The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 16

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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 16. The Cooking Competition (1)
[A Quest has been generated.]
‘Here? Now?’
The notification came without warning.
A Quest appearing out of nowhere like this was unusual.
It didn’t happen often.
‘Quests are typically given during special circumstances or when leveling up. Now that I think about it…’
This time, it seemed to be a combination of both.
The situation itself was special—a competition.
And my level had just reached 20.
Level 20 was significant. It marked the threshold where one graduated from being a novice.
I had reached it not long ago without anything special happening.
‘I thought since no Quest appeared immediately, maybe this life wouldn’t have one. But for it to appear here… I guess a trigger was necessary for Quests to manifest?’
It was unexpected.
Though not entirely strange.
In my previous life too, Quests only revealed themselves when certain conditions were met.
Notably, my profession as a Chef made triggering Quests particularly rare.
For example, imagine a Quest like [Serve meals to 100 people].
Even knowing about it, accepting and completing it would be difficult.
‘Gathering 100 people alone is the hard part.’
It’s not like an apocalypse scenario.
Assembling people is genuinely challenging.
That’s why Quests rarely triggered for me.
It was also why titles were so difficult to obtain.
I wasn’t overjoyed when I first earned a title for nothing.
But that Quest appeared.
‘Well, what kind of Quest is it?’
At least it appeared, which was good.
What mattered was the content.
[The Path of the Food Service Industry]
The time has come to embark upon the true path of the food service industry.
-Reach 100 Renown
-Gain recognition as an expert
-Deliver genuine emotion through cooking
(Prerequisites completed)
Reward: 2 Promotion Skills, 10 Stats
‘Two skills and stats?! Oh! The rewards are certainly generous.’
New skills were always welcome. Combined with stat increases, it was the perfect bonus.
To complete this Quest, I needed to fulfill three conditions.
Remarkably, one of them was already satisfied.
‘Ah! The Old Gentlemen!?’
Delivering genuine emotion through cuisine.
I could easily predict how they’d broken through it.
The Old Gentleman’s treatment!
That must have been processed as a completed good deed.
‘I never imagined it would come back like this.’
An old act of kindness had returned unexpectedly.
That left two remaining objectives.
Gaining renown and earning expert recognition.
Seeing this, I understood why the Quest appeared here.
‘So it’s telling me to win the competition. That must be what it takes to clear it.’
Competition victory!
The Quest was pushing me toward that goal.
‘I was planning to do that anyway.’
If I was going to participate, victory was always my aim.
And now with a Quest backing it up.
Rather than feeling anxious, my determination burned even brighter.
* * *
One week remained until the competition.
“Did you submit your entry?”
“Of course!”
“I did too. Different category though.”
“Coffee, right?”
“Yeah. Hope I actually pull it off. Either way, it’ll be good to try.”
I busily submitted my entry.
Mine was naturally the cooking competition.
The Coffee Truck Owner participated in the coffee division as a secondary category.
“But does Jang Owner cook too?”
“Ah… I learned a bit back in my younger days.”
“Oh wow.”
“It’s honestly embarrassing to do this in front of you…”
“Come on, what’s there to be embarrassed about? Just go and do well.”
“I know first place is tough. But if I could at least get a special mention… I was thinking maybe that would give Youth Mall some bonus points?”
“Oh, that makes sense. Let’s both do our best!”
“Right! Let’s go for it!”
The resourceful Jang Owner unexpectedly entered the same cooking category as me.
His words were humble, but I’d heard he had quite a few relevant certifications.
Though cooking isn’t perfected by certifications alone.
‘But having them proves he prepared thoroughly.’
It was evidence that couldn’t be dismissed.
‘Could I be a dark horse after all?’
Considering the competence the Boss usually displayed.
I could pull off something unexpected and surprising.
“Everyone, let’s prepare thoroughly.”
“Of course!”
“We don’t know what might come up. Let’s do this right.”
“Yes! Let’s do this right!”
Everyone prepared diligently.
We shared information that had already spread.
We spent several days reviewing each other’s work to ensure nothing was overlooked.
The day of the competition was approaching rapidly.
‘It’s been quiet lately.’
How long had it been since such peace? There had been no interference toward the Food Truck whatsoever.
For some reason, the Bang Owner hadn’t even shown his face.
‘He’d have to pass through here to get to work, wouldn’t he?’
The lesson from last time had clearly taken effect.
‘Good.’
Such peace had been far too long in coming.
‘I can focus more on the cooking competition.’
What to bring to the cooking competition.
I could immerse myself in how to proceed.
* * *
Finally, the day of the competition arrived.
“Let’s go!”
“Everyone, fighting spirit!”
That day, fully prepared, we headed to the Competition Venue.
Though it was called a regional festival.
The news had spread quite a bit—there were more people at the Competition Venue than expected.
“Oh. Old Gentleman! What brings you here?”
“Hehe. You’re competing, so I had to come. Win first place for sure!”
“Thank you!”
“Brother, I’m here too!”
“Me too!”
Familiar faces appeared. I couldn’t believe they’d all come out on this weekend too.
With a heart full of gratitude, I could take my place at the Competition Venue.
‘It’s quite large. Seems like there are many participants too.’
The Competition Venue, set up in a rented auditorium, was larger than I’d expected.
