Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 353 - 352: The Horn of Battle

Chapter 353: Chapter 352: The Horn of Battle

Beiye Xiu stepped down amidst cheers and took a seat in the waiting area by the side of the stage. Out of the six available spots, he was the only one there, solitary.

But he was not a loser; he was a success, and the people around him looked on with admiration and respect.

Had he lost, those looks would probably have made Beiye Xiu uneasy.

But now, Beiye Xiu was enjoying this attention.

"The first contestant to submit their dish is the first to pass!" Chiyoda Aichi shared her excitement with the audience.

As the atmosphere in the hall cooled down, the audience, both on-site and in front of the live broadcast, digested Beiye Xiu’s culinary performance. It was then that Chiyoda Aichi timely brought up a new topic to Shinohara Shigetaro:

"Minister Shinohara, could you elaborate on the judgment criteria for this summer’s assessment?"

Undoubtedly, this was a sensitive question.

The audience fell silent, all ears.

"As everyone knows, the Super Chef assessment has no fixed passing standards, for a simple reason: each Super Chef assessment has different topics, and accordingly, the passing threshold also fluctuates with the difficulty level of the topic," Shinohara Shigetaro explained calmly.

"The topic for this summer’s assessment is to create a Super Chef level dish using ’Jile Rice.’ How difficult is it? Well, if you rank all the past Super Chef assessment topics, including this summer’s, the ’Jile Rice’ challenge is definitely among the top five toughest!"

He paused at this point.

"Lord Qiushan, Lady Indira, and I have discussed and set three scoring thresholds."

"The first threshold is to pass, which means finding the method to subdue the rice!" Shinohara Shigetaro said gravely, "Regardless of the method, as long as you can subdue ’Jile Rice’ and integrate it into your dish, that’s the standard!"

Upon hearing this, the audience’s gaze instinctively fell on Beiye Xiu.

The camera timely focused on him.

Just barely passing?

After Shinohara Shigetaro’s explanation, the atmosphere in the hall immediately cooled again.

"So he just scraped by?" Yuchuan Ayaka chuckled to herself, withdrawing her gaze.

A barely-passing new Super Chef had suddenly lost her interest.

"And the second threshold?" asked Chiyoda Aichi.

"After passing, of course, comes ’good,’" smiled Shinohara Shigetaro. "The standard for this evaluation is to truly integrate this Fantasy Ingredient, ’Jile Rice,’ into your own dish, on top of just subduing it!"

"Ah!"

Chiyoda Aichi was surprised, "If a ’good’ evaluation already means full integration, what about the ’excellent’ above it?"

"Excellent?" Shinohara Shigetaro shook his head and said: "Excellent is to perfectly utilize ’Jile Rice.’ In other words, ’Jile Rice’ becomes just another ingredient in the chef’s hand, a piece of the puzzle constructing his culinary world. To achieve an ’excellent’ rating, one needs to use Fantasy Ingredients to recreate the world!"

"To be honest, my own proficiency in utilizing ’Jile Rice’ remains only at the second stage..." As he said this, he glanced at Qiushan Hong and Lady Indira on both sides, "If it were up to the two Lin Chefs, they would probably easily reach the third, perfect stage."

Unexpectedly, Qiushan Hong spoke up, "No, ’Jile Rice’ has already touched upon taboos; it’s not that simple to use it perfectly."

Indira nodded in agreement.

"The ’Jile Rice’ successfully cultivated on a large scale by the 11th District Research Institute, after genetic modification, actually has lost some of its quality compared to the original strain. As far as I know, when this ingredient was discovered ten years ago..."

She stopped abruptly.

Because Qiushan Hong and Shinohara Shigetaro both looked over at her, signaling with their eyes.

Indira paused for a moment and then spoke into the microphone, "Sorry."

Regardless of the audience’s reaction, she did not continue.

The reason why the Super Chef assessment attracts so much attention is that each one introduces the latest Fantasy Ingredients to the public, professional chefs, and culinary school students, among others, who all receive firsthand information about new ingredients from here.

But seeing and hearing are far from understanding as quickly as personal experience.

The esteemed chefs above hold tightly to this core knowledge.

