Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 274

It took Jung Su-yeon a little while to get her head straight.

“…Oh my god.”

Of course, there are many people in the world with germaphobia. There are plenty of people who act like the whole house will be infected with bacteria and everyone will die if even a single strand of hair falls on the floor.

However, unlike a home where you can just clean and stay still, a business that is open to the public is bound to get dirty. There’s always trash, people coming and going, and grease stains.

Maintaining such a place as clean as a home is not an easy task. No, in fact, it was practically impossible.

‘But why is the kitchen cleaner than my room?’

Jung Su-yeon was someone who was often teased at her previous job for being meticulous. She had always believed that a chef should prioritize cleanliness before taste.

But today, she had to admit that there was a higher level of cleanliness than she had ever known.

She had underestimated the place, thinking it was just a pizza place run by three rough-looking guys. But anyone who manages a kitchen this well is a pro, regardless of whether the food tastes good or not.

“Looks like she’s having a mental breakdown?”

“Well, she has a reason to. We see it every day and still get goosebumps sometimes.”

“Yeah, true.”

Joo Young-gi and Park Yu-min nodded with disgruntled expressions.

“Did she ask if he was sick?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s a valid point, but she’s got guts. Asking the boss if he’s sick on her first day.”

“…She must have been desperate.”

Emotionally, I want to side with Jung Su-yeon, not Kang Jin-ho. Watching Kang Jin-ho, who sweats profusely while scrubbing the floor to death, only to have him clean it again as if it’s the most natural thing in the world, makes you feel a sense of self-loathing, as if you’re not contributing anything to the cleanliness of this place.

We’ve told him countless times that fish can’t live in water that’s too clean, but it’s always the same.

Kang Jin-ho’s cleanliness obsession was close to incurable.

“That lady’s going to have a hard time now.”

Joo Young-gi clicked his tongue.

“That bastard used to commit atrocities with this in the army, he shouldn’t be doing that here.”

“He did that in the army?”

“Man, don’t even get me started. Even the officers didn’t go into his barracks. It was too dazzling.”

“What on earth did he do?”

Park Yu-min subtly turned his head to look at Kang Jin-ho.

“Jin-ho, snap out of it.”

“Uh-huh.”

Actually, it wasn’t Jung Su-yeon who was having a mental breakdown, but Kang Jin-ho. Being called a psycho by a woman he had just met was the biggest shock he had experienced recently.

“…Am I cleaning a bit too much?”

“No. It’s not just a bit too much, it’s insane.”

“Honestly, I don’t think you’re in your right mind.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the ceiling with a resigned expression at his friends’ honest answers.

‘Is being clean a sin?’

Kang Jin-ho had heard that being dirty was a sin, but this was the first time he had heard that being clean was a sin.

While Kang Jin-ho was trying to pull himself together, Jung Su-yeon cautiously approached him.

“I, I’m sorry. I was a bit harsh, wasn’t I? I was just so surprised.”

“No, it’s okay.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head as if it was nothing. Based on what his friends had said, it was a relief that she had only insulted him that much.

“You’re really amazing. It’s incredible how you keep the kitchen so clean.”

Jung Su-yeon’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him, which was enough to make him feel proud, but somehow, she was standing a step away from the distance she should have been to talk to him, which made Kang Jin-ho feel a little sad.

“It’s not something you can do with just a little effort…”

It wasn’t just because Kang Jin-ho was twisted that those words sounded like, ‘Why don’t you do something else with that time, you crazy bastard.’

“Yeah, well…”

“But, boss.”

“Yes?”

“The kitchen is too bare, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“There’s nothing there except for plates and the pizza oven.”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

“I heard that you wanted me to take charge of other dishes besides pizza, is that right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Hmm…”

Jung Su-yeon opened her mouth with a slightly troubled tone.

“So, I thought you were a complete amateur. But now that I see it, the oven is very well maintained, and the ingredients are well managed too. And come to think of it, the fact that the store has been running on a single pizza menu means that the pizza must be incredibly delicious.”

“…Does it work that way?”

“The pizza is delicious, but isn’t that not the reason?”

Kang Jin-ho ignored Joo Young-gi and Park Yu-min’s banter and continued his conversation with Jung Su-yeon.

“Yes. So?”

“But is it okay for me to take over everything?”

“Yes. You can do it.”

“…Are you really sure?”

Kang Jin-ho sighed quietly, sensing the anxiety in Jung Su-yeon’s face.

“To be honest, we don’t know how to do anything other than make pizza.”

Park Yu-min tried to resist.

“I’m good at washing dishes!”

“Hey, is that something to be proud of?”

“It is. And I can cook most dishes.”

“What?”

“Like curry, curry…”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Jung Su-yeon with a gentle expression.

“You see?”

“Yes.”

“Basically, we are clueless when it comes to food. We just hired someone after hearing that we needed to add new menu items, but we don’t even know what kind of menu should be added to this store.”

