"Well..." Gin scratched his cheek awkwardly. "When I reported to the old man last night, Erina overheard us outside the door."
"Your security awareness rivals Ultraman's!" Hayashi couldn't help but complain.
"Erina is, after all, the heir of the Nakiri family. She would have to be told these things sooner or later," Gin said nonchalantly. It was precisely for this reason that he and the old man hadn't been overly guarded, allowing Erina to overhear the information.
"That's true..." Hayashi muttered under his breath, then subtly glanced at Erina, who had been silent since earlier, her expression dazed and weary. He thought to himself, 'Could it be that this girl didn't sleep a wink all night after learning about the Interdimensional Gate?'
What Hayashi didn't know was that Erina indeed hadn't slept all night, but the reasons keeping her awake weren't just the Interdimensional Gate—it was also the truth behind Mana Nakiri's disappearance. She had never understood why her mother had been absent since her childhood, and even after repeatedly asking Senzaemon, she had never gotten an answer. Now, she finally understood.
"Mr. Hayashi—" Erina looked at Hayashi, bowing her head slightly as she spoke. "Thank you very much for helping my mother."
Erina's attitude took Hayashi by surprise. The proud, haughty young lady from the original story was showing such a gentle side in front of him?
If it had been him before obtaining the Interdimensional Gate, she probably wouldn't have even spared him a glance, right?
At this thought, Hayashi's momentarily inflated ego deflated instantly. He rubbed his fingers together awkwardly and said, "Ah, it was nothing, really."
Senzaemon stroked his beard solemnly and said, "To you, it may have been a small favor, but to us, it was a great kindness."
"I'm really not good at handling these kinds of situations," Hayashi said helplessly, raising his hands in surrender. "Can we just move past this topic?"
"Hahaha, of course, of course." Senzaemon chuckled before continuing, "It's getting late. Why don't we have Gin prepare breakfast first?"
"Oh right! I almost forgot about that!" Hayashi suddenly remembered the matter of breakfast and grinned at Gin, giving him a pointed look as if to say, Get to work.
"Leave it to me." Gin rolled up his sleeves as he stood from his seat, stretching his shoulders with a smile. "Today, I'll make you the best bowl of hot dry noodles in the world!"
Hearing Gin's declaration, Hayashi puckered his lips and imitated Kizaru's tone, teasing, "Ooooh, how scary~ The best hot dry noodles in the world~~ I wonder~~ if even Mana-nee would be able to eat it, hmm?"
Gin stumbled, quickly steadying himself against the doorframe before shooting Hayashi an exasperated glare. "You—your conscience is big big bad! No, wait—your conscience is like the Ender Father's—it doesn't even exist!"
"Pfft! Cough, cough... Damn it! You just cost me another ten years of karma!"
"Wasn't that your own fault for laughing?"
"Wasn't it your fault for making the joke in the first place?"
"Either way, you're definitely going to hell when you die!"
"And you think you're going to heaven?"
"Sorry, but I've already wiped all my chat logs, browser history, and forum posts clean!"
"As expected of you!"
Erina watched with slight surprise as Hayashi and Gin exchanged banter—it was the first time she had seen the usually dignified Uncle Gin converse so casually with someone else.
"Hurry up and get downstairs! Can't you see everyone in the house is starving?"
"Just sit there and wait to be fed," Gin shot Hayashi a glance before striding confidently into the kitchen. Today, even the old man was waiting for breakfast—he had to take this seriously now!
...
...
While Gin prepared breakfast, Erina kept observing Hayashi. To be honest, she genuinely felt that this man was just...
Too ordinary!
To put it bluntly, if this were a shoujo manga, he'd be a background character whose face wouldn't even be drawn—at most, he'd get a square box labeled "Student A, ID No. 030."
Yet, this seemingly unremarkable background character had somehow become a partner her grandfather highly valued. He had even bluntly told her that her relationship with Hayashi would directly affect whether she could remain the heir of the Tōtsuki family.
Truly, fate (or luck) was something utterly unpredictable.
"The chicken soup is here!"
At that moment, Gin's voice rang out as he placed a large bowl of noodles on the table, announcing enthusiastically, "Gin Dojima's Special—Rich and Fragrant Hot Dry Noodles!"
Hayashi fell silent for a few seconds, then swept his gaze over Jōichirō, Senzaemon, and Erina before saying, "Following the conventions of a food anime, shouldn't you all take a bite and offer some commentary?"
