Can you handle my Hikigaya's cooking?

“Yes, yes, yes, yes….What do you care? I just didn’t sleep well…It’s definitely not because I spent the whole night cooking and was not satisfied with the food.”

"This guy is lying, absolutely..."

Hachiman was too lazy to expose Erina's lie, and just said softly:

"It will be over after today anyway, so I can have a good rest then."

Erina: "Idiot, everyone says I don't stay up late because of cooking, I just can't sleep. Why do I see you everywhere... One day you'll scare me to death, but this is just right. Didn't you say my cooking was not good before? Let's have a good competition this time! Let's see whose cooking is better."

"I don't remember ever saying her cooking was bad..."

Looking at Erina's smug smile, Hachiman just shook his head:

"I'm not interested in comparison tests or anything like that. Just passing the assessment is enough."

Erina's expression immediately turned unhappy, as if because of being rejected by Hikigaya. She spread her hands:

"Okay, if that's the case, I want you to see my true strength!"

"Yes, yes... If this is how we can witness the true strength, it would be faster to taste each other's food."

"No, that's not what I meant!"

Hikigaya seemed completely unable to communicate further. She simply placed the soy sauce on her stove and slowly walked back to her own territory.

"Anyway, let's do our best."

"By the way, what are you going to cook?" Erina asked with some confusion because she hadn't seen Hikigaya's ingredients yet:

"Since it's a buffet, the most important thing is to attract customers with the taste. And I don't know many egg dishes, so I can only make Eggs Benedict. Didn't you steal my food yesterday?"

It seemed that when Erina heard the word "cheating", her mood, which had just calmed down, suddenly became more fiery than usual, but in that fiery heart, there was a hint of shyness.

"Who, who stole it? I didn't!"

"Yes Yes..."

Because of the accident yesterday, Erina couldn't taste the whole dish even if she ate it. But even so, she still had a question:

"When did you learn that?"

She couldn't believe it. She had tried cooking countless times and failed countless times before she confidently brought out the dish. But now...

This was the only question she had to figure out.

Hachiman: "I didn't know how to do this before I came to this school, but now that I've seen you do it once, I want to give it a try."

Shocked by Hikigaya's words, Erina's lips began to tremble:

"So, so, that's when you started practicing?"

"You can say that..."

"Then how did you learn it?"

"See if you do it once, won't you remember it?"

For Hachiman, this question was too confusing, but for Erina, she simply couldn't believe that this was something a human could do.

To make an exquisite dish, you need to keep experimenting. You need to understand the raw materials of each ingredient, calculate the cooking time for each ingredient, and even the temperature, humidity, and any calculable conditions. Practice makes perfect.

but...

She didn't believe it. How could it be possible just by looking at her eyes?

Erina put away her previous expression, her face became cold and ruthless, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth:

"Hikigaya Hachiman, you really are so self-righteous."

"Self-righteous? I hate this word the most."

"I really hope to see you drop out of school. As expected, I still can't admit that you, a guy who can't even use a knife skillfully, actually said such words... It's simply an insult to chefs and an insult to the heritage of the culinary world for many years."

"Next, I must use my new dishes to prove what a chef is and what the tenth best chef of Totsuki Academy is."

Facing such a high-spirited Erina, Hachiman noticed that her movements were no longer hesitant, and the panic just now no longer appeared. However, the firm expression in her eyes seemed to be in much better condition than usual.

Now, she must be able to make dishes that are more exquisite than usual.

The two of them did not communicate any more. After completing the final preparations, they heard the broadcast slowly coming from the hall:

"Are you all ready to serve? Now let's start explaining the eligibility requirements."

"First, let me introduce the judges."

As the door opened, a group of children in a good mood rushed in first. Looking at the crowd that came in one after another, the students who had been well prepared were a little confused for a moment.

Not only children, but also people of all ages continued to pour in. In venue A alone, there were already thousands of people.

Dojima Gin's voice came from the radio again:

"They are the food producers who cooperate with Totsuki Resort and their families. They serve as judges for this training every year."

"[Surprising Egg Dishes], this question has already told them that the judges will be very accurate. Don't expect anyone to eat dishes that don't meet the standards."

"I see. No wonder we have to complete this exam in the form of a buffet. If the quality of a dish is not up to standard, it will directly affect the reputation of the stall and lead to a decrease in subsequent customers. This is the same as the situation when opening a store. Next, we should announce the number of completed dishes."

Hachiman had already guessed the general situation of this test question. Among this terrifying number of people, a large number of them were definitely not ordinary people, and even their requirements for food could not be satisfied simply.

And if you add the number of completed tasks, it would be as difficult as hell.

Gin Dojima: "Of course, everyone, don't worry. In our Totsuki Resort, the staff of the cooking department and the service department will also participate in the evaluation. There are two passing criteria: whether the production experts and on-site service experts can get the recognition and creativity of both of them at the same time, and whether more than 200 dishes can be served within two hours from now."

As expected, just as Hachiman himself guessed, the number of dishes, the time and other challenges added up, plus facing a diverse customer base of both genders, young and old, it might not be easy to pass this test.

The situation now is almost like actual combat, and this is probably the final battle of this school trip.

Dojima Gin: "If you meet the above two points, you will be considered qualified. Then, please enjoy this moment, judges from each venue. Let the judging begin!"

With Dojima Gin's voice, the whole venue began to boil. The students immediately brought out the dishes that they had prepared long ago. Faced with the fragrant food, the children who were most unable to resist the temptation immediately began their breakfast journey.

Although it is easier for children, their appetite is smaller, so if you just focus on children, it will be impossible.

