Chapter 28
The major corporations' explanation statements were more than enough to turn the internet upside down.
[This is insane. They aren't saying they'll change anything. They're basically saying, "It's safe, so just eat it."]
["We'll gradually review domestic conversion." That's a very long way of saying they'll keep using Japanese ingredients.]
[Okay. Then I simply won't eat it.]
[I'm seriously disappointed. Is this really how major corporations should respond?]
[They're probably thinking the boycott will end soon anyway.]
└ [You do that.]
└ [WG Food exists as an alternative. Why should we end the boycott?]
└ [Exactly. We can just eat different instant rice.]
[I don't care whether it's 0.1%. I don't want material from the countries of people insulting our group going into my mouth.]
[How are these companies so bad at reading public sentiment?]
[What's the point of Rohan using Korean rice if they want us to trust Chinese plastic being heated with food?]
[Are those safety documents actually trustworthy?]
[What we want isn't some legal excuse saying it's safe because it's below the threshold.]
[We want something completely clean.]
[Why argue? WG Food is 100% domestic. Just eat that.]
Then WG Food released one short advertisement.
[We Have Nothing to Explain. We Never Mixed in Even 0.1% From the Beginning.]
People went crazy.
One short line crushed the long, defensive statements from the three major corporations.
[Holy crap, that copywriting is insane.]
[Reading the major companies' excuses and then seeing this feels so satisfying.]
["Rice that has nothing to explain." Lmao. They're beating them with facts.]
[Fine. I'm buying WG Instant Rice.]
[Exactly. They literally have nothing to explain.]
[Who came up with this line? Give them a bonus.]
└ [Seriously. Bonus-worthy.]
[From now on, instant rice = WG Food.]
[I only learned about WG Food this week, but this smaller company is better than the big ones.]
[I looked them up. WG Food actually makes a lot of products.]
└ [Go look at supermarkets. They already have more stuff on shelves than you think.]
└ [Yeah. Usually hidden on the bottom shelf or behind major-company products lol.]
└ [It's like a hidden-item game.]
└ [Once WG gets famous, the hidden-item game will disappear. I need to experience it before then.]
Once the contrast became clear...
WG Food's stock immediately hit the upper limit.
And the explanations from major corporations ironically became free advertising proving that WG Instant Rice was 100% Korean-made.
Choi Inwoo's sharp judgment had found the exact moment when the giants were forced into defensive explanations.
That judgment was pulling WG Food upward.
There had never been such a strange sight in the history of Korea's retail industry.
A large supermarket in Seoul during the weekend.
Normally, the instant rice aisle would be crowded.
Carts would constantly bump into one another.
But today...
Dozens of customers stood around murmuring in strange silence.
The shelves showed a ridiculous contrast.
More than ninety percent of the space belonged to the three food-industry giants.
OI Food.
Uttuk Food.
Rohan Food.
Red.
Yellow.
Green.
Their brightly colored bundle packages were stacked high.
The supermarket had prepared for weekend demand by stocking more than three times the normal amount.
Yet almost no one touched them.
They remained piled up like enormous walls.
Meanwhile...
Right in the middle of that colorful wall was an empty hole.
The WG Food instant rice section.
WG had originally been given only two tiny spots in the corner under the name of "supporting small businesses."
Now...
Not a single product remained.
Not even broken packaging.
There was only a dusty plastic shelf and a handwritten notice placed by a desperate employee.
[WG Instant Rice: Completely Sold Out]
[Restock Date Unknown]
[After Restock, Purchase Limit: One Set Per Person]
Customers stared at the empty shelf while holding their phones.
Then looked at the untouched major-company products.
“Mom, there really isn't even one left?”
“No.”
“This is the only instant rice that's completely gone.”
“I heard it was around here.”
“Nothing.”
A middle-school-aged girl sighed.
Her mother, a woman in her fifties, pushed her hand deep into the shelf as if hoping something might be hidden in the back.
Nothing.
She pulled her hand out.
“Wow. There really isn't one anywhere.”
“The mart near our house was sold out too.”
“Why is this one gone while those products are stacked everywhere?”
“Mom, didn't you watch the news?”
“This was on the news?”
“Yeah.”
“The OI and Uttuk instant rice uses Japanese additives.”
“And Rohan uses Chinese stuff.”
“If VTC fans see you eating that rice these days, they'll call you a traitor.”
“Come on. That's too much. It's just rice.”
“Mom, I'm serious.”
“If I bring that to school, my friends are going to call me a traitor.”
Nearby, a man in his thirties pushed a cart beside his wife.
“Honey, let's just buy Uttuk Food.”
“It's heavily discounted.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It's a major company. What could really be wrong?”
He picked up a bundle of Uttuk Instant Rice.
“The ingredients are safe.”
“The radiation level is below the legal standard.”
His wife slapped him on the back.
“Are you serious?”
“Didn't you read Uttuk Food's statement?”
“...I did.”
“They basically said, 'It's safe, so shut up and eat it.'”
“People are furious.”
“Well...”
“You want to save a few hundred won and feed the kids rice containing a Japanese additive?”
The husband immediately nodded.
“You're right.”
“The kids eat instant rice sometimes too.”
