Chapter 9

Night Raid (2)

I hurried out of the cafeteria and ran toward the barracks.

“Sergeant Shin Young-jun!”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who had noticed the blackout and sensed the danger. The barracks, which would normally be quiet, was in chaos as soldiers ran around busily.

“What’s the situation?!”

“Most of the soldiers have already been deployed! As soon as the power went out, Sergeant Lee Minjae told everyone to grab their guns and rush out, so…”

Thankfully, Minjae hyung had sensed the crisis and reacted quickly.

“We had some signal flares among the supplies we’d gathered, so we spread them around the area as much as we could…”

Even now, I could see soldiers positioned on the rooftops of the buildings around the barracks, throwing red signal flares into the air, it was a swift, best-possible response.

“Even so, there’s a limit.”

Normally, even at night, if you climbed onto the rooftops you could see most of the base thanks to the lighting installed everywhere.

The reason the lizard pack hadn’t been able to raid us at night was because our field of vision didn’t shrink even after dark. But with only signal flares being thrown, the area we could secure visually was limited at best to the buildings around the barracks. Even if monsters had already entered the base by now, there was no way for us to confirm it with our naked eyes.

“What about the awakened ones?”

“They’re standing by near the entrance of the barracks. Since we don’t know where the monsters will break through from, they’re waiting until they come into visual range and then responding on the fly…”

“I’ll head over there too. Hang in there.”

“Yes! Please hang in there too, Sergeant!”

Just as the soldier said, when I headed toward the entrance of the barracks, I could see the awakened ones standing by. Seventeen awakened ones, excluding the shooter-type awakened who were already deployed on the rooftops.

“Sergeant Shin Young-jun, you’re here.”

“Did Young-jun make it?”

The awakened ones were preparing for battle in the middle of the urgent situation.

The mage-type awakened were quietly chanting spells, and the warrior-types were armed with sledgehammers and riot shields taken from the base warehouse, as well as bayonets with no bullets loaded. Since I’d mixed a mild ‘Bravery’ effect into dinner tonight, morale should be sufficient.

I went over and stood beside them. My own armament was a single sashimi knife left behind by a junior who had been studying Japanese cuisine and one pouch in my hand.

“Come on, you’re a cook. Shouldn’t you fall back and handle supplies instead?”

“What are you talking about, hyung? The first kill in this unit has to be mine.”

“Haha, I’ll be counting on you, Sergeant Shin Young-jun!”

As I joked around with Sergeant Lee Minjae and Corporal Jeon, I opened the pouch in my hand and was about to speak.

“Everyone, just take this for a moment…”

“Wait.”

The one who cut me off was Sergeant Lee Minjae.

“They’re here.”

In the distance, shapes covered in the red light of the signal flares appeared…Lizards.

“Open fire!”

From the rooftop, the voice of Corporal Seo Su-hyeok, who was commanding the shooters, rang out.

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

At the same time, the sound of gunfire from the shooters and non-awakened soldiers echoed out.

‘It’s a desperate situation, but the response was perfect.’

Although our field of vision had shrunk due to the blackout, we had at least restored minimal visibility with the signal flares.

I was thinking that the shooters and regular soldiers alone could probably take out around thirty of them,

‘What is that one?’

At the front of the lizard pack, a lizard about one and a half times larger than the others appeared.

『The Cook’s Eye activates.』

『Lizard Chieftain』

『The Lizard Chieftain is a rare individual even among lizards, and due to its rarity, boasts a flavor incomparable to other lizards…』

‘Chieftain. So that’s its name.’

Chieftain. A leader.

The commander of the monsters. But no matter how big it is, a commander-class unit stepping out to the front is foolish. That’s practically making itself into a target. A commander is supposed to direct things from the rear to have any meaning…

“GRAAAAAAAAH!!!”

‘Ugh!’

The chieftain stepped forward and unleashed a deafening roar. It was so loud that the stones on the ground seemed to tremble from the sound alone and it wasn’t just a loud noise.

