Chương 125: The Dinner Exam
In the quiet of the night, under the sparkling stars,
Location: The grand lobby of the five-star hotel, Totsuki Resort.
After an entire day of rigorous examinations, 212 freshmen had been eliminated, leaving only 811 students who had survived.
Exhaustion.
Mental fatigue.
Despair.
Fear.
These pessimistic emotions, coupled with the intense training, had left all the freshmen gathered in the lobby looking utterly defeated.
Just think about it: it was only the first day, and the elimination rate had already reached a staggering 20%, much worse than during Isami's cohort.
"Yuuki!"
"We're over here~"
In the crowd,
Yuuki Yoshino, who had just passed her exam, was looking around, searching for her dorm mates.
Megumi, Ryoko, Soma, and the other Polaris Dorm students had already gathered and waved at her.
Yuuki's face lit up when she saw them, and she ran over quickly.
Then she threw herself into Megumi's arms, and tears streamed down her face: "Boo hoo... Megumi, I really missed you guys!"
"In the exam room earlier, I had to face Kojirō Shinomiya."
"He's the guy who orders students to be expelled for just using hair gel. I thought I was done for, but fortunately, it was just a false alarm."
Only those who had experienced this training camp could understand Yuuki's sense of relief after narrowly escaping elimination.
Megumi could only gently pat her back with her small hand.
"Yuuki, it's okay."
"We all passed today's exam, didn't we?"
Megumi, who was usually shy and timid, found herself comforting others.
"Mm-hmm, as long as we can be together, this happy moment shouldn't be spoiled by my tears."
Yuuki wiped away her tears, pulled away from Megumi, and then giggled, "Does passing the exam mean we can stay in the 80,000 yen a night room?"
Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she rubbed her hands together.
No one would have guessed that she could switch from tears to joy faster than turning a page, leaving Megumi at a loss for words!
…
At this moment, the head chef, Gin Dojima, slowly approached the podium.
He looked around at the freshmen gathered in the lobby, noticing that there were indeed fewer than there had been that morning, and he was secretly pleased.
"First, I want to congratulate the 811 students who have survived three rounds of examinations."
"This is your honor, and the result of your hard work."
After a brief pause, Gin Dojima continued, "Now, let me introduce the people standing behind me. They are members of the basketball team, volleyball team, sumo club, and other sports associations from the neighboring university."
"They engage in extensive physical training every day and require substantial nutritional support."
"Tonight's dinner will be prepared by all the students here."
"This time?"
"The dinner menu is simple, just a common grilled steak set."
"But you must prepare 50 portions within two hours. If you do not meet this standard, you will be considered unqualified, so please do your best."
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire lobby erupted in chaos!
After three rounds of examinations, the students were exhausted.
But now, they had to prepare 50 grilled steak sets for dinner in this condition.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Another exam?"
"It's already ten at night, can't we just go to sleep?"
"We have to make dinner for these university students, but I haven't even had my own dinner yet!"
"Right, what about our dinner?"
"Who's going to prepare our dinner?"
Amid the chaos, one student mustered the courage to stand up and shout at Gin Dojima.
Hearing this, Gin Dojima calmly picked up the microphone and replied, "After you finish preparing the 50 steak sets, you can then address your own dinner needs."
"Alright, it's 10 o'clock now. Please proceed to the kitchen of Totsuki Palace to begin your examination."
As soon as he finished speaking, the students rushed to the kitchen, fearing they would fall behind.
It was only now that they truly understood how terrifying this training camp was—it was something no ordinary person could endure!
…
Using kitchen paper, they absorbed the excess moisture from the steaks.
Then, with a boning knife, they trimmed the excess meat from the bone. They brushed olive oil on both sides of the steaks and sprinkled them with rosemary sea salt.
In a cold pan over high heat, they added oil and waited until it began to smoke slightly before adding the steaks. They kept the heat on high, cooking each side for 2 minutes to form a crust.
Then they added garlic, thyme, and butter for flavor.
After basting both sides with the sauce, they continued to cook for about 1 minute before removing the steaks from the pan.
After letting the steaks rest, they sliced them into thin pieces, arranged them on plates, divided them into five portions, and sprinkled them with a bit of crushed pepper and sea salt.
Now, the university students waiting could finally enjoy their meal.
"50 steak sets, done. Can I leave now?"
Erina, who had the divine tongue, pulled off her chef's hat, pushed her hair back, and looked at the judges with cold eyes.
"It's only been 46 minutes."
"On average, you took less than a minute to make each steak set."
The judge was astounded by Erina's speed, something an ordinary person couldn't match.
