Final Eight

"W-What is this?!"

The five judges looked at the dish piled high with Sichuan peppercorns and immediately felt their mouths go numb.

But when Xu Yue pulled away the top layer of gauze, all the peppercorns vanished without a trace, leaving behind a plate of golden fried rice with plump, distinct grains.

Its presentation was utterly simple, practically like the instant curry rice sold in supermarkets.

Yet as the final layer of black sauce was poured over it, an indescribable fragrance drilled into their nostrils.

Delicious! So stimulating! I want more!

There was no need for anyone to invite them to taste it. The five judges could no longer control themselves as they began stuffing the curry rice into their mouths.

Pfft—

A pungent aroma mixed with steam rushed down their throats, so intense it felt as if their tear ducts were about to burst, making the tips of their noses itch.

Yet that uncomfortable stimulation brought a bizarre sense of relief, like holding back dozens of sneezes and finally letting one out all at once.

All five judges wore utterly unhinged expressions.

Perfect stimulation for the palate, perfect stimulation for the senses. Everyone ate until they were drenched in sweat and flushed red, yet they simply could not stop.

The "instant curry rice" Xu Yue had served last was swiftly devoured.

Even after finishing, they still wore lazy, thoroughly satisfied expressions, as though nothing else in the world mattered anymore.

"Ahem, judges, please score the dish."

In the end, the host could not bear to watch any longer and coughed to remind them.

Only then did they suddenly come back to their senses.

19, 19, 19, 19, 19!

Without the slightest hesitation, their scores instantly pushed Xu Yue to 95 points!

These five judges were gourmets, not chefs. Though they could appreciate the artistic realm behind a chef’s heart, what mattered more to them was the stimulation and experience of taste.

Without question, this instant curry rice had achieved the perfect flavor in their hearts.

But! Excessive stimulation itself could also be considered a flaw.

So although they had tasted "perfection" and felt it deserved full marks, out of a gourmet’s restraint, they had all tacitly deducted one point from a dish they knew had flaws.

Even so, it was the same 95 points as Alice!

"95 points! Another 95 points! Tied with Alice for first place! An incredible score, truly incredible!"

Seeing the near-perfect score, the host cried out in amazement, igniting the entire venue.

At this point, all the students had fully acknowledged Xu Yue’s true ability.

He was no longer some insignificant transfer student.

After his Food Wars! with Mito Ikumi, Hell Camp, the Autumn Election before them, and that legendary "God Tongue," Xu Yue had become a major figure among the first-years.

"As expected of Xu Yue. You’re truly amazing."

Blondie carried her dish forward and flatteringly spoke up.

Glasses likewise revealed a somewhat ingratiating expression.

"Yeah, getting 95 points from such a picky group of judges is incredible."

In response to their fawning words, Xu Yue merely offered a kind reminder.

"Watch your attitudes. If Etsuya Eizan notices, he’ll definitely make things difficult for you. It’ll be very bad for your future situation."

Those words of concern made the two of them feel even more strongly about the goodwill of this native. Blondie then gave a disdainful snort.

"That guy only knows how to use thugs to threaten people. If he really dares to make a move against us, we’d welcome it!"

Under the space’s punishment restrictions, being attacked allowed them to retaliate to a limited extent.

Thus, neither of them feared Etsuya Eizan at all.

"But it’ll affect your scores too, won’t it? All right, it’s your turn. Good luck. I’m rooting for you."

After that brief exchange, Xu Yue turned his back on them and left. Aside from the three involved, no one else knew what they had said.

Encouraged by Xu Yue’s support, Blondie and Glasses confidently brought their dishes forward. This time, each of them had borrowed three B-Rank Plot rewards for temporary cooking boosts.

On top of that, they had used the culinary improvement from Hell Camp that had cost a B-Rank Plot reward!

They might not be able to compare with Xu Yue or that other woman with 95 points, but surpassing third and fourth place should not be a problem.

The judges had only just recovered from their earlier languid state. When they saw Glasses’s dish, they showed interest again.

