The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 2

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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 2. Opening for Business
‘Pathetic.’
Driving the rattling vehicle to the Food Truck Zone, that was my first impression of the place.
It was Thursday.
Even accounting for it being a weekday, there were virtually no people around.
The few passersby who did walk by showed no interest whatsoever.
A few years back, food trucks had been trendy enough to draw glances.
But that fad had long since faded.
The Food Truck Zone, built five years ago, was nothing more than an unremarkable part of the daily landscape for pedestrians.
‘Well, it’s something I anticipated to some degree.’
The location I’d chosen was one of many that had sprung up like mushrooms during the food truck craze.
Since the Local Government had competitively selected these truck zones, it was difficult to actually make a business work here.
‘That’s just how the Local Government operates.’
Everyone simply glanced at the food trucks as they passed by.
‘No matter. Let me just try opening for business.’
It was already something I’d anticipated.
If I’d survived the apocalypse, I wouldn’t despair over something like this.
‘I noticed there were even some empty reservations for the weekend. This place really is tough for business.’
Rather than despair, I observed the passersby carefully.
I studied potential customers and thought about what else needed to be prepared.
Clatter, clatter.
My hands moved busily as I worked.
I was doing the quick prep work necessary for the business.
* * *
Preparations complete.
“Alright, let’s get started.”
After preparation came the opening itself.
I retrieved what I’d spent the most money on during the three days of preparation.
A sandwich board sign.
I connected the power to the prepared sign and set it up.
[Ramen Case]
The sign glowed brilliantly as the power came on.
* * *
Ramen Case.
Simply put, it’s omakase—where the proprietor and chef decide what to serve.
Combined with ramen.
The shop’s name embodied the philosophy of serving whatever I decided, regardless of who came in.
The main menu is ramen.
The toppings are my choice.
Both the menu and method are quite straightforward.
The reason I chose cooking was simple.
‘I need to do what people do.’
Ramen was the most familiar food in this life because I ate it so often.
In my previous life, I couldn’t eat instant food because it didn’t exist.
Even now, the memory of factory-made food being more precious than gold during those years of apocalypse remains vivid in my mind.
It was a choice born from memory itself.
Regardless.
Thus, the Ramen Case was decided.
The moment I raised the signboard, people’s attention gathered.
“Pfft. Ramen Case? What’s that?”
“Hey, omakase is trending these days, so they’re slapping it on ramen too.”
“That’s kind of funny though? Want to give it a try?”
It wasn’t positive interest.
But the fact that I’d captured their curiosity was what mattered to me.
‘Just one person. If just one person comes and tastes it, that’s all I need.’
I had confidence.
I was certain that once anyone took a bite, I could transform their skepticism into praise.
“Hey, let’s go. What ramen? Just go into the alley next door and there are restaurants galore.”
“Really?”
“Let’s not waste our stomachs.”
“Yeah. Let’s go. Come on.”
“But what should we eat?”
“Hey, now that I see ramen, I’m actually craving it?”
“Ramen? Is that so? Then street food?”
“That’s not quite right. How about we go in there to that Japanese Ramen Restaurant?”
“Oh… Ramen? That sounds great!”
Unfortunately, the opportunity never came.
Ramen versus Japanese ramen—all I received was provocation.
‘You kids. Support local businesses, would you.’
* * *
‘This isn’t working.’
I sat in the Food Truck for about thirty minutes, staring blankly ahead.
I drew interest, but not a single customer came.
Just flies buzzing around.
It was an unfamiliar experience for me.
During the apocalypse, this never happened.
Survivors swarmed before I even finished cooking.
When people were starving to death, they had no room to be picky about food.
They were too busy devouring whatever ‘something’ I gave them.
Now, the situation was entirely different.
This isn’t an apocalypse—it’s an age of abundance. That’s the reality.
At first glance, it seemed insufficient.
‘I was thinking too simply. It’s not an apocalypse, but this is still my hunting ground. I need to do this properly.’
This is completely different from my past life, where the starving would rush at me without hesitation.
Even if my food was the best, I still needed people willing to eat it first.
I needed a means to draw them in.
If this were combat, I haven’t even begun to fight.
