The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 49

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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 49. The Unexpected
[Mukbang Ha-yun]
“What…?”
Ha-yun? When we first started as YouTubers together, we had similar subscriber counts.
Now, Ha-yun was someone with subscribers that couldn’t even compare to Lee Hyeon-seung’s.
‘The Mukbang Empress?’
The Mukbang Queen. The Empress. Whatever epithet you used, it fit Ha-yun perfectly.
Four million subscribers.
The undisputed number one in South Korea’s mukbang scene, a living legend who devoured mountains of food with her petite frame—Im Ha-yun.
‘Why is she calling me?’
Hyeon-seung answered the phone with trembling hands.
“H-hello? Sister?”
-Oh, Hyeon-seung. How have you been?
“Y-yes! Sister, what brings this call…?”
-You’re cooking up something fun these days, aren’t you?
“Huh? What do you mean?”
-Why play dumb? Word’s gotten around. You’ve been sweet-talking the Ramen Cart Owner and going around breaking into restaurants.
“Ah… it spread that far?”
Cold sweat dripped down Hyeon-seung’s spine.
Rumors in this industry spread fast, but had it already reached the Empress’s ears?
Still, Hyeon-seung didn’t feel bad about it. No, he felt good.
‘If the news reached Sister, then my concept must be working pretty well.’
Ha-yun’s call was proof that the concept he’d created was catching on nicely.
The question was why she was calling.
‘Could she want to use my concept too?’
If she did, knowing her personality, she’d offer compensation.
Maybe collaborations or shared advertising revenue.
Normally, he would’ve just thanked her and ended it there.
But not now.
That would be a shame.
“Ah… well, we’re still in the planning stages.”
He was tensing up when a soft but irrefutable voice came through the receiver.
-So then, me too…
Ah, as expected. She wanted to use that concept for her broadcast too.
‘This is going to be tough.’
Ha-yun was in a completely different weight class.
If she did a broadcast with the same concept, no matter how good the idea was, his would be completely overshadowed.
Was it all going to fail?
That’s when—
-Let me join in.
“…Excuse me?”
-Make something that’ll open up my appetite. I’ve lost weight lately because I can’t eat anything. Nothing even tastes good when I chew it.
“Well, that’s… but…”
-I heard that person’s cooking is absolutely incredible?
“It really is, but… this place is too small for you to visit…”
-If it’s small, we’ll expand it. Right? Why? Do you hate the idea?
Ha-yun laughed with a clear, crystalline sound.
-Once I come, the scale will explode. I’ll blow this place wide open.
“…”
-You haven’t caught the first one yet, right?
“That’s right. Everyone says they only come a second time.”
-Haha. Why would they only come a second time? Everyone’s instincts are off.
You’re right. Your instincts seem really sharp.
‘Is that why she’s not just some big shot?’
Hyeon-seung felt that she was several steps—no, several moves ahead of him.
A sudden, overwhelming sense of defeat washed over him.
Then a thought struck him.
‘Wait, isn’t this huge?’
None other than a request from the Mukbang Empress herself.
A 500k YouTuber, a 1 million YouTuber—sure, that’s good.
But 4 million? That’s a different beast entirely.
‘Even if I get devoured in the process, when will I ever get a chance at a project this massive?’
If I get devoured, then I get devoured. That would just mean I’m only good enough to reach that point.
But if I pull off this project and don’t get devoured?
‘Then everything changes.’
Perhaps it was from being next to Kim Seon-woo. His stomach was still traumatized and shrunken, but his ambitions had swollen to bursting—this was Hyeon-seung.
-Hey. Open up my stomach for me. Tell them I want to eat something delicious. Tell them to absolutely destroy it.
With a shift in mindset, that unreasonable demand felt like the breath of an angel.
A big fish had bitten. No—a nuclear-grade whale had walked right in on its own.
Hyeon-seung trembled and answered cleanly.
“Understood, ma’am. I’ll serve you properly.”
After hanging up, a faint, predatory smile spread across Hyeon-seung’s lips.
PD Ga? KBN? Come at me, all of you.
‘With this, I’ll win.’
Confidence blazed across Hyeon-seung’s face.
* * *
Time flew by, and the morning of the scheduled shoot arrived.
The Factory Canteen was in chaos even before opening the doors.
It wasn’t because of customers rushing for an early opening. Today was a closed day.
Instead, a man clung to the shop entrance like a leech.
“Owner! Please, just once! Please?”
It was Assistant Director Min-su Park.
Even after being chased away like that before, he hadn’t come to his senses—he’d been clocking in since morning.
He showed up every hour on the hour.
‘Doesn’t he ever get tired of this?’
His appearance was a mess.
All traces of his former neatness had vanished.
His hair was disheveled, and his clothes were in disarray.
Dark circles hung heavily under his eyes as he pleaded his case.
“The PD said he’ll meet all your conditions! He’ll give you everything you want!”
“I said I don’t want to do broadcasting. Move aside. I need to open the door.”
“But where in South Korea would someone turn down a request from our PD? This is a real opportunity, I’m telling you!”
Persistent. Annoyingly persistent.
It wasn’t interfering with business exactly, but having him linger in my line of sight was incredibly irritating.
I treated him like he was invisible and carried the supply boxes.
“Owner, are you really going to do this? I’m getting fired. I’m really getting fired, I’m telling you!”
