After the system transmitted its information, Ethan understood its function. The Fishing System, as the name implied, was for fishing. However, the fishing spot wasn't in the outside world but within a special space.
Inside this special space was a large pond filled with multicolored liquid. Beside the pond rested a fishing rod.
This space was called the Fishing Space, and fishing took place here. From this pond, he could fish out various treasures, and these treasures would always be the ones most suitable for Ethan.
Additionally, this space also served as storage. Not only could it hold the items he fished out, but Ethan could also store other things inside it, ready to be retrieved at any time.
Furthermore, all items within this space would be in a state of time stasis. Simply put, if you put a dish inside, no matter how long it was stored, it would be exactly the same when taken out as when it was put in.
Another point: the space couldn't store living things. But even so, Ethan was already extremely satisfied with having such a space.
Although the space didn't look very large right now, it would expand as he grew. As for its limit, Ethan didn't know; the system's information hadn't mentioned anything about that.
The existence of the Fishing Space was already a pleasant surprise for Ethan, but the system's functions didn't stop there.
To fish for various treasures in the pond, he needed bait. There were four types of bait in total: Small Bait, Large Bait, Super Bait, and Growth Bait.
Acquiring this bait was also very simple. The system would provide one Small Bait daily, one Large Bait monthly, and one Super Bait annually.
The most special was the Growth Bait. Growth Bait couldn't be obtained automatically; Ethan needed to improve himself.
As for how to improve, the system had already compiled some information based on Ethan's specific situation when it activated.
Right now, Ethan was a chef, so his growth would naturally be linked to chef levels.
According to the system's assessment, Ethan was currently at the Intermediate Chef level. This was based on the chef ranking system of the Food Wars world.
In the manga, the chef levels in the Food Wars world weren't clearly defined. But after coming to this world, Ethan discovered that the chef ranking system here was actually very specific.
Chefs in this Food Wars world were divided into seven levels: Junior, Intermediate, Senior, Third Class, Second Class, First Class, and Special Class.
The Third, Second, First, and Special Class rankings corresponded to the WGO officers—whatever class an officer held, that was their culinary level.
Ethan was currently just an Intermediate Chef, but even so, he ranked among the top students in his year at Totsuki.
Junior Chefs were the most common type; the vast majority of chefs in ordinary restaurants fell into this category.
Intermediate Chefs: Currently, most of the non-Elite Ten top students attending Totsuki were at this level.
Senior Chefs: The current Elite Ten members at Totsuki were all at this level. Even many Elite Ten graduates remained at this level for the first two or three years after graduation.
Of course, exceptional graduates, like Joichiro Yukihira and Gin Dojima, had already reached the Third Class Chef level by the time they graduated.
Currently, Joichiro Yukihira had even become a Special Class Chef. As for Gin Dojima, because he was preoccupied with managing the Totsuki Resort, he had fallen considerably behind Joichiro and was now a First Class Chef.
The vast majority of graduates needed two or three years after graduation to become Third Class Chefs, and that was assuming their development went smoothly.
If they encountered special circumstances, like Kojiro Shinomiya did, it could take even longer, or they might even stagnate completely.
As for Second Class Chefs, only a very small number of Totsuki graduates ever reached this level. It wasn't a level you could reach just by grinding away over time.
Even among the chefs produced by Totsuki's pressure-cooker system, only a select few could reach this tier. More often, they remained stuck at the Third Class level for their entire lives.
The further up the ranks, the harder it became to improve. Talented individuals like Joichiro Yukihira had reached the Special Class, but those without sufficient talent could get stuck at a certain level forever.
Getting stuck at Third Class was still the reality for many Totsuki graduates. For ordinary people, most would remain stuck at the Intermediate or even Junior Chef level for life.
Even Ethan himself knew very well that without the system's help, his ceiling was probably Third Class Chef.
Don't be fooled by how well he seemed to be doing at Totsuki now, ranking among the top of the Jewel Generation; this was built upon the foundation of his previous life.
Although he had only run a small eatery in his past life and hadn't accumulated vast experience, his mindset was that of an adult. Even though many chefs trained from childhood—
—Ethan's adult mentality gave him a distinct advantage in this regard. Yet, even with that advantage, he had only managed to reach his current level. This just showed how much talent mattered for chefs in this world.
Ethan could leverage his advantage early on, but the further he progressed, the harder it became, especially when facing the geniuses in the Polar Star Dormitory. Those guys improved way too fast.
Satoshi Isshiki and Megumi Tadokoro were prime examples. Especially Megumi—after overcoming her nervousness problem, her growth rate skyrocketed.
Within the entire Polar Star Dormitory, only Satoshi Isshiki, being a year ahead, could still keep Megumi in check. As for everyone else, Megumi had already left them in the dust.
This didn't surprise Ethan. After all, Megumi's talent shown in the original story was immense. If not for her nervousness wasting so much time, she would have been even stronger than the likes of Akira Hayama.
Right now, among their peers, only Erina Nakiri could possibly suppress Megumi, mainly because the God Tongue was basically a super cheat code when it came to cooking.
Ethan was currently an Intermediate Chef. To obtain Growth Bait, he needed to become a Senior Chef.
Right now, Ethan had three baits in hand: one Small Bait, one Large Bait, and one Super Bait. A starter pack, essentially.
"Hey, not bad, they even give you a starter pack. Guess I'll test the waters with the Small Bait first."
After understanding the system's details, Ethan was eager to try his luck fishing right away, curious about what kind of treasures he might pull out.
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