Back to 7 Years Ago (part 2)
“Status window.”
[Jo Minjoon]
Cooking Level : 5
Baking Level : 4
Gourmet Level : 6
Decoration Level : 4
‘Is “Decoration Level” measuring my skill at decorating?’ he wondered. He would have never thought this would be possible but that he could see this window goes way beyond his imagination. It feels like his life has become a cooking game. After staring at his status window for a long while with indescribable complex emotions, Jo Minjoon turned his head towards Lee Hyesun. He said again,
“Status window.”
[Lee Hyesun]
Cooking Level : 3
Baking Level : 0
Gourmet Level : 4
Decoration Level : 2
What sorry values. Well, Jo Minjoon never really thought Lee Hyesun’s cooking was all that great even once ever since he was little. With that cooking level score, it makes sense.
“……Skill window.”
He tossed that out there just in case it would work but the skill window really did pop up. A knife handling skill, heat control skill, Korean cuisine mastery, etc. etc. Among them were two skills that caught Jo Minjoon’s eye.
[Italian Cuisine Mastery] – 23% proficiency
Your overall understanding of Italian cuisine (such as pasta, pizza, dolce, and soup) increases.
When cooking Italian food, your probability of failure is reduced.
You have a small probability of making a dish above your cooking level.
[Chef’s Experimental Mentality]
A chef’s unique experimental mentality provides inspiration for new recipes.
When trying a new dish, you have a small probability of thinking of a new recipe.
“Italian cuisine mastery” made sense as a skill. From looking at it, it seems like it is a system that raises one’s proficiency in Italian cuisine every time one studies or cooks it. And he did not understand how it would work but it seems to also be able to make corrections to or supplement one’s cooking.
It also made sense to him that there was no proficiency for “Chef’s Experimental Mentality.” It seemed to be a type of mindset. So it would be far stranger for that to have a proficiency associated with it. But the explanation was vague. It said there is a small probability of thinking of a new recipe. Does that mean the recipe would pop up like a skill window or status window? Or would it just pop into one’s mind? Also, the description of “new dish” was vague. Does that mean it needs to be a dish that no one has ever thought of before or can it be only new to him, Jo Minjoon.
‘Guess I will find out if I try.’
Jo Minjoon smiled. He was no longer the 30-year old fledgling chef short on experience. 23 years old. Truthfully, 23 is also not a young age, but it is an age that is not yet too late for someone to challenge the path to become a chef. Even 30 years of age, itself, is also not too late of an age. It is just that he had been much too impatient.
However, the first obstacle that lay before him is his parents. As if they would easily approve of their son who was to become a teacher immediately after graduating college wanting to become a chef out of the blue. Jo Minjoon thought carefully and devised a plan. First, he would have to convince his parents that his skills as a cook are not actually that bad.
At that moment what popped into Jo Minjoon’s head is the name of a program that was rather familiar to him. “Grand Chef Korea.” It was a show he liked so much he had watched every season of it. If he were able to appear on such a show, even if he were not able to win, if he were able to reap good achievements his parents would have to acknowledge him to some degree. However……
‘Does that show even exist now?’
He recalled it had aired in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other regions first and later was imported to South Korea. Jo Minjoon took out his phone and searched for “Grand Chef.” As expected, there was no news of it in Korea, yet. They will probably sign the contract for it by the end of this year and begin airing by the middle of next year.
“Grand Chef Korea won’t work.”
Jo Minjoon let out a sigh and continued his searching. He searched for various cooking competitions within Korea but there were none of significant enough size. Even if he were to enter a competition, he more likely would not be able to win immediately, anyhow. The powers he had acquired are not absolute. In the end, he will have to improve and hone his cooking skills.
After deliberating over his Internet results for a while, Jo Minjoon came to a single conclusion. He had to participate in an international competition.
He was not so confident as to think he would be able to win but he had enough confidence to believe he could advance to at least the finals. It is not as if he had blindly chosen to follow this path to become a chef without at least that much cooking skill.
