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Students who could endure three days of assessments—eliminating them in the subsequent regular assessments was practically impossible.
Everyone's Culinary skills were fairly strong. What was being assessed next was their ability to run a business.
After all, as a Chef, if one were to open a shop in the future, how to sell their dishes was a major question.
Not everyone was an Elite Ten member with a built-in halo upon graduation. Most students wouldn't even be able to graduate. Those students who opened their own restaurants naturally had to learn how to manage them.
The true purpose of the breakfast assessment lay here.
"He's right. The breakfast assessment is quite unique. You have to compete with other students, getting enough customers to pass. So, attracting customers IS key." Megumi Tadokoro said.
She was very clear about this, as she had realized this from a young age.
Her family's inn—the Shōkeien Ryokan, mainly attracted customers not with exceptional Culinary skills, but with the Tadokoro Anglerfish Show.
When she was little, Megumi Tadokoro had learned to do this in order to help her family. Since she was little at the time, she attracted many customers.
After all, Megumi could be considered a culinary prodigy. In a world centered on cuisine, such a prodigy would naturally receive a lot of attention.
So, Megumi Tadokoro had attracted quite a few customers with such a method back then. The Shōkeien Ryokan was always fully booked for a certain period.
Therefore, after Yuuki mentioned this, Megumi naturally understood.
"Attracting customers... We need to focus on the appearance of the food itself. But without knowing the ingredients, we can't do anything!" Soma Yukihira said.
It always seemed to come down to the ingredients.
"It's not entirely true. There are other ways to draw in customers—through the Chefs themselves. The simplest example: Erina Nakiri. Her fame from the God's Tongue speaks for itself. She doesn't even have to make special dishes—"
"Even if she just makes normal bread, she could easily pass. Not just her, but me too. If we can't attract customers through the dishes themselves, then we go through the Chefs themselves." Alice Nakiri added.
"Exactly. Go through ourselves—even if we don't have Alice's or Erina Nakiri's celebrity status, we can use techniques. Like this, for example—"
As he spoke, Yuuki directly lifted the table in front of him with one hand. This table wasn't light; a single person shouldn't be able to lift it. But Yuuki lifted it now, with only one hand.
This scene instantly made everyone's eyes widen—
"Your actions, your words, the skills you demonstrate—these can easily attract the attention of customers. Even if you perform acrobatics on the spot, you can attract a lot of customers."
"With your Culinary skills, as long as you're able to draw them in, this assessment is a piece of cake."
As Yuuki said this, he also glanced at Soma Yukihira—Tonight, he had basically given everyone the answer to the exam. He was somewhat curious about whether Soma would still mess up.
"..." The others, looking at the table Yuuki put down, also understood. Everyone had sufficient Culinary skill—the key was how to attract customers.
After some chatting, everyone went back to rest. After all, they still had an assessment to take tomorrow.
....
The third day of the assessment arrived, just like any normal day—except most students wore a stressed-out look on their faces.
Everyone knew the content of the breakfast assessment would be announced tonight, so they were very nervous. Coupled with the stress of the past few days, they were completely unlike their usual energetic selves, instead carrying a gloomy atmosphere around them.
Only a few, with exceptionally strong Culinary skills and confidence, seemed unaffected.
Just as everyone expected, after dinner, all students gathered in the lobby once more.
Gin Dojima appeared on the stage.
"Good evening, everyone! I think you all know why you're gathered here. The breakfast assessment will begin tomorrow morning. Tonight, you'll need to decide what dishes you'll be making."
"As for the theme—it's this egg. You need to create breakfast dishes using eggs."
"Now then, that's all. From now until six o'clock tomorrow morning is your free time. Ingredients are also unlimited. Dismissed!"
After his announcement, Gin Dojima left directly; he still had other matters to attend to. As for how students arranged their own time—that was none of his concern.
"Egg dishes, huh? Doesn't sound too hard."
Having already been given the key point, the Polar Star residents didn't have much to worry about. There were tons of dishes that could be made with eggs, and many were suitable for breakfast. They just needed to figure out how to attract customers.
Before long, everyone had an idea and began experimenting. After they finished, the Polar Star residents went to rest.
Similarly, Erina Nakiri and Akira Hayama did the same. Such a theme posed no difficulty for them, so they also chose to rest.
In contrast, most of the other students didn't waste time—they didn't even go to sleep but racked their brains thinking of how to make their dishes attractive to customers.
This night was pure torture for many of them.
....
The next morning, everyone brought their ingredients to their designated areas—
Thanks to Yuuki's tip, Soma Yukihira didn't repeat his mistake this time.
He made preparations but didn't prepare a massive batch of finished products.
Before the breakfast assessment began, most students would make a huge amount of their dish to save time later.
This was where Soma Yukihira messed up in the original story. His dish was fluffy when freshly made, but after a while, it would collapse and deflate, looking completely unappetizing.
Even if it smelled good, its appearance wouldn't attract any customers.
This time, Soma Yukihira prepared in advance—he planned to cook on the spot after the customers arrived.
Using this method to attract customers was quite effective, but it also put heavy demands on the Chef's physical stamina. Someone with a small build like Zenji Marui couldn't use this method at all.
....
Yuuki and Soma Yukihira were in the same area—
Yuuki's presence there added another layer of pressure on the others.
After all, this assessment tested their business acumen—their ability to attract customers—
—Yuuki's existence was like a giant cheat code for this assessment.
He didn't even have to do anything complicated—just making a big fire would be enough.
Those towering flames would certainly draw attention.
Of course, even without Inferno, Yuuki wouldn't be worried—after all, he had gained quite a bit of notoriety at the Tōtsuki Resort.
Many of these guests knew him. So, he himself already possessed a celebrity effect similar to the Nakiri cousins.
The dish Yuuki intended to make was very simple: Baked Buns.
This fully utilized his Inferno special ability. And he had already made a lot of buns beforehand; he just needed to bake them now.
The following task, for Yuuki, would be very simple and straightforward. As six o'clock in the morning arrived, and the doors of each area opened—the guests swarmed in.
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