Third Army Corps Headquarters, commonly known as the Black Colossus, was nestled deep within a forest, accessible only by well-maintained roads.
The cooks of the Black Colossus supplemented their provisions by hunting monsters in the surrounding woods.
Choi Hyun-seok, the head cook, meticulously charted his hunting expeditions, creating maps to avoid dangerous monsters, a practice born from the lessons learned during the Queen Thalas incident.
“If you observe closely, these monsters establish their own territories,” Choi Hyun-seok explained, unfurling a detailed map.
“Of course, not every monster claims a territory. Only the exceptionally strong ones, whether solitary or in packs, do.”
“Ooh…” Rachel responded, her eyes fixed on the map with genuine interest.
“But I can barely decipher what’s on this map. It’s quite… abstract,” she admitted.
“Ahem, it’s sufficient as long as I can understand it. Anyway, look here,” Choi Hyun-seok said, pointing to several circled areas on the map.
“These are the zones where the cooks have suffered significant losses during hunts. They’ve vowed never to return.”
“So, they encountered something particularly dangerous there?”
“Precisely. Doras is powerful, so ordinary monsters won’t suffice. We need to lure something formidable enough to pose a real threat.”
“Ah! I understand.”
In essence, they needed to identify the most dangerous monster residing within those marked areas and pit it against Doras.
“The cooks, bless their hearts, aren’t the most observant. Despite my explanations, they struggle to articulate what they saw. So, I simply jotted down rough characteristics,” Choi Hyun-seok explained. The circled areas were indeed densely annotated with tiny writing.
Rachel’s eyes widened as she examined the script.
“This is Korean?”
“Indeed, because I am Korean. But I’m more curious as to how *you* know Korean.”
“Korean dramas are wonderful! Especially ‘My Love from the Star,’ ‘Goblin,’ and ‘Mr. Sunshine’! I was deeply moved by them!”
“Does heaven have access to TVs or computers?”
“Well, something akin to that! So, I’ve been dedicating my spare time to learning Korean.”
Rachel playfully rubbed her nose.
*I’m not sure what she’s so proud and embarrassed about*, he thought.
“Alright, let’s refocus. We need to deduce the types of monsters based on these descriptions.”
“By consulting the Monster Encyclopedia?”
“Correct. And then we select the one that could potentially threaten Doras.”
“Hmm… let’s see.” Rachel approached the map and began to scrutinize the annotations.
“Head… big. Teeth, sticking out. Lots of legs… Face, fierce, scary…”
Her reading was somewhat halting due to the Korean script.
As she continued to decipher the monsters’ characteristics, Rachel suddenly exclaimed, “Hero.”
“Yeah?”
“Did you… not attend school as a child? Middle school dropout? Or perhaps just elementary school?”
“Why are you trying to provoke me?”
“It’s not provocation, merely an observation. How can we possibly identify a monster with such vague information?”
Choi Hyun-seok bristled at Rachel’s blunt critique.
“Vague? Do you have any idea how much effort I put into writing this in my free time!?”
“I’m saying it’s vague because it *is*. What monster *doesn’t* have a big head, protruding teeth, and a scary face? It would be quicker to find one that *doesn’t*!”
“Ah… is that so?”
Now that he considered it, she had a point.
Even within the Demon King’s army barracks, there were plenty of creatures fitting that description.
“But there’s also the characteristic of having many legs, right?”
“Regardless! We won’t be able to find anything even if we spend a hundred days with this information.”
“Okay…” Choi Hyun-seok said, his voice deflated.
He felt a twinge of disappointment, realizing his hard-earned map was essentially useless.
“For your information, I’m a high school graduate. Not an elementary or middle school dropout.”
“Huh?”
“No, just saying…”
It seemed Rachel’s earlier comment had struck a nerve.
“Hero! Stop rambling and listen! I have an idea.”
“What idea?”
“First, since you’re busy, I’ll memorize this entire Monster Encyclopedia for you instead.”
“Can you do that?”
“It shouldn’t take too long, I think? We don’t need the *jjapnom* [lowlifes/insignificant beings] anyway, so we can disregard them. I just need to memorize the incredibly strong, threatening ones.”
“Oh, and then?”
“We’ll go around these circled areas and find the monsters ourselves.”
“Hmm… it’s a good idea, but isn’t it too dangerous?”
Rachel’s plan was undoubtedly the most reliable, but also the most perilous.
However, Rachel smiled reassuringly.
“It’s okay. If things get tough, we can just use the stupid cooks as bait and run away.”
