Chapter 20
The introductions began one after another.
“Hi, oppas. Please take good care of me today~”
“Yes. Well, since we all know each other's faces, let's skip the introductions.”
“Ugh, that bastard. Put some effort in. Hello. I'm Lee Minhyung.”
-Mmm~ Same old flavor.
-No one's curious, so go away.
-Who's the special guest? Who's the special guest?
-What kind of small-time competition is this?
-Haranggae can never be forgiven.
-Dead-ass content is Dae Haeun.
As I watched them banter back and forth with the viewers,
‘A pro is definitely a pro.’
The flow of conversation never broke for even a moment.
And yet they effortlessly picked up the chat messages pouring down like a flood.
Once the introductions of everyone mentioned in the announcement were finished,
all that remained were Chef Kim Taeseong, who had been called the special guest, and me.
So was it my turn now?
The moment I took a step to go around the camera toward Sis,
‘Excuse me, Chef? Why are you going first?’
Before I could stop him, Chef Kim Taeseong strode past me and entered the shot.
Sis naturally guided him to the center.
As if they'd planned it in advance.
“Hello. I'm Kim Taeseong, head chef of fine-dining restaurant Aube. I'll be appearing as a judge today. Please take good care of me.”
-??? Who is he?
-You don't know that guy?
-What the fuck is this?
-Haranggae can never be forgiven.
-Wow, I never thought I'd see Kim Taeseong on an internet broadcast.
[Speedwagon donated 1,000 won!]
Kim Taeseong is the head chef of Aube, a two-star restaurant, and so famous that anyone interested in fine dining would know him. He's also famous for having a terrible personality, so search YouTube if you're curious.
-Wow, a fact nobody was curious about!
-What the fuck, is it 300,000 won for one meal?
-But has he ever hit 20,000 viewers? lol
-Why is someone like him here…
-Kick out the outsiders.
-Anyway, he's famous.
-For real lol.
So is this chef like that too?
He'd been glaring at me earlier, so I guess something about me had rubbed him the wrong way.
For the record, this isn't discrimination based on appearances, but rather… an insight gained through experience?
Every head chef is missing a few screws. The several I've dealt with were all like that without exception.
I'd even had this thought before.
Does cooking make people's personalities shitty?
Or—
do only shitty people become cooks?
As I pondered the question I still hadn't answered, I heard Chef Kim Taeseong's voice again.
Is this what you call a donation? I'm grateful for the money, but let's correct one thing.”
A correction? Was there anything to correct there?
Just as I began to wonder,
Chef Kim Taeseong began explaining the kitchen, starting by saying it was wrong to claim that his personality was like that.
“I'm sure most of you know what a kitchen is. Even if it's only a tiny studio apartment, anywhere where food can be prepared could, in a sense, be called a kitchen.”
What was he trying to say?
Curious, I focused on his words.
“But a restaurant—in other words, a commercial kitchen—is different.”
After pausing briefly, he poured out his words without taking a break.
The dangers involving fire that arose because the hot line inevitably had to grow larger.
The environment forced you to pay attention to everything because you had to take money and provide a service in return.
And because it was fine dining, even one person's tiny mistake could throw off the timing of another dish.
For all sorts of reasons, Chef Kim went on at great length about how he was simply meticulous.
Having experienced it myself, I nodded, thinking that he wasn't wrong.
-I, in LA…
-I got curious and timed him. He talked for seven minutes and forty-six seconds.
-I can't even imagine how obnoxious he is.
-He's already being obnoxious lol.
-Haranggae can never be forgiven.
-LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
[ㅇㅇ donated 10,000 won!]
So that's why you mean he's obnoxious, right?
From the viewers' perspective, he was simply a talkative, obnoxious middle-aged man.
He looked flustered by the chat's reaction, but soon ended with, “Let's call it that,” and stepped aside.
-So are we starting now?
-Let's gooooooo!
-Is this a bizarre-food contest? Look at the people gathered here…
-Anyone know about ion-drink rice? > ㄱ-
-Bringing a two-star chef here to feed him shit lol.
The chat began growing heated, as if the event were finally starting.
‘I haven't even gone yet.’
When I saw the chef move aside, I stood up, then stopped the foot I'd been about to take toward the camera.
As I stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do, Sis began sorting out the situation.
“Hey, guys. There's still one person left.”
-?
-Is this for real?
-She's being introduced after the two-star chef?
-Did she bring a celebrity or something?
-Haranggae can never be forgiven.
-Wow, fuck. Wait a second—I'll spread the word all over town and come back.
I'm not a celebrity. I'm just an ordinary citizen number one.
The chat's overreaction started giving me a headache.
“She's not a celebrity, but she does have celebrity-level looks, right? We went to great lengths to get her here, so behave in the chat, okay?”
Sis? Is this revenge for the Maillard incident? If you do this, I'll really cry, okay?
-Yeah.
-Why would I?
-You do it yourself.
At Sis's glare, I slowly made my way toward the camera.
“Hello?”
-?
-??
-If I cover everything, I'm celebrity-level too, mm-hmm.
-Who are you?
-Wow, those boobs lol.
The chat window was plastered with question marks.
Then, a moment later, it began filling up with laughter.
[ㅇㅇ donated 1,000 won!]
The special guest really is special lol.
-LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
-The mid lane is definitely special.
