As Heavenly Yuah and Moon Suyeon were eliminated with scores below ten points, only Nam Hyun-ho and I remained.
Next challenger is Nam Hyun-ho.
“Alright, I’m winning this one.”
Surprisingly, Nam Hyun-ho came with a rather orthodox dish.
“…Doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew)…, huh?”
It was doenjang-jjigae, something no Korean could deny.
Looking at the neatly simmering stew in the pot, my mouth started to water without me even realizing.
It was neatly presented, and the aroma was subtly savory, surprisingly well-done.
The most un-commoner (third son of the Changcheon Group) making such a common dish was somewhat ironic, but his skills were commendable.
“Hmm…”
Carefully, Miju took a spoonful of doenjang-jjigae and ate it without immediately spitting it out as before.
It seemed the food wasn’t entirely wrong. Though Miju kept tilting her head, frowning slightly in a way that made her appear suspicious.
“Strange, this flavor feels familiar…”
Curious, I decided to try the stew myself.
It was tastier than I had expected.
But as his words had hinted, it was oddly familiar…
“Ah, it’s this. Seriously Hyun-ho, what were you thinking…”
Something felt off, so Nam Hyun-ho rushed back to the cooking station where he’d prepared the jjigae.
There, he discovered something significant.
It was none other than ramen soup base.
This guy had actually added ramen soup to the doenjang-jjigae.
“Isn’t that against the rules?”
“Why is it against the rules? If you’re upset, you could’ve added it too.”
“Wow, really…”
“Disappointing.”
“Indeed, Nam Hyun-ho. I didn’t think you’d stoop this low… such a bad guy?”
“No, just because of this you call me a bad guy? MSG is always right.”
All the participants glared coldly as jeers erupted around them.
Meanwhile, Miju was quietly jotting down her evaluation.
-70 (80-10)
A total of 80 points with a 10-point deduction.
Yeah, this was acceptable.
Our clever youngster had calculated better than I thought.
“No, deducting points for this…”
Nam Hyun-ho protested, but the truth was he should’ve been thankful he wasn’t disqualified.
Using such a despicable method these days—getting 10 points deducted demonstrated that morality still existed in these competitive circles.
“Alright, it’s my turn now…”
Now it was my turn to get Miju’s evaluation for the dish I prepared.
Frankly, I was confident.
Nam Hyun-Ho’s 70-point doenjang-jjigae was an unexpected obstacle, but it wasn’t unbeatable.
As I presented her my creation, jeers began to rain from all sides.
“Um, Siwoo. Is that…”
“Whoa, this is… crazy…”
“…He’s such a bad guy.”
But those comments were simply meaningless complaints from the pathetic losers.
Our young one’s bright, lively eyes told me it was going to work.
And indeed, what I’d prepared was…
“Hotdog ketchup stir-fry.”
The ultimate battle weapon that felt most familiar and affectionate to children—hotdog ketchup stir-fry.
If the target was under 10 years old, it was a surefire weapon with an extremely high chance of hitting their tastes.
“…Delicious.”
-100
Naturally, our young one also loved hotdogs, lifting the score right to 100.
Hum, got it.
Indeed, one must think things through, right?
“…Is this even a nation?”
Nam Hyun-ho’s praise was as sweet as honey.
The knife-fight cook-off among Flame’s actors concluded with my victory.
Some might object, asking, “What kind of dish is a hotdog stir-fry?” But then again, Heavenly Yuah’s fried duck and Moon Suyeon’s salted tarte aren’t technically dishes either, are they?
After all, they become mere food waste the moment they’re rendered inedible by humans.
The only one who might have cause for complaint is Nam Hyun-ho, but hey, he added ramen seasoning too.
He’s just as guilty.
“Alright, let’s prepare.”
“Alright. What should we do first?”
“Um, Siwoo, tell us what you want.”
“Actually, both of you… standby for a moment.”
“Why?”
“Why?”
“Well, you two have uncoordinated hands.”
“I don’t think so…”
“No, I’m right.”
So, having become the leader of the meal preparation event, I entrusted all tasks to Nam Hyun-ho.
Moon Suyeon and Heavenly Yuah, were already beyond redemption.
Nam Hyun-ho’s jjigae, despite the added ramen base, was otherwise of decent quality.
There was no one else in our group who could consistently create reasonably edible food other than Nam Hyun-ho.
All I was interested in during the competition was winning. Personally, I’m not very skilled with cooking—what I know how to do best is grilling or reheating food.
Ironically, I can make beef jerky like a genius, but it’s not appropriate to serve tough jerky to Mr. Seo Jin-seob, whose teeth might be too worn out for it.
Thankfully, Nam Hyun-ho, despite his appearances, was a cooking heartthrob. He knew how to make a variety of dishes.
“Just, could you please tidy up those ramen soup packets?”
