The Chef in a Hero's World
I wiped down the last of the tables with a dishcloth and let out a long breath.
"Thanks for the meal, boss!"
"Sure thing. Take care!"
I watched the customer’s back as they left, then stretched my tired body while surveying the now-quiet restaurant. This place was the only inheritance my parents had left me. I’d remodeled the building’s interior and turned it into my own little restaurant.
While I cleaned the four small tables, I reached over and changed the channel on the TV mounted to the wall.
"Oh? An A-class hero?"
I was in the middle of setting out napkins and utensils when the words caught my attention. I quickly turned my gaze to the screen.
There, a stunning woman with flowing blue hair waved at the camera in a skintight, rather provocative hero suit.
Wow. What a body.
The outfit didn’t actually show much skin, but it clung to every curve. I stared for a second before snapping out of it. The last thing I needed was a customer walking in and catching me ogling the TV, so I hurriedly changed the channel again.
The next station was broadcasting footage of a foreign hero battling a massive monster.
"Damn… that’s awesome."
I let out an impressed sigh as I watched the beautiful female warrior claim victory, then finished cleaning up.
In my previous life, scenes like this only existed in movies and comics. Here, you could just turn on the news and see them in real time. What a crazy world.
Not that I remembered much about my previous life anyway.
"Time to prep for the dinner rush."
Lunch hour had already passed, so I didn’t expect many new customers. Still, I headed into the kitchen and began preparing ingredients.
"Let’s go with stir-fried squid today."
Besides the fixed menu items, I always offered a daily special based on my mood. I grabbed a knife and started working on the thawed squid.
Slice!
I cleanly cut the body in half, removed the innards and eyes, flipped the legs over, and scraped out the hard beak. After peeling off the tough outer membrane, I sliced it into bite-sized pieces and marinated it in a sauce made from gochujang and various seasonings.
Once the squid was set aside, I moved on to prepping the vegetables that would be stir-fried with it.
Chop chop chop!!!
My hands moved with impressive speed and precision—even I had to admit it. I measured the seasoning perfectly and cut the vegetables with almost mathematical accuracy before storing them in separate containers.
"Maybe I should enter a cooking competition?"
The thought crossed my mind as I wielded the knife with such confidence, but I quickly dismissed it. Unlike chefs who had devoted their entire lives to the craft, I’d learned through a method that felt a little too much like cheating. My conscience wouldn’t let me compete.
Besides, I had zero interest in becoming famous.
"Haaam… No customers, no delivery orders…"
After finishing prep for the evening menu, I lazily picked up my phone and started browsing the web.
Hero this, hero that… This one’s about heroes too. This one’s praising a villain? Some lunatic wrote a villain worship post. That’ll get taken down quick.
I scrolled through the usual flood of similar content—videos and articles that all blended together.
Superhumans who had awakened special powers. Villains who used those powers for crime, and the heroes who stopped them. Every article and video featured only women—beautiful, powerful, and dazzling.
Of course that was the case.
In this world, only women could awaken as superhumans.
Men could not awaken superhuman powers. Only women could. That was common sense in the world I now lived in.
…Well, there were exceptions.
Gurgle…
"Ah."
I’d been skimming through online posts when my stomach growled. I set my phone down.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten yet. When I was busy cooking and watching customers eat, I often forgot to feed myself.
Good thing I’d already prepped the ingredients earlier. I pulled out the vegetables and marinated squid, heated some oil in the wok, and quickly stir-fried everything together.
"Mmm…"
As I watched the dish come together, I hesitated for a moment before adding a special seasoning that only I could provide.
Not something physical like salt or sugar, but a unique seasoning only I could use.
Buff Bestowal.
Whoooong…!!
The moment I muttered the keyword in my mind, an intangible energy flowed out of my body and infused the finished dish. On the surface, nothing looked different, but I could clearly feel the power now residing within the food.
I scooped some hot white rice, paired it with the stir-fried squid, and began to eat. The energy inside the dish slowly seeped into me, stacking up bit by bit.
By the time I’d finished every last bite, strength surged through my previously exhausted body. I’d just finished cleaning and washing dishes, but now I felt refreshed.
It wasn’t like I’d suddenly gained the kind of superhuman power the heroes on TV possessed, but I felt like I could head to the gym and add an extra plate to the barbell without breaking a sweat.
At the same time, a message appeared in my mind.
Side Effect Occurred.
Both pinky toes will be paralyzed for two days.
Release Condition: Soak feet in water above 37°C for 30 minutes.
"Ugh."
I read the information that had appeared in my head and immediately noticed that my pinky toes inside my shoes wouldn’t move.
I placed the empty dishes in the sink, filled the cleaning basin with warm water, and soaked my feet in it. I kept adding hot water to maintain the temperature and spent the next thirty minutes giving myself a foot bath while the restaurant remained empty.
Once my pinky toes were wiggling again, I let out a deep sigh.
"Why does this keep happening?"
This world was full of superhumans who awakened all kinds of supernatural abilities. In that sense, the sudden surge of strength I felt after eating my own cooking—and the strange side effects that came with it—could also be considered a type of superpower.
Since there were all sorts of bizarre abilities out there, it wasn’t impossible for one of them to involve granting special power to food.
The real problem was that this power had awakened in me—a man.
The “exception” I’d mentioned earlier referred to exactly this situation.
Does it have something to do with the memories from my previous life?
I thought back to the fragmented memories that had surfaced after I hit my head at age eighteen. They were from a peaceful world similar to this one, but without heroes or monsters.
I didn’t remember everything, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t possessed any special powers back then either.
"I have no idea."
