The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 42

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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 42. Unexpected Circumstances (1)
“….”
“Once the festival ends, you’ll understand what this industry is really like.”
Jang On-gyu’s eyes gleamed coldly.
This festival was no ordinary event.
A sweet trap to herd the rats into one place and eliminate them all at once.
The current prosperity was merely the final feast before the execution.
“Things are going to get rough from here on out.”
His murmur hung heavy in the office, accompanied by a bitter smile.
* * *
Saturday morning. After finishing my preparations, I looked outside and stifled a laugh.
‘This… is a method I’ve never seen before?’
The road in front of my store was completely empty.
More precisely, the entrance to my store was blocked off for several meters.
It wasn’t the crude sight of thugs standing around with clubs.
Security guards in fluorescent vests and neatly erected safety fences.
Messages were written on the fence, one line each.
[Traffic is restricted for safety during the festival!]
[Safety First!]
[Let’s create a safe festival together!]
Such guidance notices were written there.
“Boss! What is that? People can’t get in!”
Jin-woo, who had just arrived for his shift, came running with a distressed expression.
From a distance, I could see the security guards politely blocking people trying to head this way.
“We apologize. This area is outside the festival zone, so it’s restricted due to safety hazards.”
“We’re restricting access as evening events are being prepared. Please take an alternate route.”
The people turned away with disappointed expressions and headed back to the Main Street, where Jang On-gyu’s stores lined up.
‘The method is remarkably refined.’
I didn’t need anyone to tell me.
This was Jang On-gyu’s handiwork.
Not physical violence, not crude vandalism.
Administrative isolation using “safety”—a justification no one could refute.
The intention to completely block the natural overflow of festival crowds was crystal clear.
Even if I filed a complaint with City Hall now, they’d just say “for citizen safety” and I’d have nothing to say.
‘And even if they accepted the complaint, the festival would already be over by then, wouldn’t it?’
They’d sealed everything off.
Legal, justified, and lethal.
Remarkable—accomplishing all this with just a fence.
This really is a method I never would have thought of.
“That’s basically killing our store, isn’t it? Shouldn’t we go confront them about this?”
“Leave it alone.”
“What? Brother!”
“This isn’t the time to lose our temper.”
I set down my apron and approached the fence line.
I examined it carefully.
The fence blocking the main road to the store was isolating us.
Like a remote island.
The crude walls of the abandoned factory and the yellow fence blocking its front.
Jang On-gyu must have thought he’d ‘quarantined’ us this way. Into a discarded space, excluded from the festival’s splendor.
* * *
The first thing you notice is the fence.
Since it can’t completely block the road, there is a small path between the fence sections.
But this looks completely blocked.
It seems difficult to do business right now.
To come here, you’d have to squeeze through the small gap between the safety fences.
‘Ordinary customers would never push through something this blocked. Turning back is common sense.’
Customers are more sensitive than you’d think.
If they perceive something as blocked psychologically, they won’t come.
But wait.
My eyes saw it differently.
‘It’s not isolation. Depending on how you look at it, you could call it a boundary.’
That fence was clearly defining our restaurant’s boundary.
The noise and chaos of the festival stopped beyond that fence, just meters away from the restaurant.
That narrow passage, half-blocked by the Security Guard, was the only way through.
It appeared blocked at first glance.
‘As long as there’s an entrance, it’s not blocked.’
I let out a quiet laugh.
During the apocalypse, the first thing I did when protecting a survivor camp was installing barricades.
It was to block enemies, but at the same time, it was a marker signaling that place was a safe zone.
To my eyes, the boundary created by the fence looked just like that marker from back then.
‘Right now, that fence was separating our Factory Canteen from the Festival Grounds’ Flea Market.’
It appeared as if they were separate territories.
Jang On-gyu aimed for that.
But if you thought about it the other way, it was different.
“Jin-woo.”
“Yes? Brother, why are you smiling?”
“Look at that.”
“The fence? I don’t even want to look at it.”
“No. Look at it again, carefully.”
I pointed with my chin at the gap between the fence sections.
A narrow path that barely allowed one or two people to pass through.
Jin-woo’s gaze landed on that spot.
I pointed directly at it and spoke.
“That looks like an event entrance gate, doesn’t it?”
“…Huh?”
Jin-woo’s eyes widened in surprise.
Exactly. Not a path anyone could freely walk on, but a space accessible only through a controlled entrance.
Jang On-gyu probably thought he’d boxed us in, but in reality, he’d turned our store into a special zone.
