Poisoning

"Pervert."

Alice Nakiri returned to her booth in a huff, driving away her little lackey, Kurokiba Ryo, in the process.

Before turning away, she did not forget to shoot Xu Yue a vicious glare from afar.

Xu Yue, seated on a little stool, could only rub his nose helplessly.

He had merely been reminded of another Alice, and she had seen right through him. She really was sensitive.

In these unrealistic slice-of-life worlds, there were always strange extrasensory perceptions.

Still, it was fortunate that she seemed to have agreed to that little contest in order to "punish" him.

This ridiculous accident had somehow given him a divine assist.

It felt a little unfamiliar, but when dealing with opponents prone to creating accidents, perhaps using accidents against them was not a bad choice either…

As the clock struck six, the restaurant doors opened, and a flood of tourists poured into the hall.

The real test was about to begin!

It had to be said that Xu Yue’s booth looked rather unappealing. No one paid him any attention at all, simply passing straight by.

Mito Ikumi, on the other hand, was the biggest winner in this area. Most of the guests who came over were drawn in by her food.

Alice Nakiri, whose booth was equally deserted, did not look worried in the slightest. Instead, she snorted at Xu Yue.

"Hmph. In a place like Totsuki Resort, refined high-end cuisine is everywhere. Every guest can only eat so much breakfast, so I really do not know where you got the confidence to choose something so monotonous."

"Honestly, yours does not look much better. We are about evenly matched."

Xu Yue pointed at the dishes in front of Alice Nakiri. Using molecular high-tech techniques, Alice’s food appeared to be an ordinary combination of raw eggs and boiled eggs, but both were actually entirely different things with hidden surprises inside!

However, in terms of outward appearance, they really were not much different from Xu Yue’s Tea Eggs. That was also why hardly anyone had come to her booth.

"Do not compare my dishes to yours. Once even one guest tries them, my sales will definitely surpass everyone else’s."

Alice patted her chest, her words brimming with confidence.

At this time, Erina Nakiri had already started drawing in many diners. Having received Xu Yue’s advice, Yukihira Soma had entered performance mode ahead of time and attracted some attention as well.

Mito Ikumi had completely taken over the flow of customers that might have come to Xu Yue and Alice, while the other outstanding students were also doing their utmost to display the appeal of their dishes and attract diners.

Even the two Reincarnators were using methods akin to live cooking to draw in customers.

They were putting on performance art at their booths, doing things like flame-grilling and fishing flatbreads out of hot oil, which attracted quite a few people.

Even so, Xu Yue received a notification for 300 Reincarnation Points * 2. Fishing flatbreads out of hot oil seemed to have gone a little too far…

Even those two deadweights could attract customers. At the moment, only Xu Yue and Alice had no one at their booths near the entrance, and were still pecking at each other.

It could be said that the two of them were the only refreshing streams amid this bustling buffet.

The students who had enough spare attention to notice this could not help finding the dishes these two had brought out amusing.

Tea-boiled eggs, and raw eggs paired with boiled eggs?

What a pair of oddballs. They really were a perfect match.

Were they both preparing to drop out?

The judges observing through the windows began discussing some details again.

"Just as expected. Regardless of how it tastes, something with such poor presentation will not attract customers."

"That guy selling egg soufflé was the same at first, but he attracted people through his live cooking skills. These two do not seem to have any intention of doing anything, though."

"It would have been much better to eliminate them before they entered. Watching this now is so awkward."

"Eh? Wait, look. That girl has sold something, and it seems the taste is very well received."

After Enoka Kikuchi from the 89th class pointed it out, the judges turned their attention to Alice’s booth.

And just as Alice had said, after the first curious guest tried her dish and discovered the truth hidden within it, word of mouth rapidly brought a massive crowd to her booth.

Even Mito Ikumi, who had been selling very well beside her, suddenly found her sales slowing down.

"Hehe, wash up and get ready to become my lackey. Having a lackey with the God Tongue will definitely make Erina furious."

Seeing the crowd surging toward her, Alice replenished her dishes as quickly as she could while making her triumphant declaration with a smile.

Judging solely by the increase in diners before her, she had even surpassed Lady Erina for a period of time!

