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"Alright, everyone! Our turn!"
Seeing that others had also finished their dishes, Yuuki led the way, carrying his dish to the stage.
If not for waiting for the others, he would have been the first to finish. However, this was good news for the other students; if Yuuki's dish were the first to be presented, there would be nothing left for them.
As agreed, Yuuki went first—
—His appearance naturally drew everyone's attention. Although other students' dishes were also quite impressive, Yuuki was undoubtedly the most anticipated.
Previously, everyone had been wondering why he just sat there doing nothing, making them very curious about what dish he had created.
Yuuki's dish was actually very simple: Grilled Fish.
However, a Special Sauce was sealed within the fish to create a scent bomb.
"That's weird... why isn't there any aroma at all??" The judges, looking at the grilled fish, were puzzled, not knowing what Yuuki was doing.
"Yuuki's dish isn't as simple as it looks."
Natsume Sendawara knew just how powerful the seasonings Yuuki had created before were, so there was no way he would mess up now.
"As expected of Ms. Sendawara. You'll understand the special aspect of this dish once you cut it open—" Yuuki said with a smile.
For this grilled fish, Yuuki sealed the sauce inside, then used Inferno's heat to create a sort of thermal film, completely trapping the aroma.
The fragrance would only be released when the fish was cut open.
Hearing this, the judges exchanged glances. They cut into the fish without hesitation, and the moment the fish was cut, a Special Sauce flowed out.
And an incredibly enticing aroma swept across the entire arena like a storm. The fragrant smells of the dishes made by other students before were instantly overwhelmed by this overpowering aroma.
"Hiss..."
The judges, being closest, naturally got hit by this enticing fragrance. Just the smell alone made their mouths water.
Fortunately, they were still able to control themselves. But the hostess standing nearby couldn't help it; she was practically drooling.
As for the other spectators, they couldn't stop gulping either. This fragrance was simply too overpowering.
"He completely sealed the sauce within the fish itself... That's brilliant!" After swallowing her saliva, Natsume Sendawara couldn't wait to taste it—
—After a bite, she exclaimed:
"This is the BEST curry dish we've had in this whole competition, hands down! It deserves a perfect score! But... it also feels like something's missing... Like there's something more to this..."
After the judges tasted it, they showered Yuuki's dish with praise, all awarding a perfect score of 20 points, giving Yuuki a total of 100 points.
"A perfect score! WE HAVE A PERFECT SCORE! This has to be the first perfect score in the Autumn Elections since the competition began!"
The audience roared with excitement. Although they had expected Yuuki would get a perfect score, actually witnessing it was still impactful.
"What's 'missing' will be added soon enough—but not by me." Yuuki said with a smile before leaving the stage to the other Polar Star members.
"My turn! Prepare for the second wave of Scent Bombs!"
Alice Nakiri, carrying her dish, came before the judges and released the second wave of Scent Bombs. This aroma was completely different from the first but also complemented it.
The two fragrances, perfectly blended, created a completely new scent, making the already rich and powerful aroma even more enticing.
Only then did the judges understand why Yuuki's dish felt "Incomplete" and why Yuuki had said the others would complete it. They were planning some kind of multi-part combination!
This thought made the judges gasp—this kind of plan wasn't as simple as one plus one equals two—
After all, every Chef's skill level, area of expertise, and cooking style were different.
Making these individual dishes flow seamlessly together wasn't easy; every additional person involved increased the difficulty exponentially.
They now saw that Alice Nakiri's dish wasn't the end; that sense of incompleteness still lingered.
Nevertheless, they gave another perfect score—100 points. The second perfect score since Yuuki's.
"AS EXPECTED of a Nakiri—even without the God Tongue, still managed to pull off a perfect score!"
While Yuuki receiving a perfect score was within expectations, Alice Nakiri's perfect score surprised everyone. This was completely unexpected.
They couldn't help but marvel at the power of the Nakiri genes—the Nakiri family's newest generation had only two members, Erina Nakiri with the God's Tongue—
—And although Alice Nakiri's brilliance was usually overshadowed, here, SHE also achieved a perfect score.
However, the audience didn't know this yet, but this wasn't the end.
"Time for the third wave of Scent Bombs!"
Yoshino Yuki released the third wave of Scent Bombs, and with the three now blended, a new, even more complex, fragrance exploded forth.
Without a doubt, this was another perfect score.
The judges' expressions were increasingly amazed, as three people had already gone, and it still wasn't over.
Next was Megumi Tadokoro's fourth wave, then Daigo Aoki's fifth, and finally, Shōji Satō's sixth wave.
Six consecutive Scent Bombs!
And every wave created a new fragrance, these six dishes forming a continuous cycle of flavor.
Although they could taste the different skill levels of the six Chefs who created these dishes...
These six dishes were clearly divided into three tiers. The first was Yuuki's—undoubtedly the best.
Then there were Megumi Tadokoro, Alice Nakiri, and Yoshino Yuki—although their skill levels were different, the gap wasn't huge. Finally, there were Daigo Aoki and Shōji Satō.
If they ignored the combined effect and just judged the two individually, their dishes would have probably scored in the eighties. However, with the previous dishes leading the way, and with the overall combined cycle of flavors, their scores were boosted directly to the max.
