The Grand Opening
Ten-thirty.
Half an hour had passed since the grand opening, and in that entire half hour, not a single customer had set foot in my shop.
My face had gone stiff as stone. Karel, my part-timer, kept glancing at me in careful silence. I sank into thought.
What went wrong?
Before opening, I'd posted promotional threads on the Neo London community boards. I'd even set up a Yuyu Chicken social media account and put up posts there. Those had racked up about thirty likes.
I wasn't expecting a line out the door on opening day… but half an hour in and still zero customers?
Honestly, I hadn't spent a single coin on advertising. The surest method would have been a promotional piece in the paper newspapers — but that cost a fortune. After pouring money into everything else just to get the shop open, newspaper ads were simply out of reach.
Eleven o'clock arrived.
Total customers to date: zero.
What was the problem?
I approached it the way a mage would — with cold, clear reason. The chicken itself was flawless. I could stake my life on that. But chicken doesn't sell if no one walks through the door.
"Um, boss… this might be overstepping, but…"
Karel edged closer. I forced the rigidity out of my face.
"It's fine. Speak freely."
"I think the location's part of why there's no one here. If we were on the main road, people would see the shop right away… but we're down an alley."
"Even so…"
I looked out the front of the shop. Through the glass, I could see the fish-and-chips place across the way. It wasn't packed to the rafters, but it had a decent stream of customers.
"That's a fish-and-chips shop. Practically the symbol of Neo London cuisine! Not that I'm particularly fond of it myself. And that place has been here a long time, so… it's probably got a lot of regulars."
"…I may have expected too much on opening day."
Customers leaving the shop across the street would glance over at mine as they stepped out. Whether those looks were less than friendly, or whether I was just imagining it, I couldn't say.
We're running an opening-day discount and still no one comes?
Wouldn't anyone be even a little curious? About how good this chicken actually is?
"Also, the chicken's too expensive. It's at least one and a half times the price of any other shop."
"I originally planned to charge double and then lowered it. Once the place gets famous, I'll raise the prices gradually."
"…Wow. You're obsessed with money. Trying to squeeze that much profit out of fried chicken… Boss. You do know who usually eats chicken around here, right?"
I knew.
Of course I'd researched that much.
In Neo London, chicken was what the poor reached for when they wanted fish and chips but needed to save money.
"I never planned on them as my customer base. Korean chicken will absolutely land with the upper class."
"Korean chicken! That's the problem. What even is 'Korean'?"
"It's written right there. Korea refers to the ancient nation of Great Korea. Korean chicken means chicken prepared in the style of Great Korea."
"Haa. Sounds like some novel setting… Wait, that ancient country actually… exists?"
Karel searched it online and nearly jumped. The ancient nation of Great Korea was right there in the records, plain as day.
"An ancient country from about two thousand years ago… Whoa. That's ancient. How did you even learn a Korean chicken recipe, boss?"
"I just happened to pick it up."
"But isn't all fried chicken basically the same? You dunk chicken in oil. End of story."
"It's different. Even in that simple act of frying, there's a secret techni—"
Ding-a-ling.
The bell hanging on the door chimed. I whipped my head around toward the customer. A massive man filled the doorway. He scratched his enormous belly, scanning the menu on the wall as he muttered to himself.
"Came to the chicken place that opened today! Korean chicken? Hmm… pricier than the usual stuff, but I'll give it a try and see how it differs from regular chicken. Oh, boss — mind if I film?"
Looking closely, his right eye was a lens. That right eye was a camera.
Already recording and asking permission after the fact? What a piece of work.
I didn't like him, but there was nothing for it. He was a customer. If he was some reasonably well-known influencer online, he might even help the shop's sales.
If he promotes us and then demands free food, we're going to have a problem.
I drew a clear line and answered.
"Yes. Filming is fine. I'd prefer our faces not appear on camera, though."
"Don't worry about that. Faces get mosaicked automatically."
There was a feature like that? I had to admire this world's technology.
"One Korean fried chicken and one seasoned chicken, please."
"Understood. Give us about fifteen minutes."
I headed into the kitchen. From the refrigerator I pulled the brined chicken, coated it in batter, and dropped it straight into the oil.
"Huh? You're frying it twice?"
"That's the secret. But why are you in the kitchen?"
"Haha… it felt awkward hanging around out front. Boss, I looked this guy up — he's pretty famous. Seems like he does personal broadcasts… he's got over twenty thousand live viewers right now. Turns out he's internationally known."
