The Military Chef of a Ruined World

“Huh, what’s this taste?”

“Delicious…!”

Said the ‘The Revengers’.

As I watched them eat, I nodded.

‘Of course. It’s a dish made by me’

To be honest, I felt a bit hurt when they marveled at me being a spatial magician or whatever.

‘But they hadn’t even tasted my cooking yet.’

It was a bit frustrating as a chef to see them admiring other aspects before even seeing the real thing.

But oh well.

Perhaps their revenge-driven feelings had overshadowed their other emotions.

Those taciturn, inhuman-looking people.

Except for when they were slaying monsters for their revenge, their expressions seemed unlikely to brighten.

Gulp gulp.

Slurp…

Smack smack.

But right now, a strange vitality had returned to their hurriedly chewing faces.

“Smack smack. No matter how long it’s been since they’ve had a proper meal, still…”

“Damn, this is so delicious!”

People unable to conceal their excitement, stuffed the food into their mouths.

I was almost worried they might choke.

‘Hearing them say it’s delicious is always a pleasure.’

Witnessing that scene, I found it hard to suppress a fatherly smile.

And shortly after, I realized that was not the end of it.

“Phew! That was great!”

The man with an unusually large mouth had finished his meal in an incredible speed.

The moment he declared he had finished his dish, a message appeared before my eyes.

[Your cooking has cured the abnormal condition]

[You have gained experience points]

‘Huh?’

At the same time, I felt a surge of energy within me, something called the ‘experience points’.

…What condition did it cure?

[Abnormal Condition – Malnutrition]

[It is a nutritional imbalance in the body. Causing physical abilities to deteriorate]

[Magic Energy is continuously being consumed to maintain functional physical abilities]

[Stats decreased]

‘Ah… I think I saw that message when I used [Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)] on them.’

The message also appeared to me who provided the meal.

There was no way they wouldn’t have noticed the removal of their debuff.

“H-hey, wait a moment.”

The man who finished his meal spoke up as he stood up.

“Hey, wait a moment.”

“Gulp gulp… What, are we disturbing your meal?”

“Now that we’ve finished the food, the debuff is gone.”

“Huh?”

“No, that’s not all. Our abilities have increased tremendously… Is this some kind of buff skill? Even if it’s temporary, our stats have risen this much?”

“What are you talking about?”

Being in a dungeon without sunlight, vegetable cultivation was impossible.

The nutritional imbalance was an inevitable consequence.

And imbalance was bound to degrade the body.

‘I’ve had to be mindful of that aspect as well.’

I went from just cooking the menu assigned by the catering corps to creating meals that were considered nutritional, which was quite a headache.

But for them, with limited ingredients, they never even had the chance to ponder over it.

‘At least the power of the awakened had been preventing that collapse until now.’

Consuming magic energy continuously to prevent bodily deterioration had been acting as a debuff.

And now,

[Healthy Set Meal Prepared with Sincerity of an Intermediate Chef]

With my cooking replenishing their nutrition, that debuff had been cured.

‘In other words, these people have been surviving while burdened by that debuff and fighting monsters.’

That debuff was lifted.

The combat ability of this party had increased dramatically.

‘Since I was making it anyway, I just considered the nutrition as well.’

I never expected it to work this way.

Moreover, the amount of experience I gained from curing one person’s abnormal condition was similar to the amount I would gain from preparing a week’s worth of meals for the entire squad.

The influx of energy was almost overwhelming.

“…Incredible.”

Chang-su, who had finished his meal, approached me and spoke.

“So, the debuff is gone, because we ate proper food. But the ability stats have also increased just from just eating? Is this some kind of enchantment or magic?”

“It’s just cooking.”

That’s when…

In the corner, a man was seen getting up with a dish in his hand.

“If it’s not magic, then what-”

“Just a moment.”

The curious Chang-su had his eyes wide opened,

I went past him to speak to the person who had risen.

“Where are you going?”

“Ah, my apologies…”

Chang-su, who had spotted the man, said,

“Bum-seok? What’s the matter?”

“Well, it’s really nothing much.”

The man, seeming embarrassed that he caught attention,

answered while scratching the back of his head.

“This is the first time I’ve tasted such delicious food, so I wanted to let my father have a little taste as well…”

“Father?”

“…The person lying in that room is my father.”

I see.

I’m glad I stopped him when he was about to leave with the dish.

“That food was made for you to eat, so please finish it.”

“But still…”

“I’m planning to make a separate meal for those people.”

“Huh?”

Cooking well is not the only thing that matters in cooking.

One must also consider the situation of the guests being served.

“That meal was made for you all who are relatively healthy. Those people are patients, after all.”

“Ah, I see.”

“So, I need to make a patient’s meal.”

Hearing that, the man’s eyes widened.

“Were you planning to make a meal specifically for them as well?”

“Of course. It’s better not to cook than to let some feed their stomachs while letting some others starve to death.”

Upon hearing that, the man named Bum-seok began looking at me with a rather complicated expression.

‘…Why is he acting like this?’

Though I don’t fully understand, after confirming that he had quietly stepped back,

I approached Chang-su and spoke.

“So, I’d like some help with the patient’s meal.”

“Help? As I said before, just ask for anything.”

“About the bodies of the fishmen we killed earlier…”

“And what about that…?”

I had handled the ingredients for the relatively healthy people’s meal using what I had brought, but for the patient’s meal, it would be better to use fresh ingredients if possible.

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TL Note: Good day, readers.

Now that was quite a long vacation that I had taken due to health problems.

Now that I’m back let’s make some noise and do some mass releases.