Chapter 9: Megameat

Actually, this wasn’t magic.

After slaughter, beef enters a state of rigor mortis.

Of course, I only properly learned this in 2025.

The muscles stiffen, and the tiny bits of fat hidden between the muscle fibers aren’t easily visible.

So, when grading, meat is often evaluated lower than it actually deserves.

Especially cuts like this one, which sit right on the borderline.

The inspector probably hesitated, unsure whether to give it a 1+ or a 1.

Three days of aging.

At the right temperature and humidity, the muscles slowly relax and a remarkable transformation takes place.

First, the enzymes in the muscles become active and begin to break down proteins.

In this process, the meat becomes tender, and the savory flavor intensifies.

Next, the intramuscular fat that was hidden between the fibers reveals itself.

Right after slaughter, the minuscule fat particles are hidden by the muscle, but as the meat relaxes, they finally catch the light.

As moisture evaporates appropriately, the flavor becomes more concentrated.

About 2-3% of the moisture leaves during these three days, and that actually strengthens the meaty aroma.

All of this comes together to turn a Grade 1 cut into something with a 1++-level taste.

Of course, not just any Grade 1 can become like this.

The key is picking meat with the potential from the start.

And the one who can do that is…

‘Heh, only me.’

It was the moment when my senses from 2157 truly shined in 2025.

“It’s done!! This… it’s just like 1++ grade, isn’t it?”

My father looked over the meat with a face of disbelief.

“How did this happen…?”

“As it aged, the muscles relaxed, and the hidden fat came to the surface.”

Half truth, half lie.

“This is amazing… I’ve been in business for thirty years and never seen anything like it. Junho, how much should we sell this for?”

“At the regular Grade 1 price.”

“What? For this quality?”

“Yes! Three-day aged Korean beef, 1++ grade quality at a Grade 1 price. For advertising, at least for now.”

After a brief moment of thought, my father nodded.

“Alright, let’s give it a try!”

We made a special corner in the best spot on the display.

[Today’s Special]

[Three-Day Aged Grade 1 Korean Beef]

[Grade 1 Price, 1++ Grade Quality!]

[Limited Quantity!]

Our first customer was Mrs. Park, as always.

“Oh my, Junho! This is Grade 1? Why does the meat look so good?”

“I picked out special cuts and aged them. Take a look.”

I held up the meat.

“Really? This is Grade 1?”

“Yes! Three days ago, it was just ordinary Grade 1…”

Mrs. Park examined the meat closely.

“I’d believe you if you said this marbling was 1++.”

“Oh, come on. Maybe people fudge grades upward, but who would purposely lower them?”

“That’s true, so this must be a lot cheaper than 1++?”

“Of course!”

Mrs. Park’s eyes sparkled.

“Give me 500 grams! No, make it 1kg!”

I quickly packaged up portions from different cuts.

“Wait! Mrs. Park!”

As she was about to leave with her meat, I called after her.

“What is it?”

“If you don’t mind… could you try grilling it and let me know how it tastes?”

“Of course! I’m going to grill it right away for lunch!”

Two hours later.

Ding-a-ling—

“Hello? This is Junho’s Butcher Shop.”

“Junho! It’s Mrs. Park!”

“How was the meat?”

“It was amazing! My husband’s asking where I bought it!”

I could hear a man’s voice in the background.

“Mr. Jeong! Is this really Grade 1? This is top grade!”

“I’m about to take some to my mother, too. You have more, right?”

“Yes! Still have some left!”

“Pack up another 1kg each of sirloin and tenderloin! I’m coming over now!”

No sooner had I hung up, the phone rang again.

“Junho’s Butcher Shop? I’m a friend of Mrs. Park’s. I heard you’ve got some special meat.”

‘Already?’

The power of the neighborhood auntie network.

By 3pm.

“What is going on?”

There was a line outside the shop.

“Do you have aged Grade 1 Korean beef?”

“Me too!”

“Can I get 3kg with mixed cuts?”

My father was flustered.

“Junho, this…”

“It’s the auntie network. If one person likes something, ten others will know.”

I was busy slicing and packaging meat.

“Is this really Grade 1?”

