I am the Entertainment Tycoon

Chapter 679: Cooking Up a Comeback



Among the many clubs that arrived early to organize things before the festival started, the Delicious Food Fan Club was among the ones who arrived the earliest.

Most of the club members arrived around 7 AM, it was much earlier than the other clubs who arrived around 8 AM. Every club member was extremely focused on achieving the first position in the club rankings as it was only this way that they would be able to renovate their club's installations.

The strategy the club adopted to win the festival was divided into two.

The first one was that they opened a restaurant that could receive around 200 people simultaneously. The majority of the club members were working in the kitchen of this restaurant due to the high number of clients it received throughout the festival. Yesterday, the restaurant was a tremendous hit among the festival crowd, and the restaurant venue constantly observed lines of people waiting to eat at the restaurant, even with 100 seats available. And to attend to 200 hungry people for 12 hours straight demanded skilled cooks with good stamina. That's why the majority of the third-year students were working in the kitchen, while the younger club members worked elsewhere.

With only this restaurant, the club already would be able to figure around the top 10 clubs, but that wasn't their objective. Their goal was to win the competition!

That's why a younger club member suggested that they should open street stalls around the school campus to sell street food. And Olly Fletcher, the club president, loved this idea.

The second strategy they adopted it was exactly this one, the club managed to rent 10 street food stalls, which they spread around the school campus in key locations close to the Mini Music Festival Stage, Haunted Forest, Sports Fields, and others. These street food stalls, manned by young club members, sold all kinds of street food like takoyaki, fried banana chips, cotton candy, and others. And it wasn't a surprise that these street stalls sold like water in the desert.

At a certain moment, yesterday, some street stalls even registered a lack of products because they had sold it all in their stock.

All in all, the Delicious Food Fan Club had a successful day of sales yesterday, but that didn't guarantee that they would reach the number one spot in the rankings.

At the moment, Olly had gathered all the club members in their restaurant as they were having a meeting before the festival.

The young club members were reporting how and what happened yesterday in their street stalls when someone suddenly shouted.

"President! The student council released the first-day club rankings!"

A silence was made for a couple of seconds before the room was suddenly assaulted by the loud exclamations of the club members.

Everyone wanted to know if they managed to reach the top of the ranking.

Olly didn't even bother to manage his club members, he quickly picked up his phone from his pocket to see the ranking with his own eyes.

[First Day Club Rankings

1. Love Nature Club

2. Delicious Food Fan Club

3. Martial Arts Club

4. Board Game Club

5. Anime Chibi Club

6. Mystery Detective Book Club

7. Athletics Club

8. Dance Hub Club

9. Manga Mania Club

10. Theater Club

...]

The club rankings quoted every club who participated in the festival and their earnings, so even if a club didn't manage to reach the top 10, they still could see how their club did when compared with the other clubs.

When Olly and the other members of the Delicious Food Fan Club saw that they were only second, they had to grit their teeth in rage and disbelief. Even after working so much yesterday, they still didn't manage to guarantee the top spot? What should they do to surpass the Love Nature Club?

The club exploded in conversations when they saw that they were second, they couldn't accept that!

"Did the student council calculate correctly?"

"I say that it was indeed that, we should be first!"

"Maybe the Love Nature Club cheated?"

"..."

Olly was silent as he observed that, before shouting, "Silence!"

The club members immediately became silent, they respected Olly very much.

"I don't want to hear things about foul play anymore." He simply said, "The student counciln/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

is very fair, and they have no reason to forge the rankings. Plus, I already heard that the Love Nature Club attractions gathered thousands of people yesterday. So, it isn't a surprise that they managed to beat us."

The others finally calmed down their nerves, and they had to agree with their president.

They indeed saw pictures of hundreds of people in line waiting to enter the Love Nature Club's attractions.

"What we should do now is discuss how we can surpass them. The difference between the two clubs is extremely small, so if we manage to innovate and attract more customers today, we might win this competition." He explained, "Any ideas?" He asked as he looked at them.

A tense silence filled the room as Olly's words sank in. The Delicious Food Fan Club members, while disappointed, were determined to find a way to claim the top spot. Everyone knew how crucial it was to win; the fate of their beloved club's kitchen facilities depended on it. They couldn't afford to be second.

"Alright, let's focus," Olly said, breaking the silence. "We need fresh ideas-something that will draw more people in today. Yesterday was great, but clearly, it wasn't enough. We need to step it up."

