Cooking Competition (1)

Here?

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The alert had come out of nowhere. A quest spawning with no warning. That wasn't something that happened often.

They only show up in special situations, or when you're about to rank up. Ah—come to think of it…

This one was clearly both. The situation itself was a competition, which was special enough. And my level had already hit 20 without my really noticing. Level 20 was a threshold—the line where a beginner took the first real step up.

I'd crossed it a little while back and nothing had happened.

I figured maybe this life just didn't work that way, since no quest popped. Turns out it was waiting for a trigger.

I hadn't seen it coming. Not that it was strange. In my past life, quests only revealed themselves when the right conditions lined up. And my class—Chef—was especially stingy about those conditions.

Say there was a quest like Serve a meal to one hundred people. Even if you knew about it, actually receiving and clearing it was brutal.

Gathering a hundred people in the first place was the hard part.

There was a reason they called it the Apocalypse. Just getting people together was a struggle, so quests rarely even triggered. That was also why titles were so hard to earn. I hadn't been celebrating for nothing the first time I got one.

And now a quest had finally appeared.

Alright. Let's see what it is.

Having it show up at all was good. What mattered was the content.

Two skills and stats?! Oh, the rewards are solid already.

New skills were always welcome. Throw in free stats on top of that and it was the best of both worlds. Three conditions to clear it—and one of them was already done.

Ah! The old folks!

Move someone truly with your cooking. I already knew how I'd cleared that one. Healing the elders. That had to be what counted as the prerequisite.

I never thought that would come back around. Not once.

An old kindness had returned in a way I never expected. That left two conditions: fame, and recognition as an expert. Looking at those, I finally understood why the quest had triggered here.

This is telling me to win the competition. That's the level I need to hit to clear it.

Win the competition. The quest was shoving me toward exactly that.

I was going to do that anyway.

If I was entering, first place had always been the goal. And now there was a quest on top of it. Far from making me anxious, it only lit a fire under me.

One week until the competition.

"Did you submit your entry?"

"Yep!"

"I did too. Different category, though."

"Coffee side, right?"

"Yeah. Who knows if they'll run it properly—but still, better to enter."

We hurried through our registrations. Mine was, of course, the cooking competition. Boss Lee of the coffee truck entered the secondary coffee division.

"Boss Jang, you cook too?"

"Ah… I picked up a little, back in the day."

"Ohhh."

"It's a bit embarrassing, doing this in front of Boss Kim…"

"Come on, what's there to be embarrassed about? Just go out there and do well."

"I know first place is a stretch. But if I can at least snag a special prize… I figured it might help with the Youth Mall points."

"Oh, that makes sense. Let's all go for it!"

"Right! Let's do this!"

Surprisingly, the shrewd Boss Jang had entered the same cooking category as me. He talked modestly, but I'd heard he held quite a few related certifications. Cooking wasn't something a certificate could finish for you—but still.

Just having them means he prepared thoroughly.

That alone was evidence you couldn't dismiss.

He might be more of a dark horse than I thought.

Considering the business sense he usually showed, he could pull something unexpected.

"Everyone, let's prepare thoroughly."

"Obviously!"

"No telling what kind of dirty tricks might show up. Let's do this right."

"Yes! Let's do it right!"

Everyone threw themselves into preparation. We shared the information that had already spread, checked each other's work for anything missing, and the days slipped by. The competition was approaching fast.

It's been quiet lately.

How long had it been since we'd had peace like this? There hadn't been a single bit of interference aimed at the food trucks. For some reason, Boss Bang hadn't shown his face even once.

He has to pass through here just to get to work.

The lesson from last time had clearly stuck.

Good.

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Peace like this was something I hadn't had in far too long.

I can focus even more on the cooking competition.

What to bring. How to approach the day. I could pour myself into all of it.

At last, the day of the competition arrived.

"Let's go!"

"Fighting, everyone!"

That day, fully prepared, we headed for the venue. It was only a local festival, but that didn't mean it could be ignored. Word had spread more than I'd expected—there were a surprising number of people already there.

"Oh! Elder! You came all the way out here?"

"Heh heh. Of course I did, if you're competing. You make sure you win!"

"Thank you!"

"Hyung-nim, I'm here too!"

"Me as well!"

Familiar faces all around. That they'd come out on a weekend like this—I stepped into the venue carrying a full heart of gratitude.

It's pretty big. And a lot of contestants.

The hall they'd rented for the event was larger than I'd expected, and the cooking stations already set up hinted at the scale of the thing. Grateful for the familiar faces, I took my seat.

