Chapter 186
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: The Showdown
The third round of the cable TV show Masked Chef had begun.
This week's theme was dessert. Once again, they could only use the provided ingredients and sauces.
Na Gang-in usually made mixed-up cookies or mixed cakes.
Field Tactical Dessert was designed to create something delicious even in a battlefield short on ingredients. Though the materials here were limited, he could still whip up mixed cookies or cakes with them.
But making those would defeat the purpose of wearing the robot helmet.
Instead, he created an entirely new dessert. It was firmer than a mixed cake and softer than cookies, making it perfect for shaping.
- Rock Cake has excellent form retention, which is great for transport and storage, but its taste falls short of Mixed Cake.
"Doesn't matter."
Rock Cake was made by pan-frying like pancakes, so it cooked quickly too.
Using that as his base, he piled, sculpted, and shaped it into the mountains and rivers of Gangwon Province that he'd seen before.
A 3D hologram of the full Gangwon Province set had been floating in front of his eyes since earlier.
- I'll create a terrain model based on the records from our reconnaissance of the site back then.
Simply shaping the form wouldn't capture the site properly. He needed to add color too.
There were plenty of colorful ingredients here, all safe to eat.
Na Gang-in and AI Jeon Ji-in actively used the provided chocolate, cream, syrup, and more to build mountains and rivers, painting in the necessary details.
With every move of his hands, intricate terrain took shape, layered with color.
When green powder was sprinkled on, the mountains turned into lush green peaks. Exposed rocks here and there were rendered with chunks of Rock Cake left as-is.
The river, fashioned from syrup and such, wasn't the exact color of real river water, but it captured the flowing feel perfectly.
Na Gang-in paid close attention to the dessert's details. AI Jeon Ji-in warned him.
- This won't make it taste any better. In fact, concentrating certain ingredients in spots throws off the flavor balance. When the judges divide it up, the taste might actually suffer.
"It's fine. The base is meant for Earth Union troops anyway—it won't taste bad."
The host marveled as he watched Na Gang-in refine his dessert.
"We knew Iron Chef had fast hands, but I didn't expect this level. They're really fast!"
Oh Gyu-cheol chimed in.
"It's not just speed. The precision is astounding. It's like something you'd enter in an international cake competition."
"So there are cakes that intricate out there?"
"Cakes of similar quality exist. But they take a long time to make."
Oh Gyu-cheol was impressed inwardly.
I knew he was a great cook, but I had no idea his dessert skills were this good.
The host asked,
"Not many can work that fast, right?"
"As our viewers know, the time limit is just 20 minutes. No one could craft something that precise in such a short window."
"So only Iron Chef can pull off that speed."
The two commentated on Gumiho Chef and Iron Chef's dessert-making like a sports broadcast.
A large screen was set up in the studio. Now it showed Gumiho Chef's dessert taking shape.
The host exclaimed,
"Wow. Gumiho Chef's dessert is on another level too. It feels like we're looking at a beautifully designed work of art."
"Gumiho Chef always delivers top results with limited ingredients on the fly, no prep time. He's perfectly suited for our show."
This was a live broadcast. All dishes had to be finished within the time limit. Considering that, his dessert was impressively high-quality.
But his opponent was Na Gang-in.
The competitors could watch each other cook. The show deliberately made it competitive by showing the rival's process.
Gumiho Chef grew anxious.
Is that human speed? Does he have machines in his hands?!
He'd practiced his dessert countless times beforehand to make it second nature. Yet he was clearly losing in speed.
Gumiho Chef had gone for a sensual design. But Na Gang-in's was blatantly flashy, intricate, and massive in scale.
The judges are civilians—they'll score based on looks alone.
It wasn't just the civilian judges. Even the expert panelists were gushing over Na Gang-in's dessert.
His mind raced. His mental game started to crack.
Then his hand accidentally bumped a sauce bottle. It tipped over, spilling sauce. He grabbed it in a panic.
The brief spill didn't touch the dessert. Still, it pissed him off.
Did they really swap the sauce properly? I signaled to swap the one I use most—how can the taste be the same?
He nearly hurled the bottle in a fit, but caught himself, mindful of the cameras.
The moment was captured perfectly on film.
Calm down. Finish strong first...
The host shouted,
"Oh! Iron Chef finished his dessert first!"
Gumiho Chef whipped his head up to look.
Na Gang-in's creation appeared on the large screen. It perfectly recreated mountains that could be from Gangwon Province, with a narrow river flowing at their base.
The host yelled,
"In this short time, such an amazing landscape has appeared here! Incredible! Where is that place?"
"No idea, but the scenery is gorgeous."
The time limit was almost up. Gumiho Chef had slipped up too, leaving him even shorter on time. His finishing touches turned sloppy.
