Chapter 201
Chapter 201
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 201
Chapter Title: The World's Best Noodle King Competition
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“Ugh… I’m exhausted.”
After traveling from Hanzhong to the Nine Dragons Fortress, then to the Righteous Path Alliance, and finally back to Hanzhong, I was overcome with immense fatigue.
It was only natural.
The journey had spanned over four thousand *li*.
It was a grueling march I wouldn’t have even dreamed of attempting without Captain Halls the white horse.
‘That damn horoscope… Tsk, tsk.’
Lying in bed, I replayed the events at the Righteous Path Alliance.
To the very end, the Alliance Leader remained a staunch believer in horoscopes, going on about heavenly energy.
‘The heavenly energy is never wrong, I tell you.’
‘That’s all just superstition.’
‘Hmph, such words will bring divine punishment upon you!’
‘What?!’
For a man who called himself a Taoist master to be like that, the future of the martial world felt bleak.
Jin Gung had been utterly shocked when he discovered the Battle Lord Arrow coiled around my little finger.
‘The L-Lightning Arrow! How did you obtain the Lightning Arrow?’
It seemed he knew the true identity of the Battle Lord Arrow.
Thanks to him, I learned how to unleash its real power.
‘To think it had its own dedicated martial art…’
I had felt its utility didn't quite match its reputation, and now I knew why.
‘I suppose I’ll have to put in a request with the Hao Mun.’
Lastly, as the Head of the Cheong Family departed for the Martial Emperor Fortress, he grasped my hands and expressed his gratitude repeatedly.
It was a little burdensome coming from a man of his stature, but well… I decided to just accept it this time.
After all, I was the one who had not only saved his life but also persuaded the Nine Dragons Fortress to allow the Righteous Path Alliance to join the Martial World Peacekeeping Force.
Still, the hardship had been worth it.
‘What is this?’
‘A cat’s eye stone. It’s nowhere near enough to repay you for my life and that of the Azure Guard, but…’
‘Thank you!’
I had received ample compensation.
‘By the way, I need to set a date soon…’
Though his constant attempts to push Cheong So-so on me were profoundly uncomfortable.
For these reasons, if I were to give an overall grade to the Cheong Family Head rescue mission, I’d rate it an SS.
As I lay there, congratulating myself, a knock came from the door.
“Yawn…”
*Knock, knock.*
“May I come in?”
It was Cheong So-so.
“Come in.”
“I heard you were sick.”
It hadn't even been a month since I’d left, but the way her cheeks had filled out suggested she had been eating and living well while I was going through hell.
“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m about to die.”
“See, who told you to go off and play by yourself? This is what you get for being so mean-spirited.”
“…”
For a moment, I was so dumbfounded I nearly lost consciousness.
And just who was I trying to save when I ended up like this?
She was truly an ungrateful, beastly girl.
“Oh my? Are you running a fever? It’s not easy for a master like you to get sick… Let me see.”
Having misunderstood something, Cheong So-so began to check my pulse.
“Hmm… Your heart is beating strongly, and your blood is flowing quickly. These are the classic symptoms of fire sickness… Did you happen to experience something unjust recently?”
“…”
The very source of my fire sickness was standing right there. I was so flabbergasted my nose, my throat, and even my cardiovascular system felt blocked.
Cheong So-so took out a treatment kit from her robes.
“Lie down.”
“What for?”
“What do you think? I’m going to perform acupuncture. I may not be able to cure your fire sickness, but I can at least relieve your fatigue.”
She offered both the sickness and the cure.
* * *
Two days later.
Whether it was thanks to Cheong So-so’s treatment or my own self-hypnosis to just bear with it, I was able to get out of bed.
As a result, a backlog of work began to pour down on me like a torrential rain.
The most urgent matter was budget planning.
The War King Gate and Hanzhong couldn’t function without a budget.
“…This concludes the presentation of this budget proposal. Are there any questions?”
At Yu So-pyeong’s words, not a single executive raised their hand.
Frankly, this was to be expected.
How could martial artists, who couldn't even do basic arithmetic let alone double-entry bookkeeping, possibly understand what he was talking about?
*Zzzzz.*
“…”
Yang Gang had even been meditating from the very beginning of the meeting.
