Chef (2)

As he walked through the portal and came out of the other side, Cyril simply looked around curiously while yawning tiredly.

It was an entirely different place than the city he was just in.

Warm sunshine shone down on a peaceful meadow filled with beautiful wildflowers of different colors and sizes that caught the eye. Cutting through the field was a sidewalk-wide strip of burnt land that extended from the area he was currently standing on and continued to the side, splitting the beautiful meadow into two.

On the opposite side of the meadow was a forest surrounding a large grassy hill with a large, dark tunnel opening running through it.

From what he could see, it seemed like there was a logging operation going on with large logs stacked to one side of the tunnel and a group of civillians led by soldiers were slowly crossing the meadow.

“New Dungeon Entrants, move this way!” A loud voice yelled out, and Cyril focused on a soldier who seemed to be in charge. He glanced at his clipboard before gesturing to the surrounding soldiers, who pointed guns at them and herded them over.

Feeling the cuffs around his ankles chafe while the chains clanged, Cyril bit back his irritation and followed along while sticking to the very back.

His focus wasn’t on whatever words were being said; he was trying to access his abilities.

‘Map’

A quick holographic map appeared in front of his vision, but nothing was visible except a white dot representing his current position and the small area he had walked.

With a mental flick of his fingers, the map zoomed out, and continually but there was nothing apart from the single dot.

Feeling a bit disappointed, he began focusing on what he wanted to test: the ability to open a door.

Trying to replicate the mysterious sensation of being able to create a Door, he poured his energy into the attempt, but no matter how much he tried, it felt like he was slamming into a wall.

There was no faint sensation of the feather or the faint sensation of home; it was just a cold emptiness.

A cold sweat began dripping down his back, and his headache became worse than before, but unfortunately, nothing changed.

“Hey, they’re talking to you.” A harsh whisper sounded in Cyril’s ear as a woman with black hair, dark makeup, and black clothes shook his body quickly. 

As he blinked his eyes in a daze, he saw a soldier's red face pressed close to his, veins sticking out on the man’s forehead beneath his visor.

“Are you ignoring me, conscript?!”

“Wha-?”

“I asked what your ability was civvy! Answer!”

As his mind slowly cleared up, Cyril realized that they were trying to gauge his combat ability.

It was a test he planned on failing spectacularly.

“A calligrapher. I can write on anything but only a pen like this.” Blinking slowly, Cyril held out the pen that was inside his pocket.

“Ugh. Another useless one. Any skills to increase strength or speed or anything?”

“No.”

“Any skill to attack from a distance or increase combat abilities?”

“No.”

“Any experience using a weapon? Or fighting? Boxing, wrestling, martial arts training?”

“…does a steak knife count? And I’ve played lots of fighting games like Mortal Combat, Street Fighter, King of Fighters…”

“……”

Hearing the flippant response, the soldier’s face immediately darkened with disgust.

“Fine. You’ll follow the scouting party and help with the logging and plant collection from the newly discovered areas. Listen to orders, and you’re guaranteed two meals and your freedom. If you wander off, you’re on your own. If you disobey orders, you’ll be killed. Head over to receive your tools and a meal.”

“Okay.”

Responding dryly, Cyril followed along with the regular people lining up in two lines.

The people in the first line were receiving bags and axes while the shackles on their feet were removed. In contrast, those in the second line received simple styrofoam containers with a suspiciously familiar print that said H.E.L.P Apocalypse Co. printed in large letters.

Spotting the woman who had alerted him, grabbing a bag and axe, Cyril joined her in line before whispering.

“Thanks. For earlier.”

“There’s no need to thank me. Anyone would do so, and you were holding us up from eating.”

At her curt tone, Cyril glanced around to see people hungrily devouring the simple burger and a green drink bottle before hungrily eyeing the soldier distributing the food and even some of the smaller children sitting with their parents.

As the surrounding soldiers unanimously cocked their guns, many people looked away, although a burly man dressed in construction clothes grumbled angrily.

Curious as to what had caused them to fuss, Cyril bit into his own burger and almost spit it out.

Why was this taste….familiar?

It took a moment, but he instantly recalled the cardboard-flavored cereal that had been given to him by H.E.L.P Apocalypse. One sniff of the drink immediately reminded him of the green pea milk drink that had been paired with it as well.

Was this what people were freaking out about? Disgusting.

Holding back the urge to spit, Cyril quickly closed the meal box and placed it to the side.

“You gonna finish that?” the black-haired woman who had helped him earlier stared hungrily from his face to the meal box, and Cyril handed it over quickly.

“You can have it. I’m too tired and nauseous to eat right now.”

After taking one look and seeing the bags underneath his eyes, the woman nodded before snatching it way and scarfing it down, “Your loss.”

People and children quickly ate, but Cyril just sat quietly to the side, listening to the conversations while taking mental notes.

There were complaints about homes being destroyed, soldier recruitment, and monster sightings, but the one that made his eyebrow twitch was about food.

