Not long after, even before all the contestants entered the venue, Yuuki Asuna, under the arrangement of Nakiri Alice, successfully sneaked into the student lineup for the Autumn Election.
Everyone in the audience quickly discovered this and couldn't help but feel surprised and confused.
"What's going on? Why is this new attendant here?"
"She didn't come down herself, so is she planning to let her attendant compete on her behalf?"
"Tsk! What a grand display."
"This is going to be quite a show; the contestants will probably be upset."
Even the audience noticed Yuuki Asuna, and the contestants were no exception. All the first-year freshmen looked at this stranger they had never seen before in surprise.
"No, I haven't seen her during the Training Camp, and she wasn't on the previous selection list, so how did she get in?"
"This must be a backdoor entry, right?"
"Holy crap! Is that even allowed?"
Unlike the audience, who did not take it too seriously and watched for the excitement, the contestants were all filled with indignation, just as the audience had guessed.
They had all performed outstandingly after entering the school and had done well in various activities. After passing all the tests, they finally qualified for the competition.
And yet, a person with connections who had never done anything before suddenly came in. This was unacceptable. This was unfair!
Therefore, Yuuki Asuna's entrance successfully aroused everyone's hostility before she even did anything.
Even the residents of the Polar Star Dormitory were swayed by the surrounding atmosphere and subconsciously formed a bad impression of Yuuki Asuna.
Fortunately, the school responded quickly. Not long after Yuuki Asuna appeared on the stage, the host quickly began to explain.
"Here is the latest news. Due to communication needs between the Totsuki Group and an important partner, the school has specially invited an outside guest to participate in this Autumn Election."
"However, her results will not be counted, nor will they affect the progress of the competition. We hereby inform you that we hope all contestants will not make unreasonable speculations, relax their minds, and remember: friendship first, competition second."
As soon as the news came out, all the teachers and students of Totsuki couldn't help but be stunned. They immediately realized that they had misunderstood. Yuuki Asuna was not Nakiri Alice's new attendant. She was just a guest received by the Nakiri family.
But then came another surprise.
During the internal activities of the Autumn Election, an outsider actually appeared. This was a first in the history of Totsuki Academy!
At the same time, the contestants quickly put away their hostility toward Yuuki Asuna and began to smile politely and nod to show their friendliness.
Since Yuuki Asuna's status was different, their treatment of her would naturally be different.
Knowing she was a foreign guest, they certainly couldn't embarrass Totsuki in front of an outsider.
Not to mention how enthusiastic they had to be, at least they couldn't offend anyone, otherwise the school would blame them afterwards, and they would definitely face severe consequences.
But... is there a better culinary school than Totsuki in the outside world?
How dare they send someone? Who gave her the courage to come here and compete?
Isn't she just here to get crushed?
After the explanation, the players no longer cared about Yuuki Asuna and just went back to doing what they had to do.
At this time, Arato Hisako pushed a trolley over to Yuuki Asuna.
"Hello, Ms. Yuuki. My name is Arato Hisako, and I am a subordinate of Miss Erina."
Yuuki Asuna was slightly startled at first, then realized this was the person by her cousin's side that Nakiri Alice often mentioned, and responded with a smile, "Hello."
"This is what Miss Alice asked me to give you. It contains items she has prepared for you to use in the competition. If you need any help, you can come to me at any time. My station is over there."
"Okay, thank you. I'll call you if needed."
"You're welcome, it is my duty."
After the two exchanged a few polite words, Arato Hisako returned to her seat.
The interaction between the two was noticed by others, further confirming Yuuki Asuna's status as a VIP guest.
The confidant of the Nakiri family heiress came personally to deliver ingredients and kitchen utensils. This was not treatment that ordinary people could get. After all, with Totsuki's resources, such heavy work would usually be done by the Men in Black security team.
But the fact that a confidant like Arato Hisako came to do this showed how highly Yuuki Asuna was valued.
For a while, many people even began to speculate whether the daughter of a certain Totsuki partner was here to pad her resume.
On the other side, in the VIP viewing room, Nakiri Erina, who had just received the news, also found Nakiri Alice.
Nakiri Erina asked speechlessly, "What are you doing? Didn't you say you were just watching the competition and selecting people?"
Nakiri Erina felt helpless regarding her cousin's sudden whim.
Because it was so sudden, she had been a bit flustered handling it, leading to the delayed announcement. Fortunately, it didn't cause any serious accidents, otherwise she wouldn't know how it would have ended.
"It's like this..."
Nakiri Alice first explained her motives, then looked down at the helpless-looking Yuuki Asuna and said with a smirk, "Besides, this is more interesting, isn't it?"
After that, she took out her camera and quietly started filming without telling Yuuki Asuna.
Obviously, her motive for letting Yuuki Asuna compete was not pure.
Yes, Nakiri Alice was playing tricks on Yuuki Asuna.
In fact, from the very beginning when Yuuki Asuna was invited to the World of Shokugeki, the plan was to let her participate in the competition and record the event.
As for the ultimate purpose, she hadn't thought about it yet.
It would be a bit too much to release the video and let Yuuki Asuna experience another social death. If she did that, she might lose her best friend.
But even if she didn't publish it, it could be used as leverage, a tool to threaten or trick Yuuki Asuna in the future.
Watching Nakiri Alice's actions, Nakiri Erina's eyes twitched, and she roughly guessed that Nakiri Alice must be plotting something mischievous.
Just for fun...
It was fine to mess with the competition organizers a bit just for fun!
So she reminded her helplessly, "Have your fun, just be careful and don't go too far."
"You know I'm sensible."
Nakiri Alice responded casually, then remembered something, turned to Nakiri Erina and said:
"By the way, what do you think of my suggestion?"
"I'm telling you, there's really no point in staying here and struggling."
"Rather than being an heir, you might as well take this opportunity to come with me and hang out in Dimension City. There is a much greater future there."
"Totsuki is really nothing in the face of that kind of power. Let alone our world, which lacks extraordinary abilities. Some time ago, there were two worlds with extraordinary power, and they were still conquered by Dimension City."
"One of the countries in those worlds was even a huge empire that almost ruled the whole world."
"At this rate of development, there is a high probability that our world will not be able to keep up with the pace of Dimension City in the future."
"Therefore, even if the immediate benefits are limited, only by joining Dimension City can we go higher and further."