The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 108

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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 108. The Test
Jin-woo carried the dishes out.
Two plates were set before Han Jae-won.
Clear bone broth ramen and torched truffle kimbap.
While handling other orders, I stole a glance from the kitchen.
The chef’s discretion.
‘I’ve poured my beginning and end into that order.’
I was curious how Han Jae-won would judge it.
* * *
“Hmm….”
Han Jae-won first gazed down at the ramen bowl.
He observed the broth’s color. Transparent gold.
‘The finest color.’
It differed from ordinary bone broth ramen from the start.
Typical bone broth is cloudy. Murky.
This was clear. You could see straight through to the bottom.
‘But what about the taste?’
Would it truly be a flavor that compelled another bite?
He lifted a spoonful of broth with his spoon. He drank it. Slowly.
“!!!”
His eyes widened slightly.
He set down the spoon. Another sip.
‘Has he figured it out?’
Clear yet profound in flavor. That’s the essence of this ramen.
Preserve clarity and the taste suffers; enhance the flavor and the broth becomes murky.
This ramen had captured that inevitable trade-off with exquisite precision.
Han Jae-won seemed to have recognized it.
‘Interesting.’
You could discern someone’s character even in how they ate.
Han Jae-won was the type who confirmed his judgment on the second sip, not the first.
‘More cautious than I expected.’
He wasn’t the type to judge from a single taste.
The first sip is a greeting. The second is the main point.
That’s his way.
And even then, he doesn’t conclude.
‘Next comes the noodles.’
He picked up the noodles with his chopsticks.
Slurrrp—
He swallowed the broth and noodles together.
Then he nodded his head.
But his expression was different from when he’d looked at the menu earlier. This wasn’t analysis—it was acknowledgment.
‘As expected.’
After acknowledgment came enjoyment, it seemed.
He picked up a slice of beef brisket and dipped it in the broth.
After chewing, he smiled slightly this time.
He picked up noodles again.
Slurp—slurp—
He alternated between broth and noodles. The bowl emptied quickly.
‘The ramen passes, it seems.’
Then one dish remained. Kimbap.
He quickly picked up a piece. Unlike the speed at which he grabbed it, he examined it slowly.
“Hmm….”
He looked at the cross-section.
He paused for a moment.
Cream cheese, beef brisket, and perilla leaf. An uncommon combination for kimbap. And those subtle torch marks visible throughout. That would catch his attention.
“Huff…!”
He brought it close to his nose. He seemed to catch a subtle aroma.
Then he put it in his mouth. After chewing—
“?!?”
His chopsticks froze in mid-air. For quite a while.
‘If my calculations are correct…’
The crispy seaweed. The softness of cream cheese. The juiciness of beef brisket. Finally, the truffle aroma.
Those would burst in his mouth in order. Exactly in the sequence I designed.
“…”
Han Jae-won sat there dazed for a while, then looked toward the kitchen.
Our eyes met.
“…This.”
Han Jae-won spoke slowly. His voice was low, yet I heard it clearly.
“It’s different from the competition.”
He was laughing as if asking how I’d managed it, as if he couldn’t believe it.
* * *
Han Jae-won finished his meal completely.
As if he understood that it was a courtesy to the chef who’d prepared the food.
He drank the remaining broth from the ramen. Not a single drop remained.
When he set down the bowl, the sound was quiet.
He emptied the kimbap entirely as well.
Only then did he set down his chopsticks.
He wiped his mouth with a napkin. His movements were composed.
Then, savoring this moment, he sat dazed for a while.
After some time had passed, he stood up and came to the register to pay.
“Kim Seon-woo.”
His tone shifted.
“After work, could we talk for a moment?”
He was requesting a conversation.
I had anticipated this.
Why he came alone in casual clothes. Why he read the menu like he was analyzing it.
Why he ordered the chef’s special. Why he didn’t leave a single drop of ramen broth.
It was all clearly for this conversation.
My answer here was already predetermined.
“Of course.”
* * *
Service had ended.
The last customer left at nine-thirty.
“We’re done for the day!”
“That we are. Good work.”
“You too!”
Jin-woo was wiping down the tables. Haran was organizing the kitchen.
At that moment, the door opened.
“Your service hours are… huh?”
“I figured the timing was right, so I came by.”
“You’ve been waiting this whole time?”
“There were plenty of delicious restaurants nearby. I ate my fill there.”
“Hmm….”
Han Jae-won naturally claimed a seat and sat down.
He seemed to enjoy the quiet atmosphere, his eyes closed.
‘This is interesting.’
Wherever and whenever, he’s the type who makes his surroundings bend to his pace.
He’s not the one being swept along—he’s the one doing the sweeping.
In situations like this, fewer people around is better.
“Jin-woo.”
“Yes?”
