The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 100

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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 100. Breaking Through the Trap
His lips had stiffened slightly.
He didn’t like the phrase “all proceeds.”
‘Of course. That bastard’s only interested in money.’
But the cameras were rolling.
It was live broadcast.
What if I alone refused?
That would be image suicide.
Ern Kim laughed.
Only I needed to know it was forced.
“Haha. Of course. It’s such a noble cause, so naturally I’ll participate.”
The audience erupted.
-Wow….
-What did he just say?
-All proceeds donated?!
-This guy is absolutely insane!
-The Japanese restaurant chef is joining in immediately too.
-Ern Kim’s doing it too!
-This is legendary!
-So it’s a donation no matter what?
Applause poured down, and cheers filled the studio.
Jang Han-su barely managed to reclaim the microphone.
“A-all three of you have declared your donations! This will truly go down in competition history…!”
I watched the judges’ table amid the commotion.
Jang On-gyu was smiling. He was smiling, but his eyes weren’t.
‘Good. This is the taste I wanted.’
Then Jang Han-su’s expression changed. He touched his earpiece.
Someone was speaking to him.
Jang Han-su’s eyes sparkled.
“Wait, just a moment!”
* * *
Jang Han-su turned toward the judges’ table.
His steps were quick. As if he were following someone’s orders.
“The chefs have come together with such noble intentions! Judges, would you like to share your thoughts as well!”
Watching the microphone turn toward the judges’ table, I understood.
‘PD Ga made his move. Perfect timing.’
PD Ga.
He was orchestrating the narrative from the control room.
With three chefs declaring donations, the donation was guaranteed regardless of who won.
And if the judges agreed to this as well?
Jang On-gyu becomes completely isolated.
A situation where he alone cannot back out, and on live broadcast at that.
‘So professionals really do understand each other.’
This scenario created by PD Ga.
Not bad at all.
* * *
Jang Han-su’s microphone went first to Lee Sae-rom, who was closest. She half-rose from her seat to take it.
She understood what she needed to do here.
“Oh, a donation? I was so startled when I heard that!”
“Really?”
“Yes! I never would have thought of it, but it seems like such a wonderful idea!”
She wrapped both hands around the microphone.
Her hands trembled slightly. It wasn’t broadcast tension.
“Honestly, I never expected to hear something like this at a cooking competition?”
“Ha ha. Me neither.”
Lee Sae-rom glanced around the audience.
Then she lifted the atmosphere.
“You all feel the same way, right? A donation!”
-Woooow!
-That’s right!
Applause erupted from the front row of the audience. It spread to the back.
Lee Sae-rom responded to the energy by bringing her hands together.
“I’m starting to want to do something too!”
“Then should you join in as well, Saerom?”
“Ah… I barely scraped together my own transportation costs! You know? How tough things are these days?”
“You seem to say things are tough every day?”
“I don’t have a single regular gig. Now that I think about it… shouldn’t the MC be treating us?”
“Ugh… I’ve been caught. Fine. I’ll donate my appearance fee from this program too!”
Jang Han-su made a clean move here.
It was a pilot program anyway.
It was only a few episodes.
If he donated along with generating buzz here, it would benefit him even more.
“Wow. Now I feel like I have to do it too!”
“Please do. Ha ha.”
“Hmm… I’ll make a big decision and go for it. I’ll put up my fee for this episode… yes. This episode! Ah, there really won’t be another competition like this!”
“Woah! Excellent! Everyone. Saerom has made a big decision and donated. Wow… I really didn’t expect this! This might be a broadcast first, right?”
“It’s not the first! I do good things regularly, you know!?”
“Ha ha ha. I see.”
The audience laughed.
Ha-yun said something from beside him.
“How much is Saerom’s judging fee anyway?”
“Sister! The amount isn’t what matters!”
Lee Sae-rom puffed out her cheeks.
“It’s the heart that counts!”
“Fine, fine. The heart matters. So I’ll contribute too.”
“Me as well!”
Im Ha-yun waved her hand in resignation and declared her donation, and Sonny beside her immediately followed suit.
Both were women known as queens in their respective fields.
A donation of this scale was nothing they couldn’t manage.
‘Well, I think we’ve all done our part now?’
‘Right?’
Sonny and Ha-yun exchanged knowing glances with each other.
Their hearts seemed to be in perfect accord.
‘Just this once.’
‘Hmph.’
Though it wouldn’t last long.
In the meantime, the atmosphere at the judges’ table had completely shifted toward donations.
This much was within my expectations.
The problem came next.
* * *
Han Jae-won sat back leisurely.
Legs crossed, chin resting on the armrest.
While the other judges reacted emotionally, his expression remained unmoved.
Jang Han-su brought the microphone toward him, and he took it lightly.
“Representative Han Jae-won, what are your thoughts?”
“This should be interesting.”
Jang Han-su waited. The audience waited too.
Han Jae-won simply smiled while holding the microphone.
“…Is that all?”
Jang Han-su asked.
“Ah, I’m still thinking.”
Han Jae-won laughed.
With an air of complete composure.
Han Jae-won pulled the microphone away from his mouth, then brought it back.
“Donations. Good, right? It has meaning precisely because it’s an occasion like this.”
So far, nothing out of the ordinary.
But then.
Han Jae-won shifted his body slightly to look toward the end of the judges’ table.
