Even though what Yukinoshita said felt like a tall order, now that things had come to this, he could only bite the bullet and do it.
Unlike him, Alice and Kurokiba Ryo strolled in leisurely from the entrance, almost as if they were waiting for the competition to begin.
'I have to say, that guy is a complete attention-grabber.'
After all, with most of the audience already there, Alice's appearance quickly caught their attention, and they even started discussing it:
"I saw that guy. He got 95 points in venue B. I didn't expect his match to be the first one. Who's the guy he's up against? He's in trouble."
"You don't know anything. That guy got first place in venue A, with 98 points. Have you ever seen that in Totsuki all these years?"
"98 points?!"
"Hey, you guys are getting information too slowly... it's been a week already."
"So that means this first cooking battle is between the first-place winners from venues A and B."
Hearing this, everyone seemed to slowly realize what was going on...
"Wow, you're right!"
"So what's the dish for this competition?"
"Bento..."
"You've got to be kidding..."
After learning that the theme was bento boxes, everyone was a little disappointed, as this dish seemed too fixed and limited.
However... that was just their old-fashioned thinking.
Alice: "Hikigaya, I didn't expect to be up against you so soon. I watched your match, but I don't have your amazing noses and tongues, so to me, just looking at your dish, it seemed worthless."
Hachiman didn't say anything. Faced with pre-match provocation, many people might get angry or restless, but he calmly replied:
"I'll make yours along with mine for this match."
"That's not what I meant... sigh... fine, I'll make yours too."
If the judges' scores were an overly formal way to determine the winner, then for Hachiman and Alice, the answer lay in whether they could earn each other's approval through their cooking, which they would only get after tasting each other's dishes.
As the time for the competition drew closer, Kawashima Urara was still the emcee for this match. She picked up the microphone and quickly introduced the judges for the main competition.
Of course, most of the faces were familiar, except that the headmaster had taken Hoshino Ai's original seat. The other judges remained the same.
Kawashima Urara:
"First, let's welcome the contestant on the left, Mr. Hikigaya Hachiman, who received 98 points and took first place in Hall A."
"Rumble rumble..."
"Rumble rumble..."
Although he hadn't expected such a loud reaction to his entrance, becoming famous wasn't something that had just started today. Hachiman simply raised one hand and waved it briefly in their direction.
'I guess that's enough...'
Takumi: "Hey, this guy is visibly phoning it in."
Mito: "Well, it's Hikigaya, so don't be too hard on him. It's not easy for him to do even this much."
Ryoko: "Yeah, it's a historic step forward..."
Tadokoro: "Oh no, now I'm even more nervous..."
The thought of having such a loud reaction when she entered made Tadokoro Megumi feel out of place. To be honest, she still preferred to be underestimated.
Yukinoshita, on the other hand, rested her hand on her chin and smiled faintly as she watched him enter:
"Well, he's imitating it quite well, but that smile is too fake."
Hisako: "Lady Erina, he's entering."
Hearing Hisako's words, Erina finally stood up slowly from the sofa. Facing Hikigaya, who had defeated her assistant and then taken first place overall, even she had to take him seriously.
Kawashima Urara:
"Next, we have Ms. Nakiri Alice, who also took first place in Hall B!"
No less than the cheers before, Alice received just as strong a response at this moment.
Unlike Hikigaya, her movements were more generous, showing no fear of the stage at all. She simply kept waving her hand to respond to the crowd.
Isami: "Nakiri Alice, granddaughter of Totsuki Academy's headmaster Nakiri Senzaemon. Normally, the headmaster should avoid any appearance of favoritism."
Takumi shook his head: "The headmaster isn't like that. He's never shown favoritism in all these years of competitions, and Totsuki isn't that kind of place either. Cooking is everything here, and taste is supreme."
Ryoko: "No matter what, Hikigaya has met a very difficult opponent. Since entering Totsuki, the person I've heard the most stories about, besides Erina, is Alice."
