The Military Chef of a Ruined World - Chapter 400



Only Noblemtl

Episode 400 Seoul.

After the day of destruction.

There was something many people were wondering.

‘What happened to other areas?’

The situation in Gyeonggi Province has already been confirmed.

That barrier has opened there.

We will soon be able to know the situation in other regions as well.

and.

The next thing I was curious about was…

‘What happened to other countries?’

Finding an answer to this question is not easy.

Now even communication has been cut off.

Because there is no way to know the situation in a foreign country that is far away.

‘If there’s a place that I can know, it’s the land connected by land.’

Unfortunately, South Korea is a peninsula country.

There was only one country connected by land.

“I can see it.”

The place we arrived at by car.

Somewhere in the northern part of Gangwon-do.

“I can see… … beyond the ceasefire line.”

Private Seo Su-hyeok.

Observation of North Korea was successful.

***

‘… … What a great guy.’

The place we arrived was a tall building somewhere in Gangwon-do.

To me, it just looks like a horizon.

“An old building… … I never thought I would see the North Korean scenery I only saw on TV like this.”

Private Seo Su-hyeok looked into the distance.

I was looking at something I couldn’t see.

‘North Korea.’

According to Soo-hyuk’s guy.

It is said that when they first tried to observe North Korea, they could not see it because it was blocked by that curtain.

Perhaps the street where that curtain appears.

That means the power of the curtain itself was stronger.

And now that the occupation war is over.

As a result of the weakening of the curtain’s strength, North Korea’s observation was successful.

of course…….

“I don’t see any living people.”

“Well, I guess so.”

He said that that barrier was stronger than the one we had overcome.

The barrier we had just crossed was emitting heat so strong that it would have been impossible for any living thing to survive in the area.

As with other regions, the same is true in North Korea.

Even if you do get to see beyond that barrier, there’s a high chance that you won’t be able to observe any living humans on the other side.

‘If you think about it… … there might be no point in observing North Korea with Seo Su-hyeok’s abilities.’

It’s true that the guy has great vision.

Because in the end, you can only see near the barrier.

“There’s nothing we can do. Still, let’s consider it an achievement that we have confirmed that North Korea’s observation is possible, and return… … .”

“……no.”

“huh?”

“Please wait a little longer.”

however.

Unlike me who was about to turn back after losing my mind.

“What’s wrong with you? Why is your face like that?”

Private Seo Su-hyeok looking into the distance.

The guy’s face grew increasingly hard.

“I knew that humans couldn’t live near the barrier anyway.”

“… … ?”

“What I was trying to check was not whether there was a living human being.”

The guy already said that he didn’t see anyone when he observed the Chungcheong Province area.

I don’t think North Korea is an exception.

But still.

This guy insisted on asking me to come here with him.

“Could you please take a look at this map?”

There is a good reason for that.

There was talk of it happening.

“I wanted to see the border.”

“boundary?”

Private Seo Su-hyeok takes out a map from his bosom.

The guy pointed to a corner of the map and said,

“As you can see, the North Korean lands bordering us are Kangwon Province and North Hwanghae Province.”

“Ah. I heard that North Korea also has a Gangwon Province.”

“Yes. And… … I thought that North Korea, like us, was likely divided into administrative districts.”

This territorial separation was based on administrative districts.

The disconnect between regions is the domain of the [system].

Perhaps the system means that there is at least some understanding of the administrative divisions of humanity.

“When I actually checked, I saw that the buildings near the border between Gangwon-do and Hwanghaebuk-do had melted.”

“I see. So they were in a similar situation to us.”

If you have even confirmed that the building has melted.

It meant that other countries were also waging wars of occupation similar to ours.

“Yes, that is the problem.”

“huh?”

Private Seo Su-hyeok frowns.

“It’s clear that the boundary was divided. It’s clear.”

“What does that mean… … .”

“I was wandering around.”

“……huh?”

He looked at my face and said.

“Monsters were roaming between those boundaries.”

“……what?”

Me too.

I couldn’t help but be surprised when I understood what those words meant.

“You, don’t you think so… …!”

“Yes. I did just in case. They’re here now.”

The border over there was divided just like ours.

However, there are beings roaming that border.

That is, … … .

“It seems like we are in a similar situation as Private Shin said.”

North Korea too.

It was said that the [Beginner’s Protection Zone] had been lifted.

***

According to the system’s statement.

As we unified Gangwon Province, the only area where the beginner protection zone was lifted was the ROK area.

In other words, it was only South Korea that changed because of us.

