The Military Chef of a Ruined World

[It’s hard to endure even the thought of killing the children… And… You all…! Are eating them?!]

The Pope, upon seeing the minced flesh of a young kin before him, cried out tears of blood.

[I will never forgive you—!!!]

Fury fueled his movements as he began to thrash around even more violently.

[You! You are the chef!]

And of all people, he directed his anger squarely at me.

“Ugh!”

In a panic, I hastily swallowed the combat ration that I was holding.

[The magic contained in the dish seeps into your body]

[For you alone, the effects of the dish have been increased]

The buffs I received were amplified greater than anyone else’s.

While this didn’t compare to a proper meal, I still managed to gain a significant boost in my stats, along with the [Environmental Adaptation – Water] trait.

A massive crash echoed through the air!

Thanks to the buffs, I was able to dodge the giant’s attacks, but only for a short while.

“Damn it!”

“Is it just me, or is that giant only targeting Sergeant Shin?”

The relentless assault was focused solely on me.

My fellow soldiers rushed in to help, but their efforts didn’t provide much support.

“Hang in there, Sergeant Shin! Gwang-il is on his way!”

“Wait a second…”

As I engaged in this deadly game of tag with the Pope, Sergeant Seo Su-hyeok grabbed Jeon Gwang-il by the arm and said, “This might actually work out in our favor.”

“What are you talking about? The Sergeant is in danger!”

“Have you forgotten? Our goal is to buy time.”

The giant was intent on dismantling our formation, clearly aiming to take us out one by one.

It was obvious that he would try to prevent us from regrouping.

Our mission was to hold him off and buy time until our formation could be restored.

“Right now, that giant seems entirely focused on Sergeant Shin and not on focusing on our formation.”

“How does that matter…?”

“It actually works to our advantage.”

With the sergeant being the only one on the giant’s radar, Seo Su-hyeok seemed to reach a calm judgment.

He nodded and yelled towards me, “Sergeant Shin! We’re going to regroup!”

“What!?”

“We’ll do our best to recover the formation quickly, so just hang in there! With someone as formidable as you, you should be able to manage!”

I was momentarily stunned, unable to process what was being shouted at me amid evading the giant’s strikes.

“Just keep running!”

“Hey, you crazy…”

The soldiers took off without hesitation, leaving me alone in front of the monster while they rushed to restore our formation.

It’s good that they’re executing the plan without hesitation, but…

The problem was,

“Are you saying that someone as strong as Corporal Shin can handle this?”

The very premise of that plan was flawed.

[Have you comrades abandoned you?]

The giant monster approached me, seemingly intent on tearing me apart with ease.

The thought of having to stall this creature alone was daunting.

‘Even with three of us, it was a struggle. How on earth can I manage this?’

The idea that I could hold my own as a capable fighter was absurd.

After all, I am primarily a support chef, with virtually no combat skills.

‘I was aware that my fellow soldiers had mistakenly begun to view me as a strong contributor… but with everything going on, I didn’t have the time to clear up that misunderstanding.’

Still, I never imagined it would come to this.

[Having turned the children of my own kind into minced meat… it seems only fitting that you should face the same fate.]

But as the monster nears, eager to turn me into ground meat as well, I cannot help but feel a surge of anger at how gleefully it approaches me, certain of its victory.

“Ugh, this is unbearable,” I mutter.

It seems I cannot just let this creature have its way.

“Fine, I guess I have no choice.”

“Control what you can, don’t let it control you”—a principle I’ve often shared with my juniors, and one I need to apply to myself now.

The only option left is to struggle and fight back until the very end.

‘Besides… it’s not like I’m completely out of options here.’

I slipped my hand into my pocket and scrolled through my system notifications.

[Random skill enhancement in progress]

[Selecting random skill…]

[Absolute Palate has been enhanced!]

[Absolute Palate -> Absolute Palate (Enhanced)]

While I didn’t have the chance to confirm the effects immediately after the skill upgraded, I did check them later.

And if the results align with my expectations…

‘Then I might just be able to hold my own against this thing.’