The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 76

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 76. Filling the Space
“That’s right. There’s quite a bit of empty space there. It’s not an area for our restaurants, and it doesn’t look like a waiting lounge for customers either.”
The Jang Owner pointed with his thick finger to the innermost corner of the C-wing space, where the expansion construction was in full swing.
A new type of space, unlike anything that had existed before, was being built there.
“Ah, this place?”
“Yeah. It’s connected to everything else, but it looks different from the rest.”
“How did you notice? You really do have a sharp eye, Jang Owner.”
“Ha ha. I did construction work once myself, back when I was trying to save up to open a restaurant. That’s how I could tell.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
“Anyway…! What’s going in there?”
I gazed at that space quietly, imagining the people who would fill it in the future.
A bright smile naturally spread across my lips.
“Ah, that place? Someone there needs a space.”
“A space?”
“Yes. A space.”
“Who?”
“Just wait and see. It’ll be filled nicely.”
Both of them looked at me with eyes that asked what I was up to now.
‘Be curious if you must. You’ll find it entertaining.’
* * *
Late evening.
After finishing a whirlwind of business, I set down my apron and hurried away.
‘I need to move fast.’
I arrived at a shopping district far removed from the center of the New City District.
In other words, between the Eatery District and the New City District.
I walked through the alley, thinking it had been quite a while since I’d been here.
‘Is this the right place?’
Beneath the sparsely lit street lamps, the faded light of an old, weathered sign flickered precariously.
Below it, I could see the back of an employee closing up his store.
‘Found him! This is it!’
His shoulders sagged, and his movements were heavy.
From the glimpse of his face, I was certain.
‘Looks like he had another complete washout today.’
The deep fatigue and despair unique to self-employed workers seeped through from beyond his hunched back.
“Excuse me!”
At my call, the employee flinched and turned around.
His eyes were sunken and hollow with exhaustion.
“Who are you?”
“We’ve met before. At the B-wing factory.”
“Huh? …Oh!”
The Employee’s eyes widened in shock.
This man was Old Gentleman Lee Man-geum’s son.
Belatedly recognizing me, bewilderment flashed across his face.
Then a strange distance settled between us, and sharp hostility surged forward.
* * *
‘Why does it have to be him, of all people, standing right in front of me!’
He was also a son. He had been pestering Lee Man-geum constantly, day after day. Just a bit more and he could have joined the franchise himself.
‘Then I could have… soared to success too…’
That path had been blocked.
By the very person standing before him.
* * *
I could see his two fists, clenched defensively, trembling slightly.
“S-so why did you come all the way here? Did you come to mock me?”
His voice was sharp with hostility. I nodded quietly.
‘There’s no helping it.’
I understood his feelings completely.
From his perspective, I must look like a mortal enemy.
This factory—he had clung so desperately to his father, hoping to secure a major franchise partnership.
But then some random outsider came along and purchased it outright. His heart must have been torn to shreds.
And on top of that, not even a lump sum, but a running guarantee arrangement.
‘His father’s support is cut off, his own business isn’t going well. He must be dying inside.’
The desperation and injustice of someone driven to the edge of a cliff.
Because I understood that heavy weight of emotion, I set aside pride and spoke calmly instead.
“I came to talk about living together.”
“Living together? What do you mean by that?”
“To put it differently, yes. Mutual prosperity, you might say. Though it seems like the meaning of that word has changed quite a bit these days?”
“Ha… is that even something to call a proposal…”
The Employee’s brow furrowed deeply.
He clearly had no idea what I meant.
‘What is he even saying? What mutual prosperity?’
His sharp demeanor crumbled into a dazed expression.
* * *
I gazed at the old store door, about to close for good, and thought deeply to myself.
‘Old Gentleman. You said it was a running guarantee, but you didn’t even take interest, and you sold the store for far below market price. I understand all of that great kindness. I’ll repay it myself with this.’
Repaying kindness twofold—that’s my way, isn’t it.
The painful thorn that Father could never quite break or discard, carrying it in his heart all his life.
That thorn is the man standing right before me.
‘…I heard there was quite a story behind it all.’
And now I intended to fix it myself.
Just as Old Gentleman Lee Man-geum had helped me.
I’m saying I’ll help the Old Gentleman too.
I took a heavy step toward the Employee standing there in a daze.
“Let’s not discuss the details out here. Come inside for a moment and we can talk.”
“W-what? No, wait a second!”
The Employee was pushed back by my resolute momentum and instinctively took a step backward.
