The first table’s ordered food was served.

The anticipation at the other tables grew even higher.

“Wow, theirs is already out. It looks so delicious.”

“Is this really a restaurant? Look at how they care about the plating.”

“I’m excited. Since the first table already got their order… I guess ours will take about thirty minutes?”

With visuals like that, they seemed ready to wait even an hour, their expressions generous.

But…

“Here’s your armored wild boar steak, cream pasta, and lasagna. Enjoy!”

“Uh… why is it so fast? It’s good that it’s fast, but it’s not like they pre-made it and just reheated it when the order came in, right?”

It was almost simultaneous with the first table.

The speed at which the food came out was baffling.

It was suspicious enough to think they just reheated pre-made dishes.

“We start cooking as soon as the order comes in. We use magic to control the heat and telekinesis to cook simultaneously, so the food comes out quickly.”

“Wow, amazing… I didn’t know abilities could be used like that.”

After Yuna’s calm explanation, they finally understood.

The other tables were the same.

In the end, all eight tables got their food in less than five minutes.

“Wow! This is freaking delicious!”

“Hey… we’re filming, you can’t say ‘freaking delicious’!”

“Stop nagging and try it yourself!”

Before the boyfriend could say anything, the girlfriend shoved a piece of lasagna into his mouth.

“Wow! Damn! This is freaking good!”

“See! I told you!”

The cast’s reactions were as explosive as when they first tasted Jeong Gyeoul’s food, filling the Monster Restaurant with excitement.

They wanted to sit back and watch the celebrities work, but there were 92 teams waiting behind them.

They couldn’t just sit there, so they left as soon as they finished eating.

As soon as they left, the next team rushed in.

Starting with eight teams, it quickly became sixteen, twenty-four, thirty-two.

The tables rotated three times in less than two hours.

The kitchen stove was burning hot, and the air seemed to sizzle.

The sound of pasta woks and cooking spatulas, steak pans and tongs clashing continued.

“Damn. This is tougher than fighting disaster species! Right, Gyeoul?”

“Huh? Weren’t you just talking about work-life balance and the chef earlier?”

“Who has time for that now!”

The two grumbled but moved almost as if flying, magic power coursing through their bodies.

Used cooking tools were tossed into the sink, and whoever had time in the hall would come in and clean them, or they’d clean them themselves if it was urgent.

“Uncle! Garlic’s burning on stove 2!”

“Sorry! Just give me a minute to finish this steak!”

Sometimes Kim Cheol-soo’s mistakes would prompt Jeong Gyeoul’s shouts.

Shouts to coordinate cooking timings were also heard.

“We need to take out the red jaguar meat, so start the Bolognese in 2 minutes!”

“Huh? Bolognese? Which table? There are four Bolognese orders!”

Of course, Jeong Gyeoul wasn’t a professional chef either, so she made mistakes like this.

She should have given the order number or table number, but in the chaos, she just called out the menu.

“Ah… table 6 is ready!”

“Got it!”

Yet, their teamwork was seamless.

“…What’s with those two?”

Kim Guk-min, who came in to help with the dishes, looked at them incredulously.

“It’s like they’ve been working in the kitchen together for ten years.”

Winter, who came in to get the steak sauce, was amazed.

On Kim Cheol-soo’s stove, pasta was constantly being stir-fried.

On Jeong Gyeoul’s stove, steaks were constantly being cooked.

Half of the lasagnas in the oven were already gone.

It was time to prepare the next batch of lasagnas to avoid delays.

Jeong Gyeoul flipped the meat with telekinesis while quickly cooking the lasagna.

Soon, heat started pouring out of the oven.

“It’s so hot!”

“Use some magic, Gyeoul!”

Even though they were using magic to defend against the external heat, they could feel the heat all over their bodies.

Kim Cheol-soo even asked her to use magic.

“Wow, you’re really asking for it! What if it messes up the food?”

“Come on, you can use it on people, right?”

“Do you know how annoying it is to control eight pans with telekinesis and set up a magic field?!”

