The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 56

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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 56. Reactions
She uncapped the bottle and gulped it down eagerly.
Her throat moved smoothly with satisfaction.
“Ahhh!”
She had merely drunk water.
Yet she exclaimed as if she’d savored fine wine.
She wiped her mouth and cradled the plastic bottle tenderly.
“This isn’t just barley tea. I’d call it the elixir of life itself!”
-The elixir of life lol barley tea?
-Is this product placement?
-She said it’s her own money, her own purchase.
-But there’s no brand label, so how could it be product placement?
-Still, she really drank it refreshingly. What is it?
“The Owner of the Factory Canteen prepared it for me, and I need to drink this to digest everything properly. It’s magic water, pure magic water!”
-Muan’s secret water?
-Crazy lololol
-What on earth is that place lololol
She had clearly received a barley tea buff.
She resumed her chopsticks with renewed vigor.
Her jaw moved ceaselessly, her eyes gleaming with joy.
That day, Ha-yun’s broadcast shattered all previous records.
* * *
KBN Entertainment Department Editing Room. On the monitor, Ha-yun scraping the last of the abalone porridge from her bowl.
Even through the screen, one could feel her explosive appetite.
Most of all, the radiance emanating from her face!
“Wow, PD! This is incredible! Ha-yun’s real-time viewership just hit an all-time high.”
Assistant Director Park Min-soo couldn’t close his mouth, marveling at the numbers.
But PD Ga stood with arms crossed, unmoving, his gaze fixed on the screen.
His eyes weren’t following the numbers—they were tracking Ha-yun’s pupils.
“Min-su.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t you get tired of eating delicious food eventually?”
“Of course you do.”
“But look at her. She keeps looking happy. Does that look like acting to you?”
“Come on, it’s Ha-yun. She’s the eating broadcast queen—that level of reaction is standard. Though her energy today was definitely over the top.”
“It’s beyond mere reaction level. Can’t you see?”
PD Ga chuckled softly.
Those in the know understand. That’s not acting.
The rumor that had spread throughout the industry.
Whispers had circulated that Ha-yun was showing early signs of anorexia and was even considering retiring from broadcasting.
Even if she skipped meals for just one day, rumors would circulate about her.
But the fact that rumors were circulating at all mattered.
When PD Ga actually saw her a few days ago, he was convinced those rumors were true.
There was something fragile about her that he sensed.
Hadn’t she even skipped broadcasting yesterday?
He figured it was time for her to fade away.
Why wouldn’t it be? Plenty of people who were doing well suddenly disappeared all the time.
But then.
‘A person changes that much in just one day?’
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Yet what was visible before his eyes was telling a different story.
“That thing there.”
“Yes? Oh, barley tea?”
“Zoom in on it.”
The screen enlarged at the assistant director’s manipulation.
A brown liquid contained in a crude plastic bottle.
Ha-yun drank it and wore an ecstatic expression, calling it the elixir of life.
“Do you know what that is?”
“Didn’t you hear? The owner apparently gave it to her as a complimentary service?”
“No. That’s medicine, they say.”
“What? But they said it was barley tea. Ha ha. You’re exaggerating.”
“Tsk… You still don’t have the sense for this.”
PD Ga clicked his tongue and leaned back against his chair.
‘Now the puzzle pieces fit together.’
Why Ha-yun had abandoned all pride and sought out that corner of the factory.
Why that haughty empress was clutching that rustic barley tea like it was a treasure.
‘It’s Kim Seon-woo.’
The answer lay in the factory canteen.
“That owner is no ordinary person.”
“Yes? The owner all of a sudden? Did Ha-yun become the owner?”
“… Good grief. You fool. I mean the factory canteen owner.”
“Oh, yes.”
Kim Seon-woo was not simply a chef who made delicious food.
Now I understood why Jang On-gyu had been so wary of that restaurant.
‘Looking back, I made a mistake.’
PD Ga slapped his knee.
Attempting to recruit Kim Seon-woo directly had been a blunder.
That man couldn’t be tempted by money or fame.
So of course broadcasting wouldn’t catch his eye. But.
“Min-su.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s change targets.”
“Pardon? Are you finally looking at other restaurants? I’ve already pulled together a whole list!”
“Quiet.”
The corners of PD Ga’s mouth lifted in a thin smile.
“I’m only changing who we’re going after.”
He pointed at Im Ha-yun on the screen with his finger.
“To catch the owner, you have to bite the customer he treasures most.”
Kim Seon-woo won’t budge.
I’m certain of that.
But Im Ha-yun, the patient who stakes her life on his cooking.
She can’t turn away from it.
‘She’s the type who grows weaker the closer things get. A classic case of strength and weakness alternating. There was no way around confronting her directly with this.’
He had to approach it differently.
Might as well go big.
“Get Im Ha-yun on board.”
“Pardon? Im Ha-yun? She doesn’t do anything these days except her personal broadcast.”
“Make her do it. That’s your job, isn’t it?”
“…Yes, understood.”
“And our program concept—we’re going with this.”
PD Ga’s eyes gleamed.
“Working title: Culinary Salvation.”
“Salvation, all of a sudden?”
“Yeah. A miracle chef who revives dying taste buds. How’s that? Doesn’t it paint a picture?”
“…Excuse me?”
The assistant director didn’t understand, but a thrill ran through PD Ga’s mind.
This would work. No—it would absolutely blow up.
‘An owner who enchants people through cooking. One person is all I need.’
There was no more perfect angle than this.
PD Ga chuckled and turned off the monitor.
* * *
Crash!
