Can you handle my Hikigaya's cooking?

She's only a first-year student, but she's surprisingly good. However...

She put her hands on the back of her head and smiled faintly:

"It seems that I am the better one in this competition."

Komachi didn't act like a spoiled child, she just sighed helplessly, then suddenly clenched her fists, as if to cheer herself up and said, "Senior Rindan, wait a little longer, I will win back!"

Longdan: "That's great, to have an opponent like you, hehe."

Amidst applause, Hikigaya Komachi ended her joint food battle journey, but as soon as she came to Hachiman, she couldn't stop the pain in her heart and pounced on him.

"Brother, I lost."

"It's okay, you've done a good job."

"Next time, I will win."

"Most definitely."

After a brief consolation, Komachi seemed to have recovered her strength. At this moment, Hachiman and others also needed to decide on the next contestant.

Takumi: "Let me do it. I still have a chance against that kind of food."

Alice: "No, let me do it."

Several people raised their hands one after another, but Hachiman focused his attention on another person.

"Erina, I can leave it to you."

Erina seemed to have been prepared for this. She just took a deep breath and smiled with great confidence.

"In fact, I have been waiting for you to say this."

"Then, leave it to you."

"I will win."

"I believe you."

Erina just stood up gently and turned to face the crowd. Under the gaze of everyone, the former tenth seat Erina Nakiri finally came to the stage.

Chapter 13: Erina awakens, it is impossible to win by a narrow margin

From a very early stage, she had undoubted faith in the cooking that she inherited from her talent. The pride that came from her heart has always been Erina's motivation. As the strongest of her generation, and even one of the top ten most outstanding people of the same period, Erina has undoubted faith in her own strength.

However, she didn't know when it started, until the panic in her heart completely overshadowed her past mood, perhaps over time, she was able to notice something unusual.

Why is this? She is the strongest person, the most talented person, but she has to take a completely different path again and again. What would it be like if she hadn't quit the Ten Elites? For some reason, Erina thought to herself.

However, she did not regret quitting here. After all, everything that the top ten were pursuing now was no longer her original intention, and everything she wanted had already fallen into the abyss and finally turned into nothing.

Now, everyone standing in front of her is nothing but an enemy, and all she can do is to stand on this stage, win until the last moment, and prove with her own actions that everything her father did was wrong.

For myself and for the man behind me, although I have always criticized him from a superior perspective, it cannot be denied that everything he did might be right.

Rindou: "It's Erina's turn. I didn't expect that the civil war among the top ten would come so soon. It's really a headache."

Erina: "I would also be troubled if I were to fight against Rindou-senpai, but I volunteered this time, and I hope to fight you."

Rindou: "Huh? It's amazing that Erina-chan has such courage. Although you are a unique genius in this generation, you should know the difference between the tenth seat and the second seat."

Needless to say, although they are both at the top of the academy, there is a huge gap between the second and tenth seats. As a senior, Rindou is ahead of Erina in terms of experience and knowledge. It can be said that this is a complete dimensionality reduction attack, but...

Senior Rindan was not confident that she would win. After all, in the competition just now with Komachi, she won by a narrow margin of 3 to 2. And Komachi was just a first-grade kid. What was certain was that they were no longer the same as they were before. So what was the reason?

Erina: "I hope you won't let me down, Rindou-senpai. After all, it would be very embarrassing to lose to a junior."

Rindou: "Since Erina-chan said so..."

Erina had already walked to the lottery machine and just drew the lottery casually. In front of the high-speed camera, her lottery undoubtedly made everyone's pupils dilate.

How lucky is Erina to have drawn the only card "Freedom" among tens of thousands of blank papers...

However, since it is a free cooking, it also means that Senior Longdan is the same. Perhaps in this cooking competition, both of them will bring out the dishes they are best at.

Yoshino: "Kobayashi Ryodan, you're not going to use wild animals or rare ingredients to make dishes again..."

Hisako: "This kind of powerful cuisine is indeed Rindan-senpai's strength. It's not surprising that she would come up with such ingredients, but..."

Ryoko: "But what?"

Hisako: "Looking at the look on their faces, they don't seem to be preparing to take out any precious ingredients. After all, I didn't see any large beasts."

