The Military Chef of a Ruined World

Chapter 25

Although we gained control over the mountain range, it didn’t mean we ruled over the entire area. 

We only conducted defensive operations from the highest peak, eliminating competitors.

“Recently, our soldiers conducted an investigation.”

Min-jae hyung said, taking out a military map.

The military map showed unknown X marks scattered abundantly around our unit’s vicinity.

“Sergeant Lee Min-jae, what are these markings?”

It wasn’t just me who was curious about this, Gwang-il also asked the same.

“These are locations where monsters have been sighted recently. Through this, we can roughly estimate the number of monsters nearby.”

“Wow, there seem to be a lot of checkmarks.”

Although it had been some time since we defeated the chieftain, a few lizards still attacked our unit every day.

It wasn’t a big problem since they weren’t in large groups, and it actually helped the unit members level up. But…

“There are probably many more spread throughout the mountain range.”

“Yeah.”

Min-jae hyung sighed deeply as he looked at the map.

“I don’t know if there are holes where monsters are spawning or something… but if what the soldiers observed is true, the number of monsters is increasing rather than decreasing.”

“While we continuously hunt the creatures flowing into our unit, is the total number actually increasing?”

“It seems so. And recently, there have been stories of encountering bizarre creatures besides the lizards. While we have information on the lizards, dealing with other creatures might be more difficult.”

Even with just the lizards, it was challenging to face them without the firepower of snipers if we didn’t know their weaknesses.

On the other hand, knowing the weaknesses of the lizards might give us an advantage.

The enemy’s strength might be more formidable than expected.

At this point, one question arose.

“Vice guild leader, Sang-ah.”

“Yes?”

“How did you and your group make it to our unit?”

About twenty survivors who belonged to her group.

How did they manage to climb this mountain range?

“Well… There were monsters, of course, but not as many as now. Since we were few in number, we tried to hide our presence as much as possible and climbed cautiously. Sometimes we encountered one or two monsters, but we managed to deal with them somehow. They weren’t lizards, though.”

Hiding their presence?

Would that really help them avoid monster attacks?

“Think about it.”

Min-jae hyung answered my question.

“We discovered those climbing the mountain range the day after we defeated the chieftain.”

“Ah.”

Indeed.

The lizard chieftain had gathered the lizards of the mountain range to hunt us.

We repelled them.

Thanks to that, when her group set foot in the mountain range, the number of lizards roaming around had drastically decreased.

On the contrary…

“If we had tried to climb the mountain range just a few days earlier… Ugh, gives me the chills.”

Unfortunately, it’s difficult for us to expect such luck now.

With many unit members and not enough supplies to move secretly, conflict is inevitable.

“Ha. I feel confident in defending the unit but leaving the unit and descending the mountain range… that will require a different mindset.”

“It’s inevitable.”

Leaving the unit and moving is necessary.

We must prepare as thoroughly as possible.

“All vehicles have been serviced.”

As I busily prepared in the restaurant, a soldier who specialized in vehicle maintenance reported to me.

Following him, I saw several vehicles in the distance.

Military trucks, known as Retona, and other vehicles, from civilian minibuses to ambulances.

“We’ve brought out all the vehicles available.”

“Is there enough fuel?”

“Just in case, we haven’t used the fuel stored in the vehicles. Since we’ll only be moving a short distance down the mountain, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

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I was worried about the amount of fuel the unit’s generator consumed, but it seemed other soldiers also anticipated the need for vehicles someday.

“For now, we’ve loaded everything we can. Let’s hope they’ll be useful in battles against monsters.”

“It’s unsettling, but we have no choice but to trust.”

The reason we went to such lengths to mobilize vehicles…

It is for the purpose of using in battle.

“The area below the mountain is an unfavorable place for us.”

So, we need to make it advantageous by any means necessary.

At least, so far, the monsters we’ve encountered didn’t have long-range attack capabilities.

