Since the system he awakened was the [Gourmet Hunter System], and the rewards were either Gourmet Cells or various martial arts secrets, wasn't it essentially training him to become a powerful hunter?
So, naturally, Bai Mo should be hunting those powerful and delicious ingredients, right?
As for culinary skills, Bai Mo had only a basic understanding before this. The best dish he could make was a simple tomato and egg stir-fry.
The system function he was most looking forward to—[Interdimensional Hunting]—had finally activated after a long period of charging. Now, he could travel to another world once every seven days. However, since he couldn't gauge the dangers of these other worlds, he had to wait until he was fully prepared before setting off.
As for why he was learning culinary skills from Kobayashi Kaoru at the Midnight Diner, it was simply because his cooking skills weren't up to par.
Over the past few years, Bai Mo had focused all his energy on training in the Magnetic Field Martial Path, leaving his culinary skills practically nonexistent. Because of this, he naturally couldn't enroll in the Totsuki Culinary Academy.
But the ingredients from other worlds weren't something just anyone could handle.
Adding to that the need for secrecy, Bai Mo could only cram-study basic ingredient preparation and simple cooking methods. Otherwise, what would be the point of hunting prey if he didn't know how to process the ingredients? Wouldn't that be like entering a treasure trove only to leave empty-handed?
According to his grandfather, Kobayashi Kaoru was a graduate of the Totsuki Culinary Academy's 52nd generation and one of the Elite Ten.
Who would've thought that a former member of the Elite Ten would be running a small midnight diner in a back alley?
Because of this, Bai Mo was exceptionally serious about learning from Kobayashi Kaoru.
The Midnight Diner operated on an order-based system. Although the menu on the wall only listed a pork miso soup set and four types of alcohol, as long as the ingredients were available, the owner could prepare any requested dish.
Was this the confidence of a former Elite Ten member?
But with Kobayashi Kaoru's approach, almost no customers had ever expressed dissatisfaction so far.
Today, as Bai Mo started working, the regulars at the diner also got familiar with him.
After taking orders, Bai Mo would join Kobayashi Kaoru in the kitchen to help out.
This was both assisting and learning the owner's cooking methods.
If it weren't for his grandfather's connections and the fact that the owner had no heirs, Kobayashi Kaoru wouldn't have treated Bai Mo like a nephew and taught him so earnestly.
Otherwise, in most restaurants, apprentices would spend two to three years just chopping ingredients before they were allowed to cook.
With Kobayashi Kaoru's teaching and Bai Mo's natural talent, he picked things up surprisingly quickly.
"Xiao Mo, another order of octopus sausages. This dish is very simple, and you've just seen me make it. This time, you'll do it."
Huh? I've only watched it once!
So the owner is a hands-on teacher?
But faced with the order, Bai Mo didn't back down. He headed straight into the kitchen to get to work.
Octopus sausages are a very simple dish in Japan, often found in lunch boxes.
All you need to do is cut small sausages into a star shape in the middle and then pan-fry them until cooked.
After tossing the sausages in the pan and letting their "legs" curl outward into an octopus shape, Bai Mo sprinkled a bit of pepper before plating them.
As a simple dish, it was perfect for a beginner like Bai Mo.
He placed the octopus sausages on a bed of shredded cabbage and served the dish to the "yakuza"-looking man who was still wearing sunglasses late at night.
"Here you go," Bai Mo said softly.
"Mmm."
Watching the man chew his first-ever cooked dish, Bai Mo was a little worried it might not be good enough.
But this was just a simple pan-fried sausage. Bai Mo's heat control was perfect—neither undercooked nor burnt—and the man didn't seem to have any complaints.
Seeing Bai Mo still standing there, Chef Kobayashi patted his shoulder with a smile.
"What, are you waiting for Akira to give you a review?"
"If you can't even handle a simple fried sausage, forget about learning to cook. Go to the kitchen, peel the potatoes, and cut them all into shreds!"
"Yes!"
After Bai Mo disappeared into the kitchen, the man eating the octopus sausages, Kenazaki Ryu, looked up and said,
"The taste is almost identical to yours."
"Yeah, this kid's got talent. He mimics well, but that's not enough."
Kenazaki Ryu nodded and didn't say anything else, focusing on his meal.
In the kitchen, Bai Mo peeled a large basket of potatoes before starting to slice them into shreds on the cutting board.
The moment the kitchen knife touched his hand, Bai Mo's movements became swift and precise.
Tok tok tok tok—
A crisp, rhythmic sound echoed from the cutting board as the potatoes were transformed into uniformly thin shreds.
This knife skill was originally meant for hunting, but now it was being used to slice potatoes. At least it wasn't going to waste.
The sounds from the kitchen reached Kobayashi Kaoru and Kenazaki Ryu.
Sitting behind the counter and smoking, Kobayashi Kaoru let out a soft chuckle.
Though his other basics were lacking, this kid's knife skills were probably on par with—or even slightly better than—the current Elite Ten. Hell, even he might have been a little inferior back in his day.
"Is this kid trained in swordsmanship? The sound is like he's hitting the exact same spot every time."
"Yeah, he's been practicing martial arts. Maybe it's some kind of martial technique."
"Why's a martial artist learning to cook from you?"
"Who knows?" Kobayashi Kaoru blew a smoke ring. "But as long as he doesn't give up halfway, it's fine."
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T/N:
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