Chapter 32

The Officers’ Quarters (4)

Kiiiiiik!

As the glass door of the old officers’ quarters building slid open, an unpleasant scraping sound spread through the air.

Had the residents of the quarters sensed the intrusion of outsiders?

Krrk…!

Kahaak!

Ragged breathing began to echo from all directions.

No matter how good someone’s hearing was, it would be close to impossible to pinpoint the source of each sound in here.

“There!”

With the inhuman hearing of a monster, it was a different story.

The soldier who led the entry stabbed his blade toward the wardrobe near the entrance.

Thud!

A zombie that had grotesquely folded its body inside the wardrobe.

The corpse of a junior who had been scheduled to return from leave collapsed, torn in half. The soldier drove his blade into the zombie’s head as it tried to thrash about even with its upper body severed. The reason we could precisely detect the enemy’s location amid the sounds echoing from all sides…It was thanks to this trait.

『Trait : Hypersensitive Hearing (Degraded)』

『Extremely sensitive hearing that only certain races are born with. The faintest sounds from several kilometers away, even the footsteps of ants amid the din of war. No one can be free from ears this sensitive.

『However, due to degradation, side effects may occur.』

Hearing possessed by only certain races. Naturally, it wasn’t a trait we originally had.

The dish I made.

『Low-Grade Cook’s Calm Emotions Well-Grilled Alaur Ear Slices』’s effect.

‘When I made a dish with lizard meat. I had a hunch.’

The message that appeared when we ate a dish made with lizard meat.

『The magic power of the ‘Steel Lizard’ infused in the dish seeps into your body. Physical resistance increases greatly.』

A dish infused with magic power. It made sense that the dish’s performance would improve.

But physical resistance suddenly increasing out of nowhere?

‘The first things that came to mind were the lizards’ tough scales. And their hide.’

The hypothesis I came up with was this. Maybe those scales and hide were reinforced by the lizards’ magic power. And if you cooked with monster meat, the influence of that magic power remained in the dish, granting physical resistance to whoever ate it.

‘Then. What about monsters with different traits?’

It was half a gamble.

I hadn’t figured out exactly how the influence of magic power manifested. Even if my hypothesis was right, I had no way of knowing which trait would be reflected in the dish.

If there was one way to test my hypothesis, though.

‘If they’re monsters with blatantly obvious traits. You can guess what you might get.’

The eavesdropping Alaur. From its appearance to the traits revealed by the Cook’s Eye.

‘A monster that’s blatantly min-maxed into hearing.’

If my hypothesis was right.

I expected to get a buff related to hearing through an Alaur dish.

And sure enough, the prediction hit the mark like a ghost. We succeeded in temporarily acquiring the trait ‘Hypersensitive Hearing (Degraded).’

The problem was the word (Degraded) attached to the trait.

What kind of side effects did that mean?

“That’s incredible!”

The soldier who finished off the zombie looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“It’s like I can pinpoint the enemy’s location just by sound! To think something like this is possible just from eating a dish…!”

A soldier marveling at the effect of my cooking.

I was grateful, and proud…I really was proud, but…

“Kyaaah—”

“Q-quiet down, man.”

The word (Degraded), which seemed to be attached because we forcibly drew in another monster’s magic power and traits.

The side effect was simple.

“My ears are going to burst, damn it.”

“Aah. S-sorry, sir.”

My ears really felt like they were about to split. It was great that my hearing had become more sensitive. But it seemed my brain functions weren’t optimized to match that heightened sensitivity.

‘The world feels like it’s filled with sound.’

Because I could hear tiny sounds I normally wouldn’t even notice. Voices that would have sounded normal before now boomed like thunder.

‘At least it’s only mildly painful. I guess that’s a relief.’

When I saw the word degraded, I’d worried the trait’s effect might be reduced.

Thankfully, it didn’t affect the effect at all. With our mouths shut, the soldiers and I exchanged looks and nodded.

The full-scale sweep of the officers’ quarters.

No, the cleaning had begun.

