Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 275

He tossed the fist-sized ball into the air and caught it, and in an instant, it transformed into pizza dough.

‘I think I’ve seen this before.’

Though the genre was different, she recalled a similar scene from an educational program she watched as a child. They would roughly dab paint with a brush and then use a knife to spread it, and a piece of art would magically appear. Then, they would smile and say,

“It’s so easy.”

“Ah, no! It’s not easy!”

“Pardon?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Jung Su-yeon felt a strange surge of frustration as Kang Jin-ho looked at her with a puzzled expression.

‘It’s not me who’s weird, it’s the boss!’

What kind of dough was he making like that? Even a machine would take longer. How could the dough be formed just by tossing it in the air and catching it?

He was a master.

There was a master here.

What followed was even more spectacular.

After shaping four doughs, Kang Jin-ho spread the sauce with lightning speed and then used a ladle to scatter the ingredients from the containers, and they landed perfectly on the dough.

‘Hahaha…’

She didn’t even have the energy to be surprised anymore.

Okay, let’s say the other ingredients are like that. Let’s just say it’s possible. But how could he throw the pepperoni and have them line up so perfectly?

Did a different law of physics apply here, or was this some strange land where pepperoni moved on its own?

But it was still too early to be surprised.

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the lit oven with a dissatisfied expression.

‘He should have lit it beforehand.’

He seemed a bit like a novice now. An oven wasn’t like a gas stove that heated up instantly. It took time for the oak firewood to reach its full heat.

Moreover, heating up that unusually large oven would take even longer….

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho stuck his hand into the oven.

“Gasp!”

She was so surprised that she felt her heart jump into her throat.

Her surprise was short-lived.

Thinking that an accident had occurred, Jung Su-yeon was horrified and jumped up, rushing towards Kang Jin-ho.

“A-are you okay?”

“Pardon?”

Kang Jin-ho turned to her with a calm face.

“Are you okay?!”

“Pardon?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at her with a ‘What’s wrong with this woman?’ expression, and Jung Su-yeon’s face began to turn red.

“No… your hand.”

“My hand?”

Kang Jin-ho raised his hand.

“…Why is it fine?”

“Pardon?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Her last words were almost a whisper.

‘How weird must he think I am?’

Jung Su-yeon felt like a fool.

She kept getting surprised and dumbfounded by herself, while Kang Jin-ho remained completely calm.

‘Am I seeing things?’

She couldn’t understand what was going on. Even if the heat wasn’t fully up, how could his hand be fine after sticking it into the burning oak firewood?

“Did I see wrong…”

Jung Su-yeon was so out of it that she didn’t even realize she was speaking her thoughts out loud.

It was because of the angle.

From the side, it looked like he was putting his hand into the fire, but he was actually checking the heat by putting his hand next to the flames. There was no other explanation.

Having convinced herself, Jung Su-yeon slumped back into her seat.

She touched her cheek, and it was as hot as if it had been set on fire.

‘Calm down, Jung Su-yeon.’

She had been jumping at every little thing since earlier. She took a deep breath, calmed her mind, and tried to relax a bit more….

“Why is that doing that again…”

Jung Su-yeon felt like crying.

The oven, which hadn’t been heating up properly just a moment ago, was now spewing flames as if the gas valve had been fully opened. That wood didn’t seem to be oak after all.

It must be a new species like oil wood or coal wood.

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho, having examined the flames, finally seemed satisfied and picked up a long oven tong, pushing the pizzas into the oven. He put in the four pizzas in order and then took them out in the same order.

‘What? Is it cooked?’

No, that can’t be….

No matter how strong the heat was, there was no way to cook a pizza like that. High heat didn’t mean it would cook faster. You could tell by grilling meat in a frying pan. If the heat was too high, the outside would burn, and the inside wouldn’t be cooked.

But Kang Jin-ho took out the pizzas as if they were perfectly done and started cutting them.

“…Huh?”

Was he really going to serve them like that? The customers would complain a lot, wouldn’t they?

At that moment, Joo Young-gi came into the kitchen with a look of realization.

“Jin-ho, my mistake. There are two bulgogi and two pepperoni. One bulgogi order was wrong. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Take these first.”

“Okay.”

As Joo Young-gi started carrying out two pizzas, Kang Jin-ho handed one of the remaining bulgogi pizzas to Jung Su-yeon.

“Have some.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s not going to be served if it gets cold anyway.”

“…Couldn’t you give it to the next customer?”

“It’ll get a little cold while taking the order. Then I won’t serve it.”

“Ah!”

He had the mindset of an artist rather than a businessman.

“And since you’ll be working with us from now on, you should know what the pizza tastes like.”

“Yes.”

That was also true.

True cuisine wasn’t just about individual dishes but about how they came together. No matter how good a single dish was, it couldn’t be considered a good menu if it didn’t pair well with the other main dishes of the restaurant.

‘I need to know the taste first.’