Xu Yue lowered his head to look at the Tea Eggs rolling in the water, feeling that the timing was about right…

"Looks like you still need to let the customers taste yours first."

As he murmured his reply, he took out several bags of mixed tea leaves.

"But I can skip that step…"

He then tossed them separately into the basin of eggs that had already changed color.

The moment the tea bags fell in, a storm of spices burst forth from the several small stove-bowls before Xu Yue.

Each bowl represented a different fragrance and flavor, but when mixed together, they created an even more explosive effect.

The first appeal of Tea Eggs was their rich aroma. Yet during Xu Yue’s earlier boiling process, not even a trace of fragrance had escaped. Now, however, as the tea bags unlocked their scent, it swept across the entire restaurant in an instant!

"W-What is that smell?"

"I want to eat it so badly!"

"Let’s go take a look."

The diners were the most sensitive to the sweeping fragrance. They immediately began following the scent over.

Faced with the large number of customers leaving, the other students began voicing all kinds of complaints and astonishment.

"What? Is that not the transfer student selling Tea Eggs? What did he do?"

"No way, you can even make Tea Eggs sell like this?"

"He went straight back last night, did he not? He did not prepare any food at all!"

"He must have poisoned it. It has to be some kind of banned drug!"

"The God Tongue really lives up to its reputation…"

"I want to eat it so badly…"

Amid the various reactions from the surrounding students, those who knew something about Xu Yue were equally surprised.

Erina gritted her teeth as she watched her customers constantly get drawn away by Yukihira Soma’s performances nearby, and now some were being lured away by the fragrance as well.

That guy was using aroma!

Indeed, in a buffet, the temptation of fragrance was extremely important. For guests with limited appetites, trying food with a novel aroma was practically instinctive.

But the most important part of a dish was still its flavor!

A buffet served many diners at once. If the diners at the front found the food unsatisfactory after eating it, it would affect the customers behind them as well.

This time, she absolutely would not lose…

With that thought, Erina accelerated her cooking once more. But if there were not enough people eating, no matter how quickly she cooked, it would be meaningless…

Only Hayama Akira, who was relatively relaxed and merely wanted to pass along the way, wore a complicated expression as he looked toward Xu Yue’s booth.

That man’s rate of growth really was terrifying. The newly cultivated spices from his research lab had already begun to be used so skillfully by him.

As for the taste, Hayama Akira had not tried it, but he knew Xu Yue was not the sort of person who would simply lure people over with fragrance and call it a day…

The judges observing from behind the glass wall were also somewhat unaccustomed to the sudden change in events.

What had he done?

How had he attracted so many people in an instant?

Behind the glass wall, they could not smell the storm of fragrance erupting inside, so they were rather confused.

"It should be spices. That guy is quite skilled at manipulating scents."

Shinomiya Kojiro spoke coolly.

"Huh? Senior Shinomiya knows this student well? Do you think highly of him?"

Enoka Kikuchi asked curiously. The head chefs had left their restaurants to participate in this selection without pay primarily because they wanted to choose future employees for their own establishments!

"I do not know him at all, and I do not want to know him!"

Shinomiya Kojiro seemed to recall something unpleasant, and his expression darkened at once…

When the beautiful woman who received the first Tea Egg from Xu Yue peeled away its shell and bit through the egg white, the flowing yolk that burst out instantly shattered all her defenses. She nearly fainted on the spot.

How could this be? The Tea Egg had been boiled for so long, yet the yolk inside remained in such a perfect soft-boiled state.

The rich yolk juice and the flavors that blended together as she swallowed were simply irresistible.

The warm vitality that spread into her stomach made it feel as though a chick had hatched directly inside her belly, as if something were about to break through its shell and burst forth…

"I want another one~"

Watching the customer return for a second serving, Xu Yue’s lips curved into a faint smile.

Everyone had their own tastes and preferences, and Tea Eggs did indeed suffer from a disadvantage in appearance.

But if they were only comparing numbers, with one egg counting as one serving, he held quite an advantage.

Combined with the aroma that drew people in and the excellent flavor, there was simply no reason for him to sell less than them…