The popularity rankings and the high amount of rewards early on exposed "Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma" to a large number of people. This degree of exposure was enough to attract many readers who initially were not interested in the comic.
Many people are like this.
Regardless of their interest in the subject matter or title of the work, they would at least have some anticipation when they see them appearing on the highly valued list and would likely to take a closer look.
A normal herd mentality.
If the work happens to appeal to them, those who clicked on it naturally become part of the audience. As a result, the number of readers who like the comic "Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma" increases, causing the comic to eventually climb up to...
Third place!
At the Tribe at this moment...
