Not All Heroes From Earth Are Bad [EN]: Chapter 36

“You, you too. Come along.”

Choi Hyun-seok walked around, pointing at a few soldiers.

He picked a total of five soldiers.

They would make excellent bait.

Rachel tilted her head, watching the selected bait team.

“Sir Hero, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Is there a reason you specifically chose these five?”

“Not really. Is there a problem?”

“I was thinking it might be better to pick the ones who look quick.”

What’s the most important thing for bait?

Speed.

If they run into a Demonic creature and get eaten without being able to escape, that would be a dog’s death.

“Look! Especially that one that looks like a sloth, he seems really slow, doesn’t he?”

“It’s okay. Their running skills are all about the same anyway. Those who are meant to live will live, and those who are meant to die will die.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. So I just picked the ones who look unpleasant.”

Choi Hyun-seok said with a smirk.

Rachel nodded with a slightly bewildered expression.

“Ah… I see…”

Just from the way he talks, you wouldn’t be surprised if he was a psycho killer with a screw loose, not a hero.

‘Well, it’s not a problem since the hero is taking care of the Demon King’s army…’

It wasn’t a problem, but she just felt a little complicated.

“Alright! Let’s cut the small talk and get started right away.”

Choi Hyun-seok took the five soldiers he had picked to a secluded spot.

“From now on, I’m going to assign you to a very special mission.”

“Mission?”

The soldier who looked like a sloth, whom Rachel had mentioned, wore a bewildered expression.

The way he tilted his head slowly made him look like he really would be slow at running.

“Yes! This is a very important mission.”

Choi Hyun-seok nodded with a serious expression.

“Hey, you, sloth. What do you think is the reason we came to this forest?”

“To hunt.”

“That’s right! But we can’t hunt right now, can we?”

“That’s right.”

“Exactly! Exactly! Like you said, we need to hunt, but we can’t. This is a serious problem!”

“…”

“So, I need you guys to help me out.”

Choi Hyun-seok raised his hand and pointed to the forest.

“Go take a lap around there and come back.”

The five soldiers of the Demon King’s army all tilted their heads 45 degrees.

It was their way of saying, ‘What nonsense is this?’

“What do you mean? I can’t understand.”

The sloth spoke on behalf of the group.

“Go take a walk in the forest and come back.”

“There are Demonic creatures in that forest.”

“I know.”

“If we go alone, we’ll die.”

The sloth spoke quite logically.

The other soldiers nodded in agreement.

“No, no! ‘Die’ is wrong.”

Choi Hyun-seok held up his index finger and wagged it.

“‘Could die’! That’s the right way to say it.”

“Isn’t that the same thing… Anyway, I don’t want to go.”

The soldiers all nodded in unison at the sloth’s words.

“That’s right. Why do only we have to go?”

“I want to live a long life and eat lots of meat!”

“I don’t want to go either. Kuruk! The forest is scary! Kururuk!”

The soldiers raised their hands and shouted their own reasons.

The atmosphere quickly became chaotic.

Choi Hyun-seok sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Haa, I guess I have no choice.”

Contrary to his troubled expression, Choi Hyun-seok was actually calm.

This level of resistance was well within his expectations.

‘If they don’t listen when I speak nicely, I’ll have to resort to threats.’

Choi Hyun-seok decided to bring out his next negotiation card right away.

“From now on, I’m going to give you two choices.”

Choi Hyun-seok pointed to the forest with his finger.

“First, obediently explore the forest as I said. You might die, but you might live.”

This time, he moved his finger from the forest to Bobo next to him.

“Second, explore the inside of Bobo’s stomach, who is extremely hungry right now. You will die, and you cannot live.”

Did they understand Choi Hyun-seok’s words?

Saliva dripped copiously from Bobo’s mouth.

“Kwang!”

His energetic bark seemed to be urging them to choose the second option quickly.

Choi Hyun-seok smiled like a devil and brought his face close.

“Choose. What are you going to do?”

***

Of course, the poor soldiers all chose the first option.

Being able to possibly die was better than definitely dying.

“Alright. Ready?”

“Th, this is strange! This is strange!”

