Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad

There is a famous saying that life is a comedy when viewed from afar, but a tragedy when seen up close.

Choi Hyun-seok was experiencing this wisdom firsthand.

“Arrrghhh!”

“Owwww!”

The wolf-like monster Urun and the kitchen staff were engaged in a chaotic battle.

Blood and flesh were flying everywhere.

Death was frighteningly close.

In the midst of this chaos, Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.

‘Focus!’

If he lost focus, the battle would be over in no time.

‘I need to land the finishing blow somehow.’

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous.

This was his first battle since coming to this other world, so it couldn’t be helped.

Even now, the kitchen knife gripped tightly in both hands was trembling slightly.

Although Choi Hyun-seok had been a veteran fighter who had competed in countless matches on Earth, that experience wasn’t much help here.

Fighting with rules in a ring versus fighting monsters to the death –

There was an unbridgeable gap between the two.

But he couldn’t just stand there like an idiot.

“Think about it! The blonde noble lady! Five rabbit-like kids! Retirement in a mansion!”

Choi Hyun-seok shouted with vigor.

Rachel, who was beside him, watched with disgust.

“You can say such nonsense even in this situation!?”

“What? Why are you here? What if you get caught!?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve concealed myself with magic.”

Rachel stepped on Hyun-seok’s head.

“Wait a moment. I’ll cast a simple buff spell on you, Hero.”

“I don’t know what that is, but do you really need to step on my head to do it?”

“Shh! Be quiet, you’re disturbing me.”

Rachel closed her eyes and started muttering something.

A faint light then enveloped Choi Hyun-seok’s body.

“Since I’m low on magical power, I can only increase your health and strength a little, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Rachel, you…”

Choi Hyun-seok looked at Rachel with a surprised expression.

Rachel rubbed her nose bridge shyly.

“Hmph…! I only did it because our fates are linked! No need to be too grateful…”

“If you had something this good, you should have done it earlier! Seriously!”

“What did you say!?”

“Never mind! How long does this last!?”

“About 3 minutes…”

“That’s ridiculously short!”

“Tch… After I helped you!”

Rachel complained, but it didn’t reach Hyun-seok.

He was already running off into the distance.

With such a short buff duration, he had no choice.

“Wahhhh! I’ll protect my retirement myself!”

It was truly an honest and straightforward battle cry.

‘The goal is just to land the finishing blow. For that, I need to strike a vital point and kill in one hit.’

At that moment, Hyun-seok spotted one Urun.

A limping one with injuries.

Obviously not in normal condition.

‘Got one!’

Choi Hyun-seok swung down what might have been a kitchen knife or an axe with all his might.

Slash!

Perhaps due to lack of strength and technique, cutting the neck in one go was too much.

But the blade did embed itself deep in the Urun’s neck.

“Kekek, kek!”

The still-breathing Urun glared at Hyun-seok while choking.

“Sorry!”

Hyun-seok kicked the Urun’s head with no trace of actual remorse.

Crack!

Unlike his clumsy knife work, his extremely well-trained kick was clean and powerful.

The Urun, already dying from the knife in its neck, couldn’t withstand the attack and collapsed.

“Is it dead…?”

Hyun-seok carefully examined the Urun.

At that moment.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

A cheerful alert sound rang out repeatedly.

‘Four levels at once!?’

To think he’d gain so many levels just from one finishing blow.

It was an unexpected achievement.

Hyun-seok’s heart began to race.

‘At this rate, I could surpass level 20 today.’

His level would increase by 20 in just one day.

Though he wasn’t sure how strong level 20 would make him, it would at least be better than now.

‘Finally, I can become stronger…!’

Truth be told, Hyun-seok had been feeling intimidated in many ways since coming to this other world.

Back on Earth, he had been called the strongest man in the world.

But in this world, he’d encountered too many monsters on a completely different level.

And of all things, his first encounter was with Reidrun, an executive of the Demon King’s Army – what more needed to be said?

After meeting Commander Hemis later, he had practically given up on the physical aspect.