After a moment of recovery, the judge quickly said, "You did very well. You may leave the kitchen now."
"Okay."
Erina nodded.
Under the envious gazes of everyone, she left the kitchen of Totsuki Palace.
"As expected of Miss Erina, the first to finish the dinner exam."
Watching her leave, Hisako, who was grilling a steak, couldn't help but sigh.
Then, with a determined look in her eyes, she said, "I need to work harder too. I can't fall too far behind Miss Erina."
…
Snap!
A piece of not-pasta snapped in Erina's mouth.
"Ugh, what is this?"
As soon as she bit into it, her face twisted in disgust.
She spat out the catfish noodles and said, "This is full of catfish's fishy smell. It's gross…"
Though she was repulsed, she quickly calmed down, but her eyes were filled with disappointment.
She had followed Zane's instructions to make these noodles from catfish, even adding a squid center and using a fish broth for the soup.
Yet, the taste was still terrible, just like the Ascending Dragon Dumplings and the Transformed Spring Rolls from before.
"The divine tongue isn't failing me, so why can't I get it perfect?"
Erina felt frustrated.
Whenever she had free time, she would mentally rehearse Zane's cooking methods and try to replicate his dishes in the kitchen.
But no matter how many times she tried, her skills never matched Zane's.
…
"Erina, I knew I'd find you here."
"When I heard you were the first to finish the dinner exam, I felt a bit jealous."
Alice Nakiri appeared behind Erina.
"Alice, what place did you finish?"
Erina set down her chopsticks, not angry at the interruption, but instead, she frowned and asked calmly.
"Fourth. I was the fourth to finish."
Alice blinked her red eyes proudly.
"Fourth?"
Erina was a bit surprised, "I thought you'd be right behind me."
"The second was Akira, the third was my assistant, and Soma was just a few seconds behind me."
Alice felt a twinge of annoyance at Erina's indifferent attitude, but she remembered her purpose and restrained her emotions.
"Hayama Akira?"
Erina was taken aback.
Although she hadn't interacted much with Akira, she knew of him.
He was a child that Professor Jun Shiomi had found during her research in the Indian slums.
Unlike most people, Akira had a heightened sense of smell.
While there was no concrete evidence that this ability was as innate as Erina's divine tongue, it certainly allowed him to distinguish various food aromas better than most.
This unique skill enabled him to create dishes with an unparalleled aromatic impact, capturing anyone's appetite with just the smell.
So, hearing that Alice had lost to him made Erina understand.
…
Alice stepped closer and glanced at the noodles on the table.
Seeing that these noodles were wider and thicker than usual, and had a faint seafood smell, Alice's eyes sparkled with understanding.
"You're trying to recreate Zane's dish again?"
"Yes, these are catfish noodles."
Erina explained, then dumped the failed catfish noodles into the trash.
"Throwing it away?"
"You... that's such a waste of food!"
Alice was shocked.
She remembered when she was five years old and had her cake tossed out by Erina for being "not tasty."
"I won't tolerate flawed dishes in front of me," Erina said coldly.
Then she turned away from Alice and started making another batch of catfish noodles.
Though still annoyed, Alice's curiosity got the better of her, and she stood aside, watching intently.
Soon, another batch of catfish noodles was ready.
…
"These... are these noodles or fish?"
Alice blinked, confused by the process she had just watched.
"Noodles that aren't noodles!"
"They look like noodles, but they're made from catfish."
"Though it seems you don't get it, these noodles have a squid center to give them the right texture."
Erina explained, glancing at Alice.
"Making noodles from catfish, are they still noodles?"
Alice found it odd, her mind racing to grasp the concept.
She had been busy with molecular gastronomy and hadn't visited the tavern much lately.
Realizing she might have missed something important, she watched as Erina picked up a catfish noodle and tasted it.
After a few bites, Erina sighed and muttered, "It's a failure again."
…
As she moved to throw the dish away,
Alice quickly took the bowl of catfish noodles.
"Even if it's not perfect, you can't just waste food like that."
"If you want to try it, go ahead."
"This will show you how far you are from Zane's level."
"Also, as your cousin, I advise you to focus on this training camp instead of me."
"I have a feeling this camp won't be as easy as we thought."
Not wanting to stay with Alice, Erina spoke softly and left the kitchen.
"Humph, always like this."
Watching her leave, Alice pouted.
Then she picked up some catfish noodles and tasted them.
"Hmm?"
"The elasticity is amazing."
"It's even better than regular noodles!"
"Wait, if this is Zane's dish, and Erina's version is a failure…"
Alice was stunned.
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