The sloth shouted as if he was struggling.

“Chef! You told us to go for a walk! This isn’t a walk!”

“What are you talking about? This is all for your convenience. I’m changing what would have been a round trip into a one-way trip, so you should be thankful.”

The sloth soldier was currently being held in Usaru’s hand.

Now, with just one word from Choi Hyun-seok, the sloth would have the rare experience of flying through the sky.

‘I can’t have these guys just wandering around nearby and coming back.’

There’s no point if the guys who are supposed to bring back Demonic creatures just wander around this area.

After much deliberation, Choi Hyun-seok decided to have Usaru throw the bait.

“Don’t worry too much. You see the fire we lit here, right? Just run towards this way when you see the smoke. Easy, right?”

“Sa, save me! Save me!”

“You’re saying things that people will misunderstand.”

Choi Hyun-seok chuckled and lightly nudged Usaru.

“You know what to do, right? Throw him with all your might, with all your power.”

Usaru nodded with a bright smile.

He seemed very excited, as if he found this situation fun.

“Alright. Throw him!”

“Usa~ru!!!”

Usaru swung his massive arm.

Booaaang!

A noise that sounded like the air tearing apart rang out.

At the same time, the sloth flew into the sky.

“Kkeuaaaaaaaa~!”

Watching the sloth disappear in an instant, Choi Hyun-seok smiled with satisfaction.

“Good. Next, throw him in that direction.”

“Usa~ru! Got it!”

Usaru picked up the next victim.

“Sa, save me! Chef!”

The soldier even upgraded to using honorifics to survive, but it was no use.

“You’re acting like you’re going to die. Just run and you can live.”

“N, no!”

Choi Hyun-seok nonchalantly wagged his finger.

“Throw him.”

“Usa~ru!”

“Kkeuaaaaaaaa!”

The second soldier also flew into the sky.

“Sir Hero. He’s really flying far!”

Rachel shielded her eyes with her hand and craned her neck.

She seemed curious to see how far the soldier would fly.

“Sir Hero, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“What if they fall and die right away?”

Choi Hyun-seok fell into thought at Rachel’s question.

That was a problem he hadn’t considered.

“Hmm, won’t they live? In movies and cartoons, they always hit a tree branch or something and survive.”

“They’re not the main characters, though.”

Only the main characters survive like that.

Would a minor extra Demon King’s soldier have such an opportunity?

“That makes sense…”

It was quite plausible.

Choi Hyun-seok scratched his head and opened his mouth.

“I don’t know. Let’s just throw them all and wait.”

He was working hard to light the bonfire and send smoke signals.

If the soldiers who flew away were alive, they would see the smoke and come back.

“Keep going.”

“Usa~ru!”

Usaru, who was excited, threw the bait one after another.

“Kkeuaaaaaa!”

“Save meeeeeee!”

It didn’t take long for all five baits to fly into the sky.

The cooks trembled as they watched the scene.

“Keek! I want to live a long life…!”

“Chef is insane. He’s not in his right mind.”

“They’re just crazy…”

Only dissatisfied voices came from here and there.

However, no one stepped forward.

It was obvious that they would become bait if they volunteered.

The Demon King’s army was an organization where rank was equivalent to power.

In this place, the only ones stronger than Choi Hyun-seok were Usaru and Bobo.

Of course, if the soldiers all ganged up on him, Choi Hyun-seok would be subdued in an instant.

But as mentioned above, it was impossible because Usaru and Bobo were there.

As long as two monsters of extraordinary size were holding out, the soldiers couldn’t even dream of attacking him.

“Hmm… They’re quite late.”

Choi Hyun-seok frowned and looked at the sky.

“Sir Hero, wait a little longer. It’s only been 10 minutes.”

Rachel said, checking her wrist.

There was a clock drawn with a pen on it.

“Could it be that they all fell and died, like you said?”

“That’s also a possibility.”

“Hmm, what should I do?”

“Sir Hero, why don’t we throw a few more?”

“Throw them again?”

“There’s no harm in throwing the bait in advance.”

“That’s true.”

The only thing that was harmed was the lives of those who were thrown.

