Correct Usage

"This is…"

As the fragrance drifted into his nostrils, Roland Shaper—despite having sampled so many dishes already—still felt a wave of hunger rise within him!

Though he was an excellent, experienced teacher who only took a small bite of each dish and avoided interference from the previous ones as much as possible,

he was not a machine, after all. He had already sampled nearly every dish made in class, especially Yukihira Soma’s final dish, which had left him satisfied.

He truly felt full.

Yet now, the fragrance alone had made him want to eat again. It genuinely made him look forward to the dish before him.

This year’s transfer students were truly unexpected.

He had thought Yukihira Soma was outstanding enough already.

Yet these three did not seem weak either.

Still, a dish could not be judged by its aroma alone. Taste was the main event.

After picking up his knife and fork, elegantly cutting off a small piece, and placing it in his mouth, Roland Shaper felt as though he had arrived in heaven in an instant!

The beef melted in his mouth, as though the entire piece had turned into thick, fatty meat juices. Yet under the balance of red wine and sauce, it was not greasy at all. A faint, appetite-stimulating tartness elevated it further, fully blooming into a feast of flavor.

And after it entered his stomach, he somehow felt even hungrier.

Roland Shaper unconsciously ate a second piece!

One had to know that even Yukihira Soma’s earlier dish had not made him try a second bite.

To ensure the accuracy of his judgment, he only ate enough of each dish to form an evaluation.

Yet he had made an exception for Xu Yue.

Even though Xu Yue’s group was the only one whose dish had been ruined by an accident afterward, he had still made Roland Shaper—who cared most about rules—make an exception.

After unconsciously putting the second bite into his mouth, even Roland Shaper himself seemed unable to believe it.

He had completely instinctively eaten a second piece.

The sensation of shedding every restraint, rising refreshed and cool into heaven, truly made it impossible to stop.

Still, he was a seasoned teacher. He had lost his composure once when caught off guard, but he would not do so again.

After elegantly wiping the corner of his mouth with a napkin, he revealed a smile.

"Grade A. It is even somewhat better than Yukihira Soma’s dish. You made full use of the entire class period. In particular, that secret sauce must have been used to marinate the beef before stewing, then applied again afterward, completely bringing out two distinct layers of flavor…"

"…Furthermore, your fundamentals with traditional Beef Bourguignon are exceptionally solid. Your ingredient preparation and heat control were textbook-perfect."

The evaluation was even longer than the one Yukihira Soma had received, and Xu Yue wore a modest expression.

"You flatter me, sir."

His ability to reach this level this time had something to do with the two Reincarnators who had spent Reincarnation Points on recipes. Otherwise, having spent nothing himself, he might have made some mistakes during the hour-and-a-half cooking process due to gaps in his culinary knowledge.

Besides, although he had won against Yukihira Soma this time, there was still a difference between them.

Most of this dish had been completed under Yukihira Soma’s guidance. Xu Yue had merely used the teachings Yukihira Soma had received from his father, Yukihira Seiichiro, along with his own sensitivity to taste, to make a few experimental adjustments to the sauce.

Moreover, Yukihira Soma had encountered an accident midway through and only had the final half hour to cook, while Xu Yue had made full use of all the available time.

If he still could not surpass him under those conditions, that would be far too embarrassing for his Sharingan.

The two Reincarnators who had assisted Xu Yue had not received direct praise from the teacher, but excited expressions still appeared on their faces.

"Getting first place in this class under such a strict-looking teacher should count toward the final evaluation, right?"

"Exactly! And the third person in our group is a native who will not receive rewards, so our evaluation rewards should be even better."

"Right. Even if we only contributed as support, since he is a native, the Space should judge the result as having been achieved due to our influence. Just this one reward will make up for our losses."

The two whispered to one another, excitement written across their faces.

Since the cost of learning the dish could be earned back, they could be much bolder from now on. Whenever the Space offered beneficial assistance, they should learn it immediately without hesitation!

"Heh heh, since I knew this was a Punishment mission, I did not spend any of the settlement rewards from the previous mission. Together with what I had left over and saved before, it will definitely be enough for what comes next."

"That’s right! Good thing Big Brother reminded me, or I would have messed things up!"

Blondie also thanked Glasses gratefully.

"Those people in previous Punishment missions were unwilling to make even the slightest early investment. They hesitated and never found a way to recoup their costs like ours, so most of them ended up with deductions or zero scores. As long as we persist until the end and clear this mission, perhaps the rewards will even exceed those of an ordinary mission."

Glasses adjusted his glasses, and a glint flashed across the lenses.

"Big Brother is wise!"

Meanwhile, Xu Yue was also considering whether, if those two guys could not have all their rewards wiped out through the Elite Ten evaluation, the credit for this assessment might all be counted toward him alone…

There was the opening ceremony in the morning, followed by Roland Shaper’s class in the afternoon.

By the time class ended, evening was drawing near.

Xu Yue and Yukihira Soma were searching for their dormitory.

Polar Star Dormitory!

Totsuki Academy was truly enormous. Since Xu Yue maintained the same pace as Yukihira Soma in front of him, he had no particularly good way of finding it himself. It was not as if he had the Byakugan.

Fortunately, Yukihira Soma had a simple map in hand.

Before the sky completely darkened, the two finally arrived at the destination marked on the map.

It was a three-story Western-style house covered in vines, looking like a haunted mansion.

If not for the Polar Star Dormitory sign at the entrance, Yukihira Soma would not have believed this was his dormitory!

Xu Yue, on the other hand, was not particularly surprised. Carrying his bag, he walked inside.

If he remembered correctly, moving into the dormitory required passing an entrance test. They needed to satisfy the dorm manager, Grandma Bunyo, with a dish.

The difficulty was not high, but when Yukihira Soma first arrived here in the original story, the ingredients were already gone, leaving only scraps.

He had forcefully turned things around with his cooking skills, using the leftover scraps to make a dish and move in on his first day rather than camp outside.

However, Xu Yue’s basic culinary skills could not compare with Yukihira Soma’s. If he had to improvise with scraps, even if he copied Yukihira Soma’s movements on the spot, he would need to make sure there were scraps left to use.

So…

After class, he had directly hidden quite a bit of the leftover beef from the classroom.

When no one was looking, he used Kamui to stash his group’s excess beef away. Then, once he reached somewhere deserted, he secretly retrieved it and put it in his bag. There was no flaw whatsoever. Since it was his group’s beef, it did not count as any kind of aggressive action.

So the test meant nothing to him now. At worst, he could copy the dish from class. Passing would be easy.

As for Yukihira Soma?

I’m already being nice enough not to screw you over. You still expect me to remind you?

Happy New Year’s Day, everyone.

Two updates today…

To make sure I did not miss an update, I got home after midnight last night and stayed up cultivating until dawn. At three in the morning, I even approved a reader’s request to join the group…

The reader group is at the very bottom of the prologue. But because of time and energy constraints, Integrity Fungus only lurks, and has not spoken for nearly two years…