Food Wars: Taste Reversal

[Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the task "High-profile Debut." Task evaluation: A-level. Reward: 2000 points. Random lottery X10.]

After firing the "Italian cannon," Shiraki quickly left the stage, found a quiet spot in the shade, and began to check his rewards.

2000 points—this was almost the highest reward he had ever received. Sure enough, after entering the plot, the task rewards were much more generous. The previous tasks that only rewarded 200 points were now a thing of the past.

The second reward was the random lottery, which combined prizes from the primary, advanced, ultimate, and god-level lotteries. However, because it contained a variety of prizes, some of them were far more valuable than others. This also meant that some pitiful rewards, such as [Thank you for your patronage] and [Again], could show up. In short, this lottery was a game of fate—anything could happen.

Shiraki had always been confident in his luck, so he immediately said to himself, "System, let's draw 5 random lots!"

[Ding, the random lottery is starting...]

[The random draw has been successfully launched. Five consecutive draws will start soon.]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for getting "One More Time"!]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for getting "Thank you for your patronage"!]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for getting "One More Time"!]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for obtaining the "B-grade Cooking Card: Pork Chop Rice" X1.]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for obtaining the "SS-level Cooking Experience Card: Hundred Flowers" X1.]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for getting "Thank you for your patronage"!]

[Ding, congratulations to the host for obtaining the "Dionysian Dragon" X1.]

[The five-game draw is complete.]

The items he had drawn were quite good. Shiraki immediately clicked to check the descriptions of each item. First, he examined the B-grade cooking card:

[B-grade Cooking Card: Pork Chop Donburi: After using this card, regardless of the host's cooking level, you can make a B-grade pork chop donburi.]

[SS Cooking Experience Card: Hundred Flowers: Creates a "Hundred Flowers" effect by controlling the perfect cooking knife and stove, accurately handles the cooking process, and ignores the host's cooking skill level to cook the specified dish. The card disappears after one use.]

[Dionysian Dragon: Captive World from Gourmet Food. Capture Level: 37. Habitat: Bacchus Island. Price: 100 grams of meat / 180,000 yen. Synopsis: Dominating the island praised as the "Paradise of Wine," the island master dragon of Dionysian Island. The alcoholic director, Mansam, chose it as the "main course" for the full menu. The meat is known for its mellow flavor paired with the highest-grade brandy. Additionally, since the meat of the Dionysian Dragon contains alcohol, it must be eaten at the age of 20 and is an ingredient that embodies the "taste of adults" that children cannot understand. Cooking with barbecue not only allows the alcohol in the meat to fully emerge but also preserves the original flavor of the meat.]

The three most notable rewards from this lottery were excellent, especially the Bacchus Dragon, which was an entire creature that the system had handled. As for the SS-level Cooking Experience Card, Shiraki found it in the mall, but the purchase option was grayed out. The system explained that the skill did not belong to this world, and thus, it couldn't evolve or be exchanged in the current setting. This left Shiraki curious about which world this cooking skill was from. Nevertheless, he understood that this card's power was undeniable and could be redeemed for 5,000 points in the system's mall.

Overall, the items he had drawn were a great haul. Shiraki left his shaded spot, feeling satisfied, and headed toward the classroom where classes were about to begin.

He was assigned to the same classroom as Soma Yukihira. Since both were transfer students, it was only natural that they would be placed together. As soon as he entered the classroom, Shiraki could sense some unkind stares. Looking up, he noticed that most of the students with displeased expressions were boys. Megumi was squatting behind, clearly intimidated by the atmosphere. Soma Yukihira walked up with a nervous but friendly expression.

"Yo, you're Shiraki, right? We met during the transfer exam. That speech just now was really exciting! Even though you guys completely messed up during the transfer exam, you can still cook like that. Maybe your interests match mine. Hahaha."

Of course, Soma Yukihira was referring to his dark cuisine. In his opinion, the fact that Shiraki could create a dish with such a strong aroma meant that his skills were not to be underestimated. He figured the cooking technique might be a personal interest, much like his dark cuisine. If given the chance, Soma Yukihira would love to talk to Shiraki about how to use such an exaggerated technique without losing the ingredients' nutritional value—how to make the food taste amazing despite everything. That sounded cool.

"Look, those two transfer students..."

While Soma Yukihira was enthusiastically approaching Shiraki to "discuss" cooking techniques, the students behind them began pointing and whispering, their eyes gleaming with the desire to challenge the two of them, especially Shiraki. They looked like they were about to pounce. If it weren't for the upcoming class, it was likely they would have rushed up to teach the two a lesson in "modesty."

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