1.
“Is it the World’s Best Martial Arts Chef Tournament, not the Dark Chef Battle Tournament...?”
Lee Hae-chan muttered from beside her.
“Isn’t this just getting worse?”
Between the Dark Chef Battle Tournament and the World’s Best Martial Arts Chef Tournament, which is more dangerous? Both Lee Hae-chan and the viewers were in a state of confusion, but regardless, Ha Eung Eung’s intentions were firm.
[If you win in the tournament I’m opening, I will acknowledge your rudeness as the eccentricity of a master.]
“Uh, what happens if I fail to win...?”
[If you fail with no skill, I’ll just consider it arrogance from a lower-tier who dares to insult me.]
She didn’t even want to ask how she would be treated if she were considered lower-tier.
“By the way, do you consider a special prize as a win?”
[Do you not have the confidence to win with your skills?]
“Oh, no! I was just asking...”
The chef, clearly regretting that he had gotten tangled up with a strong-willed mutinous chef, still had some hope left.
If the prize money was small, the scale of the tournament would be small, and thus, fewer skilled chefs would participate, right?
“How much is the prize money for this tournament? It’s too much.”
Ha Eung Eung asked, responding to Lee Hae-chan’s teasing.
[How much was the prize for the most recent cooking tournament?]
“Hold on, let me Google it...”
Click-click. Tap-tap-click.
The sound of Ujiwoo typing on his smartwatch in the quiet restaurant lasted for a moment.
Ujiwoo found an article and read it aloud.
“Total prize money, one million dollars... exchange rate is...”
Tap-tap tap-tap.
“It’s 1.3 billion won?”
[Then let’s double it.]
“Wait! No, this is the World Gourmet Competition hosted by the International Gastronomy Association, right?!”
How could it possibly compare with the tournament a neighborhood chef like the sushi chef is organizing? Ujiwoo was baffled, but Ha Eung Eung didn’t care.
[The World’s Best Martial Arts Chef deserves such a prize.]
“Hold on a second... wait, wait! I’m an omakase chef, not a martial arts chef!”
[So, instead of being a quirky master, you’re saying you’ll become a rude lower-tier chef?]
Her eyes, cold and deadly, seemed ready to cut his throat the moment he said something. The chef glared at Ujiwoo, his face contorted in frustration. If that person hadn’t mentioned the ridiculous prize money, this outrageous tournament wouldn’t have come to be!
“What are you staring at?”
Ujiwoo, who didn’t understand the chef’s resentment, retorted bluntly. He had already accepted the reality. He was shocked by the prize money, but it wasn’t his problem, nor was it something that affected him personally.
“So, are we having lunch here today?”
[Just wait a bit.]
“Oh. Are you planning to check out another restaurant?”
[I’ll be hosting the tournament in the evening.]
“What?”
[I'm not such a cold-hearted person. Since we starved together, we should eat together too.]
Ha Eung Eung, who had declared a tournament with a total prize of 2.6 billion won, said with a relaxed expression.
[Become a judge. Then at least your stomach will be full.]
Who would put 2.6 billion won on the line for a tournament like this, a reverse tribute, huh?
Unlike Ujiwoo, who had a big grin on his face, Lee Hae-chan, still closer to the realm of common sense, itched to argue about it, but his mouth couldn’t find a chance.
Seeing the urge to speak on Lee Hae-chan’s face, Ha Eung Eung asked.
[Want to eat together?]
Having gone to an omakase and being abducted as a judge for a 20-billion-won prize cooking competition—how many views would such a video get if uploaded to V-tube?
The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.
Lee Hae-chan smiled brightly and replied.
“Sure, let’s do it.”
“W-What are you doing! How can you throw away such an enormous sum of money like this?!”
“It’s okay. We can make up for some of the prize money by making sponsor calls. We’ll get ingredients supplied and advertisements too.”
For the bad chef, it was out of the question, but for streamers, if the views on V-tube hit a million, their switch flipped to “crazy mode.” If they could break two million views, making sponsor calls was nothing.
Ha Eung Eung’s unorthodox enthusiasm combined with Lee Hae-chan’s addiction to view counts powered the World’s Best Martial Arts Chef Tournament into motion. Preparations started rapidly.
2.
Since we’re talking about lunch, there’s also the 26-billion-won tournament opening tonight?
Registration deadline: 6 hours.
Participants: 1200.
A huge crowd, all blinded by the 26-billion-won prize money!
“Please, stop coming...! I’m going to die!”
Even if just 1% of them were masters, that’s already 12 competitors!
The head chef of the high-end omakase restaurant Geumsugangsan, In Geumsu, was in a panic. Having opened a fine dining restaurant that charged a million won per meal, he was confident in his skills, but he knew what kind of country Korea was.
In the past, it was a land where scholars would march from all over, hunting bears, wolves, and tigers until they reached Hanyang. In modern times, it's a country where street performers swallow fire at oil markets in front of foreigners. How could he possibly know when a bunch of masters might suddenly show up, making him nervous?
“It's making me hungry.”
“Ha-ha, Jiwoo, you’re secretly a streamer type, huh? Why not debut while you're at it?”
“Should I? Hahaha.”
While the nervous In Geumsu was struggling, Lee Hae-chan and Ujiwoo were surrounded by sponsorship lists, sponsored products, and food trucks that were arriving with supplies, and they couldn’t stop smiling.
“Hehe, to be invited as a judge so suddenly, it’s a thank-you but also quite a perplexing situation.”
The judge from the omakase association chuckled as he exchanged greetings with Ha Eung Eung’s guild members.
“I’m sorry. I know you were surprised. Our guild leader is so eccentric, she insists on doing whatever she wants.”
“No, not at all. I heard it’s a tournament that started because one of your chefs caused trouble, how could I ignore that?”
The guild member glared at In Geumsu as if he was going to kill him.
“If you fail to win, we will hold you responsible for tarnishing the honor of the industry and suspend your license for 18 months.”
“The omakase association actually has quite a bit of power, huh?”
“Hehe. Generally, associations are known for their influence among those in the industry, right? In any case, Chef In Geumsu has had a bad reputation, so we were waiting for this.”
Unexpectedly, Lee Hae-chan also started receiving continuous support.
“Ah? Where are you from? You're not on the sponsorship list.”
“We were sent by Chairman So Gyeong-seok.”
“You too? Did So Gyeong-seok send you as well?”
“Oh, we’re from Golden Enterprises. Our incompetent son owes a favor, so he asked us to pass a message to Baek So-cheon.”
“Oh, Baek Gyo-du used his connections, huh.”
So Gyeong-seok sent helpers and supplies. Even the subtle lobbying from Golden Hyun, who was worried about being caught up in the scandal, added to the support!
With this unexpected support, the venue, which was big enough to accommodate all the newly increased participants, was quickly set up and preparations for the tournament were complete.
“Guild Leader, we’ve received a pizza sponsorship from Expert Pizza. Should we make the pizza?”
[Just take it for now and figure it out later.]
Of course, they couldn’t disassemble the pre-made pizzas, but any unsellable foods were given out to the audience as event food.
Ha Eung Eung’s fame was greater than she thought, and there were many delivery companies wanting to improve their image through advertisements.
“For the people arriving now, each person gets one pizza, one soy sauce chicken, one jumbo rice ball, one crispy toast, one takoyaki pack, one pancake from Eom’s, and a 500ml large coffee bottle!”
“Wow! We can just choose one thing to eat here, right?”
“No, the guild leader said to give this much to each person.”
“Seriously, how am I supposed to eat all this?”
The massive amount of food being served as reverse tribute caused the faces of the viewers who rushed over for free pizza to turn pale.