Chapter 31

The Officers’ Quarters (3)

“…Ha, the soundproofing here is seriously terrible.”

The moment we stepped inside the building, rough breathing echoed from all directions. The only way to figure out where zombies might be hiding was through sound.

‘With this, tracking them by sound is impossible.’

Was the entire building filled with zombies?

Rough breathing could be heard from every direction. Even if Awakened ones had sharper senses than ordinary people, pinpointing the location of hidden zombies in here was difficult

‘This feels dangerous.’

I could tell by instinct, going in like this was risky.

After making my decision, I looked back and gave an order.

“Let’s fall back for now—”

That was when it happened.

“Sergeant Shin!”

As I turned around to head back outside, I saw soldiers rushing toward me.

I was startled for a moment. But it was quickly clear that they weren’t trying to attack me.

Grrrr…!

Right above my head, a single, distinct sound of ragged breathing could be heard from there.

‘Damn it!’

A water pipe running along the ceiling of the old building. A zombie that had been clinging there, hidden from sight, was now dropping down toward me.

I hurriedly raised my hands to protect my head.

“Kyaaaaargh!!!”

“Ghk!”

Crunch!

I wasn’t too slow to react.

I felt the zombie’s teeth sink into the military uniform on my right arm.

‘Not just any uniform, but one that can withstand several bullets.’

A zombie that was, at best, as strong as an adult man. No matter how hard it bit, with rotting teeth like that, there was no way it could pierce a uniform made from lizard hide.

‘If it had bitten a spot the uniform doesn’t protect, I’d be finished.’

Cold sweat ran down as I observed the zombie biting into my arm. Maybe it realized it couldn’t bite through the uniform. It twitched, as if trying to bite somewhere else.

‘Like hell you will!’

I was faster…Swinging my arm wide, I slammed the thing down onto the floor.

Bang!

Kyaak!

The zombie was smashed against the floor.

Kyaaaaaargh!

It didn’t feel pain at all, apparently, because it tried to get right back up and lunge at me again.

Crunch!

With a powerful stomp from my combat boot, the zombie’s head burst open.

‘I may not be a combat class, but I’m still Awakened.’

If I stomp hard with boots on, breaking bones isn’t exactly hard.

“Sergeant Shin!”

“Are you alright?!”

“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m fine.”

Zombies weren’t much in terms of raw combat power, unless they got the jump on you. It was a bit dangerous, but thankfully, I wasn’t bitten.

‘But it’s too early to relax.’

Kyaaaargh!

Grrrk!

Maybe the noise from that fight had agitated them. The sounds coming from deeper inside the building didn’t feel normal.

The soldiers looked at me. Eyes asking whether we were going in or not.

I hesitated briefly, then made my decision and spoke.

“We’re pulling back for now.”

* * *

“It was our department’s Staff Sergeant Park.”

After retreating from the officers’ quarters building and falling back to the edge of the open lot.

That was what Gwang-il said. He must have meant the zombie that had ambushed me just now.

Staff Sergeant Park.

“You were close to him, if I remember right. Sorry.”

Corporal Jeon was the ace of the facilities unit. He was on good terms with both soldiers and officers. Staff Sergeant Park was relatively young, too, so he’d been especially close with the soldiers.

“It’s fine.”

Gwang-il flinched slightly, then shook his head from side to side.

“Staff Sergeant Park wouldn’t have wanted to exist like that.”

Gwang-il answered as positively as he could. But regardless, the mood among the soldiers had noticeably sunk. It had been the same when we saw the drivers turned into zombies.

Seeing people you knew walking around as zombies wasn’t exactly easy on the heart. Come to think of it, it had been a while since I’d fed the soldiers dishes that granted ‘reassurance’ or ‘comfort.’

Once things stabilized a bit, I’d have to start making mental-care dishes again.

“Everyone, take a break. And team leaders, come over here for a moment.”

“Sir?”

“Let’s have a quick meeting.”

