The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 137

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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 137. Running the Store (3)
“I’m in!”
Sonny slapped the table with her palm and answered first.
She beat PD Ga by half a beat.
“Ah! I was supposed to be first!”
“Why? The fastest person wins, right? I’ve got good reflexes, you know?”
“Yeah, I guess. Well, does it really matter who’s first? What’s important is that we’re doing this together.”
“Uh, you’re just saying that because you lost, aren’t you?”
“Hehe. Think whatever you want. Whatever you want.”
PD Ga sighed once, then eventually laughed along.
“I’m in too!”
“That’s good.”
“But if we’re doing this…”
Sonny raised one finger.
“We should call the empress too, shouldn’t we?”
“Im Ha-yun? Haven’t those two been on bad terms this whole time?”
“Work is work and personal is personal. If Ha-yun joins in, the concept gets even better, doesn’t it?”
“Wow. So you’ve got talent for producing too, not just quick reflexes.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It is a compliment. Hmm… the empress… she wasn’t in the original concept, but… you’re right. It’ll boost the buzz and make the concept even better.”
“Plus, Ha-yun might feel a bit left out by PD Ga, right?”
“!!!”
“But what can we do? The concept is good. If the concept is good, PD approves of everything!”
“…Damn it. I need to work on my reflexes more.”
“Hehehehe.”
So even rivals get called in when needed.
Of course you call them if you need them.
If you don’t, you’re only hurting yourself.
People who don’t understand that never succeed.
‘I’ve seen plenty of people ruin themselves by being stubborn about pride.’
In severe cases, there are those who cling to their pride even when their very lives are on the line.
Compared to that, Sonny was definitely the type who would succeed.
“I’ll contact her directly. I’ll handle that part.”
“Ah, trying to save face that way?”
“What else can I do?”
“Fine. I’ll let you have this one. But you owe me, okay?”
“Geez… honestly, it’s scary to work with you.”
“You don’t like it?”
“No! I’m in!”
“Alright then. So we’re all agreed!?”
“Yes!”
“Just finished!”
The three of us raised our glasses simultaneously.
What filled them wasn’t alcohol but barley tea. But what did it matter?
‘The picture has grown once more.’
New people were being added to the board I’d drawn!
* * *
Jang On-gyu was just leaving his family home.
His necktie hung looser than usual.
It was a sign that he was irritated.
-You can’t even do things properly, yet you keep starting new ventures.
-Ha, that’s just how he is. He should stay inside where he belongs, but instead he goes out there trying to make a name for himself and only brings shame to the family.
-Sigh… I’ll clean up the mess for now. You help him out as his older brother.
-Yes. A younger brother needs his older brother to look after him. Don’t worry, Father.
-Good. I trust only you.
His father’s and brother’s words were etched into his mind, each and every one.
The broadcasting work, the merchandising, the PD Ga line—nothing had been cleanly wrapped up.
His family home had seized upon exactly that.
His mouth tasted bitter.
What could he do?
The work was already in motion.
The moment he got into the car, he sank deeply into the seat.
The secretary in the driver’s seat paused before turning on the engine.
“Where shall I take you?”
“To the office.”
The office was located in the New City District.
It was also a place that served as proof of his commitment to this endeavor.
“Yes, sir.”
Familiar streets flowed past the car window.
Streets lined with his signs.
It was a landscape he saw every day, but today something else kept catching at the edge of his vision.
“…Wait.”
“Yes?”
The car stopped.
Jang On-gyu rolled down the window. Outside air rushed in all at once.
Across the street, he could see a construction site where two or three stores had been bundled together.
Kuuung. Kuung.
With a thunderous sound, the temporary wall came down, and three workers inside were moving materials.
‘…What is this?’
The shop next to it also appeared to be bundled together. Not just one, but two locations. Perhaps even three.
‘The scale isn’t small at all.’
Under normal circumstances, I would have overlooked this sight.
Stores opening and closing in the New City District was common, and most of them disappeared again within a couple of months.
‘But this feels different somehow.’
Acquiring multiple locations and renovating them wasn’t something an ordinary person did. It required substantial capital investment.
It meant whoever was moving in had come with a deliberate plan.
Jang On-gyu’s finger tapped against the window frame once.
“What’s that place?”
“It appears to be a new establishment.”
“Who?”
“I haven’t been able to confirm yet.”
“…Look into it.”
“I’ll check right away.”
The Secretary beside him immediately pulled out his phone.
Jang On-gyu didn’t close the window.
“…There’s no way they came in without knowing what this place is.”
“Sir?”
“Never mind. Let’s go.”
The car began moving again.
Sunlight slanted down across the signboard.
‘I have a bad feeling about this.’
* * *
The promised day had arrived. The day for the consulting session.
Couple’s Kalguksu Restaurant.
I arrived right after my kitchen work finished, timing it perfectly after the break.
‘Busy, so busy.’
I was stretched thin, but it didn’t matter. When I thought about doing something worthwhile, energy surged through me. And I’d get to take a shot at Jang On-gyu while I was at it.
‘Arrived!’
