Chapter 326

According to everything Haruto knew, there were three general routes from the Human World into the Gourmet World: by sea, by land, and by air.

Each route had its own advantages, but each also came with a completely different set of dangers.

The sea and air routes were both far too dangerous for Haruto to attempt casually at his current level.

The sea route required passing through the deadly Poison Tide, where the water itself was highly toxic and powerful beasts lurked beneath the surface. Haruto had absolutely no interest in testing exactly how much poison his body could withstand.

The aerial route was no better. A colossal cyclone barrier surrounded the Gourmet World, filled with hurricanes violent enough to tear apart clouds and sweep across the heavens. The air currents were chaotic and unpredictable, making that route equally unappealing.

With those two options eliminated, that left the land routes.

There were three known overland passages connecting the Human World to the Gourmet World: the Life Waterfall Basin on Sabel Island, the Harbor of Evil Spirits on Yuto Island, and the Three-Way Road on Wark Continent.

Of the three, the Life Waterfall Basin on Sabel Island was the easiest route into the Gourmet World.

All someone had to do was jump from the border between Sabel Island and the Gourmet World—and survive the fall.

It was also the route Toriko had chosen when he first attempted to enter the Gourmet World.

Haruto did not need much time to decide.

He would use the Life Waterfall Basin.

He had no intention of venturing too deeply into the Gourmet World anyway, so any of the three land routes would have worked. In that case, there was no reason not to choose the simplest one.

Once his route was settled, Haruto began preparing to travel to Sabel Island.

Before leaving, however, he still had to decide what to do with Kagura and Kanna.

His original plan had been to leave them somewhere safe in the Human World.

Neither of them agreed.

In the end, Haruto could only let them stay inside the Gourmet Restaurant.

Whether he would allow them out again after reaching the Gourmet World would depend entirely on the situation there.

Kagura and Kanna were strong by ordinary standards, but by the standards of the Gourmet World, they were still far too weak.

After arranging transportation and taking a private flight across the ocean, Haruto eventually arrived on Sabel Island.

The moment he entered the island, he could clearly see an enormous stone wall stretching across its edge.

The towering fortification had been constructed by the IGO as a defensive barrier, intended to stop beasts that occasionally wandered out of the Gourmet World and into the Human World.

How effective it actually was, Haruto had no idea.

At the checkpoint, he submitted the required entry application and had his information registered by the staff before being allowed through the gigantic wall.

Beyond it, Haruto soon reached the border where Sabel Island met the Gourmet World.

A sheer cliff plunged nearly twenty thousand meters downward.

Far below lay Angla Forest.

Beyond that was the Gourmet World—the place countless Gourmet Hunters dreamed of reaching, yet feared entering.

Strictly speaking, this was only its outermost boundary.

"The Gourmet World... I’m finally here."

Haruto kicked off the rock beneath his feet and leapt from the cliff.

Wind roared violently past his ears as he fell, carrying a complicated mixture of scents: rich vegetation, the musk of wild beasts, damp earth, and the faint sweetness of unknown ingredients.

His speed increased rapidly as he descended.

Haruto narrowed his eyes and allowed himself to free-fall while expanding his En.

After dropping roughly ten thousand meters, the immense trees below had become clearly visible.

Just as Haruto prepared to adjust his posture, a tremendous boom erupted somewhere in the distance.

A fraction of a second later, his En detected an enormously compressed projectile of air hurtling toward him at incredible speed.

Haruto’s gaze sharpened.

He looked toward the source.

Tens of thousands of meters away, an enormous creature towered above the forest like a mountain. Its neck stretched high into the sky, its head raised as it stared directly at him.

Haruto recognized it immediately.

An adult Breath Brachiosaurus.

It was practically one of the Gourmet World’s gatekeepers, capable of firing compressed air blasts from its nostrils with enough force to pulverize solid rock.

"Seriously? You’re committed to your job, aren’t you?"

Haruto clicked his tongue.

He was only trying to enter the Gourmet World, and the thing had already decided to attack him.

Complaints aside, he reacted instantly.

Flight magic activated around him.

His falling body abruptly shifted sideways, narrowly slipping past the edge of the compressed air blast.

The projectile tore past him and smashed into the cliff face behind, leaving an enormous crater in the rock.

Seeing that Haruto had dodged, the Breath Brachiosaurus’s nostrils contracted with a deep rumble.

Then several more air blasts erupted in rapid succession, spreading out to block his possible escape routes.

"What a pain."

Haruto frowned.

