Chapter 30: Limited Edition Strategy

"...The rumors are true, huh?"

Hojo observed the crowd flocking to Tsuna's stand while ignoring the others. She lightly bit her lip in frustration.

Though she had never been in the same class as Tsuna before, he was quite notorious for stirring up trouble wherever he went. There was even a saying, "If you see him, you better look away!"

The day he first arrived, he declared war on the entire academy while shamelessly promoting his restaurant.

In his first class, he single-handedly dominated a group assignment on his own.

During the first day of their summer training, he confronted the entire class, leading to ten students being expelled at once!

"And that food war with the alumni is said to involve Kojiro Shinomiya..." Her logical reasoning contradicted that rumor, but her instincts suggested otherwise.

Hojo couldn't help but watch the judges passing through the stations without sparing hers a glance as she sighed, "I suppose he's that formidable, but..."

She couldn't help but admit that Tsuna truly was capable.

Then, Hojo turned to look at Hayama's station, which was quite impressive as well, prompting her to mumble in disbelief, "And who is this guy?"

No...

"Just who are these two? Are they even students like us?"

Hojo's sentiment was shared among others whose stations were nearby, and they all regarded Tsuna and Hayama with complicated expressions.

With so many people flocking to their stands, they feared they might face expulsion because of these two.

However, despite having a full crowd of people coming to his station, Hayama didn't seem to be satisfied. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Tsuna in silence.

"My aroma is clearly far more enticing since I've mixed ground turmeric, cumin, coriander, and garam masala..."

Those combinations of spices were a fatal combo for people with empty stomachs, as they'd feel as if they had been starving for days and immediately come to him to fill their empty stomachs.

His omelette certainly had a stronger aroma compared to the soft breeze-like aroma from Tsuna's chawanmushi.

"Just what trick did he use to...!?"

Hayama muttered in wonder before his eyes widened in disbelief as he saw one of the people who was flocking into Tsuna's station devouring one after another at such a speed that seemed almost impossible.

"Hey! You can't eat all of those!"

The way the woman devoured Tsuna's chawanmushi dissatisfied the others.

However, she didn't seem to care as she retorted with a mouthful of food, "Who cares! It's a buffet. I can eat all I want!"

"Woman, what the fuck?"

"We also want to eat more, you bitch!"

Such a response caused her public outrage as they were now getting physical and dragging her back, immediately trying to get Tsuna's chawanmushi as much as they could, like a competition.

"...I see, so that's why," Hayama put his hand over his mouth as his mind raced at the sight.

He couldn't help but mutter, "A soft steamed egg, along with whatever you put in there, certainly is easier to chew compared to mine..."

Considering how good their reaction was when eating Tsuna's dish, the taste was certainly extraordinary, that it could even create such chaos.

"And it helps attract more attention as well," Hayama observed the people who were pointing at Tsuna's stand in curiosity at the chaos, then decided to check it out themselves, becoming part of the chaos.

"This might not be a competition, but..."

Hayama gritted his teeth, tightly clenching his fist as he felt like he was losing the challenge he had just started.

He looked at Tsuna, who had stopped cooking, and said, "I'll remember this setback well, Tsunayoshi Ito..."

"Eh? Um, oni chan, why did you stop cooking?"

A little girl asked Tsuna, cutely tilting her head to the side as she observed him putting down his apron.

"Well, I've already cooked 200 servings..."

"Eh? But..."

The little girl was confused, noticing that the other students were still busy despite already cooking more than 200 servings that no one took.

However, Tsuna didn't seem to mind as he pointed at the treadmill right behind his station and smiled, "I need to catch my morning run..."

"...Ah?"

The little girl could only look at Tsuna in shock, and the scene suddenly became even more chaotic as they realized that the chawanmushi they adored was a limited edition!

Seeing this, Tsuna smirked as he turned on the treadmill and started to run.

Knowing it was a limited edition and they might not get their hands on it again, it was instinctive for them to try to grab one by any means necessary.

"Creating a false sense of urgency always works..."

It was just a basic marketing strategy as Tsuna chuckled to himself.

Before long, all of the chawanmushi in his stand disappeared, and a loud announcement followed, "Tsunayoshi Ito has completed 200 servings!"

"What?! It's only been 30 minutes, though?"

"...He's already finished?"

"Just what the heck?"

The announcement echoed through the main hall, sending waves of astonishment among the students who were still struggling to serve 200 people and gain approval.

"What?"

Takumi Aldini exclaimed in shock, pausing his cooking momentarily to glance at where Tsuna was located.

Suddenly, a smirk crossed his face, "As expected of my rival. You might be faster, but I won't give up!"

Feeling even more determined, Takumi increased his pace significantly, eliciting amazement from the crowd gathered in front of his station.

Takumi might not have realized it, but he no longer felt frustrated by Tsuna surpassing him. Ever since Tsuna acknowledged him as a rival, Takumi felt even more motivated to excel!

On the other hand...

"...?"

Erina, who was only halfway through her 180 servings, frowned upon hearing the announcement.

"He's already finished?"

She couldn't help but feel slightly displeased upon hearing the news and muttered to herself, "He must've used some tricks..."

Erina then turned to look at Tsuna's station, located on the far side of the hall from where she was.

"Hmm?"

However, she noticed something was amiss as she observed a disappointed crowd leaving. Frowning deeper at this perplexing sight, she wondered, "Why are they leaving? Is he finished cooking or something?"

"Hmph, whatever. Why should I even care in the first place? So what if he's faster, he must've just been lucky!"

Erina scoffed before returning to her cooking, despite a large crowd waiting at her station.

"..."

Despite her dismissive words, she felt a nagging curiosity urging her to go over and see just what Tsuna had done to achieve such a feat.

Before long, another announcement was heard, stating that Erina had finished her assignment, followed by Hayama and Alice afterward.

As time passed...

Erina glanced at Soma, her neighbor, who seemed to be struggling at the moment. She then inspected her ingredients, muttering, "This should be the last batch..."

"After this..."

She murmured to herself before turning her gaze to Tsuna's station across the hall and remarked, "I should pay him a visit..."

However, upon realizing what she had just said, her face flushed red in embarrassment.

"Hmph, I won't go there because I'm curious about what you did. I'll go there to show you that I've performed even better!"

Erina huffed lightly in displeasure, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.