"Although she went to Northern Europe and spent her childhood there, she has won awards in various international competitions and is known as a born prodigy in molecular gastronomy. Compared to Erina, she may be more skilled technically, but she lacks a talent like 'God Tongue'. Otherwise, her level would definitely not be below Erina's. Even so, they say she came back this time to challenge Erina."
Marui: "What a terrifying opponent..."
Yoshino: "What's even more terrifying is that her cooking always involves strange and unusual aesthetics that can't be judged with ordinary eyes, but in the end, they captivate people. This time... Hikigaya has really met his match."
Mito: "Although that's true, Hikigaya also has his own strengths. After all, we know him best. This match will depend on who can better capture the essence of what a 'bento' is."
Tadokoro: "Even in the audience, I can feel a chilling tension. To face an opponent like this... and to have to compete against someone like Alice, what kind of pressure is Hikigaya-kun under?"
...
On stage, the air seemed thick with tension. Alice didn't let go of the opportunity to attack. If she could break the opponent's defense early, it would be very easy to find and exploit their weaknesses later. So...
Alice: "Too bad, I don't plan on leaving here. I bet this is your first time on such a big stage. It's impressive that you're not shaking, but even so, it's a shame that we'll only get to see your cooking once."
Hachiman: "Sorry, I don't plan on giving in so easily. At least I want to win now, so I guess this won't be my last match."
Alice sighed helplessly: "Although you're strong, I can't deny that. But you still have very obvious weaknesses. At least in my opinion, your unskilled basic cooking techniques are your downfall."
Hachiman: "Is that so? In my opinion, it can't be called human if there aren't any flaws."
Without the slightest hesitation, Hachiman just responded to Alice's words one by one. Seeing that continuing like this was pointless, Alice didn't say anything more and simply walked back to her cooking station.
That being the case, she could only convey her thoughts through her cooking.
Understanding this, Hachiman didn't say any more nonsense either and silently returned to his own cooking station.
Kawashima Urara: "Okay, for the first match, the theme is lunch boxes, with a time limit of 2 hours."
"Dong, dong, dong..." As the loud bell rang, the headmaster suddenly stood up:
"Cooking, start!"
With the headmaster's command, the two began their cooking without any laziness, but... it was really hard to concentrate.
From the beginning, Hachiman noticed that unlike his own cooking station, almost all the machines on Alice's side were machines that Hachiman couldn't understand. While busily processing the ingredients, he watched her movements.
However, being speechless and silent almost simultaneously took over Hachiman's reason.
The situation in front of him was not just incomprehensible, because Alice's actions didn't look like cooking at all, but like doing some kind of science experiment. Those tubes looked especially scary.
The bright red liquid, through the work of several machines, seemed to have completed an unimaginable reversal, directly transforming into nimble jelly pieces.
Okay, in order not to sink deeper, Hachiman could only concentrate completely on himself. After all, no matter how he observed, he couldn't understand Alice's cooking process, so he might as well focus on making his own dish well.
But...
It wasn't just Hachiman who couldn't understand Alice's operations. It could be said that no one on the scene could understand how the machine worked or what it produced. Even Erina couldn't. So in the end... everyone's eyes could only focus on Hikigaya.
However, under the gaze of nearly ten thousand people in the audience, everyone still noticed some oddities.
"I thought he would show off his skills more fiercely..."
"Speaking of which, we didn't pay attention to how this guy cooked in the preliminaries. It's a little different from what I imagined..."
"Um, it feels like some newbie beginner."
"It's not that bad, but this technique is too unskilled... It doesn't feel like an elite cook at all."
Not only the audience, but the headmaster also seemed to have noticed this, but he didn't say anything, just quietly watched the two in front of him.
Yoshino: "Oh no, oh no, because there haven't been competitions like this lately, I almost forgot Hikigaya's knife skills that are questionable as an amateur..."
Ryoko: "It's not that exaggerated. After all, the demon training is still effective, but you can't say he's very good, that's for sure."
Takumi also sighed helplessly: "This guy's skills in this area haven't increased at all..."
