God-Given Business Genius

The camera director captured the face of a soldier happily tearing into a chicken leg, filling the screen. Plates with red borders and blue borders were spread out on either side.

I approached after observing the scene nearby and struck up a conversation.

“Oh, you’re really enjoying it. Please, eat plenty~ How is it? Does it suit your taste?”

“Yes, it’s delicious!”

Seeing his beaming smile, I couldn’t help but let out a pleased grin of my own.

“You’ve tried both the Red team’s and Blue team’s food. Which one do you think tastes better?”

“I think… Red tastes better!”

“Why is that?”

“The Red team’s fried rice is perfectly cooked and delicious! The Blue team’s pasta is a bit overcooked!”

Oh ho.

Looking at the Blue team’s plate, I could see the pasta was slightly overcooked, even though it had been portioned out and coated with olive oil.

But given that they prepared pasta, they must have accounted for this to some extent. I don’t think An Derek would have chosen the menu without considering such variables.

I naturally turned my question to another person sitting at the same table.

“How about you, sir?”

“I think… Blue tastes better!”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes! The seasoning suits my taste better!”

I then looked around at other tables, conducting a preliminary survey.

“Red for me!”

“I prefer Blue!”

“They’re both delicious, but Red is slightly better for my taste!”

“Blue is delicious, I tell you!”

It’s a complete tie.

Blue and Red were in perfect harmony. It’s a situation where predicting the winner isn’t easy.

“Anyone want more chicken~?”

“Yaaaay!”

But aside from that, seeing the happy faces of people enjoying delicious food seemed to wipe away all fatigue. The other participants seemed to feel similarly.

I elbowed Choi Yak-rok, who was standing next to me. When he turned to look at me with a surprised face, I grinned and asked.

“How about it? Your thoughts?”

“Pardon?”

“Isn’t it nice? Regardless of winning or losing, the fact that everyone can enjoy a good time over a single meal.”

“…You’re right.”

Choi Yak-rok nodded in agreement. He seemed to be experiencing similar sentiments to mine.

“…About Ga-eul earlier.”

Oh dear. He’s bringing up the topic I’ve been trying to bury.

I turned to the side with a calm gaze, but Choi Yak-rok was steadfastly looking straight ahead.

As a participant, he must find it burdensome to bring this up to a mentor. Yet, his desire to protect his team member takes precedence.

“Participant Oh Ga-eul. …I know it’s presumptuous, but is it really necessary to go as far as video verification?”

“Hmm.”

“I, I heard it.”

Choi Yak-rok bit his lip before speaking again.

“Your instructions to make incisions. I heard it from beside her. We don’t need to go to video verification, I know it.”

“I see.”

I thought at least one person would have heard it. As expected.

Yet, the reason he hadn’t spoken up until now was probably for one reason only.

“She’s still young, and being her first time on broadcast, she must have been very nervous. If she shows an unfavorable side on a show everyone’s watching… it might be hard for her to recover.”

“That’s true.”

He wants to protect Oh Ga-eul.

I’m not sure, but I heard the participants here live together in dormitories.

They probably have their own friendships that aren’t shown on broadcast. Even if not, Oh Ga-eul must be much dearer to them than me, whom they just met today.

I could feel Choi Yak-rok glancing at me, gauging my reaction to his impassive response.

“…It’s also my fault for not checking if she was making the incisions. Couldn’t we settle it that way?”

He was asking to edit it appropriately as his mistake and move on.

Well. I wonder if the production team, having caught an interesting angle, would agree to that…

One should take responsibility for their own mistakes. Society isn’t school, and life is the real deal.

“I know, Choi Yak-rok-ssi. That’s why I tried to let it go quietly too.”

“……”

“But what can we do when she’s escalating the issue herself? Oh Ga-eul-ssi might look young, but she’s not a child. At twenty-eight, she should know how to take care of herself.”

Choi Yak-rok dropped his head.

I looked around at the noisy tables and the other participants busy distributing the remaining food, then turned around.

“I’ll talk to Oh Ga-eul-ssi separately after the mission is over. Choi Yak-rok-ssi, why don’t you go try to persuade Oh Ga-eul-ssi instead of me?”

If she admits her mistake completely and apologizes now, we might not need to go as far as video verification.

Tsk tsk.

You’re having a hard time with a problematic team member. I wondered if I should hint to the production team to give Choi Yak-rok some antacids.

I patted Choi Yak-rok’s shoulder to comfort him and then walked past him.

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“The result of the competition is…”

Drum roll.

After a tense musical buildup and a long pause, the judge finally announced the result.

“Red team, victory!”

Pop!

Something like fireworks exploded above our heads. The falling sparkles tickled our fingertips.

“Out of a total of 100 votes, excluding 3 invalid votes, the Red team secured victory by garnering 51 out of 97 votes!”