*Thwack.*
“Oof!”
I threw a brush at his head and said.
“So, what you’re saying is, we collected one thousand three hundred nyang in taxes and need to spend eight hundred nyang.”
“That is correct.”
Unlike other regions, Hanzhong collected taxes once a month.
This was an idea initiated by Myo Hyang. Not only did it allow for rapid funding of necessary expenses, but the short tax cycle also prevented money from being siphoned off, thereby deterring tax evasion.
“The scale of expenditure is smaller than I thought.”
“Yes, the major expenses have been settled, and with the rumor that the Black Dragon Gate is charging low protection fees, the number of commoners opening taverns and eateries has increased significantly.”
“So small businesses are booming.”
Indeed, recruiting Bukgung Chang had been a stroke of genius.
And driving out the parasitic martial arts sects that had been eating away at Hanzhong was a stroke of divine creation.
“Therefore, the Military Affairs Department has a proposal.”
“…When you say Military Affairs Department, you just mean you and Ho-pyeong, don’t you?”
“There are five others.”
“Weren’t those guys originally from the Red Dragon Hall?”
“I’ve hired them on a temporary basis.”
“…”
Yu So-pyeong cleared his throat and continued.
“We propose to add the value of ‘gourmet cuisine’ to Hanzhong.”
“Gourmet cuisine?”
“Yes. Currently, Hanzhong’s rival cities are Taiyuan, where the Shanxi Merchant Guild is located, and Hefei, the base of the Hui merchants.”
“Isn’t that an impossible competition? They’re each three times larger than Hanzhong.”
“That is why we must develop Hanzhong further.”
Yu So-pyeong’s explanation was as follows.
By adding the value of ‘taste’ to the commercial city of Hanzhong, they could attract even more people.
“…That’s actually great.”
It was an excellent idea.
For humans, taste, along with money, was an important value that transcended the past and future.
“That makes a lot of sense.”
“Thank you.”
“Alright then, let’s hear some ideas on how we can add this value of gourmet cuisine.”
The faces of the executives in the grand hall soured.
* * *
They say you can squeeze a drop of water from a dried squid, and after a long meeting, a few decent ideas emerged.
First up was Yu So-pyeong.
Befitting his role as a strategist, he presented a systematic and straightforward proposal.
“The War King Gate will issue certifications.”
“Certifications?”
“Yes. After an evaluation, we will distribute certificates to establishments with excellent taste, graded as War King One-Star, War King Two-Star, and War King Three-Star. The owners of taverns and eateries will spare no effort to obtain higher scores. Naturally, the taste of their food will improve as well.”
“…”
‘The War-chelin Guide…’
A straightforward method to improve overall quality by fostering competition among restaurants.
However, it wasn't an immediate solution and would likely take some time to establish.
“Seems like it would take too long to see results.”
“That is true, but it will be effective in maintaining the quality of food in the long run.”
“Alright. Let’s move forward with it.”
“Understood.”
Next, surprisingly, was old man Yuk Hak, who offered an opinion.
“Ahem, from my long experience of wandering around, I’ve found that if a region has a specialty product, people will travel a long way to find it.”
It was a cliché but a good idea.
After all, classics remain classics because they continue to sell.
The problem was.
“But what is Hanzhong’s specialty?”
Hanzhong had nothing that could be called a specialty product.
“Well… um…”
You have to farm something to get something, don't you?
However, this predicament was resolved in one fell swoop by Yang Gang’s suggestion.
“Isn’t Hanzhong’s characteristic that it has everything? If we’re going to push something, it should be that. Let’s see, noodles would be perfect for that. You need various ingredients to boil the broth and add toppings. Besides, Shanxi province is the home of noodles.”
“…”
Everyone in the room fell silent and turned their gazes to Yang Gang.
To think that the guy who slept through every meeting could show such a flash of brilliance.
*Clap, clap, clap.*
I found myself applauding unconsciously.
“Ahem… this is quite embarrassing.”
Yang Gang scratched the back of his head, receiving a round of applause for the first time since the founding of the War King Gate’s… no, the Outer Hall.
And the grand finale of today’s meeting was delivered by Myo Hyang, who was bringing in tea.
