The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10. On Miracles
“But what are those things?”
“What?”
“Those. Those signs or whatever. They’re always standing there, getting in the way of the line.”
“Oh. Isn’t that a gourmet restaurant map? Something the district office is doing?”
“Would the district office do something like that?”
“You’re right. Now that I think about it… it looks like the shops in that alley did it.”
“Ugh. The line’s already hard enough to manage, and these just get in the way.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty obstructive.”
“Exactly! What are they even thinking?”
There were plenty of complaints about the standing signs—not about my cooking, but about the signs themselves.
Between the Coffee Truck and the Ramen Truck alone,
lines were stretching in every direction.
Thanks to that, the owners selling hot dogs and buttered squid had also joined in, adding one item each to customers waiting in line.
As a result, the standing signs had become nothing but obstacles.
More people were coming, but the signs were just taking up space.
From the atmosphere, it seemed the shop owners in this alley were starting to catch on.
I’d seen Bang Owner and his friend next door come by several times to check the situation.
Since the advertisement was doing more harm than good, it wouldn’t last long.
‘From the looks of it, they’ll take them down soon.’
The signs would be removed before long.
When that happens, I’ll need to make a decision too.
‘What should I do?’
First, I had to decide whether to reinstall the tables I’d taken down.
The cup ramen I’d started as a last resort.
Thanks to this menu’s high turnover rate, business had gotten so good that it created this dilemma.
‘Should I create a comfortable rest area for those waiting? Hmm… I’ll put that on hold for now.’
Should I go back to operating like a ramen counter?
Or stick with takeout only?
Both were happy problems to have.
And looking further ahead.
‘At this rate, I’ll probably have enough to get a shop soon. But… if I change locations now, I feel like I’d be missing out on something, you know?’
My concerns about opening a new shop deepened.
Money was slowly accumulating.
From operating the truck all this time, I’d saved enough to rent a shop and still have plenty left over.
The only thing lacking was interior renovation costs.
‘If I look hard enough, there should be shops that don’t need major renovations…’
That seemed possible if I just put in the legwork.
In the end, it was a matter of my own heart.
Somehow, I’d grown attached to this place.
Regulars whose names I didn’t know, and countless other customers.
Their precious footsteps made it hard to simply walk away.
Perhaps it was because I’d missed that familiar scent of human warmth.
‘…Anyway, I’ve always been sentimental like this. Even in my past life, this sentimentality caused me trouble more than once, but I can’t seem to shake it.’
Some might call it meddlesome.
But whenever I happened to form a connection with someone, I wanted to look after them one more time.
This was simply how I lived my life.
‘Perhaps it was this very thing that kept me going through those inhumane apocalyptic times. Though now isn’t such an era anymore. What should I do?’
Lost in such contemplations about the future, how long did I continue these wandering thoughts?
While thinking of my grateful customers and the current situation.
‘Huh? What’s going on?’
An unexpected scene unfolded before my eyes.
* * *
Day one.
“Welcome!”
Day two.
“Enjoy your meal.”
Day three.
“Spicy again today? I’ll make it properly for you.”
I scanned my surroundings carefully.
I was looking for someone.
‘They’re not here today either? They used to come every day.’
The people I was looking for didn’t appear. It was disappointing.
A week passed.
Three days after taking down the signboard, and more than ten days since the cup ramen business had become established.
That day too, I sold through all my prepared ingredients and closed with a sold-out sign.
Next came the cleanup.
‘Maybe I should hire an employee. I never thought I’d need staff while running a Food Truck. But it’s actually working?’
I was pondering how to handle the workload.
After cleaning up all the scattered trash.
I headed to the disposal area.
On a small bench beside that secluded spot, I saw a familiar face.
“Huh?”
It was the person I’d been looking for.
* * *
‘What’s wrong?’
For some reason, their expression looked troubled.
In eyes that were remarkably clear for their age, I could see what appeared to be tears glistening.
“Old Gentleman?”
“Hmm….”
As I approached and made my presence known, the Old Gentleman wiped the corners of his eyes and looked toward me.
“Well, well… what brings you here?”
“I… came to throw out the trash.”
“Ah…!”
The Old Gentleman glanced at the garbage in my hands and surveyed the surroundings.
As if suddenly grasping the situation, he apologized repeatedly.
“Oh dear, I wasn’t paying attention and asked something unnecessary. I’m sorry.”
Despite it being nothing serious, he apologized to a young person like me. It was a rare, dignified display befitting an elder.