I can’t afford to lose so pathetically without trying.
‘Do I have a way to attract customers? I have quite a few skills in cooking and gathering ingredients. Hmm….’
I racked my brain for a long time.
The passersby glancing at me with curious eyes were prey—no, potential customers.
‘How did I draw in prey back then? Drawing them in… wait?’
Drawing them in.
The answer was right here!
Fortunately, I possessed a very effective hunting method—or rather, a customer-attracting method.
“Activate the Trap skill.”
* * *
[Activating skill 【Trap】.]
In the apocalypse, I had to gather materials myself.
The Trap skill was created for that purpose.
In other words, it was a skill for capturing monsters that would become cooking ingredients.
I used traps frequently.
There were countless varieties of traps.
Binding traps that captured ferocious enemies.
Lethal traps that made them attack and die.
Persistent traps that stimulated the senses to continuously draw enemies in, and so on.
Among these, I created a persistent trap that stimulated the sense of smell.
‘No one can resist a good smell.’
The trap activated immediately.
Sssss— Sss—
A thick aroma of ramen began wafting powerfully from the Food Truck.
The pungent, spicy scent of ramen that pierced the nostrils!
The effect was immediate.
“Sniff sniff… what is that smell?”
“Huh?”
As people drew closer to the Food Truck, more of them began twitching their noses.
One by one, they found the source of the aroma.
“There! That smell is coming from that Food Truck!”
“A Ramen Case?”
“What kind of ramen are they making to produce a smell like this?”
“Hey, want to try some?”
“Didn’t we agree to eat over there?”
“We didn’t make a reservation anyway. Let’s go.”
“Well… okay. The smell is pretty good too. Let’s give it a try.”
Come on in, welcome.
People began to gather.
* * *
Kang Jin-woo. Just another ordinary twenty-six-year-old job seeker.
Yet he walked with his head hung low, uncharacteristically dejected.
Throughout his walk, his parents’ voices from this morning echoed in his mind.
-Jin-woo, you’ll do well. Don’t be too discouraged.
-Hang in there. You can do it. You’re my son after all. Dad believes in you.
Words he’d heard after receiving the rejection from the company he’d interviewed with.
Those words weighed heavily on him.
If only they’d nagged him like everyone else did.
Then he could’ve rebelled pointlessly.
But sincere encouragement only piled on the burden.
“Sigh…”
He knew it. This sigh he was letting out. He knew it was the complaint of a blessed person.
This wasn’t even worth making a fuss over—it was just an ordinary story everyone had to go through eventually.
He knew it better than anyone. Or so he thought he did.
‘This is tough. I used to wonder why my brother just kept sighing during this period… Now I get it.’
Now that he was in this situation himself, his head felt dizzy. Everything seemed hopeless.
Still, he had to keep walking.
Even if he couldn’t interview right now, getting one more certification would help. And the academy fees for that certification…
‘Ugh. Stop digging yourself into a hole. Why are you like this? Kang Jin-woo, you’re not that kind of guy.’
If he kept dwelling on this, he’d get nowhere. He needed to clear his head.
He deliberately took a deep breath to redirect his thoughts.
Whoosh—
“Huh…? What’s this?”
Strange. A thick aroma filled his nostrils so intensely it tingled.
The scent had already flooded his nose completely.
This was a familiar aroma.
‘Ramen?’
Was there a ramen restaurant right next door?
No. The ramen scent was coming from the Food Truck over there in the distance.
‘What did they do to make the aroma this intense?’
Gulp—
Without realizing it, he found himself licking his lips, and Kang Jin-woo chuckled softly.
“Ah, forget it.”
I found myself drawn toward the Food Truck, moving as if in a trance.
[Ramen Case]
‘Ramen Case? Well, the name alone passes the test! I’m getting excited.’
It was a Food Truck with a name that struck directly at his unique tastes.
In front of the Food Truck, there were four small bar-style seats and two simple tables. Fortunately, all the seats were still empty.
I quickly set my bag down at one of the bar seats and stepped up to the counter.
“Hello.”
At the greeting, I lifted my head to see a neat-looking young man.