Even should his parents have had a bit more of a positive outlook on cooking, they would have still believed the occupation of chef was simply one that falls under the categories of the 3 D’s (dirty, difficult, dangerous). It was not yet the time for the cooking show craze. So, in order to change that point of view, Jo Minjoon had no choice but to show his potential to them. Also, Jo Minjoon firmly believed he would reap great achievements from a competition.
However, there was no suitable competition worth participating in within Korea. Most of the larger-scale ones focused on Korean cuisine and were often team competitions. So he could only shift his gaze to the international scene.
And there was only one such candidate there.
“……Grand Chef.”
Instead of “Grand Chef Korea,” the normal “Grand Chef.” It is a competition held in the United States. One could perhaps consider it more of a show than a competition. But the important part is that Grand Chef is a competition for amateurs. And among the competitions available to amateurs, there were none who had attracted quite as much attention as Grand Chef.
Applications were not only being accepted in the United States but also in Australia. But the one in the United States caught Jo Minjoon’s attention the most. Under similar conditions he would much rather be in the United States than chance being in a village in Australia. Given that he was at one point an English teacher, it would be more laughable if he were unable to communicate properly there.
“That leaves one problem.”
His parents. He had collected enough money for travel expenses by working before he had left for the military. However, if he were to say he is going to the United States to participate in a cooking competition, they would obviously be against it. Should he just say he is going to travel? This conundrum was weighing him down rather unnecessarily.
Even before he went back in time, when he had quit being a high school teacher his parents were furious and did everything they could to stop him. However, in the end, they could not overcome Jo Minjoon’s stubbornness. It had been a confrontation that had only served to leave everyone involved with scars. Jo Minjoon wished to avoid such scars on this new journey he is now on.
“Mmph…… I guess it can’t be helped.”
He will need to hide the reason. That is the path of least resistance. With that thought in mind, he was about to search for airplane ticket prices to the United States when the beeping sound of the front door passcode could be heard. Jo Minjoon turned off the display and went to the living room. He had thought it could be his father but it turns out to be his younger sister, Jo Ara. Her shorted school uniform clung to the slightly tanned skinned on her thin frame.
“Mom, I’m home~. Oh, oppa1 you’re here, too.”
Seeing his younger sister wearing her high school uniform brought forth a feeling of nostalgia. It was the moment the reality that he had gone back in time finally hit him. Lee Hyesun called out to Jo Ara.
“Ara, come over here and try some of this. Your brother made it.”
“Huh? This?”
Lee Hyesun pushed some of the soufflé she had indicated to Jo Minjoon she wanted him to serve more of to Jo Ara. Jo Ara looked a bit apprehensive as she took a bite of the soufflé but her eyes soon widened in surprise. She exclaimed,
“This is so good! Unbelievable. I can’t believe you made this, oppa.”
“Right? I was so shocked when I tried some, too.”
“Oppa. Tell me the truth. You used some food kit2 for this, right?”
Instead of replying, Jo Minjoon clicked his tongue and turned toward Lee Hyesun.
“Mom. If you’re too tired to prepare dinner, would you like me to?”
“You? You’re saying you’d make dinner?”
Lee Hyesun looked at Jo Minjoon as if she had finally seen it all. At this point in time, Jo Minjoon had an interest in cooking and had tried various things but he had not expressed enough of a passion to want to prepare a full meal before. However, now that that same son of hers was not only all of a sudden expressing this unexpected willingness to cook, but his food also tastes good, this had exceeded all her expectations.
However, given he was offering to prepare the dinner she found it a hassle to handle, she had hardly a reason to refuse. Lee Hyesun nodded and said,
“Sounds good. Try making dinner this time. Let me have a taste of my son’s cooking for dinner, as well.”
“……Are you okay, Mom? You think he’d be able to do it?”
“Listen to you. Consider the dessert you tried a moment ago. It seems your brother secretly has some knack for cooking.”
“Well, that’s true but……”
Jo Ara looked at Jo Minjoon with a look of slight disbelief.
“Oppa, are you confident you can cook well?”
Jo Minjoon laughed heartily and whispered into Jo Ara’s ear.
“Wouldn’t it be better than having to eat Mom’s cooking?”
CREDITS:
Original author: 양치기자리
Translator: Comic Seoul
Proofreader: Potato