Choi Hyun-seok was seriously considering throwing more soldiers when.

“Euaaaaaaa!”

A scream began to be heard from inside the forest.

“Oh! They’re coming, they’re coming!”

Rachel said in an excited voice.

“Sa, save me!!!”

The first bait to return was the sloth.

Unlike his slow movements before, he was sprinting through the forest at an incredible speed.

“See? Even if they look clumsy, they all get faster when they’re cornered.”

“Oh, that’s true.”

“I wonder how many he brought with him.”

Choi Hyun-seok carefully looked at the forest.

“Keuwaaaa!”

“Keeek, keeek!”

The number of Demonic creatures chasing the sloth was not that many.

“Only three, huh…”

They were all creatures he had seen in ‘The Encyclopedia of Useless Knowledge! – Demonic Creatures Edition’ [a fictional book].

It didn’t seem too difficult to handle even if he went alone.

“Shall we go, then?”

Just as Choi Hyun-seok was about to step forward.

“Usa~ru!”

Usaru, who was excited to see the Demonic creatures, started running out first.

“Hey! Hey! Where are you going! Hey, you!”

Choi Hyun-seok belatedly followed, but he couldn’t catch up with Usaru, who had superior physical abilities.

“Usa~ru!”

Usaru, who had arrived in front of the Demonic creatures, began to swing a huge wooden club that was 2m long [approximately 6.5 feet].

“Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa!”

Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung!

“Usaaaaa~! Ru!”

Kkwaaaang!

The time it took for the Demonic creatures to become a bloody mess was less than 10 seconds.

Choi Hyun-seok wore a hollow expression as he looked at the Demonic creatures that had turned into a handful of blood.

“I wonder if I can salvage the meat properly…”

It seemed like he would have to use it as minced meat.

***

After that, the bait operation was carried out a few more times.

The results were all the same.

“Usa! Usa! Usa! Usa!”

Usaru, who was excited whenever he saw Demonic creatures, ran out and turned them all into a bloody mess.

“Keuwaang!”

Even Bobo, who was hungry, joined in, and it became a complete monster battle.

In that chaos, Choi Hyun-seok desperately tried to gain experience points, but the results were not very good.

“Is all I got was 2 levels…”

Even though he hunted dozens of Demonic creatures, his level barely increased.

Choi Hyun-seok returned to the kitchen with a dejected expression.

“Everyone worked hard today. Get some rest, and let’s see each other early tomorrow morning.”

At Choi Hyun-seok’s words, the cooks went back with gloomy faces.

“I… I want to quit being a cook…”

“Mom! I miss my mom!”

“I, I don’t taste good! I taste bad!”

Some of the cooks who had become bait were even showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event].

They would all spend sleepless nights, trembling with anxiety about who would become bait next.

“Yeah, yeah. Everyone worked hard, and let’s see each other tomorrow.”

He didn’t care what happened to the Demon King’s army.

The hero Choi Hyun-seok waved his hand roughly and returned to the kitchen.

“Is the real battle starting now?”

The hunting soldiers were done for the day, but the cooking soldiers were just getting started.

Choi Hyun-seok, as the head chef, naturally still had a lot to do.

“Gollum, where are you!?”

Choi Hyun-seok looked for the assistant chef, Gollum.

“H, here I am!”

Gollum rushed out from inside the kitchen.

‘Why is he calling me again…’

He was already in trouble because he had brought all the meat as minced meat.

He looked on anxiously, wondering what the crazy human chef would order him to do next.

“I called you because I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes.”

“You said that the officers who eat the food made in the kitchen are from the battalion commander level, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Where do they eat? Do the officers come and eat in person?”

Gollum shook his head.

“The soldiers in charge come and take the food themselves.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Choi Hyun-seok’s mind raced.

‘Hemis told me to get the kitchen running normally from tomorrow. So, the officers will be eating from tomorrow or the day after.’

In other words, he could use the meat he brought today as he pleased.

Having finished his thoughts, Choi Hyun-seok looked at Gollum.

“Gather all the cooking soldiers. We will be conducting a cooking practice from now on.”

It was a good opportunity to find out the soldiers’ cooking skills.