Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 14

There’s a famous saying that life is a comedy in the long run, but a tragedy up close. Choi Hyun-seok was experiencing that saying firsthand.

“Kkeuaaaaa!”

“Awoo!”

The wolf-like monster, Urun, and the cooks were mixed together in a chaotic battle.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

Death was so close.

In that chaos, Choi Hyun-seok widened his eyes.

‘Get a hold of yourself!’ he thought. ‘You don’t know when another opportunity like this will come. If you space out, the battle will be over in no time. I have to get the last hit somehow.’

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous. It was his first battle since coming to this world, so it couldn’t be helped. Even now, the kitchen knife he held tightly in both hands trembled slightly. Choi Hyun-seok was a veteran fighter who had fought countless matches on Earth, but that experience didn’t help much. Fighting with rules in a ring versus fighting with monsters for your life… there was an unbridgeable gap between the two.

But he couldn’t just stand there dumbfounded.

“Think! Blonde noble lady! Five rabbit-like children! Retirement in a mansion!” Choi Hyun-seok shouted, trying to pump himself up.

Rachel, who was next to him, looked at him with disgust. “Even in this situation, you’re spouting nonsense like that!?”

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

“Don’t worry. I’ve concealed my appearance with magic.” Rachel stepped closer, heedless of the danger.

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

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

“Shh! Be quiet, you’re distracting me.” Rachel closed her eyes and began to mutter something. Then, a faint light settled on Choi Hyun-seok’s body.

“I don’t have enough magic power right now, so all I can do is slightly increase your stamina and strength, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Rachel, you…” Choi Hyun-seok looked at Rachel with a bewildered expression.

Rachel rubbed the tip of her nose with a shy expression. “Hmph…! I only did it because I’m in this with you, Hero! You don’t have to be so grateful…”

“If you had something this good, you should have done it sooner! You punk!”

“What did you say!?”

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

“About 3 minutes…”

“That’s awfully short!”

“Tsk… I helped you, and this is what I get!” Rachel complained, but it didn’t reach Choi Hyun-seok.

That’s because he was already running far away. The buff time was terribly short, so he couldn’t help it.

“Uwaaa! I’ll protect my retirement!” It was a truly honest and straightforward shout.

‘The only goal is to get the last hit. To do that, I have to hit the vital point and kill it in one shot.’ At that moment, one of the Urun came into Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes – a guy who was injured and limping.

It was obvious that he wasn’t in a normal state.

‘First, one down!’

Choi Hyun-seok swung down what he didn’t know whether it was a kitchen knife or an axe with all his might.

Sgeok!

Perhaps because of his lack of strength and skill, it was impossible to cut off his neck in one go. But the kitchen knife was stuck deep enough in Urun’s neck.

“Keheng, kek!” The still-alive Urun coughed and glared at Choi Hyun-seok.

“Sorry!” Choi Hyun-seok kicked Urun’s head without any sign of apology.

Kwajik!

Unlike his clumsy knife skills, his extremely trained kick was very clean and powerful. The Urun, who was already dying with a knife stuck in his neck, couldn’t withstand the attack and fell down.

“Is he dead…?” Choi Hyun-seok carefully examined Urun.

At that moment.

[Level Up!]

A cheerful alarm sounded in succession.

‘To level up 4 levels at once!?’ He didn’t expect to level up so much just by getting one last hit. It was an unexpected achievement.

Choi Hyun-seok’s heart began to beat rapidly.

‘At this rate, I can get past level 20 today.’ To level up as much as 20 levels in one day… He didn’t know how strong he would become at level 20, but at least he would be better than he is now.

‘Finally, I can get stronger too…!’ In fact, Choi Hyun-seok had been feeling intimidated in many ways since coming to this world. On Earth, Choi Hyun-seok was called the strongest man in the world. But after coming to this world, he encountered too many monsters of a different dimension. To make matters worse, the first thing he encountered was the Demon King’s Army executive squad leader, Raidrun. After meeting the corps commander Hemis, he virtually gave up on his martial abilities. The opponent was a monster that Choi Hyun-seok couldn’t handle even if hundreds or thousands of him rushed in.

