[3:0]
The glaring numbers displayed on the massive screen in the Hall of the Moon were too much for Nene Kinokuni to bear.
She collapsed onto the floor, her legs giving way.
Her eyes were vacant, her limbs devoid of strength.
'I lost...'
'I gave it everything I had, and I still lost...'
'I lost to a first-year...'
The young woman's mind was flooded with these crushing thoughts of despair.
"I'll be taking your seat now, Senior," Lexon said gently as he approached Nene Kinokuni.
Having said his piece, he turned to walk away.
"Wait! Why?! Why?! Why did my dish lose!" Nene screamed from the floor, her desperate, uncomprehending words bringing Lexon to a halt.
"There's still a portion under my station. Taste it for yourself." With those words, Lexon resumed his departure.
The moment Lexon left, Nene pushed herself up and rushed to his station, grabbing the dish he had prepared.
It was prepared in the style of knife-shaved noodles...
A crystal-clear broth... with bits of minced pork and other toppings floating within...
At a glance, nothing about it seemed particularly extraordinary...
Nene raised her chopsticks, lifted the noodles, and brought them to her mouth.
This is...!!!
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Instantly, Nene let out a primal scream that echoed throughout the Hall of the Moon.
The thickness of the noodles... the mastery over their tenderness... the texture upon entry... the absolute peak of the shaving technique...
Bay leaves... Sichuan peppercorns... star anise... white cardamom... nutmeg... a symphony of spices and ingredients...
Every single aspect had reached the pinnacle of perfection!
'And... why... why... how can I clearly taste so many different intents?'
'Usually, having different intents in the same dish would destroy its structural integrity...'
'So why do they blend together so seamlessly?'
Nene couldn't wrap her head around it.
In any other dish, the Chef's Heart served as the framework, but in this dish, it was merely the connecting points of the structure!
The various intents felt like a perfectly harmonious orchestral performance... every note and chord seemed to intertwine with the human soul...
After finishing the noodles, Nene stood there dazed, unable to find words for a long time.
"Young lady, I suggest you try the broth as well." At that moment, one of the judges—an old man nearly seventy years old whose face was still flushed from tasting Lexon's cooking—spoke up.
Taste the broth... was there some secret hidden there too?
Snapping out of her trance, Nene stared at the clear liquid. She lifted the bowl and let the broth slide down her throat.
What is this...
The second the broth went down, Nene saw a faint vision of the composer behind that beautiful symphony.
A figure standing high above, hidden in the clouds, incredibly hazy yet as imposing as a mountain...
He looked down at the sheet music in his hands, his eyes filled with indifference, devoid of even a trace of passion.
At this moment, Nene felt like an ant, sensing a profound insignificance deep within her being.
Yet, at the same time, she felt an overwhelming urge to surrender herself to him...
'I lost... a total, crushing defeat...'
'The gap is too wide... it's beyond imagination...'
Nene watched Lexon's retreating back until it vanished, her head slowly drooping.
Meanwhile, Lexon, who had already left the Hall of the Moon, couldn't help but smirk as a cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
[HIDDEN WORLD QUEST: DEFEATING THE ELITE TEN (1/10)]
[QUEST REWARD: "RESIDENCE CONTROL RIGHTS OVER THE FOOD WARS! WORLD"]
'Since I triggered it, I might as well take it.'
Lexon settled the thought in his mind.
'Then again, the main quest is already to take the First Seat... to have this as a Hidden World Quest...'
'Did the system originally think this was an impossible task for a normal Reincarnator?'
'A pity... I'm not exactly normal.'
'I should thank you, Main God... for gifting me another world for free...'
...
"The winner of the Autumn Elections is Erina Nakiri!"
In the Hall of the Moon, the host Urara Kawashima announced the final victor in her most spirited, high-pitched voice.
That was right.
Erina Nakiri had won the championship.
In the original story, as a member of the Elite Ten, Erina Nakiri could have chosen not to participate in the Autumn Elections. Given her reputation and connections in the culinary world, she didn't need this competition.
And in the original timeline, she indeed hadn't participated.
But now, Erina had broken protocol and entered the fray, even claiming the top spot.
Second place went to Akira Hayama from the Shiomi Seminar—the one Lexon belonged to—and Soma Yukihira, who had improved significantly compared to the original story thanks to Lexon's guidance and his own hard work.
Third place went to a guy with long, messy black hair named Ryo Kurokiba.
He was a bipolar character who was usually lazy and idle but became incredibly aggressive when cooking.
Despite winning the championship, Erina Nakiri, standing at the top of the podium, didn't look happy at all.
She was clearly on the verge of losing her cool and lashing out.
"Tsk... I lost again. How annoying." Standing on a lower step, Soma Yukihira put his hands behind his head, looking disgruntled.
Then, he looked up at Erina and shouted, "Impressive... Lexon's cousin! I didn't think the one I'd lose to would be his cousin!"
At the mention of the name 'Lexon' from Soma's mouth...
Akira Hayama, standing beside him, seemed to experience a flashback of trauma and couldn't help but shudder.
Erina didn't say anything in response to Soma's words, but her cheeks puffed up slightly.
Only Ryo Kurokiba had no reaction whatsoever.
When he wasn't cooking, he was ten times more of a slacker than Lexon.
"By the way, why didn't Lexon enter the competition? That's so weird... if he were here, first place would've definitely been his!" Soma said, completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere.
Erina, who had joined the Autumn Elections solely to face Lexon only to have it fall through—and now had someone poke her sore spot by saying she would have definitely lost—finally snapped. She suddenly transformed into a chibi version of herself, her fangs showing, and screamed at Soma, "Soma Yukihira, you jerk! I'm going to end you!!"
For a moment, the final awarding ceremony of the Autumn Elections became quite chaotic.
...
[3:0]
The numbers on the screen completely shattered all the culinary pride of the Ninth Seat, Etsuya Eizan. He knelt on the ground, staring blankly at the floor.
[HIDDEN WORLD QUEST: DEFEATING THE ELITE TEN (4/10)]
That was the fourth.
Lexon listened to the cold mechanical voice without saying a word. He didn't linger at the Shokugeki venue and walked straight out.
"Why... why did you challenge me to this kind of Shokugeki?!" Eizan looked up and shouted at Lexon's retreating figure.
"Don't bother looking for a motive... a Shokugeki like this has no downside for you, right? If you won, you would've taken the Sixth Seat. Since you lost, you aren't being expelled or stripped of your seat... so just drop it, okay?"
Lexon turned around and smiled at him.
"Besides... you don't actually care about cooking, do you? I remember you prefer business operations and using any means necessary to make money... you love money above all else, right? So what does it matter if you're defeated in a Shokugeki?"
After leaving those flat words, Lexon ignored him and continued walking.
Damn it! Damn it!
Etsuya Eizan was left behind, pounding the floor in a fit of impotent rage.
He might love business and using dirty tricks to make money... but that didn't mean he wasn't passionate about cooking!
And that man... he had completely crushed every ounce of his culinary pride!
He had stolen his confidence!
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]