‘I said that even if I leave this land in advance, the eyes of the outside world will reach this land.’

I didn’t say it was this world.

It seems that other countries were not affected by our actions.

And yet.

The boundaries between subregions are disappearing.

That is,

“So there is a force over there that has unified a region.”

“Yes. They were similar to us, or maybe… … they were faster than us.”

If you think about it.

Mirinae also said that outside eyes would reach this land.

I didn’t say that South Korea was the only country where that protection was lifted.

‘I didn’t think that we might not be the first force to complete a war of occupation.’

In Korea, we were the first.

If we include other countries, it wouldn’t be strange if we weren’t the first.

Could the humans of North Korea have succeeded in unifying a region faster than the military?

It could not be denied that some great hero might have appeared and done so.

but…….

Honestly, I didn’t think it would be very likely.

‘It is a place where the difficulty of survival is overwhelmingly higher than in South Korea.’

At least Korea was able to secure food if it took the risk.

Because it was originally a relatively prosperous country.

However, that side probably didn’t have much food reserves anyway.

It was unlikely that humans, desperate for even the bare minimum of survival, could grow quickly.

If so, there is another possibility.

‘Conquest wars are not only carried out by humans.’

Just as it is highly likely that those ‘Belsnickels’ would have unified Gyeonggi Province if it weren’t for the intervention of me and the Legion.

Just as it is highly likely that the ‘Green Tribe’ would have quickly taken over Gangwon-do if they had not been stopped by us.

‘It is highly likely that the monsters’ forces have unified one region.’

A monster force strong enough to successfully unify a region.

They are a force so strong that they may have completed the occupation war faster than we did.

Those people.

What if it grows stronger over time?

‘It’s an outrageous threat… … .’

Growing into an unimaginable threat.

We never knew we would meet.

“… … Seriously, it’s not even time for Jeonghoon’s education.’

We are soldiers.

And there’s something every soldier learns in the military.

Who is our main enemy?

Who we have to fight against.

‘North Korea… … ‘

Up there.

Beings that pose a great threat to us.

Our enemies were lurking.

***

“North Korea.”

After checking the situation in North Korea.

Private Seo Su-hyeok and I returned to our unit right away and called the other team leaders to tell them this story.

“… … The radio must have spread to North Korea as well. With the help of that radio, is it possible that the survivors in North Korea were able to complete the occupation war?”

“It must be low.”

However, Private Lee Min-jae spoke with some hopeful words.

Private Seo Su-hyeok shook his head and spoke coldly.

“… … Well, that’s true.”

Even Sergeant Lee Min-jae could not deny Private Seo Su-hyeok’s words.

Even if we estimate optimistically, the difficulty of survival in North Korea is bound to be higher than that in South Korea.

At least Korea was in an environment where it could secure food if it took on a crisis.

Because it was originally a relatively prosperous country.

but.

‘That country didn’t have a lot of food reserves in the first place.’

An environment where even the bare minimum of survival is urgent.

The possibility of growing up smoothly in such an environment was slim.

perhaps.

By the time radio began to spread, the information it provided might no longer have been used.

“Whatever the reason, what we have to do is simple.”

I don’t know why.

There may be a force lurking within North Korea that has completed the occupation war faster than we have.

then.

“In preparation for when that barrier opens… … we must conserve as much strength as possible.”

“… …Is it that big of a threat?”

“It might be more than that.”

The legions are strong.

However, even such a corps took quite a long time to unify one region called Gangwon-do.

Of course there were variables.

‘If I had not left for Gyeonggi-do and stayed in Gangwon-do, the occupation might have been a little faster.’

but.

Even if I had stayed in Gangwon-do, the time I would have been delayed would have been at most a week.

In exchange for bringing forward the occupation by a week.

The entire population of Gyeonggi Province, the most populous province in South Korea, would have been wiped out.

At that time, it was best for me to leave for Gyeonggi-do.

and.

‘They might have completed the occupation war faster than we did.’

How much power and potential it holds.

Honestly, I never imagined it.

‘I need to build up my strength from now on.’

Monsters that grew by devouring a country.

The strength not to be swept away by that wave.

***

Kaang, Kaang… … .

Somewhere in northern Gangwon-do.

There, loud construction noises echo through the area.

“Reinforce the steel bars on that side a bit more! Yes!”

and.

Directing that construction.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Ah… … Commander, you’re here!”

A person who recently joined our unit.

[Architect] It was Kim Jong-du.

“How is work going?”

“Yes, of course.”