Yukinoshita, who had unknowingly been standing next to the others, clearly felt a little unhappy after hearing this sentence:
"No, it's much better than before."
Feeling Yukinoshita's inexplicable pressure, Takumi, the chatterbox, surprisingly closed his mouth.
For those who had seen his knife skills before, they would definitely think that this was a big improvement. However, to the audience who didn't know anything, seeing Hikigaya's solid knife skills now, they were just a little confused for a moment.
"Speaking of which, this guy is Hikigaya, right..."
"Probably..."
"What do you mean probably..."
"Honestly, although this name got a terrifying score of 98 in Hall A, why do I seem to not remember his face? Can someone's presence really be that weak?"
Listening to the audience say this, more and more people seemed to realize that they were only now truly observing this guy's face. After all, during the preliminaries, not many people paid attention to him, and when he served his dish, almost everyone's attention was on that vegetable salad...
And now, it might be the first time they really saw him.
And this was thanks to Nakiri Alice's completely incomprehensible cooking techniques. Otherwise... probably no one would have noticed such simple cooking skills.
However, Hachiman at this moment had completely entered a state of concentration, unable to perceive how many eyes were watching him. Only, his dish had already begun to evolve in his brain. Although the preparation this time was not sufficient, at best it was just modifying his father's dishes. It wasn't the same as the pure original he prepared in the preliminaries, but...
He might have grasped the meaning of a lunch box.
As time ticked by, the two's cooking finally came to an end. Unsurprisingly... Alice was faster.
Kawashima Urara: "The first contestant to finish is Nakiri Alice. So please, Alice, present your dish."
Alice: "Let's eat!"
Although a transparent lid covered the appearance of the dish, the rising steam made it impossible to see its appearance with the naked eye.
Ryoko: "This guy, she's brought out some strange dish again..."
Yoshino: "What is it? I don't understand at all."
Mito: "Marui, explain it quickly!"
Marui: "Um, even for me, it's beyond my understanding..."
Yoshino: "Idiot, are you wearing your glasses for show?"
Marui: "Who came up with the stereotype that wearing glasses makes you smarter?"
In the distance, Yuigahama suddenly sneezed:
"Ah-choo!"
Miura: "Are you okay? Is the temperature in the venue too low? Do you have a cold?"
Yuigahama replied with a smile: "It's nothing, Yumiko. I just accidentally sneezed."
Miura: "Idiot, wipe it with a tissue first. The final result is about to be revealed."
Yuigahama: "Okay, okay."
...
Judge Anton: "Using various tools skillfully to complete the cooking is quite stimulating to watch and fits the theme of the Food Festival."
Alice gently lifted the lid, and the dish inside, constantly rising with mist, was finally revealed.
Grainy bright red meat pieces, rice wrapped in dumpling leaves, and all kinds of strangely shaped sushi lunch boxes.
The headmaster immediately recognized the peculiar dish his granddaughter had created, and just said with relief: "Temari sushi?"
Alice: "Yes, temari lunch box incorporating the essence of my current technology."
Judge 1: "How beautiful, it's simply a work of art, making people afraid to taste it easily."
Judge 2: "The truth of the mist is liquid nitrogen, and it's also used to maintain the freshness of the sushi with cold air."
Alice gently extended her hand: "If possible, please taste this lunch box starting from the upper left corner in order."
Headmaster: "First is the seafood delicacy, abalone with foam."
Alice: "This foam is made from seaweed soup, and the abalone has also been soaked with seaweed from the beginning using a pickling method."
Under Alice's words, everyone had already put the first piece of food into their mouths. Yukinoshita, as a member of the audience, started to speak:
"The abalone and seaweed have both been pickled and the moisture has been removed properly, so it can be placed for a while. It is a very bold attempt."
"However, not only that..."
"That sushi is swordfish cooked slowly at a low temperature, and with that machine, the creatine in the swordfish is combined with the glutamic acid contained in the seaweed just now, creating a synergistic effect of sweetness."
