God-Given Business Genius

I recognized her the moment our eyes met.

Sim Chae-yoon.

How could I not? She was the one who opened new horizons in the genre known as ‘mukbang’.

Starting from internet broadcasting platforms and later expanding to YouTube, she eventually became a regular presence on TV as well.

With her cute appearance contrasting her tremendous appetite, she gained recognition in no time.

Though it was my first time seeing her in person, I could immediately recognize that familiar face, just slightly younger than I remembered.

‘Come to think of it, is this still the period before mukbang content really took off?’

It was clear from the way Sim Chae-yoon was strolling down the street without a hat or mask.

‘What a fortuitous coincidence. I even used Sim Chae-yoon as a promotional model when I launched that bingsu franchise back then.’

To think she’d walk in here on her own, right when we’re about to take off.

Since I wasn’t her fan, I wasn’t sure exactly when Sim Chae-yoon would skyrocket to fame… but it couldn’t be far off.

‘Probably within this year. At the latest, early next year.’

By next year at the latest. From then on, I’d see her face quite often on YouTube.

As they say, stocks and talent should be acquired at their lowest point.

‘This is an opportunity.’

The thought came to me naturally.

And opportunities belong to those who seize them before they slip away.

“Do you happen to be involved in broadcasting?”

Sim Chae-yoon’s eyes widened at my question.

“Broadcasting? No. I’m just a college student.”

Not yet, it seems.

It looked like Sim Chae-yoon would need more time before she truly made her mark.

“Oh, really? You just seemed to enjoy the food so much. I thought you might be doing mukbang or something.”

As I smoothly moved on, Sim Chae-yoon’s friend chimed in.

“Right? Hey, I told you to try doing mukbang!”

“Come on. Who’d find it interesting to watch me eat? No thanks.”

Sim Chae-yoon waved her hand dismissively.

If only you knew. In about five years, people will be lining up to watch you eat….

‘But this might be even better.’

Once she’s had a taste of fame, any favor would be indistinguishable. Other companies would treat Sim Chae-yoon similarly well.

But as a college student with nothing to her name, it’s a different story.

“I’m not supposed to do this, but… since you enjoyed it so much, I’ll secretly give you some more.”

As I added another serving of snow flower bingsu, Sim Chae-yoon’s eyes sparkled. She must have really wanted more.

“This is our little secret, okay?”

“Yes! Thank you so much!”

“It’s nothing. In return, please spread the word to your friends about how delicious this place is~”

“I will!”

Sim Chae-yoon nodded vigorously and immediately buried her face in the bingsu.

I watched her fondly with a smile, then naturally moved on to attend to other customers as they entered.

“That was delicious! I’ll definitely come back~”

Sim Chae-yoon and her friend left the store with smiles. It seems I succeeded in creating a good impression.

Even after Sim Chae-yoon left, many customers came to try the bingsu.

“Wow~ Where can we buy this?”

“When will it be on sale? It’d be perfect to eat in the summer.”

While responding to the flood of inquiries from all directions, I slowly built up awareness of the ‘snow flower bingsu’.

What was once an unfamiliar concept—what kind of bingsu this ‘snow flower bingsu’ could be—

Gradually spread by word of mouth until almost everyone in the area knew about it.

Later, some people even bought soup rice just to get the bingsu, and the number of waiting customers grew endlessly.

“Oh my, Woo-yeon. We’re in trouble with all these people. It’s crowded over there and bustling over here. I’m thinking we might need to hire more part-timers for serving.”

Just as I was starting to feel a bit conscious of Kim Jong-chun’s subtle complaints mixed with grumbling.

Buzz buzz.

I checked my phone screen as it vibrated, and saw [Team Leader Jo] displayed prominently.

Strange. There was no reason for him to contact me today.

“Hello?”

-CEO.

His voice sounded ominous. Moreover, as Jo I-ruk fell silent for a moment, a cacophony of ringing phones provided the background noise.

As one phone call ended abruptly, another immediately rang. And not long after, yet another call came in.

It was literally a barrage of phone calls.

-…What on earth have you done?

“Wow. What’s with all these calls?”

-They’re all inquiries about the snow flower bingsu!

Oh?

“When you say inquiries….”

-I’m not entirely sure myself. When I answered, they said they saw it on the internet and asked where they could buy it. I just told them it’s still under discussion. But we’ve already received dozens of similar inquiries. It looks like it might reach hundreds soon.

I glanced at the calendar. Has it already been this long?

It’s been two weeks since we started the test store. It’s about time for online reactions to start coming in.

“I told the customers that if they posted a review on Facebook, we’d give them an extra serving of bingsu as part of an event.”

-What?

“I asked them to tag our official account when posting on Facebook. Why don’t you check it out?”

I too opened the Facebook app and searched for ‘snow flower bingsu’.

“Wow.”

Swish swish.

