After Ten Millennia in Hell

Oh Kang-Woo walked out of the barracks made for executives and looked at the allied forces made up of angels, Watchers of Light, and members of Guardians.

An endless snowstorm was raging over the mountain where the allied forces were located, and the weather was so harsh that the cold would instantly freeze urine before one's urine could even reach the ground.

Even if Players had superhuman bodies, they would obviously struggle in such weather, but there were no signs of them struggling as they ate their combat rations.

"We'll finally be able to finish off these Demon Cult bastards once and for all."

"We'll be able to return to our homes once this is over, right?"

"I've decided to marry Anna if I come back from this war alive."

"Smith…"

"Do your best. I'm sure you'll be able to survive!"

Not only were they not feeling cold, but they could even chitchat.

The mages of the Tower of Truth had officially become a mage corps directly under Guardians. Thanks to the equipment they'd made by sacrificing their vacation, Guardians members were able to brave the weather comfortably.

Kang-Woo's expression hardened when he heard their conversation.

'Smith… are you gonna be okay?'

No matter how anyone saw it, that was a death flag. While leaving the poor guy behind as he bragged about Anna, Kang-Woo entered the barracks again.

Gaia, Kim Si-Hun, Cha Yeon-Joo, Tian Wuchen, Han Seol-Ah, Echidna, and the other core members of Guardians were gathered.

"Ah, Kang-Woo." Han Seol-Ah walked toward him with a smile on her face. "The food is ready. Take a seat."

There was piping-hot kimchi stew in the middle of the meeting table.

Usually, they would have to eat combat rations, but they had abused their power as commanding officers to have a proper meal.

'You need to have a full stomach to fight well.'

Saliva started to gather in Kang-Woo's mouth.

"Thanks. I'm sure it was hard to make portions for all these people."

"Not at all. Echidna and Si-Hun helped me, so I barely did anything. I just taste-tested it."

"Hm! Kang-Woo, I learned how to make kimchi stew." Echidna snorted while smiling confidently.

Kang-Woo smirked and patted her head. Echidna rubbed her cheeks against his hand as if she were a cat.

He took a seat. In front of him was a bowl the size of a washbasin with kimchi stew in it.

Yeon-Joo looked at him in surprise.

"Do you like kimchi stew that much?"

"Of course. There's nothing in the world that can compare in taste."

Kimchi stew was life—it was perfect and worthy of worship.

Kang-Woo devoutly raised his chopsticks.

Yeon-Joo laughed in disbelief.

"I mean, it's not like kimchi stew is bad or anything, but…"

It honestly wasn't delicious enough to say it was the best food in the world.

From what she'd heard from Seol-Ah, Kang-Woo ate kimchi stew at least ten times a week and easily more than four to five portions. Even if one loved a certain food, it was fascinating that they would be able to eat so much of it.

'Well…'

Yeon-Joo grabbed her spoon and narrowed her eyes. She looked at Kang-Woo eating the kimchi stew.

'I guess… it's understandable.'

She thought of his past.

Ten millennia…

His desire had been built up for an unthinkable amount of time.

Considering that he had only thought of survival without being able to eat, drink, or enjoy anything, it was understandable.

'Well, if he likes it so much…'

Yeon-Joo coughed.

'Maybe I should make it for him too next time.'

She didn't have feelings for him, but considering how much help he'd given her, maybe it wasn't a bad idea. She hid her reddened cheeks and looked at Seol-Ah. Her mind was in jumbles.

Clack.

Kang-Woo paid no mind to Yeon-Joo's gaze and raised his bowl of rice.

First, he grabbed a long piece of kimchi and put it on his rice; then, he grabbed a piece of pork with a delicate balance of meat and fat and wrapped it in kimchi. He scooped up a large spoon of rice and put it into his mouth. The sour taste of kimchi and the pork juice spread over his tongue.

"Shieet…!"

His body tingled.

After repeating the process several times, he added some lukewarm water to the rice. He did not add a lot—just enough for the rice to become like porridge. He then ate the rice with the kimchi and meat.

A joyful taste spread through his mouth along with the rice, which had been cooled down to just the right temperature. Having kimchi stew with rice that had been mixed with lukewarm water reduced the kimchi's sour taste, allowing for a completely different wave of flavor.

"Phew. Thanks for the food."

"I prepared a little more than usual since I thought you would be tired from preparing for the battle."

"Thanks. Oh, I'll put the dishes away."

Kang-Woo got ready again after emptying his plate and washing all the dishes. He had more things to do.

"Oh, Seol-Ah, Could you make some more kimchi stew? A lot. Enough to feed about a hundred people."

"… For yourself?"

"No, I'm gonna take it to some people."

Seol-Ah tilted her head, but she soon got to preparing more kimchi stew with help from Kang-Woo, Echidna, and Si-Hun.

Kang-Woo had stockpiled a lot of ingredients before they had begun their war preparations, so they had more than enough ingredients.

He then poured the completed kimchi stew into several pots and put them all in a box. He kept the contents of the box warm with insulation magic and then got up.

"I'll be right back."

He easily lifted the box containing a hundred portions of kimchi stew and headed to the base of the angels some distance from the Guardians base. The Watchers of Light guarding the base looked very haggard.

They were not suffering from the cold; it seemed they'd also made preparations against the weather. There was only one reason why they looked so haggard.

'I knew it.'

Kang-Woo looked around and saw that the Watchers of Light were eating some unknown soup. The Watchers of Light were the only ones eating; the angels were each doing maintenance on their weapons and talking about the war against the demons that would soon take place.

"What brings you here?"

