Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

After finishing the Peach Squirrel’s fruit, Haruto looked toward the Wuu Jungle, which was still expanding at a frightening pace, and prepared to leave the continent.

Then a troublesome problem suddenly occurred to him.

The Wuu Continent lay at the far western edge of the Human World and was almost completely uninhabited

. There were no towns or villages anywhere on the continent, and even Gourmet Hunters rarely visited.

Haruto had only managed to reach it by paying a large sum to charter a helicopter.

That helicopter had left long ago.

Crossing the surrounding ocean under his own power was completely impossible.

Haruto frowned as he considered his options.

The only practical solution was to wait for another group of Gourmet Hunters to arrive, then ask to leave aboard their transportation.

Unfortunately, the Wuu Continent’s harsh environment attracted very few visitors. He might have to wait three days, three weeks, or even longer.

There was no way to know.

After giving the matter considerable thought, Haruto decided to leave the Toriko world for now.

Aside from BB Corn, most of the Human World’s other rare ingredients were either impossible for him to locate or had not yet appeared.

Haruto returned to the Food Wars world, then later made separate trips to the Hunter × Hunter world and the Delicious in Dungeon world.

Nothing particularly troublesome happened in the Hunter × Hunter world.

Using his Hunter License, Haruto easily received permission to enter a protected wilderness region and obtained several unusual ingredients, including Honeycomb Mushrooms that secreted amber-colored syrup and Thunder Lions whose meat produced a pleasant tingling sensation when eaten.

The situation in the Delicious in Dungeon world was completely different.

The dungeon had changed drastically.

Its routes had been thoroughly rearranged, the passages had twisted into unfamiliar formations, and the distribution of monsters was nothing like before.

Thistle had clearly done something.

Haruto found the changes extremely irritating. It took him far longer than expected to reach the dungeon’s fifth floor again.

Even more unexpectedly, he encountered Shuro’s party and Kabru’s party wandering around after losing their way.

Haruto told Shuro that Falin had already been revived and that Laios’s group had returned to the fourth floor.

With no further reason to remain on the fifth, Shuro immediately decided to head back.

The groups soon went their separate ways.

Haruto continued searching alone for a long time, but he could not locate the entrance to the sixth floor.

His movements even attracted Thistle’s attention.

With no better option, Haruto temporarily abandoned the exploration and left the Delicious in Dungeon world once again.

After returning to the Food Wars world, he settled down and focused on refining his cooking skills while turning the ingredients he had gathered into new dishes.

It was only when the second semester was about to begin that Haruto finally remembered he still had not decided what curry dish he would serve during the Autumn Elections preliminaries.

He had no intention of losing, but he also did not want to overwhelm everyone through superior ingredients alone.

So he devoted some time to developing a proper dish.

...

After several rounds of testing and adjustment, Haruto quickly settled on his final recipe.

He returned to Polar Star Dormitory two days before the semester began.

On the first day of the second term—which was also the day of the Autumn Elections preliminaries—Haruto and Yukihira Soma headed to the Moon Banquet Hall together.

”Soma! Haruto!”

Tadokoro Megumi waved at them with a bright smile.

”Megumi, it’s been a while.”

Haruto nodded and quietly looked her over.

She seemed noticeably calmer and more composed than before. It was clear that she had grown during the summer break.

”How was your summer, Megumi?” Soma asked casually. ”Did you prepare properly for the preliminaries?”

”Yes. I practiced making curry little by little in my own way...”

Megumi had barely finished answering when Yoshino Yuki came rushing over and threw her arms around her.

”Megumi! I missed you! Did you miss me during the summer?”

”You look energetic,” Sakaki Ryoko said as she approached. ”I suppose you had a productive vacation.”

She glanced at Megumi, then turned toward Haruto and Soma.

”What about you two? The preliminaries are about to begin. Are you ready?”

”My summer was certainly eventful,” Haruto replied with a deeply reflective expression.

For everyone else, it had only been one vacation.

Haruto, however, had experienced far more time across several different worlds.

