The arrival of the Toriko world dealt a devastating blow to both Erina and Liu Mao Xing.
After buying a portion of food from their stall and tasting it herself, Erina returned to her own booth in a daze.
Looking at the massive group of people she had brought with her, she suddenly felt like crying.
"Aaaahhhh!!"
"Why does it feel like the entire world is against me?!"
"When am I ever going to pay off all this debt?!"
As she spoke, tears began streaming down her face in frustration.
They were simply too strong.
How was she supposed to compete with that?
"Nyahahahahaha~!"
"It's fiiiiine!"
"Do your best, Erina-chan~!"
"After all, not everyone can afford food from their side, you know?"
Nyarlathotep suddenly appeared out of nowhere, holding all kinds of snacks in her arms.
Hearing that, Erina rolled her eyes.
"Even so, it's still frustrating!"
"I already borrowed so many points!"
"I made so many preparations, but I still couldn't beat them!"
"I thought I'd make a huge profit, but this is way too difficult!"
"When am I ever going to pay back everything I owe?"
Nyarlathotep raised a finger and shook it dramatically.
"That's the wrong way to think~!"
"Just think about it."
"Yes, you owe a lot of points now…"
"But compared to before, aren't you much stronger?"
"You should be grateful someone was even willing to lend you that many points."
"Most people here can't even borrow any at all."
"Izumi really treats you well~!"
Although Erina had gone through setback after setback…
In truth, she was incredibly fortunate.
Izumi had willingly lent her the points.
Erina froze for a moment.
"…Is that really true?"
But after thinking about it carefully—
It actually was true.
Now she had her own restaurant.
She had subordinates.
She herself had grown much stronger.
Yes, she owed a mountain of points…
But it wasn't impossible to pay back.
Realizing this, the fire in Erina's eyes reignited.
"You're right."
"I've become stronger now."
"Even if there are people stronger than me…"
"…I can still take the commoner route."
By the end of that sentence, Erina could only laugh bitterly at herself.
Back in the past, she would have looked down on such an approach.
But now…
If she didn't do it, they probably wouldn't earn any points at all.
Perhaps this was exactly how weaker chefs had once felt when standing before her.
Utter despair.
A gap too wide to overcome.
And yet—
She used to mock them.
Looking toward Komatsu's stall in the distance, Erina lowered her head silently.
Perhaps after experiencing all this, she was finally beginning to see herself clearly.
Ever since arriving here, repeated failures had forced her to mature.
There were many things she finally understood now.
Nyarlathotep grinned mischievously upon seeing her expression.
"Just keep working hard~!"
"You may not be as strong as them, but you can still earn plenty of points, right?"
Erina nodded.
She said nothing more and returned to her stall to continue working.
Perhaps the Toriko world wouldn't be the last terrifying opponent.
Even stronger rivals might appear in the future.
But if she gave up in despair now—
How could she ever improve her cooking further?
At that moment, Erina's mentality began to truly change.
Meanwhile, Izumi knew absolutely nothing about any of this.
At the moment, he was happily wandering around the festival with the girls.
But just as he was enjoying himself, a special message suddenly arrived.
[Izumi-sama, do we purchase living creatures too?]
[A young lady brought over some rather special organisms.]
Seeing the message, Izumi raised an eyebrow.
"Special organisms?"
"Did another interesting world arrive?"
Muttering to himself, he turned toward the girls beside him.
"Looks like something fun showed up over there."
"You girls keep playing."
"Kayo, let's go take a look."
With that, Izumi and Kayo vanished instantly.
Special creatures, huh?
Now he was curious.
Kayo had also received the message earlier, so she was equally interested.
The two of them teleported directly to the plaza.
There, several little girls had surrounded a tiny creature.
Beside them stood a sleepy-looking blonde girl whose elegant aura practically screamed noblewoman.
And at the center—
Was a small humanoid creature with a green bowl-cut hairstyle.
The moment Izumi saw it, he froze.
"…Pokémon?"
He muttered unconsciously before turning toward the blonde girl.
She too was observing him curiously.
"…Caitlin, huh?"
Hearing her name, the blonde girl's eyes widened slightly.
"You know me?"
Izumi nodded.
At that moment, the little girls nearby also stood up.
Hatsuyuki picked up the tiny Pokémon and held it toward Izumi.
"Izumi-oniichan, are we buying this one?"
"It's so cute! I want it!!"
"…You already said you want it. What am I supposed to say now?"
Izumi rolled his eyes helplessly.
He reached out and gently took the timid little Pokémon into his arms.
"We'll take it."
"This is Ralts."
"A Psychic-type Pokémon."
"Very nice."
Then he looked toward Caitlin again, smiling faintly.
"Miss Caitlin, do you have any more?"
"If you do, I'll buy them for twenty thousand points each."
"Other Pokémon are fine too."
"Bring over a few cute ones."
"Pikachu and the like."
Hearing that, Caitlin blinked in surprise.
"Twenty thousand points each?"
"That sounds pretty amazing."
"But unfortunately, I couldn't find any more Ralts."
"Ralts are extremely rare in our world too."
"If I didn't already have one myself, I wouldn't have handed this one over."
"But if it's Pikachu…"
"I might be able to find some."
She didn't immediately agree.
After all, Ralts truly were rare Pokémon.
Izumi naturally understood.
He handed the little Ralts over to Kayo.
Upon arriving in Dimension City, Ralts' powers had already been sealed.
At the moment, it was no different from a normal child.
Naturally, it couldn't run away.
Still—
It was trembling nervously.
The atmosphere here had clearly frightened it.
Thankfully, nobody nearby harbored any malice.
Otherwise, the poor thing probably would have fainted already.
Looking at Caitlin, Izumi smiled meaningfully.
"What if…"
"I told you where Ralts habitats are located?"
"With your family's resources, finding them shouldn't be difficult, right?"
The moment she heard that—
Caitlin's eyes lit up immediately.