“…You’re really something!”

They showed both fantastic teamwork and moments of chaos.

“…How is there no delay in the food with the kitchen like this?”

Han Seo-jin, who came in to help with the dishes instead of Kim Guk-min, cleaned the wok and quickly returned to the hall.

Orders kept piling up.

As they cooked endlessly, their anger also piled up.

“The production team… Healing? They said watching customers eat would be healing? Give us some time to watch!”

“Healing my foot, this is just a battlefield. If I knew it would be like this, I would’ve stayed in the hall when they tried to drag me into the kitchen!”

“Wow, are you abandoning your teammate? Are scorpions individualists?”

“…Don’t quote my instructor days!”

***

Compared to the kitchen, the hall was relatively relaxed.

“Welcome. How many in your party?”

“Three.”

“Please, this way.”

They guided customers to their seats.

Set water and utensils according to the number of people, took orders.

Once the order was entered into the POS, it was automatically sent to the kitchen.

Before the food came out, they served bread and drinks, then served the food when it was ready.

After the meal, they cleaned the table and welcomed the next team brought in by the production team.

The hall work was easier, and there were four people in charge.

Twice as many as the kitchen, so it was natural for the hall to have some leeway.

The hall team would come and go to the kitchen to clean cooking tools, and if they had time, they’d even pre-wash the dishes.

But that didn’t mean the hall wasn’t tough.

“Winter, are you okay? Managing?”

Kim Guk-min asked Winter.

“Sigh… It’s tough. Please tell them to stop bringing in customers…”

“Then go into the kitchen for a bit. You’ll forget about being tired.”

“…Bossy.”

Of course, he was teasing her.

It was a little past 2 PM.

Jeong Gyeoul, who had been cooking non-stop, started to have doubts.

“Looking at the orders coming in, it takes about 30-40 minutes per table, right?”

“Roughly, yeah?”

“So, 8 tables per rotation, 40 minutes. We planned to serve 100 teams today, right?”

“…Right?”

Even as she spoke and raised doubts, her hands didn’t stop.

“10 rotations would be 80 teams. Add 2 more rotations, that’s 96 teams. We need to serve 4 more teams to finish… 40 minutes times 12 is 480 minutes. That’s 8 hours.”

“…If the math is right, yeah…”

“That’s with customers eating quickly. If we assume an hour per meal, it’s 12 hours.”

“…That’s how it works.”

Starting at 9 AM and ending at 9 PM, a total of 12 hours.

The thought of escaping this hell filled her mind.

“Is it okay to work minors like this? I should sue!”

“Thinking about it, labor is prohibited for those under 15.”

“Wow, we’re already breaking the law?”

Jeong Gyeoul’s forehead seemed to bulge with veins.

She paused for a moment, locking eyes with Kim Cheol-soo.

“But you’re a hero. The Hero Special Law means that doesn’t apply to you.”

“…Are you teasing me now?”

Even as they complained, they couldn’t stop cooking.

“Gyeoul, there’s smoke over there.”

“Ah, I’ll flip it. Ugh. I came here to do variety shows to avoid my main job, but this is tougher than my main job!”

“Life’s telling you not to expect an easy ride.”

“We have to do this every day from now on, right?”

“…Just imagining it is terrifying.”

“This is tougher than when I was an instructor at the academy!”

“I think it’s tougher than when I was a Hwarang instructor.”

They felt like this couldn’t go on.

After a whole day of this, they had to replenish ingredients through a coin game.

And then do it all over again the next day.

‘…The sales will be huge, so the coin game won’t matter anymore.’

Jeong Gyeoul’s mind was already planning to form a labor union after today’s business ended and confront PD Choi.

“Ugh! I’ll definitely do it!”

“Do what…?”

“Uncle, join the union.”

“…A union? We have a union?”

Just one day after opening, or more accurately, less than a day, the Monster Restaurant union was formed.

Though the members were just Kim Cheol-soo and Jeong Gyeoul.