Chapter 185
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: Hand Signals
After the first round ended, Na Gang-in spoke up.
"Can you see that guy's eyes?"
"You do interest calculations now too?"
"Huh?"
Na Gang-in's expression hardened slightly. He'd been through so many major incidents lately that a bad feeling crept in.
"What if that guy's trying to plant a bomb here or something?"
"Who'd he signal to?"
There were plenty of stainless steel cooking tools here that reflected like mirrors. Jeon Ji-in used them to track the movements of people nearby, then projected their images as holograms in the air.
One of them was the suspect.
"Keep a close eye on what he's doing. If he pulls out a bomb or weapon, we take him down immediately."
Na Gang-in moved toward the kitchen knives and asked,
"Gun? Bomb?"
Na Gang-in stopped in his tracks.
"Huh?"
"Not a weapon?"
The staff member Jeon Ji-in had pointed out came up with a few sauces and swapped them out with the ones already in the arena.
After the staff left the stage, Jeon Ji-in warned,
"Could be, but from what I see, this is..."
Na Gang-in scowled at the swapped sauce bottle.
"Probably meant to sabotage the second round dish. He swapped out the seasonings I use a lot. This sauce is definitely off."
"The opponent doesn't know that."
He glanced at the Gumiho Chef.
"Is this the secret to his three-peat?"
"Right? If he pulls this crap, I have to win the second round, yeah?"
"Why'd we lose the first round?"
"Besides that."
Jeon Ji-in showed some pride.
"Then for the second round, let's add some performance too."
"The world's top chefs didn't research that stuff?"
"Then forget the 2082-style performance and do something else."
"I've watched plenty of cooking shows. Let's do something from those."
Jeon Ji-in, who loved food, had watched a ton of cooking videos while collecting data to learn modern cultural info.
But Jeon Ji-in saw the world through Na Gang-in's eyes. Naturally, he'd seen them too.
The second round began.
The theme was seafood dishes.
Na Gang-in tried out all sorts of performances he'd seen on TV. When sprinkling salt, he always did it over his head. Jeon Ji-in handled the finger movements to keep the salt from missing.
For sauces, he'd toss the bottle behind his back into the air, catch it, and pour. He'd roll the glass bottle over his forearm and hand, then pour.
Jeon Ji-in showed him how it looked to the crowd via hologram in recording mode. Thanks to that, he knew what ingredients and tools were around without looking.
The host marveled at the sight.
"Wow, Iron Chef. Completely different from the somewhat plain first round. What an amazing performance."
"So flashy."
"And he grabs sauces and ingredients without looking. Like he's in his own kitchen—totally familiar."
Oh Gyu-cheol said,
"But he looks right at the ingredients when using the knife to prep. That's how you do it with knives."
"Ah! So fast. Hands are super quick. Knife too. True Ironman! Like a machine!"
The comments exploded.
Na Gang-in wasn't just fast with his hands. His cooking was quick too. He had time to spare.
While his opponent focused on prepping ingredients, he snuck open the lid of the swapped sauce bottle.
He checked the smell and taste briefly.
"Like you said, might be trying to poison all the judges."
The dish he was making now would be eaten by twenty-five people soon. If it was poisoned, it'd be a massive live scandal.
"At least it's not terrorism. So what trick did he pull?"
"How big's the quality gap?"
"That's bad. Countermeasure?"
"Simple enough."
Na Gang-in finished his dish with plenty of time left.
In the remaining time, he portioned it out not just into five plates, but twenty-five. This time, he paid attention to presentation too.
The host commented,
"Ah, Iron Chef is setting up all twenty-five plates. The judges might give a few extra points for that. Very clever."
"He finished early, so he can afford to."
In this matchup, they could watch each other cook. The Gumiho Chef was flustered by Na Gang-in's performance but didn't waver. He had faith.
'Using the swapped sauce will tank the taste, of course. The judges will think he botched it obsessing over performance. I win this one too.'
The Gumiho Chef finished his dish too.
He portioned it into five plates, confident.
'Now I'm a judge too!'
After the new judges and host discussed the dishes, they were served to everyone.
The host tasted Na Gang-in's and raved.
"Wow, Iron Chef. I worried the focus on performance might hurt the taste, but it was unfounded. Delicious."
Oh Gyu-cheol nodded leisurely.
"Knew it from watching him cook."
"You seemed tense, Chef Oh."
"I was excited. Excited."
The judges marveled while eating.
"Oh my, why is this so good?"
"No joke this time either."
Viewers at home swallowed hard. Comments poured in.
The Gumiho Chef's five plates looked more appetizing. But that alone couldn't overturn things. Plus, Na Gang-in personally plated and served twenty-five.
The judges' votes appeared on the scoreboard.
Na Gang-in won the second round decisively.
The host said excitedly,
"Now, only the final third round left. If Gumiho Chef wins, he gets the title and a new judge spot."
"Would be a shame if he lost."
"Yeah. For Gumiho Chef, it's do-or-die."
Second round over. Commercials rolled.
No cameras during ads.
"He started the dirty tricks first, why's he glaring at me?"
The kitchen was cleaned, ingredients replaced. Just seeing the new ones hinted at the next theme.
Gumiho smirked under his mask.
'Desserts are my specialty.'
He hadn't known the first or second themes ahead.
But he'd known desserts would come up today. The staff he'd bribed tipped him off on the ingredients.
'I decided what to make and practiced plenty. I'll show overwhelming skill difference. I'll win and become a judge.'
Masked, no matter how many wins, nothing changed in real life.
But as a judge, he could appear unmasked ongoing. With his connections, recruit more challengers.
He glanced at Oh Gyu-cheol.
'I'll be a chef wielding influence in broadcasting like him. I have to seize this chance.'
Broadcast resumed. The host announced the third round.
"Third round: Dessert!"
Ingredients limited again.
"Can't stand seeing that guy become a judge."
"Obviously."
One issue though. Mishmash cookies or cakes would give him away to too many people.
"Ji-in-ah. Besides the usual stuff, any fancy-looking desserts?"
"Huh? Why? World's top patissiers only made two recipes?"
That's why mishmash cookies looked like hardtack.
"More dessert recipes, but nothing fancy-looking?"
"Pretty desserts would be nicer to look at."
"Looks good, tastes good, but impossible."
"I get why, logically."
They were fighting with cooking as weapons now. One reason they'd lost round one was ignoring appearance.
Round two crushed with performance, but desserts? Looks mattered a lot.
"Hardtack dessert means loss. Can't let him win though."
"A way... Got pics of famous desserts? For reference."
Dozens of dessert photos popped up. Simple shapes, but some complex object depictions too.
"Let's make ours object-shaped like that. Tech for shaping desserts?"
He'd fixed cars and made dragon plates with that. Even this helmet.
But it had a key precondition.
"That needs tools or machines, not bare hands. Anything else?"
"Oh, nice. Just drawing? Sculpting or molding too?"
"Perfect, use that. Make a little garden with a pavilion? Or a mountain?"
"Then mountains and rivers."
Na Gang-in recalled the Gangwon-do film set.
"Gangwon-do set. Not the temp parking side—the opposite terrain. That was gorgeous."