Jang On-gyu hurled the smartphone he’d been holding onto the desk with force.
The screen cracked, but it was nothing compared to his wounded pride.
“Ugh…”
I was speechless.
Kim Seon-woo. I’d endured it when that rat of a man rejected my proposal.
But now he’d even touched PD Ga.
-Director Jang. I’ll handle the broadcast. Don’t overstep.
PD Ga, called the emperor of KBN’s Entertainment Department.
Not long ago, I suggested we do a program together.
Instead, he threatened me not to encroach on his territory and hung up the phone.
I am the emperor of the food service industry.
A mere PD dares to disrespect me?
“Kim Seon-woo acts cocky, and PD Ga puts on airs.”
Both of them rejected my hand.
Then there’s no need to extend my hand to them, is there?
If they won’t shake my hand, I’ll simply crush them under my foot instead.
“Park Secretary.”
“Yes, sir.”
The secretary, who had been holding his breath, hurried over.
“Entertainment won’t work. That PD Ga is too proud to listen to me.”
“Then….”
“We change the game. If promoting doesn’t work, burying is easier, isn’t it? Let’s go with a documentary.”
Jang On-gyu’s eyes gleamed coldly.
He pulled out an old notebook from deep within a drawer.
It contained a list of hyenas operating through various channels.
“If you say documentary….”
“Broadcasting isn’t just about ‘restaurant reviews,’ is it? There are ‘exposés’ and ‘truth investigations’ too.”
“Ah…!”
“Look into it.”
“Will there be anything to catch?”
“There’s no one who doesn’t have dust to shake out.”
Jang On-gyu laughed coldly.
* * *
Just as Ha-yun created a sensation, my restaurant exploded too.
It was as if war had broken out.
Customers poured in like artillery fire.
Thanks to that, I spent a day like a battlefield.
When I came to my senses, closing time was right around the corner.
Jin-woo, who was doing the closing cleanup, clicked his tongue while looking at his phone.
“Wow, hyung. Ha-yun really is flying these days, huh?”
“Since when do you call her ‘noona’?”
“I saw her before and she told me to call her that.”
“You’ve got some nerve. But why? Did she set another record?”
“Don’t even ask. She devoured ten packs of ramen in one go.”
“Ten packs of ramen? Seriously? That’s it?”
For an ordinary person, ten packs would be impressive. But this is Ha-yun we’re talking about.
That’s hardly worth…
“Oh, not just ten packs—ten bundles with five packs each! Fifty total!”
“…Insane.”
“Another commotion.”
Jin-woo held out his phone screen as if showing me something fascinating.
Im Ha-yun on the screen.
Her complexion was so healthy that no trace of her former pallor remained.
Both her eating speed and quantity far surpassed her peak condition.
‘It feels less like treatment and more like evolution.’
Still, it had worked out well.
I exhaled a quiet sigh of relief internally.
‘It seems giving her barley tea so she could keep consuming my cooking had an effect.’
While she adapted to my dishes.
I took measures to allow her to consume other things as well.
That was the barley tea.
Fortunately, it seemed to work well.
‘Long-term treatment is my first time doing this, so I was nervous.’
At this rate, she would soon transcend normalcy and undergo genuine evolution.
“Your appetite seems to have improved today.”
“It’s beyond just appetite… Wow, I’m wondering if that’s actually a person, you know?”
“Stop talking nonsense and finish cleaning up.”
“Yes, sir!”
Jin-woo wrung out the mop with exaggerated movements.
“Then I’ll head in first! You worked hard too, hyung.”
“Yeah, go on. See you tomorrow.”
“Yep!”
After sending Jin-woo off, I remained alone in the hall.
Haran had already left early, saying she needed to check on ingredients tomorrow morning from dawn.
I was just about to close up and head in.
That’s when it happened.
Ding.
The door I thought was closed opened, and a cheerful bell chimed.
“I’m sorry, we’re closed… Huh?”
I paused as I looked up.
Even though she had her hat pulled down low, I recognized her.
It was Im Ha-yun.
The same woman who had been slurping ramen in the video Jin-woo had just shown me was now standing before me.
“Excuse me, Owner. You haven’t closed yet, right?”
“Ha-yun? We’ve already finished closing.”
“Ah…! Already? There’s still some business hours left, isn’t there?”
“As you can see, we’ve run out of ingredients to sell.”
“Oh…!”
She shuffled hesitantly toward the counter.
She swallowed hard, her throat dry, before speaking.
“Still, couldn’t you make something delicious for me?”
“There are no ingredients.”
“That’s why I brought some!”
“…Pardon?”
I found myself doubting my own ears for a moment.
It was already frightening enough that she came looking for something delicious right after filming a mukbang.
And now she’d brought ingredients with her?
“Wait, didn’t you just finish filming a mukbang? Jin-woo was showing me the footage.”
“That’s right.”
She nodded with complete confidence.
Then she patted her stomach and added:
“But I’m still hungry! Hehe…!”
“…Ha.”
I was so dumbfounded that a laugh escaped me.
“That was ‘work’ though. Don’t you know that broadcast appetite and real appetite are two different things?”
“Haha. That’s actually quite convincing.”
“Hurry, please. I’m getting dizzy. As the food from the broadcast digests, it’s driving me crazy. Your cooking’s flavor just lingers in my mouth…”
As she pouted and stomped her feet, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
At first, she came here out of necessity.
Now she’d become a true gourmet who understood the taste of my cooking.
“Fine. But this is the last time.”
“Yes!”
I tied my apron strings tight once more.

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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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