We’re planning to erect barriers using giant vehicles, essentially forming a kind of barricade.

“I’ll take care of protecting the other survivors.”

“Yes, stay strong, everyone.”

The downside is that all the survivors haven’t awakened yet. Still, it was realistically difficult to stay in the mountains any longer.

The yet-to-awaken survivors were placed in the safest vehicles under Lee Sang-ah’s care.

“We’re opening the gate.”

“Let’s go.”

Creak…

In the deep, misty mountains, a small military unit was located.

Finally, the main gate of that unit opened after a long time.

* * *

“Warriors, this way!”

“Send the vehicles with survivors inward first!”

As the narrow gate opened and we stepped out of the unit, we formed our formations according to the plan.

Originally, we’re not accustomed to battles involving awakened individuals.

Naturally, complex formations would be challenging, so we kept it simple.

“Tank, Damager Dealers and Healers. It’s a standard formation in RPG games.”

The vehicles would serve as outer barriers, surrounded by warriors.

Inside them were awakened individuals providing ranged and rear support, with vehicles carrying survivors positioned in the center.

Simple yet effective, intuitive in its simplicity.

While warriors and vehicles would hold off the enemy, the mages would attack from behind.

“The problem is we don’t know where the attacks will come from.”

“In that case, the warriors near the vehicles will have to dynamically block the attacks.”

Watching the soldiers maintaining their formations Gwang-il muttered.

“It would’ve been better if we could quickly descend while on board the vehicles.”

The road down the mountainside would take several hours even by car.

It would probably take half a day on foot.

In terms of speed, taking the car would be faster, but…

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s too risky.”

“Hmm. “I just complained once.”

The roads in the mountains, where our unit was located, were mostly rugged dirt roads, with more than half being unpaved. Even the roads were narrow.

There were many sections where two cars couldn’t pass side by side.

Not to mention, most of the route lacked guardrails.

If an accident were to occur, the vehicle would immediately fall off the cliff below.

Given that we were the only ones using this road, even if we did manage it, the road’s quality wasn’t high.

Even with maintenance, it was limited to removing weeds and rocks; the road itself wasn’t of high quality.

“The drivers always drove cautiously when going up and down the mountains.”

We didn’t even ask the new recruits to drive up and down the mountains.

After assessing their driving skills to a certain extent, if we thought it wouldn’t work, we redirected them to the maintenance team.

That’s how treacherous the road was.

So, rather than moving quickly on the vehicles in such a treacherous path and risking an attack by monsters…

It was judged safer to position the vehicles in potentially attacked areas, using them as barriers and moving slowly.

“Formation set up, completed.”

“Let’s move out.”

We began our descent with brisk steps.

Thanks to everyone awakening, we didn’t tire easily, even with a fast pace.

“Well, as a cook, I don’t tire easily anyway.”

The warriors could run as fast as Olympic medalists.

“Still, it’s pretty quiet near the unit.”

Moving cautiously with the vehicles while maintaining vigilance, one soldier muttered.

Indeed, the area near the unit was practically our territory.

It’s been quiet so far.

“But it probably won’t last.”

As expected, just as I predicted…

Rustle…

Not long after leaving the unit and beginning our descent from the mountain, we heard strange noises.

Originally, it was a mountain range close to being semi-wilderness.

I wish it were just the sound of beasts’ footsteps.

“They’re here.”

The sound came from a distance.

A dark figure was swiftly approaching.

“Everyone, weapons up!”

“Let’s stay calm.”

“It’s no different from fighting in the unit!”

The senior soldiers encouraged the others, and the soldiers raised their weapons.

Soon, the forest concealed by trees.

From within its shadows,

“Aaaargh!”

A lizard appeared, screaming.

Following it, several more lizards began to reveal themselves.

“As per the plan, use the vehicles as barricades.”

The warriors stood behind the vehicles, weapons ready.

The vehicles were meant to provide primary defense.

