Chapter 38
Kurapika confidently placed his dish before Menchi and Buhara.
"Please, give it a try."
Menchi studied the presentation, and her expression softened slightly.
"Hmm. At least this finally looks like a proper dish."
She speared a piece of meat with her fork and took a bite.
Kurapika waited expectantly for her approval.
Instead, Menchi flung the entire plate away.
"This tastes awful!"
Buhara reacted instantly, leaping into the air and catching the flying meat before happily eating it.
Kurapika froze.
Had his analysis been wrong?
"Presentation matters, but the food still has to taste good."
Menchi glanced at him in disappointment.
"You’re on the same level as Number 403."
Number 403 was Leorio.
The comparison dealt Kurapika a devastating blow!
Several more applicants presented their dishes after him, but the outcome never changed. Menchi rejected every last one.
Then Buhara patted his round stomach and released a satisfied belch.
"I’m full. Completely stuffed!"
"And I’ve had my fill of frustration."
Menchi rose to her feet and loudly addressed the applicants.
"Therefore, not a single one of you passes."
"The exam is over!"
The courtyard immediately erupted.
The applicants shouted over one another, furious and unwilling to accept her decision.
"No one passed?!"
"You’ve got to be kidding!"
"There’s no way I’m accepting this result!"
"..."
They had risked their lives to reach this stage of the Hunter Exam.
None of them could accept being eliminated over something that felt so arbitrary.
...
In the far corner of the courtyard, Haruto finally completed his dish and breathed a sigh of relief before removing the roasted Great Stamp from the grill.
He slowly raised his head and looked around.
Confusion crossed his face.
"Uh... what’s going on?"
Haruto blinked, taking in the enraged applicants and the two examiners.
Only then did he realize what had happened.
He had been so focused on working out how to roast the Great Stamp properly that he had completely lost track of time.
The exam was already over, and he had not even been given a chance to present his Fruit-Scented Roast Great Stamp!
Haruto’s expression became complicated, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
He had put this much thought and effort into the dish, only to miss the opportunity to show it?
What kind of ridiculous outcome was that?
His frustration lasted only a moment before he let it go.
There would still be a chance to take a replacement test later.
Besides...
Haruto looked down at the roast on the grill, and his eyes brightened.
Since he no longer needed to submit it for judging, he could keep the entire Great Stamp for himself.
His mood cleared immediately.
Haruto began removing the clay shell and applying the finishing touches.
...
Among the angry applicants, Todo’s fists clenched tightly enough to creak.
Veins throbbed across his forehead as he glared at Menchi, his eyes burning with rage.
"I can’t accept this! I absolutely refuse to recognize this result!"
His voice trembled with barely restrained anger.
Menchi merely glanced at him.
"Your failing grade will not change."
"You’ve got to be kidding me!"
Todo stepped forward as though a fuse had been lit inside him, his chest heaving violently.
"You told us to make a pork dish, so I risked my life hunting—"
"I asked for a pork dish that would make me say it was delicious," Menchi cut in coldly.
Her gaze swept across the gathered applicants, her impatience completely undisguised.
"Every dish you made was exactly the same. Not one of you showed the slightest creativity."
"You underestimated cooking far too much!"
"No matter who makes it, how different can a pork dish really be?" Hanzo asked helplessly, spreading his hands.
His roasted pig had been cooked reasonably well. Surely it could not have tasted that bad.
At least, he thought it had been acceptable.
His comment instantly ignited Menchi’s temper.
"What did you just say?"
She rounded on Hanzo, anger blazing in her eyes, and took a step forward as though preparing to teach him exactly what happened to people who looked down on cooking.
Then—
Crack!
A sharp breaking sound suddenly cut through the courtyard.
The next moment, an overwhelmingly rich aroma of roasted meat erupted into the air, carried by a fresh, delicate sweetness of fruit.
It burst free like a beast breaking its chains.
The fragrance swept across the entire courtyard in an instant, crushing the lingering smells of burned meat and gaminess until they vanished completely.
The noisy courtyard seemed to freeze.
Shouting, complaints, and arguments all stopped the moment the aroma spread.
Todo, still consumed by frustration; Menchi, burning with anger; even Hisoka, whose body radiated faint bloodlust—all of them turned toward the source at the same time.
...
At the far end of their gazes, Haruto held a kitchen knife and was using the back of the blade to carefully crack open the crisp clay shell surrounding the Great Stamp.
With a series of light snapping sounds, the shell broke apart and slowly fell away, revealing the perfectly roasted pig beneath.
Sunlight poured over its glossy, reddish-brown skin.
The surface gleamed with rendered fat, every inch of the meat looking irresistibly succulent.
The applicants stared blankly.
Compared with the blackened pigs they had prepared, Haruto’s roast looked like a carefully crafted work of art.
Merely seeing it made their throats tighten and saliva flood their mouths.
The courtyard fell completely silent.
Everyone stood frozen, their eyes locked onto the roasted Great Stamp before Haruto.
Even their breathing unconsciously softened.
Haruto seemed entirely unaware of the attention.
He swallowed as the aroma reached him, then eagerly raised his knife.
The blade passed through the crisp skin with ease, revealing rosy meat with clear, succulent fibers beneath.
Rich juices welled from the cut and ran down the knife, dripping onto the stone counter and forming a small gleaming pool of fat.
The aroma intensified again.
Haruto turned the knife and quickly sliced off a piece containing both lean meat and fat.
He brought it to his mouth and took a bite.
Crunch!
The crisp skin broke first.
Then the tender, springy meat yielded between his teeth, releasing a flood of juices that spread through his entire mouth.
The impact was so intense that Haruto felt as though a Great Stamp had charged directly into his taste buds.
The meat was far chewier and more substantial than ordinary pork, carrying a deep, wild richness without the slightest trace of unpleasant gaminess.
The fatty portion was luscious without being greasy, melting almost immediately on his tongue, while the lean meat remained firm and satisfyingly springy.
Every bite released another rush of juices across his palate.
Even the individual fibers had absorbed the fresh fragrance of the fruit, giving the flavor a remarkable depth and complexity.