Chapter 2: Back to 7 years ago (2)
“Status Window”
[Jo Minjoon]
Cooking Level: 5
Baking Level: 4
Tasting Level:6
Decoration Level:4
He had some thoughts about his situation, but he never imagined that he’d see something like this. It was as if his life became a cooking game. He stared at the screen with an indescribable and confused feeling for a while, then turned his head towards Lee Hyesun. And he opened his mouth.
Status window.
[Lee Hyeseon]
Cooking Level:3
Baking Level:0
Tasting Level:4
Decoration Level:2
Those were pretty sad stats. But, Jo Minjoon remembered that almost all of Lee Hye seon’s cooking did not taste that great. If her skills were that low, that explained why.
“…… Skill Window.”
He mumbled to see if it would pop up, and the more detailed screen indeed opened up. Knife skill, heat controlling skill, understanding of Traditional Korean cuisine, etc. But of those many skills, two particularly caught Jo Min Joon’s attention.
[Understanding of Italian Cuisine] – Mastery 23%
When preparing Pasta, Pizza, Dolce Soup, and other Italian dishes his understanding of cooking would increase.
When preparing Italian dishes, probability of failure decreased.
Although the chances were low, it was possible to make a dish that was above the current cooking level.
[The chef’s experimental attitude]
Chef’s experimental attitude is added to the recipe when trying new dishes.
When attempting a new dish, low chances of unlocking new recipes.
He didn’t complain about his Mastery of Italian cuisine. It seemed that whenever he studied or made italian dishes, his proficiency would rise, and he wasn’t quite sure yet but there seemed to be a system that compensated for his dish.
He also understood why he didn’t have mastery in the Chef’s experimental attitude. That is for one’s attitude, and it would be weirder if someone could master an attitude. But the description was a bit vague. Low chance of unlocking a new recipe. Does that mean that it opens up like the status and skill window? Or does it mean that it pops up in his head? And the word new dish was vague also. Does it mean completely new dish that no one has thought of before, or a dish that Jo Minjoon has never made before.
‘I’ll find out when I try.’
Jo Min Joon smiled. He was only a 30 year old newbie chef with practically no experience. 23 Year old. It wasn’t very young, but it wasn’t too late to challenge the road of cooking. Even thirty wasn’t even too late. He was just in a rush, that was all.
But the first obstacle he would face was his parents. His career as a teacher was set after his graduation, so it would be difficult to get their permission. Jo Minjoon thought carefully and came up with a plan. The first step was to show his parents that his cooking skills were pretty good.
That moment what he thought of was a TV program’s name. Grand Chef Korea.
(…) He liked it so much to the point he didn’t miss a single season. If he were to participate in that program, although he wouldn’t be able to win, if at least he could get a good grade his parents would still recognize him to a degree. However….
‘Was that program still running?’
It started broadcasting on England and the United States and then came to Korea. Jo Minjoon unlocked his cellphone and searched for Grand Chef. Of course, there were no news in Korea. Maybe they would make a contract at the end of this year and start broadcasting the next one.
“That program won’t do”
Jo Minjoon let out a sigh and continued to search. He searched for cooking competitions in Korea but there were no properly organized ones. Even if he were to participate in a competition it wasn’t sure he would be the one to win. The strength he had now, wasn’t an absolute one. Eventually he would have to polish his cooking skills.
The results of searching for hours on the internet, the conclusion Jo Minjoon came to was to participate in an international tournament.
He didn’t have confidence in winning, but he did have confidence in reaching the finals. Because it wasn’t that he did not have that much ability to walk the chef path.
Maybe if his parents had a more positive view on cooking, but they only viewed it as a 3D occupation. It wasn’t the moment where cooking mania blew everywhere, so to change that, Jo Minjoon had to show them that he had the capability to cook. And Jo Minjoon believed that to change that was to get a good grade at the competition.
However there were no worthy competitions in Korea he could participate in. The ones that had some degree of recognition were all Korean based food themes, and there were also team based competitions. So he didn’t have any option but to look for international ones.
So the only option he had left, was one.
“……….Grand Chef.”
Not Grand Chef Korea, but only Grand Chef. The Grand Chef that opens in the United States. Maybe it would be better to refer to it as a program rather than a competition. The important thing is that Grand Chef is a competition for amateurs. And there was no other competition for amateurs that attracted as much as Grand Chef.
Not only in the US, Australia was also getting application forms, but to Jo Minjoon, the United States was more eye catching. If he had the same conditions he thought that instead of going to Australia it would be better to go to the United States. He didn’t have any problem talking in english. At one point he was also an english teacher. If he couldn’t hold a conversation wouldn’t that be embarrassing?
“There is only one problem.”
Parents. If it were travel fees he had some savings before going to serve in the army. However if he were to tell his parents that he was going to the US to participate in a cooking competition it was obvious they were going to refuse. Was it that he had to tell them that it was only travelling? He was starting to get upset.
Before reincarnating, when he resigned as a high school teacher, his parents were so angry they wanted to refrain him from doing so. However they couldn’t stop his stubbornness. He only left them a scar, so he didn’t want that to happen in this life.
“Ha… can’t be done.”
I have to hide it from them. That was the most peaceful road. While thinking about those things, he was searching on the internet plane tickets to the United States. He heard someone pressing the password at the entrance of his house(TL: Most of korean houses come with electronic keys). Jo Minjoon turned off the screen and went to the living room. He thought it would be his father, but the one who came in was his younger sister Jo Ara. Her school uniform revealed her skinny dark tanned body.
“Mom i’m home~. Oh, oppa was home too.”
He felt a surge of mixed emotions looking at her sister wearing her uniform. It was proof he time travelled to the past. Lee Hyeseon walked towards Jo Ara and said.
“Hey Ara, come here and try this. Your oppa made it.”
“Huh? This?”
Lee Hyeseon gave Jo Ara the souffle she begged her son to make some more. Jo Ara uneasily held her spoon and gave it a bite. She yelled with her eyes round.
“Delicious! It can’t be. How could oppa make something like this?”
“Right? I was also surprised after tasting it”
“Oppa be honest. It’s some of those instantaneous food right?
Jo Minjoon instead of replying tched his tongue and said to his mom.
“Mom. If you are tired maybe i should prepare dinner”
“You? You are going to make dinner?
Lee Hyeseon looked at Jo Minjoon as if things like this could happen. And right now, it looked like Jo Minjoon was having fun cooking and tried this and that, but it didn’t look like he was ready to prepare for dinner. But he did not only cook, it also tasted great so she couldn’t help but to find it to be unexpected.
However she couldn’t refuse if he was volunteering to prepare the bothersome dinner for her, so she nodded and said.
“Okay. Try preparing dinner. Let’s try some of my son’s cooking.”
“…..is that okay, mom? Can you trust oppa’s cooking skills?”
“This girl… Look at the bread you ate. It looks like your oppa has some aptitude in cooking.”
“ That’s right but…..”
Jo Ara looked with uncertainty at Jo Minjoon.
“Oppa do you really have confidence in cooking?”
Jo Minjoon let out a grin and whispered to Jo Ara.
“Won’t it be tastier than mom’s cooking?”
Translator : Subak
Proofreader : Maled