Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

Food battles are a contest where players wager points to steal food from each other. The challenged player cannot refuse a challenge from the player ranked lower.

"As for us, we are just like you, ordinary students of Totsuki Academy."

Taking off the sunglasses he'd somehow acquired, the leading boy looked at Suzuki, who had been praised by everyone earlier, with a faint smile on his face.

"Food Wars?!"

"What's going on? I've never heard of this before!"

"Who are these guys? Wait..."

Seeing the menacing black-clad youth approaching, many people narrowed their eyes, their voices tinged with uncertainty, but they still spoke up:

"He...they are those losers who left earlier!? You're Fujino!"

"Yo, long time no see, Kana."

Perhaps the underachievers had changed so much that they were only being recognized now. Someone pointed to someone they recognized in the crowd and spoke in surprise, clearly not expecting them to be the ones who had returned.

Chapter 118 Feel the pressure from being at the bottom of the class!

"How dare this bottom-of-the-class student be so arrogant?!"

"Tsk, he's been away for a while, and his temper has certainly grown a bit. I just don't know if his skills can keep up with that temper!"

"Bastards! A bunch of losers dare to say such things! They're idiots who can't even recognize their own stupidity!"

I realized that these people were among the first to leave, the ones who were at the bottom of the pack.

The students in the 20th assembly, who were initially guessing their identities and feeling somewhat intimidated by their aggressive attitude, turned pale and then red-faced. Some of them then shouted angrily.

"Stop yelling! We're here to challenge your cooking skills, not your words. Who has the highest score here? Come out and accept the challenge!"

He reached up and picked at his ear. Facing the furious group in front of him, Mitsui San, who was at the very front, remained remarkably calm.

After Bai Yuan's special training, he no longer reacts to this level of clamor.

Whether someone is truly capable or not, their skills will be revealed in their actions. No matter how eloquent their words may sound, they are ultimately meaningless.

"We don't even know if what you're saying is true! Even if it is, the strongest among us isn't someone you can challenge just because you want to."

Let me handle this. I can take you all down by myself!

"Defeat me first, then we'll consider the others."

In venue number 20, a boy with a pompadour hairstyle, upon hearing that these losers dared to challenge them, immediately spoke with an arrogant expression.

Although I don't know why they are so bold, he is a top 100 genius, and he is worlds apart from these culinary dregs!

"Your opponent is me, Saitori! Do you remember our duel a year ago? I was outmatched then, and now it's my chance for revenge!"

When the man with the airplane-shaped hairpin stepped forward at the 20th meeting, a member of the bottom-ranked legion also stepped forward, looking at him with intense anger.

"Who do we have here? Isn't this the trash Ueno that I crushed 3-0 last year? How does it feel to have your hard-earned club taken away?"

Upon seeing the people from the bottom-ranked legion emerge, the man with the pompadour pondered for a few seconds. A cowardly figure flashed through his mind, and a mocking expression appeared on his face.

Although the changes are somewhat significant, and the previous pathetic appearance has disappeared, a bottom-ranked student is still a bottom-ranked student, and nothing can be changed!

"To be honest, that feeling wasn't pleasant, but being able to defeat you here is enough to heal the damage to my soul."

Despite being mocked, the man named Ueno said nothing, frankly admitting his feelings at the time, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit.

He was indeed too weak at the time. Even if he tried his best, he couldn't protect the club left behind by his senior. That was the time when he felt most powerless in his life, and it was also the beginning of his downfall.

It was Teacher Bai Yuan who, after learning about his past, actively guided him and helped him regain his confidence. Now, it's time to vindicate the club!

"Arrogant! A defeated opponent is still a defeated opponent! Since you're courting death, I won't mind defeating you one more time. Let's have a food battle!"

Provoked by his former defeated opponent, the boy with the pompadour looked grim and immediately challenged Ueno to a food battle.

"You don't need to tell me, I've already planned this. We can start now. The loser will be expelled and kicked out of Totsuki Academy!"

"Okay, I accept the bet!"

Faced with Saitori's provocation, Ueno's expression was not very pleasant, but he still patiently looked at him and spoke slowly and deliberately.

Even though the other person's points meant they would definitely be expelled without his intervention, the feeling of personally sending them off and the other person being expelled from Totsuki Academy is completely different!

Therefore, in order to test what he had learned during this period and to avenge himself, he decided to take action himself and this time he would definitely crush him under his feet!

"Excellent, that's the kind of atmosphere we need! Fight to your heart's content, compete, and battle! The strong are born from countless bones!"

Just as the two sides were about to clash and were locked in a standoff, Bai Yuan's voice suddenly rang out from not far away, accompanied by footsteps and Wang Hai, who looked unusually respectful.

"Teacher Baiyuan!"

“You’re here, Professor Bai Yuan.”

Are you here to officiate our competition?

Upon hearing the voice, everyone turned their gaze and saw Bai Yuan standing in front of Wang Hai. The black-clad youths immediately showed excited expressions.

