Once a chef reached seven stars, they were considered part of the upper echelon of the culinary world. At that level, the WGO personally arranged the exams based on the candidate's individual circumstances.
The star system formed a pyramid—plenty of one- and two-star chefs at the bottom, but as you climbed higher, the numbers dwindled.
By the time you reached seven stars or above, only a handful remained. That rarity was exactly why the WGO could afford to handle each high-rank evaluation so carefully.
Technically, there was one more rank beyond nine stars, but it wasn't something anyone could officially test for. There were simply too few chefs who had ever reached that level.
Any chef who attained nine-star status was already world-famous, their name known across continents. Once they surpassed that, it wasn't because of a test—it was because the entire culinary world recognized their skill.
After all, there were so few chefs at that level that organizing an exam was pointless. These people were legends—true giants of the culinary world. Even the WGO couldn't just summon them as examiners. So, naturally, no formal ranking existed beyond nine stars.
Among the chefs listed in the WGO archives above the nine-star tier, two names stood out to Kael—Mana Nakiri and Joichiro Saiba.
Mana hadn't touched a cooking utensil in years, but before her God's Tongue went berserk, she'd undeniably reached that level.
"A month in, and I'm already a three-star chef. If anyone found out, they'd probably die of shock."
Kael grinned as he glanced at his system panel, which neatly displayed his stats.
Name: Kael
Rank: Three-Star (junior chef)
Abilities: Divine Touch, Divine Hearing, Divine Smell, Divine Sight
Character Inheritance: Kaiyu (3%)
Faction Inheritance: Dark Cooking Society (20%)
It was simple and straightforward—his rank, abilities, and inheritance progress all in one place.
Three stars. That rank had only appeared after he learned how chef levels worked in the World of Food Wars. But what surprised him most was how the system compared to the world of Chuuka Ichiban!
In that world's hierarchy, a three-star chef was still considered junior-level. By his estimation, one- to three-star chefs matched that tier, four- to six-star corresponded to intermediate chefs, seven- to nine-star aligned with senior chefs, and anything beyond nine stars was on the level of a special chef.
It was just his theory, but based on what he'd seen so far, this world's overall culinary standard was leagues below that of Chuuka Ichiban!.
As for his abilities, there wasn't much to say—they all came from his Character Inheritance with Kaiyu. The progress percentage, though... that was painful to look at. One month in, and he'd only developed 3% of Kaiyu's inheritance.
The Faction Inheritance, on the other hand, displayed a 20% completion rate—but that was misleading. That 20% came from unlocking the first section of the Dark Cooking Society.
The faction had five zones in total. The first was the basic training area, where Kael was now. The next wouldn't unlock until he reached senior chef level. Each section represented another 20% of total progress. Once he cleared the first area, his percentage would automatically jump to 40%.
Slow progress didn't worry him, though. It had only been a month, and physically, he was still just a teenager. Time was on his side.
And once he mastered Qigong, his lifespan would naturally increase. Chuuka Ichiban! never stated outright that Qigong could extend life, but considering how many old masters were still around—and how the "Immortality Dish" tied to Qi—it wasn't exactly a stretch.
"Right about now, Soma Yukihira should be taking the transfer student exam."
Kael smirked. Having a system really did make life easier—no need to bother with something as trivial as an exam.
Honestly, he wasn't too interested in meeting that tsundere princess, either. Erina Nakiri's early behavior in the story had been... less than charming.
Sure, Soma Yukihira could be mouthy, but his cooking was solid. Erina, though—acting as a judge and letting personal bias cloud her decision? That was pathetic. If she weren't gorgeous and hadn't had that redemption arc later on, she'd probably have topped the "Most Hated Female Lead" rankings.
Even after her development, plenty of fans still couldn't forgive how awful she'd been early on—and Kael was firmly in that camp.
Not that Soma was any better. His big mouth and self-righteous attitude made him just as annoying. The guy thought every cooking academy in the world was full of spoiled brats just because of his limited experience.
That speech he gave at the Totsuki entrance ceremony? It wasn't some clever plan to provoke challenges and grow stronger—it was pure arrogance. He genuinely thought every Totsuki student was a pampered weakling who'd never seen a real kitchen.
So, yeah, Kael didn't have a high opinion of him either.
Still, he planned to live in the Polar Star Dormitory. The dorm had few residents, and Fumio Daimido—the dorm mother—was pretty chill as long as no one caused trouble. The freedom was perfect for him.
And, well... the dorm's female roster wasn't bad either. Megumi Tadokoro, Ryoko Sakaki, Yuki Yoshino—each with their own charm.
After the transfer exam, there would be about a month before the official start of term. Kael intended to use that time to push his rank to four-star level. Once there, he'd start focusing on making money.
Copying Etsuya Eizan's business model was still an option, but he had other plans too—like leveraging Totsuki itself.
He hadn't forgotten that the academy hosted countless research societies, each funded directly by the school. If he joined or founded one, he could easily tap into that money flow.
And then there were Shokugeki—the cooking duels that defined Totsuki. Kael could use them to earn serious cash.
After all, over ninety percent of Totsuki's students came from wealthy families. The place wasn't nicknamed a "school for nobles" for nothing.
Just remembering Soma's transfer exam scene was enough proof—he'd been mocked and kicked simply for coming from a small family diner.
Yeah. That was Totsuki for you. And Kael was more than ready to shake things up.