It was good to create the best taste she was aiming for, but the side dishes had to complement the taste of the pizza in this restaurant.

In that sense, she had to try the pizza.

“Okay, I’ll eat it.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and nodded, then took the remaining pizza and went out to the hall.

‘This…’

Left alone in the kitchen, Jung Su-yeon looked down at the pizza.

“It’s not burnt…”

The top and edges were slightly crusty, but this level of crustiness was enough to enhance the flavor. The problem was that if the outside was this well-cooked, the inside would be completely raw.

“Hmm…”

Jung Su-yeon didn’t have high expectations as she tore off a piece of pizza. The way the cheese stretched showed that the outside was indeed well-cooked.

The problem was the dough….

“Huh? What? Why is it like this?”

Jung Su-yeon, who had taken a bite of the pizza, looked at it with disbelief. She turned her head left and right, looking for something, and then picked up a cutting knife and started cutting a piece of pizza horizontally.

“…Oh my god!”

She carefully examined the cross-section of the pizza and was in a state of mental breakdown when she saw that the inside was perfectly cooked.

Why was it cooked?

It shouldn’t be cooked.

No, if you think about it, something was wrong from the beginning when he made the dough.

Even….

“This is so delicious.”

The taste was unbelievably good. Pizza, by nature, is oily. No matter how well you make pizza, Korean-style pizza can’t avoid being greasy because of the cheese.

But Kang Jin-ho’s pizza wasn’t an Italian-style thin crust, and it was loaded with cheese, yet it didn’t feel greasy in her mouth. She couldn’t believe how he could create such a light taste with these ingredients.

‘Have I ever tasted pizza like this before?’

She could find a more delicious pizza if she tried.

It wasn’t like ‘Kang Jin-ho’s pizza is the most delicious in the world.’ But Kang Jin-ho’s pizza had a unique quality.

She could eat a more delicious pizza, but there was no other place that made pizza with this taste. She couldn’t even think of a similar taste.

Unique and delicious, it was bound to sell.

The problem was that the person who made that pizza was a man of a similar age to her. He didn’t have a chef’s license, and he hadn’t properly learned to cook anywhere. He was just a guy.

“There is one.”

Jung Su-yeon, who took another bite of the pizza, had no choice but to admit it.

There were masters in the world.

Regardless of age, there were people who showed processes and results in a field that ordinary people couldn’t imagine.

And Kang Jin-ho was a pizza master.

“…At this level, it’s worth coming.”

Only then could Jung Su-yeon understand the line in front of the store. Even she would wait in line to eat this pizza.

The recent trend in popular restaurants was uniqueness rather than the best.

People didn’t move to eat the best taste, but to eat a taste they hadn’t tried before, and a taste that could only be found there.

‘It’s a bit of an overreaction to line up from the morning, though.’

These days, it was understandable since people drove on highways to go to popular restaurants.

Thinking that, Jung Su-yeon got up from her seat.

At first, she had looked down on them a little.

She had come here thinking that a pizza place run by three guys with no experience would be predictable.

She had quit her previous job because the head chef had constantly berated her for being a woman with a lack of stamina and skills. She had applied for this job because she wanted to run a kitchen before going to a new place, but now things were different.

‘I deserved to be criticized.’

She was arrogant despite not having the skills.

It was the moment she understood the head chef’s words that there were countless people in Korea who were better at cooking than her. A young man who had never learned to cook was making this kind of pizza, and she had been acting up with her meager skills….

“I can’t do anything with this mindset.”

Ironically, she had gained an understanding as a chef at a workplace she had come to without any expectations.

In any field, you had to research and do your best. How much effort had Kang Jin-ho put in to create this pizza? The abnormally large oven and the impeccably clean kitchen were enough to show that.

‘I need to learn.’

There wasn’t much to learn in terms of cooking, but she had to emulate his attitude as a chef.

Back to basics.

Since she had come to a new workplace, she had to start again from the beginning.

Jung Su-yeon bit her lip and went out to the hall as if she had made up her mind.

‘I should at least help out in the hall.’

It was wrong to sit around and waste time just because she didn’t have anything to do right now. Even though she had come to take charge of the kitchen, if she couldn’t work because she didn’t have the tools, she had to help with other things.

That was basic etiquette and respect for the people she worked with.

“Is there anything I can help…”

Jung Su-yeon, who had gone out to the hall with a determined and lively voice, saw Kang Jin-ho surrounded by three women, taking pictures.

Kang Jin-ho and Jung Su-yeon’s eyes met awkwardly in the air.

“…What are you doing?”

“M-memorial photos.”

Just as Kang Jin-ho was about to explain something, the customers clinging to his arm urged him on.

“Oppa! Please take the picture quickly.”

“Ah, yes.”

Jung Su-yeon, seeing Kang Jin-ho awkwardly smiling and taking pictures, covered her face without a word.

‘Mom, this place is weird.’

Very weird.