With his current strength, he was confident he could kill the Breath Brachiosaurus if he got close enough.

The problem was distance.

Flying openly across the forest canopy to reach it would probably attract even more Gourmet World beasts.

If that happened, exploring the Gourmet World would become the least of his worries.

Getting away alive would be difficult enough.

Rather than waste time on the creature, Haruto changed the direction of his flight spell and accelerated sharply downward.

The sudden drop caused every air blast aimed at him to miss.

By the time the Breath Brachiosaurus adjusted its aim, Haruto had already plunged into the forest.

Dense layers of branches and foliage swallowed his figure completely.

The enormous beast stretched its neck and scanned the canopy several times, but could no longer locate him.

It gave several irritated growls, fired a few more air blasts that flattened a section of forest, then slowly turned and lumbered away.

Haruto landed on the ground and rolled his shoulders.

A rapid series of cracks came from his joints.

Immediately, a tremendous heaviness pressed down across his entire body.

It felt as though he were carrying a small mountain on his back at all times.

Every step, every raised arm, every movement required several times more effort than it would have in the Human World.

Haruto had expected this.

Angla Forest lay roughly twenty thousand meters below sea level, and the gravity here was several times stronger than in the Human World.

For an ordinary person, merely standing upright in this environment would already be difficult.

Moving and fighting would be almost impossible.

Even Haruto was affected.

He looked around.

Sunlight filtered through overlapping layers of foliage, casting shifting patterns across the forest floor.

The air was heavy with the damp smell of soil and the fragrance of countless plants.

Everything was strangely quiet.

Only the occasional distant roar of some unknown beast broke the silence.

After confirming there was no immediate danger, Haruto did not move on right away.

Instead, he began slowly exercising in place.

He started with several simple stretches, feeling the increased gravity pulling against his muscles, then moved into light jogging and jumping to gradually acclimate his body.

His Gourmet Cells quietly became active as well, accelerating the adaptation process.

Between his extraordinary physical constitution and the assistance of his Gourmet Cells, Haruto needed only a little over ten minutes before he had almost completely adjusted.

He gave a light jump.

His body rose several meters into the air before landing silently, every movement smooth and natural, almost no different from when he had been in the Human World.

"That should do it."

Haruto rolled one wrist, his gaze sharpening.

"Now it’s time to properly explore the Gourmet World."

After orienting himself, he began walking deeper into the forest.

A thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground, rustling softly beneath his feet.

Haruto kept En active as he moved, carefully monitoring every disturbance around him.

Danger in the Gourmet World could appear anywhere.

An innocent-looking flower might suddenly become a carnivorous plant capable of swallowing a beast whole.

An ordinary rock might actually be a venomous reptile disguising itself.

Haruto had not walked very far when a sudden wave of discomfort swept through his body.

His head spun.

Blood rushed into his eyes, blurring his vision, while his hands and feet began tingling with a sharp, needle-like numbness.

"Hm?"

Haruto froze.

Almost instinctively, he immediately held his breath and compressed the range of his En, sharpening its sensitivity as he scanned every inch of the surrounding area.

It did not take long for his attention to lock onto an unusual tree nearby.

The tree stood roughly ten meters tall.

Its trunk was completely white, smooth and delicate, shaped almost like an elegant blue-and-white porcelain vase.

Several branches extended from the top and drooped downward like willow boughs.

At the tip of each branch hung a round fruit.

"An Air Tree?"

Haruto’s eyes immediately lit up.

A broad smile appeared across his face.

"Looks like my Food Luck is still pretty good. I’ve barely entered the Gourmet World, and I’ve already found something this valuable."

The moment he recognized the tree, he could clearly feel his Gourmet Cells becoming unusually active.

They were practically crying out with desire.

The fruit of an Air Tree was an exceptionally rare Special Preparation Ingredient.

Each fruit contained an astonishing amount of extraordinarily pure air. Eating one could replenish the oxygen needed by the human body and even allow someone to go for a period of time without breathing.

Acacia’s Full-Course Menu was also considered the Full-Course Menu of the planet itself, and its legendary salad, AIR, came from the fruit of the world’s largest Air Tree growing on the Gourmet World’s Area 8.

Of course, the tree before Haruto was merely an ordinary Air Tree.

It could not possibly be compared with the colossal specimen that produced AIR.

Even so, its value still surpassed almost any ingredient found in the Human World.

That was precisely why Haruto’s Gourmet Cells were reacting so strongly.

And now that he had stumbled across one, there was absolutely no chance he was leaving without harvesting it.