After Feishazi said this, everyone realized that Longdan, who had just taken out the crocodile to scare the audience when she came on stage, was actually much quieter in this duel. She just started to match various ingredients from the beginning. Although she might add other large ingredients later, it seems that the situation is still unclear now.

On the contrary, Erina seemed to have not yet entered the state. Obviously, any theme was fine, but when she drew the "free" dish, Erina's heart was actually empty. Every dish she mastered was excellent and very unique. It was completely reasonable to say that they were nirvana, but...

If every dish is called a special skill, then is there any need for special skills to exist?

The so-called ultimate move must be a dish that has won her every victory in key competitions and that she has absolute confidence in. However, it was not until this moment that Erina realized that she did not have such a dish.

If it was Hikigaya-kun, maybe he wouldn't have to think too much and would serve his best dishes, but now she was actually confused...

A look of helplessness and inaction surrounded the entire venue for a moment, and Nakiri Tsuki just clasped his hands in front of his chest and revealed a meaningful smile for a moment.

"That's right, Erina. This is the importance of central cuisine. Otherwise, no one would be able to understand the true power of your 'God's Tongue'."

At the same time, the people standing on the stage also began to worry about Erina at this moment.

Alice: "What is Erina doing? It's time, time!"

Takumi: "Rentou-senpai has even finished dissecting the ingredients..."

Komachi: "Brother..."

Hachiman: "Don't worry, she will always find a way. Even if she doesn't rely on the so-called 'God's Tongue', she is just an ordinary person and can find her own answer through her life experience over the past ten years."

There was a hint of surprise on Yukinoshita's face, but she said calmly, "Hikigaya-kun, you trust her a lot."

Hachiman did not deny it, but just nodded and said:

"From the moment I entered the school, I had no doubt about her cooking. After all, being able to cook such dishes definitely cannot be summed up by talent."

With that helpless look, Hachiman's eyes only became more determined. At times like this, the more certain Hachiman was that she could break through her limits.

Erina's body trembled uncontrollably for a moment. When she came to her senses again, for some reason, a power that did not belong to her surged from all parts of her body. She stared into Hikigaya's eyes. The trust from the other party and her own unwillingness were encouraging her step by step, just to say a word to her.

Let's start over, Erina.

Yes, there has never been any such thing as a special move from the beginning, because every dish has been mastered to perfection, so every dish should be a special move, and there is no need to think about it too much.

However, it is impossible to use the food from the past to defeat Senior Rindou. Erina, who understands this, no longer needs to think about it.

Now, she wants to create a dish that does not belong to her past self, but belongs only to the present. This is a donation to her future self, and also a sure-fire way for her present self.

The vigorous momentum is constantly expanding. Even Kobayashi Ryōdan, who has his back to Erina, can feel it. The determination that has been hidden deep inside finally breaks out at this moment.

Longdan: "In this case, it seems that I can't continue playing."

At this moment, Rindou also increased her speed instantly. Although it was only for a moment, Hikigaya could sense that Rindou's aura had become completely different at this moment.

"Sure enough, that guy chose to join the Central, definitely not because of the so-called ruling order..."

Kobayashi Ryodan simply wanted to fight with powerful people and bring his cooking to the world, and the central nervous system was just an excuse.

For an excellent chef, there is no one who does not hope to become a situation like this, but for Hikigaya, who has lived in a different environment since childhood, he believes that any restaurant has a reason to exist in this world. It is because of the diversity of cuisine that there is a distinction between good and bad. If all the dishes tasted the same, there would be no such thing as delicious or unpalatable.

On the other side, Hayato Hayama obviously didn't expect Longdan to move so quickly. After only a short while, it was almost time for the closing.

But Si was not surprised at all, having grown up with Longdan, he knew very well that this was undoubtedly Longdan who was really serious. In addition, he had just been infected by Komachi, so it was not surprising that he could achieve such a speed.

But...even Si was a little surprised...

Marui: "Hey, is this dish really made by her?"

Ryoko: “It’s incredible…”

Mito: "A beautiful layer of puff pastry?"