-Faker, is that you again? The GOAT mid laner in history.
-For real lol.
-Where does she keep finding people like this? lol.
[Someone Who Can't Come to Their Senses donated 1,000 won!]
Is she a special guest, or a specialist?
-Gasp.
-What?
“I'm not that kind of person~”
-But you seem kind of familiar.
-Of course she seems familiar. Lots of people have used that one.
-No, I've heard that voice before…
Fortunately, the reaction wasn't too bad.
What I was wearing was a hijab.
Rather than merely not showing my face, I had covered everything except my eyes.
Would showing my eyes still count as barely safe?
At first, I'd considered a mask or a helmet, but no matter how I thought about it, they'd get in the way of cooking.
And wearing a mask would basically amount to showing my whole face anyway.
Then I remembered a woman in a hijab I'd seen before, and the idea came to me.
I looked it up in case it might be religiously problematic, but it turned out there was no issue.
So I bought one.
It was surprisingly expensive.
I also learned for the first time that high-end hijabs were a thing.
-Crazy bitch, crazy bitch, crazy bitch.
-LMAO, the first hijab-wearing broadcaster in Korea!
-Allah…
(This viewer has been banned.)
-So who is she?
-Who are you?
I hadn't introduced myself yet.
The current viewer count was nearing 30,000, as if the 10,000 from earlier had been nothing.
A number I'd never seen in my life should have made me nervous, but it wasn't actually right in front of me.
“Hello. I'm Jian, a streamer.”
-?
-Who was she again?
Those who remembered the old Maillard incident ended their greetings by saying that I was the person involved and asking everyone to take good care of me today.
Then, shall we see their reaction?
-You fucking bitch, explain yourself!!!!
-Why are you here?
-Why did everyone suddenly get so hostile?
-Breeeeead lol.
-Take off the hijab! Take off the hijab! Take off the hijab!
Huh?
***
[Title : Breaking News) Jian Is Streaming]
[Author : ㅇㅇ]
Link
Comments
ㅇㅇ : Fucking bait, you bitch.
ㄴ : LMAO, with that level of intelligence, of course you simp for a small-time streamer.
[Title : But That Bitch Haeun]
[Author : ㅇㅇ]
Why is there suddenly a cooking competition? What a completely random development.
Comments
ㅇㅇ : It's 'wen,' 'wen,' 'wen,' 'waen,' 'waen,' 'wen,' 'waen,' 'wen.'
ㅇㅇ : To the Streamer Gallery.
ㅇㅇ : Still, bringing a chef means she must have prepared somewhat, right?
ㄴ : For real lol. The hijab girl was funny, though.
ㄴ : But if she was going to act like that, why the hell did she come out?
ㄴ : Exactly. Is she some kind of noble?
[Title : ???????????]
[Author : ㅇㅇ]
So that hijab-wearing bitch is
(frog-thinking meme)
Jian?
(frog-smoking meme)
(frog-screaming meme)
She needs to be beaten, right?
(frog-punching meme)
Link
Come on~ let's go~
Comments
ㅇㅇ : For real?
ㄴ : Yeah.
ㄴ : Guess I need to unbuckle my belt.
ㅇㅇ : But fuck, even just her eyes are insanely pretty.
ㄴ : Fuck, the simps are at it again.
ㄴ : If she were pretty to begin with, she wouldn't have wrapped herself up like that.
ㄴ : With a body like that, her face must be horribly wrecked for her to cover it.
ㄴ : Best value for money.
***
A Match for Ten Thousand.
A person possessing enough strategic brilliance and courage to stand against ten thousand people.
The current viewer count had surpassed 30,000.
But look at the chat. A mere hundred or so viewers from my room had overwhelmed 30,000 people and taken over the chat.
-Jian again! Jian again! Jian again!
-Me.
-Sis Haeun, please ban all these people…
-Get lost. We've taken over this room.
-Explain yourself! Explain yourself! Explain yourself.
-Rock.
-The firepower is insane.
-Did these bastards all do drugs?
-Those. Eyes. Sure. Are. Pretty. Our. Jian.
If this wasn't a match for ten thousand, then what was?
‘What else? I'm fucked.’
The chat window had turned into the site of a protest.
The karma I'd kept postponing had finally come due.
Of course, I'd expected something like this.
‘But I didn't expect it to be this bad.’
I looked at Sis with a troubled expression, but she was only laughing.
Looking around, I saw the others alternating their gazes between me and the chat while snickering along.
They say watching fires and watching fights are the most entertaining things in the world, and now the two had even fused together.
‘I should apologize, right?’
That would be the cleanest way. Of course, it would mean doing an apology stream like last time.
Hmm… Do I really have to?
Just then, I remembered a line from my favorite character in my favorite pirate manga.
“The whole world will forgive me. Because…”
-?
-??
-What the hell is this bitch saying?
“Yes. Because I'm beautiful!”
I blurted it out.
Then I puffed out my chest proudly.
-What is this hijab-wearing bitch saying?
-Fine, I get it. Let's die today.
-Forgive me~
-Fuck you, your forgiveness is your …
(This viewer has been banned.)
-Oh, you know One Piece! That's fucking…
-I'm getting a wall vibe.
-Crazy bitch lol.
It definitely worked in the manga, so why?!
Ah. Come to think of it, I hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit.
I'm sorry. I'll put my head to the floor. Please calm down.