The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 91

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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 91. Self-Proclaimed Experts
It was because of the massive screen that filled one side of the studio.
In the live broadcast’s real-time chat, Kim Seon-woo and Haran dominated the conversation.
Viewers’ reactions to their overwhelming culinary performances poured in like a waterfall.
-LMAO is that really an assistant?
-I still can’t believe it watching again.
-But why is she looking down now?
-Guess she’s embarrassed?
-Wait, she was cutting like a queen just now and now she’s shy? LMAO that’s insane.
-She’s got character.
Haran had become a character in her own right.
When wielding her knife, she displayed overwhelming skill and presence unlike anyone else.
But when standing still, she grew quite shy.
This dual nature proved to be quite an entertaining element, drawing considerable attention.
‘All eyes are on her.’
Moreover, Kim Seon-woo, who should have fallen into the trap and become a rat in a poison jar, was also problematic.
He’d brought multiple chefs with him. Even without Ern Kim, their skills were formidable.
Quantity and quality.
Despite bringing both to the competition.
That Kim Seon-woo stood center stage wearing an incredibly calm and composed smile.
As if he were enjoying this entire situation from beneath his feet.
‘…That arrogant bastard.’
Just how far would that composure go?
I simply wanted to crush him underfoot and grind him into the ground.
But I couldn’t help feeling an oddly familiar sense of déjà vu.
‘It’ll be fine.’
As his anxious killing intent tangled with the studio’s fervor.
Jang Han-su lifted the microphone high.
“Alright! All servings are complete! One hundred citizen judges, let’s begin tasting from the first dish!”
* * *
“All evaluations will proceed under strict blind conditions!”
With Jang Han-su’s cry, staff members carefully placed the first dish before the judges.
It was Ern Kim’s foie gras consommé, the studio filled with its rich truffle aroma.
Bang Owner, his vision blocked.
The moment he caught the dish’s scent, his brow furrowed sharply at the intense smell that pricked his nose.
‘This slippery, greasy broth! And that strange oily smell that stings the nose! This is it!’
He tasted Ern Kim’s dish and became certain.
‘No doubt about it—that factory canteen bastard’s cheap meat broth boiled with a scouring pad!’
This is Kim Seon-woo’s cooking!
How else could such an unfamiliar aroma possibly emerge?
‘Heh heh. That bastard always pulls off some strange stunt and slips away like a loach. But not this time!’
I let out a silent chuckle of satisfaction.
Now Kim Seon-woo was a rat trapped in a jar.
I set down my spoon and confidently picked up the microphone.
Just then, the sharp-eyed Jang Han-su noticed me.
“Oh…! We have someone who tried the first dish right away! How was it?”
It would surely be nothing but praise.
After all, it was being broadcast.
‘If I just nail the opening here, everything else will fall into place. Let’s do this well.’
Jang Han-su smiled broadly with that thought in mind.
Making sure the energy came through on camera.
“Heh heh!”
Bang Owner, though his eyes were barely visible, grinned wickedly alongside me, ramping up the energy.
Then he delivered his verdict.
“This isn’t cooking—it’s food waste!”
“Pardon?”
“It’s tacky and greasy with nothing but superficial flash! Something vague and overwhelming comes through, and it exhausts your palate. If I had to give it a score, I’d give it a zero!”
“Really? You mean it?”
“Yes! I mean it! Didn’t you hear? A big fat zero! Zero! This means I’m voting for another dish!”
“I heard you.”
“Just eating this makes me regret coming here! This… it’s worse than basic ramen!”
“Well… yes! I understand completely.”
“So, next person?”
Jang Han-su quickly moved to lower Bang Owner’s microphone.
Then he immediately searched for the next person.
‘This won’t do. With the mood set like this, I need to go for comedy. Yes. That person would be perfect.’
He quickly identified his next target.
The self-proclaimed VIP who’d claimed to be an ordinary person during the broadcast.
“So, how was it for you?”
“Me?”
“Yes! That’s right!”
“About my earlier question…”
“Just answer this first, if you would!”
“Sure, why not!”
The self-proclaimed VIP sitting beside him was no different.
She pinched her nose and shook her head.
“Ugh, it’s so fishy and greasy I can’t swallow it at all.”
“It’s fishy?”
“Yes. It’s mushy and feels like eating a lump of oil! Ugh…”
She seemed disgusted by the texture of the foie gras.
“The smell too… I really don’t like it.”
She seemed equally averse to the aroma of foie gras.
“Ah, you’re not familiar with such aromas?”
“How could I possibly be familiar with something like this!”
…But he’s a self-proclaimed VIP.
‘Wouldn’t someone like that have sought out foie gras and truffle at least once to taste them?’
If he wanted to pretend he knew anything about fine dining, he should have tried both.
But this self-proclaimed VIP was different in some way.
Without being asked, Jang Han-su continued his commentary.
“Of course, that’s just how commoner’s cooking is! I’m giving it the lowest score too! The gentleman sitting next to me seems to know something!”
“Hahahaha! That’s right! I do know a thing or two!”
‘…Good grief.’
The live chat window on the massive screen began scrolling like it had gone mad.
Wait, is that guy seriously dissing Michelin 2-star chef Kim right now? lol
What’s with the side one lol
Kim’s expression is rotting away in real time lol
-Is this a broadcast accident?