Longdan: "Hehe, this is the central nervous system modified mushroom puff pastry with acetic acid mushroom puree."

Hoshino Ai: "Then let's taste it!"

Toyokawa Shoko: "It's amazing. The rich taste of various mushrooms and the tight integration of the extremely thin skin of the puff pastry. Finally, the shiitake mushrooms are used as the main ingredient, and the olive oil is used to fry them to further lock in their flavor."

Mai Sakurajima: “Sauté mushrooms and onions with garlic and butter until they change color. Then, add crushed nuts and mushroom puree with whipped cream and place on top of the dough.”

Mother Xue: "You are all right, but the most critical factor in determining the taste is the sour taste."

Eriri: "What is this sour taste?"

Snow Mother: "If I'm not mistaken, it's the acid of the ant cub."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience fell silent.

There are actually people who use ants to cook. Just as Yoshino said, they are truly masters of cherishing ingredients. Putting such ingredients into dishes is a bold idea that has already surpassed the scope of ordinary chefs.

Mother Yuki: "This is the true strength of the second place in Totsuki. It's really shocking."

Kawashima Rei: "Next, please let Erina serve her dish."

At the last moment when time stopped, Erina finally finished her cooking. After such a tiring process, she just gently wiped the sweat from her forehead, and finally, under the gaze of everyone, she took out an unimaginable dish.

"Meat rice bowl."

When they heard the name, everyone was dumbfounded. This style of cooking was exactly what Hachiman and Komachi would come up with. Especially Mito Alice and Hisako, they could never have imagined that one day Erina would actually cook such a dish. And Nakiri Tsuchiya even showed a disdainful look in the audience.

However, it was normal for them not to understand, because among so many people, perhaps only Hikigaya Hachiman could understand the meaning conveyed by this dish.

Unlike the others, Hachiman just couldn't help but smile, and finally said softly:

"This guy isn't that troublesome..."

Even though she keeps complaining about her own cooking, her concern is genuine in her heart. Even though tsundere has faded out of favor nowadays, Erina remains the same.

"Enjoy it, judges."

Mother Xue naturally didn't say much. She just picked up her cutlery and started to taste the food amid everyone's puzzled gazes.

Seeing this, the other four judges did not wait any longer. They followed Xue's mother's actions and started picking up their own tableware.

Ying Lili: "Such tender chicken with a sticky egg wrapped tightly around it, melting on the tongue, roasted medium-rare on the inside, perfect fire fox and high-quality free-range chicken ingredients, so delicious."

Mai Sakurajima: "Yes, we put a lot of effort into the sauce, salt, pepper, eggs, and fresh cream, put them in hot water and cook until they are thick, then add turmeric powder to bake them in American style, and then put special squid and cooked rice on sesame oil to make a crispy pancake. It's so delicious."

Xiangzi: "This taste? How is it made..."

Hoshino Ai: "Seafood...huh?"

Xue Mu: "Yes, the rich flavor of the fried clams reduced the greasy taste of the chicken. It's amazing that they were able to create a new work in such a short time."

Kawashima Rei: "Well, let's do the final scoring!"

"The score is 5-0! Erina Nakiri wins!"

Hearing this result, Longdan just smiled indifferently.

"I lost..."

On the other side, Erina once again put on her signature proud smile, but the difference from the past was that this time the smile was only for one person.

Hachiman: "This guy is really... a headache."

Tsuya: "This is not a good thing, Yang No-senpai..."

Yang No: "In that case, Mimasaka, you go ahead."

On Hachiman's side, looking at the exhausted Erina, Hachiman knew that the next dish would consume more energy, so...

"Erina, come back first."

Erina: “Huh? I can still go on…”

Hachiman: "You've worked hard, but you should take a rest first."

This time, Erina was not arrogant. She just listened to Hachiman's concern and walked off the stage with a blushing face.

Chapter 14: Absolute Imitator, the Final Seven vs. Seven

Erina's fate also means that Hachiman needs to send a new player to compete. In fact, with Erina's ability, it is not difficult to continue the competition. However, given her unstable condition, Hachiman decided to let her rest for a while. She didn't say much. Compared to her original tsundere nature, she has obviously become obedient now.