The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 70

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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 70. Internal Fractures
As I stepped outside the Restaurant, I could still see a long line of customers stretching down the Alley.
Despite Jin-woo’s announcement, there were still those who hadn’t been able to get in, reluctant to leave.
People I was grateful to, yet deeply sorry for.
I bowed deeply toward them and called out loudly.
“Customers who have waited so patiently, I am truly sorry! All the lunch ingredients we prepared today have been completely sold out!”
The murmuring that had filled the air stopped instantly at my words.
“Oh, it’s really all gone?”
“I waited quite a while for this!”
“What a shame. I was really looking forward to it.”
Sighs erupted from all around—voices heavy with disappointment.
These were people I genuinely felt sorry for.
I bowed deeply once more, my body bent at a ninety-degree angle.
“I apologize for making you come all this way only to turn you away. Next time, I promise to prepare more diligently and more abundantly!”
“There’s nothing to be done about it. It’s my own fault for arriving late when business is thriving!”
“I’ll definitely come early tomorrow!”
Thankfully.
The customers left without blaming me.
But I couldn’t afford to be satisfied with that.
‘Sigh… This can’t continue like this.’
The customers walking away.
As I watched their retreating figures, I felt a heaviness settle in my chest.
Being unable to fully accommodate the flood of customers and having to turn them away.
Could there be anything more regrettable than this?
And simultaneously, I felt the gravity of the situation.
‘There’s no problem more serious than this. This is a real crisis.’
A silent, quiet crisis was approaching.
* * *
“Thank you! Please come again!”
“Yes, thank you for the delicious meal!”
The last customers to finish their meals left with satisfied smiles on their faces.
I bowed in farewell until their figures disappeared down the Alley.
Only after the customers completely vanished from sight did I close the Restaurant door.
“Sigh…”
Click.
The Restaurant door locked, and a “Preparing” sign hung on the glass door.
It was the moment when the whirlwind of the lunch service came to a complete end.
“Wow! Today we really burned bright!”
Jin-woo was the first to collapse to the floor with exaggerated gestures.
But his face was filled with exhilaration rather than exhaustion.
“Older Brother! Did you see all those people lined up outside?”
“A line? I saw a long one, sure. Was it packed?”
“It was endless, I’m telling you!”
“That much?”
“Yes. You were in the kitchen so you didn’t see it. It was even longer. They said it wrapped all the way around the factory!”
So that was the extent of it. The line had stretched far longer than our usual crowds.
“That’s amazing, right?”
“Sure is.”
“Huh? Older Brother?”
Around the time Jin-woo started to wonder why I wasn’t matching his excitement.
Jang Owner also laughed heartily in agreement.
“I never imagined we’d run through our prepared ingredients this fast!”
“Right. To think it’d end this quickly. This is the first time the cafe’s ever had something like this! We’re… completely out of coffee beans.”
“Can’t you hear the sound of money pouring in from here?!”
“That’s right!”
Older Brother wiped down the espresso machine with a satisfied smile.
Haran, who had been organizing knives in the kitchen, wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled brightly.
“Since all the customers are enjoying the food so much, no matter how busy my hands get, I don’t even feel tired.”
The store was in a festive atmosphere.
Everyone was excited about the booming business.
But I untied my apron and called everyone together.
“Everyone worked hard. But let’s talk for a moment.”
“Huh? Why does my younger brother look like that? Is something wrong?”
“That’s right. Older Brother, this is good news—why the serious face? Did we miss cleaning something? No, wait. I cleaned everything perfectly earlier?”
Older Brother and Jin-woo looked at me with puzzled expressions.
Jang Owner and Haran, who were organizing the kitchen, tilted their heads and gathered around the table.
I met everyone’s gaze and spoke seriously.
“There’s actually a problem with our restaurant.”
* * *
Everyone’s faces went blank at my words.
I waited for a moment.
‘This is what needs to happen now.’
It’s good that so many customers are visiting.
But I needed them to recognize the problems lurking beneath the surface.
“What? A problem?”
Jin-woo was the first to react.
His eyes went wide as if he couldn’t comprehend it at all.
“The business is going insanely well though? You’re saying there’s a problem?”
“Right. Looking at how things are running, there’s nothing that looks like a problem.”
“If anything, it’s almost too good—that’s the only issue.”
The two Older Brothers chimed in agreement with Jin-woo’s words.
I shook my head firmly.
“Because business is thriving so well, that’s precisely why we need to solve this problem.”
“A problem because it’s thriving?”
When Haran questioned me, I nodded slowly.
“Yes. The customers waiting outside right now—we can’t accommodate all of them.”