"If we need to complete 200 copies, then we have to complete one copy every minute. This consumes a lot of energy..."

Almost instantly, Hachiman dismissed the idea.

We can't avoid the problem by dividing one dish into fifty portions as we did on the first day, because today's guests are different from those on that day and have certain requirements for the dishes.

If you do it one by one, the speed will only get slower and slower, so...

There is only one option, which is to attract experts by using numbers, so that the test can be completed before everyone else.

Thinking of this, Hachiman started cooking without any hesitation.

Because it is different from other dishes, his Benedict eggs must be made on the spot, and because of this, the aroma of the dish continues to emit with the steam from the wok.

Erina on the side glanced over, but...

After not seeing him for a while, she noticed that Hikigaya's basic cooking skills had improved significantly compared to before.

After the battle with Mito, she had never seen Hikigaya cook again, and this time...

It is already close to the level of Totsuki elites.

As if she was frightened by this growth rate, her movements slowed down, and the concentration she had just maintained dropped again at this moment.

In just a few moments, Hachiman had completely finished the Benedict eggs.

As the aroma of honey wafted out, a group of customers instantly flocked to Hachiman's stall, which was in the form of a buffet.

"smell good..."

"This sweetness is honey."

"It's so comfortable. I can't eat anything this early in the morning, but my appetite is aroused at this time."

"I can not wait any more."

Chapter 68: Hikigaya, the food tester of Totsuki

Different venues are now emitting different culinary flowers, and the people in venue A are in the most competitive exhibition hall. Not to mention the existence of two monsters, Yukinoshita and Erina, even famous people like Hayama and Takumi are competing here.

Even though there are a large number of judges, a person's appetite is limited after all. To complete 200 servings, regardless of speed and quality, whether anyone chooses to eat in the end is also an important factor.

With such fierce competition, I thought it would be a very fierce battle, but...

Although it had only been a few minutes since the beginning, everyone was attracted by the ingredients from Hikigaya.

The flickering golden light, the constantly emanating enticing aroma, and the just the right amount of powder, all captured everyone's attention. In just a moment, it had attracted most of the guests, who lined up in long queues.

"It smells so good! What kind of food is this?"

“It’s said to be Eggs Benedict.”

"Eggs Benedict? I understand, but there shouldn't be so many people..."

"What do you know, this isn't just any Eggs Benedict. Have you ever smelled Eggs Benedict that smelled like this?"

"Don't push the people behind you!"

It seemed that the venue had been completely ignited, and fully half of the thousands of people kept moving towards Hikigaya. As for whether it was Yukinoshita or Erina, since their fame was not as good as Totsuki Gakuen, they did not bring the same number of guests.

Seeing the guests slowly gathering over there, they also began to discuss:

"That 1 direction is Erina's direction, no wonder..."

"If I lose to Erina-sama, I will accept it with all my heart."

"Hey, look carefully, they weren't attracted by Erina, but by that... guy named Hikigaya!"

"Hikigaya? Did he win against that guy who was Chef Shinomiya?!"

"Yes, it's him!"

There are already countless rumors about Hikigaya, whether it's about Yukinoshita, Shinomiya, or Dojima Gin, they are too numerous to count, but...

When they were defeated by this legendary man for the first time, the pain in their hearts was definitely not so easy to eliminate.

But, right now...

If you want to defeat him, what method should you use?

Since a large number of guests were taken away by Hikigaya, the whole venue seemed relaxed.

Except for Hikigaya...

Because there were too many people on Hikigaya's side, Erina also received a lot of customers. During this period of time, she was able to prepare dozens of dishes in an instant.

Having said that, she still felt very unhappy when the light that had shone on her for a long time was taken away from her.

She is a confident person, but she has also thought about what it would be like after failure. After all, she has walked this path step by step, and she has failed countless times, but...

But she refused to give up or admit defeat even though she lost to this guy.

After all these years, he is the first one who has truly pushed Erina Nakiri into such a situation.

In the monitoring room, Dojima Gin and Chef Shinomiya were watching the surveillance. Although the images of the three venues were being shown at the same time,...

Invariably, their eyes were focused on one person.

Hinata: "With such a huge workload and such a tight time schedule, many people would lose their composure in advance, but he was able to remain calm. Even when faced with provocations from others and an increase in the number of people, he remained calm and composed. This is one of the factors that a chef must possess. It seems that Hikigaya is doing a good job, isn't he?"

Shigong crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Humph, if this guy can't even do this, I was really wrong in admitting him."

As he said this, Shinomiya's face was obviously more proud, and Hinata added:

"Come on, Senior Shinomiya, you lost to him simply because you lack strength."

"If you keep talking, I'll kick you out."

"The violent Shinomiya-senpai has started again."

It seemed that they had gotten used to the bickering between these two guys, and the rest of the people just continued to keep their eyes on Hikigaya.

The gatekeeper smiled helplessly: "Everyone probably thought that Erina was the most powerful one, but no one expected that a dark horse would suddenly appear this year."

Mizuhara: “To be honest, I still don’t understand why he was able to improve so quickly in such a short period of time. And for someone who has never been exposed to cooking before, it always feels like a miracle.”

Speaking of this issue, everyone started to discuss it, except for Dojima Gin, who looked serious and just frowned slightly:

"He has a terrifying insight. Although he has never cooked before, he probably remembers every dish he has ever touched, every ingredient he has seen, and every flavor he has tasted."

Mizuhara: "How is that possible? Such a person must be a genius."

Guan Shou: "No, you are wrong about Mizuhara. People like him can only copy other people's dishes and can never create their own taste. But Hikigaya is more than that."