Only, his mental state was a little off, as it seemed he wanted to add ramen soup to every single dish, but I could keep an eye on that.
If I wasn’t the leader, and Nam Hyun-ho was, he might not have been able to contain his absurd ramen soup obsession. Since I am the leader, I could definitely control that much.
“…Oh, this is actually pretty good. I’ll enjoy this meal.”
Our menu was straightforward.
Rice, doenjang-jjigae, kimchi, beef pancake (yu-jeon), stir-fried zucchini, and seaweed.
A highly local menu.
But for that very reason, it also suited Mr. Seo Jin-seob perfectly.
Nam Hyun-ho’s skills without MSG were decent enough, and it was satisfactory even for me.
Mr. Seo Jin-seob also seemed quite pleased.
Our first episode of ‘Everyday Life, Flame,’ serving a meal to Mr. Seo Jin-seob unfolded with everyone getting along joyfully.
Of course, after the meal, we properly discussed our films to ensure the primary goal of promoting the movie was accomplished.
‘Everyday Life, Flame’ continued to air.
From the cooking battle in the first episode, to episodes involving potato digging, company breakroom gaming battles, and even hitting the gym.
Even episodes of beating three rounds of weightlifting exercises were featured.
Even though most of the content was fairly mundane, reactions were surprisingly warm.
It emphasized the notion once again that who is doing it matters more than what is being done.
However, there was a bit of trouble with the content.
-White Siu is being White Siu again.
-What was that even for a dish?
-Our apologies on behalf of the actor. We’re sorry.
-Our actor is a bad guy by default anyway.
Apparently, my image had become considerably strange.
From the first episode onwards, responses seemed to focus more on me than anyone else.
During a competitive action game, I almost made Moon Suyeon cry with an extremely brutal combo.
During the potato harvest mission, I sneakily passed the task towards Heavenly Yuah.
In the gym mission, I completely crushed Nam Hyun-ho’s spirit.
For some reason, I felt I was treated as the embodiment of evil within Flame’s actor fanbases.
“I really feel this is unjust.”
Of course, I felt wronged.
Moon Suyeon literally came charging at me demanding a hit. Could I resist that? Naturally, I have to deliver a brutal combo then.
And about harvesting potatoes, isn’t Yuah an expert with her “Cheon Ma Su” (Divine Horse Hand) technique where she could efficiently grab potatoes in one go?
Lastly, about Nam Hyun-ho…
“Gym battle is something you can’t back down from, isn’t it?”
If you’re annoyed, why don’t you beat me?
I just did my best, yet people don’t seem to understand.
Maybe due to my antics, the other performers’ images improved quite a bit.
-Oh our Yuah. She’s more bumbling than expected.
-Luna is cute.
-Nam Hyun-ho seems to live alone, yet he’s unexpectedly sociable and down-to-earth.
They were all pretty well-recognized figures. Whenever they revealed their flaws, people appreciated their humanity, seemingly liking them more.
In fact, the fan clubs of these three performers significantly increased.
Meanwhile, things got a bit ambiguous on my side. Though my fan club grew from 600 to 700 members, there was a prevailing atmosphere of criticism.
-What, is White losing his mind again? Why’s the entry cut so high?
-The fans of that star are beneath even him.
-Mad. How long is this entry test going to last?
-Wow, it’s even tougher than before. Is this thing being continuously upgraded?
What people meant was that my new fans, inspired by the relatively high traffic of ‘Everyday Life, Flame,’ were getting stuck in fan club entry tests.
Being annoyed, I checked it out and realized my insane fan club had increased the number of entry questions every time I starred in a new project.
The recent entry test even included questions related to Restaurant Promo.
It wasn’t a direct issue I could intervene with, so I decided to just let it be, even though people were grouping all fans together and calling them fools.
Strangely, my fan club viewed this ordeal as proof of distinction.
At this point, who’s the real fool here is up for question.
“Yeah, indeed. We trusted Actor Baek.”
Thanks to this process, my standing among the company employees increased.
The more I got criticized, the more the company acknowledged me, and the motto of ‘Everyday Life, Flame’ was to stay as natural as possible, so I thought better just letting it go.
“Well, it’s not like I’m the only one who’s losing.”
After all, my recognition was increasing alongside the other three.
While my skills receive acknowledgment to a degree, the fact that my recognition lags behind the other three was also true. But as these four mingle so naturally together, I’m subtly lifted as well.
It’s a sort of mutual support.
We’ve promoted our movie through every episode, so the fans watching the show will know what films we made as well.
In the end, we achieved our promotional goals with a good return on the effort put in.
And when the fourth episode of ‘Everyday Life, Flame’ aired,
The first teaser for our movie, ‘Code Number: 7’, was released, taking the internet by storm.
Of course, Revenge’s teaser was also released around the same time.