"Let’s see how the remaining five contestants will perform—" Chiyoda Aichi once again directed the audience’s attention.

The introduction segment was interrupted by Beiye Xiu’s turn in the kitchen number 4. It hadn’t ended yet.

Just as Shinohara Shigetaro finished introducing the chef of kitchen number 5 and was about to introduce the chef of kitchen number 6, a staff member hurried on stage and whispered a few words to him. Shinohara Shigetaro’s expression turned grave.

"Excuse me, everyone, Chef Hoshino from kitchen number 5 has had a sudden heart attack and has been urgently taken to the hospital!"

"According to the assessment rules, Chef Hoshino has been disqualified! It’s the same as having given up!"

Gasps.

Disturbance.

The majority of the audience wore faces of confusion.

Something about a sudden heart attack...

However, in the VIP seating area, a group of invited professional chefs whispered among themselves, letting out a collective sigh.

"Hoshino was also a genius, even younger than Miss Yuchuan by two years. I was very optimistic about her dazzling everyone at this summer’s super chef assessment, making a sensational debut. Unexpectedly, her chronic illness has relapsed!"

"Yes, congenital heart disease, she can’t overwork!"

"With less than three hours left, if she could have just held on a little longer..." The chef speaking shook his head and stopped mid-sentence.

In the VIP seats, Yuchuan Ayaka’s gaze flickered, seemingly a sign of relief.

"What a shame!"

Tiqie Xianzuowen shook his head.

The Governor of Tokyo, Yuchuan Yuriko, gave a wry smile. "Yes, if Hoshino could have also passed, together with that sixteen-year-old super chef, the Neon culinary world might have been about to usher in an unprecedented era of jade..."

Meanwhile, the broadcast was heard in every kitchen, announcing Chef Hoshino’s departure from the competition.

"An assessor has withdrawn?"

Xia Yu stopped in the midst of his busyness, looking up in surprise.

Searching his memory for his impression of Chef Hoshino, he realized that the female chef had a negligible presence; he hadn’t even remembered her face, which was a serious oversight.

"Heart disease?" Xia Yu followed with a look of admiration.

If you had a heart condition, you naturally wouldn’t be fit for the job of a chef. After all, being a chef is truly exhausting; it’s all too easy to become overwhelmed, and with a stubborn illness, what kind of willpower would it take to have come this far?

At least, Xia Yu couldn’t imagine working while ill, the feeling of chest tightness and palpitations with fatigue, which would certainly affect a chef’s concentration.

Assessor number five’s departure was bound to be just a minor episode.

"Less than three hours left!"

Xia Yu shook his head, casting aside any unnecessary distractions, and focused on the pot in front of him.

"Gurgle~"

Finally, a full pot of water boiled to the temperature Xia Yu had in mind. He had monitored it for over half an hour using the "Bursting Flame" cooking technique.

It was time!

Muttering to himself, Xia Yu took several deep breaths. "I’m ready for the sprint!"

He turned to fetch a bucket of ’Jile Rice’ that had been soaking.

He filtered out the white rice water.

Whoosh!

Lifting the bucket, he poured!

Displayed on the monitors was a white blur.

A bucket weighing about 18 pounds of rice was poured entirely into the boiling pot by Xia Yu in one go, not a single grain left behind.

Coincidentally, this moment was captured by the cameras and transmitted to the outside screens.

The Distant Moon Student Observation Team, almost all of them subconsciously covered their mouths, their eyes reflecting shock.

"Going all in with every chip?"

The teaching staff, Professor Roland Chapele looked on with astonishment and disbelief.

"This, this is truly betting one’s future!"

A chorus of gasps.

Xia Yu had only conducted two practice sessions before; this was the most ’Jile Rice’ he had left. At this moment, friends and family like Morioka Makoto and Tiqie Eriina saw him using up all his ’Jile Rice’ at once and were at a loss for words.

The stakes of the gamble were too high, and Xia Yu’s performance thus far had hardly been reassuring.

A heavy sense of dread weighed on them.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this..." Xingping Chuangzhen muttered, scratching his red hedgehog hair.

"Look quickly—"

Suddenly, exclamations rang out across the venue.