"Alright, let's go!"
After happily finishing breakfast, the moment Hoshino Sora put down his chopsticks, his aura suddenly changed. He looked towards the entrance of Yōbi Dormitory, hearing sounds from outside.
Outside Yōbi Dormitory, Alice Nakiri and Tadokoro Megumi were standing under a tree, chatting and waiting.
Next to them were two cars specifically used to pick up and drop off contestants.
Today was the day the Elite Ten ranking matches began!
— — — — — — — — — —
"Alice, today is the Elite Ten competition. You shouldn't have qualified, so why are you also in this car?"
Looking at Alice Nakiri, who was sitting next to Hoshino Sora and chattering non-stop, Erina sat on the other side with a subtle expression, finally uttering this sentence after a long time.
It was as if she was protesting against Alice's excessive closeness to Hoshino Sora.
"Anyway, there's an empty seat, so I just got in. Don't you welcome me?"
"No, I was just curious."
Hearing Erina's words, Alice tilted her head, a little puzzled. As she spoke, she looked at Hoshino Sora again, her face suddenly showing an expression of realization, and then she generously hooked her arm around the young man's.
"Looks like you're jealous, how cute. If you like him, it's better to show it directly with action, for example~ like this, put your hand here."
Feeling the warmth in her embrace, Alice playfully offered the suggestion. This kind of thing was easy for her, but for Erina, who was more reserved, the difficulty was imaginable.
It was one thing to be private in the room, but another thing entirely to be outside.
In the room, without outsiders, Erina could act as spoiled as she wished, but not outside. She was the youngest Elite Ten member in Far Moon Academy's history, a famous public figure known as the Queen of Cuisine!
And for her to act spoiled towards Hoshino Sora in front of outsiders, to show a charming expression, just thinking about it, the intense shame already made her want to dig a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment into the ground!
However...
Turning her head, she saw the satisfaction on Alice Nakiri's face and Hoshino Sora's happy smile. Erina Nakiri bit her lower lip, as if having made up her mind, and also tightly hugged Hoshino Sora's other arm.
Just hugging his arm should be fine.
Erina Nakiri thought so, but what she didn't notice was that due to the excessive force, her arm squeezed her ample chest into an exaggerated shape, truly looking as if it was about to burst out!
Fortunately, the driver, focused on driving, didn't notice the little drama in the back, nor did he discover the two sisters secretly vying for attention, so their reputations were preserved.
Soon, the car arrived at Tsukiten Space.
Looking at the ancient building in front of him, Hoshino Sora's eyes showed a hint of complexity. The last time he stood here was for the Autumn Elections finals.
That guy should have returned to his country by now...
Thinking of the young man who could skillfully use various cuisines, Hoshino Sora's face showed a smile.
That was truly a evenly matched duel! To defeat Lei Yuxing, he visited countless famous Tokyo restaurants and finally combined the strengths of many to defeat him.
Although the process was difficult, he truly gained a lot during that period.
It could be said that Lei Yuxing's appearance made him understand the Chinese culinary world for the first time, realizing that there are always people better than you.
Walking with firm steps into Tsukiten Space, the few people accompanying Hoshino Sora no longer spoke, their expressions serious, and a faint tense atmosphere permeated the air.
On the other side, after receiving the information that all contestants had arrived at the venue, Kawashima Rei took a deep breath, looking at the noisy audience below, then coughed twice into the microphone.
"Ahem!"
As the cough sounded, the originally noisy audience instantly quieted down, and countless gazes turned towards the stage, focusing on Kawashima Rei.
"Good morning, everyone! Today is the day the Elite Ten ranking matches begin! I believe everyone has been looking forward to this for a long time, eager to witness the splendor of the Elite Ten's cuisine!
Now, please welcome our first contestant, the former Ten Elite First Seat, revered by the outside world as the White Knight of the Dining Table, Eishi Tsukasa, Tsukasa-senpai, to the stage!"
As she spoke, the lights projected onto the number one passage closest to the competition arena, and a young man with short white hair and a handsome face slowly walked out.
"Tsukasa-senpai!"
"Tsukasa-senpai is so handsome! I want to have your babies!"
"Woo-hoo-hoo!"
