Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: 88 Convenience Store (1)
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Hello, Haneul and Yon. This is 88 Convenience Store.
I copied the email as-is and ran it through a translator. Then I showed it to my sister.
"What is it?"
"Remember that convenience store recipe contest we entered before? This is the reply."
My sister read it carefully, her eyes lighting up. The face that had been moping over hate comments suddenly came alive.
"We really won? Was it that popular?"
"We got a ton of DMs in Japanese, yeah."
I immediately opened Bystar to check the reactions.
It had been over three weeks since we posted. I hadn't checked reactions on older posts, so I had no idea about the likes.
Likes: 190k / Comments: 40k / Shares: 10k
The response was incredible. Most of the comments were glowing. At first, they were mostly from Korean followers of our channel, but now it was almost all Japanese users.
"What are they saying?"
"Mostly stuff like 'great value,' 'tasty,' 'shocked that Koreans came up with this recipe,' 'this'll be handling my dinners from now on.'"
My sister scrolled through translated screenshots of the comments, healing her wounds from the hate with all the positivity.
"How should we spend the prize money?"
"You use it. I just filmed. You came up with the recipe and did all the cooking yourself."
"It's five million won."
For a split second, my sister's eyes wavered. Even with our YouTube channel growing and money no longer being tight, five million was still a big chunk.
But she shook her head firmly.
"Even if it's a lot, it's your money."
"Alright? Ahem. Got it."
I held back a laugh at her expression. Then I searched for that coat she'd been eyeing for the past month.
With winter approaching, she'd been looking at coats that would suit her. They were pricey, so she'd been debating whether to buy one.
They had men's sizes too, so I grabbed a pair for couple coords.
"So, what about the HQ tour? Could rack up good views, but you got time?"
To film in Japan, we'd need to pre-record next content. I thought over our schedule and nodded.
"Yeah, doable. Tickets on us?"
"No mention of covering flights. But they said they'd provide lodging if we come."
"Then let's go."
The video angle alone sounded fun. It'd tie into our last contest entry as a series, and it's fresh content that wouldn't get buried on Korean YouTube.
No reason to turn down an opportunity like this.
We accepted, and a week later, it was time for the agreed-upon visit.
"How's it look? Matches well?"
My sister spun around in front of me. Her black long skirt and beige coat that reached below her knees flared out. Her long hair brushed my nose, carrying a sweet peach scent.
Couple coats we'd ordered a week ago. Delicate beige embroidery adorned the cuffs. We were both tall, so they fit perfectly.
"Pretty."
"Yeah? Come here."
Click.
My sister hugged me tight and snapped a photo with the mirror as backdrop. She was in such a good mood she hummed the whole flight.
If I'd known she'd love it this much, I would've bought it sooner. In my past life, I made plenty of money—why'd I skimp on buying her gifts?
Remembering her jumping for joy when she got the present, I vowed to spoil her more from now on.
Before long, the plane touched down.
We headed straight to 88 Convenience Store HQ. A towering high-rise. At the first-floor desk, the person in charge soon came down.
"Hello. Sky and Kite. Wow, you look even better in person. I'm Asago."
"Kim Haneul."
"Lee Juyeon."
We exchanged brief greetings.
We'd already handled recipe and prize details via email, so we turned on the camera right away.
"Hello, subscribers. Kim Haneul here. I'm currently at the 88 Convenience Store headquarters in Japan. If you're a sub, you know—we entered a recipe contest about a month ago. Today..."
After a quick intro, we took the elevator. A seven-story building. As outsiders, our access was limited, so we followed Asago.
"This space lightly covers the history of 88 Convenience Store."
One corner of the first floor displayed how it all started—the first item sold, the second store, expansion across Japan.
It was structured to clearly show the company's growth at a glance.
"This is our customer service room. As you can see, we put our all into customer support."
A staffer was kindly handling a call. Sure, they ran convenience stores, but with tentacles in all sorts of businesses, everything was highly organized.
Nothing special compared to any corp, so we moved on smoothly.
"This is the test kitchen where product development happens. The department that turns MD planners' ideas into reality."
Up till now, places had an office vibe, but the test kitchen was like mini cooking stations. Each room had burners, cutting boards, fridges—the bare essentials for cooking.
In short, a place to test recipes born from theory in practice.
"Smaller than I expected."
I figured a big corp's test kitchen would be huge. The convenience store we collabed with before had a massive one.
Asago shook his head at my comment and led us further back.
"We split our test kitchen into separate rooms. Seven in total."
Numbers from 1 to 7 marked the doors. Lights were on in four—tests underway in those.
"I asked Team 3 if we could peek since it'd be nice to show the process. Let's head in."
We entered Room 4.
Five people—some in chef whites, others in shirts—sat at a table debating. All eyes turned to us as I walked in.
"Mind if we come in?"
"Go ahead. This isn't new product dev—it's a renewal meeting for an existing item, so it's fine. Conversations muted, of course."
Even as Asago spoke, my sister's eyes trembled. These meetings were usually top company secrets.
But this was a big corp. No slacking around.
If it were truly critical, they wouldn't let me in.
'Probably a staged meeting just for our vlog.'
88 Convenience Store was letting us tour to promote to the surge of Koreans lately.
This was likely a show to highlight 'we're diligently improving products, even tests are hygienic,' etc.
My sister and I took empty seats to observe.
"Moving on. Today's topic: Hotate Butter Miso Ramen."
The guy in chef whites boiled ramen from the shelf. Poured hot water, handed out one finished cup per person.
"Hotate Butter Miso Ramen saw solid buys in the first month after half a year ago launch, then tanked."
A sales graph popped on the monitor. Spiked first month, then straight drop. Steep for a new product.
"Even with minimal ads, community reactions aren't great."
Next screen.
Pretty much all negative.
"This renewal needs to wipe out those bad reactions. Let's eat and brainstorm fixes."
We tasted the finished ramen.
Faint fishiness hit as soon as I opened the lid. The broth failed to mask the scallops' odor, and the butter didn't melt in properly, leaving it greasy. Zero umami or savoriness from the noodles.
Every ingredient clashed while going rancid together.
"Sis, don't eat it."
"Too late."
My sister grimaced hard and rinsed her mouth with water. Fish-sensitive folks would freak at this taste.
"Yeah. Tastes bad. How to fix?"
"Fishiness first—cut the scallop extract."
"Nah, can't. No extract, no scallop ramen."
"Swap the extract then? But extracts..."
"I think the broth's the issue too. Not rich— just murky."
"Oil-wise, up the butter budget for better stuff..."
Lots of back-and-forth.
For a staged show, there sure were plenty of opinions flying.
Or rather, it's a show, so they picked this product with tons to show.
It barely sells anyway—no sales hit if the video drops. Might even boost marketing, get curious buys.
I sighed as the talk veered off-course. At this rate, we'd just build their 'diligent' image, but miss video hooks.
So far: HQ history, hardworking staff. Dry stuff.
No editing magic makes that fun. Subs won't bite.
So I decided to hijack for a juicy angle.
"Let's think differently. The oil is..."