Look at the subtitles, foie gras and truffle consommé? lol
-They’re calling that common people’s food waste lol I’m losing it for real.
-But those two do have pretty strong preferences.
Hahaha, you’re right. I’ve tried both, but I honestly can’t tell the difference.
-You’ve actually eaten them?
-Yeah. They call them the three great gourmet ingredients, but I don’t really understand.
See how the truffle smell just becomes a weird odor when your sense of sight is blocked lol
Ern Kim’s face had gone pale as a blank sheet of paper after hearing the critique.
Second, third.
And so the chefs’ dishes continued to receive various criticisms and moved on.
Time passed like that.
‘Finally, is it my turn?’
Kim Seon-woo’s turn had come.
The moment the meatball soup served in a rustic earthenware pot was delivered before the judges.
* * *
‘Ugh. I’m getting full. Do I really need to eat from here on? Hmm… No, wait. I did eat Kim Seon-woo’s dish, didn’t I? I have to eat the others too!’
Bang Owner lifted a spoonful of broth with a resolute expression and put a meatball in his mouth.
The meatball melted softly without even time to chew, its overwhelming texture.
And the insane umami of the loofah broth struck his tongue perfectly.
Bang Owner’s eyes widened behind his blindfold.
‘This perfect meat juice and tender texture! This is it! This is what Michelin truly is!’
He was certain.
This was the dish he had been searching for.
‘The essence of fine dining that only emerges after working the meat hundreds of times! It’s dedication!’
This is Ern Kim’s true cooking!
Bang Owner gripped the microphone with trembling hands, excitement coursing through him as he shouted.
“This is it!!”
“Yes!?”
His voice pierced through the microphone, ringing out loud and clear.
Everyone’s attention snapped toward him.
-What’s he saying now lol
-Already so hyped.
The response wasn’t bad.
Jang Han-su caught onto this and immediately seized the moment. PD Ga had four cameras trained on Bang Owner.
Bang Owner, oblivious to it all, spoke in rapid-fire succession.
“This perfect juiciness and refined flavor! Isn’t this the very essence of a Michelin chef’s caliber! It’s a perfect taste that moves my soul! I’m giving it a perfect 100 points!”
Perhaps he thought he couldn’t let the momentum slip here.
The self-proclaimed VIP didn’t back down either.
Abandoning all dignity, he gulped down the broth and cried out.
“That’s right! It’s on a completely different level from that vulgar dish earlier! This deep flavor, it’s luxury itself!”
“Exactly! This is depth! This is luxury! You really know your stuff!”
“Hehehehe. You there! You certainly do know!”
Delusion had exploded.
The chat window was absolutely flooded with dopamine, the screen nearly invisible beneath the messages.
-That guy’s eating scouring pad soup and talking about Michelin lol
-My stomach hurts so bad lol he’s digging his own grave so deep lol
-What’s he gonna say when he takes off the blindfold lol
-Is he gonna faint later? lol
-This is the beauty of blind taste testing!
-All his pretense stripped away and judged purely on taste right?
* * *
At that reaction, I folded my arms with ease.
‘This is done.’
To think I’d see Bang Owner praising my cooking until his mouth ran dry.
And right in front of Michelin chefs no less.
It was a sight I’d never imagined, and I couldn’t help but smile.
‘They say you learn something new no matter how long you live, right? Hehehehe….’
I could barely contain the laughter threatening to burst out.
Haran beside me felt the same way.
“Pfft…! What, what are these people doing.”
“I know, right.”
The banter between Bang Owner and the VIP had completely eased her tension.
It was an amusing moment.
Over there on the opposite side, it doesn’t seem to be Jang On-gyu and the other chefs.
Probably?
* * *
The pleasant time passed in a flash.
Jang Han-su cried out the moment everyone set down their spoons.
“Well then, all the tastings are complete! Now we will tally the voting results from 100 judges and 4 main judges in real time!”
With Jang Han-su’s shout, a new image appeared on the massive display screen behind the stage.
It was a vote count graph.
The VIP Observation Seat in the corner of the studio.
Jang On-gyu’s brow furrowed ever so slightly as he stood with his arms crossed, maintaining his composure.
‘Something feels off.’
Jang On-gyu felt an odd sense of dissonance as he mulled over the lavish praise that had poured from the blindfolded judges.
He had eyes; he could see it clearly.
“Meatballs that dissolve so softly you barely need to chew them.”
“Rich and weighty broth.”
These were compliments directed at Kim Seon-woo.
Particularly, the praise from the comedy duo could hardly be called anything but effusive.
‘…It’s not like he has no skill at all.’
By this point, he had to admit it.
Kim Seon-woo wasn’t entirely without talent.
But tradition and time—those things mattered.
The dishes Ern Kim had prepared: truffle consommé and foie gras ravioli.
Both were dishes that Ern Kim had made his specialty.
It showed how much effort he had invested in this competition.
‘People without taste may have spouted nonsense, but….’
Not everyone had praised Kim Seon-woo lavishly.
There were certainly those who tilted their heads in puzzlement after tasting his food.
And there were those who nodded in admiration after tasting Ern Kim’s dishes.
‘A hundred people couldn’t possibly all lack taste.’
So Jang On-gyu, though anxious, steeled himself and suppressed his unease.
In that moment, the graph on the display screen shot upward.

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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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