After all, the opponent was a monster that hundreds or thousands like him couldn’t handle.

‘But not anymore.’

The situation had changed.

Now that he could level up, he too would become stronger.

‘What if I become so strong that I can even defeat the Commander?’

He was getting way ahead of himself.

‘Ah, this isn’t the time. I need to hunt the next one quickly.’

He quickly surveyed his surroundings.

He was looking for another weakened Urun.

At that moment, he spotted a kitchen soldier in his view.

“Hehehe. Arrogant little mutt.”

The kitchen soldier was swinging his knife to finish off an Urun.

Seeing this, Hyun-seok started running like mad.

“Danger!!!”

“W-what!?”

“I said you’re in danger!”

Hyun-seok performed a body tackle with all his might.

“Ugh!”

The suddenly ambushed kitchen soldier went flying.

“Phew! Thank goodness.”

Hyun-seok smiled brightly.

The Urun’s eyes widened at the sudden turn of events.

“Keak…?”

“Farewell.”

Hyun-seok brought down his knife without hesitation.

***

The battle ended quickly.

Although a fairly large pack of Urun had attacked, the kitchen soldiers exterminated them without much trouble.

‘They’re better than I thought.’

Hyun-seok reassessed the kitchen soldiers.

At first, he thought they were just stupid suicide troops, but they seemed quite capable.

“Sir Kulkan. Are we heading back now?”

Hyun-seok asked Kulkan.

“No. We can’t go back yet.”

“Do we need to hunt more?”

“What are you talking about? The hunt is over.”

“Huh? Then why…?”

In response to Hyun-seok’s question, Kulkan grinned.

“Why do you think we do this dangerous kitchen soldier work?”

Kulkan grinned while saying something unclear.

“I’m not sure.”

“Look. It’s about to begin.”

Soon after, Hyun-seok could understand what Kulkan meant.

“Hey! Bring more meat over here!”

“Chomp chomp! Munch munch!”

A party had broken out.

They were feasting on the Boilder and Urun they had hunted today.

“Is it okay to eat the ingredients like this?”

The reason kitchen soldiers conducted such dangerous hunts was separate.

It was for the special meals distributed to the executives at the 3rd Corps headquarters.

“Freshness is most important for monster meat. Once time passes and the magical energy escapes, it loses its taste.”

The purpose of this hunt was to supply fresh meat to the somewhat gourmet executives.

He couldn’t help but worry seeing them devour such important ingredients.

“This is a kitchen soldier’s privilege.”

“Privilege…?”

“Yes! The reason everyone chooses such a dangerous position is all for this moment. Munch munch!”

Kulkan said while tearing into the meat.

“When would regular soldiers ever taste such fresh meat? It’s impossible unless you’re a kitchen soldier.”

“So you’re saying people become kitchen soldiers to eat delicious meat?”

“That’s right! Fresh meat is the reason for living!”

Hyun-seok couldn’t help but close his eyes.

‘I knew they were idiots, but to this extent…’

Kitchen soldiers fight monsters every day.

Dozens die each day.

But there’s no problem.

Because there were too many willing volunteers.

There were plenty of idiots in the Demon King’s Army willing to risk their lives just to eat fresh meat.

“Eat up, Hyun-seok. You too fought risking your life as a warrior. You’ve earned the right to eat this meat.”

“Thank you.”

Hyun-seok accepted the Boilder meat.

‘Is this really that delicious?’

What could be so special about mere meat that they’d risk their lives for it?

Hyun-seok stared at the meat before taking a bite.

“Munch munch…”

The meat he tasted after a long time was certainly delicious.

Even without any seasoning, it had a strong meaty aroma and rich flavor.

But it was somewhat lacking.

‘Too bland and tough.’

Perhaps because it was grilled without even salt.

As he ate, his jaw started hurting, and the bland meat quickly became tiresome.

Hyun-seok put down the meat and looked at the other kitchen soldiers.

“Chomp chomp chomp!”

“This is indeed delicious! Meat is truly life’s truth!”

Everyone was busy eating frantically.