There was nothing to apologize for in the first place.
If anything, my heart grew heavier.
‘Is something troubling him?’
I couldn’t fathom what could possibly burden the Old Gentleman.
My frustration deepened.
Asking him to ease my confusion would be presumptuous.
‘I shouldn’t approach carelessly.’
I was cautious about such matters.
I had lived in a world where a small, careless mistake could spiral into something that threatened your life.
The memories of my past life were, in a sense, no different from trauma.
Because of that, I couldn’t help but hesitate.
For me, this was harder than any battle.
‘…This isn’t that ruined world from back then. Get a grip. Don’t be afraid for no reason.’
With that, I pushed aside my hesitation.
I had to move forward, even by one step. I couldn’t live my entire life this cautiously.
Yes. Let me be brave.
I asked carefully.
“…Are you alright?”
“Hm? Alright, you say?”
“You, sir.”
“…”
The Old Gentleman gazed at me for a long moment instead of answering. Distantly.
I remained reflected in his clear eyes.
The Old Gentleman was silent for quite some time.
‘Did I ask something I shouldn’t have? Well… even without an apocalypse, this is presumptuous.’
Everyone had their own pace when it came to relationships.
Even if I was being cautious, perhaps my pace was too fast for the Old Gentleman.
I had committed what might be an unwarranted intrusion.
I was considering whether I should apologize.
The Old Gentleman suddenly rose to his feet and looked at me, asking.
“…Would you take a walk with me?”
“Yes!”
My answer was already decided.
I followed as the Old Gentleman rose to his feet.
“….”
“….”
The Old Gentleman walked for quite some time.
His back perfectly straight, drawing strength from some unknown source as he continued on and on.
“Flowers. When I was young, they used to bloom quite abundantly around here.”
“That place was originally a Rice Field too. Isn’t that something?”
“That Building… Yes. It was the first place I ever worked.”
Flowers blooming in the gaps, persisting even after their season had passed.
The Rice Fields and farmland that have now disappeared.
He only opened his tightly closed lips when speaking of these layered traces of time accumulated over the years.
His eyes gazing upon them seemed distant, as if recalling something I could never know.
We wandered through the Alley for quite a while.
Then the Old Gentleman suddenly spoke.
“Thank you.”
“Pardon?”
Shyness colored the Old Gentleman’s voice.
“For walking alongside this old man. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a walk like this—aside from my wife, Sung-woo’s mother.”
“Ha ha. Not at all. This is actually my first time leisurely exploring the neighborhood like this. It was quite enjoyable.”
“Is that so? I’m glad. Thanks to you, I had quite a good time myself.”
“If you don’t mind, shall we walk together again next time? Both of you together?”
“Heh heh….”
Instead of answering, the Old Gentleman simply laughed.
“If possible… if it’s possible, I shall.”
“Pardon?”
“Ahem. It’s getting late. I just need to turn into this Alley… and you?”
His laughter carried a bitter undertone.
Along with it came an inexplicable hesitation I could sense.
Pretending to understand it first didn’t feel like courtesy.
“I also just need to turn from this Alley, so it works out?”
“Heh heh. I’m relieved. I was worried I’d made this old man take you on a long detour.”
“Ah, what’s a little extra walking? We saw some nice sights along the way.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It was a good time.”
“I’m glad. I had a good time today thanks to you too. Ahem… I’ve talked your ear off. Now go on inside.”
“Yes!”
The Old Gentleman turned and walked away.
For some reason, his departing figure felt heavy to me.
I watched him from a distance for a long while.
Should I go take a look?
* * *
The next day.
Was he keeping yesterday’s promise?
The Old Gentleman appeared the moment business started.
The sight of the two of them walking hand in hand was lovely to behold.
He did come.
But he didn’t approach. Or rather, he couldn’t.
The Old Lady suddenly wrenched her hand away from the Old Gentleman’s grasp.
As if something repulsive had touched her.
The Old Gentleman, startled, tried to step forward.
The Old Lady firmly rejected him.
The Old Gentleman, looking utterly despairing, stood before her for a long while with his head bowed.
The Old Lady seemed flustered by this, glancing about uncertainly before taking a step back.
Then, suddenly alarmed, she approached him again.
A peculiar struggle that stretched on for some time.
Leaving that commotion behind, the two of them departed.
A quarrel between the two of them.
It was unprecedented.
I wished I could grow old as affectionately as they were together. Such a devoted pair. Yet they were in such a state.
Now I understood why.
