Jaden!?
The moment Kojiro Shinomiya said that name, the entire venue reacted.
Whether it was Bear Grylls and A-Long on the judging panel, or the audience members who recognized it, everyone's eyes widened.
Because-
-Jaden was the world's number one chef.
This was like hosting a competition to invent funny public service announcements and then inviting the world's top scientist to present a gadget. The shock alone was enough to make people sit up straight. Many in the audience focused instantly, cheering-not because of the dish, but simply because Jaden might really have appeared.
Arthur, the host, was momentarily stunned.
Then he smiled and smoothly continued.
"Mr. Kojiro Shinomiya, how did you arrive at this conclusion?"
Kojiro Shinomiya looked down at the bowl of noodles in front of him. He picked up a spoon, scooped a bit of the soup, and stared at the nearly transparent broth.
"In my experience," he said slowly, "there are very few people who can produce a soup base like this."
"And among those people, there's only one I know who can take something this delicate... and turn it into dark cuisine."
He paused.
Kojiro Shinomiya carefully returned the spoon to the bowl. After confirming that the spoon hadn't melted, he seemed slightly relieved. Then he looked back at Arthur.
"Is it really him?"
Arthur nodded this time.
"Then," Arthur announced, raising his voice, "let us welcome the world's number one chef, one of Totsuki's two General Directors, the strongest human in the world-the Strongest Creature on Earth."
"Mr. Jaden Yuki!"
Music rose.
Spotlights converged.
Amidst loud cheers, Jaden stepped onto the stage and stopped beside Arthur.
"It really is him..."
The instant Kojiro Shinomiya saw Jaden clearly, his expression changed.
Bear Grylls and A-Long, seated beside him, both tensed when they noticed that reaction.
Bear Grylls didn't have a deep understanding of cuisine. But A-Long did.
Staring at the bowl of noodles-or wide rice noodles-in front of him, A-Long fell silent for a moment. He could fully the sense the craftsmanship in the soup base. If this soup were rich and delicious, then Jaden absolutely deserved the title of world's number one chef.
But-
This was a dark cuisine competition.
If the dish tasted bad, then the problem lay in the soup base.
If someone claimed this soup base was a secret recipe designed to taste bad, that would be one thing.
But this-
Did he really manage, in less than half a month, to combine ingredients in such a way that the soup became extremely bad-tasting, yet undetectable-resulting in something colorless, odorless, rich, and utterly revolting?
-What kind of monster was this?
Kojiro Shinomiya's face went pale.
A-Long, on the other hand, was filled with awe.
As for Bear Grylls-
The moment he saw Jaden, a sense of threat washed over him. It was a pressure he had never felt, not even from apex predators or super beasts.
For a brief moment, all three judges were silent.
Jaden took the microphone from Arthur and smiled.
"If you don't eat it soon," he said casually, "the noodles will get cold."
At that, the audience's attention shifted from Jaden back to the judges.
The three of them reacted almost simultaneously, picking up their utensils and taking a bite.
Ugh-
Bear Grylls nearly spat it out on instinct.
But the fear Jaden inspired forced him to swallow the soup and noodles down.
He set his utensils aside, leaned back in his chair, and stared ahead with wide eyes. Soup dripped from the corners of his mouth, and he looked-
Like a small white rabbit that had just been trampled by an elephant.
A-Long, the moment the food entered his mouth, was struck dumb.
He had been a gourmet for decades. He had eaten everything.
And yet, he realized that every word he knew to describe "bad taste" was insufficient.
This wasn't sour.
Not sweet.
Not bitter, spicy, or salty.
It almost felt like plain water.
And yet, his brain screamed in rejection, sending relentless signals to vomit.
Still-
A-Long swallowed it.
Creating something like this was, in itself, proof of extraordinary culinary skill. And as a gourmet who supported creative cuisine, he couldn't deny that.
Besides, Bear Grylls next to him had swallowed it. Spitting it out now would be too embarrassing.
Those two struggled silently.
Meanwhile, Kojiro Shinomiya burst into laughter the moment he tasted it.
He laughed until tears streamed down his face, soup spraying uncontrollably from his mouth.
Only after a staff member handed him a towel-after he wiped his face and calmed himself-did Arthur speak again.
"Judges," Arthur asked, "what do you think of Mr. Yuki's dish?"
Bear Grylls and A-Long fell silent.
Kojiro Shinomiya looked at Jaden and answered immediately.
"Bad-tasting."
"Using just those words might sound monotonous, but if I have to describe it-bad-tasting is the only answer."
"The flavor contained in this soup base is simply too early for humanity!"
"My taste buds can't identify it at all. Only my brain is screaming at me to reject it and throw it up."
After speaking, Kojiro Shinomiya looked deeply at Jaden.
"...And I know Yuki well."
"As terrible as his food can be, he's equally capable of producing deliciousness on the same level."
"So honestly, I'm quite curious what this dish would taste like if he actually made it properly."
A-Long was stunned for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Mr. Shinomiya is right."
Bear Grylls waited until A-Long finished speaking seriously.
Then he blinked.
"They're both right."
Arthur was clearly surprised by the judges' reactions, but he quickly recovered and continued hosting.
And as expected-
Jaden took first place.
Even in a competition like this.
...
After finishing the gourmet competition in the Northern Country, Jaden took the opportunity to travel around.
The old man had told him to rest for a while, and he did want to see a bit more of the world.
But then-
A message arrived from Erina.
Jaden immediately had the Totsuki staff make preparations and began rushing back.
Nothing had happened at Totsuki.
No emergency.
It was simply-
The massive project East Asia had been pushing ever since the previous Supreme Council Chair, now under Chika Fujiwara's direction.
The Kengan Ashura: Demon Lance anime had finished airing.
And the theatrical movie-
Was set to premiere worldwide in five days.