Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Two Entity Dishes
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"The Black Princess's first dish is a well-baked sardine pie. The sardine heads poking out from the top of the pie are really striking."
The commentators were chattering excitedly.
On the other hand, Second Research Director Hwang Joo-seung's expression grew darker by the minute.
Sweat beaded on the severely balding head of Director Hwang Joo-seung.
"The judges, please eat the dishes and leave your evaluations."
Prodded by the announcer, the first to reach out was Director Kwon Sae-ron.
She picked up one of the neatly sliced pieces of pie and popped it into her mouth without hesitation.
'Even if it tastes bad, we have to keep the Princess alive no matter what. Who would've thought I'd get to see the research directors suffering like this.'
She didn't particularly harbor any ill will toward the research directors.
Still, there was something thrilling about watching high-ranking people endure hardship.
Director Kwon Sae-ron seriously chewed the sardine pie.
After swallowing it all, she finally spoke.
"It's surprising. It really tastes like a well-baked sardine pie. You did great, Black Princess. It was delicious."
After her brief evaluation, Director Kwon Sae-ron turned to look at Director Hwang Joo-seung.
A mischievous smile crept across Director Kwon Sae-ron's face.
'She didn't invite the other directors just to mess with them, did she?'
Anyone could see that Director Kwon Sae-ron's expression was teasing Director Hwang Joo-seung.
She was subtly pressuring him to eat quickly.
Unable to withstand the glare any longer, Director Hwang Joo-seung swiftly ate the sardine pie.
His face twisted in disgust.
"D-Delicious. Ahem. It's a fine dish."
Managing to swallow the food, Director Hwang Joo-seung stammered out a short evaluation.
He then gulped down water to rinse his mouth.
The Black Princess's known special ability was altering the taste of entities.
So far, she'd only changed them into universally appealing, delicious flavors, so they'd let their guard down.
But if the Princess wanted, she could make them taste bizarre.
'Good thing I didn't have to eat it.'
From now on, if the Princess offered to cook, he'd preemptively ask her to make something edible.
If sardine pie was on the menu, she might whip up surströmming someday.
Some foods could be more horrifying than entities.
"The next contestant has rung the bell. We'll continue with the evaluations."
As time passed, contestants completed their dishes one by one.
One person was eliminated each round as the competition progressed.
Fortunately, aside from that first sardine pie, the Princess's dishes were relatively ordinary.
'The experiment was a success. The biggest gain is confirming she can neutralize toxic substances.'
They'd given her only the toxic half of a paired poison-and-antidote entity.
When the Princess cooked the toxic entity, its poison vanished.
The Princess's ability wasn't just taste alteration—it seemed to alter physical and chemical properties.
"The competition is nearing its end! Four contestants remain. As expected, the four who drew attention from the start have made it to the finale."
The contest continued until only four remained: the Black Princess, the lab nutritionist, the special food chef, and the agent famous for his extreme tastes.
The Princess stood tall, showing no signs of tension.
"From now on, audience votes will also influence eliminations. Contestants, prepare larger portions. Now, the round to decide third place begins!"
The Princess kept drawing entities for her ingredients, but no one seemed to find it odd.
She silently pulled them out and proceeded with her cooking.
'She really thinks cooking with entities is normal.'
Her small hands worked furiously, tearing, compressing, and shaping the entity into something new.
The Princess's cooking style wasn't the usual baking or slicing, but the taste came out astonishingly similar.
Moments later, she rang the bell signaling her dish was complete.
"The Black Princess has finished first again! Judges and audience, please taste and evaluate."
Her unique method meant she always finished first.
Though her hands were small, her physical abilities were exceptional, and no one could match her speed.
Plates with the dish were placed before the judges and audience.
"I made cheesecake. Enjoy."
The Princess personally delivered plates with slices of cake to everyone.
It was red—likely from the entity—but at least it looked like a cake.
The audience's expressions grew gloomy.
The audience hadn't been randomly selected.
