novelraw Chapter 80 : Change (1)
Chapter 80 : Change (1)
Change (1)
The battlefield after battle was brutal.
He'd seen countless impet corpses during the minor Demon Realm raid,
but what he saw now didn't compare.
'Impet are quadrupeds and small, but these corpses are mostly the size of adult men.'
Yet the faces of the Duchy soldiers cleaning up the field were radiant with joy.
They seemed intoxicated with their overwhelming victory.
"Oh, it's the battalion commander!"
As the battalion commander and I appeared, the soldiers stopped working and saluted.
The battalion commander waved them back to work, and they resumed.
But everyone's gaze—
'Why do I feel like they're each sneaking an extra look at me?'
Not one to enjoy male attention, it made me uncomfortable.
"By the steel, I swear."
Three company commanders, stained in blood, appeared.
Satisfaction was clear on their faces rather than exhaustion.
"Loyalty shines upon you. The reports are done. I've already heard everything."
At the battalion commander's banter, Lantz opened his mouth to speak but closed it.
"Well done. That was a sudden battle. Clean up and prepare quickly."
"Yes, understood, battalion commander. And..."
Lantz trailed off, glancing between the battalion commander and me.
What's up with this guy too.
"I suppose you have business with Ian. Go ahead on your own. Haha."
The battalion commander gave me a gentle push on the back and walked off somewhere with the special operations members.
Hank immediately chased after the old man.
Truly impressive! Incredible!
"Outsi—no... Cook Ian."
Lantz's greasy voice made my hairs stand on end.
This blonde guy was giving me an even stickier look with his eyes than with his voice.
'Where have I seen that look before?'
Ah, I recalled it.
That look Ralph gave after cutting Keil's finger during the sparring tournament and looking at me.
"Thank you."
Finally, Lantz lowered his head and presented his crown to me.
"??"
It was so sudden,
then the blonde lifted his head and continued.
"It's my first time seeing such an overwhelming victory from such a disadvantaged start to a battle. It's all thanks to you."
"Oh, not at all, haha. We just did as the battalion commander directed, after all."
As I answered awkwardly, Lantz shook his head.
"The battalion commander's orders were important, but without the ability and cooking you possess, Ian, none of this would have happened. Through today's fight, I realized how much I'd grown stronger."
Before I knew it, other platoon leaders and soldiers were gathering around Lantz and Ralph.
"Not just me, but I think everyone feels the same way."
They were all looking and smiling at me, their gazes sticky with approval.
Good kid. Lucky charm.
That's the sort of sweet gaze they were giving.
"Thank you, Ian!"
Following Lantz's shout, another platoon leader called out,
"Yeah! Never killed this many beast bastards in a single battle before!"
"Do you know how many you saved today, thanks to you?!"
Everyone started hurling their own lines.
"Not just the officers—cook for us too, will you?"
"If this keeps up, I'll have to hurry up and make platoon leader myself!"
"Soldiers who can't even use mana talking big, huh!"
"Wahaha!"
I can't see my own face but
I was both smiling and bewildered, a strange feeling making my lips twitch.
'Honestly, I only cooked for my own benefit.'
Running a shop, selling my cooking to earn point and grow stronger,
it was all just for me.
But now, being doted upon like this, it felt oddly touching.
"What, you can't enjoy this, man?!"
Ralph, who had been grinning, pulled me up and hoisted me on his shoulders.
"Wha?!"
Wait, this big-jaw uncle?!
Just because he got stronger, he acts like this?
It was incredibly embarrassing.
"Honor to Cook Ian!"
At Ralph's lead, everyone shouted in unison.
"Honor!"
"May the gods bless Ian!"
"Blessings of the gods!"
"A night between Ian and the Goddess!"
"A night with the Goddess!"
"Ian's...."
"...!"
.
.
As my field of vision rose, I could see the soldiers' faces.
They all looked elated,
as if overjoyed simply to be alive.
... Maybe this was being arrogant, but I thought, just for a moment,
'Maybe my cooking saved these people.'
My cooking, up to now, was only for 'taste'.
Just a way to make the nutrients we'd eat anyway tastier and more enjoyable.
But now that I had a buff skill, and had just gone through a battle with that power,
my feelings had changed.
My cooking was not just for 'flavor' anymore.
'I protected their 'lives' with my cooking.'
They grew stronger from my food.
So they survived.
Because of my cooking, they could live today and see tomorrow.
That's why they showed me thanks and respect.
They couldn't help but be happy.
'Alright. I can't just zone out like this.'
I put on my biggest, broadest smile.
I raised both fists high and shouted.
"For Granfen!"
"For Granfen!"
"For Happiness Gukbap!"
"For Happiness Gukbap!"
"Waaah!!"
As I reveled in victory, basking in our triumph for some time—
"Oh, right. I almost forgot."
At the battalion commander's voice, everyone fell silent and looked at one place.
Was he about to say to stop fooling around and get back to work?
