Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Is the Author Omnipotent?
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Jeong Tae-seong, the popular author, had a fandom that rivaled even top idols in size.
Every single one of his works had been a massive hit, so each had built up a solid base of dedicated fans.
Separate fan cafes operated for each series, fostering great communication among the fans.
Lately, the hottest topic across all those fan cafes was the adaptation of *Otherworld Chef* into video format.
[Gu Ming Gu Ming: Did you see the *Otherworld Chef* that went up on YouTube? Still no clue what it's about, but since the author stars in it, I watched to the end.]
[Tae-seong Fan: Looked like the author was cooking himself. Wow—super cool!]
[Hul Hul: But there's barely any dialogue, and it's all about cooking. Isn't it kinda boring?]
[Cheok Bak: The concept feels similar to some isekai stuff. Hard to tell from episode 1 alone. The last scene makes it seem like he got dropped into another world, though.]
Most opinions aligned like that.
Viewers stuck it out to the end because they trusted the name Jeong Tae-seong.
Reactions to the video itself were mixed.
Original fans were mostly supportive.
Lots of praise for the historical accuracy and packing a solid prologue into such a short clip.
Tae-seong took those comments into account as he dove into shooting episode 2.
Episode 2 featured Tae-seong arriving in the otherworld and encountering a tribe.
The main storyline followed him offering them food to ease their suspicions, eventually turning wary foes into friends.
The key was the setting.
The otherworld's civilization level was low, so filming in modern buildings would kill the realism.
After much deliberation, Tae-seong decided to reference the gers used by Mongolian nomads.
First step: rent a farm shed in the countryside near Gyeonggi Province.
A farm shed was a kind of temporary structure.
He paid generously and leased it for about a month.
He added a clause promising to restore it to original condition at the end of the lease.
Then came the interior renovations to mimic a Mongolian ger.
"This should do it."
Once the work was complete, the farm shed's interior closely resembled the place from his memory.
Satisfied, Tae-seong jumped straight into filming episode 2.
"Director! Episode 2 shooting at last!"
Oh Young-tae said with an excited grin.
"I watched episode 1! The editing was killer. Did you outsource it?"
"I did it myself."
"Whoa—yourself?! Acting, directing, and editing too! And don't you also write novels?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Holy crap—you're a total all-rounder!"
Tae-seong smiled and discussed the day's shoot with Oh Young-tae.
"Like last time, we'll focus on the cooking. The processes might differ a bit from standard methods, so it could be tricky, but get used to it since it'll be like this going forward."
"Got it."
They went over a few more details, then held a meeting with the actors.
"As I mentioned before, you're all people encountering the protagonist's food for the first time. So over-the-top reactions are fine."
"Yes."
"Understood."
Finally, he checked the props and met with the costume coordinators.
"The makeup won't be too complex. Darken the skin to a brownish tone and add this pattern to the forehead."
It was a full moon motif.
A detail straight from the original novel.
Nailing the little things helped original fans immerse themselves.
New viewers would just think, "Oh, cool," and move on.
"Got it."
"Sure thing."
The coordinators nodded.
All preparations were complete.
Time to start the real shoot.
* * *
*Otherworld Chef* was a story even Tae-seong was experiencing for the first time.
He'd been cruising along as a successful chef when he suddenly got yanked into another world.
Later, a god explained it: sometimes these things happen.
Dimensions that should stay sealed tear open due to some incident.
If you're unlucky enough to get caught in it...
That unlucky soul just happened to be him.
He landed in a fantasy world.
The problem? It was nothing like the world he knew.
The first people he met were nomads.
They lived in tents like gers.
When they first crossed paths, they bound him up.
His clothes were unfamiliar, and his black hair and eyes weren't common on that continent.
He spent a few days as their hostage.
At first, he considered awakening his mana and wiping them out.
He even started gathering it.
But things took an unexpected turn.
The food they gave him was made from something like potatoes.
The issue: it was raw.
It looked like potatoes on the outside but had even more starch.
And a strong astringent bite.
Utterly inedible.
His makeshift prison was one of their tents, modified for the purpose.
No actual jail, apparently.
It came equipped with basic cooking facilities.
Crude, but sufficient.
Tae-seong sliced the ingredient lengthwise and soaked it in water to remove the starch.
Then he lit a fire and grilled them.
That alone made it somewhat palatable.
A watching guard—nomad—tried it out of curiosity and nodded repeatedly.
They knew cooking basics but not starch removal, so the new flavor hit different.