A person specialized in the construction of buildings.

Among those abilities, the one that stands out the most is [Construction Command], which allows others to participate in construction and quickly build buildings.

“With the support of such a great army of engineers, there’s no way things can go wrong.”

Even when used against ordinary awakened people, he was able to build buildings at an incredible speed.

However, now we have been provided with [Engineers] who already have excellent production capabilities.

“Originally, [Construction Command] could only be used to build simple buildings. It was an unavoidable limitation since it required the use of people without specialized knowledge. However… … .”

“I guess not.”

“Because they already have a considerable level of architectural ability. When I use my skill on them… … it has the effect of me being cloned into dozens of people.”

As I expected.

The synergy between [Engineer] and [Architect] was beyond imagination.

And now.

He uses that tremendous synergy.

“Once these defenses are completed, we will be able to hold off any enemy that comes down from above for a while.”

“It’s trustworthy.”

To deal with enemies that might come down from the north.

Extensive defensive facilities were being built.

‘The barrier between us and North Korea could open at any moment.’

There was a clear keyword called [Occupation War] in the domestic barrier.

Based on that keyword, it was possible to guess when that barrier would open.

but.

I muttered quietly to myself.

‘Status of the Occupation War’

Okay then.

[Great Region – Status of ROK’s Occupation War]

[1. Steel Legion (5%)]

[2. ??? (?%)]

A slightly changed Occupation War Status Table has appeared.

‘The occupation war changed from the small-area ROK-17 to the large-area ROK.’

I don’t know why on earth they make you do something like this.

The system was demanding that we, who had finished occupying Gangwon-do, now occupy this land of the Republic of Korea.

and.

‘At the end of the occupation of Gangwon-do, the entire border of South Korea was lifted. The will of people in other regions was not applied there.’

then.

‘If the war of occupation by other countries ends, the borders with other countries may be lifted regardless of our will.’

No one knew when that would be.

As I became aware of the threat lurking up there.

The barrier was opening, and we had to prepare for the monsters above to rush down.

‘It’s fortunate that we brought [the architect] along.’

The area over which security facilities had to be built to guard against enemies moving south from North Korea was too large.

Even if they are engineers in our unit, it will take a long time.

But if we utilize Kim Jong-du’s abilities, it seems like it could be completed in a fairly short period of time.

‘You can leave the defense facilities here.’

and

The next thing to do is… … .

‘I need to increase my power.’

If, as I expected, the monsters up there finished the occupation battle faster than us.

At the time that barrier opened, there was a high probability that the threat would be stronger than us.

‘It’s difficult for us alone.’

then.

There is only one answer.

“Expand to other regions.”

If the enemy says there is a threat lurking in North Korea.

We had to unite all of humanity in Korea to confront this.

***

“How are the expedition preparations going?”

“It’s almost over.”

today.

Our unit was busy organizing an expeditionary force to advance into other regions.

Going on an expedition to a distant region is not an easy task.

Especially now, it is difficult to give and receive proper supplies.

In the first place, the expeditionary force had to move while carrying all the supplies needed for a long-term war.

‘Since we poured all our energy into the Gyeonggi-do expedition, it must have taken some time to replenish those resources.’

Still.

According to what Corporal Lee Min-jae had said, preparations for the expedition were almost complete.

It hasn’t even been a few days since Private Seo Su-hyeok and I reported our observations about North Korea.

Nevertheless, the preparations for the expedition, which will take a considerable amount of time, are almost complete.

This was possible because the work abilities of our unit members were so outstanding… … .

No, it’s not.

“The expedition to other regions was something we had originally planned to do.”

Sergeant Lee Min-jae shrugged and said.

As you said.

It was possible to complete the expedition preparations relatively quickly.

This was because, separate from my observation of North Korea, it was something that had been happening as soon as I returned to Gyeonggi Province.

There are too many enemies in this world.

In contrast, the number of humans capable of fighting against those enemies is limited.

That’s why we needed to save as many of those small numbers of humans as possible.

“We may not be able to launch a Vimana, but… … for simple expeditions, it will be possible soon.”

Even before returning to Gangwon-do from Gyeonggi-do.

Our next goal was to expand into other regions.

The goal was to drive out as many monsters as possible and make contact with living humans.

“However, there is one thing that must be decided.”

“hmm?”

“It’s good that we’ve prepared for the expedition, but… … we don’t have much time to spare. We won’t be able to conquer all the different regions at once. We’ll probably only be able to conquer one region in one expedition. So.”

Sergeant Lee Min-jae looked at my face and said.