Most were staff handpicked by Director Kwon Sae-ron.
She'd forcibly dragged in those who usually avoided or disliked the Black Princess.
'How did she think to invite people who hate her? Director Kwon Sae-ron has some psychopathic tendencies...'
There were rumors that Director Hwang Joo-seung didn't like the Black Princess much either.
Forcing people who disliked her to bond with her—it was something out of a variety show.
Director Kwon Sae-ron truly deserved her title as the lab's top eccentric.
'As the director said, it's a three-birds-one-stone: familiarize the staff with the Princess, test her abilities, and even give her a keycard.'
There seemed no reason to achieve those goals through this bizarre cooking contest, but no one could fathom the director's thoughts.
Shaking off idle thoughts, he ate the cheesecake the Princess had made.
'Mmm~ Nutty and delicious.'
After eating her food a few times, he'd learned to ignore the appearance.
The bright red cheesecake filled his mouth with a rich, cheesy savoriness that was quite tasty.
He glanced at the others.
A medical team staffer from before hesitated with her spoon.
She peeked at the others, but locked eyes with Director Kwon Sae-ron.
As the director grinned, the staffer resignedly scooped a bit and ate it.
Before she knew it, the Black Princess was standing before her, staring expectantly.
"How is it? Delicious?"
The Princess gazed at the medical staffer with hopeful eyes.
The staffer forced a smile while eating, but her expression shifted to confusion.
The forced smile faded, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Th-This is delicious?"
"Hee hee. No way my food wouldn't be tasty. But thank you anyway!"
The Princess gave a short thanks and moved to the next audience member to gauge reactions.
The medical staffer, wearing a look of disbelief, kept scooping and eating bits of cake.
Thus, the Princess smoothly advanced to the next round.
She was going to win anyway, but the delicious food softened the audience's reactions.
The goal of making her closer to the staff seemed mostly achieved.
"The inaugural Ansong Research Lab Cooking Contest is now heading to the finals! Let the long-awaited finale begin!"
Special food chef Choi Geun-cheol placed fourth, just missing the rankings.
Nutritionist Kang Young-ja took third and won a gift certificate.
Unexpectedly, agent Jeong Tae-san, famous for his extreme tastes, climbed to second.
With first place set for the Princess, it was essentially Jeong Tae-san's victory.
Despite his reputation, all his contest dishes were normal.
The Princess approached the finale with a more serious demeanor befitting the occasion.
In contrast, agent Jeong Tae-san started making something inexplicably strange.
'Since he's going to lose anyway, is he just half-assing it?'
No matter how hard he tried, the Princess would win this contest.
Lacking a chance at victory, agent Jeong Tae-san seemed unwilling to show his true skills.
'Huh? What is he doing?'
While cooking, agent Jeong Tae-san suddenly stopped and approached the Princess.
The Princess and the agent talked briefly.
"Oh! What's this! Agent Jeong Tae-san has borrowed ingredients from the Black Princess!"
Agent Jeong Tae-san had borrowed an entity from the Princess.
He chopped it into chunks, then ate one piece raw.
He chewed and swallowed, nodding vigorously in approval.
Agent Jeong Tae-san added the chopped entity to a pot.
'What the...'
Fortunately, this entity was safe to eat raw.
Records showed a deranged researcher once ate it out of curiosity with no health issues.
A jelly-like, wobbly entity.
He dumped the uncooked entity straight into the pot.
Soon, the dish was complete.
The Black Princess and agent Jeong Tae-san stepped forward to present their dishes.
"My dish is called 'Heart Preparing for Spring.' It's a refreshing clear soup that tastes like seasoned wild greens."
The Princess presented a soup where the jelly entity had formed into greens.
Agent Jeong Tae-san followed with his dish.
"This dish is called 'A Man's Lifetime.' It's my signature dish, embodying my cooking style and philosophy. I hope you enjoy it."
In stark contrast to the Princess's clear soup, he brought out a bright red soup.
The judges began tasting the two entity dishes.