Especially the direct-flame char.
That's how Tae-seong befriended the guard, scoring salt and a few other ingredients through him.
'The first dish I made was...'
French fries.
Potato fries, in simple terms.
Not deep-fried in abundant oil like back home, but a lighter version pan-fried in minimal oil.
He whipped up a special sauce with cheese and milk as the base.
The guard who tried it went wide-eyed.
Word spread through the tribe.
It reached the elders, and the head elder demanded he make it for them too.
Tae-seong requested more ingredients, then served french fries topped with special mayonnaise.
He presented it at the elders' meeting.
Thud!
'Whoa...'
Oh Young-tae, filming as Tae-seong set it down, marveled inwardly.
Saliva flooded his mouth on cue.
The others reacted the same.
The visual screamed delicious, and the aroma was heavenly.
"Let's try it."
The actor playing the head elder said in a grave tone, picking up a single fry.
He popped it in his mouth and crunched down.
Crunch!
The sound of fresh fries echoed like he'd just pulled them from the fryer.
It came through crystal clear on camera.
"Ooh...!"
The exclamation followed naturally.
No faking in their performances.
Pure, genuine awe shone through.
'What is this? It's actually delicious!'
'The cold sauce mixing with the hot fries—such a weirdly addictive combo!'
'This sauce is insane!'
'Grilling the potatoes was genius! Frying and saucing it like that would've been too greasy!'
Everyone inwardly raved.
It was that good.
Thanks to it, the actors delivered heartfelt performances.
* * *
Episode 2 wrapped.
Tae-seong headed home, edited it, and uploaded to YouTube.
He titled it "French Fries."
Views climbed faster than episode 1.
More fans had hit subscribe and enabled notifications.
"Oh... nice set."
Viewers were stunned by the exotic ger interior—more than expected.
They'd wondered how he'd depict the otherworld, but this worked well.
Quick cuts showed the protagonist imprisoned, then cooking step-by-step.
Finally, the elders tasted the fries and reacted with honest shock.
'Want fries now.'
'Should I order some fries?'
'What's that sauce?'
Viewers drooled at the actors' ecstatic reactions.
The elders acknowledged the protagonist, and episode 2 ended.
Or so it seemed.
But it didn't stop there.
[How to Make the Special Sauce from the French Fries Episode!]
The subtitle popped up, and Tae-seong appeared to demonstrate the recipe in detail.
An unexpected bonus clip.
'Hope this hooks them.'
It was Tae-seong's idea.
He hadn't consulted anyone—just shot it himself and tacked it on at the end.
'Can't sustain on *Otherworld Chef* fans alone. Need to draw in new viewers.'
He wanted even non-fans to check it out.
The bonus was part of that strategy.
Only time would tell if it worked.
* * *
The next day.
"French fries" hit #7 on Naver's real-time search.
Some fast-food chains even sold out of them.
Weird phenomenon.
By afternoon, mom cafes buzzed about it.
[Anyone know how to make those YouTube french fries?]
└Me too, dying to know!
└Watch to the end—it shows up.
└Link please.
The video? Straight to Tae-seong's *Otherworld Chef* channel.
Views started with the fandom.
But soon, word spread to the general public.
A great sign.
Relying on fans for views had limits.
If normies talked it up and some clicked in, that was success.
"Isn't that guy... him?"
"The author of *Black Knight's Her*?"
Some recognized Tae-seong.
*Black Knight's Her* had wrapped ages ago, but it lingered in fans' minds.
Plus, his appearances had been meme'd among fans.
And his media exposure as the creator.
That sparked curiosity for his web drama *Otherworld Chef*.
Sparking curiosity was huge.
People can't resist it.
* * *
Views skyrocketed.
Tae-seong stayed level-headed and prepped the next episode.
'Chicken this time.'
Korean soul food.
Late-night king.
Chicken deity.
Next up on *Otherworld Chef*.
Back when serializing the novel, the chicken chapter had comments exploding.
Recalling that, Tae-seong huddled with Oh Young-tae.
"For the chicken cooking, fixed angles would be good."
"Smart. We'll set up side mounts with locked cameras—no interfering with the process."
"Sound matters big time this episode. Know any good sound directors free?"
"Oh, yeah—one I'm tight with is between gigs. Short job like this, he'll jump at it."
"Awesome, ask him. We'll save the frying shots for later."
"Yep."
They brainstormed more scenes.
"Alright, let's get rolling on the shoot.