Chapter 18

Threat (2)

There is an entity threatening our unit.

That much is certain, but I have no idea who it is.

A few days ago.

I even discussed this matter with Minjae hyung.

“The biggest lead is that man who talked to you, Young-jun. For now, we’ve figured out which room he’s in. The people sharing the room with him, too.”

That room was being used by five men together. According to the information the soldiers quietly gathered while chatting with the survivors, they seemed to have known each other since before the zombie outbreak.

“But just because they’re close doesn’t mean they’re all accomplices.”

“Yeah. On the flip side, all five of them could be part of the threat.”

The list of suspects had narrowed.

However, it wasn’t like we could just march over and say, ‘You guys might be a threat to us, so come with us for a bit,’ and drag them away.

Not only would the other survivors push back, but considering that some of them might actually be part of the threat, we could end up creating nothing but innocent victims. To begin with, we still didn’t even know in what way they posed a threat to us.

“But we can’t just wait until that threat actually manifests.”

If we only caught the culprits after the threat had already been carried out against our unit, it would be too late. Since we don’t know what form the threat might take, it could cause far greater damage than expected.

We have to deal with it now, before anything happens.

“…It’s not like there’s no way.”

There is a way to find the culprit.

After all, it’s a method we’ve used countless times already.

“You said the survivors will start helping out with unit duties from now on, right?”

“Yeah. Things civilians can handle, like cleaning the barracks or the cafeteria.”

“Then have that man I mentioned assigned to the cafeteria side.”

The request itself had nothing to do with tracking down the threat.

Normally, someone would ask, ‘What kind of method are you planning to use?’ around now.

“…Haah. You’re planning to use that ‘persuasion’ of yours, aren’t you?”

“Mm. Yeah, pretty much.”

Minjae sighed as he spoke.

The ‘persuasion’ that made Gwang-il, who had been too scared of monsters to even move, end up biting into a monster’s weakness. The ‘persuasion’ that sent all the trembling, anxious soldiers straight into the awakening arena.

‘…I’ve used it this openly. It wouldn’t be strange if he caught on.’

Minjae hyung, who had witnessed all of that persuasion firsthand, seemed to have already realized that I had some kind of special means at my disposal.

“I don’t know exactly what kind of ability it is… but this is definitely a situation where we need that kind of power, so I won’t say anything. Still, relying on that ability too much might not be a good idea.”

“I know. I’m being careful about it too.”

『The Head Chef’s Special Sauce』

The power to regulate the emotions of the person who eats the food. It’s certainly a powerful ability, but…

‘If people find out I have this kind of ability, no one will want to eat my cooking anymore.’

Just like Minjae hyung has already vaguely caught on.

If I use this ability too recklessly, the chances of its true nature being exposed will only go up.

‘I can’t hoard it and refuse to use it when necessary, but when I do use it, I need to be careful not to get found out.’

『Beginner Chef’s Heartfelt, Sincerely-Made Misutgaru Ice Cream』

The same goes for this dish I worked so hard to make.

The important thing is not getting found out.

“I mean, sure, I could just drag that guy in and forcibly shove it into his mouth.”

The man politely saying, ‘Thank you for the food,’ and then suddenly becoming ‘excessively honest’?

Anyone who saw that sudden change would have no choice but to suspect the food that went into his mouth right before the change. Not just the survivors, but even the soldiers would start feeling uneasy about my cooking, so the method I prepared was this.

‘Dishwashing support.’

For people who come to help out in the cafeteria, I give them snacks as thanks for their help. It’s something I used to do even when the unit was still functioning normally, and it’s a natural reason to hand out food.

If I do that a few times, word will spread.

‘If you help out in the cafeteria, they give you snacks.’

That alone is enough.

‘Since everyone else ate the same food, even if something strange happens, they won’t suspect the food itself.’

On top of that, even if the ‘threat’ is wary of our unit members… They wouldn’t be so cautious as to refuse snacks that everyone else is eating.

* * *

“I made a snack, so why don’t you have some before you go?”

“Oh, so this is that famous ice cream.”

“So the rumors have already spread?”

“Haha, you have no idea how jealous the people who got assigned to barracks cleaning are. Everyone who comes back from cafeteria duty is grinning from ear to ear.”

The people on barracks duty are jealous?