"Professor Bai Yuan, come to think of it, I haven't seen him at all during this midterm exam..."

"So that's how it is. No wonder those underachievers disappeared; they were taken away for special training."

However, while you're training hard, we haven't been idle either. If you think you can defeat us just like that, you're being incredibly naive!

Bai Yuan's appearance made the students in the 20th hall think a lot. No one standing there was a fool. After a little thought, they understood the cause and effect.

Special training?

joke!

They have been training hard during this period.

After training each day, they would fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the bed. Some of them were so exhausted that they even vomited. They all pushed their potential to the limit!

Under such circumstances, they certainly don't think they can be inferior to the underachievers after special training!

“You are conducting humane training, while we are experiencing hellish training where we could lose our lives if we are not careful!”

Hearing what the students in the twentieth hall said and looking at the scene, Mitsui San's expression remained indifferent.

This statement is correct. At its most brutal, hellish training required students to stay up all night and only get three hours of rest a day.

Those with strong abilities can finish their tasks ahead of time and rest longer, but those at the bottom are still at the bottom, and most of them are weak.

They didn't know how they persevered; they only knew that they had a strong belief in their hearts at the time.

I must hold on and take revenge on those who bullied me!

As the bottom of the class at Totsuki Academy, they have all suffered unfair treatment to varying degrees.

It's not uncommon for important items to be stolen through food battles, for students to be ridiculed for making subpar dishes in class, and for students to be bullied in various ways.

"I'm not interested in this level of food battle. If you want me to be a spectator, try to survive to the end."

Remember, you are the challengers. If you lose even one game, there will be no more.

As the surrounding noise subsided, Bai Yuan waved his hand, looked at their faces, and smiled as he spoke.

The competition venue has been set up for them, and what follows is a real battle. Hopefully, this period of training will truly transform them!

Bai Yuan's lips curled up slightly, then he looked at Wang Hai, who had remained silent, and said:

"As a judge in this food battle, you must remember to ensure fairness and impartiality."

"Leave it to me. I'm also very curious about what those brats have done to deserve your personal tutelage, Chief!"

"Then take your time reading it."

After saying this, Bai Yuan turned and left.

After he left, Wang Hai regained his dignified expression and then looked away.

"Since it's a food battle, let each side send one judge, plus me, to form a three-person judging panel to evaluate the dishes of both sides."

Seeing that the atmosphere was at a stalemate, Wang Hai stepped forward and spoke to the leaders on both sides.

"I have no opinion."

"Let's do it this way!"

Meanwhile, after leaving the twentieth venue, Bai Yuan went to other venues to investigate the situation.

Due to the large number of students, this midterm exam was divided into twenty sessions. The higher the number of a session, the higher the overall academic performance of the students in that session.

Both Erina Nakiri and Alice Nakiri are in the first venue.

Meanwhile, Hojo Miyoko, Mito Ikumi, Yoshino Yuuki, and others were assigned to the third venue and ranked among the top in the third venue.

This time, the underdogs weren't blinded by their newfound strength; instead, they wisely chose venues nineteen and twenty to challenge.

Because their initial scores are still low, challenging stronger opponents and even if they win, they won't gain many points, and the risk is high.

Therefore, they planned to start from the back, step by step, steadily and surely, to take the points from the other students!

During the last five days of the midterm exams, students are free to challenge the top-ranked players on the leaderboard, up to two hundred places higher at a time, with no limit on the number of challenges.

On the last day of the midterm exam, everyone only has one chance to challenge and be challenged. In other words, the challenger is risking everything, and the challenged may be left behind if they are not careful. However, they still have one chance to return to the top fifty.

If you have no objection to your ranking, you can choose to give up the opportunity to challenge and simply defend your current position.

To ensure fairness, the challenges on the final day were restricted, with no more than fifty people allowed to be ranked higher or lower; that is, the fifty-first-ranked person could not challenge the first-ranked person.

"Teacher Bai Yuan, it's been a long time."

As they passed the third venue, a slightly hesitant voice rang out. Bai Yuan turned his head and saw that the speaker was Mito Ikumi, who had a restrained expression.

When the girl saw him looking over, her bright gaze became somewhat evasive, but she still raised her hand to greet him, her heart beating a little fast.

"Mito, it's been a while. Are you making tempura?"

When others greeted him warmly, Bai Yuan naturally couldn't be cold, so he walked up with a smile and asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yes! Today's task is to make tempura."

But I just can't seem to get it right. I've practiced all day, and only a dozen or so have passed the test, with the highest score being only 70, accumulating a mere 2 points.

Seeing Bai Yuan arrive at her cooking station, Mito Ikumi immediately began to demonstrate, a look of frustration on her face.

"The problem lies in the batter itself. When mixing gluten powder and cold water, you need to put it in the refrigerator to cool it down first. Cooling will inhibit the gluten and improve the crispy texture."

"I see!"

Seeing that Bai Yuan had only observed the state of the batter before pointing out the problem that she hadn't noticed, Mito Ikumi immediately showed a look of realization.