Chapter 17
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: King Seonjo Shouts at the Top of His Lungs
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Jang Geum stared blankly up at the ceiling. Every night, she cried herself to exhaustion and fell asleep, only to wake with that same crushing sense of loss crashing over her like a wave.
Her vacant eyes fixed on the ceiling, she rose listlessly from her seat. She had no idea where to go or what to live for, but out of sheer ingrained habit, she headed to the kitchen.
The ingredients she'd prepared for the final round had all gone cold. Unconsciously, she reached out to touch the ones on the shelf, but no sounds came to her.
How... did I... do it...
She couldn't recall her mother's teachings. She couldn't hear the voices of the ingredients. It felt like everything she'd built up until now had crumbled away.
But there was no time to rest. If she didn't even do this much, she felt like she'd truly fall apart. Jang Geum gripped a dull kitchen knife and began preparing for the final round.
The first ingredient she picked up was pufferfish.
"Huh... Death has slipped into the empty space. This won't do at all."
The title of Gourmet Unicorn was already out of reach.
She had enough points banked to qualify again next year, but looking at her now, it was questionable if she could even keep cooking.
Pufferfish, no less. King Seonjo couldn't hide his pity at the sight of her veering so far off course.
Sighing, he turned the page, and there in the dead of night, a man came to visit Great Jang Geum.
- Are you in?
- ...Who is it?
- Hearing the unfamiliar voice, Jang Geum passed through her pitch-dark house—without even lighting a lamp—and barely managed to open the door.
- An unexpected visitor greeted her.
- Looks like I found the right place. Hope you've been well, Great Jang Geum.
- You're... Park Chang-gi?
Park Chang-gi, the master chef of the Bubyeong Pavilion.
Wasn't he the man who'd faced off against Jang Geum in the previous finals, only to get swept up in scandal and banished from the culinary world? What was he doing here?
- What brings you here, Master Chef?
- Haha, calling me 'Master Chef' still—I'm truly grateful. Feels like years since I last heard it. Mind if I come in? My throat's parched; I'd love a cup of tea.
- ...Come in.
- Unable to coldly turn away a visitor, Jang Geum let Park Chang-gi inside. As she prepared the tea leaves, he watched her with an enigmatic smile.
It was too faint for mockery, too deep for mere pity.
- After silently sipping the tea she'd served, Park Chang-gi suddenly looked at her and spoke.
- That look in your eyes... it's so familiar. Just like the one I had these past few years.
After being expelled from Joseon's culinary scene, he'd lost his honor and wealth, fleeing to the Ming Dynasty where no one knew him. He'd scraped by as a despised barbarian cook among people who barely spoke his language. Back then, Park Chang-gi's eyes had been just like Jang Geum's now.
- ...Did you come to mock me? Happy to see me broken?
- It was an uncharacteristically venomous remark from Jang Geum, but he seemed to understand, replying with a kind smile.
- Nothing like that. I'm just a senior who's walked this path before, come to see a junior.
At the same time, Park Chang-gi rose and headed to the pantry in the corner.
The ingredients there were in disarray, failed dishes scattered about with their distinctive stench.
Park Chang-gi rolled up his sleeves and began tidying one shelf after another as he spoke to Jang Geum.
- You know it yourself, Junior. This path you're on now... it isn't yours.
- ...
- You probably can't imagine any other way. Of course not. A lifetime on one path, refined through karma into a single chef—switching now isn't easy.
- …
- Junior, when that happens, go back to your original path. Let it all go and start over from the beginning.
Jang Geum bit her lip hard at Park Chang-gi's words.
How?
With what?
What even is my path?
Who are you to say?
I can't see anything.
I can't hear anything.
What do you expect me to do?
Dozens of rebuttals swirled in her mind.
But this was the first advice like this she'd received, the first encouragement in so long—so Jang Geum set all questions aside and voiced the one thing she'd wanted to ask since he arrived.
- Don't you hate me?
- I did. I cursed and resented you every day for taking everything from me. When I heard you were entering the Gourmet Unicorn contest, I clenched my fists so hard my hands bled. You know I didn't do anything wrong.
Park Chang-gi was innocent. If there was any crime, it was meeting Jang Geum, giving his all to his cooking, and simply failing. Bad luck with a superior had swept him into the wave of scandal, costing him everything.
- Then why...?
- Why did I come? Haha, because you didn't do anything wrong either, Great Jang Geum.
Park Chang-gi had resented Great Jang Geum every night. Her victories in culinary duels ruined his whole day; her losses had him toasting happily. One day, while closely following her story, he realized her eyes had become like his.
And he thought: Why does she have eyes like mine? What's our common thread? After agonizing over it hundreds of times, Park Chang-gi realized one truth: She was innocent too.
- Once he realized that, Park Chang-gi knew he'd been on the wrong path too. No one to resent—not himself, not others. The guilty party was elsewhere; why should the innocent suffer?
Park Chang-gi carefully shared his story with Jang Geum as he finished tidying the pantry. Spotting the pufferfish at the end, he chuckled amusedly.
- Heh heh, pufferfish. Doesn't suit you at all.
Then, as if it were some abomination, he tossed the pufferfish to the floor and said,
- Tang Hwaryeong with her flashy techniques suits pufferfish. But you, Great Jang Geum—do you think 'flashy' fits? Stick to the path that beat me: the sounds of tough old hens and aged rice. You're flounder. Get muddy...
- Ahh...
King Seonjo couldn't hold back his admiration at those profoundly sage words.
A heart emptied and calmed discards the old to birth the new.
The Confucian teaching that true realization comes from letting go.
And perhaps that profundity touched Jang Geum's heart.
Listening to Park Chang-gi, Great Jang Geum wiped her tears with her sleeve and said,
- Master Chef, I'll thank you properly later. I have somewhere urgent to go.