I caught fragments of their conversation drifting over.
“Boss? Do you have an order?”
“Huh? Oh, right. I need to take orders.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No.”
Nothing’s wrong with me.
It’s the elderly couple who have something troubling them.
It’s their affair. In the past, I would have deliberately ignored it even if it bothered me.
But for some reason.
The image of the two of them had carved itself into my heart like a seal.
What should I do?
* * *
Two days. Four days. Six days.
I hesitated for several days.
I just couldn’t forget about it.
Was this right? Something kept weighing on my heart.
The image of the two of them kept nagging at me.
And yet.
Was this the right thing to do?
I kept wondering if I was really right to be so concerned about this.
The elderly couple and me.
We met as customer and owner.
Beyond that, there was no other connection. If I had to find something, there was that one neighborhood walk we took together. That was all.
And yet. My heart was drawn to them.
‘Is this just pointless sympathy?’
Sympathy. The word I should have abandoned first in my previous life.
Yet that feeling I’d clung to until the very end seemed to torment me now.
My heart ached.
And still, I couldn’t bring myself to act.
Hesitation.
Yes. It was because of that one emotion.
‘Why am I hesitating?’
I still didn’t understand the source of this feeling.
As my hesitation dragged on, the elderly couple stopped coming to the shop for long stretches of time.
Some days they didn’t come at all.
Other days, I could see them approach before turning back, as if uncertain.
‘Ah….’
There was no quarrel like before.
But sometimes you could see things without even looking.
The Old Lady’s clothes had become more worn.
Unlike his usual gentlemanly appearance, the Old Gentleman had abandoned his neatness, struggling to keep pace beside her.
Their contrasting figures spoke to me.
‘What am I hesitating about?’
Trauma from my past life?
Fear of being cursed after helping?
That degradation from back then?
Was now the time to be shackled by such things?
‘It wasn’t.’
It was all just an excuse.
The only excuse I’d created because I couldn’t shake off my past life’s fears.
A coward’s justification for being afraid to approach first and get hurt.
It was the moment I realized this hesitation was born from my fear of failing, of causing trouble unnecessarily.
“Uh, uh? Your order….”
“Just a moment. One moment. I’m truly sorry.”
I stripped off my apron like shedding armor from my body.
I jumped down from the truck and ran, calling out.
“Old Gentleman! Old Gentleman! Wait just a moment!”
“Wh-what!?”
“Old Gentleman! Please stop for just a moment.”
Just a moment, please.
* * *
I could see the Old Gentleman’s startled expression.
“You there.”
“Oh my. Who are you?”
The Old Lady standing beside him didn’t recognize me either.
I approached both of them without hesitation.
“How have you both been?”
“…We’ve been well. It feels like we’re living through those youthful days we can never return to.”
Days we can never return to.
Days that could be nightmares, or for someone else, moments when everything is forgotten.
That the Old Gentleman could describe those days this way spoke to the weight of all the years he’d accumulated.
“Days we can never return to. I see.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Why are you two talking like I’m not here?”
“Ah. You haven’t met this young man before, have you? He’s a promising chef.”
“Oh my, a chef? Wow. This is my first time seeing you.”
“He’s quite remarkable. He’ll become famous soon, and then we might never see him again.”
“Really? Shouldn’t I ask for an autograph then?”
“Ha ha. An autograph?”
“I don’t have one yet.”
“What does that mean?”
“That’s a shame.”
The two of them, having returned to their youthful days, carried a freshness different from before.
Even without formal speech between them, their warmth remained the same as always.
Whether the people I knew and their tense and form differed didn’t matter to me.
“I may not have an autograph, but I think I can treat you both to a meal.”
“Treat us?”
“Yes. Treat you. Though the lady might not know this.”
“Oh dear. I’m not married to him yet. Actually, I’m not going to be.”
“Ha ha….”
“I see. Hehe. Well, it’s still uncertain, but I owe you both a debt of gratitude, and I’d like to repay it. Would you accept?”
“So suddenly?”
“Yes. Suddenly.”
“But you need to run your business too. Wouldn’t this be a burden?”
“No. Not at all. I’ll come by after closing.”
“Still….”
“What about on a day off then? I’m doing this because I want to.”
“….”
The Old Lady gazed into the Old Gentleman’s eyes.
As if seeking their agreement.
The Old Gentleman made an effort to nod.
The Old Lady then asked.
“…Would it be alright to ask for your help?”
“Of course.”
Only then could I grasp a single thread of time shared between these two.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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