The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 22

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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 22. Good Customers and Bad Customers
Inside a large vehicle parked a short distance from the Food Truck Zone.
Lee Sae-rom had just stepped into the vehicle, holding three takeout cups of instant noodles in her hands.
The moment Jang Han-su saw Saerom removing her mask and exhaling, he shouted loudly.
“Oh. You finally brought them! Didn’t that take way too long?”
“Didn’t you see how crowded it was over there? I was so nervous I’d get caught!”
“Ah. You came with the staff and now you’re complaining! Is this how broadcasters are supposed to act?!”
“You called me two hours ago and I came running right away, didn’t I?”
“Oh. I should have called you two days ago. I’m sorry!”
“If you’re sorry, then I’ll take both bowls for myself!”
“Wait…!”
She was a professional. She immediately returned the volley.
Once the atmosphere had warmed up appropriately, Jang On-gyu stepped in to wrap things up.
“Well then, let’s each try one.”
“Since you said let’s each try one, I have no choice but to eat!”
“Ah!”
Each of them held a cup of instant noodles in their hands.
They first smelled the aroma from the cups that had just begun to steam.
Soon after, they slurped up the noodles.
“Ooh…!”
“Mm…!”
“It’s delicious! How can instant noodles be like this!”
All three of them exclaimed in their own ways.
Jang On-gyu in particular opened his eyes wider than usual.
Jang On-gyu’s signature pose that appeared whenever he ate something genuinely delicious.
‘Get a close-up of that!!’
The PD who was filming this gave a signal to the cameraman.
The shot was definitely a success!
Seeing this, the PD broke into a satisfied smile.
‘We actually got that. Perfect. It was worth coming all the way here.’
The PD had planned this visit.
Hadn’t the Food Truck Zone Owners advanced in large numbers to the finals of the cooking competition?
‘It’s a street of famous restaurants, after all.’
With that as the focus, they had come to film their usual appearances after the cooking competition.
The concept was a secret customer visit!
‘If we film an A/S broadcast here and it connects to the Youth Mall, we could hit it big, right?’
The PD, focused on the screen, felt a good vibe.
The Food Truck Zone Owners advancing to the cooking competition finals.
And among them, a champion would emerge.
Soon to become the owner of the newly built Youth Mall!
‘Hah. Now this is a great shot. People talk about pilgrimage sites, but this—this is the real pilgrimage.’
My eye for capturing the best moments first, and recognizing them!
The PD praised himself while beaming with delight.
As he continued filming the unfolding scene, the three of them finished their cup noodles.
“Now I understand why they limited it to one per person!”
“Why?”
“Because it’s so delicious! If I could eat as much as I wanted, what would I do!”
“There are hundreds of bowls being served!”
“I think I could eat all of them!”
Amid the endless exclamations, the PD signaled.
A signal to move on to the next thing.
Jang On-gyu caught on remarkably well.
“Haha. How about we test just how much we can eat?”
“How?!”
“Well, it looks like we’re past the peak hours now. How about we head in and check it out?”
“Oh. Sounds good. Wait? And look, it seems like break time is starting!”
Their perfect back-and-forth. Jang Han-su was ready as if he’d been waiting for this.
Meanwhile, a group was walking toward the Food Truck Zone bulletin board.
Judging by what looked like posters in their hands, they were clearly about to post some kind of announcement.
‘This is insane.’
The PD’s dopamine levels surged to their peak.
Why would they be posting on the bulletin board right now?
It had to be for the Youth Mall acceptance announcement scheduled for today!
It was already a great shot, but capturing it being posted in real-time?
‘This is insane. Absolutely insane.’
It would have much better impact than showing the announcement results as a graphic later.
The Food Truck Owners also rushed toward the bulletin board, eager to see the announcement.
All of them had hopeful gleams in their eyes.
The cameraman didn’t miss this either, capturing everything on screen.
‘This is the day!’
I need to hurry.
Next, film the owners’ joy as they see the acceptance announcement, then get interviews.
The picture forming in my mind is perfect!
Such a perfectly orchestrated scene!
“Come on, something’s happening over there! We can’t miss this! Let’s go! Hurry!”
“Right! Let’s go together!”
“….”
Led by Jang Han-su, they all rushed off.
The cameramen followed, cheering with excitement.
‘This is it! This is it! This is the one!’
The PD’s dopamine had reached its peak the moment he arrived at the bulletin board.
“Huh?”
“Hmm….”
Something was off about this picture.
* * *
‘I already knew.’
Even though she was concealed with a hat and mask.
I already knew that Lee Sae-rom, whom I’d seen at the cooking competition before, had come to this place.
After all, my eye for detail doesn’t just disappear anywhere.
‘I would’ve died in the apocalypse without that eye for detail.’
I could recognize someone even with a disguise, so there’s no way I’d miss something concealed so simply.
Since the broadcast PD had been quite excited about the cooking competition, I figured he was planning to film something afterwards.