- Haha, I've taken up too much of your time. Seeing your eyes clear up is a relief. One last thing—take this.
- What's this?
- I hope this ends the bad blood between us.
With those cryptic words, Park Chang-gi left Great Jang Geum's house. After poring over the note he'd left, Jang Geum suddenly looked up and dashed outside.
She ran until her breath burned her throat and sweat soaked her body—to Min Jeong-ho's house. Jang Geum pounded fiercely on his door.
- Bang bang bang!! My lord!! Are you there!!
- Moments later, the door opened, and Min Jeong-ho stumbled out, drunk and disoriented. In that instant, Jang Geum realized: Those eyes. Dead, cold eyes. That's what Master Chef Park meant.
- Haha, must've drunk too much. Now I'm seeing hallucinations. Guess that's the price for guzzling expensive liquor. Great Jang Geum, have you been well?
- I haven't been. I dream of you every night and wait for your touch every morning. But when I drown in booze, you sometimes visit, so I've been living drunk. Pathetic, right?
- Utterly broken, unable to tell dream from reality, Min Jeong-ho was tightly embraced by Great Jang Geum.
- No. I understand it all.
He was innocent too. Just swept away by the waves. Stroking his head as he peacefully nestled in her arms, Great Jang Geum said,
- My lord. Come to the final round. I'll serve you the best dish.
Seeing Great Jang Geum finally find her path, King Seonjo beamed and turned the page.
The final round to decide the Gourmet Unicorn had begun.
Following the advice to return to her roots, tough old hens, aged rice, and bean oil lay on Jang Geum's cutting board.
- Hear the ingredients' voices. Feel their breath. You can do it, Jang Geum.
Reclaiming her mother's teachings, she touched the ingredients and listened closely.
For the sake of someone dear, she handled each one with care; her feelings for Min Jeong-ho breathed life into them.
Life infused the food.
And then.
King Seonjo gasped at what Jang Geum did next.
Having read Culinary Duel: Jang Geum multiple times and sampled Golden Fried Chicken from the royal kitchen at his urging, he knew it well.
The oil-rich juices and tender meat were delicious, but the heart of Golden Fried Chicken was the crisp, puffed skin.
Yet she abandoned that strength to imitate the far inferior poached chicken? Why?
The judges shared King Seonjo's thoughts, launching into harsh critiques.
- Making Golden Fried Chicken, then turning it into Joseon poached chicken.
- Great Jang Geum, what are you thinking? The essence is the crunch.
- Desperate, she shot herself in the foot.
The judges received her dish with skepticism and took a bite of the Golden Fried Chicken, faces uneasy.
A miracle happened.
- Squeeeeal!!
- Great Jang Geum!! What is this black sauce!!
- I've never tasted anything like this!! Is it ribs or Golden Fried Chicken!!
- To the judges' exclamations, Jang Geum smiled and replied.
- It's a Joseon Suwon King Rib sauce recipe from a master chef I know. He said to forget the hazy past and walk the same path together. I combined the two dishes with his teachings.
Jang Geum's dish embodied her mother's teachings.
The subtleties of benevolence, loyalty, and filial piety dwelled within.
Jang Geum's dish held her feelings for Min Jeong-ho.
Life had sprouted.
And Park Chang-gi's secret sauce, praised by Gourmet Unicorn An Sung-jae as peerless.
With it, Jang Geum's dish now pursued harmony.
Confirming the content, King Seonjo burst into laughter.
Not just Jang Geum's tale, but the sheer amusement of the situation.
Court Westerners in their fifties submitted petitions of envy and jealousy over her story, while a five-year-old child preached forgiveness and harmony from the same tale.
Who truly understood nature and principle?
Imagining the ministers blushing in shame, he couldn't help chuckling.
"Well done. Perfect."
Yes, that was enough.
A shame she didn't become a Gourmet Unicorn, but she was young with time ahead.
She could try again next year.
Turning the page, thunderous applause filled the arena.
- Clap!!
- Clap!!! Clap!!! Clap!!!
- Murmurs. The crowd buzzed amid the overwhelming applause. The quickest to recover pointed at one judge and shouted.
- Applause! Han Su is clapping!!
- How many years? Ten? Even longer?
- Han Su, president of the National Gourmet Unicorn Association. Peak of all Gourmet Unicorns, a monster of the central plains culinary world who'd held the post for decades. His other nickname: Clapping Hands Han Su, for unconsciously applauding incomprehensibly delicious food.
- And the final rule of the Gourmet Unicorn contest:
Clapping Hands Han Su's applause means the dish's creator ascends to Gourmet Unicorn, regardless of prior scores.
Of course!
If our Jang Geum isn't a Gourmet Unicorn, who is?!
This is what a proper contest looks like!
- Congratulations. From today, Great Jang Geum, you hold the title of Gourmet Unicorn.
- Thank you, President.
Caught in the whirlwind of this unforeseen twist, King Seonjo eagerly devoured the remaining pages.
A touch of regret lingered. Not much left. With Great Jang Geum earning the title and reconciling with Min Jeong-ho, the story was nearing its end.
But...
- Beyond the contest hall where the Gourmet Unicorn event unfolded, black-clad figures gathered, watching.
- Chefs who'd once claimed the title but cast it aside.
- The rogue chef band, Evil Pursuers.
- One man stepped forward.
- Former master chef of Shaolin Temple, current leader of the Evil Pursuers.
- Great Didarara of Mount Song.
- He declared:
- We will shatter the Gourmet Unicorn.
What kind of unheard-of twist was this?!
Stunned, King Seonjo hastily turned the page. The utterly deflating line at the end of volume two greeted him.
- To be continued next volume...
King Seonjo shouted at the top of his lungs.