I finished washing the dishes, gave my now-recovered toes a quick massage, and pushed the thoughts out of my mind.
I had never heard of a man awakening superpowers. If this fact ever got out, what would happen?
The researchers who still hadn’t figured out the exact cause of superhuman awakenings would probably swarm me like madmen. And among them would surely be those crazy villain cultists who claimed superpowers were a gift from God.
"Let’s just keep living like this."
Since no male superhumans had appeared yet, the question still lingered, but I had no intention of trying to solve it.
I would simply continue as I had been.
I’d use the cooking ability that came with my awakening and keep running my restaurant in peace. That was how I had lived until now, and how I planned to live in the future.
A peaceful life far removed from superhumans, heroes, or villains.
Women have to take regular awakening tests, but as a man, I’m exempt. And it’s not like my body is mutating or anything…
If I had awakened some flashy or overwhelmingly powerful ability, maybe things would be different. But all I could do was grant minor buffs to food—barely enough to let someone lift one extra plate at the gym.
Honestly, it was almost embarrassing to even call it a superpower.
And on top of that, it came with annoying side effects.
"At least the duration is only two days and it even tells me exactly how to remove the side effect. Still… paralyzing someone’s toes feels pretty serious, doesn’t it?"
Especially when the buff itself only lasted less than thirty minutes.
Anyway, for all these reasons, there was no chance of my ability being discovered, and I had even less reason to reveal it myself.
So I would just keep using my cooking skills, run my restaurant, and live a quiet life.
…Or so I thought.
.
.
.
"Ugh, I’m wiped."
The sun had set and the outside world was growing dark. I finished cleaning up the remaining ingredients and wiping down the restaurant, wrapping up another day.
"Maybe I should hire some staff. I barely get to eat when business is busy…"
I was about to have a very late dinner—something I hadn’t managed to do earlier because quite a few customers had shown up that evening—when it happened.
BOOM!!!
"Ugh?!"
A massive vibration shook the building, followed by a deafening roar. All the neatly arranged dishes came crashing down.
I stumbled but quickly regained my balance and looked out the window.
"What the… what’s going on…?"
The moment I looked outside, I froze.
The commercial area where my restaurant was located was lined with two- to three-story buildings. But now, something enormous I had never seen before stood right between them.
At first I thought it was a newly constructed building. But when the colossal shape began to move, I realized it was no building at all.
"I-it’s a monster…!"
A creature born when the superhuman awakening phenomenon manifested in non-human animals or plants instead of people. And not just any monster—this one was large enough to easily step over entire buildings.
A scream nearly escaped me, but I clamped my hand over my mouth and ducked away from the window so I wouldn’t be seen.
I had witnessed rampaging monsters and villains a few times since arriving in this world, but I had never seen one this huge.
Why the hell did something like that have to show up around here of all places?!
I quickly silenced anything that could make noise, even pulling the battery out of my phone in case it rang. Then I held my breath and carefully peeked out the window to observe the monster’s movements.
"Kyaa… kyaaaa!!"
"It’s a m-monster!!"
Unlike me, who had barely managed to stay quiet, other citizens outside began screaming.
You idiots…!!
I couldn’t exactly blame them for panicking, but I still wanted to yell at them to shut up as I looked in their direction.
The monster, drawn by the noise, turned its head toward the screams. And the person who had screamed was—
"GRAAAAAWR!!"
"Kyaaaaaaa!!!"
The creature, its primal instincts amplified by mutation, bared its fangs at the fleeing civilians.
"Haaap! Thunder Net!"
A bright voice rang out, completely different from the terrified screams of the citizens. A bolt of yellow lightning crashed down between the fleeing people and the charging monster.
CRACKLE!!!
"Grrrrr!!"
"Everyone, run away quickly!"
Along with the yellow lightning, a beautiful woman appeared and guided the citizens to safety.
Golden sparks crackled across her body. She had gorgeous golden-blonde hair and sparkling green eyes.
Astra!
The moment I saw her, her hero name popped into my head.
She was the hero in charge of this district, including the commercial area where my restaurant was located. I had seen her patrolling the neighborhood from afar a few times before.
She was always smiling brightly while on patrol. She wasn’t a globally famous hero, but everyone in this neighborhood knew who she was.
Thank goodness… A hero was nearby!
I let out a sigh of relief as I watched her crackling with yellow lightning from the safety of my window.
But contrary to my expectation that the situation would be resolved quickly now that a hero had arrived, things took a sharp turn for the worse.
"GRAAAAAWR!!"
"Ugh…!!"
The giant monster rampaged wildly, smashing everything in its path and continuously charging at Astra. She did her best to draw its attention, but she was soon pushed into a defensive position.
Thanks to her lightning powers, she could make the monster flinch from time to time and somehow buy time, but…
"Hic! Huh? What’s going on… the sky looks so dark…"
"Eek?! C-citizen! Please evacuate immediately! It’s dangerous here—"
"The hell? Who do you think you are, ordering me around…"
That precarious balance shattered in an instant.
The moment a heavily intoxicated civilian stumbled into the area without fear, the monster’s gaze locked onto them. Astra hurriedly changed direction and stepped in front of the beast to block it.
BOOOOM!!!
"Huk!!"
"Ugh?!"
Astra had swiftly intervened, grabbed the drunk, and thrown them to safety. The civilian was unharmed, but she didn’t have enough time to dodge the attack herself.
The monster’s massive hand swung down on her as she tried to defend. She was sent flying through the air, struck by its enormous forelimb.
Whoooosh!!!
Scattering yellow lightning and blood, she flew like a broken kite and crashed straight into a building.
CRAAAAASH!!!
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
…The very building I was hiding in.