Absolutesense Awakens
I sat in a lotus position on the rooftop terrace, the gentle afternoon breeze carrying away the last remnants of the morning rain.
Fortunately, the storm had ended.
No more worry of being struck by lightning again.
“Ah, ugh… my voice doesn’t adapt at all.”
It had been only minutes since the lightning had struck and I had woken up.
I accepted reality.
I had become a girl.
About 140 centimeters tall, with short limbs and soft, plump cheeks that made me look like an irresistibly cute little girl.
Yet there was something strange here.
My body had become that of a petite young girl.
But my strength had become an absurd power capable of crushing an avocado seed even with bare hands.
“Actually, the first thing I worried about was how to handle a wok.”
The very first thought after confirming that I was female.
It wasn’t ‘why did I become female?’
It was ‘how can I cook with this cute and delicate body?’
Yet perhaps I should call it fortunate.
My body had become that of a petite girl.
But I had gained tremendous strength.
A strength-enhanced petite girl.
Except for the shortened limbs, this was actually advantageous for cooking.
There was no problem on the path to becoming a Chinese chef.
And,
“Hey, Cheon-so. What’s going on from dawn?”
“President. Did I originally become female?”
“…Of course. Why did something happen when you left the orphanage?”
“No, I’ve been doing well. Please go back to sleep.”
The call with the president.
The president had remembered from the beginning that I was originally female.
Not only the president.
Even from the start, the world had become one where I existed as a female.
[Resident Registration Card]
[Kang Cheon-so]
The name on my resident registration had changed from Kang Cheon-su to Kang Cheon-so.
The last digit of my resident number had also changed from 3 to 4.
All the luggage I had brought was now that of a female.
The situation had become one where I had existed as female from the very beginning.
“Not like some web novel…”
It was a situation that was truly like a web novel.
I had tried every trick, but it was clearly not a dream.
This was reality.
I had no choice but to accept it.
Even though I had always thought that way since the orphanage days, reality did not change by turning my face away from it.
I had to do something while I had the time.
Anyway, my dream of becoming a Chinese chef had not changed.
Perhaps it had even become better.
Because a female Chinese chef was rare.
The phone rang—pli-ri-ri-ri—pli-ri-ri-ri—
At that moment, a notification sounded from my phone.
It was half past six in the morning.
Time to go to work.
Even if I had become a petite girl, I had to work.
I changed my clothes and headed to the hotel Chinese restaurant Hongwon for work.
The clothes, like everything else, had changed to fit this body perfectly.
***
“Nice to meet you… nice to meet you.”
“Yeah~”
I entered the kitchen with a trembling heart.
Everyone just accepted the fact that a girl had come into the kitchen.
“Really, no one cares at all.”
The people in the kitchen also remembered me as female.
Ah, the dishwashing part-timer who came yesterday?
Just like this.
Even the person who had pointed out my fried food temperature the day before remembered everything exactly the same.
Every time I passed by, I heard things like “Yesterday that guy said he matched the fryer temperature, right?” and “How does a small body like that wash dishes so fast?”
All the things that had happened yesterday remained exactly the same.
But only my gender had changed, and the world remembered it.
“Snap out of it and start washing dishes!”
I slapped my cheek once.
Yeah. It was even better.
I would focus on washing dishes according to my original mindset.
Just as the head chef had said yesterday.
My role was dishwashing.
I stepped out into the kitchen wearing a work uniform that was too big for my body, complete with boots that covered my thighs.
Wearing an apron that was bigger than my body and even small rubber gloves.
And I started washing dishes.
“You, you’re too short!”
The sink was too high.
No, my height had decreased.
Only my head barely reached the sink.
“Um, here’s the footrest.”
At that moment, another dishwashing part-timer who had just arrived said.
He was pointing at the plastic box in the corner with his finger.
The green one used when delivering ingredients.
“Oh, thank you.”
I quickly picked up the plastic box, flipped it over, and placed it under the sink.
The height was perfect.
Now I could wash dishes.
Swoosh—
I turned on the sink water and started washing.
The vegetable bins were huge, but there was no problem handling them.
Because my strength had become so great.
In exchange, because my arms were short, I had to move my arms a lot more when scrubbing.
But I couldn’t let the speed slow down.
The faster I went because of the shortened arms.
I scrubbed dishes like a hamster running on a wheel, working busily.
Lunchtime soon approached.
“Wok! Wok, hurry!”
“Call the order again!”
“Order number 9, yurin-gi!”
“Hey! The fire is weak!”
The kitchen during lunchtime was just like yesterday—an infernal scene.
The smell of oil and heat filled the kitchen.
Endless orders coming in.
The shouts of the chefs exchanging dishes.
If I looked away, the washing dishes would burn in an instant.
Amidst all that, I continued moving my short arms without stopping.
“Easier than yesterday.”
Yet no matter how much I washed, I didn’t get tired.
Yesterday, my arms gradually lost strength.
But now, with my soft body, I felt even more energy.
Scrub scrub scrub—cha-cha-cha-cha—
“Wok’s done!”
“What, already?”
“Why is today’s washing so fast?”
“That kid is holding a wok with one hand…?”
I turned a small iron pot and a wok the size of my body with one hand while washing dishes.
The chefs, after each wash, looked at me in surprise.
Whether they liked it or not, I focused on washing dishes.
Especially the wok; even a little tilt or mistake could affect the cooking quality.
“I’ll help you!”
“Th-thank you…”
Cha-cha-cha-cha—
While another dishwashing part-timer seemed to be struggling, I helped with a few.