And so I reached the couple’s restaurant. Even though the lunch rush was ending, the scent of anchovies still permeated the store. It meant they were preparing properly even without customers.
I pushed open the glass door and stepped inside.
“Welcome—oh!”
“Hello.”
The Owner stood up from in front of the dough board, brushing off his hands. The Old Lady also came out from behind the counter, adjusting her apron.
“Welcome. We’ve been waiting since earlier.”
“Let’s get started right away.”
“Yes! How should we do this?”
“By the way, we’ll be setting up a camera in that corner over there—is that alright?”
“A camera?”
PD Ga stepped forward from behind me.
A palm-sized camera was mounted on his shoulder.
It wasn’t the massive equipment the Broadcasting Station typically used, but rather something small enough for an individual to carry around.
‘That’s the perfect size for YouTube. Good instincts.’
The couple froze the moment they saw the camera.
And they froze again when they saw the person holding it.
“Wait, wait, wait… Are you PD Ga?”
“Yes. That’s right. PD Ga.”
Their eyes held that blank expression of confusion.
They’d been told they were getting consulting, but suddenly PD Ga appeared. For the two of them, it was certainly surprising enough.
But clarification was necessary.
“Are we, are we going on TV?”
“No. YouTube.”
“Y, YouTube?”
I had to tell them they were going on YouTube.
“Just relax and act naturally. Think of this as just a wall.”
PD Ga added with a smile.
“You need to think of it as a wall, or the screen won’t come alive.”
Hearing that, they’d probably be even more self-conscious.
But it had some effect.
“If you’re a PD…”
“That’s, that’s good.”
The couple each responded. The Old Lady gripped the edge of her apron tightly, while the Owner repeatedly tucked and untucked a kitchen towel at his side—his own way of managing the tension.
Now that we’d started, there was no point in delaying.
I walked toward the kneading board and set down a cup of water as I spoke.
“Let’s start with the noodles first.”
“That’s, that’s good!”
* * *
The consulting began despite the tension. And so did the consulting itself.
“Just make the dough the way you normally do.”
“Yes. Just, just like usual?”
“Yes. Like you always do.”
The Owner poured flour into the mixer and added water.
He seemed accustomed to measuring the amounts by eye. These were hands that had been doing this for a long time.
The mixer began to turn.
There was one thing I needed to confirm here.
‘I’m curious about the ratio.’
Specifically, the dough ratio. I asked immediately.
“What’s your flour to water ratio?”
“About thirty-five to one hundred.”
“Based on one pound of flour?”
“Yes.”
It came out right away. He’d calculated it in his head. That wasn’t bad at all.
Even for a restaurant, there had to be some standardized ratios. Sometimes those ratios could trap you, but still.
‘…We had them at our restaurant too.’
In any case, having some standards was better than having none at all.
The problem wasn’t whether ratios existed, but the ratios themselves.
“With that ratio, wouldn’t it come out a bit too thick?”
“Yes, I know, but it needs to be this thick for the knife work to feel right.”
“Isn’t the ease of knife work different from the texture the customer actually experiences?”
!!!
The Owner paused for a beat.
“…You’re right. Now that I think about it… I’ve been using the same ratio I learned during my training. I just assumed it was correct.”
PD Ga’s camera lingered on that silence.
I glanced at him and dove straight into the consultation.
“Try reducing the water to twenty-eight percent.”
“Twenty-eight? Won’t the dough not come together?”
“It will. But you’ll need to knead it several more times than you’re doing now.”
“Ah… Yes. I’ll give it a try!”
The Owner pulled out a fresh bowl and adjusted the scale again. His hands didn’t slow down.
The Old Lady watched from beside him, opened her mouth once, then closed it.
The dough went through another cycle. This time, the clump came together a beat later.
“…It doesn’t come together at first, then suddenly it does.”
“At that moment when it suddenly comes together, knead it for one more minute.”
“One more minute?”
“Yes.”
The timer ran. The dough became smooth.
The Owner tore off a piece and rolled it with the rolling pin.
The thickness had noticeably thinned.
He’d spread the same amount of dough as before, yet the surface area was now one and a half times larger.
“…Wow.”
Exclamations flowed from those watching the result.
It meant the dough had turned out exceptionally well.
* * *
‘The dough is seventy percent of this menu. Even so, if the remaining thirty percent isn’t right, it’s still the same.’
I needed to build momentum and keep it going from here.
Since the dough was ready, I had him move straight to the next step.
“Try cutting it.”
The Owner picked up his knife.
Tap tap tap tap.
The rhythm was steady. Even with the thinned dough, the knife descended without catching, flowing smoothly through.
‘My instincts didn’t fail me. His knife work is truly ingrained in his hands.’
The Old Lady received noodles in an empty bowl as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
The noodle strands fell a full tone thinner than usual.
‘Perfect.’
The start was absolutely flawless.
A Chef from the Apocalypse Ventures into the Food Service Industry
Author |
Heung-haeng
Publisher |
Samyang C&C
Editorial Director |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C – Dream Books
Address |
Seoul, Gangnam-gu, Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil 28, Gwangseong Building 7th Floor
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260206001
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter(X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C – Dream Books.

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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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