Descent of the Demon Master

right.
I need to know what it tastes like first. ’

Jeong Su-Yeon could pursue her goal of creating delicious additional dishes.
However, those would still belong to the side menu.
At the end of the day, their job was to complement the main product of this pizzeria, the pizzas.
In that sense, she had to eat this pizza and find out what she was up against before anything else.

“Understood.
Then, excuse me,” said Jeong Su-Yeon.

Kang Jin-Ho nodded at her with a smile, then carried the remaining pizza to the dining area.

’Let ’s see… ’

Now left alone in the kitchen, Jeong Su-Yeon carefully scanned the pizza.
“Hmm.
It ’s not burnt, at least…”

The top layer and the edges were crusted, but that was fine.
Such crusts would only add to the charm of the overall product anyway.
The problem was something else, though.
If the exterior was baked to this degree, the interior should still be raw and uncooked, so…

“Mm…”

Without much expectation, Jeong Su-Yeon split a pizza slice in half.
Seeing the melted cheese extend enticingly, it seemed the outside was well-cooked, at the least.
But the true test would be with the base, and…

“…Eh? What ’s this? How is this possible?”

After taking a bite, Jeong Su-Yeon ’s eyes widened in disbelief.
She stared at the rest of the pizza in sheer shock, then hurriedly looked around to find something.
She eventually found a cutting knife, and then she started cross-cutting the pizza slice.

“…Goodness me!”

Jeong Su-Yeon meticulously studied the cross-section of the slice, only to suffer yet another mental breakdown after realizing that the pizza was perfectly cooked inside as well!

How was this possible, though?! It shouldn ’t be cooked this well!

‘But, wait! If I get technical about this, things were already weird from the moment he started making the base! Moreover…!’

“Wow, it ’s delicious, too…”

Indeed, the pizza was dumbfoundedly delicious.
The thing about pizzas was that their oiliness was unavoidable.
No matter how well-baked a Korean-style pizza was, the greasy or euphemistically, their richness couldn ’t be avoided at all.

However, Kang Jin-Ho ’s pizza, which wasn ’t even an Italian style but one with an overflowing amount of cheese, somehow didn ’t taste greasy or too rich to Jeong Su-Yeon ’s palate.
She couldn ’t believe how Kang Jin-Ho managed to get such a clean, light taste from the usual pizza ingredients.

’Have I ever tasted a pizza like this before? ’

Jeong Su-Yeon could probably find a pizza more delicious than this one if she tried.
Indeed, Kang Jin-Ho ’s pizza wasn ’t on the level of ’world ’s best, ’ at least not according to her evaluation.
However, it still boasted a certain uniqueness about it.

There might be a more delicious pizza than this one somewhere in the world.
But no other pizza would taste like Kang Jin-Ho ’s.
Jeong Su-Yeon was confident about that.
In fact, she couldn ’t recall ever having tasted anything remotely similar to this pizza.

Something unique and tasty was bound to be popular.
The problem Jeong Su-Yeon had, however, was not with the pizza.
No, it was the fact that the man who had made this unique and tasty pizza was similar in age to her.
In addition, he didn ’t have a chef ’s certificate, nor did he receive a professional cooking lesson somewhere.

“Ah, so they do exist.”

Jeong Su-Yeon took another bite of the pizza, which helped her finally acknowledge the truth.
In this world, there were experts hidden among ordinary people.

It didn ’t matter how old they were.
Those hidden experts could display creative processes and results in one specific area so astonishing that most ordinary people couldn ’t even begin to imagine it.
As it turned out, Kang Jin-Ho was a hidden expert on pizza.

“Makes sense now why customers are flocking to this place…”

Jeong Su-Yeon finally figured out why so many people were standing in a queue outside the pizzeria.
Even she would have stood in a line just to taste this pizza.

Well, the current trend in delicious dining happened to be ’unique,’ not top-class taste, after all! Rather than people wanting to experience the cream of the crop dining atmosphere or taste, they searched for unique tastes they hadn ’t come across before, as well as a taste that couldn’t be found anywhere else!

’Although, people queuing up from early morning is a bit too much… ’

Then again, people nowadays didn ’t hesitate to travel long distances, even between provinces, just to eat delicious food.
It wasn ’t as if Jeong Su-Yeon couldn ’t understand the sentiment here.

After organizing her thoughts, Jeong Su-Yeon got up and got ready.
At first, she…
did underestimate this pizzeria.
Just a little bit.
How could she not, after hearing that three men with no experience whatsoever were running a pizzeria?

She quit her previous workplace after the head chef continuously raked her over the coals for being a frail woman with no stamina and skills.
After walking away from that job, her desire to run a kitchen on her own got the better of her, and that was why she decided to apply for a job here before moving on to greener pastures, but now…
After what she had witnessed, the story would have to change somewhat.

’Makes sense I got my head bitten off so often… ’

Without skills to back it up, she had become too cocky about herself.
Jeong Su-Yeon finally understood what the head chef meant when he said that there were plenty of infinitely-better cooks than her in this country.
A young man who had never received any training could still bake such an excellent pizza, yet here she was, believing in her superficial knowledge and acting like a big fish…

”I can ’t achieve anything with this kind of mentality… ”

Ironically enough, Jeong Su-Yeon had an epiphany as a chef in a new workplace that she initially didn ’t think of much.

Regardless of the field of specialty, one needed to continuously refine their craft and keep doing their best.
To create such a pizza, how much hard work had Kang Jin-Ho poured in over the years? She only had to look at that abnormally-large oven or the kitchen boasting OCD levels of hygiene to appreciate all the effort Kang Jin-Ho had put in.

’I need to learn from his example. ’

Sure, Kang Jin-Ho didn’t have much to offer in terms of cooking techniques, but Jeong Su-Yeon definitely needed to learn from his mindset as a chef.

Perhaps it was time to go back to the basics. Jeong Su-Yeon was now in a new workplace, so it was only right that she started with a new mindset, as well.

She stood there silently chewing on her lower lip before heading toward the dining area as determination filled her face.

’Right.
I gotta help out even if it means bussing tables! ’

Sitting around in the kitchen just because she had nothing to do was wrong.
Even though she was hired to take control of the kitchen, she should still be helping out in the other areas of the pizzeria ’s operation.
For example, if the lack of utensils stopped her from doing her intended job, she had to help wash the dishes.
That was the etiquette, the norm, between co-workers, was it not?

“Is there anything I can help you with—Eh?” Jeong Su-Yeon reached the dining area with a heavy weight lifted off of her shoulders.
But when she asked in an energetic voice, the sight that greeted her was…
Kang Jin-Ho surrounded by three girls while taking a selfie.

“…?”

“…Mm.”

The gazes of Kang Jin-Ho and Jeong Su-Yeon met awkwardly in the air.

“…Mister Kang, what are you doing?”

“We, uh, we ’re taking commemorative photos.
Yes.” Kang Jin-Ho tried to explain the situation.

Unfortunately for him, the female customer clinging to his arm started nagging him first.
“Oppa~! Take our selfie first~!”

“Of course.” Kang Jin-Ho smiled awkwardly and snapped the selfie.

After witnessing that scene, Jeong Su-Yeon could only cover her face in silence.

’Mom, I got a job in a weird place. ’

A very weird place, no less!