I Became a Mafia in the Academy

Chapter 185

If you asked me what the last recipe development club I remembered was like, I could tell you with confidence.

A traditional recipe development club that looked like it was straight out of a school home economics lab, filled with gadgets and objects that could have come from a thrift store but the scene in front of me now was nothing like I remembered.

An Irish-style dining table that looked like it was made of luxurious black marble instead of a traditional griddle, a new frying pan with a diamond coating instead of the old one that was peeling off, other quirky gadgets and unrecognizable broadcasting equipment.

“Wow……sisters. You’ve really made it, haven’t you?”

Jin-woo looks around in amazement at the scene, which is reminiscent of a big company’s cooking broadcast studio, and mutters.

“Aaah~ You mean this, the new recipe we made this time has become a huge hit, and it’s all thanks to you, Eugene!”

I wondered where they got the money to buy all this equipment, but they must have gotten a lot of money from the club support policy.

For some reason, I had heard from Haru recently that Isheri was being a good leader, and this was the reason.

“By the way, sister. Where is Ms. Isheri?”

I wonder if it’s because she’s been dealing exclusively with Isheri.

Jin-woo asked in a friendly manner, and the member who asked the question pointed to where the camera equipment was located.

“He’s probably broadcasting over there.”

“Broadcasting?”

Looking at the place where her fingertips were pointing, I could see Isheri smiling brightly in front of the camera, wearing an apron.

“Well, hello there, cookies! I’m Isheri, the head of the recipe development club and the chef of our Make Cookies channel!”

She waves at the camera and gives a cute greeting as if she’s very familiar with it.

“What is she doing?”

Jin-woo asks, squinting at the scene in front of him as if he’s never seen anything like it before.

“Apparently, they’ve been making a lot of money lately, but they’re a bronze club and haven’t gotten a lot of attention from freshmen, so they’re posting videos and broadcasting on the internet to raise awareness. In other words, they’re trying to survive.”

Since the number of people joining the club is decreasing and it seems that it will be closed, the club is revived by raising awareness through broadcasting.

……Sounds familiar?

“Oh, the dish I’m going to make today is barbaroc—bah-bah-bah-bah! I’ll cut and grind!”

Isheri waved one hand in the air as she stopped recording intently.

She looks this way and that until she spots me and Jin-woo, then she jumps up and down and waves.

“Eugene and Jin-woo, when did you get here?”

With a smile that’s still a joy to behold, Jin-woo and I wave back, and she runs off the set toward us.

“What’s going on? I was going to bring you something I made today.”

……Today?

Even now, when my fridge is overflowing and I’m taking them to Jiyun for her snack, she’s bringing more?

“I came to ask you a favor.”

“What? You’re asking for a favor?”

Is it really that surprising that I’m asking for a favor?

Her eyes grow even wider than I’ve ever seen them before.

“I was hoping you could cook this for me.”

She casually places the “it” in her hand, the one she took out of the cube.

“What is this……?”

“It’s a golden tangerine. You know them, right?”

Probably anyone who cooks on the Korean Peninsula would know.

“Mo, how could I not know? It’s a fantastic ingredient that can only be seen once in a decade on the oldest of Jeju Island’s ghost tangerine trees…… It’s a fantastic ingredient that can only be seen once in a decade, but how did this, uh, end up in your hands?”

I shrugged my shoulders as I answered her question, waving my hand with the golden tangerine on it.

“Because I made quite a bit of money from the club support project this time.”

“Aaah……!”

I said, even though I had stolen it but she seemed to be convinced even with that.

It was no secret that I was actually making quite a bit of money from this endeavor.

“How is that possible?”

It would be impossible to say no to a fantasy ingredient that no ordinary chef could even touch.

[Talent [Heir to the Underworld – An Offer You Can’t Refuse] is Activated!]

[Talent [Eloquent] is activated!]

I’m working hard on your traits, aren’t I?

“Mu, of course, ah, no, there’s no one in this academy who can handle this elixir better than me, I’m sure of it!”

She shakes her head as if she’s making up her mind and is about to turn away.

“Oh, right.”

She looks in my direction, as if suddenly remembering something, and smiles sheepishly.

“Instead. Do you mind if I ask you a favor?”

“A favor?”

“Yes. I’m supposed to be developing recipes and cooking for you, but can you do me a small favor?”

Hmm……Certainly she had a point.

Although I was helping her grow by providing her with valuable items, she was using her abilities for me in return.

“If it’s something simple.”

“Yes, then follow me!”

After putting the tangerine in her apron pocket, she grabbed my hand and ran towards the set.

Jin-woo, who has been left behind, screamed, “What about me?! You don’t need me?!” while she shouted.

“Mr. Jin-woo, please help the other members!”

He was left behind while I was suddenly dragged onto the set.

“Uh……what am I supposed to do here?”

I was just dragged onto the set like this…What is she going to ask me to do…….?

“Oh, yeah, I need you to help me shoot a video.”

“What……?”

What the hell is she saying right now?

“Help me shoot!”

“Filming……?”

“Yeah, actually, I’ve been working on it by myself, but I’ve been hitting a wall lately and I’m not making any progress.”

As she said that, she showed me her cell phone screen.

On her phone screen, there was a channel that appeared to be a recipe development club.

[Make Cookies – 100,000 subscribers]

“Isn’t 100,000 pretty high?”

If you have that many subscribers, you should be able to brag about it somewhere, right?

“Well, the problem is that lately, the number of subscribers hasn’t gone up from 100,000……Maybe we need to shake things up? I was thinking about it, and then, just like that, our very own Eugene is here! This must be a godsend!”

No, wait. No way…….