“Once you finish up, head home early today.”
“Yes!”
Jin-woo answered readily, as if he already knew him. He’s perceptive.
Though his perceptiveness improved, his composure still needed work.
His expression was openly curious.
‘Still feels like a kid, really.’
I left the rest to Haran as well.
Then I came out to the hall and sat down. Across from Han Jae-won.
“Sorry for making you wait.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Han Jae-won laughed. Comfortably.
* * *
‘He knows how to draw attention naturally.’
Comfortable, yet centered on himself.
This is his default setting.
It’s a bearing I could learn from.
But I had no intention of mimicking it right away, so I stayed quiet.
“….”
“….”
A brief silence fell between us.
Then Han Jae-won spoke first.
“I’ll be direct with you.”
His tone shifted. He sounded like a different person than during the meal.
Not a comfortable neighborhood friend, but a businessman running six franchise locations. His tone matched that perfectly.
“I want to build a distribution line together.”
“When you say distribution line, what exactly do you mean?”
“I’ll open up my logistics infrastructure. You’d handle the recipes and branding.”
“So it’s like commercializing products, similar to the competition prize.”
“You could look at it that way.”
“Hmm….”
His words were concise. Unadorned. There was no proposal document.
He simply threw out the essentials.
“By the way, if you do this alone, you’ll hit a wall. Ah, of course, I’m not saying this to pressure you.”
“It doesn’t seem that way.”
Han Jae-won set down his coffee cup.
“Jang On-gyu’s family—or rather, his clan—is bigger than it appears.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Centered around B2B, most people don’t know, but they control half the distribution in this industry.”
“!!!”
I didn’t know that.
I knew the family had influence, but was their involvement in the food business sector?
And B2B at that.
To put it simply, if B2C is selling to consumers, then B2B means supplying directly from business to business.
Well, if I explained it in detail, it could go on forever.
‘A rough understanding is enough.’
The important thing is that Jang On-gyu’s family has deeper roots than I thought.
“From sourcing ingredients to distribution lines. No matter how well Kim Seon-woo makes something, if they squeeze the materials, it’s over. Small quantities might even be impossible, but large quantities—that’s where it becomes possible.”
“That’s interesting.”
Looking back at it now, I was realizing something anew.
‘Even in my past life, I had a taste for monopolies. Is it in the blood itself?’
In the Apocalypse, the one who monopolized ingredients was the most terrifying.
Not a chef, but a merchant held the board. Or rather, distribution controlled everything.
When the world completely fell apart, even he became useless.
It’s no different now. In the end, when you scale beyond a single restaurant, this is what emerges.
“To break Jang On-gyu’s monopoly, there needs to be an alternative.”
“And that alternative is you, Representative?”
“That’s right. That’s me.”
“And you make money from this?”
“We make money together. And if there’s no profit, why would I do it?”
“Fair point.”
“You need incentive to move. Am I a merchant? Ha ha.”
He was honest. He didn’t hide the fact that there was benefit in it for him too.
‘The fact that he came to me first.’
It means this isn’t just good for me—it’s necessary for him too.
Han Jae-won must have found Jang On-gyu’s monopoly structure inconvenient. They’re on the same level, yet Jang On-gyu controls distribution. Their interests align.
“The ramen and kimbap you had today.”
I spoke.
“What did you think?”
Han Jae-won laughed briefly. He might have felt the question was out of nowhere.
“The ramen has a bone broth base, but I’ve never seen it clarified like that. As for the kimbap….”
He paused.
“The kimbap is indescribable. It was just delicious.”
Just delicious.
That’s the most terrifying compliment. It means delicious beyond analysis.
“I pursue that kind of taste myself. I don’t really like anyone interfering or touching it….”
“I understand. We can think of it as a kind of craftsmanship.”
“Craftsmanship. I like that.”
“I’ll open distribution for you, but I won’t interfere. The moment I touch your recipe, I’m finished too. What could I possibly teach the person who made that kimbap?”
He laughed. It was genuine laughter.
I thought for a moment.
The conditions were good. No one would touch the ingredients, and expanding significantly would help.
‘That competition….’
The moment I saw Jang On-gyu wearing that mask.
That resolve to bring him down no matter what.
This might be the way to achieve it faster.
With this person’s logistics, I could withstand Jang On-gyu’s distribution pressure. No, I could even pressure him harder.
But. I didn’t accept right away.
“I’ll think about it.”
It wasn’t the right time for this yet.
At my refusal, Jang On-gyu’s expression darkened.
Han Jae-won was different.
Han Jae-won nodded. There was no disappointment in his demeanor.
Instead, he smiled.
“If you’d accepted right away, I would have been a bit worried.”
He didn’t pull out a business card.
He’d already given me one. At the competition.
“I’ll wait for your call.”

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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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