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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈

Episode 221: Rest - Hell's Hotel Kitchen (3) (Final)

──────

- Lee Eun-sol

Gulp!

I swallowed hard and stared tensely at Ga-in's plate. Noticing my unusual reaction, Ga-in said in a fluster,

“Sis! No, Chef. There isn't anything alive inside making the plate shake. I bumped it with my hand when I set it down.”

... Just as he said, once Ga-in took his hand away, the plate stopped shaking.

“Chef, it's just grilled pork neck and porridge. You can dip the meat in wasabi, salt, and so on.”

“Porridge?”

“There wasn't a rice cooker...”

Apparently, he didn't know how to cook rice without an electric rice cooker. I didn't either, so that was fine. Grilled pork neck should be safe, right? All he had to do was slice and grill the meat.

There was nothing that could turn into some bizarre dish. It almost felt like he'd chosen something too easy, but depending on how you looked at it, it was a wise choice.

When I opened the lid, exactly what Ga-in had described was inside. Ordinary grilled pork neck, a little porridge, oil and salt, wasabi, and so on.

...

Still, I wouldn't be fooled. What Ga-in had said earlier was still ringing in my ears!

‘I don't have to eat this, right? What a relief.’

I tried the porridge and meat in turn. The porridge was a little bland, but I wasn't eating it on its own, so it wasn't a major problem. The meat had been grilled fairly evenly too. Since he'd made an easy dish, it was an ordinary but decent plate.

This should safely earn around seven points, right?

‘Seven months ago, I was born on the Hotel's farm.’

?

‘Don't worry! My life was happy. During the day, I ran through the lush acorn forest...’

“... I'm hearing something strange right now.”

Ga-in turned away as though he couldn't hear me.

‘In the evenings, I chatted with my farm friends about what we would play tomorrow, and the day passed before I knew it.’

“Seriously! Hey, Merchant! What is this?”

“A Hotel specialty! A Pig with a Last Will. What do you think? Fine dining should have philosophy and a story in every dish. The pork you just ate contains...”

“Please stop saying insane things! I don't want to know about a pig's life!”

“It contains the last will of Piyo, a good pig who ran happily through an acorn forest.”

For the next fifteen minutes, Piyo cheerfully rambled about how happily Piyo had lived on the farm and how eagerly Piyo had looked forward to the moment of being deliciously eaten.

I waited for Piyo to finally fall silent.

“Ga-in. Did you really have to give me this?”

“I-I couldn't tell at all while I was cooking it. Only after I finished grilling it and put it on the plate did it say, ‘Thank you, Chef!’ That's when I realized something was strange...”

“Then you should've just served the porridge!”

“...”

In a daze, I finished the pork. Piyo's final trace in this world was quite delicious.

“The pork and porridge were edible. But Piyo's last will ruined everything, so one point.”

“Argh!”

“Want me to change it to zero?”

“No...”

The next dish Jin-cheol brought over was his favorite, spicy stir-fried pork. I knew he liked it because he ate it almost every day, but he must have cooked it often too. He was pretty good.

“I'll give you seven points. The dish itself is well made, but it's a little too spicy for me.”

“Ahh! Sis, give me just one more point.”

“No. The two best dishes so far were the seafood soup and beef stew. The seafood soup got an eight, so I can't give yours a higher score.”

Next, Mr. Sang-hyeon brought over his plate.

Maybe it was because of his blessing, Diligence, or because he seemed like the kind of person who'd be good at anything, but everyone watched Mr. Sang-hyeon with a little anticipation. Sensing the mood, he looked slightly flustered.

“I haven't cooked very often. It's a dish I'm fairly confident in, but...”

Despite his humble words, the steak and garnish on the plate looked quite convincing. The moment I cut into the meat, before even taking a bite, I was already impressed.

The outside had formed a crisp crust, while the inside was pink and juicy, perfectly cooked. The color of the sauce was familiar too.

“Is it red wine sauce?”

“I reduced red wine with sugar and oil. It isn't an impressive recipe, but the Hotel wine was of very good quality.”