Soma scratched the back of his head and grinned.

”I’m doing all right. I was up until late last night making final adjustments to my curry.”

As they spoke, Nakiri Alice approached with Kurokiba Ryo beside her.

Alice looked at Haruto and Soma with exaggerated disappointment.

”What a shame. Neither of you ended up in my group. Still, Ryo is competing with you, so make sure you don’t let him completely outclass you.”

She gave Kurokiba a forceful pat on the shoulder.

Taking the hint, Kurokiba lazily looked toward them.

”Hey.”

At that moment, Hayama Akira, who had been walking past, suddenly stopped.

His nose twitched before his gaze shifted toward Soma’s fingers.

”There are still faint traces of spices on your hands. It seems you really did put some effort into your training this summer.”

Soma’s expression became serious when he saw him.

”Of course. I made an incredible curry, and I’m looking forward to letting you taste it during the competition.”

Hayama gave no response.

His gaze moved toward Haruto, and his brow furrowed slightly.

There was indeed a faint scent of spices clinging to Haruto, but it was overshadowed by numerous aromas Hayama had never encountered before.

That immediately stirred his curiosity.

Still, the theme of the preliminaries was curry, and the scent of curry spices on Haruto was not particularly strong.

To Hayama, that suggested Haruto had not devoted much effort to preparing.

In other words, he had not taken the competition seriously.

Haruto naturally noticed the subtle shift in Hayama’s expression, but he had no intention of explaining himself.

Hayama said nothing further and walked away.

Alice soon left as well, taking Kurokiba with her.

A moment later, Takumi Aldini approached with a newly slimmed-down Isami beside him.

Takumi planted his hands on his hips and stared confidently at Haruto and Soma.

”Suzuki! Yukihira! During this Autumn Election, I will defeat both of you fairly and decisively!”

”Takumi, long time no see,” Soma replied calmly.

He had grown accustomed to Takumi’s constant challenges.

Of course, Soma had no intention of losing to him.

”You’ll have to work hard, then,” Haruto said casually.

His gaze shifted toward Isami.

”It’s been a while, Isami. You look much lighter than before. You’re almost a completely different person.”

Isami smiled and nodded, his expression slightly lethargic.

”Do I? Thanks.”

The instant Soma heard their conversation, his eyes widened.

He stared blankly between Haruto and the handsome young man standing beside Takumi, clearly struggling to understand what he was seeing.

Eventually, Soma pointed at Isami.

”Haruto, you’ve got the wrong guy. There’s no way that’s Isami!”

He clearly remembered Isami being much heavier.

”That is Isami,” Haruto replied with a perfectly serious expression. ”You’ve met him before.”

Haruto had recognized him, so if Soma could not, that was obviously Soma’s problem.

Though honestly, Haruto felt that Isami would make an incredible spokesperson for a weight-loss product.

With results this dramatic, anything he endorsed would probably sell out instantly.

”Yukihira, what are you talking about?” Takumi asked in confusion. ”That’s my younger brother, Isami.”

He could not understand Soma’s reaction.

Isami had only lost a little weight. Surely that was not enough to make him unrecognizable.

Once Takumi confirmed it, Soma looked even more shocked.

The slim young man before him and the rounder Isami in his memory looked like two entirely different people.

”Every year, once I make it through the hottest part of summer, I lose some weight,” Isami explained slowly.

”It’s perfectly normal.”

He was already accustomed to people reacting this way.

”You go through summer and turn into this?”

Soma’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

Megumi, Yuki, and the others also stared in astonishment.

They had all met Isami before, but none of them had expected his body to undergo such an extreme seasonal transformation.

Ryoko noticed the faint exhaustion in his expression and asked with concern, ”Going through such a drastic change every year must be difficult. You look less energetic than when you were heavier.”

”It’s not too bad. I’m used to it.”

Isami remained as relaxed and sleepy-looking as ever.

”My body has already recovered, so I’m completely fine. Once autumn and winter arrive, I’ll return to how I looked before.”