The Military Chef of a Ruined World - Chapter 357



Only Noblemtl

Episode 357: Useless Pride.

pistol.

If you take out this weapon in the world before destruction.

Ninety-nine out of a hundred ordinary people would immediately lose their will to resist.

The hole a pistol can make in a human body is by no means large.

Because humans are creatures that can die from just that small hole.

But unfortunately.

“You’re being too playful.”

In a post-apocalyptic world.

The position held by pistols was considerably reduced.

“Well, for some reason, it seems like you can’t use your combat skills. It would be nice to have a long-range attack method like a pistol.”

A large, armored old man approaches me with a strangely angry expression on his face.

I aimed the gun at the association president.

Taang!

Without hesitation.

I pulled the trigger.

“but!”

And about that shooting.

The president of the association simply absentmindedly held out his gauntlet into the path of the bullet.

Teeing!

Okay then.

Bullets that hit the gauntlet bounce off helplessly.

“If you were an Awakened person of average level, you wouldn’t know. If you were an Awakened person of your level, you would know.”

“… … .”

“We are now fully capable of resisting even modern firearms.”

“… … Well, it looks like that.”

As you said.

In the past, even if you were an Awakened person, it was common sense that you couldn’t win against guns.

When an Awakened player passes level 30, the story changes a little.

‘It wasn’t even the gun the shooter shot, and it wasn’t a rifle, it was a pistol.’

It doesn’t have to be at the level of Nana or that old man.

Park Joong-gu… … No, if only he could become an awakened person like Yoon Sung.

You don’t have to be too afraid of small firearms like a pistol.

“The moves you showed were beautiful. Since you said you wouldn’t give up, I expected you to show me something more interesting! But.”

In the old man’s eyes.

There is a deep sense of disappointment.

“Is that just a pistol?”

surely.

A pistol isn’t exactly a useful weapon in today’s world.

“People shouldn’t only see the flaws.”

“what?”

but.

There were some advantages, though.

‘It’s clear that the weak firepower is a disadvantage.’

Because you can’t do any damage at all to enemies with slightly higher defense.

but.

Thanks to that, there are also benefits to seeing it.

I have a pistol in one hand.

He spoke while taking a stance and holding a kitchen knife in one hand.

“Because it’s an attack with such weak firepower… … Even though it’s an attack that can be easily avoided, there are times when you end up getting hit.”

“… … ?”

okay.

Even though the president of the association was looking at the muzzle of my pistol.

As if I had pushed it away without avoiding it.

“……for a moment.”

At that moment.

“What is this, what is this… … .”

The human body can deflect bullets.

An old man who showed off unbelievable tricks.

“You… …what have you done to me?”

“Well, I wonder what he did.”

“Don’t be so stubborn!”

The old man’s impression was… … .

Frown sharply.

“The odds of victory are so clear… … .”

The old man staggered around as if he was embarrassed.

He said, looking down at his hands.

“This is.”

The face of an old man with his head raised.

There was an emotion on that face that was completely out of place in the current situation.

“This feeling of defeat that dominates my mind… … What the heck!”

[Deep sense of defeat].

It was standing still.

“I told you so. I have prepared a lot.”

“… … !”

In that regard.

A large old man mutters in an angry voice.

“Isn’t that what you’ve been saying sincere up until now…?”

“Let me declare one thing in advance. Your Majesty, you are… … .”

I said, aiming the pistol at the old man’s face.

“You’ll end up begging to be killed.”

* * *

There were three abilities that I brought into battle.

[Martial Arts – Food]

[Field cooking]

And [Berserk]

Even if you only do these three things, it’s definitely strong.

It wasn’t enough to knock down that old man.

and…….

If I lack the buffs I put on myself.

Here’s another way to think about it.

‘It’s a debuff.’

Crunch.

After fighting for a while.

I pointed my gun at the old man.

“… … Tsk!”

The armor rushed towards me with tremendous momentum.

The armor moves to avoid the path of the gun’s muzzle.

However, the momentum that had been building was difficult to lose.

Let’s say you move at that speed to avoid the gun muzzle.

The route of movement is bound to be obvious.

[Advanced Short Sword Mastery (Reinforced)]

Kaang!

“What a nuisance… …!”

I just need to bring a knife to that path.

That armor will allow you to launch attacks that cannot be avoided.

‘No matter how strong an Awakener is, it’s difficult to avoid a gun.’

of course.

It’s just harder to avoid, but it has nothing to do with being afraid of guns.