‘Instead of being in the middle of the loud, bustling festival, he’d made it a quiet, pleasant place.’
He’d even stationed Security Guards to maintain order.
All I needed to do was draw customers to this cleaned-up space.
“The Security Guards can’t stop customers who come of their own accord, can they?”
“But how would they even find us with it blocked off like this?”
“There are ways to make it happen.”
* * *
The Security Guards beyond the fence turned around with bewildered expressions.
The road that had been empty just moments before—what was called the Controlled Area—had instantly transformed into a magnificent outdoor cooking space.
‘Might as well use everything available.’
Screech—! Clatter, thud!
Three Food Trucks lined up in a fan formation with the fence as their backdrop.
In the center was my ramen truck.
On the left was Older Brother’s Coffee Truck.
On the right was Jang Owner’s fried food truck.
They displayed their presence as if this were the festival’s true main gate.
“Hyung, is this really okay? What if we get inspected for illegal road occupation?”
Jin-woo asked with an anxious expression.
But I calmly stirred the broth and answered.
“It’s fine. I’ve already confirmed everything.”
“What?”
“It’s the festival period. There’s a temporary road occupancy business permit issued. Jang On-gyu probably lobbied a bit to revitalize the street in front of his store.”
I chuckled and picked up the ladle.
“Thanks to that, we benefit too. This entire area has permits, so there’s no legal issue whatsoever.”
This was the stage Jang On-gyu had set.
The festival he created, the regulatory relaxation he enabled.
All of it had become our weapon in this very moment.
“Now, get ready to receive customers.”
“Huh? But there are no customers yet…. They’re still not coming because of that fence, right?”
“They’ll come.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yeah. Suddenly.”
I’d successfully drawn their visual attention.
Colorful Food Trucks visible between the fence gaps.
It was more than enough to spark people’s curiosity.
-What’s that?
-What is it? Are they having a festival there too?
But there were no dining tables.
This place wasn’t meant for lingering—it was a gateway to draw people into the Factory Canteen.
Beyond that fence, one decisive strike to firmly capture the footsteps of passersby lost in the festival’s noise!
‘Visuals alone aren’t enough.’
The sense that stimulates human instinct fastest and strongest is smell.
I climbed onto the truck.
The same method I’d used during the Apocalypse to lure starving monsters for hunting. Now it was time to hunt customers.
[Skill 【Trap Installation】 is being cast.]
[Trap Type: Sustained Olfactory Lure]
I reached toward the pot of ramen broth simmering on the first truck.
Whoooosh!
The intense spicy flavor and deep, rich broth aroma amplified explosively.
A primal stimulus piercing straight to the salivary glands!
“Whoa… what are you doing, hyung! The smell…!”
“That’s what you call aroma. Haha.”
“It reminds me of when I first came to your restaurant.”
“Really?”
Sharp instincts, that one.
Jin-woo had always been naturally gifted with sensory perception.
‘This isn’t the end.’
The second truck, Jang Owner’s deep fryer.
The sizzling oil aroma and the savory fragrance of fried coating.
I stripped away all the greasiness, maximizing only the appetizing, savory richness.
‘The final third one!’
Older Brother’s coffee machine.
The subtle, bittersweet aroma of freshly roasted beans.
A scent that gently enveloped the festival’s excited atmosphere while stimulating people’s instinct for rest.
Sssssss-
That aroma spread out subtly.
What you might call layered composition.
Coffee aroma spreading gently.
The savory richness of the fryer wafting deeply.
And finally, ramen surging forward!
All three aromas harmonized in a single breath.
[Trap Installation Complete.]
[Three distinct aromas harmonize in perfect fusion.]
[The luring effect increases dramatically.]
The moment the skill activates.
An invisible wave of fragrance surges beyond the fence and spreads across the street.
Whoooosh—
Like the scent of blood wafting toward a starving beast.
The effect was instantaneous.
“Sniff sniff… Hey, what is that smell?”
“Wow, this is insane. Where is that coming from?”
“Ramen? No, fried food? But I smell coffee too?”
“Over there!”
Outside the fence, the heads of people who had been passing by murmuring suddenly turned toward this place in unison.
That narrow entrance blocked by the Security Guard.
From there, an irresistible temptation of flavor pours forth.
“Jin-woo.”
“Yes?”
“They’re coming.”
I could see the eyes of people approaching as if entranced, like a horde of zombies.
The safety fence is no longer a barrier.
It will become the most enchanting gateway into a delicious restaurant.

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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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