『You have been exposed to powerful Fear!』

『War Cry!』

『The strength, agility, and stamina of the ‘Steel Lizard Tribe’ on the battlefield temporarily increase slightly.』

『The ‘Steel Lizard Tribe’ on the battlefield is temporarily granted the effect ‘Low-Grade Ranged Attack Resistance’.』

『Entities other than the ‘Steel Lizard Tribe’ on the battlefield are temporarily afflicted with ‘Low-Grade Confusion’, ‘Low-Grade Accuracy Reduction’, and ‘Low-Grade Concentration Reduction’.』

“What the hell is this…?!”

A list of messages that were obviously bad for us appeared before my eyes.

When I hurriedly looked around, the awakened ones seemed mostly fine, but most of the soldiers firing from the rooftops were clutching their heads and staggering.

Meanwhile, an unidentified gray aura was swirling around the bodies of the lizards.

“Get it together and resume fire, you idiots!”

Corporal Seo Su-hyeok, the most senior among the awakened, managed to snap out of it and resume firing, but…

‘The accuracy is terrible…!’

The reason shooter-type awakened are so powerful isn’t just because of the firepower of each bullet, but because they land nearly every one of those shots on the enemy. But whether it was due to the ‘Low-Grade Accuracy Reduction’ and ‘Low-Grade Concentration Reduction’ contained in the lizard chieftain’s fear, the shooters’ accuracy seemed to have dropped to less than half of normal. That alone might have been manageable, but…

“T-Those things! The bullets aren’t working!”

“Damn it… all you non-awakened bastards, hand over every bullet to the awakened ones!”

‘Low-Grade Ranged Attack Resistance…!’

The gray aura swirling around the lizards’ bodies. Even when the non-awakened soldiers’ bullets hit, they were blocked by that aura and couldn’t leave so much as a scratch.

The shooters’ attacks at least dealt some damage, but the firepower that normally dropped a lizard in two shots was gone. Even when the shots landed, it took at least five bullets to have any effect. And the lizards pushed through the fire of the mere three shooter-type awakened who were ‘barely holding on’ and closed in on the buildings near the barracks.

“This is insane, if they had abilities like this, why didn’t they raid us sooner?!”

“…Look at the messages. Most of the effects say ‘temporary’. If this were our base under normal conditions, even if bullets didn’t work temporarily, we would’ve turned the tables the moment those effects wore off. But right now, even temporary effects are enough for them to close the distance.”

“So that thing actually thought that far ahead? That monster…?”

Answering Gwang-il’s question sent a chill down my spine.

To think a monster could have that level of intelligence.

“All awakened, move out!”

When Minjae hyung saw that the shooters and soldiers’ bullets weren’t working, he shouted.

The monsters were charging toward us standing in front of the building.

At a glance, their numbers looked high.

The group we’d observed during reconnaissance was around forty, but now, even excluding the ones killed by the shooters, it looked like at least fifty remained, which meant they’d originally been close to sixty.

‘They knew we were watching, and even lied about their numbers.’

It was chillingly cunning.

To counter that…I’d have to play my role as a cook.

“Minjae hyung.”

“Young-jun? If you’re about to say you’re a cook so you should fall back—”

“That’s not it. Hyung, you said you like coffee, right?”

I took out a small lump from the pouch in my hand and tossed it to Minjae hyung.

A bite-sized mocha bread.

“…?”

“Gwang-il, you said you like chicken breast, right? Chicken breast sandwich. Eat it in one bite.”

“Yes?”

And then, the fire-mage awakened Hong-su liked spicy food, so red-hot chicken sauce ramen chips.

The warrior awakened Han-il liked sweets, so a candy made from malt syrup. Bite-sized dishes made after investigating the tastes of all seventeen awakened.

After handing food to everyone, I tossed the empty pouch onto the ground and held up my sashimi knife.

“Alright, eat up and let’s get to work.”

I put my own favorite food into my mouth.

Every time I eat it, people call me an old man, but I just can’t bring myself to dislike it.

Green tea flavored chocolate.

‘So you’re the lizard chieftain. Your fear effect is impressive.’

Even if temporary, it buffed allies and applied low-grade buffs…The effects were dizzying, but…

“I’m not dying until I become a top-class chef.”