As the level of the Awakened increased, there were many cases where they could withstand being shot.

Especially if you’re wearing special-looking armor like that old man.

It would also be possible to perform some crazy tricks like using the sides of that armor to deflect bullets.

but.

‘The bullet wasn’t intended to cause damage in the first place.’

past.

A being that was conquered to supply magical power to [Vimana].

[I don’t know]

I once asked my engineers to build a huge cannon to deal with the guy.

The purpose of the cannon was simple.

Not for attacking the enemy.

‘Letting the contents of that bullet touch the enemy’s body.’

So if that shell hits the enemy.

The contents of the tank are pouring out.

[Forced feeding]

The contents flow directly into the target.

It’s like being treated like you ate my cooking.

and.

‘This… is something that can be used in combat, right?’

A huge cannon and shells made to deal with Morzan.

In fact, the most important of these was the shells.

and.

Taang!

That shell was miniaturized to the size of a pistol bullet.

This very bullet.

A while ago.

It was one of the weapons that the Legion gave me after successfully creating a small bag with fire resistance.

[Legion Special Purpose Order-Made Handgun]

[A special purpose handgun that focuses on speed and accuracy corrections instead of taking a lot of penalties in the firepower of bullets!]

[When worn, acquires the trait – ‘Lowest Marksmanship (Deterioration)’.]

The handgun side.

It was just something that helped me, a non-shooter, acquire decent shooting skills.

This is the truth.

[Legion Special Purpose Order-Made Bullets]

[A bullet specialized for a special purpose, but with most of its lethal power lost.]

[When a bullet hits an enemy, the contents inside the bullet rapidly explode out and stick to the target’s body.]

This bullet contains more than just gunpowder.

When you open the front cover of the bullet, there is a small space.

there…….

[A set of junk food with a deep sense of defeat, filled with the sincerity of intermediate and war chefs]

You can put food in it.

okay.

[Forced feeding] is on.

A dish that you can’t help but eat just by touching it!

‘The amount of food that can be put into a bullet is limited.’

that.

Even though it was a carefully made dish, the amount of debuffs it could inflict was not enormous.

‘The cooking effect only applies once per person.’

This small amount of cooking gives a debuff.

In some ways, it could be a loss.

but…….

‘It’s not about emotions.’

The emotions caused by [special sauce] overlap to some extent.

Last time, during General Cho Beom-seok’s time, the combat rations prepared were so small that it was impossible to even overlap the dishes enough to properly calm the people.

This time, I had prepared to deal with that old man from the beginning.

Even if the amount is small, if that small amount of emotion overlaps.

No matter how strong you are, you have no choice but to put down your weapons!

Taang!

and.

The effect was evident.

“… … It’s definitely annoying!”

The old man also seemed to have noticed that fact.

He was somehow trying to dodge the bullets from my pistol.

Kaang!

Let’s make it possible to somewhat restrict the elderly person’s movement path with a pistol.

It has also become easier to predict where the sword strike will land.

I held the dagger in my hand, blocking the expected path.

I distanced myself from the old man who was running towards me and aimed my pistol again.

‘Well, this alone won’t be enough to win.’

The difference this gun makes is definitely huge.

However, it wasn’t even to the extent of being able to defeat someone that strong.

‘Once you’ve set your guard down, it becomes difficult to overlap emotions.’

I had to consider myself grateful for getting the first step.

It’s a big deal that I’ve come to find this pistol burdensome, but the odds are still stacked against me.

but.

This wasn’t all the means I had hidden either.

Kaang!

The old man’s greatsword swings towards me.

Let’s hope I can somehow block that greatsword.

A large movement of swinging a greatsword.

This created a gap.

there.

[Assistant Chef]

Swish… … .

“what!?”

The knives that were in my shadow popped out.

He rushes in, aiming for the gap in the armor.

“What a weird thing!”

The details were clearly broken though

An old man who swings his shoulder armor strongly, deflecting the knives that come in through the gaps in his armor.

Because of that.

My knives couldn’t pierce that armor though.

Parsi… … .

“… … It turns out there were more than one or two hidden numbers.”

I couldn’t even repel the clear liquid that was on the dagger.

A huge old man whose face I have yet to see.

The armor protecting the body melts away.

[Soul-melting poison – Nepenthes]

No matter how powerful the armor is.

The production workers in Gyeonggi Province were inferior to the production workers in our unit.

‘It’s only recently that our unit’s production workers have finally succeeded in developing resistance to poison.’

