Chapter 48
While eating Mineo's cooking, Toriko was drowning in an ocean of deliciousness. At this moment, Toriko's heart was truly shaken. He could clearly feel the blood in his entire body beginning to boil.
Even though the ingredients used weren't particularly high-level luxury items, the Gourmet Cells inside his body were instinctively becoming active because of the sheer excellence of the cooking.
Toriko's body possessed Gourmet Cells. Generally, only high-level, special foods could cause the Gourmet Cells in his body to evolve.
However, if a dish made from ordinary ingredients was sufficiently miraculous, it could also trigger the Gourmet Cells into an active state.
And right now, that was exactly what was happening to Toriko. The ingredients he had brought for Mineo were certainly good, but they clearly didn't reach the "high-level" standard.
Despite that, Mineo had still managed to deliver a powerful impact of flavor through his culinary skills.
Mineo-kun really is something. It feels like it's been a long time since his Gourmet Cells were this active.
After clearing every single dish off the dining table, Toriko leaned back in his chair with a look of pure contentment while picking his teeth.
"Happiness!"
"Satisfaction!"
"Pure joy!"
"Your cooking skills are truly extraordinary, Mineo-kun!"
"How about it? Why don't you become my partner, Mineo-kun!"
"I'll be responsible for hunting the ingredients, and you'll be the one in charge of the cooking. I think we'd definitely be the most perfect combination!"
"What do you say, Mineo-kun? Care to consider it?"
Hearing Toriko's offer, Mineo immediately shook his head with a smile.
"As for that, let's just forget about it. Right now, I still plan on managing this restaurant properly."
While the food in Toriko's world was certainly tempting, at the end of the day, it couldn't beat the allure of 2D girls, could it?
Only if I had lost my mind would I agree to be your partner. Is the young mistress Erina not haughty enough? Is the second young mistress, Alice, not cute enough? Or has Kotori stopped being spoiled?
Seeing Mineo reject him without a second thought, Toriko felt a bit disappointed, but he didn't let it bother him too much. He took a sip of tea, then smiled at Mineo.
"Everyone has their own ambitions; one can't force these things."
"But Mineo-kun, next time I get my hands on some good ingredients, don't you dare refuse if I ask for your help in cooking them, okay!"
"I think I'm going to become a regular at your restaurant."
"By the way, next time I want to come over, should I send you a message first?"
"Yes, send a message before you come. The situation with my restaurant is quite complicated; I'm often busy with other matters and it's not always open. When you want to visit, just ask me first. If I'm free, I'll call you over."
"Got it!"
Toriko stood up and said to Mineo:
"Now that I've eaten my fill, I want to go home and sleep."
"Rest up a bit, and get ready to go find some more ingredients in the next few days. Um... how do I go back? Just walk straight out the door?"
"Yes, just head straight out. Toriko, I look forward to your next visit."
"Haha, don't worry. I've already marked this restaurant as a vital spot in my heart. If I don't visit often, the Gourmet Cells in my body probably won't forgive me!"
After a few more casual words of conversation, Toriko officially said his goodbyes. Once he pushed open the restaurant door and stepped out, the system's voice rang out in Mineo's mind once again.
〖Ding... Congratulations to the Host for successfully entertaining a guest: Toriko!〗
〖The guest's satisfaction level with the meal in your restaurant is 100%. Therefore, you will automatically extract one ability from said guest.〗
〖Ding... Congratulations to the Host for extracting Gourmet Cells from the customer: Toriko!〗
〖Ding... The system has detected that the guest who dined this time is a friend of the Host. Since the chat frequency has not reached ten thousand, the extracted ability from the guest will not be given a level boost...〗
As the system announcement ended, Mineo suddenly felt a warm current surge within his body. This warmth seemed to flow through his veins, slowly spreading to every corner of his being.
His physique, strength, agility, five senses... it felt as if they were all increasing at a rapid pace!
An hour later, the changes to Mineo's body finally subsided. At that moment, he felt clearly that after gaining Level 1 Gourmet Cells, his physical condition had surpassed the limits of an ordinary human.
Strength, speed, explosive power, reflexes, and even his five senses—everything had been bolstered under the influence of the Gourmet Cells.
Moreover, according to the information sent by the system, his Gourmet Cells could evolve in the future, and they didn't contain anything like a Gourmet Demon inside them.
Just by hosting Toriko once, I've already become a superhuman? Mineo tried throwing a single punch forward, and the strike immediately generated a visible gust of air.
"Holy... that's incredible!!!"
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