This kind of thing was familiar to me. But.
‘Ah, this isn’t something I’m familiar with.’
What was right in front of my eyes couldn’t possibly be familiar.
“What is this? Does this even make sense?”
Jang Owner was right.
Something that made absolutely no sense was right there on the bulletin board.
The bulletin board displayed the list of successful applicants for the Youth Mall.
Since the mall was quite large in scale to host such a competition, quite a few successful applicants were listed.
“I got in. Jang Owner got in too… but why on earth!?”
“Exactly! How does this make any sense!”
“…Hmm.”
The problem was that my name wasn’t there.
I’d won the cooking competition outright.
And I thought I’d received the best response among all the participants.
‘Why?’
I’d naturally assumed my name would be at the very top.
It wasn’t arrogance—it was a straightforward calculation.
But with this result, I couldn’t help but be bewildered.
Others felt the same way.
The Coffee Truck Owner and Jang Owner who’d participated in the competition with me were furious.
The broadcast station staff who’d rushed over were swallowing hard repeatedly.
“What… what is this? Turn off the camera for now.”
“Hmm….”
The PD who’d rushed over called cut.
They gathered in small groups and contacted someone.
Yes? What? Why? Yes?
Incomprehensible answers came through one-sidedly, and I heard one of the staff members whisper something to the PD.
“Apparently there were no bonus points for not being a local resident.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense. What about the bonus points for winning the cooking competition?”
“Well, they said it’s difficult to explain the other details….”
“Hell! The setup looked so good!”
I could see the PD’s hidden temperament exploding.
The way he kept stamping his feet on the ground showed he wasn’t just ordinarily angry.
I wasn’t much different.
My insides were churning with rage.
“This doesn’t make sense no matter how you look at it, right?”
“Exactly. No matter what reason you come up with, it doesn’t make sense!”
The bonus points were just an excuse. I would have passed without them.
The fact that they kept Jang Owner and the Coffee Truck Owner in while singling me out was utterly contemptible.
“This isn’t about taking sides… one person fails and another passes! What is this!”
“I understood not everyone could pass… but not like this! This still isn’t right!”
Both owners looked at me with sympathetic eyes.
Their expressions asked what could be done about this.
Beyond all those sympathetic gazes directed at me.
‘Well, this doesn’t slip by unnoticed either.’
I could see them in the distance, smirking with satisfied expressions.
The group including Bang Owner.
The fact that they showed up here with such perfect timing meant they already knew the results.
How did they find out the results.
‘I can guess.’
For some reason, I could sense it.
People commonly speak of territorial bias only in rural areas.
But most cities had their own territorial biases too.
It meant that what common sense wouldn’t tolerate operated as their own rules.
Occasionally when it crossed the line, it made the news and became publicly known.
‘Somehow this time seems like it’ll be difficult.’
Judging by how the PD, who had been making several calls, was quietly trying to back away.
Going public seemed impossible for now.
It wasn’t that I alone couldn’t go public about it.
These days there were methods like YouTube and personal broadcasts.
With my reputation already risen from the cooking competition, if I connected it well, I could make quite a stir.
Was I afraid? No, I wasn’t afraid.
Could I do it? Yes, I could.
But the thing is.
‘I’m not in the mood for it.’
If I went public like that.
And won and moved forward, would that be a comfortable position for me.
It wasn’t because of those people smirking in the distance.
I was confident I could weather whatever collision came my way.
But this—seeing it unfold like this—I find myself reluctant.
I don’t want to wade into that filthy mud pit and get myself covered in muck. I’d end up just as dirty as them.
But then, what do I do about what comes after?
“Kim, what are you going to do?”
“Hmm. Well, I haven’t really thought about it.”
It was difficult to answer just yet.
What was happening now was something I hadn’t anticipated either.
“For now, I need to think it through.”
“Think it through?”
So a concrete decision remained on hold.
But that didn’t mean I hadn’t set a direction.
“Yes. I need to think about what to do next. There’s no law saying I can only open a store in the Youth Mall, right?”
!!!!
“That’s right! Exactly!”
“I will definitely open a store.”
Opening a new store was already decided.
My entry into the Youth Mall had been preparation for that all along.
But it didn’t have to be the Youth Mall specifically, did it?
Even now, it wasn’t too late to make a decision.
And if that method could accomplish something…
‘I’d love it if I could crumple up those smug expressions over there.’
Even better would be a way to land blows that would keep their faces twisted in displeasure for a long time.
I had more than enough ability to deal them multiple hits.
‘I’ll repay kindness tenfold and vengeance a hundredfold. That’s how I’ll make it.’
What remained was figuring out how.
And so my deliberation began.
I finished a brief interview amid my thoughts.
And as I was wrapping up business for the day.
“Huh?”
“Would you have a moment to talk?”
An unexpected visitor arrived with a proposal I hadn’t anticipated.

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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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