Even.

Even our units do not yet have the resistance to poisons of the level of [Nepenthes].

Cheeeeek… … .

“Are you okay, sir?”

Because of the poison that flowed from the dagger.

The shoulder armor protecting the old man’s shoulder completely melts away.

“Now I guess there really could be a bullet hole?”

If the armor melts.

Even though the power is somewhat reduced, I can still deal damage with my pistol.

That old man will have to be a little more careful with my gun.

‘Okay. At this point, I can fight while saving my next move… … .’

With that in mind.

Even the dagger I was holding in my hand was stained with [Nepenthes]… … .

Right then.

“……uh?”

Armor that melts due to [Nepenthes].

The contents inside began to become visible.

and…….

“What are you, you?”

I looked inside.

I couldn’t help but frown.

That makes sense.

Inside the exposed armor.

“… … .”

What’s inside is the body of an ordinary old man.

Not even the body of a strong warrior.

“Are you still alive?”

In a miserable state.

The pale, pale body of an old man trapped in ice.

“… … Did you see it?”

Rather than a living human being.

Because in the old days, frozen corpses appeared to be moving.

* * *

‘What is that?’

A body trapped in ice with its entire body mangled.

As those monsters did, they were able to move freely even though they were in the ice.

The pale figure did not look like a living human being.

“Did you see it?”

When I noticed that I was looking inside his armor.

The old man spoke in a strangely sad voice.

“Then there is no need to hide it any longer.”

He said, taking off his helmet.

Then what appeared was.

‘… … What is that?’

Just like that body.

Torn, burned, and pierced here and there.

A face so ugly it resembles a corpse.

“Ugh.”

The image I so loathed and feared.

There was a dead human body there.

“You must have been very surprised.”

“… … .”

“You don’t have to be so surprised. Even though it looks like this, it’s still pretty normal.”

The sight of someone speaking normally while looking like a corpse.

I felt a tremendous sense of alienation.

“How did it… … end up like that?”

“It’s quite recent.”

With a face lacking confidence.

The old man continued speaking, putting his helmet on his head again.

“You said you heard a lot about me. What did you hear?”

“A great man who unites the people of the association. Or someone who is incredibly strong.”

“Yes. I thought that assessment was right. I thought that someone like me… … was strong enough to rule even in this ruined world.”

It was difficult to make out the expression on his face once he put his helmet back on.

I could roughly imagine what kind of expression he had on his face, torn and ripped apart.

“It was a mistake.”

“… … .”

The president of the association who came out of the mouths of people in Gyeonggi Province was almost like a living witness to a myth.

Cut down all powerful enemies with that greatsword.

A person who has put all hardships and adversities under his feet.

“The first time my illusion was shattered was when I went to find that magic mirror.”

The first downfall of the ‘association president myth’.

It came from a story about conquering the Demon Realm.

“I encountered a monster that looked like a giant lion. I thought I could defeat it easily since it looked like a familiar beast. But… … while the lion took three of my men in one bite and disappeared, my sword only managed to dent its hide.”

“… … .”

“I had approached the water’s edge with my tired men. I was planning to take a short break near the water’s edge… … but then a huge snake jumped out of the water, ate my men in one bite, and disappeared. It was so fast that I could only sense the attack after the big thing disappeared.”

“… … .”

“There was a huge, grotesque bird flying in the sky. Its wing was half torn, and I thought that if I tore the wing off with my sword, I could send it crashing to the ground… … Do you believe it? Not even claws, not even teeth. Just a feather cut through my armor like a sheet of paper.”

The president of the association is clearly a strong person.

One of the strongest people among humans.

but.

“But I didn’t want to give up. Deep inside the Demon Realm, I saw a black-furred beast howling at us.”

“… … .”

“I felt the magic contained within it… … and all I could do was run away ugly.”

In this world.

There were plenty of monsters that could easily deal with even such a strong person.

‘Even if we only consider the monsters our unit encountered, that’s the case.’

The first monster our unit had to abandon contact with, the steel-eating Mac.

A being who raised an army of hundreds of vampires despite being restricted from moving outside, the Noble of the Night.

As her powers were restored, Alaune, the queen of the forest, created a green magic monster of her own.

The Pope of the Deep, who drove away hundreds of awakened people even while being directly hit by Minjae Hyung’s divine punishment underwater.

The warrior of the grasslands, the green-maned warrior, who overwhelmed our unit despite being unable to exert his full power due to the aftereffects of the seal.

