Everyone's eyes were locked on Isaac and on his hand movements.
Alyssa, the little girl, clumsily grabbed a fork and offered it to Isaac.
"Thanks…" Isaac accepted it and felt Cole's intense gaze on his neck.
Cole's eyes showed coldness. He was no fool. He knew that many would take pity on the little girl and declare her as the winner.
'That must be her tactic… Use cheap tricks, but you won't win and have no choice but to return to your family as a disgrace!'
The first food Isaac chose to taste was Cole's. He cut a tiny piece of the fish and stuffed it inside his mouth.
His mouth moved as he began chewing on the fish. Isaac's face soon showed amazement, at least to the onlookers. It seemed like Isaac was enjoying the food like it was the best food he'd ever tasted before.
Cole arrogantly raised his chin, 'Enjoy my food, you peasant. It will be the last time you have the pleasure of tasting it!'
However, Sebastian smirked, 'You must have tasted it… The mistake.'
Isaac's brows furrowed, unnoticed by everyone else, 'It's delicious… Very delicious, but there is something… Missing, it is tasty but anti-climatic.'
'The initial flavor was such an intense experience, but the rest was very anti-climatic…'
Isaac moved from Cole's plate to Alyssa's.
The crowd observed with unsettling looks.
Alyssa's face demonstrated her concern.
Isaac cut a piece from the fish and placed the food inside his mouth.
The onlookers saw Isaac's face being normal, without any changes. They felt disappointed because they thought that maybe the little girl managed to surprise everyone.
"Hah…" Cole laughed and had already started packing.
Alyssa locked her fingers and started praying for every God and Goddesses she knew of.
Sebastian pushed past the crowd and stopped once taking his first steps out of the mass of people.
Isaac placed the fork back on the table and took a long sigh.
The onlookers thought that it was a sigh of disappointment. After tasting Cole's delicious food, he had to taste mediocre food from the little girl.
"Wow…" An unexpected sound came from Isaac's mouth, "That was… How…"
"Young man." The Referee appeared next to him and asked, "Whose food was better?"
Cole had already put everything inside his bag and was ready to leave.
However, then Isaac opened his mouth, "It was definitely… The little girl's."
"WHAT?!" Cole spun around as he shrieked with outrage.
The Referee's brows furrowed, however, saw no indications of lying in Isaac's features, instead astonishment. Like he still hadn't gotten over the food he had just tasted.
The crowd started whispering with each other. Everyone thought that Isaac chose the little girl's food out of pity.
"Y-YOU FUCKING LIAR!" Cole grabbed Isaac from his collar and raised his arm, ready to slap.
However, a taller man appeared behind him and grabbed his wrist, "Who is?"
"LET GO OF ME!" Cole turned around with rage filling his insides. However, soon his red face started varying shades.
Sebastian looked down at him with a cold gaze.
The crowd of people was shocked at Cole about to attack the youth. However, the next part was far more shocking!
All of them recognized the handsome man.
"I-It's King of Recipes!"
"I-I thought he had left?!"
"He is back!"
"K-K-King…" Cole's body shook, and the grip on his wrist seemed far stronger than only a second ago.
Sebastian let go of his wrist and went to the two dishes. He grabbed a fork and tasted both foods.
Alyssa was still waiting with worry, hoping that Isaac's choice wasn't incorrect.
Once he finished tasting, Sebastian nodded, "Yeah, the little girl is the winner. The taste is well-balanced and generally a great experience."
He turned to look at Cole, who looked like his world was turned upside down.
"Your food was better at first." Sebastian shook his head, "Explosive flavor right from the bat, but it was too explosive. The more I ate, the worse it tasted."
"A-Ah…" Cole slumped down on the ground with color draining from his face.
The Referee bowed politely toward Sebastian and shouted, "Winner is Alyssa!"
"Yay!" Alyssa cheered and ran toward her parents, who were already waiting for her. Their faces showing pride.
"Let's go," Sebastian said and left, the crowd of people stepping to the side, allowing him to leave.
Isaac followed behind and entered another active part of the City.
Sebastian was still thinking about the food battle. He couldn't wrap his head around the things he witnessed.
The little girl was clumsy yet amazing. Her food-making skills could allow her to work in B-Rank Restaurant.
A rare talent, but not unseen.
"Hmm?" While roaming the streets, Isaac saw a store that wasn't a restaurant or food-related.
[World's Strike]
"Sebastian, what is that?"
Sebastian's feet halted as his gaze turned to the store. His brows furrowed, and even he wasn't sure.
"Not sure. Should we go check?"
Isaac nodded and waited for the cars to clear up before hopping to the other side of the street.
They entered the store and saw a crowd gathered. Their first thought was that another Food Battle was happening.
However, Sebastian sniffed the air and couldn't smell the scent of food.
Sebastian managed to see over them and saw a man wearing a VR Helmet. He was standing, and in front of him was a screen that showed someone swinging a sword and killing faceless puppets.
Isaac had difficulties seeing past the crowd and had to wriggle his way through. With difficulty, he reached the front of the crowd and saw the man wearing the VR Helmet.
'What is this…' Isaac felt a person next to him fidgeting around. Soon, the person next to him changed to Sebastian, who managed to push through the crowd.
"Hmm, is this White Online?" Sebastian asked.
"Yes… It is." Isaac recognized the game. However, he couldn't understand why would someone play it here.
Soon, he noticed that what he initially thought might have been wrong. Next to the large screen was a high score ranking.
After the man exterminated a puppet, the score kept increasing.
'It is an arcade version of White Online!'