Chapter 4

. Increasing the Number of Awakeners (1)

After roughly wrapping up the meeting, we first moved to reorganize the unit.

If you could call it fortunate, the monsters only attacked places where people were. Since all the unit members were gathered in one place, dealing with the monsters inside the base wasn’t all that difficult

“Way tougher than I thought?”

A monster covered in thick scales, a lizard. It didn’t even get scratched when hit with a large shovel, but, thankfully, it did take damage when shot with guns. The problem was that one or two shots didn’t faze it at all.

“It seems like you have to dump almost a full magazine into one to kill it.”

Twenty to thirty bullets for a single monster. There had been more than ten monsters that attacked the base today alone, so at this rate, there was no way our ammunition would hold out.

‘We can hold on somehow for now, but this won’t work in the long run.’

Unless we received additional supplies…We’d hit our limit very soon.

“What should we do with the bodies of the fallen soldiers…”

“There’s a cemetery behind the base. Put the bodies in body bags and lay them there.”

Roughly like that.

While soldiers with guns patrolled in three-man teams, the rest did their best to clean up the base.

After the earlier meeting ended.

There had been two meaningful conclusions. Sending people to contact higher command, and increasing the number of Awakeners.

For the former, two soldiers who thought it would be safer to go outside than stay in the base volunteered, and it was settled that they would ride out on a Leto.

As for the latter, even though we had dealt with quite a few monsters while cleaning up the base, no Awakeners appeared other than me.

“It’s probably because we killed them with guns.”

Sergeant Park Taejun from the radar squad said. He was my batchmate, and one of the guys who had personally shot one of the monsters to death this time.

“So that’s really the only reason, huh?”

“You killed one by grappling with it up close, right? We shot them from far away so they couldn’t even get close. If there’s any difference, that’s the only part.”

I recalled the energy that had filled my body when I killed a monster. Maybe the monster released some kind of energy as it died, and you had to absorb it up close, something like that.

“Well, for now, if we know the weak point you told us about… the armpit, right? I feel like we can manage somehow. No, actually, I’m more curious. When you first killed a monster, you didn’t know the weak point yet, did you? How did you do it?”

“I just splashed some boiling oil on it. While it was busy tearing into the corpse of the youngest, I went for the back of its head…”

“Boiling oil? What is this, a siege battle or something?”

He laughed as if my story was ridiculous, then spoke seriously again.

“Let’s do this. These things are hard to kill with just a few bullets. But if you keep shooting, you can see them start to suffer and lose strength at some point. We push them to the brink of death with gunfire, then only approach at the very end to stab the weak point.”

As he spoke, he glanced at the sashimi knife in my hand.

“Unlike you, we’ll have to stab them with bayonets mounted on our rifles.”

In the storage room next to the barracks, soldiers from the facilities squad had brought out grinders and were sharpening the bayonets.

A bayonet had reach equal to the length of the rifle. It would be safer than my sashimi knife.

“What if the monster resists while it’s still alive?”

“Then, well, we pray for its soul.”

“You’re insane.”

“Heh. Well, it’s something for when more monsters show up. They might not show up again anyway, so what’s the point of worrying about it now.”

Taejun seemed to think that monsters might not appear again. Certainly, there was no evidence that the monsters that attacked the base would come back. But…

‘Just because something happened once doesn’t mean it won’t happen twice.’

Even so, like Taejun said…Worrying about it now wouldn’t change anything.

“Then you guys manage things here. I’m going to make food.”

At that, he looked at me as if he found it strange.

“In this situation?”

“In this situation, all the more reason. You can’t work on an empty stomach, can you.”

“Well, I guess that’s true.”

“Lunch is already a lost cause, and if we start preparing dinner now, the timing should work out, so tell everyone to come on time. I’m going.”

Leaving Taejun behind, I headed back to the cafeteria.

“What a mess.”

We had cleaned up the monsters and the juniors’ bodies with the other soldiers for now. But the oil I had splashed around was still slick on the floor, and the blood and chunks of flesh splattered everywhere were still there.

“…Let’s clean up roughly and start cooking.”

Recalling my days as the youngest, I cleaned the kitchen with hot water, then started preparing dinner.

I thought it would be tough to do alone what at least three people usually handled, even if things were somewhat prepared. But…

“Why does this feel so easy?”

