Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

Mao had completely failed to notice what had just happened behind him.

He had heard Haruto’s warning, however, and naturally assumed it had been directed at him.

"Don’t worry, Haruto-san! I’ll definitely give it everything I’ve got!"

Mao clenched his fist, the determination in his eyes burning even brighter.

Seeing how serious he looked, Haruto reached over and gave him a light pat on the shoulder.

"Then I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you cook next."

Behind them, Zhilin watched Haruto chatting casually with Mao, her expression dark enough to drip water.

But she no longer dared try anything.

Haruto had seen straight through her scheme.

She had no idea why he had chosen not to expose her on the spot, but one thing was painfully clear: if she tried anything else, she would not get away with another verbal warning.

Grinding her teeth, Zhilin quietly slipped the silver needle back into her sleeve and abandoned her plan.

By the time she put it away, the group had reached the end of the passage and officially entered the Culinary Arena.

The last rays of sunset poured down like molten gold, bathing all five contestants in brilliant light as though draping them in golden battle robes.

The moment they looked around, even they could not help being awed.

The Culinary Arena was an enormous circular stadium.

But instead of spectators surrounding the central grounds, there were ingredients.

Countless ingredients.

Fresh fruits, cattle and sheep, seafood, mushrooms, seasonal vegetables, grains, and produce gathered from every corner of the country filled the arena in dazzling abundance. Mountain delicacies and treasures from the sea stretched as far as the eye could see.

"There are this many ingredients here?!"

Mao stared around in amazement.

"This is incredible! How did they even gather so much good stuff in one place?"

"I’ve never seen this many ingredients together in my life!"

Meili was equally stunned.

"It really is incredible."

Even Haruto could not help murmuring in admiration.

His gaze swept across the entire arena, genuine emotion flickering in his eyes.

He had traveled through many worlds and encountered more extraordinary ingredients than he could count.

But he also understood just how staggering an undertaking this was in an era without modern transportation, refrigerated shipping, or air freight.

Fast horses traveling day and night.

Fresh ingredients transported regardless of expense.

Countless people laboring across enormous distances.

And all of it had ultimately been assembled here for a cooking match between only five people.

For the first time, Haruto truly felt just how much weight the title of Super Chef carried in this country.

"So this is the legendary Culinary Arena."

Lan Feihong looked across the meticulously arranged ingredients, his expression unusually complicated.

"Countless masters of Chinese cuisine have fought here before us and earned that supreme honor."

Ambition practically burned in Zhilin’s eyes.

She had come too far for this title.

This time, she would win no matter what it took.

"The title of Super Chef belongs to me, Xiao Han of Dongjiang Restaurant!"

Xiao Han clenched his fist, his eyes blazing.

Mao looked around at the others before speaking with equal determination.

"I’m going to become a Super Chef too."

If he wanted to come closer to reaching the level his mother had once stood at, he had to give this examination everything he had.

"Then we’ll each have to earn it with our own skills."

Haruto smiled, feeling his own excitement begin to rise.

The five contestants’ gazes met.

For a moment, invisible sparks seemed to flare between them.

Then they turned away and headed toward the cooking stations in the center of the arena.

Haruto chose a station near the middle. After briefly organizing the workspace, he looked over the vast selection of ingredients and began considering his dish.

The sun slowly sank farther toward the horizon, its golden light deepening into warm shades of orange and red.

GONG—! GONG—!

Deep, lingering notes rolled across the Culinary Arena and cut through the gathering dusk.

All five contestants, who had been waiting at their stations, raised their heads toward the towering gray wall on the arena’s northern side.

Three figures stepped onto the platform at its summit.

Two were government officials.

Standing between them was the chief examiner for the formal Super Chef Examination—

Lei Hua.

Lei Hua was a legendary female chef whose reputation had once stood alongside that of Mao’s mother, Master Pai.

Throughout Lingnan, she was famously known as the Leopard Woman Lei Hua, a chef notorious for the severity of her standards.

The moment Xiao Han recognized her, the fighting spirit on his face turned into solemn concentration.

He had heard of Lei Hua.

She was said to be brutally demanding of both herself and everyone around her, to the point that she had never accepted a single disciple.

If someone like her was overseeing the final examination, then the standards would be far harsher than any of them had imagined.

Even Zhilin’s expression became serious.

Clearly, she knew exactly who Lei Hua was as well.

