The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 54

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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 54. An Unexpected Turn of Events! (2)
The closing cleanup was finished.
“I’m heading out.”
“Sure. You worked hard today. Get going.”
“Yes!”
After sending Jin-woo off first, I removed my apron.
I checked my phone.
I called the phone number that had rung earlier.
In the meantime, it seemed she was struggling quite a bit—there were several messages waiting.
-When are you coming?
-Shouldn’t you be done by now?
-I’m waiting for you.
-Hello?
They weren’t joking messages.
Her voice had been desperate during the call.
The messages that followed were spaced out over time.
She hadn’t sent them impulsively—she’d agonized before sending each one.
‘Ha-yun, of all people, sounding so desperate?’
This had to be serious.
When Lee Han-sung had secretly brought Sonny as a surprise guest before.
She’d raised her voice at first, but quickly accepted it.
Now that I thought about it, it was because she saw it would help the broadcast.
‘She was a broadcast monster.’
Regardless of her own feelings, if it helped her work, she’d proceed.
A truly professional attitude.
For someone like that to reach out so desperately…
I couldn’t help but feel concerned.
‘What was that address she sent earlier?’
I’d just finished tidying up the store and was about to pull up the location.
For now, I planned to go there and at least check on her condition.
That’s when it happened.
Bang! Bang!
Someone roughly knocked on the closed glass door.
‘What?’
* * *
Wondering if it was a drunk customer, I approached with a frown.
“Huh?”
It wasn’t.
Beyond the glass door stood a woman with a hat pulled low over her head.
Even in the darkness, her eyes gleamed brilliantly!
Just from that gaze, I could tell who it was.
“Ha-yun?”
I sighed in disbelief and unlocked the store door I’d secured.
Click.
The moment I undid the lock, she burst through like a gust of wind.
“You said I could come, not that I would come.”
“I couldn’t wait any longer. I sent you messages, but you never replied.”
“Thanks to Ha-yun, business is booming? I didn’t have time to check messages while dealing with customers.”
“So it’s thanks to me, then?”
“Exactly.”
“Then help me out.”
“Help you with what?”
She ripped off her mask roughly and tossed it aside.
Her complexion was pallid, her eyes hollow as if she hadn’t eaten in days.
Yet somehow, her presence remained fierce as a predator.
‘Like a starving beast that’s only grown more savage.’
She gripped the counter with trembling hands, glaring at me.
“Take responsibility.”
“For what?”
What was she asking me to take responsibility for?
While treating Lee Han-sung, I’d apparently cured her appetite loss as well.
Wasn’t she supposed to be soaring as the queen of mukbang from now on?
“After eating your cooking, nothing else will go down my throat.”
“Excuse me?”
“I literally can’t eat anything.”
“So you’re saying food won’t go down? Ha-yun?”
“Exactly! Nothing tastes good! What did you do to me? Everything feels lacking, and I’m dying here.”
“Sigh…”
“Make me something. Right now.”
* * *
I needed to calm her down first.
“Come here and sit down for a moment.”
“…Are you going to give me food?”
“I understand, so come on.”
I guided her to the bar counter and seated her.
She sat obediently and simply stared at me.
“…”
As if demanding I serve her food immediately.
‘Those are predator’s eyes. A true predator.’
I gazed back at her calmly, trying to temper her ferocity.
A heavy silence settled over the Store.
After some time had passed, I offered her a warm cup of barley tea.
[I activate the skill 【Ingredient Enhancement】.]
[The savory aroma of barley eases the tension in her mind.]
[I grant the healing effect 【Mental Tranquility】.]
Slurp—
Her trembling hands steadied only after she drank the barley tea.
“Are you feeling better?”
“…Phew. I’ll survive. How can just barley tea do this?”
“What do you mean?”
“My mind suddenly feels at ease.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Strangely enough, it does. Isn’t that odd? And I look pathetic, don’t I?”
She gave a bitter smile.
Her complexion was pale. Her lips were dry, and her cheeks were hollow as if she hadn’t eaten in days.
“What about dinner?”
“I couldn’t eat. For two days. Me—the one called the Mukbang Empress online—couldn’t eat for two days. Does that even make sense?”
“Two days?”
“Yes. I only drank water.”
Someone who normally consumed thirty servings a day couldn’t eat for two days.
Now her hollow cheeks made sense.
“You didn’t try eating anything else?”
“No, I did try eating other things. I went to Delicious Restaurants, Michelin-starred establishments, hotel buffets.”
She fidgeted with the cup.
“But… for some reason, it all felt revolting. Food that I used to enjoy so much won’t go down. It’s strange.”
“Revolting?”
“After eating your cooking, everything else… ”
“Everything else?”
“Something feels missing. They’re clearly delicacies. Dishes prepared by renowned chefs… but I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel complete.”
“Doesn’t feel complete?”
“Yes. I don’t know what it is… but once I realized that, I couldn’t swallow it… so I threw it all up.”
“Hmm….”