Preparing the ingredients, trimming them, cooking, every step felt far too easy. Not only was it not tiring, it even felt comfortable.

‘Is this the power of 『Lowest-Grade Cooking Proficiency』?’

And maybe because of 『Lowest-Grade Flame Affinity』, the kitchen that was always hot felt comfortable too.

Come to think of it. With just Lowest-Grade Dagger Proficiency, I could chop through a table like it was radish with a kitchen knife.

I had been worrying about how I’d manage cooking alone after the two juniors died. But at this level, it seemed like it wouldn’t be a problem.

When I finished the dinner menu like that.

『‘Beginner Cook’s Stir-Fried Pork Belly’ has been completed!』

『The quality of the ingredients is not good. The dish’s stats slightly decrease.』

『Due to excellent temperature control, the dish’s stats increase.』

『The cook’s sincerity was applied at a 『Normal』 level. The dish’s stats slightly increase.』

『‘Beginner Cook’s Stir-Fried Pork Belly’』

『Upon consumption, Strength +1, Agility +1 for a certain period of time』

『Skill — The Head Chef’s Special Sauce can be added.』

The hologram window I was now used to appeared.

“Hm.”

A dish that raises stats for a certain period when eaten.

“Well, I kind of expected this.”

The suddenly appeared status window, all the various description messages.

At first, I was too flustered to notice, but. With even a bit of sense, you could tell what this was.

‘A game system.’

And in games, what does a cook do?

Make buff-granting food.

“But I don’t know how much +1 Strength and +1 Agility actually is. Is that a big effect, or a small one?”

Not all game cooks are the same.

There are games where cooking buffs are huge and the cooking skill is considered essential, and games where the effects are so small that the system is practically treated as nonexistent. Depending on which kind of ‘game’ I was stuck in, my value would change.

There was another point that bothered me.

“The Head Chef’s Special Sauce?”

『The Head Chef’s Special Sauce』

『Delicious food moves people’s hearts!』

『A great head chef can also adjust the direction of that heart.』

『Through the special sauce, you can change the emotions of those who consume the food.』

‘Hmm…’

So using this ability would let me somewhat control the emotions of those who ate it.

“I don’t know if there’s really a need to use this.”

I recalled the looks on the soldiers’ faces I had seen after today’s incident. Everyone had been flustered by the sudden events, trembling in fear.

“It’d be nice if they felt a bit more at ease after eating.”

『The Head Chef’s Special Sauce — Calm』 is added.

『Beginner Cook’s Stir-Fried Pork Belly of a Calm Heart』

『Upon consumption, Strength +1, Agility +1 for a certain period of time』

『If you eat it, your heart might feel a little more at ease.』

After serving the completed dish and waiting.

At dinner time, the soldiers began to enter the cafeteria.

“Ah… Sergeant Shin. Thank you for the meal.”

“Yeah.”

They all looked drained. But they seemed to have come thinking they still had to eat.

As I served the food, I kept glancing at the soldiers to see how the effects of the food would show.

‘Is it actually working?’

If their strength increased, you’d think there’d be some kind of visible change, like muscles bulging or veins popping. But there was no outward change that I could tell.

‘Is this ability trash?’

Just as that unease crept in. One of the soldiers who was about to leave after finishing his meal met my eyes.

“Sergeant Shin. Thank you.”

“Huh? For what.”

“For cooking. My head’s been pounding and I got kind of sensitive because of the monsters… but after eating and getting full, I felt a bit more at ease. Thanks for the meal.”

‘Heh…So it wasn’t completely useless.’

“People get sensitive when they’re hungry. That’s just how it is.”

“And today’s menu was really delicious.”

“I just did it the same way I always do.”

“Really? It felt tastier than usual…”

After that exchange. The other soldiers’ expressions also seemed to have loosened up a bit.

I couldn’t really tell about the stat part.

‘If I can at least help manage their mental state like this, this might be a pretty decent ability.’

They say the best way to relieve stress is to eat something delicious.

Taste aside, if it helped relieve stress, it wasn’t bad.

“Being told it was good never gets old.”

I was looking around the cafeteria with a satisfied feeling when,

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!

Gunfire rang out.

“…Damn it.”

I had harbored a bit of hope, that maybe the monsters that attacked the base earlier were the last of them. And that no more monsters would appear.

They didn’t give us a moment’s rest.

* * *

After gunfire rang out in the base.