So, in the end, all six received a perfect score of 100 points. This completely silenced the audience.
"Am I still dreaming? SIX perfect scores?! That's a new record!" The students thought they were still asleep—
—Never mind them, even the professors were absolutely stunned.
As for whether there was any foul play involved—that was impossible. The scores were given by these judges—
—These individuals wouldn't be so easily bribed.
And as for Tōtsuki itself bribing them—that was even more impossible. Tōtsuki wouldn't damage its reputation for something like the Autumn Elections.
So, these scores were the real deal, without any manipulation whatsoever.
"CHECK THE SCHOOL'S ONLINE FORUM! GROUP A WENT CRAZY TOO!"
After a period of stunned silence, finally regaining their senses, students wanted to post about this online, but upon checking the forum, they found a post from spectators in Group A.
A similar situation occurred in Group A, just one less person. Five perfect scores. And the circumstances were identical.
"They're all from Polar Star. Are these people all THIS strong?!" Soon, people realized that all those with perfect scores were from Polar Star.
"No way. I'm in the same class as Daigo Aoki. He's good—but not THAT good! This has got to be Yuuki's doing. He's the only one who could pull this off!"
Someone quickly figured it out.
While Polar Star was known for housing strong students, it was impossible for every single one of them to get a perfect score. This was obviously something orchestrated by Yuuki.
After all, in many students' eyes, Yuuki was a living legend.
During the Training Camp, they had witnessed Yuuki's extraordinary abilities. Considering how Yuuki deliberately slowed down and waited for the others earlier—
—It had to be him.
"AS EXPECTED of Yuuki! Making things even harder for himself! This Autumn Election is probably like watching toddlers play house to him!"
Everyone was lost for words when it came to Yuuki.
"Wait a second... isn't the Autumn Election preliminary round supposed to select only eight students to advance? Four from Group A and four from Group B—but WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!"
Someone pointed out the problem—
—Originally, it was supposed to be the top eight. But now, eleven perfect scores. They couldn't just randomly eliminate three of them! Eleven in the top eight? That's absurd!
Never mind them—even the Elite Ten were in shock. After all, they were responsible for the Autumn Elections. And now, there were eleven identical perfect scores?!
"Eishi... what do we do? Just let all of them advance? How are we going to handle the later rounds?!" Even the usually laid-back Rindō Kobayashi was stressed.
Similar situations had happened during the Autumn Elections in the past, but it was usually just one extra person with the same score. This time, there were THREE extra, and what's more, all taken by Polar Star residents.
Even Eishi Tsukasa had a headache...
Yuuki's actions had basically carried the entire Polar Star to victory—they stole the spotlight, but now the Elite Ten were under pressure.
Just as Eishi was trying to come up with a solution, all the Elite Ten members' phones buzzed. Opening them up, every single one had received a message.
"It seems the Director already has a solution. Just let the announcer know."
After reading the message, Eishi Tsukasa said.
"No need for us to do anything—Isshiki and Eizan are already on the move!" Rindō Kobayashi noticed Etsuya Eizan go directly on stage and find the host. And with Satoshi Isshiki being there, he would have also responded right away.
After receiving information from the two Elite Ten members, the two hosts immediately announced the new format for the Autumn Elections.
Due to the high frequency of top scores this time, Tōtsuki decided to give more students a chance to showcase their skills, changing the Top 8 to the Top 16.
"Changing from Top 8 to Top 16, huh? Now all eleven from Polar Star can make it, plus five more spots for other students. It's not a bad solution." Terunori Kuga commented.
This way, they also gave other students an opportunity. If all the slots had been taken by Polar Star, the blow to other students would have been too great.
As Elite Ten members, they were clear that while the Polar Star students were skilled, it was impossible for ALL of them to get perfect scores. This had to be Yuuki's doing; only he could pull this off.
"Polar Star single-handedly changed the format of the Autumn Elections! NO, it was Yuuki himself; he directly changed the entire competition format by himself!" Rindō Kobayashi said with a laugh.
"He's certainly incredible, But now we're the ones with a headache. One more round means additional work. We need more venues, more time slots, more judges... it looks like another all-nighter for us!" Eishi Tsukasa said, looking dead inside.
Hearing this, besides Rindō Kobayashi, the expressions of the other Elite Ten members also fell. Yuuki not only shocked them with his prowess but also effectively gifted them with overtime work.
But they had to do it—this was their job as Elite Ten members. If they wanted to enjoy the privileges that came with their position, they had to work. Among them, only Rindō Kobayashi could afford to not care.
After all, even if Rindō didn't do anything, her work ultimately got done by Eishi Tsukasa, so it wasn't like she was shirking her responsibilities entirely.
So the others couldn't say much.
In the end, all the Polar Star residents made it into the top sixteen. The remaining five spots were taken by Akira Hayama, Subaru Mimasaka, Hisako Arato, Takumi Aldini, and Miyoko Hōjō.
Originally, according to the original story, the last spot would have been uncertain, as Miyoko Hōjō and Isami Aldini had the same score.
But due to Miyoko Hōjō joining the Chūkaryōri RS and being taught by Yuuki, Miyoko became somewhat stronger—
Her score this time wasn't the original eighty-seven points but eighty-nine, surpassing Isami Aldini.
So, the final spot was taken by Miyoko Hōjō.
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