I pulled only the squad leaders aside and moved to a corner…Once we were some distance away from the soldiers.

“About coming to the officers’ quarters.”

Before I could even start, Sergeant Gwang-il spoke first.

“Yeah.”

“You came to check whether our unit members were dead or alive, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm.”

After hearing my answer, Gwang-il glanced toward the resting soldiers.

“Did you really have to check? The soldiers’ morale doesn’t look great. Wouldn’t it have been better to investigate somewhere else instead?”

He kept watching the soldiers’ reactions as he spoke.

“You’re not wrong. Honestly, I thought the same at first. But… I still think we had to check the officers’ quarters.”

“Why?”

“Mental management.”

“Pardon?”

Confusion spread across the faces of Gwang-il and the other team leaders.

“Sounds strange, right?”

“Honestly… yeah, it does.”

Seeing how down the soldiers were right now, it didn’t exactly look like mental management was the goal, but my thinking was different.

What they were feeling now was temporary.

“What do you think would’ve happened if there were survivors here?”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“What if there were unit members who survived in those quarters, and we could have saved them?”

If we had simply passed by the officers’ quarters. And later, when we eventually searched the area, found traces that someone had survived there until recently.

‘That guilt would only grow heavier.’

The guilt of failing to save comrades we could have saved. And guilt lasts longer than simple sadness. Even knowing that the chances of survivors were slim, we still had to confirm it.

“Just knowing that we checked the quarters for survivors carries more weight than you’d think.”

“Ah…”

Once the explanation ended, Gwang-il nodded as if he finally understood.

“Didn’t expect you to think that far ahead…”

“I was only thinking about the advantages of using it as a base. But… now that you say it, you’re right.”

Sang-ah looked at me as if seeing me in a new light, while Minjae seemed lost in thought. Either way, it looked like everyone understood my decision.

“So. What’s the plan now?”

Minjae asked, arms crossed. Regardless of the intent, it was true that we’d chosen the officers’ quarters as a target.

The real problem started now.

“We’ll send them off.”

They were people who’d shared meals with us in the same unit.

We couldn’t just leave them wandering around as the dead.

“Sounds easy, but it won’t be.”

Minjae glanced back at the officers’ quarters buildings.

“Those buildings? They’re basically dungeons. You never know where something’s going to jump out.”

“True.”

“If it’s zombies swarming us on open ground, I think we could handle hundreds. But narrow buildings, with zombies hiding everywhere? That’s another story.”

It was hard to locate zombies by sound alone.

I looked at Sang-ah and asked.

“Any know-how from the survivors? Anything about entering unfamiliar buildings safely?”

“Just being more cautious than usual… that’s about it. Entering unknown buildings or areas was always dangerous.”

In terms of combat power, we were leagues above the survivor group she’d led, nut that only applied to open battles.

If you got ambushed by a hidden zombie and bitten even once, even Awakened ones were done for.

“Should we just bring all the mages and carpet-bomb the place with magic? Wouldn’t be hard to wipe out the hidden zombies.”

“You planning to collapse the entire officers’ quarters?”

“Relax, I’m joking.”

At Gwang-il’s shocked reaction, Minjae smirked.

Level the entire officers’ quarters…

“That option still needs to stay on the table.”

“Sir?”

The noise would be a problem, but.

If a proper assault proved too difficult, it was a viable option for sending off the zombified unit members.

“Are you serious?”

“I am. But that’s Plan B.”

I tilted my head up and looked at the sky.

The sun was high overhead.

A glance at my watch said it was about lunchtime.

The perfect time to try Plan A.

“Let’s eat first.”

* * *

The open lot outside the officers’ quarters.

After confirming the area was relatively safe, I opened the rucksack we’d brought over.

“Let’s see…”

What came out of the rucksack weren’t sleeping bags or protective gear.

An old portable gas stove, a fairly deep frying pan, and large chunks of meat wrapped in paper foil.

“Hey, is that meat?”

“Yeah. I picked only the best cuts.”

“Ooooh…!”

