Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

Haruto settled down beside the Jewel Meat and made the chamber his temporary home.

Naturally, Jewel Meat also became his main source of food.

The only problem was that gaining Gourmet Cells seemed to have sharpened his sense of taste to an extraordinary degree.

Haruto had always considered himself a decent cook, but now, whenever he prepared the Jewel Meat by simply roasting it over a flame, he could taste every tiny flaw in his cooking.

A few seconds too long over the heat robbed the meat of some of its tenderness. Cutting the slices slightly too thick affected the texture.

Even the alcohol flame left behind the faintest hint of scorching.

Each small mistake diminished the Jewel Meat’s natural flavor.

It felt like taking a blunt knife to a priceless piece of jade, and every imperfect bite left Haruto frustrated and strangely guilty.

As he gazed at the meat glowing softly before him, a powerful desire to learn proper cooking techniques took root in his heart.

He wanted to know what method could bring out the Jewel Meat’s full potential.

He wanted to experience the kind of perfection that revealed every last quality hidden within an ingredient.

Perhaps that desire was another instinct granted to him by his Gourmet Cells.

Haruto also found that he could no longer devour a third of the Jewel Meat in one sitting as he had the first time.

After eating only half a kilogram or so, he would become overwhelmingly full.

Apparently, his Gourmet Cells had little appetite for food that failed to bring out the Jewel Meat’s true flavor.

Three more days passed.

Haruto was slowly savoring a small piece of Jewel Meat he had managed to roast almost perfectly when a clear sensation suddenly appeared in his mind.

It was a strange but unmistakable connection, and he immediately understood what it meant.

He could return home!

...

Haruto decided to leave without hesitation.

There was nothing else inside the Regal Mammoth that he needed to explore, while the outside world was still far too dangerous for him to enter.

Remaining here any longer would only waste time.

Besides, he had nearly exhausted the water he had brought with him.

Haruto carefully cut down the remaining Jewel Meat, then gathered a large supply of ordinary Regal Mammoth meat as well.

It might not be as precious as Jewel Meat, but it was still an exceptional ingredient.

Taking a deep breath, Haruto closed his eyes and focused on the connection inside his mind.

The moment he responded to it, faint ripples spread through the surrounding space like waves across the surface of a pond.

Then his figure vanished.

When Haruto opened his eyes again, the familiar ceiling of his house greeted him.

He was home.

The Jewel Meat beside him continued to glow softly, proving that everything he had experienced had been real.

Haruto set down the Jewel Meat and the large pile of Regal Mammoth meat, then stretched his body.

The power still surging through him brought an expectant smile to his face.

His life had changed forever because of the Gourmet Cells.

That smile soon disappeared, however, when he looked at the mound of meat piled on the floor.

He had a refrigerator, but it was barely large enough to hold the Jewel Meat!

The rest of the Regal Mammoth meat would have to remain outside.

The weather was not particularly hot, but there was no chance the meat would stay fresh for long.

...

After searching the house, Haruto found only two hundred-yen notes.

Most of his savings were in his bank account, and now that he was stranded in japan, he had no idea whether he would even be able to withdraw any of it.

Haruto sighed, but he was not ready to give up.

He had to at least try.

There was no way he could simply stand by and watch all that Regal Mammoth meat rot.

Before heading out, though, he desperately needed to clean himself up.

After spending so long wandering around inside the mammoth, he felt filthy from head to toe.

Haruto stepped into the bathroom and glanced at the mirror out of habit.

The moment he saw his reflection, he froze.

The towel slipped from his hand and fell to the floor.

The boy staring back at him still had the same familiar eyes and features, but every trace of weariness and maturity had vanished from his face.

In their place was the freshness and softness of youth.

His nose was straight, his jawline was still gentle, and there was an unmistakable boyishness in his expression.

He no longer looked like a man in his twenties.

He looked fourteen or fifteen at most!

Haruto slowly raised a hand and touched his cheek.

’Did I... actually get younger?’

The Gourmet Cells could even do something like this?

He stared at the boy in the mirror with a complicated expression, unable to decide whether he should be delighted or worried.

After quickly finishing his shower, Haruto changed into an old set of clothes that still fit reasonably well, tucked his only two hundred yuan into his pocket, and left the house.

He visited several banks, but none of them allowed him to withdraw his money.

That left him with no choice but to find another solution.

...

’Get a job?’

Haruto dismissed the idea almost as soon as it entered his mind.

There was no way he was going back to working for someone else.

More importantly, looking fifteen meant he would struggle to find anyone willing to hire him in the first place.

Even if he did manage to get a job, the Regal Mammoth meat would have spoiled long before he earned enough money to buy a freezer.

He needed to make money quickly.

Haruto wandered along the street, his mind racing through one possibility after another.

Then an idea suddenly came to him.

Barbecue.

His eyes lit up.

The Regal Mammoth meat he had brought back was far beyond ordinary beef, pork, or lamb.

He could charge a little more than the usual price, and the money would come easily.

As for equipment, he had once gone through a brief camping phase and bought a portable grill, several bundles of bamboo skewers, and an entire box of smokeless charcoal.

That was everything he needed.

Haruto immediately headed home and dug out the grill and charcoal.

He cut off a piece of Regal Mammoth meat, divided it into evenly sized cubes, and quickly threaded them onto the bamboo skewers.

He did not need any complicated seasoning. The orange salt ground from the Salt Oranges would be more than enough.

Carrying the heavy load of ingredients and equipment, Haruto reached the entrance of a nearby shopping street just as the evening crowd was beginning to thicken.

It was the busiest shopping street in the area and the perfect place to sell grilled meat.

Haruto found an open corner where he would not block anyone, set up the portable grill, and lit the smokeless charcoal.

Orange flames licked beneath the grate as waves of heat began to rise.

He laid the skewers of mammoth meat across the grill.

The instant the fat touched the hot metal, an irresistible sizzle filled the air.

Golden droplets ran along the grain of the meat before falling into the coals and bursting into tiny sparks.

Within moments, an extraordinarily rich aroma spread through the street.

It smelled unlike any ordinary barbecue.

There was no heavy cloud of spices or sauce, only the pure fragrance of the meat itself—deep, savory, and faintly wild, as though the aroma had grown wings and flown straight into the nose of every passerby.

People who had been hurrying along the street stopped one after another and turned toward the source.

Before long, Haruto’s little stall was surrounded by several layers of curious customers.

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