Bai Mo was unaware of the changes happening with Qiong.
Back at Sakuragaoka High, he was instead enduring the "torment" of Yui Hirasawa in class.
"Hey hey, Bai Bai! We already decided what part-time job to take yesterday!"
"Ehehe, let's do traffic survey work together! It pays 800 yen per hour, which is already pretty good for a student job!"
Hearing Yui's enthusiastic explanation, Bai Mo understood that the Light Music Club had probably already scouted all the available part-time gigs the day before.
A traffic survey, huh?
Nine hours a day, about 8,000 yen in daily pay—honestly better than the average factory line worker's daily earnings back in Donghuang.
But then again, high earnings also meant high spending.
The guitar that ditzy Yui had her eyes on cost a whopping 250,000 yen. Even if all five of them worked together, they'd still need more than six days to cover the cost.
That translated into about three weeks' worth of holidays.
And part-time jobs that paid this well weren't something you could casually find.
In fact, the traffic survey gig that Ritsu and the others found only lasted for two days.
Altogether, five people could probably make about 80,000 yen total.
Still, Bai Mo didn't have the heart to crush the girls' excitement. He simply nodded and agreed to join them on Saturday for the job.
After Yui happily skipped off, Kato Megumi, who had been quietly listening, commented in her calm voice:
"Bai-kun, you seem to really like Hirasawa-san, don't you?"
"You're even willing to give up your own time off to work with her... and you all plan to put your earnings together for her guitar?"
"Well, money's not really the point. It's just a small thing. What matters more is strengthening the bond between club members."
"Hearing you say that... I'm kind of envious. The Light Music Club seems to have really good relationships among its members."
"It's not that big a deal. We mostly just eat cake, drink tea, and listen to music to relax."
Kato didn't say anything more after hearing that.
By lunchtime, only she and Manabe were left to share bento with Bai Mo. Yui, excited as ever, had already dragged Nichirin to the clubroom.
She couldn't wait to show everyone just how amazing Bai Mo's cooking was!
Watching Yui act more excited than even he was, Bai Mo felt like the food on the table might as well have been made by Yui herself.
Still, the dishes Bai Mo brought along were unanimously praised by the Light Music Club.
As the club president, Tainaka Ritsu was already dreaming of installing a mini kitchen in the clubroom.
If reheated food already tasted this good, then how heavenly would freshly cooked dishes be?
Unfortunately, her plan was quickly squashed by Mio Akiyama.
After all, they were the Light Music Club, not the Gourmet Club!
As for the wealthy and composed Tsumugi Kotobuki, she simply smiled at Bai Mo, clearly curious about where he learned his culinary skills.
Even as someone who had tasted dishes made by the prestigious Totsuki Elite Ten, she couldn't recall anyone whose food could compare to Bai Mo's.
Was he really just someone who practiced casually like he claimed?
Should she investigate further?
But then she shook off the thought.
She wasn't the type to choose friends based on gain, and the warm, relaxed atmosphere in the Light Music Club meant more to her than curiosity.
While Bai Mo was enjoying the laid-back school life, the first woman he brought into his world—Ryōko Kobayashi—was already setting her plans in motion.
Having received a fresh batch of premium ingredients from Bai Mo, Ryōko now had all the confidence she needed.
Due to Tadokoro Megumi's surprise performance during the Elite Ten's routine Monday meeting, the follow-up session had been postponed to Wednesday.
The reason? Naturally, it was the batch of dream-class ingredients that had just arrived at the Totsuki warehouse!
Each member of the Elite Ten received a monthly allotment of 200 pounds of grass-fed dragon meat.
But with ten members total, that came out to just 20 pounds per person.
Now, let's talk numbers.
One pound of this dragon meat was worth 50 Food War Points!
For many, that amount just wasn't enough.
If they wanted more dream-class ingredients, they'd have to win more points—from other people.
Totsuki was becoming a battlefield where the strong grew stronger, and the weak were ruthlessly eliminated!
Everyone understood: they needed to become stronger now—before they fell behind.
No one wanted to remain a weakling forever.
The appearance of these dream-class ingredients had become the perfect catalyst for student rebellions.
Even the positions of the Elite Ten were no longer unshakable.
The students were forming alliances and plotting strategies. Totsuki was turning into a brewing storm.
The school administration, led by Senzaemon Nakiri, had already drafted new regulations overnight in response to the frenzy.
Under the new rules:
Every student would receive 500 Food War Points upon completing their annual coursework.
Scoring an A in any class would reward an additional 50 points.
That meant even after acing one subject, a student could only exchange for maybe half a pound of dragon meat.
Just as this point system implied, Totsuki was encouraging its students to battle each other for points—and, in turn, for superior ingredients.
Winners would gain more points. More ingredients. More prestige.
It was survival of the fittest, plain and simple.
As soon as the new system was announced, a fire was lit within every student.
Both the high school and middle school divisions were suddenly swept into a whirlwind of cooking fervor.
The rule would officially go into effect in five days—next week—but the ambitious ones were already making moves behind the scenes.
Yes, the strong would always dominate.
But the weaker students? They had one option left—band together!
Small culinary societies and mid-sized clubs that had once operated independently were now forming alliances, hoping to protect their collective points.
Even if they couldn't rise to the top, at the very least, they wouldn't be easily wiped out.
And today's Elite Ten meeting was convened precisely to discuss these sweeping changes.
With the dream-class ingredients unveiled, unrest was growing fast throughout Totsuki.
"Let's move on to the first agenda item," Isshiki Satoshi raised a document and spoke rather weakly, "We've received reports that some individuals are coercing students under the name of club presidents or Elite Ten members."
At that, Isshiki instinctively glanced at Kuga Terunori and Eizan Etsuya.
After all, most other Elite Ten members operated solo, or belonged to small clubs with only a few members.
Only Kuga's Chinese Cuisine Research Society and Eizan's Gourmet Business Research Club had more than a hundred members.
If each member contributed just half of their starting points, that's 25,000 points right there.
With that many points, they could exchange for a significant portion of rare ingredients.
However, Eizan didn't seem pleased at being targeted.
"Tch. Typical. People just can't stand that I'm good at managing a large organization."
"Hmph. I don't like you, but I have to agree with you this time," Kuga added with a nod. "Come on, my Chinese Cuisine Research Club runs perfectly above board."
"If you don't believe it, go ask them yourselves."
----------
T/N:
Access 30 chapters in advance on my Patreon:patreon.com/multiversalfeast [Images Included]
You'll also get 5 extra chapters just for being a free member!