A truly ruthless plan, befitting the Hero’s exclusive fairy: use subordinates as shields in a crisis and escape.
“Rachel, a thought just occurred to me.”
“Yes?”
“When God created you, did something particularly unpleasant happen? Like, getting dumped by a girlfriend, or buying a new car and scratching the bumper that day?”
“What are you implying?”
“Why is your personality like that?”
“So, are you rejecting the plan?”
Choi Hyun-seok grinned at Rachel’s question.
“Of course, I’m going to do it! I don’t care if the Demon King’s army dies! I’m the Hero, after all!”
“That’s my Hero!”
At least Choi Hyun-seok and Rachel were aware that they were the Hero’s party.
That might have been even more of a problem.
***
‘Useful Encyclopedia! – Monster Edition’
This book was incredibly thick.
Boasting a murderous number of pages, enough to be used as a weapon rather than a dictionary.
“Ugh… my head is about to explode…” Rachel groaned.
Rachel devoured this thick dictionary in just four days.
Two days later, she achieved the feat of memorizing all the information on major monsters.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect.
What Rachel memorized was only basic information about about 100 species of top-tier threatening monsters.
But even that clearly required a tremendous amount of effort.
Choi Hyun-seok looked at Rachel, who had dark circles under her eyes.
“Are you sure you’re okay to start today? If you’re tired, we can do it from tomorrow.”
“Ugh… I’m okay… I hardly ever have to fight directly anyway…”
“That’s true, but…”
“Enough, let’s go! Hero. Time is money.”
Choi Hyun-seok nodded.
It would be fine since she said she was okay.
Like Rachel said, it wasn’t like she was going to be fighting.
A little later.
Choi Hyun-seok arrived at the cookhouse and led the cooks out hunting as usual.
Choi Hyun-seok, who had entered the depths of the forest, checked the map.
“It seems to be around here.”
He looked back and forth between the map and the forest.
“That’s right. If you go in the direction of that tree from here, you can enter the circle.”
Choi Hyun-seok read the characteristics of the monster written next to the circle.
“Let’s see… First of all, it’s a solitary creature, and it appears by breaking through the ground? It looks like a big earthworm… This is a bit dangerous.”
At that moment, Rachel took out a pair of red horn-rimmed glasses from her pocket.
“Ahem! That’s a ‘Sirphab’.”
“Sirphab? That’s a strange name.”
Rachel pushed up her glasses and continued her explanation.
“Sirphab comes from the ancient word ‘forest earthworm’.”
“Ooh…”
“There’s also a possibility of similar types of monsters like ‘Morspit’ or ‘Estunbia’, but probably not. Those guys don’t live in forests.”
“Oh…?”
“To explain further, it’s good to ignore Sirphab. It’s strong, but it’s timid and not very aggressive. If it meets a strong person like Doras, it will likely think it’s dangerous and run away.”
“Rachel! Amazing!”
Choi Hyun-seok was sincerely impressed.
He was truly impressed because she was speaking fluently without even opening a book.
Rachel folded her glasses with a snap! and put them back in her pocket.
“Ask me if you have any more questions! I’ll answer them all. I’m now Dr. Rachel, the monster scholar!”
Rachel’s nose was so high it almost touched the sky.
Choi Hyun-seok decided to praise her purely this time without picking a fight.
*If I praise her like this, Rachel will study more and become more useful, right?*
It was more profitable to coax and use Rachel well than to step in and ruin things.
*Maybe Rachel’s head is empty, so she can learn faster than others. I should use her well in the future.*
So, even if I’m putting her on a bit of a pedestal now, let’s lift Rachel up.
“Rachel! Maybe it’s because your head is empty, but you’re really quick at acquiring knowledge!”
“What did you say?”
Rachel’s expression instantly crumpled.
Choi Hyun-seok, realizing his mistake, hurriedly waved his arms.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
His true feelings and pretense were mixed up without realizing it.
Originally, he was going to praise her by saying, “You’re really quick at acquiring knowledge because you’re so bright!”
Rachel’s cheeks were puffed out as she glared at Choi Hyun-seok.
It seemed better to change the subject for now.
“Shall we go this way then?” Choi Hyun-seok said, pointing to another circle on the map.
“What’s there?”
“Let’s see… Huge size. Steel-like scales. Looks like a dragon?”
“Hmm, I don’t know just by hearing that. A few similar things come to mind, but I need to see it in person to know.”
“Okay. Then let’s go over there.”
Choi Hyun-seok called the cooks.
“Head Cook. Aren’t we hunting today? I want to eat meat soon.”
“Don’t worry. We’re going now.”
