Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: What About the Taste of the Food?
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Soon, the judges donning blindfolds came into view.
Among them, Harin was the first to put on her blindfold. Then she said something completely out of left field to me.
"Ah! Right! Jae-ho! I love this kind of play!"
"Pardon?"
"You know, that play where you cover your eyes!"
"Ahem ahem ahem!!"
I quickly let out a loud fake cough.
Was she really a fourth-dimensional streamer, after all?
She'd thrown me off with that random comment.
I ignored Harin and swiftly turned to the other judges with a question.
"Any discomfort anywhere?"
"Nope! Bro! None at all!"
"Honestly, it's a bit stuffy, but I'll tough it out. It's all part of the appearance fee, right."
Then she immediately let out a sigh.
I regretted asking.
"Alright then, you three just wait like that until the food comes out."
I cut my attention from the judges for now. I'd introduced them plenty already.
Time to focus on the three women making the dishes.
"Ms. Dokgo Hwayeon, are you nervous? Your face looks pretty pale."
"N-nervous? Absolutely not!"
"Hmm, is that so?"
Dokgo Hwayeon clearly looked tense at a glance.
She was the one who hadn't trembled even during the martial arts tournament. Yet here she was, shaking over a simple streamer cooking contest. It was pretty amusing.
I smirked inwardly as I watched. Dokgo Hwayeon's nervous look was surprisingly adorable.
I glanced at Dokgo Hwayeon before turning my head. Then I asked the other two.
"Surprisingly, you two don't seem nervous at all?"
"Me? I've cooked a ton."
"I'm fine too! If it flops, it flops!"
An Young made sense. But Heyni was unexpected. She seemed to lack motivation.
I pulled out my surefire move to amp up Heyni's enthusiasm.
"Oh! Right, I forgot to mention the first-place prize?"
"Huh? There's a first-place prize too?"
"Of course!"
I explained the prizes to all three.
"First place gets one million won in cash plus one Park Jae-ho Wish Coupon."
"Wish Coupon?"
"Yeah, anything within reason that I can grant, I'll make it happen."
"Oho!"
"Jackpot!"
"Anything?"
"Yep! Anything!"
All three looked pleased. Especially at the mention of the Wish Coupon, their eyes lit up.
That's when An Young sis, who'd been thinking, threw out a random request.
"If I win first, make a full episode of a sweet An Young drama!"
"Hmm... a sweet drama? Sure, doable."
Actually, starring An Young sis as the lead sounded pretty fresh. Not a bad idea.
Of course, Heyni immediately objected.
"Hey! No way!"
"Why not? It's a Wish Coupon; totally possible."
"Ah, nooo!"
She was in crisis over losing the sweet drama lead role. She must have felt the threat big time.
I smiled at Heyni, whose motivation had spiked.
'Now she'll go all out, right?'
She'd definitely pour everything into stopping An Young from taking first.
Anyway, it was time to get started.
I looked at the three and announced the official start of the content.
"Alright, shall we begin? You've got exactly 30 minutes from now. Just finish one dish within that time."
30 minutes was pretty short. But it couldn't be helped. Live streams could get boring if dragged out.
'Plus, it'd be fun to have the judges eat unfinished dishes, right?'
"Whoa! Only 30 minutes?"
"Yeah! Too short!"
"Th-this is..."
I ignored their complaints and immediately started the timer.
"Go! Timer's running!"
"Ah, no!"
The three panicked but moved quickly. They figured cooking was more important than protesting to me.
I smiled at their flustered antics.
Especially Dokgo Hwayeon's unfamiliar flailing made me grin. She'd nearly dropped the frying pan just now.
'This side of Dokgo Hwayeon is a first.'
It was probably a sight unique to here. Quite the contrast from her usual elegance.
💬 Stream Chat — Viewer LMAOOOOOOOO — Viewer Leader's super cute today lololol — Viewer For real — Viewer Flailing everywhere lololol — Viewer What dish is leader making? "Ah, I can't tell you what dishes they're making. The judges might overhear. Instead, why don't you viewers guess?"
From what I knew, An Young was doing spicy pork stir-fry, Heyni was making omurice, and Dokgo Hwayeon was going for palace-style tteokbokki.