"If I'm not mistaken, that lunch box uses various chemical molecules to create effects that make it taste more and more unique the more you eat it."
Listening to Yukinoshita's monologue, the Polar Star Dorm members were a little confused, because such knowledge had already reached a realm they couldn't understand, while Yukinoshita could still analyze it with ease.
Yoshino whispered into Ryoko's ear: "I say, is this guy also a monster..."
Yukinoshita wasn't angry, just showing everyone that unchanging smile:
"Well, after all, I paid attention in my junior high school chemistry class, and my grades in school were pretty good."
Mito: "That's right, after all, you transfer students receive different knowledge points from us who go straight through junior and senior high school."
Marui: "No... that's not right. I consider my knowledge level to have reached the level of an average high school student. Even if I left Totsuki, I could definitely be called a top student, but I have never learned this part of chemistry."
Hearing Marui say this, everyone became a little scared upon further thought, looking at Yukinoshita like she was a monster.
And Yukinoshita still answered very calmly:
"Because junior high school knowledge was too boring, I started to teach myself. As for how far I learned, I don't really remember."
Polar Star Dorm members: "This guy, she's completely a prodigy..."
Back on stage, tasting Alice's lunch box, from sushi 1 to 12, each had a different flavor, yet completely different tastes. Even in the end, when various flavors of sushi were combined, they formed a new flavor.
Different combinations of styles, yet they didn't feel strange at all. Through the combination of seafood, cakes, and vegetables, the 12 sushi were divided into different areas of cuisine. It was innovative through chemical theoretical knowledge.
Headmaster: "Well done, this dish satisfies the needs of the taster from all angles. This sense of satisfaction is the brilliance of Japanese cuisine. Although it's just within such a small lunch box, it contains such great gastronomic wisdom. It completely does not disgrace your title."
"Rumble!"
The intense righteousness spread out, and the headmaster's body instantly swelled at this moment, even his clothes were completely torn.
"This is Nakiri Alice's strength..."
"After all, she's the first place in Hall B, it is normal that she can gain such evaluation by headmaster."
"More importantly, I can't imagine facing a chef like that, those guys who are the same age as her, they have no way to win."
"Will never catch up..."
Hachiman just watched her standing in the center of the stage, and that bright and beautiful shout was to recognize her. But...
Overly shining talent may bring shadows to those behind them, just like spotlights, while shining on others, they always leave a shadow.
Unfortunately, Hikigaya Hachiman is the guy who constantly moves forward by struggling and crawling from this shadow.
If the competition ends here, it is too soon.
Even in the face of the all recognition and calls of the audience, Hachiman did not move, just finished his own dish.
And the headmaster once again focused his eyes on him.
This student, who he brought in here with his own hands, has already surprised him at this moment.
Headmaster: "No matter what kind of situation you face, in Totsuki Academy, there is no need for people who flinch because of this. Hikigaya, you have done well."
At the same time, Alice also sent him her dish.
After tasting, Hachiman fell into deep thought.
"Delicious, but something feels missing..."
Alice: "Don't be a smart aleck, hurry up and finish your dish! I'm kind of looking forward to what kind of dish you will make."
Perhaps because the other party did not directly surrender to her cooking, Alice felt a little uncomfortable.
But...
That's all.
And Hikigaya Hachiman, after tasting Alice's dish, suddenly remembered something.
'The fact that you think of you at this moment is enough to show the success of Hiratsuka Shizuka Sensei's teaching.'
Smiling faintly, and unconsciously speeded up the movements on his hands.
"Six people lunch box, finished!"
Kawashima Urara: "So, please welcome our Hikigaya Hachiman contestant, present your dish!"
Maybe at this moment, no reason is needed.
However, the words of his former junior high school teacher Hiratsuka Shizuka still lingered in his mind:
'The real calculation cannot be is emotion...'
Sorry for understanding that only now after all these years.
---
You can read 30 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu
Free member can read 2 chapters in advance