The Chaebol Who Flies From Space - Chapter 7
Only Noblemtl
7. Ramen is this delicious? (1)
The fierce ambition to just roll around in the new corner of the house for a while didn’t last even a day.
-Come home right now.
My mother’s phone call ended with just those words. I picked up the phone without thinking and just sat there blankly for a while.
[I think I got caught]
“I guess so? Since they found out I quit my job, they probably told me to come to my grandfather’s company······.”
Just thinking about it gave me goosebumps.
[Why do you hate it so much? It seems like it wouldn’t be bad for just killing time.]
The AI determined that there would naturally not be many people who would pay attention to the chairman’s grandson working at the company, and that spending time commuting to work was not a bad choice.
“Ha, the thing I hate the most is waking up early in the morning and going to work. If you go back through your memory circuits, you’ll find out why I left Neuro Energy, a successful investment firm.”
[Yes, there is a record that the new president forced the master to come to work on time and the master was beaten and left]
“Yeah, he was crazy too. How can he force an energy trader to come to work on time?”
Federal energy traders work 24-hour shifts.
Since you never know when or where something might happen, you always need to have a way to contact me even after work.
Something happened and you can’t contact them?
As of that day, you’re out.
When the new chairman’s instructions were made known, half of the energy traders quit the company that day. That’s half the story, but you can say that all the capable ones left.
I also left the company at that time and started my own company.
[Didn’t that company go bankrupt? It says that the master quit the company and it went out of business 5 years later.]
“Of course it would fail. It’s a shame that a company whose main business is energy brokerage has survived when competent energy traders quit. What kind of crazy person would join a company run by such a chairman? Only newbies and losers are left.”
Although the trading volume is large, the energy trader job market is very narrow, so those who pride themselves on being competent are absolutely reluctant to join a company with many restrictions.
[Master, how about making a flavor enhancer? If it’s nitro-inosinic acid, no one will complain even at home.]
“Nitroinosinic acid?”
[That’s right. You just have to develop it. It’s not that difficult to make.]
As soon as I heard the story, my mouth started watering.
If there was one spice that humans created in the space age that had the strongest flavor, it was nitro-inosinic acid.
To keep your appetite up even during long space travel, meals contain a lot of seasoning.
Even in pills that must be taken, nitroinosinic acid is used to enhance the taste.
“Is it possible to make this with current Earth technology?”
[Yes, it may lack flavor, but that’s because the technology was originally developed to make it easy to make even in emergencies.]
“Well, if you’re stranded in space, you don’t want to live if you have to eat tasteless emergency rations. But you need a maturing machine to make those, right?”
[The structure of the maturation machine is simple. It can be manufactured by adding a few ingredients to the steel.]
It was a welcome news, but it was not easy to accept. In the space age, maturation was something that was commonly used, or rather, it was included in space survival kits, so everyone had at least one, but is it possible to make it in this day and age?
What the heck is this, launching rockets in the Stone Age?
As if answering my question, Ariel slowly explained that the structure of the universal machine was very simple.
[Isn’t this literally emergency equipment for space disasters? If it’s too complicated to make, it won’t be possible to make it in case of disaster, so it’s made as simply as possible. The 101 essential equipment manufacturing methods for space disasters are essential for AI! Essential!]
I just nodded to Ariel’s words.
Of course, I had used the maturation device several times in the past when I was stranded in space, but I didn’t know how to make it. I’m a safety-conscious person, so I rode an expensive pioneer ship equipped with various safety equipment.
If we hadn’t made a huge amount of money by investing in energy before boarding the pioneer ship, we would have gone bankrupt before we could succeed.
A properly equipped pioneer ship would be a bit more expensive.
[It takes a lot of work to make it. It might be too strong a taste for people of this era, so you can make it in a minor version.]
No wonder it’s called Nitro! As a side effect of space age body modification, humans lose a significant portion of their sense of taste.
No, should I say it is degenerating?
What if we could create a powerful flavor enhancer that could revive the lost sense of taste in these modified humans?
“Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to endure it.”
[That’s why we have to make a minor version with a lower concentration.]
“Hehehe, that would sell like crazy.”
[Isn’t it obvious? It will be a revolution in taste for people of this era.]
“Okay! Let’s do that. If you use that as an excuse, you won’t have to bother me.”
It’s hot.
I don’t know how this situation came to be.
No, it’s my fault for crawling in naively even though I knew he was a sucker.
My grandfather and his family were sitting on the sofa, and I was kneeling on the floor.
The gazes of all of them looking at me with fierce faces were sharp and fierce. After a while of creating an atmosphere, my grandfather finally opened his mouth.
“I heard you left the company that Chairman Park’s grandson created?”
“…….”
A deep voice that made him seem like he was over 70 years old echoed throughout the house.
“answer!”
“yes.”
“Then you didn’t forget the promise you made to me, right?”
“···.”
“Oh! Are you not going to talk anymore? Come to work right now. Come to work starting tomorrow. Dad, give this guy a position at the company right away.”
“Yes, Father, I will do so.”
As soon as Grandfather’s words came out, Father accepted them with a bow.
It seems like you were kissing before I came, so there’s no way I’ll be taken advantage of.
“······.I already created a company.”
“You? If you’re going to bring up such ridiculous stuff like before, don’t even open your mouth.”