“Ah, I see.”

Jung Su-yeon’s answer was soulless.

“I’m serious.”

“Oh, come on, boss. Don’t tease me.”

“Huh?”

“You opened a store, didn’t you? A pizza place, in this busy area.”

“That’s right.”

“But you didn’t do any research and just opened a pizza place?”

“…”

“Haven’t you ever been to a pizza place with your girlfriend? Seriously?”

Kang Jin-ho quietly turned his head to look at the two of them.

“We…”

“Don’t have a…”

“…girlfriend.”

The atmosphere in the store instantly turned funereal.

“…I don’t believe it, but I’ll try to trust you.”

“Thank you.”

Kang Jin-ho was truly grateful, though he didn’t know why. When Jung Su-yeon questioned why they hadn’t added any other menu items besides pizza at the beginning, he felt like an elementary school student being scolded by a teacher.

Just getting out of that terrible situation was worth being grateful for.

“Then, I’ll add a basic pasta menu and a drink menu for now. I’ll have to make the pasta, but you’ll have to help with the drinks when things get busy, so you all need to memorize the recipes.”

“I’m not very good with my hands…”

Park Yu-min tried to slip away, but Joo Young-gi kicked his butt.

“Hey! It’s something you have to do!”

“…Okay.”

Jung Su-yeon nodded.

“Basically, we don’t have the ingredients or the cooking tools, so I don’t think we can add them right away. If you allow me, I’ll contact a supplier I know and order all the cooking tools and ingredients. Is that okay?”

“Yes. That’s fine.”

“It’s going to cost a bit of money.”

“It’s okay. We make a lot of money.”

Jung Su-yeon covered her mouth and chuckled lightly as Joo Young-gi puffed out his chest.

‘How much can they possibly make?’

She had been working at a high-end restaurant that occupied an entire floor of a high-rise building until recently. Of course, pasta was her limit, and she couldn’t even touch steak, but she was still someone with experience working at a well-known place.

‘The kitchen is a battlefield.’

The kitchen is a place where knives are always being wielded, fires are being lit, and people are screaming. How many customers could possibly come to this small store?

“Then, until the cooking tools are ready, I guess I’ll just help with baking pizzas.”

“Is there anything to help with?”

“I can’t ask her to serve. I was told not to ask the cooks to do that.”

“Really?”

Jung Su-yeon sighed inwardly as Joo Young-gi nodded as if he understood.

‘Will I even make my salary here?’

Jung Su-yeon suddenly became depressed at the thought that she might not even last a month before being kicked out.

But Jung Su-yeon’s worries flew to Andromeda just ten minutes after the store opened.

‘What is this? What is this?’

Jung Su-yeon’s jaw dropped as she looked at the people filling the hall.

The front had been a bit noisy about 30 minutes before the store opened, but as soon as the doors opened, people began to pour in like a flood.

‘Our store wasn’t this busy…’

Of course, there were many customers who made reservations in advance, so it felt that way, but the number of customers who came in at the same time as the opening was similar.

The problem was that the place she used to work was a large restaurant with over twenty employees, and this was a small pizza place with only three guys working.

The number of customers in those two places shouldn’t be the same.

What confused her even more was the attitude of these three men. As soon as the customers came in, Kang Jin-ho washed his hands thoroughly with a nonchalant expression and then walked into the kitchen, and Joo Young-gi began taking orders with a familiar posture.

And Park Yu-min was…

“Please stand this way, this way. If you stand that way, you’ll block the entrance to the next store. I got scolded by the boss yesterday. Please come this way.”

He was very skillfully controlling the customers who were lining up.

‘Is he used to this? This situation?’

Why are you used to this! You shouldn’t be used to this situation! I’m not used to it either!

What should I say?

It was like playing an MMORPG game and going to the newbie zone to take a break, only to see low-level players wearing newbie gear suddenly appear and one-shot a dragon.

‘No, but really, why is it so popular? Why is business so good?’ Jung Su-yeon looked at the menu that had given her culture shock again.

Bulgogi Pizza

Combination Pizza

Pepperoni Pizza

Cola

Sprite

At this point, it was more like a menu memo than a menu. It was such a simple and basic menu that if she met a nasty customer, she might get yelled at for not being able to memorize it and having to write it down.

Jung Su-yeon had never imagined that she would see such a simple menu at a pizza place in her life.

But why was the place so full that there was even a waiting line?

Her mental state began to shake uncontrollably.

‘Is he a pizza master?’

He couldn’t have spent 17 years making only pizza, and besides, there was nothing special about the menu to say that the pizza was too delicious.

“I don’t know.”

Jung Su-yeon smiled brightly.

It’s a headache to try to understand what you don’t understand. For now, she just needed to watch how this store works.

“Jin-ho! Three bulgogi! One pepperoni!”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Then, he took out a dough container covered in plastic wrap from the refrigerator and grabbed four lumps of dough that were bigger than his fist.