NOVEL WEB Chapter 124.1
“I left the person you brought in the care of the medics. But I can’t understand why the guy who was supposed to face a monster ended up bringing back a person?”
“This is a bit complicated. I’ll explain later.”
“…Huh.”
After wrapping up the work in the underground sewer, I returned to our unit’s temporary base. Min-jae hyung seemed intrigued and was clearly anxious about what had transpired.
‘There’s no way I’m going to tell him that the Gourmet Glutton turned back into a human.
There was a lot to explain.
“A major earthquake hit the city a few hours ago.”
“Yeah?”
Min-jae hyung crossed his arms, listening intently.
“The trembling was felt not just by our members, but also by other awakened individuals in the city. Most seemed to brush it off as just a natural disaster, but some speculated about monsters rampaging underground… right when you decided to head down there.”“Ah.”
“I’m saying this just in case, but… this part seems to fit.”
“It’s probably about me.”
“…I figured.”
Min-jae hyung sighed, a hint of concern flashing across his face. “So, it was a battle strong enough for the ground to shake? Just how powerful was that creature?”
It certainly was immensely powerful—almost on par with the dungeon boss [The Pope].
“I probably should have taken some soldiers with me…”
“But bringing them along would have meant not using the vampires.”
Min-jae hyung and other senior officers were aware of the forces hidden within my shadow. However, that knowledge was limited to just a few.
‘There are still plenty of unit members who harbor strong disdain towards monsters.’
As for the engineers who had been living with a monster like Mac, their resistance was somewhat milder. The majority, however, immediately saw any monster as an enemy, especially one that we had directly hunted down—and one that had even killed some of our comrades in the process.
“You know that vampires become more powerful in places without sunlight. Those battles led to significant losses on both sides.”
“Leaving the soldiers behind seems to have been the right choice. So, did you get what you wanted?”
“Fortunately.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Seeing Min-jae hyung nodding in approval, I felt a pang of guilt.
“I’m sorry.”
“Excuse me?”
“This mission was practically just me acting out of curiosity.”
The underground exploration was undertaken to clarify my understanding of my profession. Ultimately, it was a unilateral decision on my part.
As the leader of our guild, diving headlong into danger for my own curiosity felt irresponsible.
I wondered if Min-jae hyung, known for his strictness, might be uncomfortable with this.
“What are you talking about?”
“Yeah?”
“If the problem was that the other members couldn’t assist you, then that’s one thing. Your actions were perfectly fine.”
To my surprise, he wasn’t upset at all.
“Not only you, but your abilities are critical to our unit’s strength.”
“Um…”
“You achieved a major breakthrough in understanding your profession. That’s significant. The only thing I’m disappointed about is that the rest of the team couldn’t assist you during the process.”
Min-jae hyung’s unexpectedly positive attitude was a bit shocking.
Now that I thought about it, he had been one of the earliest supporters of my potential since the beginning of our unit.
‘Could it be that he has a keener sense than I gave him credit for?’
While I had recognized the value of being a chef through this experience, before that, I had only ever thought of being a chef as just that—a mere cook.
It was Min-jae hyung who had elected me as the leader back then, having seen potential in my role way before I did.
So maybe he’s sharper than I had thought.
In any case, I was quite satisfied with the events of my underground excursion.
‘It wasn’t just about clearing up my questions, after all.’
[Quest goal exceeded]
[Exceeding rewards will be granted]
[Gate Summoning Ticket]
[Achievement: Miracle Chef]
[Exclusive rewards for those who excel]
[Premium Ingredients: Core of the Millennium Glacier]
[Premium Ingredients: World Stone Droplet]
“Cough… cough cough!”
The rewards for completing the quest and achievements were incredible. I had previously cleared this quest too, recalling that the reward was a strengthening ticket back then.
“The quest asked me to slay, but I ended up converting him to a human instead, and they give me these extended rewards.”
I had expected to fail the quest, but things went surprisingly well.
The outcomes exceeded the conditions set forth in the quest, leading to these new rewards.
[Gate Summoning Ticket]
[When you input specific keywords, a gate suitable for those keywords will be summoned.]
“Um….”
A gate.
A gate.
‘What is that?’
I could understand a dungeon, but I had never come across the term “gate” before. I was at a loss as to its intended use.
Honestly, I felt quite clueless.
‘Nonetheless, this is a reward I earned for exceeding expectations. It can’t be bad.’
The next reward was a bit more straightforward, but certainly no less impressive.
It consisted of two [Premium Ingredients].
“Usually, other achievements would let me just one.”
When I managed to overpower Lieutenant Kim and Ariella, I was rewarded with a single premium ingredient each time.
But this time, I got two.
“Does this achievement really indicate something momentous?”
Indeed, I had managed to revert a creature that had transformed into a monster back to a human.
This feat overturned what the system had previously deemed impossible.
Encouraging someone to succumb to my cooking is nowhere near as monumental as turning a being from monster back to human.
And when it came to premium ingredients, I knew precisely how I would use them.
[Ingredient Identification (Enhancement)]
[Ability enhancement potion (Strength):]
[Dragon’s Heart – 10%]
[Forgotten Saint’s Sacred Blood – 10%]
[Core of the Millennium Glacier – 10%]
[ World Stone Droplet – 10%]
[Unknown Ingredient – ??%]
“Yay. Hehe.”
Suppressing bursts of laughter was a challenge.
I had gathered 40% of the ingredients for the ability enhancement potion.