Anime Collector: Starting With the Malevolent Shrine-Chapter 215 ⟴ A Huge Amateur Operation

At the Culinary Selection venue.

The Prime Minister's sudden announcement of the selection timing caught participants off guard — some even found themselves stranded at airports.

To avoid such complications, the Tōtsuki Elite Ten, led by Kojirō Shinomiya, arrived at the venue five hours early.

The Culinary Selection Competition's venue was a magnificent hall, complete with judges' platforms and cooking stations. However, what shocked Kojirō and the others was learning that contestants had to provide their own ingredients — the competition wouldn't supply any.

"This selection is completely unprofessional." Etsuya Eizan complained, "We have to pay for everything ourselves — cooking equipment, ingredients, everything! This is supposed to be a world-class stage where every participant is a contemporary culinary master, a jewel of this generation. The Japanese Cabinet organized this Culinary Selection as part of the 'Dragon Project', with the Prime Minister personally rejecting W.G.O. judges and appointing new ones. Surely they want to break W.G.O.'s monopoly and identify genuine young elite chefs!"

Hearing his complaints, Kojirō pushed up his glasses and coldly replied, "It shows the Cabinet doesn't care about formalities! The young chefs selected this time will be the elite of the elite. The worthless ones belong in the trash bin!"

To him, these young Elite Ten members were still naive. They should be grateful the Cabinet even allowed them to participate! With their current cooking skills, how could they possibly compete at his level? These greenhorns hadn't faced reality yet.

Etsuya fell silent, considering that perhaps the Japanese Cabinet intended to test their abilities.

"Should we prepare ingredients now? The contestants who arrive just on time will be caught off guard by these rules, won't they?" He smiled, realizing that following his Senior had been the right choice.

He'd initially resisted coming early, but Kojirō had insisted on checking things out. Now they'd discovered the Japanese Cabinet's hidden challenge — thankfully they'd come.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

"Naturally. Having excellent ingredients is half the battle won!" Kojirō adjusted his glasses again with a smile, noting how the Japanese Cabinet's approach mirrored his own.

At Tōtsuki Academy, they traditionally invited outstanding Elite Ten graduates to evaluate new students at the Tōtsuki Resort. He'd been planning similar challenges for these newcomers, and surprisingly, the Cabinet organizers shared his mindset!

'Perhaps my philosophy isn't wrong after all. Maybe I've just been too rigid?' He felt his confidence growing.

Just as he prepared to lead Etsuya and the others away, he spotted flames in a corner.

"Hmm? What's that?"

Following his gaze, Terunori Kuga's eyes widened, "They're cheating! They've started the evaluation early!"

They spotted Judge Kishibe waiting for a contestant to prepare their dish in a corner of the venue.

Kojirō's group rushed toward the judges' area, intent on questioning Kishibe about this early start.

However, security stopped them halfway, "Are you contestants? You can start once you have your ingredients ready."

The group was taken aback, and Terunori couldn't help asking, "Wasn't the selection supposed to start later?"

The security guard's expression softened as he realized why they looked so angry — they suspected competition corruption, which he knew was impossible!

He quickly explained, "You've misunderstood. Yes, the official time hasn't started yet, but we're pressed for time. As soon as you have your ingredients ready, you can begin. The sooner we finish, the better for everyone. We've had an overwhelming response — almost every culinary school student we notified has registered."

The group thought this made sense... like hell it did!

What kind of competition starts early just because there are too many participants? Couldn't the Cabinet have simply set qualifying criteria to limit the numbers?

Despite finding the reasoning absurd, they had no choice but to proceed since others had already started. They left to prepare their ingredients.

When they returned with their supplies, they joined the other chefs receiving numbers. Their group got consecutive numbers, with Kojirō last, followed by a young chef named Asahi Saiba.

Though Asahi appeared particularly young, Kojirō sensed something unusually dangerous about him and made a mental note to stay alert.

"Hahaha, I'm first in line!" Terunori enthusiastically kissed his number tag, confident his cooking would astound Judge Kishibe!

Suddenly, a competing chef called out, "Judge, I've finished my dish, but there are no plates!"

Kishibe looked up, scanning the now-silent crowd of chefs. He was notorious for his strict standards — so far, he'd dismissed every dish as "garbage" or worse.

He casually dumped the dish he was tasting into the trash and called to the staff, "Wash one and send it over."

Everyone was dumbfounded. Was this really a proper competition?

This seemed completely unprofessional! It was like one huge amateur operation!

In the back, the dishwashing staff struggled with their task. The dishwasher was too slow, and since the Japanese Cabinet had opted for manual washing, the workers scrubbed frantically until their cloths nearly sparked, "Damn... couldn't they hire a few more dishwashers?"

The chef's dish quickly made its way to the judges' table. Despite being quite full, Kishibe knew he had to maintain his composure.

After two reluctant bites, he spat out the food with a look of disgust, "Garbage cooking. Tell the next contestants to hurry up!"

His anxiety grew — he hadn't seen a single qualified candidate yet!

But to Kojirō, this was the epitome of professional behavior. For chefs of their caliber, ordinary cooking truly was inedible garbage, which perfectly matched his own standards.

"Ha, finally it's my turn!"

Terunori jumped up, rolling up his sleeves with fiery enthusiasm, ready to shock the world with his Chinese cooking!

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