“Hmmmm…”

While watching them, Hyun-seok stroked his chin.

‘Should I try…?’

Before coming here, Hyun-seok had noticed the hero shop and thought of one plan.

That was to cook.

If he showed outstanding cooking skills, he might win the favor of other kitchen soldiers and executives.

Of course, Hyun-seok’s cooking skills weren’t particularly outstanding.

Just the level of occasionally cooking as a hobby while living alone.

But in the hero shop, there were things that could supplement his lacking cooking skills.

[Hero Shop Lv.1]

– Abilities

– Items

The two categories that existed in the shop.

Among them, both abilities and items had what he needed.

-Cooking(F): Become better at cooking.

-MSG-rich Flavored Salt!

Cooking ability and flavored salt item.

A combination that could create sufficient synergy.

‘But there was a problem.’

Though it seemed like a decent plan, there was an issue.

That was the Demon King’s Army’s taste preferences.

Hyun-seok didn’t know how picky the Demon King’s Army’s palate might be.

What if the kitchen soldiers and executives were unexpectedly gourmet?

If he couldn’t satisfy them, he’d just waste his hero points.

‘Now’s a good time to try.’

Hyun-seok was confident.

The kitchen soldiers were eating tough, unseasoned meat as if it was better than Michelin restaurant steak.

‘Looking at how they eat, just sprinkling flavored salt would drive them crazy.’

Currently, he had 70 hero points.

He had spent 30 on Bobo’s toy bone last time.

From here, he needed 50 points to buy the cooking ability and 20 points for the flavored salt.

After buying both, he’d have exactly 0 points.

‘It’s fine. I’ll get 200 points once I become friends with Bobo anyway.’

The reward for the hero quest to raise Bobo’s favorability was 200.

Since achieving that goal wasn’t far off, he thought it wouldn’t be bad to use the points now.

‘Here goes…’

Hyun-seok gulped and pressed the purchase button.

A faint light enveloped his body, and a small bottle dropped in front of him.

‘This is all…?’

The flavored salt in the bottle was barely 200g, a small amount.

‘Can’t help it. I’ll try with this for now.’

Hyun-seok quietly got some Boilder meat.

“Cook well…”

He carefully sprinkled the flavored salt and grilled it.

Sizzle sizzle…!

Perhaps due to the strong heat, the meat started cooking quickly.

‘Just slightly char the outside. Carefully, so it doesn’t get tough by cooking through…’

Perhaps thanks to the cooking ability.

The meat cooked deliciously just as Hyun-seok intended.

After some time passed.

“It’s done!”

Finally, the meat was fully cooked.

Hyun-seok carefully took a piece and ate it.

“Munch munch…”

Suddenly, while eating, Hyun-seok stood up.

Then he approached Kulkan.

“Sir Kulkan.”

“What is it?”

“Please try this meat.”

Hyun-seok offered the Boilder meat to Kulkan.

Kulkan tilted his head.

“I was starting to feel full…”

“This is meat I grilled with all my heart. If the great Sir Kulkan would eat this meat, I could die without regrets.”

Hyun-seok said with wide eyes while offering the meat.

“Well… If you put it that way…”

Kulkan accepted the meat with bewilderment.

“Let me taste it then.”

Kulkan took a bite of the meat.

“Chew, chew…”

Kulkan chewed the meat silently.

“Munch munch… Chew…”

Kulkan continued chewing like that.

Gulp!

Finally, the meat went down his throat and…

Kulkan silently stared at Hyun-seok.

“…”

His eyes were wide open with a completely stiff expression.

Though he looked like he might be angry, Hyun-seok knew.

Kulkan was currently overwhelmed with joy.

“How does it taste?”

At Hyun-seok’s question, Kulkan’s face suddenly began to contort.

“Kuhk…!”

“Sir Kulkan?”

At that moment.

A tear streamed down from Kulkan’s eye.

“Sniff… Hic…!”

Once one tear fell, like a broken dam, tears began pouring out like a waterfall.

Then Kulkan started crying like a child.

“Waaaaaah! It’s so deliciooouuus!”

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