“Why not host a competition? That way, we can create a representative dish for Hanzhong and attract everyone’s attention at once.”
“Perfect!”
That was the moment the first-ever World's Best Noodle King Competition was decided.
* * *
Fifteen days.
During that time, Yu So-pyeong and the rest of the Military Affairs Department meticulously prepared for the World's Best Noodle King Competition.
They spread the news of the event far and wide to the surrounding prefectures while securing ingredients through sponsorships from the merchant guilds.
Moreover, they prepared an enormous sum of prize money for a cooking competition.
‘The grand prize is two hundred nyang, and the runner-up gets one hundred…’
By offering a prize worth well over two hundred million won in modern currency, they intended to lure out the hidden noodle masters of the land.
And what was I doing?
What else?
*Chop, chop, chop, chop.*
I was preparing for the competition, of course.
When it comes to the pinnacle of noodles, what could it be but ramen?
Especially after a night of drinking, a bowl of spicy ramen with bean sprouts would make one not envy an emperor.
Furthermore, my goal wasn't simply to win this competition.
‘I will take this opportunity to become the owner of the greatest food corporation in the Central Plains.’
To build a ramen factory in Hanzhong.
If I succeeded, I could rake in all the money in the Central Plains.
Ah, of course, I planned to participate in disguise.
What I wanted was to confirm the potential of ramen, not to win an unfair competition.
“Whew…”
*Bubble, bubble.*
“Is this all I need to add?”
I stirred Szechuan pepper powder into the boiling broth.
It was something I carried with me just in case, a substitute for the yet-to-be-produced chili powder.
The problem was.
“Ptooey. What a waste of an appetite.”
It tasted nothing like the flavor I remembered.
“If only I had some Cheongyang peppers… Is there no other way?”
The more I thought about it, the more I lamented.
“Hoo…”
I slumped to the floor for a moment, pondering what to do.
Complaining about what I didn't have would only waste time; it wouldn't produce a solution.
‘Spicy ramen is impossible due to the limitations of the ingredients.’
Three alternatives immediately came to mind.
White seafood noodle ramen, chicken noodle ramen, and black bean noodle ramen.
“Will this even work?”
Hanzhong was a region influenced by both Sichuan and Shanxi.
It was highly likely that spicy, salty, and stimulating flavors would be well-received.
If I made a mild-tasting ramen, I could very well be eliminated in the preliminaries.
“Hmm… I have no choice.”
I had to ask an expert.
Having made up my mind, I headed straight for Myo Hyang’s room.
She was, by her own and others' admission, a master of home cooking…
And since my reincarnation in the martial world, the only home-cooked meals I’d had were the ones she made.
From now on, I shall call her Home Cook Teacher Myo.
*Knock, knock.*
“Sister, I’m coming in.”
The moment I entered her room.
I witnessed a completely unexpected sight.
“Oh my! L-Lord!”
“What in the world is all this…?”
Ingredients were strewn about.
Traces of flour were scattered all over the room.
There was even a pot on a brazier.
“Don’t tell me?”
Myo Hyang gave an awkward smile and explained the situation.
“That’s right. I’m thinking of participating in the competition too.”
“Sister, what more could you possibly want…”
“They say the winner gets the title of Noodle King, right?”
“So why do you need that?”
“Why? To serve you the best noodles, of course. Just you wait. I’ll soon let you experience a taste that has never existed in this world.”
She declared confidently, her hands on her hips.
“S-Sister…”
To think she still felt that way about me.
Overcome with emotion, I found myself walking toward her.
She, too, opened her arms.
However.
“Gasp!”
The thought that she would be my competitor snapped me to my senses.
“Lord?”
When I stopped approaching, Myo Hyang came toward me with a pout.
“Hmm…”
Moonlight poured in from the window, illuminating her. The sight made my heart pound for some reason, but.
“Sorry.”
I couldn’t afford to get close to a rival.
With the heavy heart of a general executing his favorite subordinate, I pushed her away and ran outside.
“Lord!”
Myo Hyang’s voice echoed through the War King Pavilion.
“If you start a fire, you have to take responsibility!”
Along with words whose meaning I couldn't comprehend.