“Look at the marbling! How can this be Grade 1?”

“Really?”

Questions poured in.

*****

As evening fell, Grandpa Kwon came by.

“Heh, the neighborhood’s been buzzing.”

“Oh, Mr. Kwon!”

“I heard you worked magic with Grade 1 beef?”

Grandpa looked over the meat.

“Oh ho… you really picked out good cuts. There are meats like this.”

“Right?”

“Meat on the borderline. A little touch and they change completely.”

Grandpa looked at me.

“But how did you recognize it?”

“I just… felt it when I touched it.”

“It’s a talent, a real talent. Most people don’t see this even after decades.”

6pm.

“Sorry! We’re sold out for today!”

Customers were still coming.

“Will you have more tomorrow?”

“They need time to age… I’ll have more in a few days!”

“Promise! I want to reserve some!”

The reservation ledger filled up.

My father sat there looking dazed.

“All that meat… in just one day…”

“Yes, it’s all sold.”

I did the math.

Sales: 4.9 million won.

Cost: 3.27 million won.

Suddenly my father burst out laughing.

“It really happened!”

“Yes!”

“You were right! Grade 1 turned into 1++!”

I laughed too.

“Now do you believe me?”

“I do! Of course I do!”

When we closed up and stepped outside, the sky was full of stars.

“Junho.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s go to Majang-dong tomorrow.”

“Again?”

“This time, we need to buy even more!”

My father’s eyes sparkled.

“We’ve found our own secret. Finding hidden gems!”

That night, the whole neighborhood was in an uproar.

Dad’s phone kept ringing with reservation messages.

*****

“Junho! Look at that!”

Early morning, as Dad was raising the shutters, he pointed across the street.

“They’ve started construction over there?”

The rice cake shop spot that had sat empty for ages.

It’d been three months since the old sign fell off.

The whole neighborhood had been wondering who would take the spot, and now, at last, a new owner was moving in.

Workers bustled around.

Materials poured out of a huge truck, and the sound of power drills filled the morning air.

“Looks like someone’s finally moving in. Another rice cake shop, maybe?”

“I doubt it. Rice cake shops don’t do well these days. Maybe a café or a convenience store?”

We walked over to look at the construction notice.

A permit, printed on A4 paper, laminated and taped up.

Suddenly my face stiffened.

[Store Name: Megameat Jeongyuk Mart Gayeong-dong Branch]

[Business Type: Meat Retail]

[Korea’s No.1 Butcher Franchise]

[Grand Opening June 15th!]

[(Megameat F&B Co., Ltd.)]

“Megameat?”

My father’s voice trembled.

His hand, raised for a cigarette, paused.

“What is it? What’s Megameat?”

He put the cigarette back in his pocket and sighed.

“It’s a nationwide chain of butcher shops. And a terrifying one…”

He trailed off, staring blankly at the construction site.

“Terrifying?”

“They’re famous for wiping out neighborhood butcher shops with their capital and low-price policies. At first, they sell insanely cheap, driving out all the competition, then once they’ve monopolized the area, they raise prices…”

My father’s face turned pale.

One of the workers unfurled a large banner.

A white pig on a red background.

The bold letters spelling out Megameat were unmistakable.

“That’s… really Megameat.”

At that moment, Kim Owner from the market rushed over.

“Mr. Jeong! Did you see? It’s Megameat!”

“I saw…”

“We’re finished! Once they move in, business is over!”

Kim Owner grabbed his hair in despair.

“Remember Sinchon last year? After Megameat opened, four out of five butcher shops closed in six months!”

“Really?”

“They sell pork belly below cost! The headquarters just absorbs the losses. Small shops like us can’t compete… and your shop is right in front of them… What are we supposed to do?”

My father’s pupils trembled like an earthquake.

The construction site manager approached us.

“Are you local business owners?”

“Yes, we’re the butcher shop there.”

The manager smiled awkwardly.

“Ah… a butcher shop. Well, we’re just trying to make a living too, so I hope you’ll understand.”

“When’s the opening?”

“June 15th. About a month to go.”

One month.

That’s all the time we had left.

“How big is it?”