‘But it’s not like that anymore.’

The situation has changed. Now that he can level up, he will also become stronger.

‘What if I get too strong and beat the corps commander?’ He was already counting his chickens before they hatched [making plans based on assumptions that may not come true].

‘Oh, this is not the time for this. I need to hunt the next guy quickly.’ He quickly looked around. It was to find another Urun that was staggering around.

At that moment, a cook was caught in his sight.

“Keuheuheuh. You arrogant mutt.”

The cook was swinging a kitchen knife to cut off Urun’s breath.

Choi Hyun-seok saw that and started running like crazy.

“It’s dangerous!!!”

“Wh, what!?”

“You’re in danger!” Choi Hyun-seok used all his strength to perform a body check [a move in sports where one player uses their body to impede another].

“Kueok!” The cook, who was ambushed unexpectedly, flew away.

“Hoo! That’s a relief.” Choi Hyun-seok smiled brightly.

The Urun opened his eyes wide at the sudden situation.

“Keeek…?”

“Farewell.” Choi Hyun-seok swung down the kitchen knife without hesitation.

***

The battle ended quickly. A fairly large group of Urun rushed in, but the cooks annihilated them without much trouble.

‘They’re better than I thought.’ Choi Hyun-seok looked at the cooks again. When he first saw them, he thought they were just stupid suicide bombers, but they seemed to be quite capable.

“Coolkhan, are we going back now?” Choi Hyun-seok asked Coolkhan.

“No. We can’t go back yet.”

“Do we still have to hunt more?”

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

“Yes? Then why…?” At Choi Hyun-seok’s question, Coolkhan smiled.

“Why do you think we do the dangerous job of being cooks?”

Coolkhan smiled as he said something incomprehensible.

“I don’t know.”

“Look. It’s starting now.” Soon after, Choi Hyun-seok was able to understand the meaning of what Coolkhan had said.

“Hey! Bring some more meat!”

“Woogeok woogeok! Cheop cheop!”

A party was held. It was a feast with the Boilder and Urun they hunted today.

“Is it okay to eat the ingredients like this?” There is a reason why cooks do such dangerous hunting – it was because of the special meals distributed to the executives in the 3rd Corps headquarters.

“Monster meat is all about freshness. If time passes and the magic power escapes, it becomes tasteless.”

Supplying fresh meat to the executives, who are gourmets [people with refined tastes in food and drink], is the purpose of this hunt. He couldn’t help but worry because they were eating the important ingredients.

“This is the privilege of the cooks.”

“Privilege…?”

“That’s right! The reason why we choose such a dangerous position as a cook is all for this moment. Cheop cheop!”

Coolkhan said, tearing the meat.

“When would an ordinary soldier ever taste such fresh meat? It’s impossible unless you’re a cook.”

“So, you’re saying you become a cook to eat delicious meat?”

“That’s it! Fresh meat is the reason for life!”

Choi Hyun-seok had to close his eyes.

‘I knew they were a group of idiots, but I didn’t know it would be this bad.’ The cooks fight monsters every day. Hundreds of them die every day. But it’s okay because there were so many guys who wanted to do it. There were so many idiots in the Demon King’s army who risked their lives to eat fresh meat that they could be kicked around.

“Eat up, Choi Hyun-seok. You are also a warrior who fought risking your life. You deserve to eat this meat.”

“Thank you.” Choi Hyun-seok took the Boilder meat.

‘Is it that delicious?’ What’s so great about meat that they risk their lives for it?

Choi Hyun-seok stared at the meat and bit off a piece.

“Oomul oomul…”

The meat he tasted after a long time was definitely delicious. Even though he didn’t season it at all, a strong meaty aroma and a rich flavor flowed out.

But it’s a little disappointing.

‘It’s too bland and chewy.’ Perhaps it was because it was grilled over a fire without any salt. As he ate, his jaw hurt, and the bland meat quickly became boring.

Choi Hyun-seok put down the meat and looked at the other cooks.