It was a tactic to engage only the enemies coming around the barricade.

However, contrary to our expectations,

The vehicles couldn’t fulfill their role as barricades.

Crunch.

“Grrr…!”

The lizards seemed to drive their sharp claws into the transport truck of our unit.

Monsters leaping over the vehicles using the claws stuck in them as leverage.

Their bodies soared over the vehicles.

“Damn.”

Our belief that the vehicles would serve as barricades was just a misconception.

They were nothing more than flimsy barriers that can be easily overcome by those creatures.

“Damn it, I knew it would be like this.”

“I don’t trust the barricades! Warriors, switch positions!”

Seeing this, the warriors quickly changed their positions.

With the barricades being ineffective, the area the warriors needed to cover expanded.

“Growl!”

Soon, the monster that had first leaped over the vehicle flew towards the center of our formation.

One of our allied marksmen seemed to be aiming to shoot at the monster, but…

Thunk.

I quickly reached out and lowered the muzzle of his gun.

“We stick to the plan. No shooting.”

“But, but…”

The original base we were stationed at had terrain favorable for our defense.

Utilizing the overwhelming firepower of our marksmen in defensive battles was always effective.

“But this place is different.”

The mountain range, with its obstructed visibility due to the trees, greatly limited our long-range firepower.

That alone wouldn’t be too bad, but…

“The moment gunfire rings out, the monsters will swarm in.”

It was a thunderous sound, in and of itself.

If it were just a small number of monsters, we might have a chance of prevailing even in unfavorable conditions.

But if a monster horde were to come charging after hearing gunshots…

“That’s when things truly become dire.”

“But, our formation…”

“We anticipated scenarios where vehicles wouldn’t be of assistance. Trust in the warriors and mages.”

Indeed, beyond the formation, warriors were leaping to confront the lizards.

Prepared for such situations, there were warriors waiting inside.

And the mages, unlike the marksmen, could control their firepower to reduce the noise and fight effectively.

“We can definitely win this.”

The assaulting monsters numbered over a dozen.

But that wasn’t all.

Once the battle began, noise was inevitable.

Compared to the gunfire echoing across the entire mountain, it was relatively minor, but it was still enough noise to attract nearby monsters.

More monsters came rushing in upon hearing the noise of battle and the roars of the creatures.

They outnumbered the initial attackers.

In the base we were originally stationed at, this wouldn’t have posed a significant threat.

The key to our unit’s successful defense lay in our long-range firepower.

It was made possible by our clear sightlines and various defensive structures.

However, these creatures had breached our formation intact.

While they were certainly threatening, they weren’t invincible.

“We’ve come prepared for this.”

I shouted, looking at my comrades.

“Eat combat rations!”

It was a somewhat out-of-place command during urgent battle unfolding on the battlefield.

“Yes, sir!”

“Bring out the combat rations!”

But the soldiers seemed to be waiting for it.

Keeping a slight distance from the enemy, they took action.

They reached into their ration pouches and pulled something out.

It was…

“Jerky.”

Wrapped in small pieces of paper, the crimson jerky.

Even in the urgency of the moment, the soldiers tore open the paper and popped the jerky into their mouths.

Of course, it wasn’t just ordinary jerky.

[Lizard meat jerky filled with courage of a Junior Chef]

[A dish made with magical ingredients. Increases the effects of the dish]

[A dish made for long-term preservation. Virtually no decrease in stats over time.]

[Upon consumption, all stats will be increased by 5.]

[Upon consumption, the magical power of the ‘Steel Lizard’ contained in the dish permeates the body. Physical Resistance will be increased drastically]

“Hehe! This is going to be an interesting fight!”

“We’re dining in hell tonight!”

“Yeehaw!”

The dishes that I have personally prepared.

It was the first real deployment of combat rations.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Translator: One Force

TL Note:

1 more chapter coming today (For NU ratings)

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