"Let's draw a Character Inheritance first and see what I get this time!"
Kael stared at the system panel, barely able to hide his anticipation, and initiated the draw. The process was quick. Almost immediately, a new character template appeared on the screen.
"…Holy shit. Am I dreaming?"
Kael's eyes slowly widened as he saw the result. His heart slammed against his chest, excitement surging uncontrollably. He couldn't help it—this inheritance was just too insane.
Because the character he had drawn was Toriko.
That's right. Toriko—the protagonist of the Toriko world.
Sure, Toriko wasn't a chef. But he was a genuine monster of a man.
As Kael was still riding that wave of excitement, a new stream of information suddenly flooded in. Unlike before, this Character Inheritance wasn't being granted immediately. Instead, the system warned him to prepare himself before receiving it.
The reason was simple.
This inheritance contained something Kael had long dreamed of—
Gourmet Cells.
Yes. The Gourmet Cells from the Toriko world.
A Character Inheritance granted talent, abilities, and knowledge. Toriko's knowledge wasn't particularly useful here—this wasn't the Toriko world, after all—though his combat techniques were still extremely valuable.
After all, Toriko was someone who had mastered Food Honor, Food Luck, and trained Monkey Martial Arts to a level second only to the Monkey King himself.
Even ignoring everything else, just Food Honor and Food Luck alone were already priceless to Kael.
Of course, those weren't things Kael could use right now. He merely gained the method to learn and master them—not instant proficiency.
As for Gourmet Cells, they were the very foundation of Toriko's power. Naturally, Kael would obtain the same type of cells.
Which meant that the Red Demon, Blue Demon, and White Demon that resided within Toriko would also exist within Kael.
They were sealed, of course. Unlocking them would depend entirely on Kael himself.
For example, developing the Red Demon required specific ingredients. Awakening the Blue and White Demons demanded even more extreme conditions.
And that was exactly what made Kael's expression sour.
To continuously develop this inheritance, he needed an enormous amount of food to fuel the growth of his Gourmet Cells.
The food didn't necessarily have to come from the Toriko world—but the stronger the Gourmet Cells became, the more absurd the consumption required to support further growth.
The ingredients of an ordinary world simply couldn't keep up.
Kael estimated that even if he ate every last bit of food in the entire Food Wars world, it still wouldn't be enough to raise his Gourmet Cell level anywhere close to one hundred.
His inherited templates didn't require him to reach the absolute peak realm of the original character—but he did need to master all of their techniques.
Kael was currently a Dragon Chef. Kaiyu was a Supreme Dragon Chef. He had completed Kaiyu's inheritance as well, but some abilities had prerequisites.
For example, Qi—one had to become a Dragon Chef first.
The same principle applied here.
Many of Toriko's techniques required a sufficiently high Gourmet Cell level.
Take Monkey Martial Arts, for instance. Training it required controlling every single cell in one's body, bringing them into perfect unity. Without enough strength, you couldn't even sense your own cells—let alone command them.
If his Gourmet Cell level couldn't rise, those late-stage techniques would remain permanently locked.
That meant his Character Inheritance would hit a hard wall.
Without question, this was a serious problem.
Kael frowned, feeling a headache coming on.
"Forget it. No amount of thinking will make ingredients magically appear. I'll check the Faction Inheritance instead."
Since overthinking was pointless, Kael decisively moved on. The Character Inheritance was already like this—surely the Faction Inheritance wouldn't be just as troublesome.
He initiated the draw.
As before, there was no flashy change. The result appeared almost instantly.
And the moment Kael saw it, he froze.
"If I hadn't just drawn Toriko's inheritance, I'd seriously think I'm destined to be a villain. Why is everything I draw evil-aligned?"
Kael's expression turned strange.
First, he had drawn Kaiyu—a top-tier villain.
Then came the Dark Cooking Society, a full-on villain organization.
This time, he got Toriko as his Character Inheritance.
But the Faction Inheritance?
The Gourmet Corp.
Yes—the Gourmet Corp from the Toriko world.
The organization founded by Ichiryu's disciple, the Third Tiger.
Gourmet Corp wasn't created to oppose IGO. Its purpose was simple to the point of madness:
To eat.
Anyone who joined Gourmet Corp could be a Regenerator, a Gourmet Hunter, or any other profession—but every single member also had to be a chef.
Why?
Because the Third Tiger's appetite was utterly monstrous. Normal people simply couldn't keep up.
In the end, it all traced back to his Full Course Menu. Unable to eat what he truly wanted, he used other ingredients to fill the void instead.