A bit of life returned to the previously downcast soldiers.

“It’s meat that Gwang-il and the others packed for us, so thank them.”

“Ah, hehe… it’s nothing.”

Gwang-il scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed. Monster meat we’d hunted on the way down from the mountains.

If the guys hadn’t carefully packed it, we wouldn’t be able to use it now.

“Hm.”

Minjae, on the other hand, looked unsure.

“Raising stats won’t solve this situation, will it?”

In the past, if I’d suddenly said “Let’s eat first,” the soldiers would’ve complained about what nonsense that was. But now, they’d gotten used to the idea that my cooking wasn’t just for nutrition.

‘Of course, even then, it was mostly limited to stat boosts or emotional effects.’

Minjae was right.

It wasn’t like we lacked combat power, a stat buff alone wouldn’t help much here.

“Just wait a moment.”

I carefully examined the chunks of meat in the bag.

Wrapped in paper foil alongside ice packs made by the ice mages. Among them was the one thing I was looking for.

“Found it.”

『The Eavesdropping Alaur’s Ear Meat』

『Material Grade : Medium』

『Freshness : High』

Alaur was one of the monsters we’d encountered while descending the mountain range.

A fox-like creature with grotesquely large ears.

“Any fire mages here?”

“Yes, Private First Class Son Byeongmun.”

“Light the stove for me.”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

Whoosh!

Without proper field equipment, fancy cooking was out of the question.

I planned to just grill it as-is.

Probably because it was infused with mana. Even as plain meat, monster meat was delicious.

Ssssssizzle…!

I placed the large chunk of meat whole onto the heated pan. With a pleasant sizzling sound, the meat began to cook.

Watching it, I thought about the skill I possessed.

『Chef’s Eye』

A skill that tells you how to prepare ingredients and recommends cooking methods. Thanks to it, I’d gained 『Insight into Monster Preparation』.

But despite the name…

‘It doesn’t just tell you how to prepare them.’

『How to Prepare the Eavesdropping Alaur』

『The Alaur’s large ears are organs that allow it to detect the positions of predators and prey, and since major blood vessels pass through them, they are considered a weak point. By cutting off this part, you can easily drain the blood, and…』

It did explain preparation methods, sure. But mixed into that were bits of the monster’s traits.

‘Big ears. Organs that detect the positions of predators and prey…’

Thanks to that, I could grasp the monster’s characteristics to some extent, that was why I’d chosen this meat.

‘Whoever wrote those preparation and cooking methods.’

They were helpful in more ways than one.

Soon enough…

『Well-Grilled Alaur Ear Meat of the Calm Emotion by a Low-Tier Chef』

『This dish was made with highly fresh ingredients. The effect of the dish is slightly increased.』

『This dish was made with mana-infused ingredients. The effect of the dish is increased.』

.

.

.

The dish was complete.

“Everyone, grab your mess tins and line up.”

“Yes, sir!”

There wasn’t really any formal serving.

I just cut the big chunk of meat into appropriate portions and handed them out. It wasn’t enough to fill anyone up, but the soldiers didn’t seem to mind.

“Wow, the texture’s like pork jowl.”

“Man, this should’ve been with rice and wraps.”

Rice and wraps, we really did need to secure carbs and vegetables soon, but right now, that wasn’t what mattered.

After the distribution ended.

As I watched the soldiers sit together, chewing on the meat, I took a bite myself.

If my prediction was right, that message would appear.

『All stats increase by 5.』

『The mana imbued in the dish exerts its effect.』

『The mana of ‘Eavesdropping Alaur’ contained in the dish seeps into your body.』

“Hey, everyone. Open your status windows.”

“What is it now?”

“What, something weird—”

“H-Hold on.”

The prediction hit perfectly.

I couldn’t help the grin spreading across my face.

“Why are you suddenly yelling?”

“What are you talking about? You’re the one who—”

『Temporarily acquire Trait – ‘Sensitive Hearing (Degraded)’.』

‘Just as planned.’