Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Foodie Question(3)
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The lengthy greeting finally wraps up, and Chef Kim Young-chun takes a steadying breath.
It feels like the signal for the start.
- Alright, then. Here's the first question.
The corners of his mouth, darkened with stubble, curve into a smirk.
- The hardest food in the world is...
He doesn't even finish before the dropouts start flooding in.
[G0412 has been forcibly removed.]
[G0971 has been forcibly removed.]
[G0008 has been forcibly removed.]
[...]
Seeing that, Chef Kim Young-chun lets out a snort.
- Kkhaha! If you enter answers before hearing the full question, you'll get eliminated. Pay attention!
There are always people like that.
The ones in quizzes who think they know it all, jump the gun without listening, and blow it.
The chef launches into another long-winded explanation of the rules.
Everything from the email announcement, start to finish.
Stressing that wrong answers in the response field mean forcible ejection.
In the meantime, the chat room headcount keeps trickling down.
They must not have been able to stomach the drawn-out talk.
- Heh heh. Alright, let me repeat the first question. The hardest food in the world is... bonito flakes. In Japanese, it's katsuo-bushi. The version we usually see is thinly shaved dried bonito. That dried bonito's hardness is said to be tougher than most stones. Now, here's the actual question!
"The build-up is intense."
I wonder what kind of question needs all that info.
- So, the raw ingredient you could call it—bonito! Bonito is classified as a saltwater fish in the Percomorphi order, under the 'what' family. Enter the name of that 'what' fish family.
Yoon-seul listens quietly from beside me, then tugs at the hem of my shirt.
"Oppa, Oppa."
"Yeah?"
"Yoon-seul doesn't know what any of it is."
I stroke her fluffy, soft hair.
She must've wanted to help me get the answer right—her little feet kick at the blanket, expressing her regret.
"It's fine. Oppa will get it instead. Then we can win prizes and buy a car for Yoon-seul."
"Ooh...! Car!!"
Of course, it's a toy car I'm talking about.
I confidently enter the answer in the field.
[Mackerel]
5...
4...
3...
The countdown that started at 10 seconds ends, and the correct answer is revealed.
- The answer is mackerel!
The moment the chef announces it, there's a brief buffering, and the finalist chat room headcount...
[Current participants: 682]
...drops to less than half.
There had been around a thousand.
- Was the first question too tough? Sorry about that. But anyone interviewing at our restaurant should have this level of knowledge, right?
It wasn't an easy one.
Once you think about the answer, though, it makes sense why the chef dragged in the bonito flakes bit.
Mackerel.
The two words that come to mind just hearing the name...
Blue-backed fish.
Bonito is a blue-backed fish too. Before it's shaved into flakes, the dried form has that bluish, bruised look on one side.
If you picture that, mackerel isn't a hard guess.
"Definitely tricky."
Still, I don't feel tense.
If anything, solving a tough one like that makes me even more confident.
No matter what comes next, I feel like I can nail it.
The next question.
"Oh, Oppa got it!"
Then the one after.
"Ooh! Oppa got another one!!"
And again...
"Ooo...!!! Wrong one, Oppa!"
"Huh? Which?"
"Oppa is a genius!"
She solemnly declares it, holding up her index finger high.
"Yoon-seul, why don't you go eat three chocolates over there?"
"Yeah!"
Maybe because of my winning streak on these tough questions, her steps are light and bouncy. She hums a tune: "My Oppa~ is super smart~."
Good thing I hadn't put away that bag of chocolates from earlier.
She's celebrating the correct answers about five times happier than I am.
She's a little distracting, so I decide to stuff her mouth with snacks.
As the questions keep coming, a smile plays on Chef Kim Young-chun's lips.
- Whoa, I haven't even gotten through half the prepared questions, and only twelve participants left already? Looks like we're nearing the results.
He waggles his eyebrows and leans toward the camera.
His enlarged pores are suddenly super clear.
Must be a high-quality camera.
- Alright, moving on. Everyone remember the prelim question? The one about what MSG stands for. The people who got that right are the ones still here... so you know the answer, yeah?
"Two~!"
Yoon-seul remembers the answer we got together earlier and holds up two fingers while pulling a chocolate from the bag.
- Yes! Exactly. It's the ingredient households mainly use to add umami to food. Now, the question: What ingredient contains the most umami per equal weight?
"This one's surprisingly straightforward."
I enter the answer with confident keystrokes.
[Kombu]
5...
4...
3...
The countdown ends, and the correct answer is revealed.
- The answer is kombu!
"As expected."
