The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 81

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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 81. The Game Board Takes Shape
“Yes. He was stubborn about directing the details himself, but…”
-The details.
Hmm. The details. That much was within a PD’s authority.
“Well, once you’re rolling inside a survival competition, you’re still in Buddha’s palm, aren’t you? Haha!”
-That’s right. If something doesn’t sit well, we can always tweak it a bit.
There seemed to be no reason to worry.
The Department Head was brimming with confidence.
If Jang On-gyu didn’t like something, he’d come back and fix it himself.
-All I need is for it to be satisfying.
“Exactly. Yes, that satisfying image you want, Representative—it’ll come through perfectly. Like, say, someone becoming a sacrificial lamb? Something like that.”
-Haha. You don’t necessarily need a human sacrifice.
“Oh, not necessarily, but if we can manage it, we should.”
-I’m looking forward to it.
Wasn’t that what he meant—offering someone up as a sacrifice?
I had no choice but to look forward to it.
In return, I’d have to meet the Department Head’s expectations too.
“Oh, of course! Since you’re expecting so much, perhaps one day I could mention something to those above….”
-Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of it.
This was easy for Jang On-gyu.
He had made the promise thoroughly.
Only then did the Department Head hang up, seeming reassured.
“Haha. Thank you so much! Then I’ll get going!”
* * *
The Entertainment Bureau Chief’s obsequious voice from the other end of the line cut off.
Jang On-gyu tossed his smartphone onto the desk and let out a cry of exultation.
“Done!”
He sank deep into his leather chair.
Even that arrogant PD Ga had ultimately bowed his head before the overwhelming power of money.
He’d become a gentle lamb.
‘Money really is supreme.’
Capital and the overwhelming stage of broadcast entertainment.
Upon that magnificent survival competition board I had designed!
The perfect blueprint was complete—to thoroughly crush that eyesore Kim Seon-woo and solidify my position once more.
Jang On-gyu became intoxicated with the deep sense of victory he hadn’t felt in a long time.
‘Go ahead and struggle all you want on broadcast. It won’t matter anyway.’
Jang On-gyu’s lips stretched into a long, cruel grin, confident in his perfect victory.
‘I’ll lift him up first, then drop him as miserably as possible.’
But Park Secretary, standing beside him, quietly swallowed hard as she watched Jang On-gyu emanate an eerie euphoria.
A bitter sense of misgiving surged up from the pit of her stomach.
‘How did the Representative end up like this… sigh….’
A cold-blooded businessman with much to teach.
A towering figure who wore the title of business genius without shame.
Watching that giant transform so drastically left Park Secretary’s chest heavy with frustration.
‘What difference does crushing a single restaurant make…!’
A businessman shouldn’t act on emotion instead of reason.
In Park Secretary’s eyes right now, Jang On-gyu appeared profoundly foolish.
He was nothing but an ugly predator, clutching money and shaking it with obsessive madness.
‘The Representative I once respected….’
Is he gone?
Did he become a monster himself after fighting monsters?
Or was he hiding this depravity from the start?
‘I don’t know. I just don’t know.’
It was something Park Secretary couldn’t fathom.
Watching Jang On-gyu’s unfamiliar silhouette, Park Secretary felt a profound sense of disillusionment.
Amid deep doubts about having to serve him as he transformed increasingly into a monster.
Park Secretary simply bowed his head low, tasting something bitter in his mouth for reasons he couldn’t explain.
‘At this rate… I might not be able to help it either.’
* * *
Meanwhile, PD Ga slipped out of the Director’s Office and roughly adjusted his necktie as he pulled out his smartphone.
His thick fingers rapidly tapped the screen, composing a message.
The first recipient was Kim Seon-woo from the factory canteen.
[You’re playing it right.]
After pressing send, PD Ga’s fingers didn’t stop.
He opened another chat window in succession.
The recipient was Choi Yang-rok PD from the current affairs exposé program.
[Choi. Let’s do this job cleanly.]
[Yeah. Heh heh. How are we going to do it?]
[We’re going to hit hard. Someone.]
[This is fun. This is fun. It’s only fun when someone dies.]
“That bastard finds this entertaining. He’s insane.”
Even cursing Choi PD, PD Ga’s own eyes were terrifying.
His two eyes gleamed sharply as he sent one heavy text message after another.
In truth, he was burning with great anger.
‘How dare he shake my precious project like that.’
A fierce flame ignited from deep within his chest.
The target of that anger was clear.
It was Jang On-gyu, who had corrupted the essence of entertainment and tried to manipulate him like a puppet.
A bitter, relentless fury directed at him.
And simultaneously, passion surged.
Wielding Kim Seon-woo as an overwhelming weapon. His passion was to knock Jang On-gyu flat on his back through this very tool.
‘Jang On-gyu. Let me show you just how terrifying the broadcast station people can be.’
