Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 323 - 322: Hunting Level

Chapter 323: Chapter 322: Hunting Level

"Boom,"

The big truck took off amidst the powerful engine noise.

In the kitchen, a group of people surrounded several large ingredient boxes.

Click!

Takai Masashi and Xia Yu were up for the first Food Duel, so he didn’t dawdle and swiftly unlocked each of the sealed buckles before lifting the lids off the ingredient boxes!

In an instant, the rich scent of the ocean filled the kitchen.

"Why do I smell beer!"

The audience, all chefs with sharp senses, craned their necks curiously peering into the ingredient boxes.

"It’s ’Beer Lobster’!"

Xia Yu and Mars, catching the scent and seeing the lobsters swimming in fresh water and oxygen, were shocked.

"I’ll be!"

Xia Yu was ruffled, "Takai Masashi, this old fox, is using a Special Grade exam dish against me?"

So cunning!

He couldn’t help but shoot Takai Masashi a stern look.

Fortunately, the theme was ’seafood’ and not specifically ’lobster,’ otherwise Xia Yu could only have surrendered by now, since ’Beer Lobster’ had just gone on sale at the Neon Fantasy Ingredient Market after yesterday’s Special Grade exam, and he had no hands-on experience with this entirely new ingredient, how could he contend in a Food Duel.

Secretly feeling relieved.

Takai Masashi still had some integrity, he hadn’t gone too far.

But knowing the ingredient was ’Beer Lobster,’ Takai Masashi’s next dish was evidently coming to light.

"Recreating the Special Grade Cuisine dish?" Xia Yu suddenly felt it was a daunting task.

Never underestimate a Special Grade chef’s ability to innovate, though it had only been a day since yesterday’s exam, Takai Masashi might very well have perfected his recipe.

In any case, a Special Grade Cuisine that utilizes fantasy ingredients wasn’t going to be of low quality.

"Lucky my recipe is powerful enough, otherwise I’d have just conceded!" Xia Yu thought to himself.

"Ah!"

Yoshino Yuji covered her mouth.

Takai Masashi walked around the ingredient box, his gaze fixing on a large lobster swimming in the pool. As the lobster flipped to one side, in an instant, his arm whooshed through the water layer.

Followed by, what seemed like an underwater bomb exploding, water splashed everywhere.

Snap! Snap!

A loud clanking of metal.

Takai Masashi firmly grasped the ’Beer Lobster’ from behind, the large lobster with a frightening size revealed its belly and limbs, its claws struggling, especially a pair of large pincers clashing fiercely together. The metal sound originated from there.

Unfortunately, the ’Beer Lobster’ had its pincers wrapped and chained during transit.

Rolling up his sleeves, everyone could see Takai Masashi’s right arm veins popping and muscles bulging, signifying how much effort it took to grasp the massive lobster.

"Chopstick—" Takai Masashi said gruffly.

"Here you go!"

Hase Ichiro shouted, throwing a chopstick. Takai Masashi, forehead sweating, caught the chopstick and with a fizz, stabbed it into the lobster’s urinary tract below its body. Soon after, a whole stretch of the chopstick disappeared.

Suddenly, the lobster seemed as if an immobilization spell had been cast on it; it froze completely.

After a moment, exhaling deeply, Takai Masashi placed the large lobster on a freshly rinsed chopping board, pulled out the chopstick, by which time the lobster was probably dead.

Takai Masashi, well-prepared, pulled a sharp kitchen knife from his own carried briefcase, swishing the knife, the ’Beer Lobster’s’ two large claws were swiftly removed.

Next, using the knife to pry open the lobster’s head shell, he cleaned and removed the gills.

Then was the removal of the stomach pouch hidden inside the head, extracting the brain matter, and with that, the lobster was basically cleaned up.

This was a very standard procedure.

Seeing Takai Masashi pick up shiny, sharp scissors to cut open the soft shell of the lobster’s abdomen, Xia Yu shook his head, knowing he wouldn’t learn anything new, and turned around to open his own ingredient box.

"Snap!"

Unlocking a row of buckles, by the time he lifted the lid, the contents inside the ingredient box were exposed for everyone to see.

It was a box full of water too!

"How big!"

Reflected in Tanaka Hikari’s beautiful, large eyes was a giant sea fish—at least one meter long, oval-shaped, swimming in the clear water, still very much alive.

"Sea bream!" Tanaka Hikari murmured.

"What kind of sea bream is this?"

The members of Polar Star Dormitory looked at each other—an expression of confusion visible. They had received professional training and had personally dissected many types of sea bream, freshwater and oceanic alike, but they had never seen the kind that was before their eyes.

Its massive size was one thing, but the real oddity was its scales.

The shiny, black scales were small and tightly packed, giving off a metallic streamline look.

Especially when the sea bream swam in the water, its scales glistened, resembling stars in the dark night sky.

"It’s the ’Starry Sea Bream’!"

Mars finally spoke.

"Starry Sea Bream?"

"Yes!" Everyone’s gaze turned to the principal of Orlando Academy, and Mars slowly explained, "It’s a type of true sea bream, living in the deep sea. Gourmet Hunters discovered it a long time ago; it’s one of the oldest fantasy ingredients in the world of gastronomy."

"What’s the difference between it and a regular sea bream?" Xingping Chuangzhen naively asked.

"The difference?"

"Of course, it’s the texture!" Mars’s lips curled into a mischievously amused smile, "You can’t imagine the deliciousness of ’Starry Sea Bream’ cuisine if you haven’t tried it. Of course, its flesh is very high-grade, and mixing it with ordinary ingredients to cook can be exceedingly difficult. ’Subduing’ it is the key!"

Subduing!

Tanaka Hikari, Morioka Makoto, Xingping Chuangzhen, and others tilted their heads, only half-understanding this term.

Was it just a literal meaning?

Tiqie Helinai bit her thumb, her face filled with complexity.

"Starry Sea Bream! It’s a Level 10 fantasy ingredient!" Hase Ichiro exclaimed, deeply moved.

"Level 10? What does that mean?"

The knowledge of the Polar Star Dormitory members about the special-grade world was still too superficial.

Hase Ichiro explained, "Fantasy ingredients also have quality grades, commonly called hunting levels. The higher the level, the more precious the food."

"The Starry Sea Bream lives in the deep sea and is ferociously aggressive; even sharks dare not provoke such a large-bodied sea bream... For a Gourmet Hunter to hunt them, the difficulty is extremely high, making the wild Starry Sea Bream both rare and valuable. Just like the one before us, it would cost at least 200 million yen to buy outright from an ingredient store!"

The new special chef looked astonished.

A sea bream worth over 200 million yen?

Xingping Chuangzhen gasped, finding it unbelievable given his background in ordinary environments.

"What about the beer lobster? What hunting level is it?" Tanaka Hikari timidly asked.

Hase Ichiro, with a strange look on his face, said, "... According to the latest IGO rating, it’s Level 1."

"Huh?!"

Everyone immediately petrified.

"Beer lobster is only, only Level 1?"

Now, Morioka Makoto was stammering too.

"What about ’White-haired Cinderella Beef’? Senior Si Yingshi once cooked steak with this fantasy beef..." Yoshino Yuuki asked loudly.

"As there are no levels below 1 for hunting levels, it is still Level 1..."