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Akio had to admit, Erina was catching his attention.
The girl standing before him now wasn't quite the same as the Erina Nakiri he remembered.
In the manga, she had always been the embodiment of pride—arrogant to the extreme, but deep down only using that arrogance to hide her own fragility. She was a hedgehog, bristling with spikes to keep others away. But once real danger appeared, her mask cracked, and she trembled like a child.
When her father entered the story, she broke down completely. That was because he had left scars on her in childhood, shadows that never faded.
But this Erina… this one carried more than pride. She radiated a confidence the original had never possessed. Not fake bravado, but a true, unshakable self-assurance.
Akio found himself wondering: what exactly had this Erina gone through in this crossover world to transform into someone even more dazzling than her canon counterpart?
Yes, this world really was fascinating.
Erina's eyes hardened when she saw Akio still refusing to give in. She stepped forward, shifting her stance.
"I already gave you a chance. Since you won't take it, don't blame me."
The instant the words left her lips, she shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, fist driving straight at him. The air itself seemed to explode on impact, a shockwave crashing over Akio like a tsunami.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
This was… a chef?
With strength and speed like that, he'd believe it if someone told him she was a trained martial artist.
Could it be that this Erina not only learned the culinary arts, but martial arts as well?
In a flash of thought, Akio released his Light. Like quicksilver, it flowed from within him, sealing the surrounding space.
Erina froze in mid-air, locked in place.
Her eyes widened in shock.
"Erina-sama!" Hisako cried out in alarm.
Erina struggled furiously, but the space around her felt welded shut. No matter how much she strained, she couldn't move a muscle.
Akio reached out his right hand toward her, making Hisako's face pale.
"Don't touch her!" she shouted, throwing herself forward.
But compared to Erina, Hisako was just an ordinary human—her speed and strength couldn't even be measured on the same scale. With a casual wave, Akio froze her in place as well.
Then he grabbed Erina's arm and began inspecting her carefully.
What he found was… odd.
There was no magic, no demonic aura, no foreign energy inside her body. And yet, her cells brimmed with vitality.
Each one stored power dozens, even hundreds of times greater than an ordinary person's. They were bursting with energy, hyperactive in a way that defied reason.
This wasn't normal.
Human cells simply weren't this strong. This was far beyond the natural limit.
Had she undergone some sort of genetic modification?
But no—that didn't add up. Her body was perfectly natural. If she had been altered, he would have noticed immediately.
Then Akio sensed something else. Something hidden deep within her, so well concealed that he nearly missed it.
Driven by curiosity, he sent his Light deeper inside her body, until he found it.
A strange lifeform.
It resembled a demon, but not any kind he knew. And it slumbered inside her, weak and dormant.
What on earth was this?
He pushed a thread of Light into the creature. It didn't react, nor did his power harm it in the slightest. But he did manage to pull out one crucial piece of information.
Its name: Black Slime. A Gourmet Demon.
At once, everything clicked into place.
So that's why she was stronger than her manga counterpart. That's why her cells held so much power.
She had become a Gourmet Hunter—and awakened Gourmet Cells.
Akio chuckled. Gourmet Cells, huh? From Toriko.
Anyone who'd read Toriko knew what that meant. Cells born from the Gourmet Universe itself, discovered by the Nitros, seeded onto Earth in ancient times. Over billions of years, they transformed the planet into a Gourmet World hundreds of times its original size, birthing all manner of powerful, delicious life.
Later, humans discovered that implanting Gourmet Cells could activate their own biology. Eating and savoring food became evolution itself, granting superhuman strength and pushing people beyond their limits.
So this crossover world even had Toriko mixed in?
That didn't quite fit. He hadn't seen any sign of the IGO—the International Gourmet Organization—here.
And yet, there was no denying it: Erina Nakiri had a Gourmet Demon sealed inside her.
Akio's curiosity only grew. He looked up at the girl, still frozen mid-attack.
"I have to ask, Erina Nakiri—how exactly did you awaken your Gourmet Cells?"
Erina: "?!!!"
"..."
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