“Ah… that makes me feel a bit bad for the people assigned to the barracks. I should’ve done something for them too…”

“You don’t have to worry about that. The assignments rotate anyway. Those guys are probably counting the days until it’s their turn to get assigned to cafeteria duty.”

I genuinely didn’t know this part.

Still, it’s a relief that the people assigned to barracks cleaning don’t seem to be too dissatisfied.

“Then, thank you for the food.”

The man put the ice cream into his mouth.

“Mmm!”

It must have suited his taste quite well.

“Mmm, mmm!” he went, moving his spoon nonstop.

Well, I put a ton of effort into making it, so of course it tastes good. Especially since the one made just for you is a special batch, I didn’t hold back on the ingredients.

“Thank you for the meal! Wow, it was really good! It’s been so long since I’ve had something this sweet.”

He finished the bowl in no time. Even as he returned the empty bowl, the smile didn’t leave his face.

‘Then now…’

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Haha, I’m the one who should be thankful.”

“By the way, can I ask you just one thing?”

“Hm? Is there something you’re curious about? Ask me anything.”

Maybe because he’d eaten something sweet and was in a good mood, he was quite friendly. Riding on that friendliness, I asked him my question without hesitation.

“You asked me about my job last time, right?”

“Pardon?”

“That. Why did you ask?”

“…”

If this man isn’t that ‘threat,’ and if that question was just light small talk…

Then he’d answer that he didn’t really have any particular reason.

In that case, I could just let him go after hearing that answer.

Then this man would simply be one of the many ordinary survivors. He himself would probably think, ‘Oh, it was nothing after all,’ and move on. But…

“Ah, I needed to check whether there were any awakened individuals in this unit.”

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“I mean, if it’s a military unit with guns, it wouldn’t be strange for there to be awakened individuals. If that were the case, we would’ve had to change our strategy. So when you said there weren’t any, I was really reliev—”

He was answering casually, when he suddenly seemed to feel a sense of unease and drew out the end of his sentence.

“…”

“Well, that was to be expected.”

The man who always laughed and acted friendly.

“…Damn.”

I never thought his expression could twist that badly…It was surprising.

“Out of curiosity, if there were awakened individuals in our unit, how would you have proceeded?”

“…First, we would’ve checked the scale. If there were many awakened individuals, we wouldn’t stand a chance in a frontal confrontation, so we would’ve stayed infiltrated quietly and waited for an opportunity. Damn it, what did you do to me?!”

“I see. So if you’d confirmed that our awakened combat power was strong, you would’ve hidden yourselves even more thoroughly? And because you judged that wasn’t the case, your guard got a bit lax?”

Awakened individuals come in many types, with diverse abilities.

If this man had known that our unit was producing awakened individuals en masse… He wouldn’t have so casually eaten the food I handed him. Given the wide variety of abilities awakened individuals possess, he would’ve been cautious in every possible way.

In that case, it would’ve taken far more time and effort to catch him.

‘So this is what it means to keep your abilities hidden.’

Even if you know there’s a threat, if they stay hidden, there’s no way to catch them.

“Damn it…!”

Realizing something had gone wrong, the man abruptly turned his body as if to run away. But…

“Just a moment, I have something to ask.”

“…”

No coercion in my tone at all.

Just a casual, ‘I have something to ask.’

At those words, the man’s steps, which had been about to bolt away, stopped short.

Creak!

And then his head slowly turned back.

“…Ask me anything.”

When his gaze met mine again, he spoke with cold sweat pouring down his face.

‘Huh. The effect is really working properly.’

『The Head Chef’s Special Sauce』 has several rules.

One of them is that the more the dish’s own effect is maximized, the more the special sauce’s ability is maximized as well. The ice cream given to the others was made with nothing more than misutgaru, sugar, and starch syrup.

『Beginner Chef’s Heartfelt, Sincerely-Made Misutgaru Ice Cream』

Just as the name suggests. That one was made using even the little condensed milk the unit had left, and I put in an insane amount of effort, even whipping air into it by hand to give it a smooth texture.

“Even if you rationally know you shouldn’t say it, you won’t be able to help yourself, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Well, that figures.”

Right now, he was more ‘honest’ than anyone else in the world. So much so that just hearing the words ‘I have something to ask’ made his body move on its own to answer.