Still, he somehow completed it before the buzzer. He grumbled inwardly.
Damn. It came out better in practice.
The host said,
"Now for the final showdown. Gumiho Chef's dessert—stunning. Something you'd see in a high-end European restaurant."
He evaluated Na Gang-in's too.
"Beautiful. It's like they transplanted real mountains and a river right here!"
Gumiho Chef muttered under his breath.
"Rushed it, so it'll taste bad. Using ingredients like that for looks means no flavor harmony. It'll be cheap-tasting at best. I saw him dump in all that MSG!"
Gumiho Chef plated his dessert onto five dishes.
Na Gang-in, meanwhile, had made one massive dessert. Being a single piece, it couldn't be divided easily.
The host said,
"It's a shame to break it, but we have to taste it to judge."
Na Gang-in took a knife and sliced the dessert into twenty-five pieces. Each went to the tasters.
Gumiho Chef's was served on small plates too.
The twenty judges sampled both desserts. They started with Na Gang-in's.
The moment they tasted it, their eyes widened.
"Whoa... Umami in a dessert?"
"But it pairs so well with the sweetness."
"My piece is tangy."
"Mine's rich chocolate."
The host marveled,
"Wow. I wondered why the slices were uneven—turns out it was intentional. This piece I'm eating is perfectly delicious."
Oh Gyu-cheol agreed.
"He must've planned the cuts from the start."
"Iron Chef had to use only our ingredients, yet he calculated all that in seconds. He's a math whiz too, huh."
AI Jeon Ji-in boasted.
- It's Field Tactical Dessert, developed by Earth's top patissiers. Of course it tastes great.
"You said it'd taste worse with that shape."
- A fusion of Reconnaissance Terrain Modeling Skill and Field Tactical Dessert Skill. Impressive.
"Now you're just dodging when you're losing."
The final round voting began.
Scores climbed rapidly on the big screen, broken down by category.
Gumiho Chef's score slowed. Na Gang-in's kept surging.
Amid gasps, the final tally appeared. Na Gang-in's was double.
Applause erupted.
The host shouted,
"Iron Chef wins by double score! Gumiho Chef falls short in the final round, missing judge promotion!"
Gumiho Chef swore softly behind his mask.
"Fuck."
He wanted to become a judge on this cooking showdown show. That meant weekly appearances, no mask needed.
He glanced at Oh Gyu-cheol.
Just give me the chance—I'd do better.
His goal was to be a chef like Oh Gyu-cheol, frequently on TV. With steady gigs, he could build connections and outshine him.
To that end, he'd bribed staff for his win streak. Buying off one low-paid grunt was easy.
But losing the finale ruined it all.
Losers remove their masks and share thoughts. Battle lost, but he couldn't waste the exposure.
Got to sell my face on air. Three wins total—if I play this right, other shows might call.
He unmasked, face already smiling.
The live broadcast ended with the loser's interview. He bolted from the stage right after.
Staff climbed onstage to clear ingredients. One reached for a sauce bottle.
Na Gang-in had used that sauce heavily in round one but ignored it completely after.
AI Jeon Ji-in said,
- That's the one they swapped.
It had been replaced once after round one but wasn't slated for more changes, so it lingered onstage.
Na Gang-in pressed down on the bottle with his hand.
"Leave this one."
The staffer panicked.
"Huh? Gotta clear it."
"I said leave it."
"B-but I have to clear it. It's my job."
"Oh, your job? You were doing it weirdly."
The staffer snapped.
"What the hell! Don't interfere!"
Oh Gyu-cheol Chef approached.
"What's going on?"
Na Gang-in said,
"The sauce in this bottle doesn't match the label."
Oh Gyu-cheol laughed.
"Nah, no way. We bought it from the mart."
"Then taste it."
Na Gang-in poured a bit onto a plate. The staffer tried to stop him but couldn't overpower him.
Oh Gyu-cheol tasted and instantly knew.
"Wait—this isn't the usual quality. Why's there low-grade stuff? It's mass-produced; it shouldn't vary."
Na Gang-in asked the staffer,
"Explain."
The staffer waved his hands frantically.
"N-no, I was just clearing everything here. How would I know about the sauce?"
The PD approached.
"Hey, didn't you prep those? You swapped a few sauces earlier."
"No, those were all scheduled for replacement anyway. And I didn't buy th..."
Na Gang-in cut him off.
"If you swapped the bottle mid-show, there should be an extra one of the original label somewhere nearby. No time to dispose, so you hid it."
"No, that's not..."
Na Gang-in eyed the staffer's hands.
"Bare hands, huh? Prints will be clear as day."
The staffer's face went pale.