The Military Chef of a Ruined World

Crackle.

Crackle.

Tremendous amounts of lightning struck down from the dark cloud in the sky.

The lightning, even from this distance, exuded an oppressive presence.

As the lightning struck the ground,

Thud, thud…

An enormous number of fish.

No.

The bodies of the fishmen were floating on the water.

But the sheer number was still apparent.

And,

[Someone who has enjoyed your meal has excelled in battle]

[The Chef’s reputation is spreading far and wide]

[You have gained experience points]

[You have gained experience points]

[You have gained experience points]

‘Ugh.’

I could feel a massive surge of energy flowing into my body.

The sudden influx brought with it a hint of discomfort.

‘If I’m feeling this much from the indirect experience points, then…’

Then,

The mages who participated in that spell,

And Sergeant Min-jae who manifested it,

How many experience points have they gained directly?

‘Unbelievable.’

It seems the claim about the monster density increasing towards the center wasn’t a lie.

Conversely, if we had tried to push through those monsters, how much hardship would we have faced?

Just as I was feeling pleased with the unexpected results,

Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!

“!?”

“That sound.”

At the center of the lightning-struck city,

Something massive let out a cry of agony.

A pained scream reverberating all the way here.

For the sound to reach this far, it couldn’t be an ordinary creature.

‘The boss monster.’

The one responsible for turning this city into a dungeon.

That must be it.

The lightning we just unleashed was the maximum our guild could muster at the moment.

And it seems to have affected the boss lurking within.

The aftermath came swiftly.

“Hey, look over there.”

“The water level is receding!”

Terraforming, under the name of a dungeon.

The one responsible for that was the boss monster.

The water level rises higher towards the central area.

The city center was submerged up to the level of tall skyscrapers,

But ‘that water level is receding now.’

It’s not just the city center.

The water level of the entire dungeon seems to be gradually lowering.

Even this area, where the water previously reached up to the chest,

Is now barely reaching the thighs.

‘I didn’t expect this much.’

I suppressed a leaking chuckle and looked back.

“Th-this is crazy.”

“The water receding, that can’t be a coincidence, right?”

“I’m not sure, but those soldiers must have done something.”

The people unable to comprehend the recent events,

Staring at the soldiers, unable to hide their astonishment.

“We heard that the deeper we go, the more monsters there are, and the higher the water level gets. So…”

Nonchalantly, as if summoning lightning from the sky was an everyday occurrence.

“We reduced the monsters and lowered the water level.”

“…Good lord.”

Gulp.

People looking down at the ground, sweating nervously.

There, the bodies of the fishmen were floating around.

Seeing that, people murmured cautiously:

“In that case…”

“The raid… might actually be possible…”

***

“Is it really possible?”

“Ha. As long as you follow us, there’s no problem.”

The people brought by Chang-su were entrusted to Lieutenant Kim.

Lieutenant Kim, with his bold and confident demeanor, instilled trust in the people.

“I thought I was doomed to wither away in that building.”

“Don’t say such frightening things. Even in the most perilous moments, there’s always a way out, you know. We’ve entered this city for a reason, after all.”

“As expected…!”

“The soldiers are no ordinary bunch. They’re quite reliable!”

They had already started to hope for the dungeon raid’s success after witnessing the lightning strike.

And with Lieutenant Kim’s unfounded confidence, the people’s conviction in the raid’s success grew even stronger.

That’s when,

The medic approached me, who was observing Lieutenant Kim and the people.

“Sergeant Shin.”

“Yes?”

“The mages who participated in the attack just now have all fainted.”

“…Let’s talk somewhere private.”

After moving to a place where the other Awakened couldn’t hear,

I listened to the medic’s report.

“How are their conditions?”

“They’ve experienced both mana surge and mana depletion. They’ll likely need to rest for a week.”

“….”

“Even after regaining consciousness, they’ll have difficulty using that level of magic again.”

It’s only natural that there would be a price to pay for invoking such a powerful spell.

I had gathered the idle mages and forcefully fed them food imbued with an intensely potent buff.

And then, I poured that amplified magic into Sergeant Lee Min-jae, our best mage.

‘They won’t be able to use it again.’

I had anticipated this outcome to some extent.

“Take good care of them. With the high humidity here, they’re prone to illness. No outbreaks yet, but you never know. They might have just gotten lucky so far.”

“Understood, sir. Leave it to me.”

Those mages would have had a hard time showcasing their abilities in this dungeon anyway.

At least, they served the purpose of drawing in other Awakened factions.

Indeed,

“We might not even be needed in the first place.”

“Yeah, just a few more lightning strikes like that, and the monsters will be wiped out, right?”

“Haha!!!”

The ones who had joined after witnessing the magic display,

They were now fully convinced that the dungeon raid was possible.

Of course, replicating that lightning strike would be difficult.

It would likely take at least a month before it’s feasible again.

‘…No need to explicitly mention that, I suppose!’

The inconvenient truth can be left unspoken.

If we include all the Awakened from the groups that Chang-su brought, their numbers would be 2-3 times the size of our unit.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a large number of humans after the Doomsday.

Chang-su’s group was the only one whose level seemed as high as our unit.

But even Chang-su’s group was only high in level.

Of course, most of the points they gained were invested in food.

They didn’t benefit from the effects of items made by the Awakened in our guild or production-focused groups.

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