“You decide where we should go.”

“… … Hmm.”

What if [Mobile Fortress] could fly?

Most of our power now is ground power.

Advances to other regions also had to be made by land.

There are five places that border Gangwon-do.

Among them, North Korea and Gyeonggi Province are out of the question.

‘Chungcheongbuk-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and… … Seoul.’

I’d like to ask that ‘shaman’, though.

It seemed like that shaman had been through some hardships in her own way.

‘If there was any advice I could give you in the first place, I would have given it to you when we met the day before.’

There was a high chance that he wouldn’t be able to give you any proper advice on this matter right now.

In the end, I have to make my own judgment and decision.

“I recommend Chungcheongbuk-do or Gyeongsangbuk-do.”

After thinking about it for a while.

Private Seo Su-hyeok opened his mouth while looking at me.

“Chungcheongbuk-do or Gyeongsangbuk-do?”

“Hmm. Actually, rather than saying it had to be those two places… I thought it had to be anywhere but Seoul.”

“Why?”

“If we’re going to attack anyway, shouldn’t we consider efficiency?”

The guy shrugged and said.

“Seoul… Even if we conquer it, there probably won’t be much to gain.”

“… … .”

There was a topic of conversation that was occasionally shared among the legionnaires.

I wonder what happened to other regions.

And, in most cases,

The conversation flowed quite optimistically.

In many cases, it ended with the conclusion that there were survivors in other areas, and that they were somehow surviving and holding on, even if they were not as fortunate as us.

The reason was simple.

‘It was better for my mental health to think that way.’

but.

‘Seoul was an exception.’

Even amidst many relatively optimistic observations.

As for Seoul, there were few hopeful predictions.

Among many other areas.

The area where humanity was most likely to have been wiped out was Seoul.

‘For the opposite reason to North Korea.’

If the reason North Korea’s survival difficulty is judged to be high is due to resource issues such as food.

Seoul was exactly the opposite.

‘Because there are too many people crammed into too small an area.’

In South Korea, the place with the largest population in the smallest land area is Seoul.

You might think that having more manpower would be a good thing.

From what we have experienced so far, the first place that became hell was the city center.

With the exception of Chuncheon, most survivors were from places that were sparsely populated at the time of the apocalypse.

‘Monsters flock to places where there is a lot of food…’

It would be nice if there were just more monsters.

The remaining flesh of those devoured by the monsters turns into zombies, posing yet another threat.

That’s why it’s hard to survive in a crowded city center.

‘If it were other regions, they would have been able to somehow escape the city center and survive in the outskirts… … .’

The land called Seoul was so small.

Even if you ran away like that, there probably weren’t many safe areas.

“Our goal is to attack other regions, rescue the people in those regions, and form cooperative relationships. In that sense.”

“Is it right to put Seoul, which is most likely to have been annihilated, at the bottom of the list?”

“Yes. There is a good chance that humans will still be alive in other areas… … so I think it would be right to prioritize those areas.”

Cool judgment.

However, it was not a wrong judgment.

First, we will send personnel to Seoul to gather information… … and other than that, we will prioritize attacking other regions… … .

When I was thinking like that.

‘uh?’

Outside the window.

I felt like I saw something.

At first, I didn’t think much of it.

however.

“… … That!?”

“Something is coming!”

The soldiers took up a battle stance.

I also took out the sashimi knife from my bosom and took a stance.

That white dot-like shape in the distance.

It kept getting bigger and bigger.

It was only after I got closer that I realized what it was.

‘bird?’

It was a pure white, translucent bird.

The bird flew towards the command and control room where we were.

Swish… … .

Like a ghost without substance.

He broke through the wall of the Vimana and entered inside.

‘You’re going to break through this fortress!?’

No strong monster could easily pass through this fortress.

Before swinging my weapon, I looked at the guy in as much detail as possible.

[Food ingredient identification (reinforcement)]

[White Bird of the Messenger]

and.

Before I could even properly figure out the guy’s information… … .

[Ah, ahh… … .]

“… … !?”

From that bird.

A familiar sound was heard.

‘korean…….’

It wasn’t a concept of forcing the brain or soul to understand another language like other monsters.

Accurate Korean that you can understand at the moment you hear it.

[Hello, surviving citizens.]

[We would like to take this opportunity to inform the citizens of the Republic of Korea of ​​some important news.]

and.

In the bird’s mouth.

[The government of the Republic of Korea… …Seoul is still standing!]

A story that is completely unbelievable.

It was flowing out.