* * *

Kaaaah!

“Quiet, Sergeant Jang!”

Crunch!

Once we could accurately grasp the zombies’ locations through hypersensitive hearing. Dealing with zombies that were negligible in combat power to begin with became not just easy, but trivial.

After cleaning out several buildings like that.

My squad and I moved to clear the next building. But there were already people gathered in front of the next building.

“Did Young-jun get here?”

“Looks like your side’s speed was about the same, Sergeant Shin.”

The other two squads. We had agreed to split into squads and start clearing buildings from different directions.

The fact that all three squads were gathered here meant.

“So this is the last building?”

“Seems so, sir.”

The last building, compared to the other quarters, it had a strangely newer feel to it.

This place was for officers. Among them, it was the quarters for commissioned officers rather than NCOs.

“Then we’re going in.”

Speaking in low voices, the soldiers moved in. We had already cleared several buildings without any difficulty.

There was no reason to hesitate.

Kaaak…!

Crunch!

We began clearing from the first floor, cutting down our former comrades.

The sweep proceeded quickly, and we soon reached the last, third floor.

When I reached the third floor with my squad, I opened the next door.

Inside, I could hear a familiar ragged breathing. Thinking it was just another officer turned zombie, I opened the door and flinched for a moment at what I saw inside.

Keeehk…!

What was inside the room was the same kind of zombie we’d been cutting down all along, but there was one difference.

“Battalion commander, sir.”

That zombie was our battalion commander.

Major Gwak Han-jung.

‘The battalion commander… Come to think of it, he said his family was all in Seoul because of the kids’ schooling, and he was living alone in the quarters as a goose dad.’

A story I’d once heard in passing during my service brushed past my mind. Wearing a yellowed sleeveless undershirt, drool streaming down his face, the battalion commander looked utterly wretched.

Seeing him like that, all sorts of thoughts went through my head.

He was supposed to be the one commanding our unit. Different from the indecisive Lieutenant Kim. Even if the soldiers got annoyed at times, everyone acknowledged his ability as a commander. The person who should have been in my place, reduced to this state.

“I’ll take care of it—”

“No.”

I reached out and stopped the squad member who was about to deal with it without much thought.

There wasn’t any particular reason.

“I’ll do it.”

Cutting down the commander of the 423rd Battalion. It felt like something I, as the guild master of the Steel Legion, had to do.

Shrrk!

I drew my kitchen knife in my left hand and stepped toward the battalion commander’s zombie. With my right hand, I flattened my palm and brought it diagonally to my forehead.

Then, standing straight, I spoke.

“Salute.”

A salute to the battalion commander.

“Sergeant Shin Young-jun. May I, for a moment, take the liberty?”

“Keeeheeh…?”

Hearing my voice, the half-crushed face of Major Gwak Han-jung tilted toward me.

“Keeek!!!”

“Then I’ll take that as permission.”

“…Keeeeeek!!!”

“Excuse me.”

As Major Gwak Han-jung lunged at me with a shriek.

I brought the kitchen knife diagonally to his neck.

『Low-Grade Dagger Mastery』

That was enough.

Slash!

The rotted head of the battalion commander fell to the floor. The collapsed body no longer twitched.

‘Whew.’

My feelings were strangely complicated.

As I took a cloth from my pocket and wiped the rotten blood from the kitchen knife.

I felt an odd gaze on my back.

“…”

When I turned around…Soldiers I hadn’t even noticed gathering were standing at the doorway. They were staring at me and the battalion commander’s corpse.

‘Hmm.’

Seeing the battalion commander off with my own hands.

It was, how should I put it?

Like a small personal rite of mine. Maybe the watching soldiers roughly understood the meaning of my action, they watched me with solemn expressions.

I decided to give them an order.

As the clear commander of this unit.

“The fight’s over. Clean up.”

“Yes, sir!”

* * *

The zombie sweep of the quarters ended like that, but there was still cleanup to do.

