Chapter 340

Three days later, somewhere deep beneath the Gourmet World...

Haruto stood in the middle of an underground passage with an ugly expression, his gaze fixed warily on the darkness ahead.

Kagura and Kanna stood behind him, equally alert.

In front of them and along both sides of the tunnel, countless pairs of blood-red eyes were slowly lighting up in the darkness.

There were far too many to count.

Three hours earlier, Haruto and the others had discovered an enormous hole in the ground.

The entrance was littered with the bones of unknown creatures, making it look extremely dangerous.

But places like that could also conceal exceptionally rare ingredients, so Haruto had brought Kagura and Kanna inside to investigate.

Only after descending several thousand meters underground did they realize they had wandered into an enormous ant colony.

Haruto had named the creatures living there Pale Ant Beasts.

Each one was more than three meters long and covered in a ghastly white exoskeleton. The surface looked smooth as jade, but it was incredibly hard.

Their enormous mandibles and razor-sharp claws could tear through steel with ease.

A single Pale Ant Beast was not particularly difficult for Haruto to kill.

The problem was that they were colony creatures.

There were thousands of them in the nest—possibly tens of thousands.

Now, more Pale Ant Beasts were constantly pouring from tunnels in every direction, surrounding the three of them completely.

They released shrill, piercing screeches as they slowly advanced, claws raised and jaws opening and closing.

"Kagura, Kanna, go into the Gourmet Restaurant first. I’ll handle this."

Haruto opened the passage into his pocket realm without taking his eyes off the approaching swarm.

"But—"

Kagura looked worried.

"No arguing. Get inside."

Haruto cut her off.

"I’m going to try breaking through. If that doesn’t work, we’ll just leave this world."

Hearing that, Kagura and Kanna stopped protesting.

Since Haruto still had an escape route, there was no need to worry excessively about his safety.

The two immediately entered the Gourmet Restaurant.

As soon as they disappeared inside, Haruto began his breakout attempt.

With a low shout, he charged forward and slammed his fist into the head of the nearest Pale Ant Beast.

BANG!

The creature’s head exploded.

That was only the beginning.

More Pale Ant Beasts surged in from every direction, claws and massive mandibles constantly striking toward Haruto.

He moved through the swarm with astonishing agility.

Every punch brought down another ant.

While maintaining Ken, their attacks could not break through his defense at all.

But there were simply too many of them.

They came in endless waves.

Every time Haruto killed one, ten more—or even more than that—would rush out of the darkness to replace it.

His Nen consumption quickly began outpacing his recovery.

Even worse, the Pale Ant Beast colony was like a gigantic underground maze.

Tunnels branched and intersected in every direction until it became impossible to tell where anything led.

While trying to escape, Haruto soon became completely lost.

No matter which direction he chose, Pale Ant Beasts followed behind him relentlessly.

New groups would also appear from tunnels ahead, cutting off his path.

And so Haruto spent two full hours running in circles through the enormous underground colony.

He had no idea how many Pale Ant Beasts he had killed.

Yet the swarm behind him had not diminished in the slightest.

If anything, it had grown larger.

Haruto glanced back at the densely packed horde pursuing him and sighed helplessly.

"Looks like I’ll have to leave for now."

If he continued fighting like this, even his immense Nen reserves would eventually be exhausted.

Once the decision was made, Haruto disappeared.

The Pale Ant Beasts lunged forward and found nothing.

They looked around in confusion, shrieking furiously, but no matter how they searched, there was no trace of him anywhere.

When Haruto reappeared, he was already back home in the Food Wars! world.

Warm sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating an utterly peaceful room.

Compared with the constant danger of the Gourmet World, this place practically felt like paradise.

Haruto let out a long breath.

Only now did the tension that had been building inside him finally ease.

He dropped onto the sofa and felt an almost overwhelming wave of exhaustion.

Throughout his time in the Gourmet World, every day had brought dangerous beasts, hostile environments, and unexpected threats.

His nerves had remained taut almost constantly.

Even Haruto was beginning to find it exhausting.

After taking a little time to recover, he opened the Gourmet Restaurant and let Kagura and Kanna out.

Kagura looked around at the familiar surroundings and casually asked, "Couldn’t get out of the nest?"

"Yeah."

Haruto nodded, then lazily waved a hand.

"You two can go out and wander around for a while. Relax."

This was an ordinary modern world.

There was practically nothing here capable of threatening Kagura or Kanna anymore.

The two exchanged glances, excitement flashing through their eyes.

There were still plenty of places they had never visited during their last stay.

"Then we’re going out."

Kagura looked back at Haruto.

"Go ahead. Just don’t cause any trouble."

Haruto waved them off.

Watching the two leave in high spirits, he smiled before getting to his feet and stretching.

After resting a little longer, Haruto decided to visit Totsuki Academy.

He changed into clean clothes, made his way there with familiar ease, and headed for Polar Star Dormitory.

The moment he pushed open the door, however, Erina Nakiri appeared directly in front of him and blocked his way.

Of course, that was mainly because Haruto had deliberately disabled most of his sensory abilities.

There was hardly any reason to remain constantly alert for sudden danger in the Food Wars! world.

Erina’s eyes lit up the moment she saw him, and she hurried over.

"You’re finally back!"

Haruto nodded helplessly.

He already had a very good idea why she was here.

Sure enough, Erina immediately asked, "Are you really not going to participate? You don’t want that man taking control of Totsuki either, do you?"

"No. I’m genuinely not interested."

Haruto waved dismissively.

Totsuki’s internal power struggle held absolutely no appeal for him.

Disappointment immediately appeared on Erina’s face.

She bit her lip, clearly preparing to argue further, but Haruto spoke first.

"I’m not participating, but I can help train your side."

After spending so long in the Gourmet World, Haruto badly needed a chance to unwind.

Teaching everyone a bit of cooking seemed like a perfectly decent way to relax.

He could even design a few entertaining little tests for them.

Erina was disappointed that she had failed to convince him to personally join the Régiment de Cuisine, but his willingness to help with training was at least something she could accept.

At this point, she could no longer even tell how high Haruto’s culinary skills had risen.

If he personally trained them, everyone’s abilities would undoubtedly improve significantly.

That would also improve their chances once the coming Régiment de Cuisine began.

"Then I’ll be counting on you!"

Erina bowed seriously.

"You don’t have to be so formal."

Haruto smiled.

After all, his motives were not entirely selfless.

Surely the others would not mind.

Unfortunately, early the next morning, Erina dragged Haruto out of bed and took him straight to a meeting.

Haruto followed behind her while yawning, helplessness written all over his face.

"Do we really have to hold the meeting this early? I only got back yesterday. I haven’t even caught up on sleep yet."

It had been a long time since he had enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in.

"No."

Erina did not even look back.

"And it’s already late."

She continued walking.

"We still have some time before the Régiment de Cuisine begins, but the other side is extremely strong. We don’t have time to waste."

Haruto sighed and stopped complaining.

He had agreed to help.

He was not about to back out now.

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