Jōichirō, standing nearby, wore a subtle expression as he asked curiously, "Are you really interested in this?"
"Well, it's not so much about interest as it is about... let's say, if you were traveling in China, wouldn't you want to visit a zoo and take a photo with a giant panda? It's that feeling of witnessing a legendary moment!"
"While I get what you're saying, being called a 'legendary moment' is a bit... complicated," Gin rubbed his temples with a wry smile. "Complicated in every sense of the word."
"Your world is full of legendary moments—" Hayashi, now in a playful mood, used serving chopsticks to heap a large portion of hot dry noodles into his own bowl. "For example, the most classic one is the 'clothes explosion' scene—specifically, the old man's 'Torn Robe' moment—"
Hearing this, Jōichirō burst into laughter. "Hahaha, that one's definitely real—"
Gin, meanwhile, covered his forehead and muttered, "So, countless viewers from another world got to witness the old man's clothes exploding?"
"..."
Jōichirō laughed even harder, while Senzaemon's expression stiffened slightly.
"Alright, let's eat first!" Hayashi suppressed a chuckle. "If hot dry noodles sit too long, the sesame paste will dry out and ruin the taste!"
Old man Senzaemon was the first to scoop a generous portion into his bowl. He then glanced at Gin and said, "Let this old man properly savor your work."
Gin's lips twitched slightly as he looked at the old man, thinking to himself, 'Old man, you're taking your frustration out on me—'
"Then I'll give it a try too." Jōichirō chuckled as he picked up a portion of hot dry noodles with his chopsticks and placed them in his bowl. "If I remember correctly, hot dry noodles are a very common breakfast dish from Hubei in China, right? The preparation is quite simple—after boiling the noodles..."
True to his reputation as the Asura who traveled the world seeking new culinary methods, Jōichirō casually explained the preparation of hot dry noodles before concluding, "All in all, it's not a particularly difficult dish—you could even make it at home."
"That's true," Hayashi nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "During lockdown in my world, I made hot dry noodles for myself at home."
As for the taste, it wasn't too far off! After all, the flavor of this breakfast dish mostly relies on the seasoning, and with sesame paste as the base, it couldn't taste bad no matter what.
Jōichirō picked up a bite of noodles coated in sesame paste, gave it a light sniff, then placed it in his mouth and chewed gently a few times. "The noodles are cooked just right—crisp, chewy, and springy. They're evenly coated with sesame paste, and the seasoning blends perfectly into it..."
Beside him, Hayashi stared dumbfounded as Jōichirō and Senzaemon critiqued Gin's hot dry noodles like they were writing a thesis, exchanging long-winded comments back and forth. In contrast, the only words in his mind were "delicious."
'This is actually kind of cool—'
Hayashi glanced at the three of them chatting and laughing effortlessly, feeling the urge to share his own thoughts—after all, he was a man who had followed Food Wars, Toriko, and even Cooking Master Boy. Surely he could manage a decent critique, right?
"Ahem—" Hayashi cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention before solemnly picking up a few strands of noodles and placing them in his mouth. Then, swaying his head, he declared, "Hmm, the texture of these noodles—uh, very good! And the flavor—yeah, also very good! And the thickness of the sesame paste—mm, also very good!"
"..."
For a moment, the looks in everyone's eyes turned slightly strange, and Jōichirō even said earnestly, "Hayashi, if you really don't know how to critique, you don't have to force yourself."
Hayashi's face flushed red with embarrassment and irritation as he glared at Jōichirō. "What do you mean I don't know how to critique!? I've watched over a thousand episodes of Detective Conan, you know!"
"What does watching a thousand episodes of Detective Conan have to do with critiquing food?"
"What I mean is, I'm proficient in dozens of locked-room murder techniques, hundreds of poison concoctions, and countless methods of hiding murder weapons!"
"Ahem, I didn't say anything just now."
Watching Jōichirō back down, Hayashi muttered a few grumbling complaints under his breath before urging, "Alright, alright! Oh great culinary masters and gourmets, can we just eat the noodles first? After breakfast, I still have to spoil the plot for you!"
Spoilers are the real deal! What could be more thrilling than revealing spoilers right in front of the original characters? Perhaps only a collective viewing session across the myriad realms with a Q&A segment? Unfortunately, Hayashi obtained an Interdimensional Gate instead of a "Brains and Bravery Quiz Show Studio"—otherwise, he would have definitely made characters from all realms witness their own embarrassing pasts, orchestrating the ultimate social annihilation!