‘Similar to how excessive courage turned Gwang-il into a berserker.’

The difference is, In Gwang-il’s case, it was unintended. This time, it was carried out thoroughly by my own intention.

“Then I’ll keep asking. Do you have accomplices? Among them, how many awakened individuals are there, and who would you say is the leader?”

“All five of us sharing the same room are accomplices, and all of us are awakened. The leader is Park Gwonchang hyung… the one who served as the room representative…”

“Wow, I wondered if that might be the case, but all five of you?”

The man named Park Gwonchang, who played the role of leader, was that middle-aged man who had complained about why Kim lieutenant hadn’t come out during the survivors’ discussion. These guys seemed to have a certain level of standing even within the survivor group.

“What were five of you planning to do together?”

“…We were planning to take over this unit.”

I had suspected as much. But what mattered was the method.

How exactly were they planning to take over a unit of over a hundred armed soldiers?

“First, we would spend some time checking whether there were awakened individuals or other threats…”

That part was no longer a concern. We had told the unit members to hide their awakened abilities.

If an awakened individual had appeared later on, these guys might have judged it a threat and acted even more covertly.

“And after observing for several days… we judged that there were no awakened individuals or equivalent threats in this unit. So we decided to execute the operation.”

The guy kept spilling their plan. But then…

‘…Huh?’

Something felt off.

“Did you say, ‘after judging, we execute the operation,’ or did you mean, ‘judged. Execute the operation’?”

“…Yes. We judged that there were no awakened individuals, so the operation is to be carried out tonight.”

At those words, I looked out the cafeteria window. Dinner had already ended, and people were cleaning up afterward.

The unit, now darkened as the sun had set, came into view.

‘Tonight…Isn’t that right now?’

“As soon as I return, the operation will be carried out.”

“Shit.”

“And I, too.”

Then, as if the tense expression he’d had until just now was a lie, the man stood up with a grin.

“I mean, me too. Things got a little twisted, but I was planning to go back and carry out the operation anyway.”

At that moment…

Fwoooosh!

“…Fire?”

Hot flames erupted from the man’s body.

For a split second, I wondered if he’d set himself on fire, but,

“Kuhahaha…”

He let out a vile laugh, as if he felt no pain at all.

“I didn’t know what you did to me, so I panicked, but when I thought about it, there was no need to panic.”

“So you don’t need to panic? Why?”

“Judging by the circumstances, it seems like there are quite a few awakened individuals in this unit… but even so, what’s in front of me right now is just one mere cook who can barely cook, right?”

“Mm? Well. Yeah?”

Judging by how he answered the question, the ‘honesty’ was still in effect.

‘Being honest doesn’t mean being docile.’

You know how in comics or movies, there’s that villain who answers everything the other person is curious about while continuing to attack them?

It felt exactly like that. The flames that had been raging gradually spread across the man’s entire body.

Before long, all those flames gathered into his right hand.

They formed a massive ball of fire.

“In that case, I’ll just burn you to ashes! It hurts that my identity’s been exposed, but I can regroup with my comrades and start over somewhere else!”

Shouting ‘Die!’ he hurled the massive fireball gathered in his right hand straight at me.

A flashy, gigantic blaze you’d only expect to see in movies came rushing toward me. The sight of the massive fireball flying toward me was certainly intimidating.

‘Huh.’

The heat itself wasn’t all that frightening.

‘Being a cook means you get pretty friendly with fire.’

You know how cafeteria ladies casually grab hot pots with their bare hands sometimes?

It’s kind of like that.

Boom!

Pfft!

“…You’re really hopeless.”

The massive fireball that struck my body, disappeared without leaving any effect at all, as if nothing had happened.

『Low-Grade Flame Affinity』

『From its very origins, cooking has always gone hand in hand with fire.』

『Standing before raging flames, gripping and swinging a steel pan, this is the fate of a cook!』

“Sorry, but take the hit.”

“W-what…?!”

The guy stumbled backward in shock as the fireball he’d believed in vanished without effect.

Within the sight of my 『Chef’s Eye』 as I gripped my sashimi knife…

『Low-Grade Cooking Secret – ‘Insight into Primate Butchering’』

The method to ‘effectively process’ him was clearly visible.