Defect

"What is this?"

As Shinomiya Kojiro took in the sweet, fragrant aroma rushing toward him, it seemed to scatter every restraint around him in an instant.

But that scent alone should not have been enough to make him lose his composure.

He saw the dish the other man had uncovered. In terms of appearance, it was not the slightest bit different from his own!

They had chosen the same ingredients, and the final presentation was exactly the same as his.

Those two points alone were enough to shock Shinomiya Kojiro!

"Senior Shinomiya wasn’t watching his cooking earlier. The techniques he used were completely identical to yours. Well, aside from what seemed to be some secondary processing afterward."

Inui Hinako kindly offered a reminder to the already astonished Shinomiya Kojiro.

"Completely identical techniques?"

Shinomiya Kojiro’s face was full of disbelief.

"Hmph. A pointless sleight of hand!"

Then, without another moment’s hesitation, he took a piece with his knife and fork as his opponent’s dish and stuffed it into his mouth. The instant it entered his mouth, his expression completely froze.

At the same time, Mizuhara Fuyumi, who knew Shinomiya Kojiro best, spoke calmly.

"It isn’t just the technique. Even some of your habits have been copied."

But the moment she finished speaking, she found Shinomiya Kojiro’s frozen expression strange.

What was going on?

Why had he stopped speaking after taking a bite?

Though Mizuhara Fuyumi was also astonished by Xu Yue’s ability to imitate, she did not believe he could have matched Shinomiya Kojiro’s control over every detail!

The most outstanding aspect of the dish before them was the balance in its details, blending multiple flavors together and allowing them to elevate one another.

Even the slightest deviation would create a major difference in texture and taste.

That was absolutely not an ability a student could possess.

As she thought that, she put a piece of the dish before her into her mouth.

Sweet juices bloomed across her palate, and an indescribable fragrance surged up through her throat into her nose.

Then, set off by the sweet vegetables, the refreshing, non-greasy texture of the filling erupted in full.

The double assault made Mizuhara Fuyumi let out a satisfied moan in an instant.

How could this be!

That deliciousness, that sweetness—it was utterly unbearable!

On the foundation of a dish nearly identical to Shinomiya Kojiro’s, it had added an even more perfect sweet fragrance!

And…

What was with the sweetness of those fresh seasonal vegetables? It was as though she stood in a vegetable orchard, in the budding season of spring, seeing dew gathered on the leaves.

The dew slid down, and in that instant, Mizuhara Fuyumi went limp in her chair!

The other two rough-looking male judges wore nearly identical expressions, their faces filled with an indescribable sense of ascension.

I lost!

That was the only thought that flashed through Shinomiya Kojiro’s mind after he swallowed the food in his mouth and felt that sweetness erupt from his stomach.

This was his own dish. No one had more authority to speak on its characteristics than he did!

Leaving aside the other man’s comparable balancing ability, which perfectly fused the flavors of every ingredient, the fragrance added through the later processing alone had already raised the dish to another level!

However, there was still a gap between them in terms of balancing ability. With the bonus from that aroma alone, Shinomiya Kojiro had still been confident of winning. At most, he would lose one point from Mizuhara Fuyumi, who liked that scent.

But…

What was with that freshness?

They had chosen leftover ingredients that had already been picked over—vegetables that were no longer fresh!

Even he had racked his brains to balance out the flavors caused by oxidation in those vegetables, which had affected his dish as a whole.

But what was going on with the other man’s?

They were completely like freshly picked vegetables—tender vegetables still dripping with dew!

He could not understand it. He simply could not understand it!

Had they really chosen the same ingredients?

"I lost…"

Shinomiya Kojiro had his pride. A loss was a loss, and a win was a win. The difference between their dishes was obvious.

The result was much like the previous round as well: 3–0!

Even now, Mizuhara Fuyumi and the other two who had cast their votes could not suppress the shock in their hearts.

The other man had used exactly the same dish as Shinomiya Kojiro.

No!

It would be more accurate to say that everything had been improvised on the spot.

Yet under such circumstances, he had not only perfectly replicated the other man’s dish, but surpassed it!

What kind of terrifying ability was that?

What heaven-defying talent was that!

Even the god of chefs might be no more than this!

