“A food battle? With you?”
Hong Yi sneered.
“You think I'm an idiot?”
“I can't cook, why would I engage in a food battle with one of the Ten Masters?”
薙切绘里奈 blinked her bright, beautiful eyes, glancing at Hong Yi's chest muscles. Her cheeks flushed as she explained, "It's not a cooking-based food battle, it's a food ingredient capture battle!”
“Oh?”
A flicker of interest appeared in Hong Yi's eyes.
If it were a food ingredient capture battle, that would be more like it.
As for cooking.
He admitted, ten of him wouldn't stand a chance against the one and only, Eizan Etsuya, one of the Ten Masters.
“Humph!”
Eizan Etsuya tilted his chin, arrogantly looking down at Hong Yi, replying, “Newbie, you don't think that just because you captured a mere Rank 5 Galar Crocodile during your entrance exam, you can get cocky, do you?”
“Let me tell you, every second-year student in the Far East Culinary Institute's Hunter Division can capture a Galar Crocodile.”
“Besides, as the ninth seat of the Ten Masters, I am not only a chef but also a Silver Rank Gourmet Hunter!”
“Well… so?”
Hong Yi calmly sized up Eizan Etsuya.
The wild instinct fused within him, courtesy of the Yujiro Hanma template, told him that the bespectacled man with an unmistakable debt collector vibe was not his opponent.
“So?”
Eizan Etsuya was furious.
He was extremely annoyed by Hong Yi's inherent arrogance.
Veins popped out on his temples, his anger manifesting as a "symbol."
“So, you… you better accept my food battle, lose, and then get out of the Far East Culinary Institute!”
Eizan Etsuya raised his chin, tilted his donkey-like face, and twisted his mouth, displaying his exceptional talent for facial expressions.
Hong Yi completely ignored Eizan Etsuya and turned to look at 薙切绘里奈, his gaze briefly lingering before landing on Aoi Kikuhiro.
“This lovely upperclassman.”
“Is it a prerequisite for a food battle that both parties must agree on the terms?”
Aoi Kikuhiro, who was called “lovely upperclassman,” blushed slightly and hid behind her plush teddy bear, revealing only her short, cat-like hair. She nodded.
“Hmm!?”
薙切绘里奈 was taken aback.
Was she being ignored?
The genius girl with the God Tongue, the Far East Culinary Institute's high-and-mighty flower, was being ignored!?
“That… I can explain…”
As 薙切绘里奈 began to speak, Hong Yi asked Aoi Kikuhiro again, “Eizan Etsuya's terms are that I should withdraw from the Far East Culinary Institute. Can I propose my own terms?”
Aoi Kikuhiro raised her teddy bear's little hand, waved it a few times, and shyly replied, “Y… yes…”
“Since that's the case.”
A hunter's smile graced Hong Yi's lips, the smile of a hunter who had captured his prey.
Taking advantage of his height, he looked down at Eizan Etsuya, his voice domineering and indifferent, “Ten Master, my terms are, if you lose, you forfeit your ninth seat!”
“What!?”
Eizan Etsuya's eyes widened instantly, his mind thrown into turmoil.
This newbie…
Was he actually aiming for his Ten Master position!?
He didn't know why.
In a flash, a sense of awe and fear crept into Eizan Etsuya’s heart.
“You want my ninth seat? Such audacity!”
Eizan Etsuya tilted his head and locked eyes with Hong Yi.
“That's right. Are you afraid?”
Hong Yi's expression remained calm.
“If you're afraid, then don't challenge me to a food battle, I won't accept it.”
With that said.
Hong Yi yawned, turned, and prepared to return to his cabin to continue cuddling with his upperclassman.
“Stop right there—“
Eizan Etsuya roared, his head bowed, the veins on his temples pulsating.
He pushed his glasses up, a cruel smile twisting his lips.
“You think you've got me figured out, kid?”
“Let me tell you, I, Eizan Etsuya, am the ninth seat of the Ten Masters! I climbed to this position not just because of my superior culinary skills, but because of my exceptional tactics!”
“You should have just quietly dropped out. But you… you actually dared to covet my seat?”
“Fine!”
“I accept your challenge!”
“The terms of the food battle are — you lose, you get out of the Far East Culinary Institute; I lose, I forfeit my ninth seat, yours!”
Eizan Etsuya waved his hand, shouting again, once more showcasing his facial expression talent that far surpassed his culinary skills.
Hong Yi, who had already turned away, let out a faint, knowing smile.
“Now that's more like it.”
“You, a ‘high-ranking’ individual, are challenging me, a humble newbie, to a food battle. The stakes have to be higher.”
Eizan Etsuya snorted, “Nine o'clock tomorrow morning, meet me at the Ninth Life Habitat Garden!”
With those words.
Eizan Etsuya turned and stormed off.
Ninth Life Habitat Garden?
Hong Yi was suddenly startled.
As a reader of *Toriko*, he naturally knew about the Life Habitat Gardens.
They were natural ecological reserves established by IGO. There were eight in the human world, encompassing various natural environments, numbered 1 to 8. There was one in the Gourmet World, numbered 0.
When did the Far East Culinary Institute have a Ninth Life Habitat Garden?
“Hey, newbie, why did you deliberately ignore me just now?”
After Eizan Etsuya left, 薙切绘里奈 stepped forward, her hands on her hips, and asked.
Because I was playing hard to get.
Hong Yi wouldn't answer like that, so he explained, “Because I felt you had an aura that kept people at bay. It made it impossible for me to approach you, so I didn’t dare to ask you directly.”
“An aura that keeps people at bay?”
“Impossible to approach…”
薙切绘里奈 was dumbfounded.
Come to think of it.
That was actually the case…
Since her junior high school days at the Far East Culinary Institute, she had always been the school's hottest star, adored and respected by countless students. However, other than her “secretary,” she didn't seem to have any other friends.
She always maintained her queenly demeanor.
Arrogant!
Disdainful!
She looked down on her classmates and didn’t even take her seniors seriously.
While 薙切绘里奈 was in a daze, Hong Yi asked Aoi Kikuhiro again, “Lovely upperclassman, do you know anything about the Ninth Life Habitat Garden?”
“I… I…”
“I'll answer. Aoi Kikuhiro doesn't know much about this.”
Seeing Aoi Kikuhiro stammering, 薙切绘里奈 raised a white, slender hand, her golden hair falling down like a work of art, and stood in front of Hong Yi.
“The Ninth Life Habitat Garden is a natural ecological reserve specially created for our Far East Culinary Institute by IGO.”
“No, rather than calling it a natural ecological reserve, it's more like a training ground for the Far East Culinary Institute's Hunter Division.”
“It covers a larger area than the Far East Culinary Institute Resort and is the largest area owned by the Far East Culinary Institute.”
“It is home to all sorts of ferocious beasts and monsters.”
“The Rank 5 Galar Crocodile you captured might be just a snack to the wild beasts in the Ninth Life Habitat Garden!”