Apparently, a good number of the people here weren't forcefully recruited but were offered food as payment.

For some reason, no matter how much people ate, hunger never seemed to go away, and it slowly got worse and worse. In fact, the only known way to quell it was…

Before he could hear anymore, the meal was done, and the soldiers began leading them toward the meadow with the single burnt strip on it.

“We’ll have to walk slowly in a single file line on this strip. Don’t step out of this strip because it's dangerous, and don’t push the person in front of you. The most important thing is to stay on this strip of land. If you understand, let's move out.”

As the soldier marched forward with his gun held at the ready position, people soon began to follow.

First, an older black woman with a teenage boy with dreads moved forward, and then a balding old man followed behind. A couple of people followed after before another soldier went in line.

The trail of people grew longer and longer until it was the turn of the grumbling construction worker, followed by the young blond woman from earlier with two young complaining children who looked to be identical twins under 10 years old and a sleeping baby strapped to her chest and one strapped to her back.

As the black-haired woman who had eaten his food followed the woman with the sleeping baby, Cyril followed after her while swinging the axe loosely.

To be honest, he was surprised that nobody had caused any trouble, not even with the military presence.

And as if it were waiting for an opportunity…

“Mommy, look at the flowers; they are so pretty. Heather the cow loves eating flowers like this. She says they're tasty!”

“I know, honey; let's keep moving and see.”

"Mom, my feet hurt. I'm tired."

"Just a little further, honey. Let's keep walking in a straight line, okay? Single file, single file."

"Mooooooom. I'm tired. Carry me too."

"Moooom! Listen to me! You're not listening!"

"Mom, this is so slow! Why can't I use my powers to get out of here!"

As the blond woman tried to calm her children while walking forward, the formally asleep children strapped to her chest and back began to cry loudly.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaah wah wah wahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Hey woman, shut these damn brats up before I shut them up!"

The man in the construction vest snapped as one of the kids ran into him before falling to the ground.

"Hic! Hic! Mom, he pushed me! Wahhhhhh!" as one of the twin boys began crying, the other one followed suit, and suddenly, the sound of wailing children filled the air.

"Shut up, shut up!"

Suddenly, the man in the construction vest grabbed the woman by the collar and began shaking her by the collar.

"Hey man, let's calm down. It's just kids being kids." A brown-haired man wearing glasses grabbed the construction worker's shoulder and tried to calm him down.

"No! Is it fair that we're working hard and following directions while these snot-nose brats are making noise and complaining while making things dangerous for everyone else? And this damn woman not only grabbed four portions of food for her useless children, the damn bitch can't even keep them quiet and under control. Shut these kids up!"

The man shook the woman again despite her struggling to remove his hand from her shirt while protecting the baby in the child carrier.

Seeing their mother get harrassed, the twin boys began crying harder.

"Don't hurt my mom!"

The twin boy, who was slightly taller, grabbed onto the man's leg and began biting into it, his jaw transforming into something that looked like a cross between a crocodile and a dinosaur.

CRACK-

As the transformed mouth full of sharp teeth bit into the man's leg with a resounding crack, the man let out a yell before the muscles in his arms bulged as his skin turned a deep maroon color.

Then, the man in the construction outfit shoved the mother away, grabbed the child by the neck, and swung him into the peaceful meadow.

The small boy landed with a soft thump, his fall completely cushioned by the crushed flowers beneath him.

Seemingly shocked but unarmed, he lay there quietly before slowly getting up as his face reverted to his fully human form.

As he took a step forward, crushing another flower beneath his foot-

BRRRRRRRRRRRRR

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The ground began vibrating as if an earthquake was taking place.

Then, as the shaking stopped-

SNAP.

A large green plant bulb, like a Venus fly trap, snapped shut on the boy before the stem that was previously hidden in the ground suddenly rose up like a thick elephant trunk, propelling the plant bulb and extending it almost 10 feet into the air.

A small child-size lump was slowly moving down the stem, and the plant seemed to move up and down like it was gulping the child down. Even though the figure of the child seemed to expand and shrink, sometimes, not even appearing human, it was slowly but surely being forced down the step of the plant.

Staring at the clearly carnivorous plant, he noted the translucent red hologram close to the ground where a single root was peeking out of the grass.

[Pulchrabite]

[Inedible]

Cyril: ಠ_ಠ

He hadn't been considering eating it, but it was good to know.

"Ahhhhh, My baby!" the blond mother began screaming as she collapsed to the ground while clutching her other son and the child on her chest.

"Everybody, stay calm! Stay calm! Those in front continue walking. As quickly as you can." A soldier's shout rang out, and Cyril turned to glance at the soldier who was pushing past him.

"My baby! Please rescue my baby!"

"Brother! Transform! You have to transform. Bigger! Bigger!"

"Wahhhhhh!!"

With people screaming, soldiers shouting, and a mother and children yelling, Cyril felt his headache getting worse.

It quickly turned into a chaotic mess.