PD Ga gripped his smartphone tightly and strode forward with the fierce gait of a general preparing for battle.
* * *
[We’re going to do this properly.]
A weighty text from PD Ga. I tapped the keypad lightly in response.
[Let’s really make this interesting.]
“Good.”
I hit send and shoved my smartphone into my pocket.
The cool night air brushed pleasantly against my cheeks.
‘Now I just need to prepare to devour them.’
A survival show, they call it. As long as no blood spills. This is war.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve been in combat.’
Rather than fear, my heart raced with excitement.
What kind of dish would emerge from that chaos?
‘I’m looking forward to it.’
I turned my head slowly, a deep smile playing on my lips.
* * *
Recently, I’d completed the expansion construction by purchasing Buildings B and C, removing the partition walls between the restaurants.
Thanks to that, I could now see straight through to the interior of Building C from the main kitchen where I stood.
‘Spacious and nice. The construction definitely finished properly.’
My gaze settled on one corner of Building C.
Preserving the rough concrete texture of the old factory, the homestyle meal restaurant kitchen was furnished with rustic warmth. Two shadows flickered there.
I could see Old Gentleman Lee Man-geum and his son, Lee Seok-jin.
Focusing my hearing, I caught their conversation.
* * *
“Father, please have your meal.”
I watched as Seok-jin carefully set down a worn silver tray on the table.
On the tray sat a stew bubbling vigorously in rough crimson broth and a heaping bowl of rice packed down generously.
Along with several freshly prepared side dishes arranged beside them.
Old Gentleman Lee Man-geum gazed down at the tray with vacant eyes.
Then he asked bluntly.
“Did you make this?”
“Yes. I seasoned it using only my palate and my own hand’s touch.”
“Is that so? Entirely your own way?”
“Yes. My own way.”
“Hm… I see.”
The old gentleman lifted a spoon with trembling hands.
He scooped a bit of the red stew broth and brought it to his lips.
In that instant, the old gentleman’s hunched shoulders quivered ever so slightly.
Rustic and bold, yet deeply savory—a richness that fills the belly with complete satisfaction!
It was the moment that flavor touched his tongue.
Decades of forgotten memories came flooding back into the Old Gentleman’s mind.
‘Ah… this is that taste. The homestyle meal I ate tens of years ago, sweat-drenched in my work clothes.’
In one corner of that worn factory where machinery roared relentlessly.
Even when his back ached as if it might break, a single spoonful of delivered stew could make him smile as if he possessed the entire world.
That taste was here.
Years passed, and the factory fell silent.
His own youth scattered—a flavor that seemed never to return.
Yet that taste was being brought back to life, perfectly preserved, through his son’s hands.
‘…How wonderful.’
This homestyle meal was comfort warmer than anything else.
“….”
The Old Gentleman silently scooped a large spoonful of rice, dipped it in the broth, and brought it to his lips.
With each chew, a reddish hue spread rapidly across the corners of his eyes, deeply lined with age.
‘My son. My son! He’s finally found his path.’
A son who had wandered his entire life following others’ directions, failing again and again.
Perhaps even that wandering was his own fault—such was the self-reproach he’d carried lately.
Those trembling fingers that hid behind the scale, unable to believe in themselves.
Those fingers had finally broken through their shell.
On this factory grounds where his father had devoted his entire life, he had created real cooking with the scent of genuine humanity—not the taste stamped out by machines.
Plop. Plink.
Thick tears finally fell from the Old Gentleman’s clouded eyes, wetting the worn table.
The shoulders of this man who had lived a lifetime with unwavering strength trembled softly.
“It’s delicious. Truly delicious.”
Those words, spoken while swallowing the stew mixed with tears.
And across from him, Seok-jin’s head also bowed low.
“Father….”
Seok-jin too shed thick tears, covering his face with both hands.
All the sorrow and self-reproach of the past years melted away in his father’s single warm word of praise.
“I’ll work hard, Father.”
“Of course you will. You’ll work harder than anyone. Whose son are you, after all?”
“…Ha ha. That’s right. Whose son am I, indeed.”
“Then that’s settled. It’s done.”
What cooking he truly wanted to create.
Whom he wanted to feed as a chef.
He had found his direction.
All the answers lay right here on this worn table.
It was an answer for these two as well.
The moment when their gazes, which had faced each other, warmed once more.
* * *
After all the twists and turns, the father and son finally found their way back to each other, sharing a warm evening meal.
Beyond the expanded space, watching that tender scene unfold, a soft smile spread across my face.
‘It was worth expanding the restaurant.’
It wasn’t just the physical space that had grown larger.
Some might see a restaurant as nothing more than a machine for raking in money, but this place was different.
This worn factory I had preserved filled the hungry bellies of people.
It healed festering wounds and restored lost dreams.
That was the restaurant I had always wanted.
‘That’s why I cook.’
At least today, I had succeeded in fulfilling that purpose completely.

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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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