{It was big, so the yield was good. Even to replace every last tendon in the Legion Commander’s entire body—turned into a full-body rag—Avaros’s right arm alone was enough.}
“.......”
{Ah, I used the right arm because it was the highest-quality part in its body. After all, it was material the Legion Commander personally brought me, wasn’t it? It’s not like I have no conscience. Of course I’d use the best part for the Legion Commander’s treatment.......}
It kept going, bragging as it explained something.
But I didn’t have the luxury to sit there listening to its explanation.
‘[Status Window]!’
As urgently as I could, I turned my head and read the transparent window that appeared in front of my eyes.
And what was written there was—
[Shin Youngjun]
[Combat Chef Lv.41]
[Species]
[Primates - Human Species(?)]
Thank god.
For now, it still said I was human.
“You...!”
But even so, I couldn’t suppress the rage boiling up.
“What the hell did you do to me......!”
{Hm? What did I do......? Treatment, of course.}
“You know, too.”
If it had done it without knowing anything,
I wouldn’t be this furious, but—
“You’re the one who said I’m right on the verge of no longer being human.”
{Ah, that.}
After examining me, it had said it out loud itself.
If things went wrong, I could slip past being human and......
end up a monster.
{You don’t have to worry about that part.}
But.
Even with me glaring at it through gritted teeth,
it continued explaining as if nothing mattered.
{Of course, didn’t you think I would account for that?}
{For example, this bed you’re lying on right now.}
“Yeah.”
{Let’s say the bed is old and worn out. Then, here.}
KRRRK.
The monster’s finger touched one part of the bed frame.
{A part like this could be swapped out with a different component, right?}
“That’s...... true.”
{Then can you say that bed is still the original bed?}
At that,
I frowned, but still answered the question.
“It is.”
{Why? A part of the bed has changed.}
“Even so. There’s still more of the original bed left.”
{Well, you could see it that way. Then let’s say the bed gets even older, and next,}
KRRRK.
This time it poked the opposite side of the frame.
{This part gets replaced too. Then what?}
“Same thing.”
{Then next, and next.}
The legs.
The mattress.
The wheels of the rolling bed.
It pointed to one part of the bed after another, asking if it was still the original bed,
and every time, I answered,
“Same thing.”
And then, before I knew it—
{Do you know, Legion Commander?}
“......?”
{From those questions just now, there is no part left in this bed that originally made up this bed.}
The monster’s mouth split open in a sickening stretch.
{Then I’ll ask again. Even now...... can you say this bed is still the original bed?}
To that question,
without thinking deeply,
I gave the answer I would have given with my {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} usual way of thinking.
“I still think it’s the same.”
{Yes! That’s it!}
Then it bloomed into the disgusting smile it had shown before and shouted.
{Because I knew the Legion Commander would answer like that, I proceeded with this surgery.}
“What are you...... So what? What’s the answer to that question? Are you saying what I said is correct?”
{What kind of question has a correct answer? If there is an answer, then.}
It pointed at me with a slow gesture.
{It changes depending on how each person accepts it.}
“......?”
{There are many problems in this world that you can’t give a simple, definite answer to. And how you accept that problem...... is something the person facing it decides.}
It probably wasn’t the main body, but
the huge monster widened its eyes,
staring at me with those madness-filled eyes.
{You defined it like this...... even if every part of the bed is replaced, that bed is the same bed as the original bed. Then for the Legion Commander, that becomes the answer.}
“.......”
{There aren’t as many people as you’d think who give the same answer as the Legion Commander. And yet you gave it as if it were obvious. Perhaps...... even before I asked, the Legion Commander had been thinking about it unconsciously.}
At that,
something came to mind.
{And...... at the end of that line of thought, which even you hadn’t consciously noticed.}
“.......”
{You already had your answer.}
Not long ago.
When I was leaving Gyeonggi.
-This is my guess, senior. The meat from the monsters we’ve eaten until now—even after cooking—must have become our blood and flesh.
A single realization my junior—who had always only received instruction—had handed to me.
-The possibilities of a chef are.......
After the day the world ended.
No, even before that,
I had eaten things that weren’t human, and I had built my body out of them.
Which meant, in other words,
what made up my body right now was probably—
‘More monster than human.’
And yet.
I was still remaining as a human.
-It might be opened wider than we thought we knew.
That realization,
one I still hadn’t fully accepted even now.
[Dokgogu-style]
I reached for the kitchen knife lying beside the bed
and swung it.
SHRAK!
What I swung the kitchen knife at was
the hide and flesh of my own wrist.
[Ingredients Identification (Enhanced)]
I stared at what was inside—
my tendon.
{Deciding whether that bed is the original bed or not is something the owner of the bed must do. Or the bed itself.}
And.
What was inside was not
something belonging to a monster called [Avaros].
{And the Legion Commander already has that answer.}
[Primates - Human Species tendon]
[A bloodline with particularly unusual mana compared to other human species.]
{Ahh, how interesting.}
{What kind of realization led you to derive this answer.......}
It was human.
*****
“.......”
I stared blankly at my wrist—
at the tendon inside.
The realization my junior had handed me back in Seoul.
That realization,
even as my body was being replaced by something that wasn’t human,
was fixing
‘my identity.’