As a result, his food intake was terrifying—borderline gluttony incarnate.
Every member of Gourmet Corp was effectively his partner, responsible for preparing food for him.
Now, Kael had obtained Gourmet Corp as his Faction Inheritance.
Like before, the organization was divided into regions.
The region Kael received was Area One.
And Area One's function was—
Research.
Researching new ingredients, new dishes, and even technology.
Area One was a pure R&D division, requiring Kael to complete ten inventions through study.
To his surprise, Kael actually relaxed.
At first glance, it seemed completely unrelated to his current profession—but ingredient development was still research.
Within Area One existed an artificial intelligence that guided members through learning, helping them acquire the necessary knowledge to develop new ingredients.
That alone excited Kael.
Sure, most of the materials used in Gourmet Corp research didn't exist in the Food Wars world—but basic substitutes did.
Using those, he might be able to develop new, useful ingredients—certainly better than what currently existed in this world.
The Dark Cooking Society had attempted similar research, but their results were limited. They could never match the quality of ingredients derived from special organisms.
Eventually, they gave up.
Gourmet Corp was different.
The technology of the Toriko world was leagues ahead of Food Wars. They had countless methods for modifying ingredients.
Even if they couldn't compare to IGO, as the second-largest organization in the Human World, Gourmet Corp still had tangible achievements.
On top of that, Kael gained something else from Area One—
A GT Robot.
Specifically, the same model worn by Stajun as combat armor.
Kael could remotely control it. Unfortunately, he wasn't Stajun—without his strength, the GT Robot's full power couldn't be unleashed.
Even so, it was more than enough.
In a normal world, its destructive power was easily at a superhuman level.
With both inheritances drawn, Kael still hadn't accepted the Character Inheritance yet—but the system transmitted three more pieces of information.
Because he had completed both a Character and Faction Inheritance for the first time, a new feature unlocked:
World Travel.
Using it required energy accumulation.
Traveling to a new world required ten years of charge time.
However, traveling between already-anchored worlds only required one month.
Right now, the system informed him that the gateway was fully charged.
Kael could use it at any time.
"So the system knows my Character Inheritance can't be completed in this world… that's why it gave me this."
Kael was overjoyed.
World travel meant he could truly complete Toriko's inheritance.
Of course, now wasn't the time to jump worlds.
Once he left, it would take at least a month before he could return.
The system had already told him—the time flow between worlds was identical.
Leave for another world, and one full month would pass here as well.
He also had no idea how dangerous the other world might be.
Preparation was mandatory.
Supplies weren't an issue. He had money and storage space. He could stockpile enough resources to last who knew how long.
But survival was another matter entirely.
Before traveling, Kael needed to accept Toriko's inheritance and raise his Gourmet Cell level as much as possible.
This might look cowardly—but Kael didn't care.
Dying in another world was not an option.
Still, Gourmet Cells couldn't be exposed to others.
Explosive Flame was already pushing the limits of what could be explained as a "Special Ability."
Gourmet Cells?
They'd drive this world insane.
So he needed privacy.
After choosing a deep mountain forest, Kael prepared massive quantities of cooked food.
Even though Gourmet Cell users could eat raw food just fine, Kael had no intention of doing that.
He used Explosive Flame to roast huge amounts of meat.
He didn't need anything fancy—just enough nutrition to keep his body from being drained dry during fusion.
According to the system, Gourmet Cells enhanced the body by consuming energy. Without enough food, he could be drained into a mummy.
That was not happening.
"Let's begin."
With everything prepared, Kael started the fusion.
The hunger hit instantly.
It was unlike anything he'd ever felt.
And worse—his once-solid body visibly shrank, like a deflating balloon.
Kael knew what was happening.
His cells were strengthening—but there wasn't enough energy.
So he began to eat.
Furiously.
Food vanished the moment it entered his stomach, leaving almost no residue.
Tens of tons of food went in, yet what remained was negligible.
As development progressed, digestion would only improve—until eventually, no residue would be produced at all.
Everything would be converted into energy and stored in the cells.
Absurd didn't even begin to describe it.
Kael tore into the roasted meat, barely chewing before swallowing.
In the past, that would've been impossible.
Now, it slid down effortlessly.
The meat was digested the instant it hit his stomach, turning into pure nourishment that reinforced his body.
The entire process took less than a second.
As his body was rebuilt again and again, his eating speed skyrocketed.
His teeth grew terrifyingly strong.
What once offered resistance now felt no different from biting tofu.
And yet—if he wanted to savor the texture, he still could.
That was the true terror of Gourmet Cells.