Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

The three judges exchanged glances before picking up their spoons.

The moment the fried rice entered their mouths, their complexions flushed with pleasure.

First came the soft, springy texture of the sea cucumber and the crisp sweetness of the shrimp, releasing a wave of pure seafood umami across their tongues. Despite its richness, there was not the slightest hint of fishiness, only clean, lingering savoriness.

Then came the deep fragrance of matsutake and the fresh crunch of tender bamboo shoots. The light, earthy flavors of the mountain ingredients perfectly balanced the heavier richness of the seafood.

Finally, the juicy partridge burst with flavor between their teeth, its savory meatiness lingering long after each bite.

Every grain of rice was firm and distinct, filled with powerful wok hei. Each one had absorbed the juices of the ingredients from sea, land, and sky while remaining dry and separate, neither sticky nor mushy.

The three groups of flavors unfolded one after another without competing for attention, yet came together seamlessly as a whole.

With a single mouthful, it truly felt as though they were tasting the finest flavors of sea, land, and sky all at once.

Lord Zhao set down his spoon and slapped the table in delight.

"Excellent! Absolutely excellent!"

"Shao An, this dish is unquestionably worthy of a top-class chef!"

Lord Xu nodded enthusiastically.

"The flavors of sea, land, and sky have been combined flawlessly. Your heat control, knife work, and seasoning are all superb. Rare indeed—truly impressive!"

Even Lord Ma, who had eaten countless delicacies throughout his life, could not stop nodding.

"Very good. Fresh without being fishy, fragrant without being greasy, richly layered in texture yet perfectly unified."

Shao An stood nearby listening to their praise, unable to hide his satisfaction.

This Heaven and Earth Fried Rice was the result of painstaking refinement, an improved version of his earlier Mountain-and-Sea Delicacy Fried Rice.

No matter how capable Haruto was, how much could he possibly do with something as simple as fried rice?

Just then, Haruto carried his own dish over to the judges’ table.

"Please try my dish—Deluxe Golden Fried Rice."

The plate before them contained fried rice of a uniform golden color.

Every grain gleamed softly with oil, distinct and separate, like a field of golden sand shimmering beneath the light.

And that was all.

There were no luxurious toppings.

No extravagant decorations.

Nothing else at all.

"What? That’s it? Egg fried rice?"

"He plans to compete against Shao An’s Heaven and Earth Fried Rice with this?"

"Isn’t that ridiculous?"

Disappointment immediately appeared on the three judges’ faces.

After Haruto had produced such a breathtaking dish in the first round, they had expected another astonishing creation.

Instead, he had brought them nothing more than egg fried rice.

Admittedly, producing true Golden Fried Rice required considerable skill.

But at the end of the day, it was still only egg fried rice.

Shao An, however, reacted very differently.

His expression changed the instant he saw the dish.

Golden Fried Rice.

How could he possibly forget it?

Back then, Shao An had believed he would smoothly take control of Kikkaro, only for a single plate of Golden Fried Rice to ruin everything and force him into a cooking match against Mao.

And now Haruto was daring to serve Golden Fried Rice right in front of him?

Only a few seconds passed before Shao An’s shock turned into disdain.

He let out a cold laugh.

"I was wondering what incredible trick you had prepared."

"’Deluxe Golden Fried Rice’? That looks like nothing more than the most ordinary bowl of egg fried rice imaginable."

"Haruto, don’t tell me you actually believe some so-called Golden Fried Rice can defeat my Heaven and Earth Fried Rice, which combines the finest ingredients from sea, land, and sky?"

The three judges largely agreed with him.

Still, appearances alone could not determine the quality of a dish.

They had to taste it first.

Lord Xu picked up his spoon, scooped up a mouthful of golden fried rice, and placed it into his mouth.

He chewed only a few times.

Then the disappointment vanished from his face.

His eyes flew wide open.

The spoon in his hand nearly slipped onto the table as an incredulous cry escaped him.

"This... how is this possible?!"

Lord Zhao and Lord Ma immediately grabbed their spoons as well and tasted the fried rice.

Their expressions changed just as dramatically.

A rich egg fragrance melted across their tongues first, mellow without being greasy, carrying exactly the right amount of savory seasoning.

But as they began to chew, the golden "rice grains" wrapped in egg broke apart.