“Woogeok woogeok woogeok!”

“It’s so delicious! Meat is the truth of life!”

Everyone was busy eating like crazy.

“Heueeum…” Choi Hyun-seok stroked his chin as he watched them.

‘Should I try it…?’ Before coming here, Choi Hyun-seok had been paying attention to the Hero Shop and had been thinking about one plan. That was to cook. If he showed off his excellent cooking skills, he might be able to win the favor of other cooks and executives.

Of course, Choi Hyun-seok’s cooking skills are not that great. He only cooks as a hobby while living alone. But the Hero Shop had things that could make up for his lack of cooking skills.

[Hero Shop Lv.1]

– Ability

– Item

Two items exist in the shop. Among them, there were things he needed in each of the abilities and items.

-Cooking(F) : You become better at cooking.

-MSG-filled flavored salt!

Cooking ability and flavored salt item. It’s a combination that can create enough synergy.

‘But there was a problem.’ It seems like a pretty good plan, but there was a problem. That is the taste of the Demon King’s army. Choi Hyun-seok doesn’t know how picky the Demon King’s army is. What if the cooks and executives are unexpectedly gourmets?

If he can’t satisfy them, he’ll only waste his Hero Points.

‘It’s worth trying now.’ Choi Hyun-seok was convinced. The cooks ate the tough, unsalted meat as if it were a Michelin star restaurant steak.

‘Looking at those guys eating, they’ll go crazy even if I just sprinkle flavored salt on it.’ The current Hero Points he has is 70. It’s because he spent 30 to buy Bobo’s toy bone last time. Here, it costs 50 points to purchase the cooking ability, and it costs 20 points to purchase the flavored salt. After purchasing everything, it will be exactly 0 points.

‘It’s okay. Either way, if I get close to Bobo, I’ll get 200 points.’ The reward for the Hero Quest to raise Bobo’s favorability is 200. Now that the goal is not far away, he thought it wouldn’t be bad to use the points now.

‘Here I go…’ Choi Hyun-seok swallowed hard and pressed the purchase button. Then, a faint light settled on his body, and a small bottle fell in front of him.

‘Is this all…?’ The flavored salt in the bottle was a small amount that wouldn’t be 200g.

‘I can’t help it. I’ll try it with this for now.’ Choi Hyun-seok quietly brought the Boilder meat.

“Get grilled well…” He carefully sprinkled flavored salt and grilled it over the fire.

Jiggle jiggle…!

Perhaps because of the strong firepower, the meat began to cook quickly.

‘Just burn the outside very slightly. If you cook it all the way through, it will become tough, so be careful…’ Perhaps because of his cooking skills, the meat was cooked deliciously as Choi Hyun-seok thought.

After a little time passed like that.

“It’s done!” Finally, the meat was completely cooked. Choi Hyun-seok carefully took a piece of the cooked meat and ate it.

“Oomul oomul…”

Choi Hyun-seok, who was eating the meat, suddenly jumped up. Then, he approached Coolkhan.

“Coolkhan.”

“What is it?”

“Please try this meat.” Choi Hyun-seok held out the Boilder meat to Coolkhan.

Coolkhan tilted his head.

“I was starting to get full…”

“This is the meat I grilled with all my heart. If the great Coolkhan eats this meat, I will have no regrets even if I die.” Choi Hyun-seok widened his eyes and held out the meat.

“Oh… If you say so much…” Coolkhan took the meat in embarrassment.

“Let’s taste it.” Coolkhan bit into the meat.

“Cheop, cheop…” Coolkhan chewed the meat without saying a word.

“Oomul oomul… Cheop…” Coolkhan continued to chew the meat like that.

Thump!

Finally, the meat went down his throat.

Coolkhan looked at Choi Hyun-seok without saying a word.

“…”

Eyes widened with a stiff expression. It looked like he was angry, but Choi Hyun-seok knew. Coolkhan is now so happy that he doesn’t know what to do.

“How does it taste?”

At Choi Hyun-seok’s question, Coolkhan’s face suddenly began to distort.

“Keuheup…!”