"Oh, what an inventive idea. Fish curry, using the fish itself as a container and filling it with thick soup. It looks like the flavors have already melded together."

"I thought after tasting that previous dish, I wouldn’t want any more curry."

As they talked among themselves, they all drank the soup at the same time.

Mm, it really was quite good!

The flavor was excellent!

89 points.

It was unquestionably a high score, but even within the current score range, it had been squeezed out of the top four.

That meant Glasses had been eliminated!

The result struck him like a bolt from the blue, leaving him unable to believe it.

How was that possible?!

Even the status boost provided by the space could not break through the competition? Were all the people ahead of him monsters?!

Immediately afterward, Blondie’s dish received the exact same score of 89 points.

For a moment, both of them were completely thrown into disarray.

Wait, had the judges eaten Xu Yue’s dish first, raising their standards?

But just as that thought surfaced, Tadokoro Megumi’s dish forcefully entered the top four with a high score of 93, completely dispelling their doubts.

Sigh, it seemed the people ahead really were all monsters!

Not even the space could suppress them!

God, why had they entered this competition? Why had they gone into debt for status boosts?

No, they had to keep looking for chances to persist. Only by becoming members of the Elite Ten and completing the mission could they possibly earn it back.

Right, they had to earn it back!

While they were making that decision, Xu Yue, who had already waited for Group B’s matches to end, was slightly surprised that the two had still managed to score as high as 89.

As expected of the B-Rank Plot status boosts provided by the space.

Even though he had blocked several judges’ taste perception for certain spices, they had still achieved such good results.

If he had not tampered with things, Megumi might have been in danger.

That was right. Xu Yue had used the blending properties of aromatic spices, along with the final addition of Sichuan peppercorns.

On one hand, he used that stimulating flavor to earn high scores. On the other, he completely blocked several of the spices the two of them had used!

At that distance, Xu Yue could clearly smell exactly which spices they were using, so naturally he could make corresponding adjustments.

He targeted only the two of them, not Tadokoro Megumi.

This spice blockade would gradually fade only after the judges adapted to the numbing flavor of the Sichuan peppercorns.

It was like how an ordinary person who ate Sichuan-style hot pot at noon would have their appetite affected that evening.

Thus, the Autumn Election preliminaries came to an end!

The four people from Group B entering the final eight were Xu Yue with 95 points, Alice with 95 points, Tadokoro Megumi with 93 points, and Hisako with 92 points.

The four from Group A were Hayama Akira with 94 points, Yukihira Soma with 93 points, Kurokiba Ryo with 93 points, and Mito Ikumi with 92 points!

Mikisuba Subaru excelled most at one-on-one Food Wars! If he relied on his imitation talent and final optimization ability in a Food Wars! against Mito Ikumi, then as long as Mito Ikumi did not gain an advantage through ingredients, the final outcome would truly have been hard to predict.

But in a chaotic free-for-all like this, Mikisuba Subaru—who had yet to be awakened by Yukihira Soma and remained immersed in imitation—held no great advantage. Thus, his direct elimination was only natural.

When Etsuya Eizan, who had planned to use Mikisuba Subaru to teach Yukihira Soma a lesson, learned the result, his eyes nearly bulged out.

What was going on?

Mikisuba Subaru’s ability should have been more than enough to advance!

But where had all these high scores come from?

Who was Hayama Akira? Who was Kurokiba Ryo?

And Mito Ikumi—she did have some skill, but there should have been an obvious gap between her and Mikisuba Subaru. How had she suddenly taken steroids?

He had just confidently boasted that Yukihira Soma would regret it, yet the person he had prepared to make him regret it had not even made it through the preliminaries.

This was fucking humiliating!

Still, fortunately, no one knew he had been planning to arrange Mikisuba Subaru…

"Oh? Eizan, it seems the Mikisuba Subaru you arranged didn’t make it past the preliminaries. I wonder how you feel about that."

Xu Yue looked at Eizan with a beaming smile, his face wearing a friendly expression…