Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 103 (Patreon)

Chapter 103: The Journey

Information related to Netero was prominently displayed on the webpage, starting with a front-facing photo of him making a peace sign, accompanied by a video.

Sanbica instinctively clicked on the video, and after a moment, it began to play. The camera slowly moved, revealing five people sitting behind a long table covered with a white cloth.

From left to right, the three people on the left seemed to be wealthy sponsors of the competition, older in age, but appearing much younger than the two on the right.

The fourth person was an elderly grandmother, her face as withered as tree bark, looking extremely aged, her specific age indiscernible.

The last person was Chairman Netero, who, as the camera panned to him, made a peace sign towards the lens.

The video was short, ending there, with brief introductions of the five people provided below.

The three on the left were among the top ten wealthiest people in the world, sponsoring the competition's prizes. Each event featured at least three prizes, with no restrictions on the type, which could include Nen rings, gems, ingredients, treasures...

Among these, Nen rings and gems were constant prizes. One of the wealthy sponsors, finding it too bothersome, only sponsored Nen rings, while another, owning the world's largest jewelry corporation, naturally provided gems as prizes.

The last sponsor, an avid gourmet seeker, was closely associated with the event's inception, occasionally offering rare A-grade ingredients as prizes, though often with certain conditions.

As for the elderly grandmother, she was a seasoned gourmet hunter named Linnei Odeburg, a regular judge alongside Chairman Netero.

The webpage offered comprehensive information, and Luo, after skimming through, realized that the timing of the gourmet competition was unpredictable.

It could occur two or three times within a year or once every two or three years. However, news of each event was always announced in advance, and winning the rich prizes was not easy.

In the final stage of the competition, the organizers did not provide ingredients, and participants had to bring their own, with a minimum requirement of B-grade ingredients.

This meant that even if one's cooking skills were sufficient to pass through the fierce competition, without B-grade ingredients, they wouldn't qualify for first place.

This was akin to a ticket and also a venture risk, as B-grade ingredients cost tens of millions of Nen rings on the market. Failing to win first place meant investing tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of Nen rings for nothing.

By the competition's end, almost all remaining in the arena were gourmet hunters from the Hunter Association.

The presence of Chairman Netero and Linnei alone was a compelling reason for their efforts, much to the three wealthy sponsors' satisfaction. After all, what's the point of holding a gourmet competition if it's just a bunch of amateurs pecking at each other?

If no professional gourmet hunters participated, would it still be a gourmet competition?

However, from the entry conditions, it seemed these wealthy individuals, even if just to satisfy their cravings, were not willing to suffer losses.

But in contrast, the championship prize of each gourmet competition was worth dozens, even hundreds of times the value of the entry ticket, attracting many willing competitors.

Overall, acquiring B-grade ingredients was a significant barrier, though they could be bought with Nen rings. However, this offered no choice, as B-grade ingredients were scarce in the market.

Even with money, it might not be possible to purchase them, and available options were non-selective.

Hunters aiming to participate would target B-grade ingredients before the competition, giving gourmet hunters an advantage.

Without strength, not to mention B-grade, even F-grade ingredients were out of reach.

Understanding this early on, Luo had been purposefully strengthening himself in this world, wasn't this the moment for it?

"Not entering the finals without B-grade ingredients of my own..."

Luo muttered to himself, now strong enough to obtain B-grade ingredients, though he found the rule quite strange...

Hearing Luo's mutter, Sanbica curiously asked, "You want to participate in the gourmet competition?"

"Of course." Luo was interested in the A-grade ingredients as prizes, rare experiences for him. Knowing that the incredibly diverse Amarlo Jungle only contained two types of B-grade ingredients, he wondered just how rare A-grade ingredients were.

Sanbica, unaware of Luo's capabilities, initially thought he was dreaming, but she didn't discourage him, instead swiftly changing the subject, "Anything else you need to look up?"

"Can you check for information on A-grade ingredients?" Luo asked casually, thinking of the brute bear and the butterfly-patterned giant snake.

Sanbica quickly typed on the keyboard and soon found the information, "There are only 12 known A-grade ingredients, all discovered by Linnei Odeburg."

"Only 12...?" Luo suddenly looked at the screen, surprised.

Sanbica nodded.

"Let's see the information on A-grade ingredients." Luo stared at the screen.

"My access is too limited to see it." Sanbica clicked on the relevant information, but a dialog box popped up, indicating insufficient permissions.

Luo saw the dialog box and felt helpless, thinking the Hunter Association was really stingy, offering a dedicated website but restricting access to information?

The difficulty and danger of obtaining A-grade ingredients were high, requiring at least a one-star level of access. With Sanbica being a rookie, she didn't have the clearance to view the information.

If they really wanted to know, they could go to a specialized intelligence service and pay for the information.

Many ingredients graded A- or B+ were referred to as A-grade, but true A-grade ingredients were rare and precious.

"No news of a gourmet competition coming up, I'll have to participate in the Hunter Exam first, then return to Meteor Street. I wonder how Machi and the others will react," Luo thought about his upcoming schedule.

"Anything else?" Sanbica asked calmly.

She had her tasks to attend to but patiently waited for Luo to finish.

"That's all." Luo smiled, suddenly reminded of a team member from his past life, a girl a year younger responsible for information management, always patient with his inquiries, never showing impatience.

Just like Sanbica now...

Seeing Luo had no more to search, Sanbica began her work, uploading information about the G2 virus to the database, then looking up information on a slum.

The slum was already on her itinerary, only delayed by the G1 virus outbreak.

With that resolved, she planned to visit the slum, naturally, Luo would accompany her, with over a month until the Hunter Exam, leaving them plenty of time.

This trip was part of their negotiation, with only three months allowed for their partnership, another condition.

Luo kept Sanbica close to explore her Nen, hoping to learn something to enhance his God's Hand ability.

"Ready."

After finishing, Sanbica pulled out her Hunter License, shut down the computer, and stood up.

"Directly to the airport?" Luo asked.

"Yeah." Sanbica nodded, and they left the study together.

"Is visiting the slum a task given by the Hunter Association?" they walked on the street, Luo suddenly asked.

"No." Sanbica kept her eyes forward.

"Related to the virus?" Luo continued.

"Yeah."

Luo instantly understood.

It was neither for profit nor a mission...

The reason for visiting the virus-ravaged slum was perhaps due to the virus, or maybe as a doctor's duty...

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