"Perfect. This should put my shop on the map."
Beep-beep-beep-beep!
The timer I'd set went off. I pulled the chicken from the fryer. One batch went onto a plate as-is; the other I tossed in the prepared seasoning sauce.
"…Whoa. This really is different from any chicken I know. It's not greasy the way I expected…"
"That's Korean chicken for you. I'll make you a whole bird later. For now, get out there and serve. And don't forget the pickled radish."
"Yes, sir! Chicken coming out~"
From the kitchen, I watched the man. Two cameras were set up on his table. He bantered with his viewers, then fixed a solemn stare on the chicken that had just arrived.
"At last, the Korean chicken is here. Just looking at it, this is nothing like the chicken I know. Regular chicken feels greasy and soggy… but this one doesn't give off that vibe at all. You all see it too, right? Oh, and the smell — it's not heavy with oil. More like a fragrant aroma, if that makes sense? Man, I never thought I'd drool just looking at fried chicken… Right. The most important thing is the taste. I'll keep the seasoned one on hold and start with the fried."
He didn't use utensils. Both hands closed around a hot drumstick.
"Chicken's meant to be torn apart with your hands! You all saw me wash them clean, right? Here we go!"
He opened wide and bit down. Crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch! His eyes went round as saucers. He started spouting exclamations before he'd even finished swallowing.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! This chicken is insane! Is this the chicken I thought I knew? Holy shit! Neo London has been insulting chickens this entire time! We need to bow our heads and apologize to every chicken out there! We've been cooking you wrong all along!"
He shouted, worked into a frenzy by the taste — and even while shouting, his hands never stopped demolishing the chicken.
"Did the shop pay me? Are you crazy? I take food seriously. Even the most famous restaurant — if it tastes bad, I say it tastes bad. And if it tastes good, I say it tastes good. Damn. This chicken is too good. Oh, right — the seasoned chicken! There's seasoned chicken too! But first, real quick — let me try these white square things. Look like pickles to me… Oh. Better than pickles. Cuts right through the grease."
He practically inhaled the pickled radish. Then his hand moved to the seasoned chicken.
"I'm really looking forward to this seasoned one too. The fried was already incredible, so anything built on that base has got to be good. All right — tasting time!"
He bit into a seasoned drumstick. His eyes went past wide and started to tremble. He went completely limp and stared up at the ceiling.
"Oh my chicken… I'm losing my mind… This is real… This is the real deal. It's so good I could cry… This is better than the chicken steak I had at a D-District restaurant. Don't tell me I'm overreacting? I'm trying my hardest not to overreact. Because if I go full reaction mode… I can't keep eating the chicken."
His food stream was only just getting started.
I watched from the kitchen and let out a low sound of admiration. He shoveled chicken into that enormous mouth and five seconds later spat out bones and meat perfectly separated — clean enough to make you wonder if he was some kind of deboning machine. And somehow nothing ended up on his lips or clothes. For all that he looked like a pig, he ate like a perfect gentleman.
"Eating's made me thirsty. Boss! Cola! Cola— no, a can of beer, please!"
I looked at Karel. The floor was her job.
"He called for the boss, though?"
"……"
The customer wanted me, so I went.
He downed the beer in one go and turned to me.
"I'd like to do a quick interview, if that's all right?"
"Of course."
He asked about Korean chicken, and I launched into an explanation that leaned heavily on the ancient nation of Great Korea. He nodded along the whole time, thoroughly impressed. At that point, he would have swallowed any nonsense I fed him. He was already completely hooked on Korean chicken.
"At first I thought the price was ridiculous for chicken. But after tasting it myself, I get it. This chicken is absurdly underpriced! And with that in mind — I'll take another fried and another seasoned!"
He polished off four whole chickens without leaving his seat, paid cheerfully, and left the shop.
"…Boss. You're making chicken for lunch, right? The job posting said lunch and dinner provided."
"Which kind?"
"Ah, I want both… what do I do…"
"It's not on the menu yet, but I'll do half-and-half for you."
Ding-a-ling.
The door opened and a customer walked in.
"Ah. This is the place. The shop Fisher came and ate at. One fried chicken and one seasoned chicken, please!"
After him, customers started pouring in.
I grinned and headed back into the kitchen. Karel put on a slightly awkward smile and began greeting the stream of guests.
From day one, Yuyu Chicken was a smash hit.