The Military Chef of a Ruined World

“Then go for it!”

[Abandoned by your comrades?]

I’m not sure how things ended up like this, but here I am, forced to buy time in a one-on-one battle with that monster.

Still…

As I reached for my waist pocket, a thought crossed my mind.

“Maybe it’s worth a shot?”

What I pulled out of the pocket was—well, what else could it be?

Of course, it was food.

But this time…

It was a dish I’d tasted before—just a jelly wrapped in a small plastic package.

[Foolish.]

The giant, seeing me pull out the food, sneered.

[The effects of a dish don’t stack. That’s common knowledge.]

“…You seem oddly well-informed.”

I had a feeling before, but…

That guy… seems to know quite a bit about [Chefs].

And this time was no different.

‘Ordinarily… the effects of food wouldn’t stack.’

Which, of course, makes perfect sense. If food effects could overlap, the strongest profession wouldn’t be warriors or mages. It would be food fighters, taking down dozens with ease.

But for me? That’s a thing of the past.

[Absolute Palate (Enhanced)]

A while ago, after healing Chang-su’s group through cooking, I received a [Random Skill Enhancement Ticket] as a reward for my achievements.

And the skill that got enhanced was [Absolute Palate].

‘Even though it’s enhanced, the base effect hasn’t changed much.’

The increase in food effect was just slightly higher.

But there was one more thing that was added to the effect.

It wasn’t called (Enhanced) for nothing.

It came down to a single line of text.

[User Exclusive]

[Effects of the food items can be stacked]

One simple line.

Yet…

‘This is insane.’

The effect was outrageously powerful.

***

[You have consumed the Intermediate Chef’s Blue Water Droplet Cake]

[The magic infused within spreads throughout your body]

[Would you like to apply the second effect of Absolute Palate (Enhanced)?]

[Please select the desired attribute!]

[You have acquired the ‘Environmental Camouflage’ trait]

[Currently Applied Dishes]

[Dasmurian Fishcake – Stat Boost, Water Affinity Increase]

[Trait: Environmental Adaptation – Water]

[Blue Water Droplet Cake]

[Trait: Environmental Camouflage]

Ssshh…

Even with an active dish effect in place, the new effect layered on top, stacking seamlessly.

[What in the world?!]

I could feel my body blending with the environment around me, granting me a stealth ability that even the eye-monster occupying the tank division failed to detect.

[…Where did you hide!?]

Even that powerful creature couldn’t spot me right under its nose, and its furious roar echoed as the figure of the pope missed my presence completely.

‘Like I’d tell you.’

Ignoring the monster’s rage, I slowly backed away, increasing the distance between us.

My plan was simple: hide first, then reveal myself once more when he is ready to disrupt their reforming defenses.

[An interesting ability, but it seems you don’t understand whose domain this is.]

Muttering to itself, the giant raised its palm high into the air.

Crash!

It slammed down with a deafening force, sending the water, which had already risen to my chest, surging in waves.

Although it wasn’t as violent as before, the rippling currents reached my body.

[There you are!]

The giant’s eyes locked onto my position with eerie precision.

‘Damn, what the hell is that a sonar?!’

It had pinpointed me through the waves, tracking my location like some kind of aquatic bat. It wasn’t just strong; this monster was disturbingly versatile.

The massive water spear in its hand grew even larger as it readied to hurl it.

“Seriously?!”

Just before the spear could be launched, I hurriedly stuffed another dish into my mouth.

[Intermediate Chef’s Light Foot Slypa Jerky]

[The magic in the dish spreads through your body.]

[All your stats will increase]

[For a limited time, you have acquired the trait: Slypa’s Light foot (Deterioration)]

[Due to the effect of Absolute Palate, the effectiveness of food has increased]

[The deteriorating side effect of the trait has disappeared]

[Trait – Slypa’s Light foot]

[Significant increase in agility. From walking speed to jumping height, you will approach the realm of magical beasts, surpassing human realms]

Slypa, the monster that had attacked us while escaping the 423rd battalion and descending the mountain.

Its combat abilities weren’t particularly formidable, but it was a monster with remarkable agility due to its unique leg strength.

I’ve already experienced the effect of this trait before.

Boom!

Bang!

[You insect… You’re annoyingly quick.]

Using my enhanced legs’ agility, I barely managed to dodge the attack with a swift movement.

But…

‘If I had been just a little slower, I would’ve been hit.’

It was a dangerously close call.

The gust from the spear grazing past my face was overwhelming.

Had it struck me properly, I’d already be a corpse.

I thought, breaking into a cold sweat.

‘If I hadn’t hunted so many monsters before… I’d already be dead.’

Thanks to the enhancement of [Absolute Palate],

But…

The real reason I’m still holding on is because of the variety of combat rations I had prepared in advance.

I encountered many types of monsters and fought them.

Because of that, I obtained meat imbued with their traits.

“I’ve been through hell and back, too, you know.”

[Annoying pest…!]

Boom!

Since Doomsday,

I’ve constantly fought for survival, clashing with various monsters.

And those battles are what’s saving my life now.

After that, I concealed myself through environmental camouflage, again.

Whenever I was detected and an attack came flying, I dodged it using Slypa’s agility.

I managed to evade quite a few attacks that way.

But then, all of a sudden…

‘Urgh…!’

While continuously dodging the creature’s attacks, my body began to feel the strain.

It wasn’t hard to figure out the cause.

‘The side effects of using multiple dishes.’

[Absolute Palate (Enhanced)]

It had become an absurdly powerful skill, allowing the effects of several dishes to overlap.

But with great power comes penalties.

[Warning!!!]

[Overly powerful buffs may place a strain on the user’s body!]

[Active dish effects – 3]

I recalled the soldiers who collapsed, unable to endure the intense buffs when I had prepared meals for them at full strength.

This penalty was similar to what they had experienced before.

‘Because I stacked three of them.’

The more dishes I stacked, the stronger the buffs became. But those very buffs were putting a strain on my body.

Thanks to them, I was able to hold off against that monster for quite some time, but now the burden on my body was starting to show.

It was only because my base stats were high that I managed to stay fine until now.

‘My body feels heavy.’

It was like I had caught a severe flu—my body wasn’t moving as I wanted.

‘I can still move, but…’

With movements like this, I probably won’t be able to dodge the next attack.

With that in mind, I pulled out my last combat ration.

[Intermediate Chef’s Steel Lizard Jerky]

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

[Physical defense greatly increases]

[Magic resistance greatly increased]

[Temporarily gained the trait Steel Scales]

And then—