“Ah.”
“Huh?”
“Making people wait outside every day is just standard practice.”
“Isn’t that how most delicious restaurants operate?”
“Usually, yes. But the problem is what we see today—there are plenty of people who leave empty-handed because we’ve run out of ingredients. We’re sending away customers who came with such high expectations, turning them away hungry.”
“…Ah!”
The quick-witted Jang Owner finally seemed to grasp it.
“Think about it. Turning people away. That’s absolutely not a good thing for a restaurant.”
At my following words, Haran let out a short exclamation and nodded.
“Now that you mention it, that’s true. If they came all this way and leave without eating, they must feel really disappointed.”
“That’s right! We should have considered those who leave too!”
Both of them clearly understood now.
But mere awareness wasn’t enough.
I needed to make them see what comes after—the real problem.
This was where I needed to drive the point home.
“Exactly. So what happens when this experience accumulates once, twice, and repeats itself?”
“They get tired of waiting… and eventually stop coming altogether, right?”
Jin-woo arrived at the correct answer, his expression hardening.
Jang Owner also seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation, exhaling heavily.
“Once people get the impression that even at a delicious place, they won’t be able to eat anyway, it’s over.”
“Exactly. That’s the problem.”
“This is actually poison in the long run.”
“Yes. Those who come, then come again, but eventually can’t come anymore—what happens to them?”
“…They’ll stop coming.”
As everyone grasped the vicious cycle, the excited atmosphere instantly settled into somber silence.
“….”
“…Sigh.”
A brief silence descended.
In that moment, I recalled faces flashing through my mind.
‘Come to think of it, I still see the Two Old Gentlemen who come early regularly….’
It had been a long time since I’d seen the other regular customers.
The Company Employee Customer who wore that Janus expression.
The Private Tutor Customer.
The Supportive Restaurant Owner from the Gourmet Alley.
Each one of them was a familiar and precious person to me.
‘Other regulars are precious too, but….’
They were people who came to visit despite having to go to work at set times.
In a sense, they made even more effort to find their way here.
Recently, I hadn’t been seeing them as often.
It pained me.
I couldn’t hide this and had to speak of it.
“Perhaps our regular customers also came to the restaurant, only to see the long lines and turn back disappointed, or saw the ‘ingredients sold out’ sign and left empty-handed.”
“…That’s right. The customers who came during the Food Truck days… I saw several of them leave.”
“Yes. And there are quite a few customers we don’t see anymore. This isn’t just about greed—wanting to earn more money or less.”
“In the long run, the cycle breaks down, right? Then eventually the customers will disappear too.”
“That’s right. And… even setting aside sales. As a chef, turning away customers who came to visit—that’s something I can’t do.”
Just thinking of those disappointed figures walking away.
My chest grew heavy.
‘…Sigh.’
Some might say I was being overly serious about it.
But my heart burned with intensity.
‘…I don’t want to send away someone who came looking for me without giving them anything to eat.’
For me, not eating is like death itself.
Some might call it an exaggeration.
But this was something I couldn’t help but feel this way about.
Even if I’m bound by the past, it doesn’t matter.
‘What can I do about how I feel?’
So my heart was heavy.
Heavy enough that I needed to take a deep breath.
After composing myself that way, I made a firm decision.
‘I have to prevent this from happening as much as possible.’
I declared with unwavering resolve.
“We can’t leave things as they are. We have to solve this problem, no matter what.”
At my firm voice, the eyes of the Factory Canteen family shone with seriousness, waiting for my next decision.
* * *
‘Found them!’
Beneath a streetlight at the Factory District Outskirts, I could see the backs of two figures walking with hands clasped together.
I approached with quick steps.
“Old Gentleman!”
My call.
The two who had been taking a stroll stopped and turned around.
“Hehe, what brings this about? In such a hurry. Isn’t this when business is booming?”
“Oh my, Owner. Is something the matter?”
The Old Gentleman smiled warmly, and the Old Lady greeted me with equal warmth.
“Business wrapped up early today, as it happens.”
“Ah, excellent! I’ll get some proper rest for once.”
“I suppose I can rest, but it won’t exactly be peaceful. Ha.”
“Something troubling you?”
“Yes.”
I offered a slight bow before diving straight into the matter.
“I apologize for dropping by so suddenly and asking this of you…”
“Ha. You needn’t be so formal with me.”
“That’s true. You’re not just anyone—you’re Director Kim.”
“…Director? Ha. You’re embarrassing me.”
“In any case, speak freely.”
“Actually, I had some questions about the factory.”
“The factory? You mean the one you’re currently using?”

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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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