“The entire first floor. About 80 pyeong, including cold and freezer rooms.”

Eighty pyeong.

Kim Owner muttered in despair.

“Eighty pyeong… just the butcher counter alone is as big as our whole store.”

“That’s right. And besides meat, there’ll be meal kits, marinated meats, and ready-to-eat sections too.”

The manager spoke proudly.

With each word, our faces grew darker.

“Oh, and…”

The manager added cautiously.

“Headquarters says for the opening month, everything will be 30% off. Next month, 20%. And 10% off the following month…”

“Three months of discounts?”

“Yes, that’s headquarters’ policy.”

Kim Owner spat out bitterly.

“They’re just trying to kill us off, aren’t they?”

The manager, embarrassed, slipped away.

My father, Kim Owner, and I stared at the construction site for a long time.

The rattling truck.

The sound of power saws.

The hammering.

It felt like they were building our store’s funeral home.

“Junho.”

“Yes?”

“It really starts now.”

My father’s eyes changed.

Not fear, but determination.

“I’ve run this shop for thirty years. We won’t go down so easily.”

But I knew the truth.

Even 132 years later, when big companies invaded neighborhood markets, the results were always the same.

‘Still…’

I clenched my fist.

‘Still, I have to fight.’

Megameat.

That red and white logo burned itself into my mind.

*****

Lying on my bed, I turned on my phone.

I typed Megameat into the search bar.

A flood of results.

[Megameat Jeongyuk Mart – 350 Stores Nationwide]

[CEO Park Jeongnam – Icon of Butchery Innovation in Korea]

I clicked the first article.

[The Nightmare of Local Butcher Shops, the March of Megameat]

I scrolled down.

[CEO Park Jeongnam (48) started in 2008 with a small pork rib restaurant in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Word spread thanks to generous portions and cheap prices…]

‘So it all started with pork ribs.’

Next article.

[Park Jeongnam, Master of Cooking Shows… The National Butcher Shop Owner]

[Built a friendly image through TV appearances like MBO’s ‘Delicious Stories.’ Branding as the butcher for the common people…]

In the photo, Park Jeongnam wore a huge apron and a genial smile.

On the apron: “Meat is Megameat, after all.”

‘In 2025, the power of TV is something else.’

I scrolled further.

[Megameat, Last Year’s Sales Exceed 870 Billion Won]

[Franchise shifted to direct management… Headquarters now operates every store itself in a unique system…]

I checked the comments.

[My neighborhood butcher closed after 30 years because of Megameat ㅠㅠ]

[It was great at first because it was so cheap, but once everyone closed, prices went up]

[The meat’s not as good anymore… Now that they have a monopoly, they don’t care]

The anxiety built, so I searched more.

[Megameat’s Shadow… Controversy Over Neighborhood Market Devastation]

I clicked.

It was a statement from a small business group.

“Due to Megameat’s predatory pricing policy, hundreds of butcher shops have closed nationwide… For the first three months, they sell below cost to eliminate competitors, then raise prices…”

There were even specific examples.

‘So, even our neighborhood will…’

The last article hit the hardest.

[Internal Megameat Document Leaked… The ‘3-6-9 Strategy’ Controversy]

[Super low prices for 3 months after opening → eliminate competitors by 6 months → normalize and raise prices after 9 months]

[In monopoly areas, many cases found where low-grade meat sold at middle-grade prices…]

There was a photo of the document.

Blurry, but legible enough.

[Goal: Over 80% market share in the area]

[Strategy: Separate initial deficit budget, recoup investment after monopoly]

[Monopolize through brand value and recognition. Maintain cash flow]

[Estimated period: 6–12 months]

I was furious.

‘Is this fair competition?’

Searching further, I found something interesting.

An economic blogger’s analysis.

[A tiny number of butcher shops have survived Megameat’s assault. Their common traits are…]

‘Could we do it too?’

I put the phone down and stared at the ceiling.

Park Jeongnam.

‘Dad’s store too…’

The thought that thirty years of history could be destroyed in just six months kept me awake.

But…

I can’t give up.

There has to be a way.

It was only at 2am that I finally fell asleep.

Even in my dreams, the Megameat logo followed me.