“Look at me now. Water and tea wouldn’t go down, but this barley tea goes down just fine, doesn’t it? Because you made it for me.”
“…That is strange.”
Something that doesn’t feel complete.
This was something I hadn’t anticipated.
‘My cooking contains system adjustments and skills.’
[Ingredient Enhancement], [Flavor Enhancement], [Material Combination], [Toxin Removal], and so on.
There are many fundamental skills layered in from the start.
Even the basic ingredients—the green onions we grow at the Restaurant—have to be different.
These crops were also cultivated using my skills repeatedly.
On top of that, consuming them provides stat increases and status recovery effects.
There’s no way she couldn’t find them delicious.
Still, it was rare for someone to perceive such a stark difference.
‘What on earth is this?’
While I pondered, she finished the barley tea I’d served and her eyes turned back to me.
Her gaze was pleading.
“At first it wasn’t like this, but it’s gotten worse as time goes on. I even cancelled my entire schedule today because I had no energy. My mind was filled with nothing but thoughts of your jjamppong… I really thought I was going to die. But then.”
“But then?”
“After drinking this barley tea, it’s strange—I feel better. Am I weird?”
“Hm….”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
It wasn’t mere theatrics.
I opened the system window to check her status.
[Status: Severe malnutrition, hypersensitive taste buds]
[Special note: Your instincts refuse to consume anything other than your cooking.]
This was more serious than I thought.
This wasn’t simple hunger. It was a condition.
‘So that’s why I’m responsible for this.’
And.
‘Now I understand clearly.’
I understand why she’s like this.
So to summarize, the situation is simple.
Once I resolved her loss of appetite, her strengthened appetite now craves something more delicious.
But apparently, nothing satisfies it except my cooking.
And that’s where the answer lies.
‘Isn’t this like an animal?’
She sensed it instinctively.
That my cooking was different from everyone else’s.
Her body instinctively recognized that something was there.
That instinct was now overpowering her rational need to eat.
‘What a crazy instinct.’
She doesn’t even know if I have skills or what I’m doing, yet she just feels it?
Even I, who prided myself on not falling behind in culinary appreciation, had to concede defeat to this level.
‘Is she a monster? Well, with such a strong instinct, I guess that’s how she became famous from a single mukbang.’
On the other hand, possessing such a keen instinct seemed to be how she became the queen of mukbang content.
Her body simply knew what was what.
‘My cooking made with skills is somehow different—and she’s sensing it purely through her body’s reaction. That’s remarkable. Truly remarkable.’
I’d often seen cases like Jin-woo who paired well with my cooking.
But to discern the difference from other food solely through bodily response—that was extraordinary.
It was simply breathtaking!
At the same time, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why are you laughing? I’m being serious here!”
“Because I’m a chef being praised for my cooking.”
This was the highest compliment I could receive, wasn’t it?
* * *
“What is that? I’m dying here.”
“I’ll save you now.”
I made no attempt to hide my smile as I stepped into the kitchen.
I wasn’t exaggerating. Michelin certification and all that—I didn’t need any of it.
A customer who would starve without my cooking.
Where could I find more certain validation than that?
‘Normally I don’t cook once I close the kitchen. But today, I’m in the mood.’
I retrieved an ingredient I’d been keeping carefully stored in one corner of the kitchen.
It was seafood that resourceful Jang Owner had procured for me.
A wild abalone larger than an adult’s fist, its shell encrusted with blue moss!
“Abalone?”
“That’s right. Impressive, isn’t it?”
“Just give me the jjamppong, please.”
“Ah, I’m not making jjamppong today.”
“That won’t do!”
“The head chef decides. Don’t like it? Then I won’t cook.”
“Ugh… how mean.”
Jjamppong was absolutely off the table.
What she needed now wasn’t spicy, stimulating flavors.
She needed nourishing food that would gently soothe her shocked stomach and restore her vitality.
This abalone had been chosen for exactly that purpose.
“Just wait a moment. It’ll be ready soon.”
I placed the abalone on the cutting board.
The living creature writhed. It was so fresh it practically overflowed with vigor.
I separated the meat from the organs with a spoon, then scored the flesh with my knife.
[Using Skill 【Ingredient Enhancement】.]
[Enhancing ingredient .]
[Enhancing ingredient .]
Sizzle!
I coated the heated wok with the enhanced sesame oil.
Then I began stir-frying the minced abalone organs.
“Wow…”
Whoosh—
In an instant, the entire kitchen filled with a rich, savory aroma.
It was a deep oceanic fragrance that stirred the appetite.
“Smells wonderful, doesn’t it?”
“…Yes! I’m already looking forward to it. Why is that?”
I left her instinctive murmur as it was.
The moment the time was right, I added the abalone, followed by the glutinous rice I’d prepared beforehand, and poured in the broth.
‘This glutinous rice was meant for tomorrow. Ha-yun must have good fortune.’
When it seemed adequately sautéed, I added one of the broths and brought it to a boil.
It began boiling almost immediately.
Glub glub.
The porridge bubbled up as its color deepened.
‘Now’s the moment!’

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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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