“No. Didn’t I say I can’t do broadcasting?”
Ever since that regional broadcast station PD incident, I’d been declining all broadcasting offers.
The cooking competition had turned out fine, at least.
But when it came to the Youth Mall opening later, that same broadcast station didn’t lift a finger to help and quietly backed away, didn’t they?
‘It seems like we’re just not compatible.’
So my answer was no.
Being nice only goes so far.
If I didn’t like something, I didn’t like it.
“Ugh….”
Just as Assistant Director Min-su was about to block my path again with a miserable expression.
Screech—!
A black van slid to a stop in front of the store.
* * *
A heavy chassis. Darkly tinted windows.
The kind of van celebrities would ride in.
Naturally, all eyes turned toward it.
“Huh?”
Park Min-su stared blankly at the vehicle.
The sliding door opened, and a familiar face emerged first.
“Well, well, you’re still here?”
It was Lee Hyeon-seung.
He clicked his tongue and looked Park Min-su up and down.
“Don’t broadcast station people have work? What are you doing in someone else’s shop?”
“Lee Hyeon-seung? You’re Lee Hyeon-seung, right? Ah! I’m Park Min-su, I was an assistant director! You saw me on the broadcast before, didn’t you?”
“I saw you. You appeared as a panelist for a brief moment, but you didn’t even glance my way. I remember you clearly urging me to get out of the way.”
“Ahem… Back then, I was busy directing, so I couldn’t help it….”
“Yes. Yes. I understand. But could you move aside?”
“Pardon?”
“We came to eat.”
“But… the restaurant is closed today, isn’t it?”
“Still, they opened it specially for us. Come on, just step aside for now.”
Hyeon-seung gently pushed Min-su’s shoulder and cleared a path.
Then he bowed his head toward the inside of the van.
His posture was respectful.
“Please come down, ma’am. We’ve arrived.”
Ma’am? Did Lee Hyeon-seung have someone he treated with such deference?
Someone slowly descended from the vehicle.
A petite woman wearing sunglasses stepped out.
Her outfit wasn’t flashy, but it was wrapped in luxury brands that exuded elegance.
She lowered her sunglasses slightly and looked up at the store.
“Is this it?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“Hmm….”
Around that moment, Assistant Director Min-su also recognized the woman.
“I-Im Ha-yun?!”
* * *
His exclamation drew everyone’s attention.
Im Ha-yun. Four million YouTube subscribers. The empress of mukbang content.
She was a major figure, ranked as the top priority for recruitment on broadcast entertainment shows.
She removed her sunglasses completely. Her proud, sharp eyes were revealed.
“Ah! Hello?”
Despite her haughty demeanor, she greeted Min-su warmly.
“W-what brings you here….”
“We came to film!”
“Ah….”
“We need to film, so would you mind leaving?”
Her tone was warm, but the message was sharp.
It was essentially telling him to get lost.
This was normally the kind of thing Min-su, as an assistant director, would do.
-Ah, you’re interfering with the broadcast, so please leave!
-Be quiet! We need to film!
But this time, he was on the receiving end of it.
‘Damn it.’
Min-su was engulfed in an inexplicable sense of defeat.
Ha-yun observed her surroundings as she watched him leave.
A dilapidated factory district. A rustic signboard.
‘This concept is quite interesting, isn’t it?’
She found it rather intriguing.
From the very first signboard she saw, it matched her style perfectly.
* * *
‘Welcome.’
Satisfied that the person who’d been annoying me all this time had finally left, I watched the woman standing before me cross her arms and tilt her head curiously.
“You’re the owner of the Factory Canteen?”
“That’s right. Hello.”
“Hello? Hyeon-seung wouldn’t stop praising you, so I had to come see for myself!”
“Haha. Thank you.”
“But will you be okay? My palate is quite particular.”
She moved her crimson lips with a provocative smile.
‘Is this a provocation? Ah, trying to ignite my competitive spirit with a challenge like this?’
Her intention was crystal clear to me.
This wasn’t malicious provocation.
It was a cute challenge—a plea to create something delicious.
And beyond that provocation, I could see what she was hiding.
A certain weariness.
A complexion slightly furrowed as if something troubled her.
Forced, artificially elevated energy.
‘This person is also a patient. Same as Hyeon-seung.’
The system responded quietly.
[A new subject has been added to the Hidden Quest.]
[Target 【Im Ha-yun】 has been added.]
[She is suffering from severe loss of appetite.]
‘Just as I thought!’
I’d caught the bait perfectly.
I grinned and gestured toward the kitchen.
“The more particular, the more welcome. Come on in.”
“I like your confidence.”
“You’ll like the food even more.”
Ha-yun chuckled and stepped inside the restaurant.
Hyeon-seung and the other youtubers followed behind her.
The shop filled up in an instant.
Camera equipment was set up, and a peculiar tension settled over the space.
Park Min-soo stood there blankly, staring at their retreating figures like a dog chasing chickens, gazing up at the roof.
“What are you doing? I need to close the door.”
“Huh? Oh, well…”
“If you’re not going to help, then get out of the way.”
Bang! I shut the store door with a decisive slam. Through the glass, I could see Park Min-soo’s expression crumble into despair.
Those broadcast station bastards are finally going to sweat.
The game board has already been flipped.

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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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