"Cook Ian...."
The battalion commander spoke, not even looking our way from the spirit stone quarry entrance.
"I hereby appoint you as the cook platoon leader."
The old man vanished into the quarry just like that.
Wait, did he just call me a platoon leader?
"Yeahhh!!"
"Skipping squad leader straight to platoon leader!"
"Congratulations, platoon Leader Ian!"
So this is what a double promotion feels like!
Absolutely exhilarating!
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Cheers and congratulations poured forth.
My brain was getting saturated with dopamine from the sense of achievement.
'Huh?'
I spotted a man standing alone from the group.
He wasn't smiling or frowning,
nor was his face expressionless as he looked at me.
'Jeros.'
He soon turned around and headed toward the spirit stone quarry.
What was with that ambiguous expression?
But, come to think of it,
'Isn't Jeros actually the MVP of this victory?'
No matter how much the officers had been upgraded by my food,
if we'd had to assault the quarry directly, things would have been very different.
There would have been far more casualties.
'Hmm. Jeros definitely carried more than I did.'
Still, the fact that everyone credited me showed just how poorly Jeros was regarded for his character and reputation.
Maybe I ought to look out for that poor, narrow-eyed guy.
But...
'Where did Schutmann go now?'
Where had Schutmann, who had been guarding the quarry entrance with Jeros, gone?
I looked around to find him, but he was nowhere in sight.
Instead, my eyes were drawn to the scene near the spirit stone quarry.
Of the three mountains joined together, one peak had been sheared off level with the ground.
The exact same scene I saw when I went to the minor Demon Realm.
'So Granfen's spirit stone quarry really is where that labyrinth forms.'
Who knows how many lives have been lost in this region,
but from just what I know, it nears four digits.
'The conditions might already be met.'
Who knows when that labyrinth will appear,
but now, I absolutely have to claim it for myself.
'So I need to get stronger as soon as possible.'
There wasn't much time left.
Just as the dopamine left my body with that thought,
"This guy's zoning out again! Get him!"
Ralph's voice snapped me back to reality.
"Wh-what are you guys doing—Aaargh!!"
Getting tossed in the air by mana users felt as terrifying as a drop ride.
"Let me dowwwnnn!!"
In the Belkhazium community, my nickname was SoupChung,
but people called me "Level 8 Master".
They said I was an insane veteran who appeared only occasionally to drop golden tips and vanished.
Some disparaged me, calling me a weirdo who only released guides bit by bit,
but I had my reasons.
'Belkhazium was a game best enjoyed for its sense of adventure.'
No matter how deeply you dug, there was always more content to uncover.
The thrill of discovering and investigating this content myself was second to none.
I wanted gamers to experience that joy firsthand.
Still, there were three main situations when even I would step forward:
First, when the community post frequency was extremely low,
I would add fuel to the fire for the sake of activity.
Second, when named players I thought were decent suffered,
such as the elf-lover "GoodBoy".
Third, when the chaos-monger "GameSucksGroan" stirred up trouble.
And when I posted this particular message, it was the first case.
– [Author: SoupChung]
– [Title: Northern Heroni Region 'Stack Labyrinth' Information]
I included screenshots of where the 'Stack Labyrinth' spawned,
and explained why I defined it as a 'Stack Labyrinth.'
– [It's known as a very easy labyrinth, but that's not the real story. The more NPCs die in this labyrinth, the more bonus stages appear and the better the rewards. Of course, you get far better artifacts as well.]
As expected, this juicy info revived the community.
Endless battles and rewards are an irresistible gimmick to RPG users.
The insane difficulty was just a bonus.
Of course, since I knew the Stack Labyrinth's final reward, I also felt a bit guilty.
'The final reward will be underwhelming for the trouble they've gone through.'
Just as I was about to return to observing the Belkhazium community,
one post caught my eye.
– [Author: ElfLoverGoodBoy]
– [Title: Stack Labyrinth Opened at Tier 2]
For some reason, there was a screenshot showing the Stack Labyrinth starting already at stage two.
Naturally, GameSucksGroan commented, accusing him of lying and stirring the pot.
Even I couldn't tell if it was true or fabricated back then, so I kept quiet.
– [Author: ㅇㅇ]
– [Title: Mine Opened at Stack Labyrinth Stage 2 Too]
Another user appeared, saying their labyrinth had also opened with stacks already applied.
They'd thought it was a bug, but seeing GoodBoy's post, it didn't seem that way.
After some research, the users figured out a new condition for the Stack Labyrinth.
It wasn't just the NPCs who died in the labyrinth—
'All the NPCs who'd died in the area before the labyrinth even spawned were being counted!'
With that, the rumor that 'Level 8 Master' was actually a developer was finally laid to rest.
Turns out, level 8 Master was just another user who sometimes didn't know everything either.
I digress, but by now, you've probably noticed:
This very 'Stack Labyrinth' was the labyrinth that would appear at Granfen's spirit stone quarry.