“When I left the company, I got in touch with a friend I met while studying abroad. He was researching flavor enhancers and asked if I would be interested in investing in him, so we decided to work together.”
“Partnership? That’s not something you can do lightly, even between family members. Haven’t you been through it once? You were through it by the grandson of Chairman Park, who is your senior.”
As my grandfather, who knew well that most partnerships end badly due to his long experience, frowned, my father also objected.
“It seems like you haven’t come to your senses yet. I’ll make room for you at the company, so just stop complaining and come to work.”
“Yeah, I think you should come to the company.”
“Son, listen to your grandfather and father. Otherwise, you will understand.”
The family members who were sitting there all started saying all sorts of things to try to convince me.
It seemed like they had been talking before I came in, but it was a no-brainer.
“Here’s a sample my friend sent me.”
Since there was no way anyone would believe me talking, I took out the ramen soup I had prepared in advance.
“What is this?”
“This is ramen soup with the flavor enhancer I mentioned. Would you like to try it?”
“Ramen soup? There’s nothing weird in this, right?”
“Yes, I looked into it once and didn’t hear anything strange. I tried it once and liked the taste so much that I decided to go into business together.”
If it had been something else, the grandfather would have yelled at him, but it turned out that the grandson took out ramen soup.
This was the area the company was most concerned about at the moment. As sales in the food sector it had previously entered were slowing down, the area it had entered in order to find a way out was the ramen sector.
However, it was not easy to avoid difficulties because the market was full of established players.
“What do you think, Father?”
“Just try it once······.”
The family’s eyes turned to the younger brother.
Grandfather, father, and mother are at an age where they need to control their diet.
My younger sister was the only one in my family who could eat ramen without any problems.
“Hehe, can you believe this? There’s nothing weird in it, right?”
My sister whined, but I had no choice.
I just boiled the ramen noodles I had at home and added the ramen soup I brought.
The ramen was cooked deliciously, with a nice fragrant aroma.
My younger brother, who was whining at first, started to get more and more hungry as the ramen boiled.
My younger sister opened her eyes wide as she took a bite of the cooked ramen.
“Brother, what’s in this? Why is it so delicious?”
I knew it. This is not an ordinary taste. Even in the space age, isn’t this a taste that you can’t live without?
The surrounding people looked at my younger sister’s fuss differently.
First, my father and mother ran towards me with chopsticks in hand.
“Oh my, this is really delicious.”
“Would you like to try some soup?”
My father opened his eyes wide as he took a sip of the soup with a spoon. The taste he had been searching for in the company’s food research lab was here.
“Experience, everyone is raving about how delicious it is, so I should try it too.”
As soon as the grandfather who had been watching from the side joined the fight, the ramen was completely empty.
“Is there any more ramen?”
The family, who had been acting polite until just a moment ago, started yelling for more ramen, so I pretended to be helpless and quietly took out the soup I had prepared.
After boiling ramen like that several times, the complaining finally died down.
Only after everyone was full did they tilt their heads.
Since I run a family business that makes ramen, I’ve only had it once or twice with my family, but it really tastes special.
“How is this possible? It’s definitely not glutamic acid, but rather inosinic acid, but how can the taste be so strong and subtle? It’s a taste that I never get tired of no matter how much I eat.”
“My friend said that it has a special flavor that is enhanced with inosinic acid.”
“how?”
“I don’t know about that either.”
Where are you going to catch the day?
“Ahem, then is that guy a trustworthy friend?”
“You can believe it. I showed you the actual product. Since the verification is complete, if you mix the raw materials, the soup factory can mass-produce it at any time.”
My grandfather and father’s foreheads furrowed as they had no idea that they would prepare this much.
I knew it was a hit after tasting it, but I looked like I was having a hard time figuring out how to digest it.
“What did you decide to do with the shares?”
“We decided to invest all the funds here and take 70%.”
Actually, 100% of the shares are mine, but I don’t need to tell you the truth.
“Yeah, the stake is actually pretty good, I think.”
I poured out my heart to my father, who seemed to be feeling regretful for some reason.
“How about running this as a family fund? My father will inherit the food company anyway, and my uncle will inherit the remaining companies, such as the flour company. I should prepare in advance.”
My grandfather and father both nodded after hearing my story. Even though my father was young, he was already over fifty years old.
We had to slowly set aside the shares for future generations.
When a blockbuster item like this comes out, it’s good to divide the shares among family members in advance so that they don’t have to pay a huge inheritance tax.
“I will transfer 20% of the total shares to my mother and younger brother.”
“···. It doesn’t seem bad.”
“Even if flavor additives don’t make you money, they are a steady cash cow.”
Both of them nodded.
“Is there something wrong with the manufacturing process? If there were any special additives added······.”
“There is no need to get separate food approval, as there are no special additives added.”
“Really? If there are no additional additives, then the manufacturing process must be special?”
The eyes of my grandfather and father narrowed as if they were experts in this field. They were probably trying to sneak a peek at the manufacturing process, but it was impossible.
“I don’t know about that. They didn’t tell me it was a secret. Even if we were partners, they probably wouldn’t give out secrets so easily. If you make the equipment and send it to me, I’ll use it to make flavor enhancers.”
Where are you planning to eat it?
Anyway, that’s pretty much how the meeting ended that day.