Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 234 - 233: ’The Judges

Chapter 234: Chapter 233: ’The Judges

"Warning, host’s physical strength is failing, please stop all cooking activities!"

The system spoke out just in time.

Stop?

Xia Yu was infuriated, damn it, the mission rewards tempted him with such grand promises, goading him into all this hard work, and now it was advising caution?

"System, please offer some useful advice," Xia Yu said, rolling his eyes.

"Ding."

With a crisp sound, an item description appeared before his eyes:

"[Stamina Pill] (Blue): An emergency consumable item, taking one pill will fully restore your body to its best condition."

"Price: 2,000 Fame Points."

What?!

Eyes widening, wait a minute!

Carefully reading the item description several times, Xia Yu slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Give me one right now!"

"Purchase made, you have lost 2,000 Fame Points," the system stated mechanically.

A new item appeared in the inventory, Xia Yu reached in and grabbed it, and in the palm of his hand in the real world, a capsule with a blue shell materialized out of thin air.

This was medicine from the system store, Xia Yu trusted it completely and without hesitation, he swallowed the pill down in one gulp.

"Cough cough—"

He had been subjected to baking heat for too long, his body was dehydrated, his throat was too dry, Xia Yu covered his neck, uncomfortable for a moment, when the pill dissolved in his throat, a strong medicinal taste hitting his nose.

Bitter is an understatement.

An indescribable taste.

But at the same time, a warm current flowed through his body, and Xia Yu let out a long sigh of relief, like receiving a thorough health treatment, the tense nerves in his body suddenly relaxed.

Exhale, inhale, exhale...

After a few deep breaths, his senses, dulled by exhaustion, became as sharp as they were at their peak.

"This way, I can hold on for another hour and a half with absolutely no problem!"

A trace of joy surfaced in Xia Yu’s heart, but he wasn’t yet jubilant.

The major test was still underway.

Waiting for the moment the results were revealed, it wouldn’t be too late to celebrate then.

Turning around, he took out the cooled chains from the bucket, tied the marinated Crucian Carp to them, and at the same time Xia Yu called out, "Miss Liangzi, the fire is not hot enough, add more wood!"

And so, a thousand spectators by the lake witnessed the culinary performance under the night sky.

Their enthusiasm was high.

The roaring Flame Dragon made the fire even more fierce.

Dubian Yuuki stood beside Dojima Yin, pointing at the altar being swallowed by the sea of flames, stammered, "Mr. Dojima, is ’Grilled Crucian Carp’ born amidst such a sea of flames?"

Dojima Yin didn’t answer but watched the rapidly spinning chain and the young chef in the center of the fire ring, admiration written in his eyes.

The chef’s hands remained steady.

This time, Dojima Yin didn’t notice any of the rare mistakes from before, the ’uniformity’ of the fire on each Crucian Carp was impeccable.

The direct embodiment of the fire’s mastery was the uniform color of each Crucian Carp, without a single trace of being burnt.

"Why has his physique seen such a qualitative improvement in just the short six days of his stay?"

Dojima Yin was filled with questions in his mind.

Training one’s physique requires persistent effort to see results.

After much thought, he could only explain it with "unique talent."

...

The culinary feast ended at nine o’clock at night.

It was nearly ten before the crowd had mostly dispersed, IGO staff were cleaning up the garbage left behind by departing diners.

Hase Ichiro and Takai Masashi each came out from behind their altars and seeing each other’s faces clearly showing fatigue.

"Shopkeeper, the polished rice provided by IGO is all used up."

A team member reported to Hase Ichiro.

"How did the customers react?" Hase Ichiro asked with concern.

"They couldn’t stop singing praises!"

The team members said with joy on their faces.

Hase Ichiro glanced at Takai Masashi, and the middle-aged man was also asking his employees about the situation.

"Then, about whose cooking did the diners discuss the most?" Hase Ichiro pressed.

At this, the team members were at a loss for words.

"As expected!"

Hase Ichiro then turned his gaze to the third altar.

A pile of black ashes, both inside and out, still twinkled with red light as a large group of IGO workers helped to extinguish the fire. After a while, under Liangzi Lina’s support, a young chef walked out of the altar with a smile on his face.

"A terrifying junior!"

Hase Ichiro thought to himself.

Not just him; the people remaining by the lakeside, as if by some unspoken agreement, converged their gazes on him.

"’Qualified’?"

At the guest seats, Tiqie Helinai murmured to herself.

The graduates who had not yet left looked at each other, unable to answer her question.

They were not even at the level of trainees; among them, Shigong Xiaoci Lang was only a reserve trainee.

Dubian Yuuki chased after Dojima Yin as well, asking, "Mr. Dojima Yin, what are the criteria for ’qualifying’ in the second round of the big test? Who are the judges, those tourists?"

Dojima Yin shook his head, his gaze deep and inscrutable.

"Oh right, where is Granny Chiyoda?"

Shanben Xiaoshu looked around for the old witch.

"She already went back." Ujou Mamie glanced over and replied.

Shortly after the banquet ended, at Chiyoda Shrine.

On the path leading to the shrine, figures loomed.

A crowd gathered in front of the shrine’s main hall, and at the moment there was a table in front of the hall, on which there were three clay jars, each with the name of a trainee written in red ink in front of it.

From left to right, the names were Xia Yu, Hase Ichiro, and Takai Masashi.

All were neat and squared Chinese characters.

"Everyone has just returned from the banquet. You may start voting now—" said the old witch in full dress, scanning the crowd of men and women, old and young against the night sky.

"No rush, no rush!"

A diminutive dwarf shrugged and said, "Xingzi, let’s discuss this a bit more!"

"Yeah, Xingzi, the trainees this term are all of a high level," a young man with long feminine hair said, calling the Chiyoda Witch by her name, clearly very familiar with her.

"What’s there to discuss? It’s crystal clear who has the highest level!"

Foxfires flickered suddenly in the darkness.

A seductive woman dressed in red approached, her fair legs partially visible beneath her robe as she walked in her wooden clogs.

"Ding!"

The seductive woman dropped a white, tooth-shaped token into the first jar and said with a light laugh, "I quite like this chef’s grilled fish dish; when I ate the fish meat, I thought I had become enlightened—"

"Hey, enlightened?"

A mocking male voice spoke.

A tall man dressed in Japanese warrior armor, looking every bit the shogun, walked up to the table and put three ancient coins into each of the jars, "They are all qualified; there’s no distinguishing between them!"

"Seconded!"

A short monk came forward, distributing three Sandalwood Buddha Beads.

The old witch did not interfere, letting this peculiar group discuss among themselves. Within a few minutes, the three clay jars were already filled with more tokens than the required ten for ’qualifying.’

"This term, we have three qualifiers?" the old witch internally marveled.

"Wait—"

Accompanied by a distant female voice, a lantern suddenly lit up under the eaves.

The shrine instantly fell silent.

"You, you came as well?"

"Yes, Xingzi, regarding the reward for the qualified ones, I’d like to have a word with you."

A white-haired woman in a blue dress slowly approached.