That alone made it delicious. Excluding A-ri's beef stew, which had used the power of an Inheritance, it was the finest meal I'd had today. After I finished eating, I gave Mr. Sang-hyeon nine points.

“Mr. Sang-hyeon and A-ri should have a final round.”

“Sis?”

A boy's pitiful voice came from somewhere.

“A-ri, don't use an Inheritance this time! Judging by how good that beef stew was, you seem like you'd be a good cook even without one. This time, use your actual skill.”

“I will. But Eun-sol, no, Chef Eun-sol. There's still one plate left.”

“Let's rest for ten minutes, then the finaaal round!”

The Merchant beside me put a hand on my shoulder.

“Chef. You must judge fairly. Is there not still one plate remaining?”

--- Clatter! Clatter!

“...”

That one was real.

--- Clatter!

It wasn't like Ga-in's plate, where his hand had bumped into it.

--- Screeech!

“D-did you hear that just now? What kind of sound comes from a plate of food? That's not food!”

Without a word, Seung-yeop placed the plate in front of me.

“Sis. I tried my best, but no matter what I did, it wouldn't die, so I just put it on the plate.”

“GET OUT OF HERE!”

“Pardon?”

“Take that and get out right now!”

The Merchant giggled as he opened the lid. A literal live chicken began dancing in front of me.

--- Kiyoooo! Cluck, cluck!

“... You expect me to eat this?”

“Of course. Chef, didn't you ask for fair judging? It's a little fresh, but it is a chicken that has been properly prepared.”

“Properly prepared?”

“The head, body, and legs have been separated, and it has even been cooked.”

“The feathers are still attached, and more importantly, it's still alive!”

“A Hotel specialty! Survival King Chicken Grill. This chicken is also very good for your health. Its incredible vitality! Can you see it?”

Without a word, I began assembling the chicken. I cut off the parts Seung-yeop had roughly cooked, then slowly attached the wriggling chunks of meat. The fact that I hadn't thrown up at the sight proved just how much stronger my stomach had become since coming to the Hotel.

Soon, the chicken's body, formed from still-living pieces of flesh, regenerated. With a loud cry, it flew off the plate and escaped.

--- Flap!

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Now! Merchant, food is supposed to stay on the plate. That chicken came back to life, right? There isn't any food on this plate anymore.”

The Merchant was momentarily speechless.

“I did not realize Hotel chickens were like this...”

“You can make that face too. Now! Forget about a third round. Seung-yeop is eliminated!”

The Merchant immediately objected.

“Hah! That is impossible. Every stage of the competition has already been decided...”

“Shut up! Do you think I don't know you're trying to make me eat even one more plate of this terrible food?”

“But...”

“Listen to me. I'm not being unreasonable. I haven't eaten anything, yet there isn't any food on the plate, right?”

“That is because you revived the food, Chef.”

“... I never thought I'd hear someone say I revived food in my life. Anyway, the chicken came back to life, so there is no food on the plate, right?”

“Let's say that is so.”

“Then Seung-yeop failed to complete his dish within the time limit. In other words, he's disqualified. So he's eliminated!”

“Shouldn't we hear from the contestant as well?”

Seung-yeop opened his mouth, looking deeply dissatisfied. I focused every bit of strength and presence I'd accumulated over my entire life into my eyes.

“Sis! Even so...”

Bzzzz!

“Even so...”

Bzzzz! Beams were coming out of my eyes! Beams were coming out!

“... I'll consider myself eliminated.”

While that was happening, Pero, who had been watching to see what insane thing these humans were doing, transformed and ended the chicken's escape attempt with a single peck. In the end, Survival King Chicken Grill ended its sorrow-filled life as a bird by entering a parrot's mouth instead of a human's.

Ten minutes later, Mr. Sang-hyeon and A-ri's final round began. I asked them both to make noodle dishes if possible. They had both shown considerable skill, so I honestly wasn't worried about the final round. I was more curious about what the prize would be.

Before long, two steaming plates arrived in front of me.