One of the younger members, Hiro, raised his hand. "What if we expanded the menu at the street stalls?" he suggested. "We had some items sell out early yesterday. Maybe if we add more variety, people will be more likely to stop by our stalls."

Olly nodded thoughtfully. "That's a good start. What are you thinking of adding?" "Maybe something unique that you can't find at the other stalls," Hiro said, leaning forward. "Like a specialty dish that's not part of our main restaurant menu. We could do something like karaage chicken with a twist or a dessert that stands out-like matcha-flavored taiyaki or mochi ice cream."

"I like that," Olly said, his eyes lighting up. "If we can create a buzz around these new items, it could draw more customers to our stalls. But we need to be careful not to overextend ourselves. We don't want to slow down service at the restaurant because we're spreading our resources too thin."

Another member, Ayaka, chimed in. "What if we make the cooking process part of the attraction? People love to watch food being made, especially if it's something visually appealing like rolling sushi or flipping okonomiyaki on a hot griddle. If we set up one of the stalls with a live cooking demo, it might attract a crowd."

Olly's face lit up even more. "That's brilliant, Ayaka. We could have a chef preparing food on the spot, engaging with the customers, and explaining what's being made. It would make the experience more interactive and memorable."

"But we need to make sure the demo doesn't slow down service," another member, Riku, pointed out. "Maybe we can have a dedicated cook just for the demo, while the rest of the

team handles the bulk orders."

"Agreed," Olly said. "We'll assign a skilled cook to the demo station. This way, we can keep things moving smoothly at the other stalls."

Asaka, one of the third-year students who had been quiet up until now, spoke up. "We should also think about how we can make our restaurant even more appealing. The lines yesterday were long, which is good, but we don't want to lose potential customers because the wait is too long. What if we offer a pre-order system for lunch? People could place their orders earlier in the day, and we could give them a time slot to come pick up their food. It would cut down on wait times and let us serve more people."

Olly nodded, considering the logistics. "We could do that through messages and calls. People could order from their phones, and we could have a pick-up station at the restaurant. It would take some coordination, but if we pull it off, it could be a game-changer." "Then we'll have to set aside people to take care of the calls and messages," Ayaka added. "And we should promote it on social media to let everyone know it's an option." "We can ask for help from the student council. I heard Hanako-san is already taking care of the student council's social media, so we can ask her to promote our service," Olly said. "We need to make sure this option is clearly communicated to everyone visiting the festival

today." Another member, Yuto, who had been busy analyzing the customer feedback from the previous day, raised his hand. "We got a lot of positive feedback about the variety and quality of the food, but some people mentioned that the atmosphere in the restaurant could be improved. What if we add some live music or a themed decor to make it feel more special?"

Olly smiled. "That's a great idea, Yuto. If we can make the dining experience even more enjoyable, it will give people another reason to choose our restaurant over others. We could have some popular music playing softly in the background and maybe even decorate the space with sakura branches and lanterns to create a festive, yet elegant, atmosphere." "But we have to be real here, yesterday we were already stretched thin in our tasks" Ayaka offered. "And with these new ideas, I already see that we'll need help to take care of so many

things"

"You're right," Olly said, feeling the momentum of the brainstorming session picking up.

"I'll call a few friends of mine to come help us with things that don't involve cooking. The student council only said it was forbidden to receive outside help if they worked in key areas

of the attraction, so if we put the outside help in menial tasks, we won't be breaking any

rules." The ideas kept flowing as the club members discussed the details of their strategy. They knew they were up against stiff competition, but the energy in the room was palpable. Everyone was committed to doing whatever it took to come out on top.

"We've got a solid plan," Olly said as the meeting wrapped up. "Now it's time to put it into action. Remember, the difference between winning and losing could be just a few extra customers, so every little detail counts. Let's give it everything we've got today."

With a renewed sense of purpose, the Delicious Food Fan Club members dispersed to their respective stations. Some headed to the kitchen to begin preparing the additional menu items, while others went to set up the new demo station and coordinate the music.

As Olly watched his team spring into action, he couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. Today would be the day that determined whether all their hard work would pay off.

The morning sun was now fully up, casting a warm glow over the bustling festival grounds.

The gates would open soon, and the Delicious Food Fan Club was ready. This was their moment, and they were determined to seize it.