Toward Jang On-gyu’s side and Oh Tae-sik’s side.
His gaze lingered for a moment over those two people.
And I smiled again, looking at Jang Han-su.
“But you know.”
“Yes?”
“Isn’t this ultimately a decision for the two of you to make?”
Jang Han-su blinked.
“When you say two people…?”
“Representative Jang On-gyu. And Oh Tae-sik.”
Han Jae-won pinpointed the names precisely. His tone was casual, as if discussing the weather.
But the direction was accurate.
He had passed the turn to Jang On-gyu and Oh Tae-sik.
-…
-…
In an instant, the audience fell silent, and all eyes turned toward the end of the judges’ table.
Several cameras naturally pivoted at once.
The lighting shifted, and a red light illuminated above Jang On-gyu.
‘This man.’
His sense of the situation is extraordinary.
What Han Jae-won did wasn’t a simple question.
Three chefs declared their donations, and all the judges had built up the atmosphere.
In this state, saying it’s a decision for the two of them?
That means refusing would make you the sole villain.
He had blocked the escape route and presented a choice.
A choice with only one possible answer.
‘Han Jae-won. He’s no pushover.’
* * *
The studio fell silent, and hundreds held their breath.
Oh Tae-sik moved first.
His expression visibly contorted.
His lips twisted, then relaxed in just one second.
But the camera had already captured it.
‘PD Ga just got some good footage.’
PD Ga would definitely put that to good use later.
Jang Han-su took the microphone.
“Judge Oh Tae-sik. So, what do you think?”
Oh Tae-sik took the microphone.
His grip was tense.
“…It’s a good cause. I agree.”
His voice squeezed through gritted teeth.
Jang Han-su pressed further.
“So Judge Oh is also joining in the donation, is that correct?”
“This is… well, I’m just a company employee, so it’s difficult for me to say easily.”
“But surely you can make an effort? You’re a judge, after all.”
“Hmm…”
“How about…”
“I’ll do my best. No, I’ll step up to the plate.”
“Excellent!”
Oh Tae-sik cut him off faster than usual.
It was a tone that said don’t ask any further.
Jang Han-su stepped back slightly.
‘That’s the face of someone who’ll bite if you touch this.’
Even his expression of agreement seemed grudging.
Jang Han-su turned to Jang On-gyu next.
* * *
“And Representative Jang On-gyu?”
Jang On-gyu stood up.
Slowly.
He adjusted his suit jacket once. On the surface, it was a leisurely gesture, and a smile was already playing on his lips.
“Haha.”
Laughter came first.
“After you’ve created such a beautiful occasion, how could I possibly be absent?”
Jang Han-su’s eyes sparkled.
“Then Representative, are you also donating the full amount of your earnings…?”
“Of course.”
He paused for a beat.
“I’ll participate with a joyful heart.”
Jang Han-su turned toward the audience.
“Representative Jang On-gyu has also declared a full donation!”
The audience erupted.
-Everyone’s donating!!
-Even Jang On-gyu?!
The applause seemed endless.
Jang On-gyu bowed his head and sat down, the picture of a perfect gentleman.
It would be a touching scene if broadcast on television.
But the moment he sat, his eyes turned toward me.
His mouth was smiling.
His eyes were not.
They were cold. Those eyes I’d seen in my past life.
‘Yes. Those eyes.’
* * *
Jang On-gyu, seated again after his donation announcement.
He deliberately crossed his legs and folded his arms.
On the surface, he appeared composed, but it was a gesture to conceal the turmoil beneath.
Unaware of such things, the audience’s cheers filled the studio.
Within that noise, Jang On-gyu calculated every move he could make.
Even amid the fervent atmosphere, he alone remained cold and silent.
‘Charity. He’s pulling out charity here. What?’
He gritted his teeth—inwardly, where no one could see.
Commercialization had been planned as a long-term harvest from the start.
Seize the winner’s recipe. Control distribution.
Dominate the brand.
The structure was designed so that whoever won would end up dangling from his string.
‘Does he even know how much money I’ve invested here before spouting off about charity? Damn bastard.’
The KBN sponsorship costs alone were in the hundreds of millions, and that didn’t include the enormous operational expenses for the competition.
He’d also mobilized numerous chefs from Oh Tae-sik’s network and his usual connections.
Every penny came from his own pocket.
‘And that bastard….’
Just some restaurant owner had squandered it all on live television.
Now there was no way to deny it.
With the audience packed in and the publicity secured, backing out now would be nothing short of suicide.
Thanks to that, everything had vanished into thin air.
Jang On-gyu’s fingers moved within his folded arms.
He scratched at the inside of his suit jacket with his nails, but the anxiety refused to subside.
‘Could it be….’
A thought crossed his mind.
What if Kim Seon-woo had orchestrated this entire game?
What if he’d conspired with PD Ga to pull this off?
Such thoughts suddenly flooded his mind, and he’d nearly reached the answer.
‘…No, that can’t be it.’
He deliberately rejected the conclusion.
It didn’t make sense, he thought.
Orchestrating games was his specialty, and he believed a mere restaurant owner couldn’t possibly be capable of such a thing.
‘It can’t be. It shouldn’t be.’
Thinking this way, he could only repeat one name over and over.
Kim Seon-woo. Kim Seon-woo. Kim Seon-woo.
‘Damn it!’

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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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