Countless flavors exploded through their mouths like fireworks.

The deep salty richness of Jinhua ham unfolded in layers, intensely savory without becoming heavy.

Springy pieces of abalone released the concentrated freshness of the sea between their teeth.

Delicate crab-leg meat brought a clean, lingering sweetness.

Then came the earthy fragrance of matsutake, the rich savoriness of free-range chicken, and still more flavors beyond them.

Countless textures.

Countless tastes.

They erupted simultaneously, yet somehow blended together without the slightest sense of discord.

The egg coating wrapped around every flavor like a gentle outer layer.

The first impression was always the same warm, mellow richness of egg.

Then they bit through the surface—

And a hundred flavors burst free.

Wave after wave of flavor surged across the tongue, each one stronger than the last, racing straight through their heads until their bodies tingled and they nearly forgot to breathe.

Lord Xu finally snapped back to his senses, his face filled with shock.

"Shrimp... crab... Jinhua ham... abalone... matsutake... chicken tenderloin!"

"Why?! Why are there so many textures and flavors?!"

"This clearly looks like an ordinary plate of egg fried rice!"

Lord Ma had already begun shoveling spoonful after spoonful into his mouth.

His hand simply refused to stop.

"Incredible... absolutely incredible!"

"Every bite reveals a different flavor, yet they’re so harmonious that it feels as though they were always meant to belong together!"

"How did he do this?!"

Shao An, who had been overflowing with confidence moments earlier, stood frozen in place.

Disbelief filled his eye.

How could this be possible?

How could an ordinary bowl of egg fried rice make three experienced gourmets react like this?

Then Lord Xu took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He carefully scooped up a single golden "grain of rice" and examined it.

Then he gently cut it in half with the edge of his spoon.

The "grain" split open.

Inside was not rice at all.

It was dense, glossy meat.

A tiny piece of Jinhua ham that had been cut into the exact size and shape of a grain of rice.

"So that’s it... I understand now!"

Lord Xu slapped the table as realization dawned on him.

The other two judges immediately understood as well and began cutting open more of the golden "grains."

Abalone.

Crab-leg meat.

Mountain matsutake.

Shrimp.

Dried scallop.

And, naturally, some of them really were rice.

As Shao An stared at the cut-open grains, his hand began to tremble.

"He... he cut every ingredient into pieces exactly the same size and shape as grains of rice, then coated everything evenly in egg!"

"It looks like Golden Fried Rice, but there’s an entire world hidden inside it!"

Shao An stumbled forward, snatched up a spoon, and shoveled a huge mouthful into his mouth almost frantically.

The next instant, his entire body went rigid.

Countless flavors exploded simultaneously.

The saltiness of ham.

The richness of abalone.

The sweetness of crab.

The fragrance of matsutake.

And surrounding all of it, the mellow aroma of golden egg.

Layer upon layer unfolded together in complete harmony.

His own Heaven and Earth Fried Rice was designed to let flavors emerge one after another, bringing sea, land, and sky together within the rice.

Haruto’s dish went further.

He had compressed a hundred flavors of the world into what appeared to be individual grains of rice.

Every bite released them all at once.

In impact, complexity, and above all the ability to conceal extraordinary intricacy beneath an appearance of perfect simplicity, Haruto’s dish existed on an entirely different level.

Clatter!

The spoon slipped from Shao An’s hand and struck the ground.

It sounded painfully loud in the silent courtyard.

Shao An staggered backward two steps as if all the strength had drained from his body.

"Impossible... this can’t..."

"My fried rice combined the flavors of sea, land, and sky..."

"How could it... how could it lose to Golden Fried Rice...?"

He suddenly looked toward Haruto, his expression complicated.

Haruto had created something that looked like Golden Fried Rice while being fundamentally different from it.

Shao An had thought Haruto was fooling around.

He had thought Haruto was merely copying someone else’s dish.

But from the very beginning, Haruto had been cooking on a level Shao An could not even reach.

At the judges’ table, the three men finally recovered from their shock.

They exchanged glances, saw the same answer in one another’s eyes, and gave their verdict to Xiang En without hesitation.

Xiang En stepped forward and looked directly at Haruto.

"The winner of the second match—Traveling Chef Haruto!"

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