An angel with six wings walked toward Kang-Woo. The armor he wore was more luxurious than what the other angels had. Not only that, but he had more wings than the others as well. The light shining from him was also on another level.

The angel with short silver hair introduced himself: "I am Lord Raphael's loyal servant, Shalgiel."

Shalgiel was not looking at Kang-Woo very kindly. It wasn't just him; all the other Watchers of Light and angels were giving him a similar look. Although they'd decided to form an alliance at Raphael's command, they still had animosity toward Guardians.

'This won't do.'

The battle against the Demon Cult was going to take place soon, so the remaining conflict with Raphael's forces would pose problems.

Conflict gave rise to distrust, which amplified doubt. If that happened…

'I won't be able to make use of them.'

The role the angels had in the war was very important.

The tips of Kang-Woo's mouth went up.

'I'd guess he's Raphael's right-hand man.'

That seemed to be the case based on how he was acting.

Kang-Woo put down the giant box containing kimchi stew.

Shalgiel began, "What is…"

"It is kimchi stew."

"Kimchi stew?" Shalgiel frowned in confusion.

"I took some glances at the angels and Watchers of Light over the past few days… and it seemed like they needed this."

"We are fine. We do not need food."

"That is only the case for angels," Kang-Woo said firmly. He then raised his hand and pointed to the Watchers of Light. "Can you not see them? Why do you think they look so haggard?"

"Because they feel sorrow and rage due to Ludwig's dea—"

"I am sure that is also the case, but this is the biggest reason."

He lifted the lid of one of the pots containing kimchi stew.

The eyes of the Watchers of Light shone as they smelled it.

"Ah…" Shalgiel expressed, seeing the Watchers of Light.

"Humans need to eat."

"We know that. That is why we also prepared f—"

"That can barely be called food."

Shalgiel closed his mouth at Kang-Woo's words and made a troubled expression as if he couldn't understand Kang-Woo.

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue.

'I knew this would happen.'

Just like demons, angels did not require sustenance.

Thanks to that, they didn't understand how important food was to humans.

It was only natural. Just like how humans did not know the sensation of flapping wings, angels did not know how hunger felt. They couldn't understand how important taste was to humans. There was no way a human could be sated by cheap oatmeal. If that were enough, the concept of cooking would've never been born.

Humans subconsciously yearned for delicious food.

'But…'

The Watchers of Light in Raphael's camp were devotees who served angels; the hierarchy was clearly defined. There was no way a private could complain to a sergeant about the army's food. The Watchers of Light remained silent, and they had slowly become haggard until they ended up like this.

'I wonder how they usually spend their days.'

When the Watchers of Light arrived on Earth, they looked normal. On Aernor, they likely went to have delicious and nutritious meals without needing to go out of their way to report to the angels about it. But now that they were in another world, there was no way that they could acquire food on their own.

"…"

Shalgiel remained silent. He seemed surprised and confused. He quickly turned his head to look at the priests.

They hurriedly spoke.

"N-No!'

"Oatmeal is more than enough!"

"How could we have a greed for food as beings who serve the light?"

Although everyone denied it, it was clear to Shalgiel that they were just giving excuses.

Shalgiel nodded. "I see. It seems that I have not accommodated the Watchers of Light well enough."

After hearing his answer, the Watchers of Light walked toward Kang-Woo angrily.

"How dare you make such accusations!"

"We are beings that serve the light. We do not need food from a world like—"

Clack.

Kang-Woo opened the lid as soon as the Watchers of Light came to him to complain. The delicious scent overwhelmed their sense of smell.

"A-A world like…"

Their expressions hardened.

"Everyone." Kang-Woo smiled brightly. "You can have as much as you like. Even Lord Shalgiel has mentioned that he has not accommodated you all well enough, hasn't he?"

"W-We cannot…"

"A soup as red as blood… W-We cannot eat something like this!" the apostles shouted.

"Now, now. Don't be like that and give it a try," Kang-Woo said cordially.

"Guh…"

"You can always choose not to after you try just a sip."

His words were as sweet and tempting as a demon's, but the apostles couldn't reject them.

After all, they hadn't been able to eat a proper meal since their arrival on Earth almost a month ago.

"…"

The apostles looked at each other, and then one finally took a step forward.

He grabbed a spoon and tried some rice and kimchi stew.

"G-Gasp!!" His eyes widened. "Dear heavens… I-It's so…!!"

The apostle trembled in excitement.

Although it was true that Seol-Ah was a great cook, she wasn't good enough for someone to react like this. Rather than the stew being that good, it was more that their situation was that dire.

They hadn't been able to eat proper food in over a month because of the angels, so anything would've tasted great to them.

"It is an Earth dish known as kimchi stew."

"Wow!!

"Kimchi stew…!"

The apostles quickly began devouring the kimchi stew.

As their empty stomachs filled, the looks in their eyes started to change.

"Ahem."

"We apologize for acting that way earlier. We were disrespectful to an ally whom we would be fighting alongside…"

Just from their stomachs being filled, their previous resentment toward Kang-Woo and Guardians had changed to gazes of trust.

"Hmm."

"What sort of dish could it be…?"

Even angels began wondering about the kimchi stew and started trying it. The spicy flavor stimulated the weak taste buds of the angels, surprising them as they ate the kimchi stew.

"We will share our rations with you until the war against the Demon Cult begins."

"Ah…"

Shalgiel's face reddened, as he had also been eating the kimchi stew out of curiosity.

"Thank you. It seems… I was mistaken about Guardians."

Their animosity started to melt down.

Kang-Woo smiled while looking at the angels and priests.

'As I thought, there's nothing like kimchi stew to gain someone's trust.'

Kang-Woo nodded while making a proud expression.