No matter how much I scrolled, there seemed to be no end. There were individual reviews, but it looked like various news-sharing Facebook pages had taken the bait.

[The snow flower bingsu everyone’s talking about?!]

The large text drew attention. The page name was ‘Today’s Review’. It was a famous page with hundreds of thousands of followers.

And as is often the case with these aggregator pages, once it was posted on one, other pages sprouted up with posts about the snow flower bingsu.

‘Feast of Gluttony’, ‘Random Thoughts Page’, ‘What Are You Doing Today?’, ‘What Should We Eat Today’ and so on…. Countless accounts were promoting the snow flower bingsu.

Of course, it was more of an ‘introduction to a unique menu item’ rather than a taste review.

I picked one and looked at the comments section.

[@Kim Min-jung Hey, look at this lolㅋㅋㅋ so cool]

[Looking for @Choi Hye-yoon to go eat this together]

[Wow, I wonder what it tastes like?? So curious]

[That soup rice place is delicious too]

[Where do they sell this? Anyone know? Please reply]

[└Looks like it’s not for sale yet ㅠㅠ I called and asked, they said there’s no separate store but they give out some kind of tasting ticket? at a soup rice place]

[@Koo Jin-hyuk oppa, shall we go eat this?]

The comment reactions weren’t bad either. That’s the second reassurance.

The view count is… Whoa.

‘No wonder the inquiries exploded.’

If people search for the business name online, it wouldn’t be hard to reach ’s headquarters.

“All preparations are complete.”

-Pardon?

As Jo I-ruk asked back in confusion, I replied calmly.

“You know that big cafe next to the one we acquired?”

-There are hardly any customers here.

-I know. I think it’s because of that quite large cafe that opened next door.

A conversation that had passed by fleetingly came to mind.

“We need to acquire that place.”

-What?!

Jo I-ruk couldn’t hide his surprise as he asked back.

-What are you saying all of a sudden! We already have a perfectly good cafe we acquired, so why would we need the one next door…. Wait a minute. CEO, don’t tell me.

A voice full of shock came through the phone.

-You planned this from the beginning?

“Of course.”

I grinned.

“I told you, didn’t I? That it would be a huge hit.”

-Wouldn’t it be better to focus on the existing franchise right now?!

-It’s going to be a huge hit!

Jo I-ruk let out a small exclamation, perhaps recalling our past conversation.

-Ah…!

Of course, I didn’t know it would take this form. We were able to raise awareness much faster than expected.

-H-how did you foresee this? Even though it’s a unique menu item, I didn’t expect it to become this famous. Did you predict even this, CEO?

“Come on, of course not. If I could do that, why would I be in the food business? I’d be laying out my mat as a fortune teller.”

That’s a bit of an exaggeration. Even before my regression, Jo I-ruk often had a tendency to idolize me too much.

“It’s just, well… Sometimes in life, luck like this comes your way.”

Of course, in this case, it’s more due to me applying the concept of a ‘review event’ early on, when it was still unfamiliar.

Moreover, this bingsu isn’t for sale, and if people want to eat more, they have no choice but to participate in the review event.

That scarcity played a big role.

“Anyway, put in an inquiry about acquiring it. If they don’t accept here, tell them we’re planning to start with the small cafe we’ve already acquired.”

-If we say that, not many people would be able to resist.

“Make sure to compensate them generously. If they ask for key money, match it within reason.”

-Yes, understood!

“I’ll check the final price. Until then, please handle the details, Jo I-ruk-ssi.”

-Certainly~

Click.

After ending the call with Jo I-ruk, I grinned. How could I not be happy when things were progressing so smoothly?

‘It’s not far off now. The day we’ll officially introduce the snow flower bingsu.’

It shouldn’t take long if we use the existing cafe without major modifications. A week should be enough for minimal interior changes. We should start posting job listings soon too.

Ah, and we need to select potential franchisees….

“Song Woo-yeon!”

I turned my head at the voice calling me from behind. Oh dear. Did I leave my post for too long?

“You called?”

Lee In-cheol nodded as if to say ‘you call that an answer?’

“What kind of call takes that long?”

“The conversation dragged on a bit. But the matter’s settled now, so don’t worry about it.”

“Tsk tsk. Where’s your head at?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll thoroughly check for any defects in the expanded construction site.”

Quite some time had passed since the expansion of Lee In-cheol’s was confirmed.

In the meantime, the interior work had been completed, and preparations for moving the store were mostly done.

According to plan, we’re set to start business at the new location from next week, so today’s inspection could be considered the final check.

We’ve been back and forth many times during the construction phase, so there shouldn’t be much to touch up. But this is the first time seeing it with all the tables and chairs in place.

“We’ve come this far.”

I grinned as I stood in front of the much larger main branch of .

Expansion and relocation.

The result of that risky choice was now right before our eyes.