In Ren's view, the climax of Hikaru no Go had now come to an end. However, the storyline continued, with Hikaru embarking on a journey to achieve a level of skill that seemed almost supernatural!
Hikaru knew that if he didn't want to lose Sai again, he had to keep playing—continuously playing. He had to challenge Tōya Akira and various other masters from both Japan and abroad, ultimately striving to reach that divine level of skill.
From that point on, the story would be like an echo of the grand climax that had just unfolded.
While Hikaru was busy challenging one opponent after another, another manga titled Food Wars! was also being serialized.
Under Ren's revisions, this manga had reached the best form he could create.
When the news of Food Wars!—a cooking manga—hit the internet, there was an unusual silence online before comments started flooding in.
"I see now. No wonder Steins;Gate and Hikaru no Go wrapped up so perfectly—it was all a setup!"
"A cooking manga? Hah! Fool me once, shame on you!"
"I still remember when Cooking Master Boy ended, and this crafty guy promised another cooking manga, but then gave us Tokyo Ghoul instead. After that, I could never look at my mom's cooking the same way!"
"Exactly! I was eating pork trotters when that scene popped up. And the worst part? It was so realistically drawn!"
"Yeah, I'll hold onto this grudge forever!"
Readers left comments expressing their skepticism, vowing not to fall for the Porter's tricks again or contribute to his sales.
But on the day the manga was released...
"This is so real!"
Hanley cursed under his breath after returning home.
"Weren't we all supposed to boycott this? Didn't we agree not to buy it? Guess readers' promises are as good as lies!"
It seemed like everyone was breaking their own promises. Were they all pulling a "Wang Jingze" (someone known for loudly stating one thing and doing another)?
However...
Hanley couldn't help but acknowledge that he was one of those who had vowed not to buy the manga. Why did he end up getting it?
"It's not like I bought this for Food Wars!," Hanley reasoned. "It was just a side read while I was checking out other Picca Comics series!"
"But this should be a proper cooking manga, right?" he muttered to himself as he glanced at the cover featuring a red-haired boy holding a pan and a spatula.
The cover looked legit, so Hanley figured it must be a serious cooking manga.
"Let's just read it. It can't be more disturbing than Tokyo Ghoul."
With that thought in mind, Hanley eagerly opened the manga.
The opening scene took place in a small restaurant.
On the cover was the red-haired boy sitting at a table, laughing strangely. "Grilled squid tentacles with peanut butter... Absolutely disgusting... Hahaha…"
"…"
Hanley shivered involuntarily at the words "grilled squid tentacles with peanut butter."
What a bizarre combination—fishy squid paired with sweet peanut butter?
In Cooking Master Boy, the dishes at least looked normal in the manga, even if recreating them in real life might result in disaster.
But this manga didn't even bother hiding its dark culinary intentions right from the start!
Still, the opening intrigued Hanley. Would the rest of the manga be like this?
The scene shifted to the red-haired boy, Sōma Yukihira, and his father making fried rice, with a young girl acting as the judge.
As the girl took her first bite of the fried rice, Hanley began to feel uneasy.
The next panel was drawn from an unusual angle, showing the girl's legs tightening slightly, and her short skirt fluttering as if blown by the wind. Her face turned a deep shade of red.
"Mmm~~~"
She let out a soft moan, breathing out with a sense of bliss, her entire body appearing almost weightless.
"Wait a minute, this seems oddly familiar," Hanley thought to himself.
He quickly pulled out one of his older manga collections and compared the scenes.
"Of course, the Porter must have honed his skills in certain 'other' genres before this. I really want to know what pen name he used back then—the stories must have been something!"
Hanley began to suspect that the Porter was pushing boundaries with his cooking manga, but he didn't have hard evidence.
Even so, Hanley was both amazed and amused.
The Porter's creativity was unmatched.
First, there was Cooking Master Boy, which started the era of glowing dishes, using the appearance and preparation of food to captivate readers.
But with Food Wars!, Hanley realized the manga aimed to entice readers through the characters' extreme reactions to the food they ate.
What would you even call this—"Ecstasy Cuisine"?
The way the characters' expressions came to life could practically awaken a reader's sense of taste.
In this particular cooking duel, Sōma's father won.
It was revealed that Sōma regularly challenged his father in cooking battles, with customers serving as the judges.
And despite having tried hundreds of times, Sōma had never won.
Hanley began to suspect that Sōma's father might actually be some hidden cooking master. Perhaps he had a backstory involving a rival who injured his hand in a cooking showdown, preventing him from competing at higher levels?
But just as Hanley's imagination ran wild, the plot took a comedic turn.
Sōma and his father started arguing about which dish was worse.
Sōma thought his grilled squid with peanut butter was the grossest, while his father claimed his dried sardines with strawberry jam were more horrifying...
"Dried sardines with strawberry jam? Really?"
The father-son banter made Hanley chuckle.
However, he wondered if the entire manga would be like this. If so, it might not hold much interest.
But then, the plot took an unexpected turn.
A mysterious woman in sunglasses, accompanied by bodyguards, walked into the restaurant.
Her legs, wrapped in black stockings, immediately captured Hanley's attention.
He couldn't help but wonder—what kind of expression would this beautiful woman make when she tasted the food?
"Heh heh heh…"
Imagining a scene in his head, Hanley couldn't help but laugh in a strange, excited way.
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