The Cooking Test (6)

Some of them had assumed that the tension and stress that they were going to be facing would finally dissipate when they finished cooking.

Sadly, that wasn't the case.

Now that they were standing at the front, with the dishes they had worked so hard on awaiting judgement, their nervousness was at its peak.

The three judges walked up to the first person who had finished, a girl who had cooked a pasta dish with grilled chicken and a tomato sauce.

Mizuno-Senpai gestured to the other two judges and they each took a bite of the spaghetti, twirling the long noodles with their forks.

The girl waited while fidgeting in place.

".....I don't understand."

The elderly woman, who was the supervising teacher, asked the student who cooked the pasta a question.

"You were given 60 minutes to create a dish, and you used all that time to make something that could be done in less than 25? And I saw you using store bought tomato sauce and pasta so what on earth did you even make yourself??"

The poor girl's face paled as the teacher continued, her expression worsening quickly.

"I...I thought that simmering the tomato sauce with extra spices and the cooked meat would give it more flavor," she finally replied.

"Obviously it's slightly better than just boiling the pasta sauce, but that's no where near the quality we were expecting. Even a child could make something like this with no issues," Mizuno Senpai interjected with a disappointed expression.

"I'm sorry, but we can't accept this," the teacher added with a sigh.

And so, the first taste led to an elimination.

The girl walked off to the side with watery eyes, and the harsh sight caused the rest of the students to darken their eyes in nervousness.

The second student who had completed her dish was the same girl that Reiji had given his salt to. She had made a pork katsu donburi, which was essentially deep-fried pork chops over rice.

Without bothering with formalities, the judges went straight to eating the food. As all three chewed carefully, trying to taste all flavors and textures in it, their expressions hardened slowly.

"...I saw that the young man here gave you the salt after you forgot about it," the teacher said with a sharp voice.

"Y-Yes he did...."

"Then did you not use it at all? I can't taste any salt in this dish."

The girl froze in disbelief, trying to think about what went wrong.

"I-I'm sure I used it though..."

"She's trying to say you didn't use enough. There's barely any flavor, and the pork itself isn't crispy. You also plated it too early and now it's not hot enough, which has made it a little soggy. The rice is also undercooked and has a tough texture," The third judge shook her head.

"We can't pass you through, there's simply too many simple mistakes," Mizuno-Senpai handed out the decree, ending her hopes of enjoying the benefits of the cooking club.

The second student also walked off to the side with a dejected look, and now everyone was terrified that they might have overlooked something as well.

Out of 7 students, 2 had already been eliminated and none had been accepted.

Finally, Reiji was the next person to be judged. The three increasingly stern-looking judges stepped up to his area and studied his dish.

As they saw the elegant plating style despite the dish being something as crude as skewers, their eyes softened with approval. The mouth-watering aroma that was wafting through their nostrils made them even more eager to try it out.

"Your plating is well-done, it looks very appetizing. And the smell is really layered, I can tell you focused a lot on the seasonings and how well they mesh," the elderly teacher said as she picked up one of the skewers.

"People see and smell their food before they taste it after all, so it's just as important," Reiji replied, standing straight with his arms behind his back.

The three of them smiled with appreciation and bit into their sticks of meat, making sure to get a bit of karaage, pork belly, and vegetables all at once to analyze the entirety of what was provided to them.

As the juices burst with flavors in their mouths, their eyes widened slightly in surprise as they took a second bite without providing feedback.

And then a third bite.

Followed by a fourth.

Only after this did Mizuno Senpai continue with their judgement.

"...This is incredible. It tastes even better than it looks," She muttered to herself.

"Indeed. Even though it has been coated with a sauce, the chicken hasn't lost its crispiness. It also pairs well with the fattiness of the pork belly, which is balanced out by the vegetables. It's incredibly well thought out, not something I would expect from someone that isn't even a member yet," the teacher added on with more energy than before.

"Look, there's also a drink! The only one on the table."

The other senior pointed out, taking a sip of the iced tea. The other two followed suit, washing down the strong flavors with the cold and light drink.

"....Did you choose this drink on purpose?" Mizuno Senpai asked, a bit of shock on her face.

"Yes, I tried out a bunch of different fruit infusions because I thought it would add a hint of natural sweetness to the oily and spicy skewers. This was the best combination that went with my recipe," Reiji responded with confidence.

The three judges exchanged glances and turned to him with appreciative smiles.

"Welcome to the Cooking Club, Yagami Reiji."

***

As Reiji stepped to the side with an exhausted look, the judges moved onto the next student with a much better mood.

Although he had been confident, it was still nerve-wracking to go through three continuous tests without much rest. He was mentally checked out by now, but he still wasn't able to relax because Haruna was being judged right after him.

"Is this Nikujaga? The aroma is nice, makes me want to eat it," Mizuno Senpai said.

They each grabbed a spoon, scooped some of the meat and potatoes, and ate it slowly while Haruna watched on with apprehension.

She had smiled happily when Reiji had been given the approval, but now she was uneasy again.

As the judges chewed on her food, she tried to study their expressions for a hint on how they felt, but they gave her nothing.

Their indifferent faces swallowed the food almost simultaneously and then looked up at her.

"The meat could have been a little softer, but given the time limit it's understandable. I feel like the flavor could have had a little more depth and that you played it a little too safe, but it still tasted pretty good," the old woman's wrinkles brightened with satisfaction.

"I agree. I was watching your process, and it seems like you have cooked often before but lack finesse and creativity. But the potential is still there and I look forward to seeing what you can do."

Mizuno placed down her spoon and gave her an approving grin.

"D-Does that mean?...." Haruna stuttered hopefully.

"Welcome to the Cooking Club, Yuzuki Haruna."

Haruna squatted down in place, her knees buckling at those incredible words. Then she jumped up with a high-pitched squeal and ran up to Reiji with her right arm lifted up high.

Reiji, with an excited and relieved grin, did the same while rooted in place. Their open palms connected with a really loud smack, exchanging joyous high-fives.

"Congratulations, Chef Haruna," he chuckled playfully.

"Hehe, I'm so happy right now!" Haruna just giggled, stretching her tense arms over her head.

Reiji's eyes almost popped out as the extension highlighted her amazing figure, quickly looking away towards the judging table. Haruna didn't notice because her eyes were closed which made him exhale internally.

They both wanted to continue talking, but the judges had already moved onto the next person so they decided to do so later.

Unfortunately, the next two contestants were also eliminated. After seeing both Reiji and Haruna pass consecutively, they had become hopeful again, but that was quickly shown to be incredibly naive.

The girl who had burnt her meat was torn apart with harsh words, causing her to break down into tears. This part hadn't changed from the game, which made Reiji both relieved and sad.

Relieved because some things were still proceeding according to the game, and sad because he felt like maybe he could have warned her in advance.

But he didn't remember who exactly it was, because the animated character design in the game made it difficult to fully recognize people. And he also couldn't go around warning everyone to not burn their meat, which is something they already know.

Well, he couldn't help everyone nor did he have the desire to do so. He had only stepped in when he knew it would cause a lot of future pain, and although this was going to be a painful memory, it wasn't too bad all things considered.

The girl after her, who had made some sort of fish soup, was also eliminated because the fishy smell overpowered every other flavor that was in the bowl.

This left just one other person, the chubby guy who Reiji knew would pass as long as the game didn't diverge yet again. Yamaguchi Ren stepped up to his dish, and the judges also looked down at it with sour expressions.

'Damn, that looks pretty good...'