‘I mixed 『Calm Emotions Sauce』 into the Alaur meat. Still, bad feelings tend to linger.’

Among the zombies were many who had once been close to our soldiers.

If we just brushed it off, it would leave a bitter aftertaste.

I issued orders to the soldiers.

“Gather the bodies of the fallen soldiers in the central courtyard of the quarters. Collect their dog tags separately.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Is there a reason to gather them all in one place?”

I nodded at the soldier’s question.

“We’re holding a funeral.”

Together with the soldiers, we began gathering the bodies and collecting the dog tags.

Before starting, I sent a guild message and contacted Seo Su-hyeok, who was waiting at the farm.

By the time all the bodies and dog tags had been collected. All the unit members and survivors gathered at the quarters.

“Lighting it.”

“Do it.”

Whoosh!

The bodies gathered in one place went up in flames.

We had neither the leeway to hold a proper funeral, nor anyone who knew the proper rites. So the funeral was conducted simply.

“Major Gwak Han-jung. Captain Choi Jae-hyuk. Lieutenant Ahn Gyeong-su…”

Standing before the burning bodies, I read out the names written on the dog tags one by one.

“…Private Jang Moon-hyeong.”

After speaking the last name.

“They were all fine soldiers.”

The brief funeral ended.

I turned around and looked at the soldiers who had attended. Many had reddened eyes, as if someone close to them had died. The survivors watching also had hardened faces, as if they didn’t see it as someone else’s business.

Clap!

I clapped my hands to draw the soldiers’ attention to me.

Then I spoke loudly.

“The funeral’s done, so they’ve gone to a good place. Don’t cling to regrets anymore.”

It was a bit cruel to the dead. But we didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on them any longer.

“From now on, we focus only on those of us who survived. Got it!”

“…Yes, sir!”

Some soldiers were probably deeply saddened, but they seemed to understand my intent.

The soldiers who had been weighed down by the mood answered in booming voices as if nothing had happened.

Maybe a few who were on leave might still be alive. But aside from that possibility, we were the last survivors of the 423rd Battalion.

As long as we survived, the unit’s lineage wouldn’t be cut off.

“Let’s get straight to work. The quarters are pretty filthy. Start with cleaning up. Ah, not zombie cleanup. Real cleaning.”

“Heh. We know.”

“Oh, and there was a stream near the quarters, right? Have a few people grab some PET bottles from inside and fetch some water. And—”

As I finished settling our lingering attachments to the dead through the funeral.

The work of turning the quarters into a temporary base began in earnest.

The soldiers started working busily as if they’d never been sad.

“Gather the trash so we can burn it later—”

“That’s impressive.”

“Hm?”

As I was issuing this and that order.

Lee Sang-ah approached and spoke to me.

“Impressive how?”

“I’ve led a group of survivors myself, you know. I can’t help but feel a sense of awe at how you do it.”

‘Ah, so she was talking about how I was leading the soldiers.’

“I’m dying of embarrassment trying things I’ve never done before. What are you talking about.”

“If you’re this good at things you’ve never done before, doesn’t that mean you’ve got talent?”

“Seriously, it’s embarrassing. Let’s drop it.”

Even holding a funeral had been honestly mortifying.

I did it because it needed to be done. But she went on, as if my feelings didn’t matter.

“From the effects of your cooking to the way you lead. If someone like you had been leading our survivor group, I think it would’ve been better.”

Her words grew a bit darker.

“Then maybe fewer people would’ve died.”

“Did you already forget the order I gave?”

“Pardon?”

I subtly jutted my chin toward one corner of the courtyard. Her group of survivors were cleaning the quarters there.

“Focus on the people who survived. No matter who died in the past. They’re alive and became members of our unit. Think first about doing your part well as unit members.”

“…Yes. I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Instead.”

I casually handed her the item I was holding…It was a large water container.

“There’s a stream over there, right? Go fetch some water. Squad Leader Lee Sang-ah.”

“…Yes, sir.”

‘You’re one of my unit members now. So you’d better work hard, right?’