Choi Hyun-seok raised his hand and pointed to one side.
“Today, we’re all moving over there.”
Everyone tilted their heads because it wasn’t an order to catch monsters by squad as usual.
“Understood.”
“Let’s go quickly. I’m hungry.”
But perhaps they were a race that couldn’t think too deeply from birth.
The cooks urged Choi Hyun-seok to move quickly.
“You, First Squad, lead the way.”
The First Squad leader tilted his head at the words to lead the way.
“Head Cook. The front is dangerous.”
“I know.”
“Why is First Squad in the front?”
“First Squad will eat the most meat.”
“We’ll depart immediately.”
The First Squad started running, excited by the words that they would eat the most meat.
“From now on, kill all the monsters you see! We don’t need to capture them alive or anything, so wipe them all out!”
“Woo-ah! This is fun!”
“The Head Cook has become hot-blooded! We don’t have to suffer today!”
Unaware of what kind of disaster was about to happen, the cooks were just excited and chattering.
***
How long had it been since they moved into the depths of the forest?
In the meantime, the group encountered quite a few monsters.
“Meat! Meat! Meat!”
“Morcum is dead!”
“Take good care of the corpse so we can eat it later!”
There was quite a bit of damage in the meantime, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to usual.
This was because the entire company was moving instead of moving by squad as before.
In addition, since the purpose had changed from capturing alive to killing, the damage was bound to be extremely small.
Thanks to that, the cooks were really excited like never before.
“We caught a lot of monsters.”
“I think we can eat until we’re full today!”
“Every day. I wish it was like today. The Head Cook has become smart.”
Contrary to the excited soldiers, Choi Hyun-seok was quite anxious.
*Why aren’t any monsters coming out?*
It was about time for an unknown monster to appear.
It was almost time to return to the unit.
If that guy didn’t come out like this, today would be a wasted day.
“I don’t know! Light a fire first! It’s a party!”
“Woo-ah-ah-ah!”
Choi Hyun-seok decided to grill the meat first.
If it was any later, the cooks would have to return without eating meat.
Then a coup might really happen.
*If only the monsters would smell the grilling meat and flock to us…*
Choi Hyun-seok ate the meat, making sounds that would horrify the other cooks.
“Munch, munch! The meat you eat after hunting is the best.”
“New recruits should know how good this is. Today is the best day.”
The cooks also sat sprawled on the dirt floor and tore at the meat without thinking.
The party was getting more and more lively.
Before they knew it, it was time to return to the unit.
*In the end, the monster didn’t come out.*
Choi Hyun-seok sighed softly.
Just as he was thinking that today wasn’t the day and was cleaning up, *쿵! 쿵!* [onomatopoeia for a heavy thud]
The ground began to shake.
At the same time, Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes lit up.
*It’s here…!*
He didn’t know what it was, but an incredibly huge guy was approaching.
Choi Hyun-seok guessed that the source of the vibration was from a strong monster that was the target.
“Something’s wrong. The ground is shaking.”
“Something is coming.”
Soon, the monster appeared, knocking down trees.
“Kuaaaaa!”
A giant with a height of 5 meters.
The head was shaped like a dragon, and the entire body was covered with black scales.
Choi Hyun-seok immediately put on the combat power measuring device.
[ Combat Power: Cannot be measured ]
“Good! Combat power passed!”
Next is Rachel’s turn.
“Hero! That’s a monster called ‘Nidrak’!”
“Okay!”
While Choi Hyun-seok and Rachel were identifying the monster, the cooks scattered in a panic.
“Eek! A dragon has appeared!”
“No! I have to run away with the meat…. Keuk!”
In the midst of the chaos, one cook, who was trying to grab the meat, disappeared into Nidrak’s mouth.
“Kieaaaaak!”
Cooks were dying in real time.
In a short time, more than ten cooks were either entering Nidrak’s mouth or being trampled to death.
“Head Cook! It’s a monster! Help me!”
Some cooks flocked to Choi Hyun-seok.
Because he was the head cook, he had the strongest force here.
Choi Hyun-seok made a determined expression as he looked at the gathering subordinates.
“Everyone, pull yourselves together!”
“I, is there a way?”
“From now on, start running to the Head Cook.”
“…?”
Since he had achieved his purpose, there was no reason to be here.
“Survival is on a first-come, first-served basis. The late ones die.”
“…”
“Then goodbye.”
Choi Hyun-seok, who spewed out words like a machine gun, started running.
“Uh…”
Choi Hyun-seok was already far away in a short time.
His running speed was definitely the best, as befitting the head cook.