<949 – Monster Cuisine Championship (2)>
The monster UZRazka.
He was a top-tier high-spec monster, boasting incredible strength even among the Martial Arts Unit.
“The output enhancement and regeneration come from the dual internal organs. The potential to reach the strongest monster level largely depends on innate qualities. This chassis, all-encompassing, capable of assimilating various immune systems, is truly the mark of superiority.”
Having defeated all top candidates in a research dimension and fused their internal organs, UZRazka was recognized for his power and appointed as the Squad Leader of the Martial Arts Unit.
And thus, the world became vast, revealing just how many hostile beings there were against humankind.
Fire spirits that burn people for fun, and water spirits dragging you into the depths of the ocean without a care for human respiration.
Fourth year students must explore the hundred dimensions officially.
In the fourth-year lectures, they dabbled lightly into dimensions, but in Professor Buzhaar’s research lab, they launched full-scale assaults.
“You have proven yourselves as the strongest monsters by dominating a research dimension. However, how limited and insignificant that dimension must have been! Now you know what lies beyond the one hundred dimensions. Devour it. And surpass it. The true strength lies in the fusion of the spirit factors of the one hundred dimensions with monster cells, beyond that, is where true superiority is found.”
UZRazka successfully fused the spirit factors from thirteen spirit realms into monster cells.
“Professor’s words are true. The ones that failed to merge spirit factors and became weak were demoted to lower-tier squads or reduced to management staff, but even so, those monsters gained incredible resistances from one or two spirit realms!”
A monster that absorbed the ice spirit’s essence can roam in the harsh environment of minus 100 degrees Celsius without any gear by the time summer arrives.
A monster that absorbed the fire spirit’s essence can jump into Mount Vesuvius and survive for 20 seconds without melting down.
These beings are certainly beyond mere humans, indeed.
Without mana techniques or mana control, humans can become strong monsters just through that level of transformation.
Even Ice Stone Golems and Lava Golems are horrified when faced with a monster that has grown so strong; “What is this? Get out of my habitat, monster!”
“Five combat teams have been annihilated. Due to the lack of available squads…you must enter the Food Fighter round.”
Not scared? Pfft.
In front of the Dark Princess, who decimated five squads, there was only fear.
“Can’t we forfeit and let the Dark Princess win? I heard it only takes tears.”
“Do you think professors who came as spectators would be satisfied with that? This is how a real competition is organized; those guys are raising the difficulty while hosting. No monster will survive here today.”
“Oh my!”
“They’ll probably slaughter us, who are just good prey for boosting the students’ experience points, under the pretext of a competition.”
“Oh my god!”
The monsters shuddered, covering their mouths like frightened girls.
UZRazka was also filled with fear, but the realization that he had just been in their position sparked self-loathing and rage within him.
He didn’t want to feel this powerlessness.
That’s why he resolved to become a monster.
To arrive here and tremble like a girl would be nothing short of denying his entire past.
As the Squad Leader of the Martial Arts Unit, UZRazka declared with determination.
“I understand your words. Nevertheless, no matter how overwhelming Oknodie’s resistance stats are, there must be limits to a human. There must be one brutal trait we can use to overcome Oknodie.”
“You. You’re prepared, huh?”
“Of course. I will devour the spirit factors of the one hundred dimensions and truly become the strongest monster.”
And thus, one day, the beast that burned its hometown would take revenge on the Evil Dragon Omoshiroi.
In hindsight, this was a good opportunity.
A minor evil dragon.
A disciple of the Principal.
According to the circulating rumors, Oknodie and the Principal certainly seem to have a special relationship.
If he could surpass this minor evil dragon before challenging the evil dragon, it would confirm whether his grand ambition was truly achievable.
“Alright. Make that resolve happen. I’ll personally ensure you’re set up as my opponent in the finals!”
Filled with resolve, UZRazka stepped into the Food Fighter main competition area.
Upon seeing the grotesque dishes presented by the monster chefs lined up before him, he raised his hand.
“Forfeit.”
“Huh?”
“Fooooorfeiiit!!!”
This was not food at all.
*
In truth, monster cells are not food.
If it were showcased as a rare ingredient, highlighting its unique and bizarre texture while excreting all sorts of toxic substances harmful to the human body, the self-proclaimed gourmands of the world would have held a funeral for it.
However, for the monster chefs, who resolved to become grotesque cuisine chefs just for today like those Sunday ramen chefs, there was a historical fact akin to the holy words of the Bible.
“Monsters couldn’t eat food originally because of Dark Mana, right?”
“If we cook it, baking and boiling it while substituting with different mana, we could do it too, right?”
“Totally possible.”
The monster chefs chosen held ambition.
Ambition to live lavishly like the great masters of the age, like noble families of the empire!
But that ambition would end with radiation exposure if they approached it carelessly, or if they cut the wrong internal organ, they’d collapse.
“Please, save us!”
“We can’t handle this.”
“Seriously, instructor, this can’t be right.”
The instructor smiled as he counseled.
“Well then, would you like to become the ingredients instead? If you don’t want that, you can always become the ones ‘eating’ like Food Fighters.”