“You’re asking me to be in a video with you, is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes. You got it right, that’s right! Eugene’s definitely got the right……that, uh, face, right?”

Huh?

“Me?”

It’s been a while since I’ve heard this out loud, and I’m flustered.

She blushes and lowers her head as if she’s embarrassed about what she said.

“I guess it’s ……right? Well, first of all, Mr. Eugene, you have a fan club.”

I’ve never heard that before.

“I have a fan club?”

“Yes. You’re pretty famous in the school community.”

“I’m……?”

After listening to her, I went to the campus community and searched for my name.

[Why do I like Eugene despite all the bad things I hear about him these days (12)]

[Academy’s biggest bad boy(9)]

……

…

I could see that there were a lot of posts.

I clicked on the one with the most comments.

[1. Eugene Han? Gisaeng Orabiㅇㅇ]

[Author: ㅇㅇ]

[Posted by: ㅇㅇ] [Author: ㅇㅇ] I’m a senior, but guys who look like that are always ringing up girls. If you’re a man, you should be a man, but you look like some kind of gisaeng orabi and I don’t like it anyway]

TLN: gisaeng orabi is a bad word for a handsome man who dresses up a lot in Korean

[ㅇㅇ : Jealousy It’s ugly ㅋㅋㅋ ㅋ Just looking at the post, I can feel my fingers twitching~]

└[ㅇㅇ : It’s not.]

└[ㅇㅇ : Did you get stabbed?ㅋㅋㅋ]

└[ㅇㅇ : It’s your 2nd grade C spiral.]

└[ㅇㅇ : What kind of spiral is your name, huh?]

“…… What the hell is this?”

I knew there were eyes on me within the Academy lately, but I never thought it would be this kind of eye.

No, I knew that my notoriety had risen recently, and that my attractiveness had increased significantly with the acquisition of the [Academy’s Senior] attribute, but the aftermath of that?

For a moment, I felt like my head was becoming dizzy.

“It’s me……Eugene, are you okay?”

At Isheri’s worried question, I shook my head and looked at the camera in front of me.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

Now, let’s think about it.

What do I have to gain by helping her here?

1. 1. Granting her request is a morale booster and a favor.

1. 1. This will inspire her to work harder to create a recipe using the golden tangerine.

1. 1. The success of the recipe development club could spread and create a tailwind for our club support industry.

1. 1. The recipe development club would grow and bring in more revenue for my club.

So what do I stand to lose?

1. 1. Embarrassment.

Only one.

Selling my face?

Already, the Academy community, and even the outside world, is clamoring to get their hands on a little bit of information about the Academy’s first-year number 1, and losing face is nothing.

I just had to endure it.

“……Eugene?”

“Do it. Shoot the video.”

And it wasn’t in my nature to give up all those gains for one embarrassment.

If I’m going to choose, I might as well go with the gain, right?

“Aah, yes! Guys, set up the broadcast again so that two people can be in the spotlight!”

“Yes! Manager! Junior Jin-woo, hurry up and move these lights!”

“What? This?”

“Yes! More sideways! Sideways! That’s it!”

As soon as the decision to appear in the video was made, the members of the recipe development club started to get busy.

If up until now this was a stage for one person, now it was a stage for two.

“Mr. Eugene, have you tried the knife?”

“Knife?”

When I thought about it, I realized that I had always shot or punched with this body, and had only used a knife a few times.

Still…… I’d cooked for myself before.

“I can do the basics.”

“Good, then you shouldn’t have too much trouble today, because we’re going to be cooking something relatively easy.”

Easy?

“Okay, I’m going to set up the camera stand, both of you!”

Jin-woo’s voice came from the front of the stage. Apparently, he was to be in charge of the lighting.

“As expected, Eugene, you have a great eye for the screen! This video is going to be a hit! Let’s get started! 3, 2, 1 action!”

The video begins with a shout from the member holding the camera and a smile from Isheri, who was standing next to me.

“Hello, cookies! I’m Isheri, the head of the recipe development club and the chef of our Make Cookies channel! Today we have a very special guest! A first-year senior at Seoul Hero Academy and the head of the club ‘Familia’. I’d like to introduce you to Mr. Eugene Han!”

“Yes. Hello.”

When we actually started filming, I realized that I wasn’t as nervous as I thought.

I’m used to seeing people every day, so why would I be nervous about standing in front of a camera?

So far, so good.

“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you, and since you’re here today, we’re going to cook something relatively easy, and the dish we’re going to learn today is this!”

Isheri lifts up the platter on the floor. Today’s dish is written on it.

[Tangsuyuk!]

“Tangsuyuk!”

Hmm. I see what the problem is.

“Cut. Cut. Excuse me, Isheri.”

“Hmm?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to increase the number of subscribers, for the club’s expansion?”

“Yeah…….”

“Then I guess you can’t do it like this.”

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Isheri was surprised by my words.

“Well, you shouldn’t worry too much though. Luckily, I have a way to make sure the channel gets more viewers.”

“There’s a way?”

As she looked at me with a look that said “I had no idea!”, I smirked.

“Yes, there is. I guarantee you, it works.”

──Under any conditions.

* * *

“Good morning. Today, we have a newbie to cooking, Mr. Eugene Han!”

“Yes. Hi, I’m Eugene Han. I’m looking forward to seeing what you’re going to cook.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already picked out the food we’re going to cook today~!”

Shouting in a confident voice, Isheri lifts up the frying pan that was on the floor.

It was an acrylic board with a menacing blue color, and the words written on it were words that would intrigue people just by looking at it.

[Slime Sauce Tangsuyuk]

“It’s slime sauce tangsuyuk utilizing slime!”

Yep, that’s it.