Fixing me
as a human.
“Then does that mean no matter what happens, I’ll never stop being human......?”
{Not exactly. Your realization still seems to have immature parts. And among them, the part with the most hesitation...... is blood.}
“Blood?”
{The source of that peculiar vitality.}
The monster had been staring at me with shining eyes,
but it stepped back a few paces and continued calmly.
{That blood is mixed into you far too much. Enough that it could cross fifty percent if you’re not careful.}
“Hmm.”
{To use the bed again as an example—if the bed breaks and you replace over fifty percent of its parts with parts from the bed next to it, can you still call it the original bed?}
I could understand this much.
Even if various foreign things were mixed into my body, I recognized it as human, but—
“That would be closer to the bed next to it.”
{Exactly.}
If something from a single species made up more than half of my body,
I would perceive it as no longer human.
{The realization you gained is probably still in the process of dissolving into your body. That’s why, with only a slight change in conditions to the same question, a different answer comes out.}
“......Is this just how it is?”
I tilted my head and spoke.
“An answer changing depending on your own perception. That’s too unscientific.”
Depending on how you yourself thought,
your species got decided.
Even though I was the one thinking it, in human common sense it was hard to understand.
{That is the common sense of the native species...... of the Legion Commander’s species.}
At my words,
it clenched its fist tight and spoke.
{The power held by the will of life is stronger than you think, Legion Commander.}
“.......”
{Sometimes it even has the power to overturn your identity itself.}
And.
I stared blankly at its face as it continued speaking with fervor.
-KRRRROOORK.......
The one making that sound was
the monster it seemed to be using as a terminal.
That monster’s face was horrific enough that it was hard to look at for more than ten seconds, but—
{This is the same in treatment. If the patient’s will breaks, then even if it’s a light illness, you can’t continue treatment. But.}
The way it talked, it was like—
{If that will remains! Even for any grueling goal...... the ember of hope is still alive.}
It was more positive about life than even an extremely optimistic human,
full of passion and hope.
‘Saying that with that face...... it’s going to drive me insane.’
It was absurd, but
monsters from another world had plenty of parts that were hard to judge by human common sense.
I figured it would be better for me to just accept it and adapt to it.
“Anyway, are you saying we have to do this surgery several more times before my body becomes normal.”
{Well, that’s how it is.}
“And every time, I have to pay a new price.”
{For now, yes. But I’d like you not to begrudge it. From my perspective, I feel like I’m doing this treatment at a loss.}
“At a loss?”
{The monster you captured had value, yes, but even then, I yielded the most valuable parts to the Legion Commander.}
With its arms folded,
it answered in a tone that sounded a bit dissatisfied.
{I personally paid for every other material that went into the treatment. A being capable of proceeding with treatment at this level is rare—at least among everything I know across the entire universe. I’m not joking. If we calculate it coldly, it’s a loss for me.}
“.......”
{Like I said. I want to form friendly relations with the native species’ forces. I’m accepting this loss for that relationship. But if you talk about scams and such...... it hurts my feelings.}
Shockingly,
by the taste I felt through [Taste Bud Enhancement], that was the truth.
‘This thing is honest.’
It was.
Without any trickery, it was answering my questions honestly and confidently,
to the point it was almost confusing.
‘Friendly relations.’
Honestly, it felt pretty awkward.
A monster trying this hard first because it wanted to build friendly relations with us.
I didn’t know why, but I was benefiting from it.
“To be honest, even this treatment already feels incredible.”
I got up from the bed
and lightly moved my body as I spoke.
“At this level, you’re saying there’s still that much left to treat?”
{Hmm. That...... is probably caused by the Legion Commander’s misconception.}
“A misconception?”
{Since when do you think your body started breaking down?}
At that,
I thought for a moment, then answered.
“About three months ago, probably.”
{I see.}
That was when I started using [Berserk] in Gyeonggi.
But.
{That part is exactly the misconception.}
“What?”
This doctor’s thinking
seemed different from mine.
{Your body began getting worse long before that.}
“......?”
{It’s just that three months ago, it reached the point you could clearly feel it. Your condition had been steadily worsening. And.}
The monster
carefully reached a hand toward me.
{The native species’ power seems to grow at an incredible speed. The Legion Commander must be one of the strongest even among them. And that growth must have been extremely steep, right?}
“Uh...... I guess so.”
{As a doctor, I’ll say this with certainty. Legion Commander.}
It grabbed my hand with a tap
and stared at it as it spoke.
{After you became strong to a certain degree...... you have never once experienced your own ‘optimal condition.’ Not even a single time.}
“W-wait, what?”
{I realized it when I first examined you. The potential sleeping inside your body is beyond imagination...... but that potential is unable to manifest because of your body, which is catastrophically ruined.}
My level was 41.
Even if I wasn’t a combat class, that level was overwhelming.
And yet, times when I’d displayed dignity worthy of Level 41 were rare enough to count on one hand.
And probably,
it was the result of me overusing things like the stacked effects of [Absolute Taste],
my condition steadily worsening without me even realizing.
And.
I could guess one more thing.
{And if it were me.}
If I received all of its “treatment,”
I would gain a power I’d never experienced before.
{I could revive all of that potential!}