He appeared to be around Kang Jin-woo’s age, and his gentle smile radiated a sense of familiarity. His overall impression was quite likable.
“Hello. But don’t shops like this usually do something like ‘irasshaimase’?”
“Ah, that’s at ramen restaurants. Here, as you can see…”
The owner pointed to where several instant ramen packages were stacked.
Five different types of ramen you’d see at a supermarket.
It appeared that mild flavor, spicy flavor, and fire chicken flavor were the main offerings.
“Ah! Because it’s a ramen shop?”
“Exactly. For now, these are our basics.”
“I see. Then I’ll have… huh?”
The price written beneath the ramen stack: [5,000 won].
Seeing that, I couldn’t help but pause.
‘What? It’s just ordinary instant ramen. But 5,000 won? That’s expensive.’
Prices have gone up across the board, but this wasn’t a common price point.
Even if I went to the convenience store just a few hundred meters away and bought cup ramen with a triangle kimbap, it wouldn’t cost this much.
‘Maybe I should eat somewhere else.’
But somehow, it felt reluctant to leave.
The aroma that had filled my nostrils seemed to hold my feet in place.
Still…
‘What luxury for a job seeker.’
Even the same 5,000 won was different from my student days.
I need to be frugal.
What would change just from eating this?
So I was about to turn back when a serious voice reached me.
“Please try it. If it doesn’t taste good, I’ll give you a full refund right away.”
“No, even if it didn’t taste good, asking for a refund after eating… that’s a bit much…”
“Since you’re my first customer, I’ll take payment after. How about it?”
“Ah…”
No refund if it tastes bad. More than that phrase, it was the words “first customer.”
Those words somehow caught on me.
Looking around, there were still no other customers seated.
It seemed like he’d opened after quite thorough preparations.
At this rate, the business could very well end up being a failure.
‘Hmm. This is my first time…?’
Looking at him, he seemed about my age.
In a similar predicament, I wanted to do something for him, and wouldn’t this much count as encouragement?
Five thousand won for ramen is expensive, but it’s not a bad amount to spend as encouragement.
Right. Let’s eat.
“Then I’ll give it a try. For toppings, I’d like green onion….”
“Ah, I’ll choose the toppings for you. As you can see, this is a Ramen Case.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Then please add whatever you’d like.”
“Order received!”
Something felt a bit odd.
The owner’s hands moved without hesitation.
He poured the boiling water he’d prepared earlier into a large pot, and as the ramen quickly came to a boil, he asked while adding the noodles and broth.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Huh? Need for ramen? Haha….”
Need. As if that’s something you can just ask for.
I tried to brush it off, but this owner was quite persistent.
“Ah, you just look a bit tired. It would be nice if you gained some strength, right?”
“Well… strength would be nice, I suppose?”
“Haha. Good. Here, once you eat this, you’ll feel energized.”
And it was strange.
Would eating ramen fulfill what I need? My stomach would be a bit fuller, that’s all.
But that’s about it.
I hadn’t had high expectations to begin with.
‘If he was just throwing out a sales pitch… it seems like it failed?’
This person might not have great business sense.
Looking at him, his conversation with people seemed a bit awkward, and the atmosphere was strange somehow.
Like someone who’d gone off to an island alone for years to survive by themselves. There was an odd aura about him, I’d say.
Still, as the ramen cooked through, the aroma was quite pleasant.
But just as it was finishing, he added several more toppings.
“What’s that?”
“Since you’re my first customer, I’ll add a few extra toppings for you.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Please try it.”
The ramen I received was quite unique.
It was generously sprinkled with green onion, and on top of that were several pieces of what looked like braised garlic.
‘…Braised garlic? That’s a bit unusual. It almost looks like weird food.’
Jin-woo knew that garlic was particularly effective for recovering vitality.
But putting braised garlic on top of ramen seemed a bit strange to me.
Kang Jin-woo picked up his chopsticks, though something felt off about this place.
‘Something’s weird here. Ugh. Let me just eat and get out.’
He grabbed a large bundle of noodles and shoved them into his mouth.
Slurrrp—
In that instant.
“Mmm…?”
Fireworks exploded inside Jin-woo’s mind.

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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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