From the high wall, Lei Hua swept her gaze across the five contestants below.

Her eyes eventually settled on Mao and Lan Feihong.

Mao was the son of Master Pai, the woman who had been both her lifelong friend and rival.

Lan Feihong, meanwhile, had once studied under Pai.

The faintest smile appeared at the corner of Lei Hua’s lips, accompanied by a complicated emotion that flickered through her eyes.

It vanished almost immediately.

Her expression returned to its usual cool severity.

"The formal Super Chef Examination is about to begin."

"We will now announce the required ingredient category."

At Lei Hua’s gesture, one of the officials unfurled a long white banner down the wall.

Only a single character was written upon it—

Noodles.

"The required category for this examination is the same as the preliminary round."

"Noodles."

Xiao Han looked visibly pained.

Noodles again?

They really were not his specialty.

Zhilin raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting the formal examination to use the exact same category as the preliminary.

Even Lan Feihong showed a trace of confusion.

Mao, on the other hand, did not think much of it.

Haruto remained perfectly calm.

Just as everyone began wondering what the real challenge could be, Lei Hua raised her hand again.

A second white banner dropped beside the first.

Two bold characters were written across it—

Not Noodles.

"The theme of this examination is—Noodles, Yet Not Noodles."

"Not noodles?!"

Mao’s eyes widened.

He stared at the words in complete confusion.

Noodles that were not noodles?

Wasn’t that a contradiction?

"What does that even mean?"

Meili looked equally baffled.

"I see..."

After a brief moment of surprise, Zhilin suddenly smiled.

To her, the meaning was obvious enough.

Create something with the appearance and texture of noodles without actually using noodles.

And she happened to know exactly how to do that.

"Noodles... yet not noodles..."

Xiao Han frowned so hard his brows nearly met, repeating the phrase under his breath as his mind raced.

His true specialty was meat.

For the moment, he had no idea where to begin.

From atop the wall, Lei Hua observed every expression below.

The faintest curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.

She had personally chosen this challenge.

A Super Chef was never meant to be a mere craftsman who could only follow established recipes.

A true Super Chef had to break through the boundaries of ingredients and create possibilities where none seemed to exist.

Anyone incapable of grasping even this much had no right to carry the title.

Lei Hua gave them no additional time to think.

She pointed toward the southern side of the arena.

Three flagpoles, each dozens of meters tall, rose straight into the evening sky, their banners fluttering gently in the breeze.

Above them hung a full moon.

"The time limit for this examination ends when the moon reaches directly above the central flagpole."

Lei Hua’s voice rang clearly across the arena.

"Now—begin!"

Haruto moved first.

He already knew the theme was Noodles, Yet Not Noodles, so from the moment he entered the Culinary Arena, he had been planning exactly what he intended to make.

His eyes swept rapidly across the arena, memorizing the positions of the fresh meat section, vegetables, dried goods, and seafood.

Then he began gathering ingredients.

First, Haruto headed toward the meat section and stopped before a large selection of freshly butchered whole pigs.

After inspecting them carefully, he chose a black-haired pig slaughtered less than four hours earlier.

The meat was firm and springy, with beautifully distributed fat, making it the highest-quality animal among the entire group.

He had the whole pig brought beside his cooking station.

Next, Haruto moved to the vegetable section and selected several crisp, plump carrots along with thick-skinned green peppers that had dense flesh and relatively few seeds.

Finally, he collected a large measure of soybeans that had already been soaked in warm water for an entire day. Every bean was round and fully swollen with moisture.

Just as Haruto was preparing to bring everything back to his station, he happened to pass Lan Feihong selecting potatoes.

Then Fei did something that caught even Haruto’s attention.

He tossed an entire basket of potatoes high into the air.

They reached their peak and began falling.

At that exact instant, Lan Feihong moved.

His hands became so fast that only blurred afterimages remained visible in the deepening twilight.

The good potatoes landed in the basket held in his left hand.

Those of inferior quality were redirected into an empty basket beside him.

The entire process lasted only a few seconds.

By the time the final potato fell, the basket in Fei’s hand contained nothing but the finest specimens.

Haruto’s expression shifted with genuine admiration.

Catching an entire basket of falling potatoes would not have been difficult for him.

But inspecting, judging, and sorting every single potato during the tiny window of time before it hit the ground?

That required far more than quick hands.

It demanded eyesight bordering on the inhuman.

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