As soon as the young man appeared, a burst of cheers erupted from the audience. Seeing this, the young man waved to everyone with a gentle smile, greeting them.
"The second to take the stage is Kobayashi Rindo, Kobayashi-senpai, who is extremely skilled at cooking rare ingredients!"
"Yahoo, it's been a while since I've been on this stage, I'm a little nostalgic."
Energetically greeting the audience, Kobayashi Rindo walked to the cooking station next to Eishi Tsukasa. Behind passage number two, several staff members were still moving the ingredients she had prepared in advance.
"The third is..."
After that, Kawashima Rei introduced every single contestant. Logically speaking, this should have been an extremely tedious process, but not a single person in the audience was impatient; instead, they seemed enthusiastic.
Each Elite Ten member's appearance was accompanied by a burst of cheers and applause, and occasionally, popular science explanations would be heard from below, as anyone who reached the Elite Ten level would more or less have some fanboys.
Especially Hoshino Sora, after the 'Research Society Defense Battle' incident, his prestige among the students of Far Moon Academy had reached an astonishing level.
"Holy crap, it's Hoshino Sora!"
A guy in the audience shouted loudly.
"Hoshino, Hoshino! Soar to the sky!"
A group of girls held banners and shouted passionately. Seeing Hoshino Sora's gaze turn towards them, they all showed excited expressions, almost fainting from screaming.
"Brother Hoshino, I want to have your babies, ten of them!"
"Me too!"
A male student in the audience suddenly said, overly excited.
"Get lost! You gay! Brother Hoshino is mine!"
"Scram, what's wrong with being a man? Maybe he likes my type!"
"Hahahaha."
When he came on stage, the audience immediately erupted in cheers, the momentum even more terrifying than Eishi Tsukasa's. Almost half the venue followed suit and shouted, showing Hoshino Sora's immense popularity.
In response, Hoshino Sora just awkwardly waved for them to stop, but this was misunderstood as a greeting gesture, and the cheers grew even louder.
[Hidden Quest Completed]: Adored by Ten Thousand People
[Quest Description]: Be loved and respected by the students of Far Moon Academy
[Quest Reward]: ① 10000 Reputation Points
[Reputation Points]: 34300
"Hmmph?"
Hearing the system prompt in his mind, Hoshino Sora hummed, his face showing surprise. He didn't expect to complete a hidden quest just by participating in a competition? What an unexpected gain!
But has Azami Nakiri also come? Yes, if he didn't even come to the ranking matches, his presence would be too low.
However, Azami Nakiri hadn't made any moves for such a long time, nor was he brewing some conspiracy. Looking at the man's steady expression, Hoshino Sora felt a bad premonition.
"Those guys are..."
As Azami Nakiri took his seat in the VIP section, the figures behind him were also exposed to everyone's view.
It was a team of people in black robes, men and women, old and young, the youngest possibly only fifteen.
Lowering his head and looking forward, at the all-too-familiar figures around him, Hoshino Sora's face was filled with fighting spirit!
He knew that winning this competition would not be easy, but in this situation, he could only go all out. Anyway, he would have no regrets no matter what!
"Then, please take your positions, contestants. There are ingredients prepared by the academy on the cooking stations for the contestants to use, or they can use their own prepared ingredients.
The cooking time is 3 hours, and the theme is 'Pork'. The judges have also arrived, let me introduce them to everyone..."
"So heavy..."
As Kawashima Rei's words fell, a big sister carrying a thick book, wearing glasses, and with smooth, flowing green hair made a dazzling appearance.
"Miss, is that... alright?"
Looking at the thick book in the green-haired sister's hand, Yukihira Soma couldn't help but frown and ask.
"She, the book she's holding is..."
In the audience, closer spectators gasped when they saw the book the newcomer was holding, because the English letters WGO were clearly written on its cover.
"By the way, aren't there an unusually large number of WGO executive officers serving as culinary judges at Far Moon Academy this year?"
"You're right, in this competition, almost every Elite Ten arena is equipped with at least one WGO executive officer. So this is that level of competition!"
Looking at the newly arrived judges, the audience immediately erupted in heated discussions. Most of these discussions came from outsiders, many of whom were seeing WGO judges for the first time.
Their excitement was evident on their faces!