Even though he was trapped inside the gate himself, Suin and Seo-hwan had enough martial arts skills to single-handedly massacre our troops if it weren’t for Kkamang and Ariella.

When viewed with the [Battle Power Meter].

Those monsters whose magical power glows blue.

‘We were able to defeat them because they were weakened for some reason or were unable to exert their full strength.’

If they could unleash their full power.

Nana, Private Jeon Gwang-il, Private Seo Su-hyeok, and Corporal Lee Min-jae.

Any awakened person I know at this point.

I couldn’t defeat those beings alone.

And, when you look at it from that perspective.

‘Gyeonggi-do’s environment was favorable to humans. It was incomparable to Gangwon-do.’

Those powerful monsters.

Because they all flocked to the devil’s realm.

Unlike us, who had to conquer them in order to survive.

In this Gyeonggi-do, all monsters that were out of standard were gathered in the Demon Realm.

The president of the association was able to grow in power without even knowing that such monsters existed.

But, is that really all that beneficial?

That’s not true.

“When I first met that being… … all the pride I had built up over the years was completely shattered.”

The power I encountered late.

Because you couldn’t help but despair.

“After that, I headed southwest. Since I failed to conquer the Demon Realm, I decided to solve the cause of this coldness… … Actually, it was an excuse.”

“An excuse?”

“Actually, I wasn’t interested in solving the cause itself. More than that, I needed a suitable prey to restore my shattered pride.”

A man in despair.

Such people sometimes go to extremes to escape from despair.

“I thought that if I could solve this cold that has engulfed Gyeonggi-do, my failure in Ma-gyeong would be covered up. But… … I was mistaken.”

But, in most cases.

Such people end up realizing it too late.

“I was wrong from the start. The monsters in that Demon Realm headed to that Demon Realm to escape the cold… … Why did I think the source of this cold was less severe than that Demon Realm?”

“……what?”

The despair of having fallen into one’s own hands.

That despair is in the shape of a swamp.

“I have seen inside that tent. I have seen the beings that dwell within it… … .”

The more I struggle to escape from that despair.

That body is sinking deeper and faster into the swamp.

There is a deep fear in his eyes through the gap in his helmet.

A fear that was not even visible when thinking of the monsters of the Demon Realm.

“… … .”

I looked behind the old man.

The black curtain he guards like a gatekeeper.

‘… … fragments of a destroyed world.’

Gate.

Kangsan came into contact with its contents.

“And only then did I realize for sure.”

“what?”

“Humanity can never overcome this destruction… … the monsters that have taken over this world!”

In that regard.

I asked, frowning.

“Those scars on your body. Did the guys inside make you like that?”

“Huh? Oh, you mean these wounds?”

The old man seemed as if he had never expected me to point out his wounds.

He said with a little surprise.

“Ah. Right. I guess the reason you were surprised was also because of this wound. Right. That could be the case… … .”

“… … ?”

“Did you ask if those inside were wounds? No, they weren’t. After seeing that sight… … I was so scared that I never went inside that tent again. These wounds… … how should I put it?”

An old man with a bitter smile.

“I tried to somehow recover my pride that had been broken twice… … but even that ended in failure.”

“… … ?”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. It’s embarrassing.”

He shook his head.

He looked at me again and said.

“You want to knock me down and get into that tent behind me.”

“… … For now.”

“I have a duty to stop you, but aside from that duty, I want to stop you from going in there.”

“Why?”

“Because you will end up despairing just like me.”

The face, like a corpse trapped in ice, is strangely contorted.

Perhaps he is smiling bitterly.

“I thought I was strong. But after my pride was broken again and again… … I finally realized that the strength I had built up as a human was useless.”

From the black curtain behind it.

A strong cold wind blows.

“Actually, you were the fourth.”

“The fourth?”

“The fourth one completely shattered my pride as the strongest Awakened!”

It’s the fourth time.

The devil and the cold.

‘If I’m fourth, who’s third?’

Without any time to wonder about that fact.

A strange phenomenon began to occur before my eyes.

“I tried to rebuild my pride until the very end… … but after experiencing this four times, it was time to give up.”

The gap in the shattered armor.

It’s filled with pure white ice.

“I have decided not to have any more vain pride.”

“You little punk… … No way.”

Until just before, as an awakened person.

Kangsan, who only used his strength as a human.

“Are you determined to become a monster?”

“I decided to throw away my useless pride.”

From that body.

A bone-chilling cold began to emanate from me.