The Military Chef of a Ruined World

‘He’s offering a truce.’

Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t an offer we could accept.

‘We need to defeat the boss to escape the dungeon.’

There’s no way we’re staying trapped in here for the rest of our lives.

But that’s just our unit’s situation.

“…Is it really true?”

A voice from behind startled me, and I turned around quickly.

“I was always afraid of being hunted by monsters. But if they’ve been sparing us all this time…”

“Then we will never have anything to fear, right?”

“So, the outside world is more dangerous, huh? Then is there even a point in struggling to leave…?”

I saw the humans in the city murmuring among themselves.

Unlike us, they had adapted to the environment of this city.

It was absurd to think they believed the words of a monster.

But if what it said was true, it was enough to shake them.

After all, the outside world wasn’t exactly a place fit for survival.

“That’s nonsense…!”

“Are you really going to believe that monster’s words?”

The only ones who remained unfazed were Chang-su’s group.

“You all know it too. Fishing alone won’t be enough to feed the people in this city.”

Chang-su, the leader, seemed to have regained his composure.

He stepped forward to persuade the people.

“If things continue as they are now, we’ll eventually run out of food. Staying trapped here means starving to death. If we want to survive, we have no choice but to go outside.”

“…With the number we have now, that may be true.”

“What did you say?”

However, the persuasion didn’t have much impact.

“If there were fewer mouths to feed, we could survive on fishing alone.”

“You bastard… You better not be saying what I think you are.”

“W-We’ve been fighting monsters and leveling up along the way. We have an advantage over those other humans who have only awakened and hidden away… If it comes to a war between humans, we can definitely win.”

“Damn it. So, you’re really going to say it.”

The persuasion wasn’t working.

“In fact, you all stand to gain the most, don’t you? You’re the strongest people in this city.”

“Revenge is pointless! What’s important is the survival of the living… Instead of dragging innocent people into this, you should be more worried about your own survival!”

He made it sound reasonable enough, but in the end, it was just about killing off the weak so the strong could live.

We had brought these people to bolster our forces, but now it was backfiring.

They were even trying to sway Chang-su’s group, who were full of fighting spirit.

‘Tsk. It’d be fine if they just stayed out of the fight.’

If we managed to defeat the monster, the dungeon would disappear.

Then they would have no choice but to face the outside world they didn’t want.

In that case…

‘Could they even end up attacking us?’

The situation had suddenly become much more complicated.

After a moment of thought, I made my decision.

‘Tsk. Overthinking things is not my style.’

I started walking.

Ahead of me, the entrance to a temple-like building came into view.

“Hey! Soldier over there!”

“Stop right there! If you take another step, we won’t just stand by…!”

The city dwellers were trying to block my way, but—

“And if I do?”

A massive arm cut them off.

“Wh-what the hell are you?”

“Sergeant Shin is moving forward. You wanna try and stop him? Go ahead, say something.”

It was Corporal Jeon Gwang-il and his soldiers. The sheer presence of his towering figure was intimidating enough.

“Uh…”

“I didn’t mean that. I just thought maybe we could talk a little more…”

“Oh, is that it? I thought you were about to use force!”

“….”

“As if anyone in their right mind would do something that crazy! I made a huge mistake, hahaha!”

Thud, thud! Gwang-il laughed, smacking the others on the back.

He forced his arm around the shoulders of those trying to stop me and spoke in a friendly tone.

“But really, no need to worry.”

“L-let go of me, let’s talk about this.”

“Sergeant Shin isn’t the kind of guy who acts recklessly. I’m sure he’s got a plan, so let’s just watch.”

Thanks to him, no one interfered as I stood before the door. I placed both hands on it, ready to open it.

[Is this meant to be a refusal?]

“Yes, you dumbshit bastard.”

Back off quietly, and I won’t lay a hand on you?

‘Bullshit.’

From the start, the audacity of this monster acting like it held the power over our lives was absurd.

‘You’re the one who’s badly hurt right now.’

The dungeon’s difficulty had dropped drastically.

That meant the monster had suffered a serious injury and lost a significant amount of its power.

He was the one who was actually feeling nervous.

And besides—

[I do not understand. I have spoken no falsehoods. Why reject something that benefits us both?]

“Do you know why we entered the dungeon now?”

This dungeon was enormous, even from the outside. Normally, we would’ve prepared more before attempting to clear it.

But there was one reason we entered as soon as we found it.

“It’s expanding.”

[….]

This dungeon…

It was growing larger by the day.

The expansion of a dungeon is straightforward: it means the power of the entity that created it is also growing stronger.

“I’m not sure of the details, but as time passes, your power is increasing, right?”

[….]

“When you got injured and lost power, the difficulty of the dungeon dropped. So, conversely, as you grow stronger, the difficulty of the dungeon will rise, correct?”

[Grhhhhh]

“Let me ask you something. How will the dungeon look in 2 or 3 years if things continue like this?”

A deep rumbling shook the door as it slowly opened, and the entity lying inside responded.

[Even the tallest spires of this city will have sunk beneath the sea.]

“….!”

It’s obvious.

As the water rises, people will eventually have to abandon their buildings and flee. By then, the dungeon will have expanded even further, so they could move to outer high-rise buildings.

But—

Will they even be allowed to make that move easily?

‘Those creatures attack as soon as you enter their territory.’

The sea and the sky.

It might seem fair if they divided their domains like that, but if the sea keeps encroaching towards the sky, the situation changes.

They say they won’t attack as long as you don’t invade their territory?

The reason humans died was due to infighting among themselves?

That premise is fundamentally flawed.

“You’re the one who created an environment where survival is only possible by invading a pristine world and causing mutual destruction among humans.”

[Grhhhh]

Even if we withdraw for now, the situation was clear.

They say they won’t attack if you don’t invade their territory, but they create situations where invasion is unavoidable.

Ultimately, they will try to eliminate humans by any means necessary.

My talk about nations was pointless, and their talk about protecting us was meaningless too.

Why complicate things?

The crucial point was simple.

“The stronger one survives. That’s all there is to it.”

[Hmph… Heh heh heh… Hahaha…]

In the heart of the massive temple, the giant that had been lying down now rose to its full height.

[You’re quite perceptive, aren’t you, little insect?]