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Shun spent some time alone in his room studying the System. Near nightfall, hunger finally nudged him downstairs to the first-floor kitchen.
Polar Star Dorm has three floors, each with a shared kitchen. Still, everyone prefers the big first-floor one.
When Shun stepped in, he was surprised to find it empty.
"No one here?"
His voice sounded small in the wide, spotless space.
All the better.
After the daytime test and the noisy welcome earlier, the quiet actually felt comfortable.
Under the gentle lights, the counters gleamed; everything was neatly put away. Clearly, Polar Star's residents kept good habits.
Shun headed straight for the huge double-door fridge.
The light flicked on—revealing a near-empty chill.
"Out of ingredients?"
Right—of course. If nothing went awry, Soma would show up tonight and do his "move-in trial."
In the original story, the dorm kitchen had no spare ingredients that night, so Soma had to improvise with some squid tentacles he carried and the meager leftovers.
An empty kitchen… matched what was about to happen.
"Fine. I'll cook the remaining 'egg-rice' and make do."
He went back upstairs, brought the last of the egg rice down, and cooked it simply—eating every grain without waste.
But even after that, the hunger still growled.
This was nowhere near enough.
With his Gourmet Cells awakened, his daily energy needs were beyond ordinary.
But there was nothing left in the kitchen.
He was weighing whether to redeem ingredients from the Shop or just buy standard groceries from the campus store when voices and footsteps came from the corridor.
"Hey, kid! You don't know the rules of Polar Star? Coming empty-handed—there aren't any ingredients left in the kitchen tonight."
Fumio-san's voice reached his ears first.
Then a familiar one followed. "Eggs, flour, seasonings—there's gotta be at least that, right? That's enough."
A moment later, Fumio-san and a spiky red-haired boy appeared at the kitchen entrance.
The redhead was the same transfer-test examinee from the morning—Soma.
Shun had already guessed Soma would come to Polar Star, so he wasn't surprised in the least.
Soma, however, blinked in surprise when he saw him. "Ah, it's you… Shun, right? Why are you here too?"
Shun smiled lightly. "Living off-campus is a hassle. Polar Star's the only dorm at Totsuki, so here I am."
"Ah, got it."
Seeing them chat straight away, Fumio-san tilted her head. "You two know each other?"
"Yeah, we took today's transfer test in the same room," Soma answered.
"Hm? If it was the same exam, how did Shun get here by noon and you only just arrived?" she asked.
That landed a little awkwardly for Soma.
Shun had been declared passed on the spot by the chief, while Soma had scraped through after all kinds of twists.
Scratching his red hair, he chuckled sheepishly. "Well… the process got a little bumpy, haha."
A rare sight—Soma being embarrassed.
Shun smiled and turned to Fumio-san. "Fumio-san, I'll step out to buy some ingredients."
"Oh? It's late. The campus store probably won't have much good stuff left," she warned.
"No problem. I just need enough to fill up," Shun said.
"The closest campus store to Polar Star is ten kilometers out. You can ride an e-bike, right? Take the one by the door." She held out a key.
"Thank you, Fumio-san, but running there is fine." He gently pushed the key back.
Ten kilometers wasn't short for a normal person, but for someone with his physical condition, it was just a decent warm-up.
Fumio-san paused, eyeing his not-particularly-burly frame with mild surprise, then let it go. "Suit yourself."
Shun nodded to Soma and slipped out.
Watching him go, Soma muttered, "Running ten kilometers to the store? This guy's stamina is insane…"
Then he refocused on his own trial, rolling his shoulders and scouring the almost-bare kitchen for anything overlooked as he began his move-in challenge.
…
Night draped over Totsuki's broad avenues as Shun's silhouette flitted past like a phantom.
He was fast—light, powerful strides, long steady breaths—far beyond any pro athlete.
With the stamina surge from his Gourmet Cells, he reached the store lights in under fifteen minutes.
As Fumio-san predicted, the fresh stock was picked clean.
Shun didn't nitpick; he swept up the remaining meats, vegetables, eggs, and a mountain of rice and noodles—stuffing several huge bags full.
Under the cashier's astonished stare, he lifted the heavy load with ease and headed back at the same blistering pace.
Even with both hands loaded, he didn't slow. If not for worrying the plastic might tear, he'd have gone even faster.
When he returned to the first-floor kitchen, the air still held a trace of cooking aroma. Soma and Fumio-san were already gone.
"Passed?" he murmured, unsurprised.
He set the groceries down and was about to prep a few dishes to finally sate his hunger when a voice came from the doorway.
"Shun-kun, that's more than 'a few ingredients.' Looks like you're provisioning a front line." Satoshi stood there with a smile.
Even this late, Satoshi was still in that apron.
Shun's gaze slid away from him almost instantly. "I eat a lot. And since the kitchen looked bare, I bought extra."
…
(End of Chapter)
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