The cooking platforms prepared in advance gave an indication of its scale.
With gratitude toward the familiar faces, I took my seat.
“Hello. I’m Lee Sang-gyu, in charge of running the preliminaries for today’s cooking competition. Thank you for your participation.”
A man who appeared to be a professional MC for regional festivals took the stage and began the ceremony.
With the mayor’s opening remarks and several procedures concluded,
the introduction of the judges began.
“Now, allow me to introduce the judges who will be evaluating today. Everyone, please don’t be surprised—we have the esteemed Jang On-gyu, a native son of this very region!”
“Wooooow…!”
The atmosphere instantly heated up.
‘That Jang On-gyu is here?’
Jang On-gyu. One of those people commonly called a business genius. He operated multiple franchises of his own creation. He appeared on TV fairly often, so his name recognition was quite high.
Truly, a figure known throughout the entire nation.
I never expected such a person to show up.
‘Ah, so that’s why there were so many people.’
I had wondered why there were so many people for a competition of this scale.
It was definitely because Jang On-gyu was appearing.
‘They really put some effort into this, didn’t they?’
I was satisfied.
As someone aiming to win the competition and secure a spot in the Youth Mall, this was good news.
After all, if I could build significant recognition through this opportunity, business would become much easier.
Next, two more figures appeared alongside Jang On-gyu.
‘Lee Sae-rom and Jang Han-su.’
Lee Sae-rom was a celebrity from this region with decent name recognition.
Jang Han-su was one of the celebrities who frequently appeared on TV alongside Jang On-gyu, the so-called business genius.
Judging from how he conversed familiarly with Jang On-gyu, he had clearly agreed to appear at his request.
‘This is getting bigger.’
My satisfaction grew along with it.
Just as I thought this was quite good,
the last three judges all came out at once.
“And of course, we can’t overlook community cooperation. Finally, we’ve invited the native proprietors of this region’s Eatery District as judges!”
“Oh my?”
“Those ones! Those ones! I wondered why it was so quiet.”
“Huh….”
Everyone gasped at the sight of those three.
The Ramen Restaurant’s Bang Owner, the Baekban Restaurant’s Wang Kkot-ne Owner, and the Cham Siru Owner, the old-timer.
All three were familiar names.
‘They’re the names I put at the very top of my sign list.’
All three, dressed to the nines,
climbed onto the stage with expressions full of determination.
‘Hmm?’
The Bang Owner kept glancing around nervously,
and when our eyes met, he wore a smug expression as if to say he’d spotted me.
‘Sigh. People really don’t change so easily, do they?’
I flashed him a grin.
The Bang Owner looked flustered.
Meeting the Bang Owner’s eyes, I found myself thinking this would be interesting.
‘He’ll definitely be an obstacle. That’s why I was given this Quest. Quests aren’t handed out unless they’re difficult.’
The task had become more challenging than I anticipated.
Did that make me fearful and anxious?
‘Not a chance.’
Instead, my fighting spirit blazed even brighter.
For someone who had aimed for victory from the very beginning, this was hardly an obstacle at all.
“Hmm….”
The Bang Owner swallowed hard and turned away.
The emcee finished all the announcements about the cooking competition.
And then.
“Now, let the cooking competition begin!”
The competition had started.
* * *
The preliminary round of the cooking competition began.
The theme given was.
[Creating Home-Cooked Meals]
It was exquisite.
Home-cooked meals. A theme that requires more work than one might think.
There were no restrictions by country.
Korean home cooking, Japanese home cooking, Chinese home cooking—all were possible.
The scope was remarkably broad.
‘Considering how diverse the participants in this cooking competition are, there’s no better theme than this.’
Moreover, home-cooked meals themselves require more effort than expected. The standard isn’t to present just one dish, but multiple dishes.
With more variety, it’s easier to assess overall culinary skill.
That’s why it’s so exquisite.
‘It seems this was his idea.’
Jang On-gyu, observing this place intently from above.
His influence clearly ran deep in this choice.
‘He didn’t earn the title of business genius for nothing.’
Many people had been called business geniuses over the years.
But the fact that he had maintained his position among them for so long proved his ability.
Today’s theme selection was a glimpse of that genius at work.
‘I like it.’
I learned something valuable.
One day, I’ll stand in that position and show my own mastery.
With that thought burning in my chest, I began my knife work.
Tack-tack-tack. Tack.
* * *
I chose home-style Korean cuisine for my dish.
‘Cooking grounded in the fundamentals.’
I anchored the plate with a steaming bowl of kimchi stew.
As the aroma alone made my mouth water, I planned to arrange several side dishes beneath it.
Bean sprouts, spinach, and rolled egg to modulate the intensity of flavors.
And finally, I decided to add one more kick.
‘Normally, you wouldn’t serve them together. But this combination is surprisingly exquisite.’
Thwack—
For that final touch, I sliced the pork into generous chunks.
And with that, all the preparations were complete.
‘Now, let’s really get to work.’
As time passed, my preparations accelerated.
The murmur of judges on the platform and spectators watching the competition drifted through the air.
Sizzle—
Just as delicious aromas began to tickle the noses of everyone around.
Ding—ding—
“Time’s up! Everyone, please step away from your stations!”
The bell signaling the end of the preliminaries rang out.

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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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