I hurried out of the cafeteria and headed as fast as I could toward where the sound came from.

“You’re here.”

When I arrived…Sergeant Park Taejun from the radar squad and Sergeant Lee Minjae from the communications squad were already there before me.

“Hearing gunfire means, as expected.”

“Yeah.”

Taejun jerked his chin slightly, pointing to one side.

“Two of them.”

Where Taejun pointed, soldiers with guns were surrounding the monsters.

“Both still alive?”

“Yeah. And…”

Taejun showed me his rifle with a bayonet attached, then shrugged.

“We’re going to stab them now.”

Both monsters had taken nearly twenty bullets each and were dying, drained of strength. The ferocious appearance they’d had when fighting me was nowhere to be seen.

They lay collapsed on the ground, breathing with difficulty.

“Hoo.”

Sergeant Lee Minjae was the first to approach the bleeding monster with his bayonet-fixed rifle.

Taejun was also standing by with his bayonet ready. There was a reason these two stepped forward first.

— “Let the first ones to awaken be the people who participated in the meeting.”

— “Why?”

— “We believe in this awakening stuff because we saw you chop a table like radish, but if we tell other soldiers to approach a monster with their bare bodies, they’ll think it’s insane. And we can’t exactly recall everyone who’s been scattered on assignments just to put on a table-chopping show. We need to awaken too and let them know that this stuff exists. Since it came up, I’ll go first.”

The one who said that was Sergeant Lee Minjae, who was now approaching the monster.

As unit members who had rushed over from all directions watched. Sergeant Lee Minjae approached the bleeding monster.

Thud!

He stomped on its chest in case it tried to get up.

Then aimed the bayonet downward.

“Hah.”

I had told him the weak point.

The left armpit…After steadying his breath, Sergeant Lee Minjae thrust the bayonet down in one motion.

Thrust!

Blood gushed out from the blood vessels clustered in the stabbed armpit. Compared to me, who had clung on awkwardly and hacked away with a kitchen knife during my first awakening, it was a clean single strike.

Though that was only possible because the thing was already on the verge of death.

“Ugh. This feels damn awful.”

Sergeant Lee Minjae came back, cold sweat on his face, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket.

“How is it, hyung. Did the system window pop up?”

When I asked, unable to hide my curiosity. Sergeant Lee Minjae grinned and stuck a cigarette in his mouth.

Then he brought his finger to the tip where the flame should be.

Bzzzt!

A visible blue spark of electricity flashed from his fingertip…The cigarette lit.

“Beginner Mage. Trait is Lowest-Grade Electricity Affinity. Skill is Electric Shock and stuff like that.”

“Damn, there are mages too?”

“You’re the first one to awaken, and you’re surprised?”

Either way, the hypothesis was confirmed. If you killed a monster up close yourself, you could awaken.

“Next is me.”

Seeing that, Taejun.

Holding his bayonet at the ready, slowly approached the other monster.

Just as he was about to kick it over so the left armpit would be exposed, wary of it attacking.

“Grr… Rahak!”

“Taejun!”

The monster that looked like it was about to die lifted its head and bit down on Taejun’s leg.

“Ghh…”

Even as Taejun groaned in pain from his calf being bitten through, he didn’t let go of the bayonet.

Thrust!

And he succeeded in stabbing the monster’s weak point. The monster that had been stabbed in its weak point soon lost strength and collapsed.

But, Taejun’s condition was far from normal.

“Sergeant Park Taejun!”

“Damn it, hey! Call the medic!”

“Our medic is a physical therapy major, he can’t treat something like that!”

“Better than nothing, you idiot!”

A visible hole had been torn in his calf, blood pouring out.

Soon, the medic ran over, and together with another soldier, they hoisted Taejun up.

“Hey…”

As he was being carried away, Taejun looked at me with a pained expression and spoke.

“It popped up for me too… The system window.”

“Yeah, yeah. Good job, you bastard!”

Maybe because of an adrenaline surge from the injury. He was drenched in cold sweat, yet he was grinning as he was carried off.

‘His injury worries me… but Taejun awakened too.’

The fact that monsters kept appearing was grim. But it also meant that we could reinforce our side’s strength.

If we kept increasing the number of Awakeners like this, before long.

‘A unit that can fight monsters even without bullets will be completed.’

A path to survival was starting to come into view.