"Does your shirt say Yukihira?"
Suddenly, the green-haired young lady looked at Yukihira Soma's clothes, who was closest to her, and asked curiously.
"That's my family's restaurant, what about it?"
Seeing this, Yukihira Soma was a bit confused but still nodded in response.
"Yukihira... Yukihira..."
Hearing this, the green-haired young lady flipped through the WGO publication in her hand. However, after she finished flipping through the entire book, a 'disappointed' expression appeared on her face.
"You don't need to be discouraged. Many people believe that 'a restaurant not recorded in THE BOOK cannot be considered a restaurant at all.'
They might be right, but so what? You were still granted life like this, existing in this world. You should thank your parents properly."
"Eh..."
Looking at the green-haired young lady's retreating figure, Yukihira Soma let out an 'eh' in confusion. Although he didn't know what happened, it seemed he was being pitied.
"Don't worry about it. Evaluations are highly subjective, and even the WGO cannot possibly eat at every restaurant in the world, so it's not uncommon to not receive a so-called evaluation.
Rather, if the WGO only focuses on famous restaurants and ignores street food, it's a very sad thing in itself, and to boast about such a sad thing, isn't that even more pathetic?"
After hearing the comments of Ann, a WGO First-Class Executive Officer, Hoshino Sora went to Yukihira Soma's side to comfort him, also sharply retorting at the same time.
Yukihira Soma's father was a character at the ceiling of the original work, even in this world, he was among the top chefs.
It was truly a sad thing in itself that a restaurant run by such a person was not included in the WGO's recommendations, and the other party was even showing off about it.
Tsk.
"How can there be gourmet food in street restaurants? They are all small shops run by second- or third-rate chefs, there's no need to taste them at all!"
Hearing Hoshino Sora's sarcasm, Ann stopped, her face clouded, and she looked at the young man, then spoke each word forcefully and clearly. Her sacred WGO would not tolerate outsiders defiling it!
The WGO publishes periodicals every month, awarding or revoking restaurant stars, and finally compiling an annual summary. The book Ann was holding was the one after the annual summary.
"Tsk, as expected, you haven't tasted it, then where did your basis for giving a bad review come from? From your own imagination? Big sister~"
Walking up to Ann, he knew that she had been watching him since she came in, and saying those words to Yukihira Soma was just to give them a warning.
"Hmph, a sharp-tongued brat. I hope your cooking is as impressive as your mouth."
"Actually, other parts of me are even more impressive."
Hearing Ann's exasperated sarcasm, Hoshino Sora quietly added a remark in her ear. Due to his 'Infinite Charm' talent, his actions did not displease Ann.
"Pfft, you scoundrel!"
Instead, it made an unusual feeling emerge in the young girl's heart, and she couldn't help but secretly curse.
Being an adult, she naturally heard that Hoshino Sora was driving, and at an extremely fast speed.
"Now, I'd like to introduce our judges: This is Ann, a First-Class Executive Officer of the WGO!
Standing beside her are Insterval, Charmel, Akame, and Kurome, all Second-Class Executive Officers of the WGO. These five will serve as the judges for this competition."
As Kawashima Rei introduced them, the lights appropriately lit up, dancing on their figures, and the exclamations from below never stopped, after all, these were Executive Officers of the WGO!
"What a grand gesture! As expected of Far Moon's Elite Ten Ranking Match, they actually managed to invite five WGO Executive Officers simultaneously, and one of them is even a First-Class Executive Officer! A truly rare existence!"
Someone in the audience seats exclaimed in admiration. This was indeed a grand gesture. In Far Moon's history, no Elite Ten competition had ever mobilized five WGO Executive Officers at the same time!
"Next, let's introduce the rules. The rules are as follows.
There are five judges in this competition, each with a perfect score of twenty points. The judges will score the contestants' dishes, and the top four highest scores will advance to the finals.
At that time, a theme will be randomly drawn, and contestants will have two hours to prepare. During this period, they can move freely, but they need to return to the competition venue in the evening for the final match.
The finals will adopt a voting system, with four people cooking simultaneously, and the judges will determine the ranking order by voting!"
As Kawashima Rei's words fell, the scene immediately buzzed with discussion.
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