Chapter 1: Where's My Bathroom!?
Inside a small, rundown apartment in Tokyo, a girl with long black hair, sat intently in front of her computer. She was fully absorbed in her work, typing away with a steady rhythm when a loud noise erupted from the neighboring room. Her fingers froze, and her expression darkened with irritation.
"What is that idiot up to now?" she muttered, her voice dripping with annoyance.
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Next door, Sui sat motionless at his desk, eyes wide with shock. The cup in his hand slipped, shattering as it hit the floor, but the sound barely registered in his mind.
One moment, he'd been enjoying his dinner. The next, he found himself in a strange, unfamiliar room.
"Did I get...iseka'id?" he whispered to himself in disbelief.
A sudden rush of memories overwhelmed him. In a flash, Sui understood that he had crossed over into the life of another person with the same name. Despite having read numerous novels about situations like this, nothing could have prepared him for the reality of it.
Slowly, he pieced together fragments of his new life. The previous Sui was also 16 years old, a high school student just like him. Both parents were dead, leaving behind no savings, and he was living in a cramped, rented apartment on the verge of losing its lease. His only inheritance was a small snack bar that was barely surviving.
"This has to be a joke!" Sui groaned, his hands clutching his hair in frustration. "Where's the house? The capable sister? What kind of mess did I end up in?"
His thoughts spiraled, and just as he was about to scream in frustration, the door to the room swung open.
A girl entered. She had long, flowing black hair, wore a high school uniform, and her slender legs were wrapped in black stockings. She was beautiful, and for a brief moment, Sui's mind jumped to all the typical scenarios from the novels he'd read—was this his sister? Maybe his fiancée?
But before he could even entertain the thought, the girl's sharp voice cut through the silence.
"Can you keep it down? I'm trying to write a novel here," she said coldly.
"Uh... right," Sui mumbled, his excitement deflating like a punctured balloon.
She wasn't his sister or fiancée. She was Kasumigaoka Utaha, the well-known light novel author who lived next door. Despite her youthful appearance, she was already a rising star in the literary world.
Wait... Kasumigaoka Utaha? Isn't she a character from that one novel? Sui's confusion deepened.
"And stop making so much noise when you're playing games," Utaha added, glancing at his computer on the porn site with disdain before turning to leave.
Sui, still dazed, muttered a quick, "Okay," and powered off the computer.
As Utaha left, she muttered to herself, "I really need to cancel this lease next month... it's so noisy around here."
She had chosen the apartment for peace and quiet to focus on her writing, but her expectations had been thoroughly shattered. Sharing a wall with a noisy otaku like Sui was hardly ideal.
Once she was gone, Sui sighed and crouched to clean up the broken glass scattered on the floor. He hadn't even had time to process the reality of his new life, but he figured he might as well take care of the mess.
Then, faintly, he heard the sound of running water from the bathroom. His brow furrowed. Was someone else living here?
As far as he knew, the previous Sui didn't have any close relatives. Who could it be?
Driven by curiosity, Sui cautiously approached the bathroom door. When he pushed it open, the sight before him left him speechless.
The bathroom was completely different—much larger than the one he remembered in the cramped apartment. It was lavishly decorated in pink, the kind of bathroom you'd expect to find in a luxurious home, not a run-down rental.
His confusion only deepened when he noticed a girl standing at the sink, washing her hands. She had golden blonde hair, flawless skin, and an ethereal beauty that made her seem almost unreal. She wore a high school uniform, her noble aura contrasting sharply with the apartment's modest setting.
"What... is going on?" Sui mumbled, his mind swirling with questions.
The girl turned at the sound of his voice, her violet eyes widening in shock as they locked onto his.
"W-who are you?" she stammered, clearly startled. "And w-what are you doing here!?"
"Uh... don't be scared," Sui tried to reassure her, taking a small step forward.
But his movement only seemed to frighten her more. In a panic, the girl tried to back away but slipped on the wet floor, losing her balance. Before either of them could react, she fell forward, crashing into Sui, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
In the neighboring room, Utaha was just about to resume her writing when the loud thud echoed through the wall. She gritted her teeth, her patience wearing thin.
"Didn't I just tell him to keep it down? That idiot!" she growled.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, the blonde girl landed on top of Sui, her face inches from his, her lips accidentally brushing against his in the chaos. For a brief moment, time seemed to freeze. Sui stared into her wide, violet eyes, which were filled with a mix of fear and confusion.
Then, out of nowhere, a voice echoed in his mind:
"The host has successfully opened the door to the world of 'Shokugeki no Soma' and has been rewarded: God's Tongue, Cooking Level 10."