God-Given Business Genius

“Hello~! This is Chae-chae!”

Sim Chae-yoon greeted with a bright smile. Through the screen, she continued speaking in an exaggerated tone befitting a YouTuber.

“Everyone, have you watched ‘Raid the Refrigerator’? I’m totally hooked on it these days! Even though I’m hopeless at cooking, watching it makes me want to try! And this one in particular!”

Sim Chae-yoon pointed to the side, and footage appeared. It was a segment from ‘Raid the Refrigerator’ featuring the Junghwa-jeyuk-myeon.

“This Junghwa-jeyuk-myeon! I tried to make it after watching Chef Song whip it up… but I failed miserably.”

The footage disappeared, and Sim Chae-yoon appeared front and center.

“So I’ve brought a special guest! It’s~ Chef Song Woo-yeon!”

With the sound effect of applause, Song Woo-yeon appeared from behind. The chat window on the right side of the screen could be seen scrolling rapidly.

“Hello. I’m Song Woo-yeon. Calling me ‘chef’ feels a bit much, so please just call me CEO Song.”

Her warm, friendly smile was captured perfectly.

-Wow. Amazing.

-Is that really Song Woo-yeon?

-How does she know her???

-Who’s that

-Song Woo-yeon from ‘Raid the Refrigerator’?

-Insane casting power

-Is she famous?

Sim Chae-yoon quickly read a few positive comments.

“Oh, you’re wondering how I got her here? It’s actually quite interesting. Do you know that before Bingwa opened, there was a time when you’d get Snow Flower Bingsu as a service if you ate soup rice? I’ve been a fan of Snow Flower Bingsu since then!”

Sim Chae-yoon’s eyes sparkled as she explained how she came to know Song Woo-yeon.

“But I actually thought she was just an employee! I was so surprised when I found out later that she was the owner!”

After adding a suitably interesting anecdote, the chat reactions were quite positive.

As the atmosphere heightened, Sim Chae-yoon finally got to the main point.

“Yes, so the content we’ll be doing with the esteemed CEO Song today is~! ‘Making vs. Eating’!”

“The rules are simple. I make the food, and Chae-chae-ssi eats it. Whoever runs out of stamina first loses.”

“The loser donates one million won!”

Song Woo-yeon smiled and responded to Sim Chae-yoon’s declaration.

“Sounds good. Though I have a feeling I’m going to lose…”

“Come on. Are you already giving up before we even start?”

“Viewers, Chae-chae-ssi really eats a lot. I’ve known her since before she started broadcasting, and every time she came, all our staff would be on high alert.”

As she amusingly recounted how the kitchen would be in a state of paralysis and how they eventually had to beg her to call ahead before coming, Sim Chae-yoon’s face turned bright red.

“Ah, how embarrassing~”

“It just means she eats well. That’s why I came fully prepared today.”

As she put on a determined face, the chat exploded with laughter once more.

“I didn’t know how much ingredients to buy, so I prepared enough for 20 servings.”

“20 servings?!”

“I’m still nervous it might not be enough. Oh, of course, I’ll be making one serving at a time. Two at most.”

Her tone was quite serious.

“Shall we start then?”

“Yes! CEO Song has kindly lent us her kitchen for today’s filming~”

“It’s usually where we train our franchisees. I’ve borrowed it for today. So we have all the ingredients used in our franchise stores here.”

“Wow, really?”

“But today, I’ll mainly be serving dishes from ‘Shanghai Restaurant’, which is about to launch. I need to make a living too, you know.”

She grinned at the camera with a playful tone. Her likeable demeanor caused the chat to scroll rapidly once more.

“Ah, please note that this video includes advertising for ‘Shanghai Restaurant’~”

Song Woo-yeon added a brief comment, then immediately turned on the gas stove.

“Then let’s start with the dish Chae-chae-ssi most wanted to try. The Junghwa-jeyuk-myeon.”

Chop, chop, chop, chop.

In an instant, she neatly chopped green onions and added them to the oiled wok. Her knife skills alone betrayed considerable expertise.

Soon after, she added the remaining ingredients and began impressively tossing the wok.

“Wow~ The wok is much bigger than I thought. I think this is my first time seeing one up close.”

Watching Song Woo-yeon handle a wok nearly the size of her torso, exclamations of admiration involuntarily escaped.

And not long after, the Junghwa-jeyuk-myeon was completed in no time.

Clank.

“Here you go, Junghwa-jeyuk-myeon at your service. I made it extra large.”

“Oh~! The smell is amazing, everyone!”

Sim Chae-yoon smiled brightly, clearly excited, and brought the Junghwa-jeyuk-myeon close to the screen. The steaming dish fogged up the camera, requiring an adjustment.

“Ah, sorry. I was trying to show it properly~ I’ll start eating now. The smell is just too good!”

Slurp.

With one use of the chopsticks, half of the extra-large Junghwa-jeyuk-myeon disappeared.

“Wow. This is really delicious. Everyone, you must try making this at home. Wow. Wow. This is insane.”

Sim Chae-yoon kept giving thumbs up while chewing with sauce smeared around her mouth. Then with another slurp, she inhaled the noodles, and the bowl was empty.