The effect of the bite-sized dish spread through my body.

『You have consumed ‘Low-Grade Cook’s Sincerity-Filled Green Tea Flavored Chocolate of Bravery’!』

『This dish was made specifically for one individual after investigating their taste! If that individual consumes it, the effects of the dish are greatly increased.』

『This dish was made with excellent ingredients of at least mid-grade quality. The effects of the dish are increased.』

『A dish made with the cook’s sincerity, an outstanding dish! The effects of the dish are greatly increased.』

『All stats are greatly increased for one day.』

『All traits increase by 1 level for one day.』

『‘Low-Grade Physical Resistance’ effect is applied for one day.』

『‘Low-Grade Attack Power Increase’ effect is applied for one day.』

『‘Low-Grade Endurance Increase’ effect is applied for one day.』

『‘Low-Grade Mana Increase’ effect is applied for one day.』

『Through the power of a special sauce, the ‘Mid-Grade Bravery’ effect is applied.』

『Mid-Grade Bravery』

『Lord of the Battlefield!』

『Brave warriors dominate the battlefield.』

『The stats and morale of hostile targets decrease slightly.』

All the awakened’s tastes were investigated.

I’d pestered them about their favorite foods and used the ingredients available on base and the supplies my juniors had bought to make the best dishes I could.

‘And in this 『game』 we’re trapped in…’

It seems cooks are just as broken a class as shooters. The effects manifested immediately.

“Grrrk…”

Beside me, Corporal Jeon, the 196cm giant, began foaming at the mouth.

Normally he’s a simple, good-natured guy, but,

‘This berserker bastard… he’d been quiet for a while, and now the madness is back.’

“GRRRRRK!!! Let us go, comrades…! An honorable death awaits us!! UWOAAAH!!!”

Letting out a bizarre roar, Gwang-il hurled himself forward.

『A companion has unlocked a new trait.』

『Low-Grade Fear: Battlefield Frenzy』

『Low-Grade Confusion and Mid-Grade Stat Increase are applied to allies.』

『The ‘Mid-Grade Bravery’ effect negates Low-Grade Confusion.』

BOOM!

The giant Gwang-il slammed into the 2.5-meter-tall Lizard Chieftain.

Following behind him, the warrior-type awakened charged in with shouts of “UWOAAAAAAH!” and clashed with the lizards.

That wasn’t all…I felt a light behind me and turned to see Minjae hyung holding a lightning spear nearly two meters long.

“That size… it’s at least twice as big as usual. What the hell did you do?”

“As long as it tasted good.”

“You crazy bastard…”

The lightning spear flew and roasted a lizard in one strike.

Grinning, Minjae hyung said, “Like I said, you’re the core of this unit.”

“I don’t know about that. At best, this makes it five-fifty. You know that, right?”

“Of course.”

In terms of buffs, we overwhelmingly outmatched them. Our composition was solid too, with a proper front line and back line, unlike the lizards who were all melee troops, but we were simply outnumbered.

‘We’re 17. They’re 50.’

A full three-to-one disadvantage.

“I’ll join in too. Provide ranged support, hyung.”

“Yeah. Don’t die. If you’re gone, this unit is finished.”

We’d fought lizards with support from regular soldiers before, but this was the first time we’d fought with the soldiers’ firearms completely neutralized.

The first battle against monsters fought solely by awakened ones. It was far from easy, and there were moments when death loomed again and again. But…

『ROK. 17 region, ‘Mountain Range’ has been brought under control!』

『This is a ‘Party’-level force. Until a ‘Guild’-level organization is established, the provisional name ‘423rd Battalion’ will be applied.』

『World Event – Occupation Status.』

『Affiliated Region – ROK. 17』

『Regional Occupation Status』

1. ??? (??%)

2. ??? (??%)

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.

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12. 423rd Battalion (provisional) (3%)

『This is the first ‘occupation’ by humans in the greater ROK region.』

『Achievement Unlocked! – From here to there, it’s all my land』

『First-place bonus has been granted.』

We were able to see the morning sun rise.