Vaguely, as Erina Nakiri spoke... her gaze seemed to drift toward Lexon, whether intentionally or not.
The moment her voice trailed off, the exam hall erupted into a cacophony of voices once more.
Hectic whispers and arguments broke out everywhere.
"Additionally, you have exactly one minute from now to withdraw."
Erina Nakiri's clear, crisp voice delivered the final ultimatum.
"One minute?"
"Withdraw..."
"No... no... there's no way I can pass!"
"I'm out... count me out!"
Panic instantly washed over the faces of every candidate, save for Lexon and Soma Yukihira.
A moment later, they scrambled for the exit, practically trampling over one another in their rush to escape the hall.
"Why are they running?" Soma Yukihira asked, genuinely puzzled. "Is there something scary about this?"
"Because Erina Nakiri has an incredibly discerning palate. Much like mine, it can pinpoint even the slightest flaw in a dish," Lexon replied.
"And?" Soma still didn't quite get the gravity of it.
"If she tastes your food and deems you untalented, your career in the culinary world is effectively over before it begins. Or so the story goes," Lexon explained.
"Oh... I see..." Soma nodded in realization before asking, "By the way, Lexon, how do you know so much about her?"
"Because she's my cousin," Lexon replied, using the cover story provided by the Main God.
"Huh?" Soma was stunned. "But you said you were Chinese..."
"I am," Lexon said, seeing no contradiction.
"Her name is Erina Nakiri..."
"Yeah."
"And yours is Lexon..."
"Yeah."
"Did someone from the Nakiri family marry into your lineage or something?" Soma speculated.
"No, I'm purely Chinese."
"..."
Soma was completely lost.
The logic was simply too convoluted for him to untangle.
"If you're aware of my gift... why are you still here?" Erina Nakiri, who had been keeping an eye on Lexon, finally spoke up when she saw him remaining in the hall.
"Because I need to enter Totsuki Academy," Lexon answered calmly.
The core of the Main God's main quest was getting into the academy; without that, securing a Seat was out of the question.
He had no desire to fail the quest, lose a million Reincarnation Points, and have the Main God strip him of everything he owned.
A million points was practically the cost of an entire Kaguya...
"Hmph... then present your dish for me to taste. Be warned, my palate is exceptionally demanding. If you fail, you'll go back to living a normal life, and Grandpa can finally stop worrying about you," Erina said with a haughty lift of her chin.
"I'm sure it will satisfy you," Lexon said as he approached the cooking station.
"Then I'll be the judge of that." Erina crossed her arms, fixing her gaze on Lexon to see what he would do.
"Uh... I'm still here too..." Soma piped up weakly, having been completely ignored.
Unfazed, Lexon began his cooking with measured, deliberate movements.
Just how good was Lexon's cooking?
Over the past two months, by signing in and collecting rewards from Soma Yukihira, he had effectively leached every bit of culinary skill the boy possessed.
This meant Lexon was now a chef on at least the same level as Soma.
Moreover, compared to Soma...
Lexon even possessed the God's Tongue, which he had obtained by checking in on Erina.
It provided him with an unparalleled advantage when refining his own dishes.
As for knife skills, precision, timing, and reflexes...
One couldn't forget that Lexon was a man at the absolute peak of human physical potential.
Such technical aspects were trivial for him.
With all these advantages stacked together, even the world's protagonist, Soma Yukihira...
...was no match for Lexon in terms of culinary prowess.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Erina Nakiri's flushed face, swaying posture, and the strange cries she let out were the best proof of his skill.
"You... you... how... how could you make something of this... this level..." Erina's voice was broken and trembling, her mind still reeling from the sheer impact of the flavor.
"Luck, I suppose," Lexon replied with a smile.
"Luck? Like hell it is!" Erina looked as if she'd turned into a chibi caricature, her canine teeth bared as she shouted, "Two months! Did you really only study cooking for two months?!"
"Can I consider this a pass?" Lexon didn't answer her question, instead offering a gentle counter-question.
Erina recalled her earlier arrogance and compared it to the masterpiece she had just tasted. Her face burned with heat. Gritting her teeth, she squeezed out the words, "You... pass..."
"My turn next." The second candidate, Soma Yukihira, presented his own submission.
It was the exact same dish Lexon had made: Egg over Rice.
This was the eighth item on the Yukihira secret menu.
Soma assumed Lexon had only managed to make it because Soma had shown him how to do it earlier to help him improve.
If a student like Lexon could get such a massive reaction and pass after only two months of learning, then the original creator's version should be even more of a guaranteed success!
'Watch me breeze through this!'
Soma was brimming with confidence.
"Fail," the young proctor spat out coldly.
"Huh?" Soma stood there, completely dumbfounded.
"His was delicious. By comparison, yours is simply inadequate," Erina said, pointing toward Lexon's dish.
"Seriously?" Soma couldn't accept it. "Let me taste his food then!"
He hadn't actually tasted Lexon's cooking yet, nor had he seen him prepare it until now...
How could it be that the moment they met here, a dish that was a blatant imitation of his own recipe was suddenly better?
What was going on?
It defied all logic as far as Soma was concerned.
"I ate it all," Erina said, her face flushing again in spite of herself.
She turned on her heel and addressed Hisako Arato. "Let's go. Today's passing count is exactly one!"
The two figures walked away until they vanished from sight.
Lexon approached the dazed Soma. "Well... keep your chin up! With your talent, even if you failed this time, you'll definitely succeed if you keep working hard!"
"Don't use my own words to encourage me!" Soma snapped back, his emotions flaring.
"Then... you'll definitely succeed this time?" Lexon tried again.
"I already failed, you idiot!" Soma shouted in response.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]