Of course, that's just what they'd told me. The final results might differ.
Anyway, I started commentating on the cooking. Couldn't just stand around watching.
"Ah! Heyni contestant! Washing veggies with dish soap!"
"Huh? Doesn't that make 'em cleaner?"
"Hearing that, Dokgo Hwayeon contestant puts down the dish soap!"
"Shh! You're breaking my focus!"
But the more I commentated, the worse the judges' expressions got. They were probably regretting it by now.
"Oho! An Young contestant! Some serious knife skills!"
At least An Young was decent at cooking, thank goodness.
About 15 minutes passed like that?
The dishes were starting to take shape.
💬 Stream Chat — Viewer An Young's the ace here lololol — Viewer Heyni's doing egg fried rice? — Viewer Isn't Dokgo a swordmaster? lol Why's her knife work that bad? I approached the three for a midway check.
"Time for a midway inspection? Let's start with An Young noona's dish."
I tasted the broth from An Young sis's spicy pork stir-fry.
Slurp.
My eyes went wide.
It was surprisingly decent.
"Whoa! Tastes good!"
"Yeah?"
"Yep. Really good."
"Ahem, told ya."
Next, I tried Heyni's egg rice(?).
Chew chew.
"Hmm... ahem."
"Huh? Not good?"
"It... yeah... it's good."
"You're lying right now, aren't you?"
"Yep."
"N-no...!"
Couldn't call bad food good. I shook my head and headed to Dokgo Hwayeon.
There she was, face full of tension.
Dokgo Hwayeon usually did the judging. She rarely got judged herself. That must be why she was so nervous.
Her dish looked... unique, to say the least.
"What is this?"
Never seen anything like it.
Ink jjajang? Kinda looked like that.
I didn't want to, but I popped a piece of tteok into my mouth.
Chew chew.
Dokgo Hwayeon stared at me expectantly, like a big-eyed kitten.
But I had to betray that hope.
"Hup...!"
A massive wave of saltiness hit my brain. This was hard to eat.
But I couldn't spit it out.
I forced it down with effort.
Gulp.
"How is it?"
"Uh... well..."
"Tell me the truth."
"It's... way too salty."
"R-really?"
Dokgo Hwayeon started flustering in panic. She'd probably never even tasted it properly.
Anyway, midway check was done. Any more and my taste buds might not survive.
I quickly backed away from the three and resumed commentating.
"Ah! Dokgo Hwayeon contestant's flashy fire show! Wait, hold up! You're gonna burn the house down!"
"Heyni contestant! Nimble hands!"
"Ah! An Young contestant! Even doing plating!"
Most of the time had passed like that.
"Not much time left! Wrap it up!"
About 30 seconds remaining.
They had to finish in that.
Everyone started frantically plating.
Unfinished or not, no choice.
"10, 9, 8, 7..."
I counted down the final 10 seconds. An Young sis had already finished plating; Heyni and Dokgo Hwayeon were still at it.
"3, 2, 1. Time!"
And the cooking time ended.
"Phew."
"S-survived!"
"That was close."
Good thing no one failed to finish. Would've been awkward.
I presented the dishes one by one to the judges.
Then removed their blindfolds.
"Judges, blindfolds off!"
"Phew, thought I was gonna suffocate!"
They all yanked them off quickly, clearly stifled. Then they eyed the dishes in front of them.
"From now on, the three chefs can't say a word! Keep poker faces too!"
"Got it!"
I suggested starting with the first dish.
"Let's start tasting from the omurice on the far left."
"This is omurice?"
"Isn't it just egg fried rice?"
"A-as long as it tastes good, right!"
Heyni managed her expression well. No worries about her getting caught.
The three judges scooped some omurice onto small plates and tasted it.
Chew chew.
"Hmm... n-not bad, actually?"
Dolbalman gave it praise. Surprisingly matched his taste.
But fourth-dimensional streamer Harin and harsh critic Jara weren't having it.
"Too sweet! Why's omurice this sugary?"
"Ahem, this isn't edible."
They fired off critiques immediately. Just as I expected.
I quickly glanced at Heyni's face. Curious what expression she'd make.