“That was delicious~”

“Huh? Already?”

Song Woo-yeon’s surprised face filled the screen.

“What’s next?”

Seeing Sim Chae-yoon’s sparkling eyes, Song Woo-yeon suddenly started bustling about.

“I was prepared, but… this is faster than I expected. I’m still draining the blood from the meat. I’ll quickly make some fried rice for now.”

“Fried rice~! Sounds delicious.”

Seeing Sim Chae-yoon’s grinning face, Song Woo-yeon’s expression immediately darkened.

Soon after, fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and spicy black bean sauce noodles were placed in front of Sim Chae-yoon. And not long after, they all showed their bottoms.

Song Woo-yeon, with a half-dazed expression, asked while tossing the wok:

“…Chae-chae-ssi. How full are you, percentage-wise?”

“Full?”

Sim Chae-yoon looked puzzled. Despite having devoured what would easily be 10 servings for others, there was no change in her complexion.

“Hmm… 25 percent?”

“……”

“Oh, but it’s so delicious that I think I can eat more than usual. I’m really not tired of it at all! Maybe 20 percent then?”

“……”

Song Woo-yeon’s face filled the screen in a close-up. Her eyes were utterly vacant.

“…Today is going to be really challenging, isn’t it.”

The chat scrolled rapidly, expressing sympathy for Song Woo-yeon.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

Beep.

The screen went black as it turned off.

“How many servings did Sim Chae-yoon-ssi eat that day?”

Jo I-ruk asked with a slightly nauseated expression.

“…About 36 servings.”

I closed my eyes tightly, recalling that day. Although I had proposed it, it was beyond imagination, and I really thought I was going to die.

The 20 servings of ingredients we prepared weren’t enough, and we even had to restock mid-way.

Maybe it’s because it had been quite a while since I personally entered the kitchen to cook. Even with my 20-something stamina, it was a truly grueling journey.

“Wow. Did she really eat all that? For real?”

“Yes. For real.”

“Whoa….”

Park Seong-won kept exclaiming in disbelief. I couldn’t believe it either, even while watching with my own eyes.

“Thanks to you, should I say? Thanks to your hard work, CEO, the video response has been explosive.”

Roh Se-hee said with a bright smile. In stark contrast to me, still half-exhausted from that day’s aftermath, her face was glowing.

“The view count has already surpassed 1.5 million. It even hit number one on the trending videos list.”

Wow.

“Sim Chae-yoon-ssi’s YouTube account, which had about 100,000 subscribers, is now approaching 300,000. It’s truly a ‘big hit’.”

It was worth the effort.

“The response to ‘Shanghai Restaurant’ is also hot. There are opinions asking for a quick release of the Junghwa-jeyuk-myeon. With the opening coming soon, the franchisees are very happy too.”

“That’s a relief. They trusted us and agreed to open franchises. We should promote them as best we can.”

The timing was good.

Sim Chae-yoon’s YouTube was just about to take off, and interest in the ‘Junghwa-jeyuk-myeon’ had increased due to the appearance on ‘Raid the Refrigerator’.

Plus, we had broadcast content that was guaranteed to be somewhat entertaining, based on what I’d seen in the future.

‘It would be stranger if it didn’t take off.’

I nodded to myself, and Roh Se-hee carefully added one more thing.

“But I noticed you added a paid advertisement notice for ‘Shanghai Restaurant’.”

“Ah, yes. I asked for it to be included.”

“YouTube advertising regulations aren’t that strict, and it was just at the level of providing food, so you didn’t have to go that far…. That’s a bit disappointing. Some people might have watched with prejudice because of the advertisement label.”

“About that.”

Of course, she would say this at this point. It’s an era when concepts like hidden advertising don’t exist.

But as someone who knows the storm that’s coming, I didn’t want to leave even the slightest room for doubt.

That’s why I also advised Sim Chae-yoon to honestly label any advertisements in the future.

If she falls, it’ll be troublesome for me. It’s not easy to have connections with a million-subscriber YouTuber.

“From now on, we’re going to ask for any kind of advertisement to be clearly labeled. There’s no need to create unnecessary problems because of this.”

Roh Se-hee said while scribbling something in her notepad.

“If that’s your opinion, CEO, we’ll keep that as company policy from now on.”

“Yes. Please make sure to adhere to this. Well, it seems the ‘Shanghai Restaurant’ promotion issue is resolved. Since everything is progressing smoothly, let’s wrap up today’s meeting…”

“Ah, CEO. There’s one more thing I’d like to mention.”

Jo I-ruk said, slightly rising from his seat.

“It’s about the place across from ‘Bingwa’.”

“Yes.”

“I heard a new café is moving in.”

“Oh, really?”

That’s unexpected. Bingwa had such a strong hold on the area that even existing cafés were leaving.

“And I just found out about this while talking to a nearby real estate agent.”

Jo I-ruk’s face remained tense, showing no signs of relaxing. What’s going on?

As I wondered, Jo I-ruk continued.

“They say it’s going to be a bingsu specialty shop.”

“……?!”

Amidst the chilling silence, Jo I-ruk spoke in a dejected tone.

“It seems… it might be a copycat of ‘Bingwa’.”