Chapter 66. I’m Confident in My Knife Skills (1)
On a moonless night, the dark docks were eerily quiet.
Yukgap arrived in front of an isolated warehouse, the cold night air settling around him.
He alternated between the map on the recommendation letter and the surrounding buildings.
“Is this the place?”
According to the recommendation, this was where he was supposed to meet Kevin.
He had not expected the meeting place to be some remote warehouse by the docks.
Then again, Kevin was the famous Mercenary King of the underworld.
Even the location he chose was far from ordinary.
“I think this is it.”
[The GPS coordinates match.]
Victoria and Robert, standing beside him, confirmed it.
Yukgap frowned at the two of them.
“Why are you guys even here?”
Yukgap had wanted to meet Kevin quietly and discreetly.
But Victoria and Robert had stubbornly insisted on following him.
Even after he complained, neither showed any intention of backing down.
“Don’t tell me to go back! I’m curious about your past too, so I’m coming with you!”
[I must protect the Doctor. I cannot allow her to go alone.]
Both Victoria and Robert were radiating the kind of stubbornness that words would never overcome.
If Yukgap tried to leave them behind, they would probably grit their teeth and follow him anyway.
He knew their personalities better than anyone.
All he could do was sigh.
“Fine. Like I could stop either of you.”
The three eventually reached the warehouse that served as the meeting location.
Yukgap knocked on the door with a tense expression.
A man in a suit appeared.
He was probably one of Kevin’s men.
“Who are you?”
“I came to apply for the position of Kevin’s chef.”
Yukgap quickly handed him the recommendation letter.
The man examined it several times before gesturing toward Victoria and Robert.
“Ronnie’s recommendation checks out... but who are those two?”
Victoria and Robert hurriedly answered.
“W-We’re his assistants!”
[Correct. We are assistants to this foolish lump of flesh.]
The man looked the two of them over suspiciously several times.
Fortunately, after a while, he nodded and motioned them inside.
“Fine. You have Ronnie’s recommendation, so I’ll let it go. Come in.”
Apparently, the recommendation letter had been enough to avoid further suspicion.
Yukgap, Victoria, and Robert followed the man into the warehouse.
Despite its shabby exterior, the inside was spacious and clean.
“Pretty big.”
Yukgap looked around.
Long rows of tables had been arranged throughout the warehouse.
The man guiding them quietly explained,
“This is the examination hall. Kevin doesn’t hire just anyone as his chef. He’ll decide after seeing your skills.”
“Then where’s Kevin?”
The man immediately shot him a sharp look.
“Why do you ask?”
He was clearly suspicious.
If Yukgap made a bad impression here, he might get thrown out before even meeting Kevin.
Realizing that, Yukgap forced an awkward smile.
“He’s potentially going to be my employer. Can’t I be curious?”
“If you prove that you’re qualified, you’ll meet Kevin soon enough. For now, wait in the waiting room.”
The man pointed toward a room in one corner of the warehouse.
Several people around Yukgap’s age were gathered inside.
A tense atmosphere hung over them.
Yukgap looked at them.
“Who are these guys?”
“You’re not the only one who received a recommendation. Kevin intends to hire only a skilled chef.”
Apparently, becoming the Mercenary King’s chef was not something just anyone could do.
Yukgap sighed.
“Man. This won’t be easy.”
He looked over the people in the waiting room.
Some looked obviously competent.
Others had such rough appearances that Yukgap wondered whether they were even chefs.
One thing was certain.
Every person here had been recommended from somewhere because they were considered capable of taking responsibility for the Mercenary King’s meals.
“All right. It looks like everyone has arrived, so we’ll begin the first-stage test.”
An announcement rang through the warehouse.
Several men in suits emerged and began placing cutting boards and onions on the long tables.
Another announcement followed.
“There is an onion in front of you. Slice it as thinly and evenly as possible. The time limit is three minutes.”
Yukgap stared in disbelief.
“That’s it?”
Victoria quietly asked,
“Yukgap, are you confident?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t know about anything else, but swinging a blade is one thing I’m definitely good at.”
Knife work?
Hadn’t he spent his entire life doing exactly that?
There was no point even asking whether he was confident.
“Begin!”
The starting signal rang out.
The applicants quickly took their places and began cutting.
Soon, the rhythmic sound of knives hitting cutting boards filled the warehouse.
Yukgap stepped up to his own table and drew his monomolecular cutter.
“Hup!”
With a shout, he started slicing.
The monomolecular cutter moved through the air as naturally as if it were part of his body.
Thinner.
Even thinner.
Yukgap’s focus naturally gathered at the tip of the blade.
The beastly instincts inside him rapidly awakened.
Four cuts per second.
Eight.
