The Military Chef of a Ruined World

“We’ll have to testify properly in court, after all…”

…It seems like a lot of people died for other reasons.

“May I ask a question as well?”

At that moment, one of the soldiers standing behind us raised his hand and asked,

“So, there aren’t any zombies here?”

“Zombies?”

“Is that some kind of metaphor?”

“The people do look a bit zombie-like, though…”

It seemed there weren’t even any zombies here.

‘Zombies didn’t show up in our unit either, for some reason.’

That allowed us to focus all our efforts on fighting the lizardmen.

And it seems the same went for these people.

[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]

[Lv. 3 Spearman]

[Lv. 6 Fire Mage]

There was a significant number of awakened individuals.

With only the water-dwelling monsters to contend with in this space, information on awakening techniques had likely spread quite quickly.

“Well… that’s how it is. After that, we’ve been getting by on the food supplies we moved upstairs, the fish we’ve caught, and some bread we’ve obtained through other means.”

“Fishing?”

“Ah, there are quite a few fish in that water. I’m not sure why, though.”

I recalled the dam or lake that Jeong-soo had seen, where the water level had visibly decreased.

‘It seems that water has flowed into this space, bringing the fish with it.’

“So, are you the only survivors here?”

“No, that’s not the case. There are a few others we’re in contact with.”

“In contact?”

Communicating with other buildings while trapped in this one? I had wondered if they somehow breached the monster-infested waters to reach other buildings.

“I think it’s better if I just show you. Follow me.”

We followed Tae-wan’s lead.

The place we had been conversing was around the middle floor of the building.

But the destination he was taking us to now was…

‘The rooftop?’

As we climbed the stairs to the rooftop, the sight that unfolded before us was quite remarkable.

The water cascading down the building walls like a waterfall, the moon floating in the sky despite it being daytime.

And then,

“Leader, you’ve arrived.”

“Good, is everything alright?”

“Yes, sir.”

The people standing guard on the rooftop.

What they were guarding was nothing other than…

“Cloud bridges?”

“That’s right.”

“They were cloud bridges connecting one building to another.”

“They’re a bit crude, but these bridges allow us to communicate with the people in other buildings. We trade supplies as needed.”

Cloud bridges, huh.

Seeing the precarious, swaying bridges, I moved to the outer edge of the rooftop.

Looking down, I saw the waterfall flowing down the building’s exterior, with dark shapes moving about in the water below.

‘They’ve been driven from the ground and forced to take refuge in the sky.’

While these cloud bridges were the ingenious solution the people in this city had devised to survive, it felt rather pitiful.

The humans, who were once the masters of the ground, had been driven into the high-rise buildings.

And now, the monsters that had taken over the ground were gaping their jaws in the water below, waiting to catch any humans who might fall from the unstable cloud bridges.

“Ah, you must be curious about how we made these cloud bridges. As I mentioned earlier, there are some people who have gained rather special powers. They used those powers to throw ropes to the other buildings and build these bridges.”

“…We already know about the awakening.”

Tae-wan, surprised by my response, paused for a moment before speaking again.

“Now that you mention it, I’ve been talking mostly about our situation here. I’d like to hear about the outside as well, if you don’t mind sharing?”

The people here had clung to the hope that we had come from the outside world.

It felt a bit sorry to crush that hope, but I couldn’t lie to them either.

“It seems you thought the outside world was still fine when you saw us.”

“Huh?”

“…Actually, that’s not the case.”

My unit members and I then proceeded to explain the full situation outside in detail.

The humans who had been excited at the prospect of the military coming to rescue them…

“Good heavens.”

…now covered their faces.

Their once hopeful demeanor is now completely gone.

“Not just the Plunderers, but all kinds of monsters are roaming around out there?”

“Zombies? What’s that even supposed to be. This isn’t a movie.”

“Damn it. It would have been better if I had just thought everyone else drowned. Being zombies is even worse than being dead.”

Tae-wan, who had been chatting enthusiastically earlier, now spoke with a dazed expression.

“So, are you really the only ones who came to help us?”

“Yes.”

“There’s no reinforcements coming?”

“That’s right.”

The people who had been filled with hope seeing us.

It would have been better if they had no hope at all.

“…Damn it.”

The small glimmer of hope they had clung to was now extinguished, plunging them into despair.

I could see a slight moistness in Tae-wan’s eyes as he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, covering his face.

“So, we’re trapped here for the rest of our lives.”

“No, that’s not the case.”

The people stared at us with wide eyes.

“There must be a mastermind behind this dungeon somewhere, probably the leader of those monsters. If we kill that person, we can escape.”

“…Tch, whatever.”

“That was just nonsense, huh.”

The response was lukewarm, despite my suggestion for a way to escape.

“Do you have any idea how many of those monsters there are? You’d have to go into the water, their territory, to fight them.”

“….”

“We may be able to hunt a few of them, since we’ve awakened too. But to hunt their leader? That’s impossible.”

I was slightly annoyed by their dismissive attitude even before trying.

“But how do you even know if you haven’t even tried?”

“There are some things you just know even before trying. Sadly, you have to accept it. Since you’ve come in here, you’ll die with us.”

Tae-wan let out a hollow laugh, seeming deeply dejected.

“Sounds like we’re done talking. Now get out of here.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t I say this building is our territory? So, get out.”

A sudden declaration.

“We don’t have much to spare either. Our food reserves are running low. We only have the fish we’ve caught and some hardened rye bread that we’ve bought with points. And that rye bread tastes terrible, and it’s so expensive… We don’t have any food to share with you. We don’t even plan to share the fish swimming around here. So just leave.”

Listening to that, I thought, ‘Isn’t that all the more reason not to kick us out?’

Then, a man approached Tae-wan and spoke.

“Leader, please reconsider.”

“What is it?”

“Those people are soldiers, aren’t they? They have quite a few of them, and they came here of their own free will.”

It seemed like he was thinking along similar lines to me, but…

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.Com