apostle.]
[Or you may earn their resentment and become a target of trials.]
Transcendent beings.
Apostles.
Trials.
The moment I saw those words.
I could tell reaching level 40 wasn’t something I could just be happy about.
“We were being protected in a realm we didn’t even know existed.”
And.
They said the moment the Beginner Protection System ended.
That protection would be lifted, one by one.
And on top of that.
It said I was now in a state that would catch the interest of those great transcendent beings.
If that’s the case.
“When that protection disappears......”
I turned my gaze in a hurry.
And looked at the Wall of Fire (Black Wall) visible above Bimanar.
[Time remaining until the Beginner Protection System is lifted...... 00:00:05]
Less than five seconds left.
The moment that protection was lifted, to head for Gangwon.
Bimanar was slowly approaching near that Wall.
“What happens?”
And.
[00:00:01]
Watching that time drop.
I could feel it in my bones.
“The moment that number hits zero.”
Maybe.
I’d be exposed to a completely different kind of threat than anything up until now.
[00:00:00]
[The Beginner Protection System is lifted.]
*****
“......Huh?”
When I came to.
I—who had been inside my room on Bimanar just a moment ago......
-Heh, heh...... Now that’s one scary-looking bastard.
Was thrown into a pure white world.
A world I couldn’t make sense of.