Phew. That was close.

As expected, Chef An Derek was no easy opponent. We were able to secure a narrow victory thanks to choosing yangnyeom chicken, a dish with little polarization in public taste, as our main dish.

“Wooohoooo!”

“Kyaaaah!”

The team members each let out cries of joy. This means we’ve avoided the elimination mission.

Watching Oh Ga-eul hugging her teammates and shedding tears of joy, I couldn’t help but think this too was part of her luck.

Well, luck is also a skill. Especially in competitions like this.

Beyond the team members jumping for joy, I could see the Blue team participants unable to hide their disappointment. I approached An Derek, who was at the forefront, and offered a handshake.

“It was a good match.”

I could feel people’s attention turning towards us.

Oh oh, the rival combination of Cold Cooking! The tension between them is no joke! They seemed to be thinking along these lines.

The reality was quite different. I wonder if he even considers me a rival. All that is just a fake image created by the broadcast.

An Derek looked at me silently for a moment, then quietly took my outstretched hand.

“I lost again this time.”

“Haha. That’s right. But you won in the last Cold Cooking, so shall we call it a tie?”

Just last week was the Cold Cooking recording, and by some twist of fate, An Derek and I ended up facing each other again. After much deliberation, the guest sided with An Derek.

So strictly speaking, it could be considered 1:1.

“The theme was Chinese cuisine, wasn’t it? If I had lost there, Chef Jung would have broken my legs.”

“Haha, don’t joke like that.”

How could that small and cute person have such strength?

“…? Haven’t you seen Chef Jung wielding a wok?”

An Derek looked puzzled, but no, those two things aren’t the same. Of course, as a veteran chef, he must be strong. But I meant he doesn’t seem like someone who would use violence against people.

An Derek made a strange expression as if he had heard something bizarre, but my opinion remained unchanged.

Our Chef Jung is such a kind and gentle person.

I nodded vaguely and offered handshakes to the disappointed Blue team participants as well.

Then the production staff clapped their hands and raised their voices.

“We’ll take a short break to prepare for the elimination match~! Everyone please return to the waiting room!”

The Blue team participants trudged along like cattle being led to slaughter. Seeing them like this was truly pitiful.

“Chef An, please come this way. You need to prepare the food that will be used in the loser’s match.”

“Alright.”

After waving goodbye to Chef An being led away, I was about to return to the waiting room.

“Chef Song.”

One of the production staff called me.

“Participant Oh Ga-eul has requested a private interview. Would that be alright with you?”

Oh dear.

It seems Choi Yak-rok failed to persuade her.

“Yes, of course.”

I responded with a gentle smile.

So, she’s determined to declare war, is she?

In that case, I had no intention of losing.

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Click.

As I opened the door and entered, Oh Ga-eul, who was already seated, stood up abruptly.

Her face clearly showed signs of tension. I wonder why she’s putting on such a pitiful victim-like expression.

I gave Oh Ga-eul a quick nod and sat down across from her.

“Please, have a seat.”

“…Yes.”

Oh Ga-eul responded briefly with a gloomy face and sat down.

A couple of filming staff were present, and we still had our microphones on.

This meant there was a high probability of this being broadcast.

“First, congratulations on the Red team’s victory. Fortunately, we achieved a good result.”

Let’s try to lighten the mood with some small talk. But Oh Ga-eul, ignoring my consideration, cut to the chase.

“Director. You said the video verification was done, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let me hear it.”

Hmm. Her confident attitude seemed as if she was certain of her victory.

‘Choi Yak-rok probably tried to persuade her that he heard it too and that we should wrap this up nicely. Why is she so confident?’

If that’s the case, there are only two possibilities.

One is that she strongly believes she’s right, regardless of what anyone says.

‘The second is… she wants to appear as if she believes it.’

She wants to assert her innocence to the viewers, insisting that she absolutely never heard it. She might have judged that pushing through like this is better than halfheartedly admitting and apologizing.

Swoosh, thud.

A camera was placed in front.

Click. The play button was pressed.

-The chicken seems larger than size 7, so it’s better to season it more heavily. Make sure it penetrates well inside.

-Yes, ma’am!

After this ordinary conversation passed, finally the highlight.

-Thick parts like chicken legs might not cook well. You should make incisions beforehand to ensure it cooks within the time limit.

And the following response.

-Yes~!

Thud.

The video stopped there.

As expected. Words once spoken can’t disappear. I thought it would turn out like this, but still.

I wonder how she’ll react? I glanced towards Oh Ga-eul.

“……”

Oh Ga-eul remained silent, her head bowed low.

Is she shocked? Or is she too embarrassed to lift her head? Curious about her next move, I watched with my arms crossed.

Oh Ga-eul’s choice was neither apology nor denial of reality.

“Hic!”

It was tears.