Seizing that moment, I strode through the half-open glass door without hesitation.
“W-we’re closed for the day!”
“I know. I’m not asking you to open for business. Just come inside.”
“But I’m the owner….”
“Come on.”
“Ugh….”
I surveyed the interior of the Store, leaving the Employee’s bewildered voice behind.
It was far more desolate than it appeared from outside.
‘The saying about only flies being here wasn’t an exaggeration.’
Empty Tables devoid of human warmth.
A Kitchen where only cold air lingered.
I could feel that this Space was saturated with nothing but repeated disappointment and failure.
‘It’s suffocating.’
Standing in the midst of that bleak reality,
I flashed a smile toward him, who was still bewildered.
His Store, now grown pale and cold.
I was about to ignite a new spark within it.
* * *
The spark of conflict had been ignited long ago.
‘What is this? Exactly?’
KBN Entertainment Bureau Chief’s office.
PD Ga sat across from the Department Head with a hardened expression.
It had been several days since he and Choi PD had vented their anger on the rooftop, chewing and swallowing cigarettes.
But the situation was not improving.
Rather than improving, the noose was tightening further.
“So, are you done revising the script? We decided to go with a survival format instead of healing.”
“Department Head. No matter what, the original concept was a show about salvation through cuisine, but if we suddenly change it to a bloody competition, the program loses its fundamental identity.”
“Identity? Hey, PD Ga. Don’t you know what the essence of entertainment is?”
“I do. It’s ratings, isn’t it? That’s why I was successful before.”
“Right. It’s ratings and money. You were successful because of that too.”
“Then why don’t you trust me now?”
The Department Head tapped the desk with a folder in frustration.
“You stubborn fool! Don’t you see that enormous budget Jang On-gyu is offering?”
“I see it. But with that much… couldn’t we just make it without that money?”
“Just? Where is there ‘just’ in this world! Where’s the money at the broadcasting station these days! You know it too! The station’s situation is dire.”
It wasn’t as if there was nothing to the deficit.
Losses had been accumulating for quite some time.
From the Department Head’s perspective, wanting to cut costs wherever possible?
PD Ga understood it. Intellectually.
The problem was that his emotions couldn’t accept it.
“With that money, you could shoot every single image you want! Premium Korean beef? Wild-caught? All of it’s possible!”
“You know perfectly well what kind of intention that money comes with!”
“What? Why?”
“They’re using us to whitewash their image!”
Bang!
At PD Ga’s resistance, the Department Head slammed his desk roughly.
“Watch your tongue! Upper management has already given the green light. Jang On-gyu promised that if we just produce a good pilot as a survival show, he’ll attach himself as an annual sponsor.”
“Department Head!”
“No, you bastard! What’s wrong with using them? Huh? That’s how broadcasting works originally.”
“….”
That’s how broadcasting works originally.
It was a phrase PD Ga himself had lived by.
And the first person to say it was.
‘…You’ve changed, senior.’
Unfortunately, the senior right before his eyes.
The current Department Head.
Back then, even when he said such things, there was humanity in him.
“Hey! Why! Why are you looking at me like that! You just do what you’re told.”
“Department Head! Or rather, senior!”
“If you really can’t do it, drop the program. Take that insane budget proposal and hand it over to someone else!”
“Ha…!”
At the Department Head’s shout, PD Ga clenched his lips tightly.
Hand over the program?
It was a project he had planned himself, and he’d even recruited Ha-yun, the eating broadcast queen.
If he stepped back now?
Everything would become garbage that ran according to Jang On-gyu’s tastes.
He’d keep the title as is and use “Salvation of Gastronomy” directly. As if to show off.
That was how this industry operated.
He wasn’t unaware of it.
But PD Ga had never felt it this bitter before.
“…For now, I’ll think about it.”
PD Ga left the Department Head’s office.
He felt like he couldn’t breathe.
‘Should I really just quit everything? If I’d known it would be like this, I should’ve gone to cable networks with everyone else… Damn it!’
It had been time sustained by nothing but his pride as an entertainment PD.
Yet the reality of becoming a blade wielded by power, burying someone beneath its weight, filled me with revulsion.
‘I’m not some paragon of virtue either. But isn’t there a line? Why can’t I just cross it? Why does it torment me so?’
Superiors above, pulling the leash around my neck and shaking it.
Trapped between them, PD Ga’s profound anguish weighed heavily, suffocating and inescapable.
‘Sigh… What do I do?’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————