"Everything's ready. Let's begin."
With Kael's signal, all one hundred students started cooking at once. There were a few repeated dishes, but not many—most students deliberately chose different recipes so they could really test Kael's Special Ability.
As they began, Kael activated Divine Hearing, along with Divine Smell and Divine Sight.He had only revealed Divine Hearing publicly, but using the other senses to support it didn't break any promises.
Divine Hearing alone was enough to analyze a hundred dishes at once—but combining the Four Divine Senses made it even easier.
Kael watched quietly as everyone worked—from washing and chopping ingredients, to seasoning ratios, to heat control.
Because the dishes weren't complicated, the first round was finished in just over half an hour.
"Next, I'll tell you all the flaws in your cooking."
Before they started, everyone had been given a number tag. With over a hundred people participating, no one expected Kael to memorize all their names on the spot.
"Number One—quite a few problems. Your knife keeps drifting inward by two millimeters. I'm not sure if it's a habit or an unconscious mistake, but it throws off your cuts.""And your seasoning—your salt ratio is off by 0.5 grams. When you were stir-frying…"
Kael went down the list one by one. Each student had plenty of issues, but he explained them so simply and clearly that he finished all one hundred in a surprisingly short time.
Many students already knew their own mistakes. Some were obvious in hindsight—they just hadn't noticed until Kael pointed them out. Others were things they would have never realized on their own.
And since Kael gave them exact solutions, they all adjusted their approach for the second round.Maybe they couldn't completely break old habits in a day, but they could at least move in the right direction.
Once everyone understood what to fix, they started their second dish.
Most people would need to taste both rounds before noticing the difference—but Terunori Kuga already knew Kael was right. The few mistakes he could see? Kael had caught all of them.
The first set of dishes had been kept warm. Their flavor had changed a little from sitting out, but not enough to matter. When the second set was finished, Kael let everyone grab whatever dishes they wanted to try—like a mini buffet.
Not everyone could taste every dish, but sampling a few was easy enough.
And even before they finished eating, everyone could already tell how big the improvement was.
"I can't believe it. Just half an hour, and the difference between the two dishes is this huge? That's insane. No wonder it's a Special Ability."
"If we could get guidance like this all the time, I don't even know how fast we'd grow… Wait—what are you doing?"
A student noticed the guy next to him typing furiously into his phone.
"Just noting everything the Chief said. I remember it now, but I'll forget later, so better to write it down."
He didn't even look up as he answered. And he wasn't wrong—memory never beats written notes. It's clear in your head for a moment, then it quietly disappears. Writing it down helps.
Soon, more students who received corrections pulled out their phones, recording every word Kael had said. The ones who didn't get guidance could only watch with envy.
Don't be fooled by how short Kael's explanations were—finding the same mistakes on their own would take months, even years. And Kael didn't just point problems out; he gave improvement methods too.
At this point, the hundreds of students watching looked at Kael with open admiration—almost like worship.
In their eyes, he wasn't a person anymore—he was a built-in cheat code.
Their only thought now was:How do we get close to this cheat code?
Kuga laughed.
"I shouldn't have talked tough earlier. After this, no one in the society will ever go against you. Even if someone wants to, they won't dare—everyone else would drown them in spit before they could act."
Kael's ability really did resemble the God's Tongue. With something like this, he was destined to become a major figure in the culinary world.
Kuga quietly congratulated himself. Inviting Kael had originally just been a spur-of-the-moment decision after hearing about his money-making plan.
Everyone else was still wondering how to build a connection with Kael, but Kuga already had one. Everything after this would be easy.
As for the other members of the Chinese Cuisine Research Society… Kuga didn't see much hope for them. Someone like Kael had limitless potential—and very few people were qualified to stand by him.
Kuga was the perfect example. He had plenty of "friends," but most of them weren't equals. After becoming part of the Elite Ten, that gap only grew.
Friends from before became subordinates. True friends became rare.
Kael replied with a small grin. "Things go even smoother with your help, you know."
Revealing Divine Hearing wasn't just for the Chinese Cuisine Research Society. It was also to attract the attention of the Nakiri family—so they'd invest sooner.
Being President of the Chinese Cuisine Research Society was one thing.
But the Nakiri family…
That was a whole different league.
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