Kombu really packs a ton of umami. They say boiling it in cold water draws out even more.
That's why some ramen from a domestic company even includes a kombu packet.
[Current participants: 5]
"Munch munch... Huh? Oppa, only five left now."
"Down to five already?"
One or two more questions, and the prize winners will be set.
- Impressive! Surviving to the final five. Just two more dropouts, and you're in the rankings. I'd love to hear your thoughts, but... online, so no can do. Shame.
Instead, Chef Kim Young-chun brings over the prizes and shoves them in front of the camera for a rundown.
Only about five people watching the stream now anyway—what's there to brag about?
The finals get archived on the channel for the public after, apparently.
He's playing to that audience too.
- From here on, if multiple people get eliminated at once and we run short on winners, it'll mess things up. So no more forcible ejections for wrong answers.
Makes sense—if three or more of the five drop, picking third place gets tricky. If all wipe out, well, no contest.
- If multiple drop and we're short—like if three bomb this one—don't leave, hang tight. We'll pick first and second, then restart competition among you three for third.
He explains the rest of the quiz rules, then dives into the next question.
- This time, watch the video clip and describe the correct answer. I'll check your responses personally and mark them right.
The screen switches right away, and the video plays.
A thawed fish lies on a cutting board.
"Is that croaker?"
The surface grains look salt-cured. It's coated in flour and put into an oiled pan to fry.
- So! Why does the chef in the video dust the fish with flour?
The short video wraps up quick.
Answer that in 10 seconds?
Is this Kim Young-chun guy a demon?
I think I know what he's after.
3...
2...
1...
After checking the survivors' answers, the chef gives a wry smile.
- Haha... it went exactly like I just warned. Three out in one go. What a shame.
The chat unfreezes soon after.
[G1309 joins the chat room.]
[G0112 joins the chat room.]
Me and one other survived. 1309 is my number.
- White-fleshed fish usually lack oil, so they crumble when grilled. That's why they use that method to hold the shape while cooking. Not how we do it at the restaurant, but... it's basic knowledge.
Next, Chef Kim Young-chun starts asking the ranking survivors stuff via chat—their feelings on making it, their careers as chefs.
I give moderate replies, and then he reads the next question.
**
"Hing... I knew it. Oppa."
"Feeling bummed?"
"Yeah... Oppa totally could've swept it."
Like Yoon-seul said, if I'd put my mind to it, first place was doable.
But.
"Second place is still awesome, right? We can buy a ton of toy cars for Yoon-seul with this."
"Eek!"
Yoon-seul, with her squishy cheeks pinched in my hands.
"How many?"
"Tons and tons. We could put up shelves on the shop walls and line 'em up by type. Cool, huh?"
"By type?"
"Yeah, and some posters too."
"Would customers like that?"
"Dunno about them, but at least Yoon-seul and Oppa would. Shop full of cars."
"That's right!"
My little sister nods like she's totally convinced.
From my perspective, the online cooking quiz tournament—crammed into a single busy day—wrapped up on a bittersweet? note.
Second place.
Truth be told, no regrets.
I never aimed for first to begin with.
I could've taken it if I wanted.
"No matter how great the restaurant, I have zero interest in working for someone else."
Even if it'd boost my skills as a chef, I don't wanna go chasing it. My immediate goal is building up my own shop with Yoon-seul.
More than that, I figured it might be a precious opportunity for someone else, no doubt.
Unlike me, who's luckily rUnnieng a decent shop, for others it could be a dream launchpad. Snatching that away felt iffy.
"1 million in cash and a resort voucher? That's plenty profitable already."
Planning to use the million on shop interior upgrades. It's a windfall anyway.
The place has that empty vibe right now, after all.
Per the Tycoon app, brighter interiors positively impact shop satisfaction.
Plus, snag a resort voucher, and that's peak-season vacation covered.
Around August, Yoon-seul and I can hit Gangneung for some beach time.
"Yoon-seul, Oppa and you wanna go to the beach in August? What do ya think?"
"Hm? Beach?"
She ponders it deeply. Doesn't seem thrilled. Being only five, she probably hasn't had much fun beach playtime yet.
"Beach has tons of yummy food, and Grandma's there too."
"Grandma!"
She cheers at that.
"Yoon-seul, c'mere. Let's browse some toy cars together."
"Car!"
The siblings flop side-by-side on the bed, hopping between toy sites. We check sizes one by one and boldly toss them in the cart.
Pre-spending the incoming prize money on full-on car geekery.
"A rewarding day off."
"You got it!"