The candidates for grotesque cuisine stared at each other before collectively expressing newfound, ill-placed conviction.
“Thinking about it, being a grotesque chef doesn’t seem so bad, right?”
“Receiving such a handout and then trying to back out would be a despicable act.”
“We’re artisans with a professional spirit who won’t abandon our tasks out of fear!”
The instructor was right.
Even if becoming a grotesque chef was tough, it paled in comparison to being a Food Fighter who had to eat dishes that could kill them with a single mistake in cutting!
“Put on the gas masks!”
“Gas! Gas! Gas!”
“Activate the reverse barrier!”
“Guard! Guard! Guard!”
“Okay, let’s finish all preparations within 30 seconds. Proceed!”
The monster chefs quickly began slaughtering the monster corpses, tearing apart, separating, and processing ingredients.
Exceeding the safety time, encountering higher than expected toxicity, and losing composure caused barriers to scatter.
Of course, for that reason, the monster chefs repeatedly faced potential demise, but thanks to the safety regulations they insisted on, the interchangeably deployed monster chefs gradually produced results.
So the ingredients were made.
How should they be cooked?
Having fought all their lives just to get stronger, the monsters decided to do what they were used to.
“What if we burn everything down with fire mana?”
“Let’s add more poison to let the toxicity explode amongst themselves.”
“If we bombard them with long-range missile magic, maybe we’ll dilute that horrible toxicity.”
The monster chefs each attacked the ingredients in their own ways.
With every large and powerful action, the professors in the audience began showing enthusiasm.
“Oh, that one possesses quite decent mana control from this old body’s perspective.”
“Is it a barrage magic to provoke the hidden parasites in the ingredients? A clever approach!”
“The firepower is disappointing. How can we not char the meat? To properly work with these ingredients, we would need to raise the fire to about 5,000 degrees Celsius.”
Expecting the result to be something akin to a monstrous tartare or just butchered lumps of meat trash, the professors were rather pleased.
The relentless spirit of devotion from monster chefs, risking their lives to bring forth culinary creation reminiscent of wars against the Demon King’s Army during the empire’s early days, was even somewhat moving.
The monster toxin stew, built upon such sacrifices, didn’t disappoint as a truly unique dish.
Crash!
Thud!
“Damn, those little…”
“What the hell did we make…”
Gag.
The majority of main competition participants collapsed, unable to overcome the wall of monster toxin stew.
‘No way I’m going to die too.’
As UZRazka’s forfeit request was rejected, he hesitantly grasped a spoon.
He possessed resistances to thirteen attributes, but when it came to poison, he felt overwhelmingly confident.
Resistance functionality, which could be unlocked if the resistance score reaches over 1,000, is known as the superior function ‘Resistance.’
He was a holder of the poison resistance feature.
As he bravely gulped down a spoonful of monster toxin stew, UZRazka realized just how laughable his confidence really was.
‘The poison limit exceeded the damage I could withstand under the guaranteed protection of my resistance stat!!!’
Poison response escalated quickly, crossing the threshold of protection offered by poison resistance, and despite his desperate mastery of mana control to expel the toxins, his body experienced a rapid temperature rise.
Even as he tried to incinerate the toxin flow by elevating the heat, the toxic energy remained stubbornly present, revealing his immune system was going berserk.
Fssssssss!
A dark green smoke spewed from all over his body, blood mixed with sweat oozing out.
‘Got it. I barely survived!’
Tears streamed down UZRazka’s face.
After dancing on the brink of death, he narrowly saved his life.
However, relief was short-lived.
Toxic energy greater than what he had expelled surged from all directions.
Other monsters that had eaten the toxin stew failed in their detox efforts, and as the remains generated bubbles, those bubbles popped, spreading the toxins.
Instead of neutralizing toxins with toxins, the mix of toxins compounded in power, threatening to wipe out anyone affected!
The contained toxins began to leak out, resulting in area-wide damage!
Graaahh!!
Caught off guard by unforeseen damage from the outside, UZRazka began to sustain injuries to his respiratory system and skin as he desperately grasped for mana control once again.
Attempting to drive out the energy invading his body just like before, deploying a specialized toxin protector barrier, he finally succeeded at the cost of one arm and one eye.
“Wow, indeed a main round opponent! I thought everyone would perish, but some managed to survive for a few minutes!”
Gasping for breath, UZRazka felt his throat tighten at the upbeat voice reaching him.
The Dark Princess.
With the face of a delicate girl, she was consuming the fearsome monster toxin stew without a hint of discomfort, smiling brightly toward him.
“Why…how can you be so fine?!”
“Because I’m used to the taste!”
“Used…to it?!”
“I thought I wouldn’t feel that prickling taste again when I first began resistance training, but after a long time eating thick poison was oddly enjoyable!”
“…….”
If even a minor evil dragon can handle this, capturing Evil Dragon Omoshiroi would be forever out of reach.
Having given up on the dream, there was no longer a reason to grovel under Professor Buzhaar.
“Forfeit. I’m seriously forfeiting. I’ll definitely forfeit.”
UZRazka was now planning a life of rural farming, abandoning his long-held dream of slaying the evil dragon.