Because my body had become lighter, I even started to enjoy washing dishes.
And my eyesight had improved compared to when I was male.
It helped me clean every corner neatly.
Just like that, lunchtime continued without pause.
Soon, washing dishes with my new body had become natural.
As I adapted, the surroundings entered my view.
The chefs moving busily.
On one side, flames roared with brilliant wok work.
On the other, the artistry of plating appetizers with exquisite care.
Fried food in oil at the right temperature sizzled as it cooked.
The chefs pulled the fried items from the oil at the exact right moment.
The aroma of the mixed sauce and oil filled the air.
In stir-fried dishes, ingredients went in with perfect timing, each achieving its own level of doneness.
Here in this kitchen was everything I had dreamed of.
After all, it was a hotel Chinese kitchen.
I watched all of it out of the corner of my eye.
The things I wanted to learn.
For now, I could only wash dishes from the bottom.
But someday I would cook just as deliciously.
“Please do this too!”
At that moment, the hall staff pushed the dishes toward the exit.
It meant that a team of guests had finished eating and left.
Quickly, I took the plates, discarded the leftovers, and started washing again.
“…You left a lot of rice.”
As expected, the leftovers from the guests came into view.
They had barely eaten half of the XO sauce stir-fried rice and left.
If it was just a little leftover, it was always the case.
But a plate left like this was bothersome.
But I couldn’t help it.
A desire arose to find the problem with this dish.
Food left by guests was like an answer sheet with mistakes.
Studying it would quickly raise my skill level.
I couldn’t hold back my desire to study.
That was why I had come here.
“…Is anyone looking?”
Looking around, no one was paying attention to me right now.
Quickly, I scooped a spoonful of rice into my mouth.
And, acting as if nothing had happened, I emptied the leftovers and restarted washing.
While washing, I analyzed the spoonful of rice.
“…It’s salty.”
With just one bite, the answer came quickly.
The rice was salty.
The XO sauce stir-fried rice was, in a word, rice stir-fried in XO sauce.
The core ingredient was, of course, the XO sauce.
The taste and aroma of the XO sauce greatly influenced the success of the stir-fried rice.
At this point, timing was important.
The XO sauce should be stir-fried for only a short time near the end.
Basically, you should add the aroma of the finished stir-fried rice, not the taste of the XO sauce itself.
But if you add even a little XO sauce early?
The unique good aroma and umami of the XO sauce would disappear, leaving only the salty taste.
In other words, this stir-fried rice had too much XO sauce added too early.
“The sauce timing was a bit fast… only a slight oil flavor and garlic aroma remain…”
With just one bite, I could analyze most of the problem.
But it was strange.
“…Why does the taste feel so clear?”
I had always analyzed taste before.
But today, the taste was much clearer than usual.
In other words, the flavors of the ingredients used seemed to be felt one by one?
Slightly, but the combination of the ingredients was also vaguely felt.
My sense of taste had become sensitive. Like absolutesense.
“……”
At that moment, I felt a gaze from somewhere.
Turning around out of unease, the head chef was glaring at me.
“H-hee hee. You said not to eat the leftovers.”
Did he see me eating the stir-fried rice leftovers?
Was I being scolded?
The head chef’s eyes were extremely intimidating.
Yesterday too, could a person have such a frightening atmosphere?
“Hmph.”
But the head chef said nothing more and turned away.
Could he have missed it?
Anyway, I let out a sigh of relief.
Even after that, there were many times when guests left a lot of food.
But it was not a chronic problem like the oil temperature yesterday.
Most of it was a matter of simple mistake.
The XO sauce stir-fried rice I ate earlier was not like that.
Only that particular plate was made salty because the chef missed the sauce timing by mistake.
I did not boldly step forward like yesterday.
I simply secretly ate and analyzed for my own study.
Of course, I knew I shouldn’t eat the leftovers.
But the food left by guests was too good an answer sheet.
I didn’t want to miss the good textbook right in front of me.
Moreover, the more I tasted, the more sensitive my tongue became to the food.
The process of cooking the dish seemed to become visible.
The combination of ingredients, the degree of doneness, the layers of flavor, the stir-frying order, the sauce combination.
The more I used my tongue, the more it felt like I could see the cooking process.
Like my strength had become stronger, had my sense of taste become more meticulous?
I became addicted to this sensation.
With just one bite of food, I could understand the dish in detail.
At first, it was just a bit more distinct.
But the more I used it, the smarter my tongue became.
Although others might look down on me as a dishwashing part-timer, I felt truly good.
I stole the chefs’ skills from over my shoulder and studied the answer sheets.
On my way home, I jotted down everything I remembered that day.
Just the feeling of my cooking knowledge rising was too good.
So I worked as a dishwashing part-timer earnestly for a month.
A few days later, payday came.
With the salary I received, I immediately repaired the rooftop room kitchen.
I bought various cost-effective dishes as needed.
“It’s, it’s done…!”
Because I had used everything, the money disappeared quickly.
But since I could finally cook, I didn’t mind.
Finally, it was time to cook.
And,
“Like this, should I set it up?”
I installed the tripod I bought from Daiso in the kitchen so the cooking videos would be visible.
As planned, I recorded cooking videos and decided to upload them to YouTube.
Ding—
When I pressed the button, the video recording started.
My appearance on the camera looked very awkward.
There was no one in the corner of the room, yet I felt strangely embarrassed.
But this was also the gateway to becoming a chef.
I endured the embarrassment and started speaking to the smartphone camera.
“Um, hello… today’s dish I’ll make is jajangmyeon.”