School Begins

"I didn’t even get in. If Dad finds out, he’ll laugh me to death…"

On the way back in Xu Yue’s car, Yukihira Soma’s face was full of despair, like he had lost all will to live.

It was normal to be told his dark cuisine tasted awful, but this was the first time someone had loudly said that a dish he had put his heart into making was "not tasty"!

To Yukihira Soma, this was undoubtedly quite a blow. One day, he had to make that person say the words "delicious" with his own mouth.

Yet in just a moment, Yukihira Soma was fully revived in Xu Yue’s car. Still, now that he had failed the exam, it was hard to say whether he would ever see that guy again.

Xu Yue, who had been quietly watching him from the side, could not help smiling.

"The results haven’t been announced yet. Who knows whether you’ll be admitted? Don’t be so pessimistic."

"I hope it really turns out like you said."

With Yukihira Soma’s carefree personality, he would not obsess over one issue for long and quickly put it behind him.

Xu Yue also understood that although he had passed the assessment, if he wanted to safely get through the failing grades in the courses right after enrollment, he still needed to put in effort during the early Hell Camp.

These remaining days before school started were a rare opportunity for him to fill in the gaps in his basic culinary knowledge.

Yukihira Soma would be one of the people helping him with that…

With one week left before school began, Xu Yue received his admission letter from Totsuki Academy. Yukihira Soma received one as well.

When he got the letter, he kept sighing and muttering in that obnoxious way.

"How unfrank…"

Or something like that.

He had absolutely no idea that he had gotten in through the back door.

Xu Yue also planned to use this remaining time to relentlessly make up for his shortcomings through Yukihira Soma.

He did not need to make tremendous progress for now. As long as he could avoid expulsion with the help of his Sharingan, that would be enough!

The best place in this world to study cooking was Totsuki Academy. As long as he could hold on there, he would be able to keep improving.

And while he was at it, he would clear every mission he might encounter along the way. Even if it was a Punishment mission, he would get an S rank to show them…

Thus, during this period, Xu Yue frantically practiced cooking alongside Yukihira Soma. At the same time, he had Minezaki Yaeko buy a large number of culinary textbooks, then had his Shadow Clones hide away in a dark attic where no one would find them, staring with their Sharingan as they continuously absorbed theoretical knowledge.

(Note: This was only basic knowledge of beginner-level cooking, theory that also existed in the real world. Advanced technological knowledge beyond what existed in the real world could not be learned directly from books and required expensive additional fees. For example, Xu Yue could not directly learn how to use a microwave or oven from their instruction manuals, but he could "work hard" to study such simple appliances himself or "work hard" to ask the locals and achieve the goal of learning.)

Fine, he could not use summoning in this world, or points would be deducted. Otherwise, the already completed Six Paths of Pain would definitely have been a huge help.

Nor could he let plot characters discover the Shadow Clones. Once they caused those characters "trouble," a large number of points would still be deducted…

Seven days were all Xu Yue could manage.

Of course, while he was continuously improving his cooking skills, the company was also beginning to make some changes.

The Japan branch was his to do with as he pleased anyway. His cheap older brother and father, whom he had never even met, agreed without asking a single question.

Besides gradually entering the restaurant industry, Xu Yue had specifically hired Etsuya Eizan, the ninth seat of the Elite Ten Council, as a "consultant"!

Though this man was an antagonist in the story, he was undoubtedly the Elite Ten Council member most easily approached through capital. Everything came down to profit for him, and he followed the money. He was one of the few "normal" characters in this gourmet anime.

The only pity was that he served as a "consultant" for too many parties at once, so for now, Xu Yue could only be said to have established a connection with him…

Because time was limited, even with his Shadow Clones assisting day and night in their little dark room, Xu Yue could not possibly master too much.

But with his own abilities to support him, it should barely be enough for him to gain a foothold at the academy for now.

As long as he could successfully lie low and survive the most difficult early stage, Xu Yue was confident he could show them just how terrifying a ninja who could cook was…

"We will now present the school badges. Let us welcome the new first-year representative, Erina Nakiri, to the stage for her speech."

The opening ceremony proceeded as scheduled. Erina Nakiri was the first to speak as the representative, and after the genius young beauty, who was already immensely famous in the culinary world, finished speaking, many people below the stage, both male and female, looked at her with admiration.

However, beautiful scenery was always fleeting. After Erina Nakiri’s lovely figure stepped down, she was replaced by Senzaemon Nakiri’s burly, tough-guy physique.

And onstage, he spoke the words about using 99% as stepping stones to hone the remaining 1% of uncut jade!

"…Merely having attended Totsuki Academy is a credential. But if you can graduate from here, you can become a rising star in the culinary world! And you may become one of that small group of chefs."

With the build and attire of an underworld kingpin, paired with those overwhelmingly domineering words, even after Senzaemon Nakiri stepped down, the audience remained stunned.

Xu Yue, who was also standing below the stage, was considering whether Yukihira Soma had already outlived his usefulness and whether he should ditch him and distance himself…

Because…

What he was about to say would undoubtedly make him the enemy of the entire school!

After Yukihira Soma, as the transfer student representative, gave a long-winded speech onstage, it could ultimately be translated into roughly one sentence.

"Everyone here is trash…"

That taunting power, which instantly detonated the entire venue, made even Xu Yue marvel.

Still, there were gains and losses. Following Yukihira Soma would bring quite a few unnecessary troubles, but he should also be able to farm a considerable number of evaluation and side-mission points. After all, the whole plot was driven with him at its core, so following him offered the greatest benefits.

But whether Xu Yue could withstand the trouble Yukihira Soma would bring in the early stages was also quite the headache.

As someone with a car, Xu Yue could actually choose to be a commuting student. But considering that commuting students wasted too much time on the road every day, and that the environment at Polar Star Dormitory suited him very well right now, he weighed his options for a while before deciding to live on campus.

His company connections could not get him admitted to the school, but just as they had obtained the application form, once he had gotten in through his own ability, they could still do some PR and choose a dormitory for him.

Although, apart from Satoshi Isshiki, the seventh seat of the Elite Ten Council, the other residents of Polar Star Dormitory were still limited in ability for now, the interesting thing was that every resident in that dormitory possessed their own unique specialty.

For someone with the Sharingan, it was undoubtedly an excellent place to be during the early stages.

After all, once he copied something with the Sharingan, he still needed the person’s own explanations and instruction nearby in order to fully absorb and digest those abilities, making them his own.

He could absorb classroom knowledge during lessons and absorb his dormmates’ abilities in private. If he still could not grow stronger like that, then he might as well quietly become a salted fish and properly enjoy everything this world had to offer…