It was unbelievable…

On the other side, Yukihira Soma and Tadokoro Megumi were equally shaken when they saw the utterly one-sided vote.

Could he defeat even graduates with such overwhelming superiority?

Even Yukihira Soma, who knew Xu Yue well and fully acknowledged his talent, felt dazed and lost at this moment.

But thinking about it, how long had Xu Yue been studying cooking before reaching this level? Looking at it that way, nothing he did should have been surprising…

When Shinomiya Kojiro saw the vote, even though he had already been mentally prepared, he still felt something he could not describe.

Heh. Even when I took part in Food Wars! as a first-year, I had never been crushed 3–0. This really was ironic.

But then Shinomiya Kojiro noticed that Dojima Gin had taken out a coin representing a vote and placed it on his plate.

"Hey, Senior Dojima, are you pitying me?"

Shinomiya Kojiro’s pride would never allow such charity or pity. This was not his strongest dish, so losing would not shake his confidence, but this kind of charity was what truly enraged him.

"Besides, you shouldn’t have voting rights. Stop messing around."

Since Inui Hinako had been removed from the judges’ table, Dojima Gin had also been denied voting rights to keep the number odd.

Yet as he took another bite of Xu Yue’s dish, he said calmly,

"Don’t let your pride blind your heart. Take a few more bites."

Not quite understanding, Shinomiya Kojiro stubbornly took another bite of Xu Yue’s dish. Then, the flaw hidden beneath the supreme sensory pleasure made his expression falter slightly.

His first bite had been different because this was his own dish, and he was too familiar with every aspect of it. He had instinctively compared the texture and quality of the food.

But this time, he discovered a mechanical coldness within the dish, as though it had been produced by an assembly-line machine.

Imitation for the sake of imitation. Surpassing for the sake of surpassing!

It was entirely a machine—a machine born solely for cooking!

It lacked the passion of a chef. Every bite tasted almost identical, with almost no variation whatsoever…

After hearing this, Mizuhara Fuyumi and the other judges curiously tried it again as well. Their faces soon turned grave.

They could not feel any love or passion. It was cold like a machine, possessing absolute luxury on the palate, yet the more they ate, the colder they felt inside.

It was like the difference between artificial flavoring and natural spices. Saccharin could be far sweeter than cane sugar, and industrial alcohol could have a far higher proof than baijiu!

At that moment, they could not help recalling Inui Hinako’s earlier assessment of him. He was someone who could create an Elite Ten-level finishing dish through flavor effects alone!

"This is… Hah. Even so, I still lost this time. The absolute difference in the freshness of the ingredients isn’t something that little bit of passion can make up for."

Shinomiya Kojiro set down his knife and fork, still believing that he had lost. Though the other man’s dish lacked passion and soul, that incomparably domineering assault on the senses could crush all resistance.

For ordinary judges, the other man’s dish held an incomparable advantage. Only a chef as skilled as Dojima Gin would think that Shinomiya Kojiro’s dish was superior.

"That’s because there is now a flaw in your chef’s heart as well. Shinomiya, your cooking has not improved in a long time, has it?"

Dojima Gin put down his knife and fork, a faintly wicked smile on his face.

"If there were no flaw in your heart, I believe Mizuhara and the others would have judged you the winner."

If this had merely been a contest with Tadokoro Megumi before tasting Xu Yue’s dish, Shinomiya Kojiro would definitely have argued back against Dojima Gin.

But after being directly crushed by Xu Yue’s dish, which was completely identical to his own, he was able to face this flaw of his head-on.

"Easy for you to say, but how could it be that simple? You were hired by Totsuki Academy right after graduation. How could you understand the feelings of chefs like us who started our own businesses?"

Shinomiya Kojiro did not deny it, but neither did he feel he could agree with Dojima Gin.

"Senior Shinomiya, if you think about it, both of us have obvious flaws in certain ways. Mine should be far more serious than yours."

Xu Yue had already walked to the dining table. He picked up the Rainbow Terrine in front of Mizuhara Fuyumi, the one Tadokoro Megumi had made, then cut off a piece and put it into his mouth.

"That’s why I wanted to take part in this Food Wars! I also suggest that you try Megumi’s dish…"

Second update complete!

Thanks to Tan Ai Shang Gan Qing for the fifty-thousand reward~

Thank you all for your continued support!