A-ri had prepared oil pasta topped with beef. It didn't use a wide variety of ingredients, but because of that, the rich flavor of olive oil and the beef, brought out to the fullest through restraint, delighted my taste buds.

“This is really good. If you're this good, why did you do something strange earlier?”

A-ri snickered.

“I overestimated our party's cooking skills. It's a party where being able to grill ordinary meat already puts someone above average.”

“True. But let's check before I give the score.”

I called Elena over and asked her to use Lie Detection.

“A-ri. Did you do anything strange while cooking?”

“Not at all! This dish is purely the result of my cooking skill. If anything, I used my secret technique to kill the beef that kept wriggling!”

“She's telling the truth.”

“Hm. Fine. Nine points!”

Next, Mr. Sang-hyeon brought out his plate and opened the lid.

The dish on it was chow mein, Chinese-style stir-fried noodles. The egg noodles had an interesting texture, breaking apart rather than being chewy like knife-cut noodles or soft like rice noodles, and they went perfectly with the stir-fried cabbage and bean sprouts.

“Oh! How did you even make this? You said you hadn't cooked much.”

Seeing my bright expression again, Mr. Sang-hyeon seemed to gain confidence.

“Chef, it is not an impressive dish. The ingredients for egg noodles happened to be available, so I tried making it. It will taste good if you eat the shrimp and noodles together.”

As he said, I gathered the shrimp and noodles together and took a bite.

--- Pop!

“...”

“Chef?”

“I just bit into a shrimp, and another shrimp came out from inside it.”

“Pardon?”

“... Isn't this one of those Split Shrimp? Did you really have to use an ingredient like this?”

Mr. Sang-hyeon looked flustered.

“No, it was definitely an ordinary shrimp! Right until I added it...”

Mr. Sang-hyeon trailed off and looked at A-ri. A-ri turned her head away and pretended not to notice.

“...”

“... This is my responsibility. I failed to check whether the ingredients were normal until the very end.”

As Mr. Sang-hyeon and I stood speechless, Elena, who had used Lie Detection, asked in surprise,

“What? Earlier, she definitely said she hadn't done anything strange to the food...”

“Elena, remember her answer exactly. She said she hadn't done anything strange to ‘this dish.’”

So she'd only said she hadn't done anything strange to her own dish. I was left reeling.

“... I just want to give Mr. Sang-hyeon ten points.”

The Merchant beside me calmly pointed something out.

“You must evaluate while wearing the hat.”

The hat's assessment, which ignored school ties, regional ties, and personal connections in every situation and judged only the food on the plate, was strict.

“The dish itself was delicious, but the shrimp was a complete disaster, so seven points.”

“I accept it.”

With those words, the Merchant stepped forward.

“Now! Contestant Kim A-ri, congratulations! How do you feel about becoming the first winner of Hell's Hotel Kitchen?”

“What's the reward?”

“Isn't that rather lacking in romance...”

“Be quiet and give me the reward!”

After grumbling for a while, the Merchant took an unknown transparent bottle from inside his clothes and handed it to A-ri.

“What about mine? I worked the hardest judging everything, and you said you'd give me something.”

“Are you not already using it?”

“... This hat?”

“It is quite an entertaining tool, so please make good use of it.”

This damned cooking contest was finally over! Wasn't Greedy Hand supposed to be an ability without risk to its owner? I had no idea why I had suffered the most. Before leaving, the Merchant revealed the final punishment.

“Contestant Park Seung-yeop.”

“Yes...”

“For lunch and dinner today, you will be served the dish you made yourself.”

“Pardon?!”

“You will not be able to leave Room 105 until you finish it all. Please keep that in mind.”

Everyone's laughter filled the Hotel. It had been a day of rest, and now every face was full of smiles. Watching them, I found myself smiling too.

This bizarre Hotel event! As long as everyone laughed and enjoyed themselves, wasn't that enough?

Tomorrow, we had to enter another Curse Room. For that, we would rest today.

“H-how am I supposed to eat this?!”

Footnotes:

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