No sooner had the points entered Erina's hands than they vanished again into purchases for enhancement potions.
The young heiress of the Nakiri family could only groan in frustration.
And it still wasn't enough.
They needed even more enhancement potions.
After all, she had brought in far too many people.
Thus, throughout the rest of the day, the moment she earned enough points, Erina immediately spent them on enhancement medicine and distributed them among the staff.
Fortunately, according to Izumi, the Gourmet Festival would continue for three full days.
That meant there was still plenty of time to earn everything back.
Besides—
Only by strengthening her workers could they continue making even more profit.
With that mindset, Erina kept purchasing enhancement potions nonstop.
By the time the entire morning had passed, every point she earned had already been spent.
Once all the newly recruited chefs and assistants had finally been enhanced, Erina stared blankly at her balance and realized something horrifying.
She hadn't actually earned any profit at all.
"…Having too many employees is hard to manage…"
She let out a bitter smile.
At last, Nakiri Erina understood the suffering of being a boss.
Not only was she buried under a mountain of debt—
Now she also had to feed and maintain her workforce.
Life was truly cruel.
Thankfully, those employees could continue earning more points for her.
Otherwise, there was no way she would have invested so recklessly.
Looking at the tiny amount of points she had left, Erina exhaled softly.
"…This time, there shouldn't be any more problems… right?"
And just as she finished speaking—
A wave of loud commotion suddenly erupted in the distance.
"Woooah!!"
"What is THAT ingredient?!"
"A roasted suckling pig… that's still alive?!"
"Did another crazy world just arrive here?!"
"These ingredients look ridiculously high-level!"
Hearing the uproar, Erina hurriedly looked up.
In the distance, a massive group of people was carrying ingredients she had never seen before toward an enormous food stall.
Everything was organized with military precision as they immediately began preparing dishes.
And the moment those people appeared—
Every single gaze in the area was drawn toward them.
The reason was simple.
Their ingredients were simply too shocking.
Erina stared blankly at the bizarre scene unfolding before her.
"…What is going on?"
"What exactly are those ingredients?"
There were actually ingredients like this in existence?
A terrible premonition instantly rose in her chest.
Without hesitation, she opened the Exchange Shop interface and quickly searched for "ingredients."
What appeared were only the ingredients she already knew.
None of those bizarre living roasted pigs appeared anywhere.
Nor did those gigantic apples.
Seeing this, Erina frowned deeply.
She immediately called out to Ryōko nearby.
"Ryōko, hurry to the market district!"
"Check whether those ingredients are being sold there!"
Hearing Erina's order, Sakaki Ryōko immediately ran off.
Meanwhile, Erina herself abandoned her station and hurried toward the giant stall.
Unfortunately, there were simply too many people.
She couldn't squeeze through the crowd.
Even so—
The aroma drifting through the air alone was enough to tell her one thing.
This was an entirely different level.
Just smelling it made the ominous feeling in her heart grow stronger.
Then, a voice rang out from within the crowd.
"BB Corn Popcorn! Freshly prepared!"
"If you want some, come line up!"
"This popcorn naturally forms inside volcanoes!"
"It tastes incredible!"
"Thirty points per serving! One portion alone is enough to fill you up!"
"And it's extremely beneficial to the body as well!"
The instant those words were spoken, countless people surged forward.
Everyone rushed to buy it.
Just looking at the gigantic kernels already stimulated their appetite.
And hearing that it was a naturally formed ingredient only made it more irresistible.
Soon after, one unfamiliar dish after another was announced.
At that moment, Erina was completely stunned by the lively atmosphere.
Not only were the prices absurdly high—
People were still buying everything enthusiastically.
Especially the old woman's massive soup pot.
The fragrance rising from it shocked everyone present.
Just what kind of terrifying cuisine was this?
Erina slowly turned around—
And immediately fell into despair.
Every single customer from her own stalls had disappeared.
All of them had run over to that strange new stall.
Her heart instantly went cold.
Where had this terrifying competitor come from?
Why did such monsters even exist?!
Even the business at Liu Mao Xing's stall had been affected.
There were barely any customers left.
In fact—
Even Liu Mao Xing himself had gone over there to line up and buy food.
Seeing that scene, Erina swallowed hard.
"Ah… this…"
Her mind went completely blank.
She had no idea what to do anymore.
How could they possibly compete against this?
The other side had completely crushed everyone through aroma alone.
It was like a max-level Demon King had descended and suppressed the entire festival by sheer presence.
Originally, Erina thought their only rival would be Liu Mao Xing.
And with superior manpower, she believed they might still secure victory.
But now—
An even more terrifying existence had suddenly appeared.
Erina stared blankly at the bustling stall in the distance, unable to say a word.
Every newcomer arriving in Dimension City immediately headed there to line up.
No matter how long the queue became, people continued pouring in endlessly.
Because it was simply too enticing.
And Komatsu clearly understood business.
While selling dish after dish, he enthusiastically introduced each ingredient and explained its origins.
Especially the enormous pot simmering in the center.
That was what everyone anticipated the most.
Even Erina found herself unconsciously listening.
"This is a simplified version of Century Soup."
"It contains over ten thousand ingredients."
"And every ingredient used is incredibly high quality."
"That's why the preparation time is extremely long."
"We already completed the preliminary preparation before arriving here."
"Over the next few days, we'll continue adding more rare ingredients into the pot."
"Three days later…"
"Everyone will finally be able to taste one of the supreme cuisines from our world."
Komatsu's words echoed throughout the venue.
Whether it was Liu Mao Xing or Erina—
Everyone was completely dumbfounded.
Ten thousand ingredients?
Was that even something humans could create?
Just processing every ingredient alone sounded terrifying enough.
And after that, they still had to perfectly balance all those flavors without conflict before merging them into one unified dish.
Anyone who heard it was stunned beyond belief.
At the same time—
They were filled with overwhelming anticipation.
If they failed to taste such a dish…
They would probably regret it for the rest of their lives.
Countless people swallowed nervously.
Seeing everyone's reactions, Komatsu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Before arriving here, he had already told Toriko about Dimension City.
The moment Toriko heard about such an interesting place, he immediately reported it to the IGO.
After holding a meeting, the IGO decided to send several legendary chefs over.
Among them—
Was the legendary master chef herself.
Setsuno.