"Hello, everyone. I'll be hosting the preliminary round of today's cooking competition. My name is Lee Sang-gyu. Looking forward to working with you."

A man who looked like a specialist MC for local festivals took the stage and got the ceremony underway. After the mayor's congratulatory address and a few formalities, the judges were introduced.

"And now, allow me to introduce the judges for today's competition. Please don't be too shocked—first, a true local native of this region, Boss Jang On-gyu!"

"Waaaaah…!"

The atmosphere ignited instantly.

That Jang On-gyu ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is here?

Jang On-gyu. One of the so-called business geniuses. He ran several franchises of his own design and appeared on TV often enough that his name recognition was solid. A truly national-level figure.

I hadn't expected someone like him to show up.

Ah. That's why there are so many people.

I'd been wondering why the crowd was so large for a competition of this size. Jang On-gyu's presence explained it.

They put some real thought into this.

As far as I was concerned, that was excellent news. I was aiming for a win and a spot in the Youth Mall—the more attention this drew, the better. If I could build some real name recognition off this, business would get a lot easier.

After Jang On-gyu, two more people stepped forward.

Lee Saerom. Jang Hansu.

Lee Saerom was a celebrity from the area with a decent level of recognition. Jang Hansu was one of the TV personalities who often appeared alongside the so-called business genius Jang On-gyu. Judging by how easily the two of them chatted, he'd clearly agreed to come as a personal favor.

This is getting bigger.

And with it, my satisfaction only grew. Around the time I was thinking this was shaping up nicely, the final three judges came out together.

"And of course, we can't forget local coexistence! Last but not least, we've invited native proprietors from this area's food alley as judges!"

"Oh no."

"Them! Them! So that's why it's been so quiet."

"Huh…"

Everyone who saw those three groaned.

Boss Bang of the ramen shop. Boss Wangkkotne of the home-style restaurant. And the owner of Chamsiru, the local fixture. All three names I knew well.

Right at the top of the standing-signboard hit list.

All three had dressed up and climbed onto the stage with expressions full of fighting spirit.

Well now?

Boss Bang kept glancing around the room, and when his eyes met mine, his face lit up with a smug look that said, See me now?

Aigoo. People really don't change that easily, do they?

I grinned right back at him. That wiped the smugness off Boss Bang's face. Looking him in the eye, I felt a spark of interest.

They're definitely going to try to interfere. That's why the quest dropped. Quests don't get handed out if they aren't hard.

Things had gotten more complicated than I'd expected. Was I afraid? Anxious?

Not a chance.

If anything, my fighting spirit only burned hotter. I'd come here aiming for first place from the start. This much wasn't even an obstacle.

"Mm…"

Boss Bang swallowed a low sound and turned his head away. The host finished every last bit of guidance for the cooking competition.

And then—

"Alright then—let the cooking competition begin!"

The competition was underway.

The preliminary round of the cooking competition began. The assigned theme was:

It was a shrewd choice. Home-style cooking took more work than people expected. There was no restriction by national cuisine, either. Korean home cooking, Japanese home cooking, Chinese home cooking—all of it was fair game. The range was extremely broad.

Considering how diverse the people entering this competition are, you couldn't ask for a better theme.

And home cooking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠itself required a surprising amount of hands-on work. You didn't put out a single dish—you put out several as a baseline. With more items on the plate, it was also a good way to judge overall technique. Clever. Very clever.

Looking at him, this was probably his idea.

Jang On-gyu was watching the floor with careful attention. His influence on the theme selection was obvious.

No wonder they call him a business genius.

Plenty of people had worn that title over the years, but the fact that he'd held his seat for so long was proof of ability in itself. Today's theme selection was one more glimpse of that genius.

Nice.

I'd learned something. Someday I'd be the one standing in that seat and showing people a thing or two. With that thought stoking my fire, I started on the knife work.

Tap-tap-tap. Tap.

The home-style meal I'd chosen was Korean.

A home meal grounded in the basics.

I'd center it on a hot kimchi jjigae—the kind of aroma that made you swallow hard just from the scent—and surround it with several side dishes. Bean sprouts, spinach, and rolled egg omelet to balance the intensity of the flavors. And for the final kick, one more thing.

People don't usually put this together with the rest. But it works beautifully.

Thunk—

For that kick, I cut the pork into generous chunks. And with that, all the prep was done.

Alright. Time to really play.

As the minutes ticked by, the preparations came together fast. Soft chatter drifted down from the judges on the stage and the spectators who'd come to watch. Then, as delicious smells began to tease the nose from every direction—

Diiing— diiing—

"The bell has rung! Everyone, hands off, please!"

The bell announcing the end of the preliminary round had sounded.