bookandnovel Chapter 220: Rest - Hell's Hotel Kitchen (2)
Chapter 220: Rest - Hell's Hotel Kitchen (2)
- Lee Eunsol
I was already unsettled by the state of the ingredients, and now I had to eat 12 dishes. That was shocking.
“Hey! Hey! Be reasonable. I’m not a competitive eater; how am I supposed to eat 12 dishes?”
“Why couldn’t you?”
This guy, or rather this monster, had finally gone mad.
“You told me to judge fairly, didn’t you? I’ve never even eaten more than three plates at a buffet, and now you expect me to eat 12 all of a sudden?”
“Oh! You mean your stomach’s capacity is limited?”
“Of course it is!”
“If that’s the case, you needn’t worry.”
The Merchant proudly pulled out several pills from his hand.
“...”
“You can take one of these after each dish. It will solve any stomach issues. It will also prevent any lingering effects from one dish affecting the evaluation of the next. By the way, each dish will be served on the Hotel’s special plate, so there’s no worry about the next dish getting cold or losing flavor while you eat the current one.”
At this point, it wasn’t even worth questioning the existence of such pills or plates.
This was the Hotel; anything could happen.
But the thought of eating 12 dishes, cooked in a kitchen that emitted such ominous noises, made me close my eyes.
“Hyung! Do cows normally have noses on their legs?”
“Oh, for crying out loud! Seungyub! I told you to get rid of that!”
“Unni, do mushrooms usually move on their own?”
“Eek! Songee, that’s not a mushroom!”
“I don’t have to eat this, right? Phew, thank goodness.”
“Eunsol has to eat it.”
Kain, seriously!
You’re relieved that you don’t have to eat?
I felt sick before even seeing the food!
“Merchant~! Merchant~!”
“Oh? Participant Kim Ahri, do you have something to say?”
“Can you extend the cooking time a bit? The ingredients are so weird that prepping them takes forever. Ah! The shrimp just split in two, and another shrimp came out of it!”
“That’s a Hotel specialty, the ‘Splitting Shrimp’. If all participants agree, the cooking time can be extended—”
“We all agree.”
The cooking time was extended to 1 hour and 30 minutes.
But that didn’t guarantee that anyone would produce food fit for humans.
Why can’t there just be regular shrimp instead of “Splitting Shrimp”?
I covered my face with both hands and waited.
1 hour and 30 minutes wasn’t that long.
***
After the cooking time ended, my comrades gathered with eight plates covered with silver lids.
- Clatter! Clatter!
“...”
“Haha! Participant Park Seungyub? Your dish seems quite... fresh.”
“No matter how much I hit it, it wouldn’t die.”
“So, you just plated it as it was?”
Dear Buddha!
What is it now?!
“Chef Lee Eunsol.”
“...”
“Chef Lee Eunsol?”
“Yeah...”
“Please put on the hat for judging. It will help with honest evaluation.”
A hat?
Now that I thought about it, there had been a hat on the table since I got here.
Does it have some significance, or is it just for show?
What do they mean by “help with honest evaluation”?
“Participants, please bring your dishes in the order I call. First, Participant Kim Mooksung?”
Hearing Grandpa’s name made me feel reassured.
From our conversations over the past few months, I knew he had a lot of life experience and some knowledge of cooking!
Sure enough, before the lid on the plate in front of me was even lifted, a pleasant smell reached me.
“Grandpa, what is this dish?”
“You’ll see. It’s just steamed seafood, so don’t worry.”
Just as he said, the dish on the plate was a mix of various shellfish, octopus, and fish, well-cooked.
Maybe out of consideration for the amount of food I would have to eat, he made a smaller portion.
I appreciated that.
I finished the dish.
“Well, at least the ingredients didn’t squirm. The level of stir-frying is decent enough.”
“Phew, that’s a relief.”
“But did you taste this before serving?”
“Huh?”
“Did the cabbage swim in seawater before you fried it? This is the saltiest fried rice I’ve ever eaten! And what’s with the egg on top? It’s burnt to a crisp! Even people from the Stone Age could control fire better than you!”
Songee looked like she was about to fly away from my shouting, then scurried off with a pitiful expression.
Her score was 4.
The kitchen was in chaos!
The next dish came from Ahri.
“I’m not going to say anything.”
When I opened the lid, a beef stew appeared.
As soon as I took a bite, the unknown, sharp-tongued energy the hat had been feeding me disappeared!
The meat was so tender it melted in my mouth, and the fragrant scent of bay leaves and an array of vegetables made every bite a delight.
The rich, flavorful stew made me wish there was more of it.
“A-Ahri!”
“Yeah?”
“It’s amazing! What is this? It’s so good! Have you ever worked as a chef?”
“Well, what’s my score?”
“No need to say it. It’s a perfect 10! I’ve never had anything like this.”
Ahri’s lips curled into a smile!
Did she really learn to cook somewhere?
It wouldn’t be surprising if she had tried everything under the sun, but this was incredible!
No joke, each bite felt like lightning struck my brain!
How did she make this?
I’ve eaten plenty of fancy food growing up as a pampered kid, but this dish was beyond comparison—
Wait, does this make sense?
She’s not even a professional chef who’s perfected beef stew for over 30 years.
“Objection!”
A loud voice interrupted my thoughts.
Kain had raised his hand.
“I saw it earlier—”
“Shut it!”
“No, Ahri, you be quiet. Kain, tell me.”
“Right before Ahri finished cooking, she added her own blood. I suspect she used the power of her Ancient Blood.”
Everyone turned to Ahri, eyes wide.
“Hey! I object your objection!”
“...Go on Ahri.”
“Isn’t this contest just about the food tasting good? Right? No one said I couldn’t add my blood.”
“Well, that’s just goes without saying—”
“Is there any place in the world where you’re asked to cook with beef that’s still alive? In the Hotel’s logic, I might be right.”
Amid my confusion, the Merchant chimed in to add to the chaos, “Hmm, technically she’s correct.”
“What do you mean she’s correct?”
“There’s no rule in Hell’s Hotel Kitchen that bans using Inheritance powers. I didn’t prohibit it, either. Besides, the Hotel’s ingredients are inherently ‘special,’ so Participant Ahri’s blood can be considered her unique secret ingredient.”
This contest is insane.
Didn’t the Hotel just say it rejects favoritism?
It rejects personal connections but allows mind control through Inheritance in cooking.
Brilliant logic.
“Besides, Chef Lee Eunsol has already given a 10-point score, so the judgment is final.”
“Haha! You heard him, Kain! You should’ve objected earlier.”
“Wow! Is this world crazy or what?”
Not the world, just this Hotel.
I muttered absent-mindedly, “Fine, I get it. But if you use your blood again, I’ll give you a zero next time.”
“Okay~!”
“Next!”
The next dish was Kain’s.
- Clatter!
I had a bad feeling. A dish that was too fresh was about to appear, I could tell!
Footnotes
1. Korean chili flakes2. Korean chili /genesisforsaken