After returning home and taking a shower, the two sisters showed up again that night, right on schedule—acting as if his place were their own room.
Refusal was futile. Sora gave up resisting and let them lie beside him. With the pleasant scent lingering near his nose, his heartbeat slightly quickened.
Ordinarily, if things continued like this, it would inevitably turn into an H-scene. But due to daily exhaustion and a layer of moral restraint, Sora endured...
This kind of life continued for half a month. It wasn't until his parents returned from their honeymoon that Ako and Riko stopped dropping by so often. Strangely, Sora even found himself a bit unaccustomed to their absence.
Staring blankly at the door with a faint sense of loss, he reached under the bed and pulled out a stash of magazines he had treasured for years. Because he had been surrounded by Ako and Riko lately, it had been a long time since he last indulged his nature.
"Hah..."
Who knew how much time passed? Looking at the wastebasket filled with tissues, Sora had a refreshed expression, as if he had shed all worldly desires. Lying on the bed, he felt utterly relaxed.
"Sora, it's your turn to take a bath."
"Got it, Ako-nee."
Hearing the voice from outside, Sora responded loudly, then found some clothes and unlocked the door to head out. What he didn't notice was that as he stepped into the bathroom, Ako, who had just finished showering in the neighboring room, sneakily slipped into his room.
"Ah, Sora~"
"Pervert! There's a pervert in here!"
Riko suddenly appeared and caught Ako mid-act, buried in Sora's bed and taking a deep breath of its scent.
"Riko... since when?!"
Seeing the familiar face, Ako instantly froze with an awkward expression, her caterpillar-like movements halting abruptly.
"What are you doing in here? Sniff... there's kind of a weird smell in this room."
"Sniff... wait, is this...?"
She recalled smelling something similar the previous week. Back then, she thought something had gone rotten. When they asked Sora, he got flustered, which annoyed them. Later, they asked classmates and finally understood.
"No doubt about it!"
Riko's gaze scanned the room like a radar and quickly locked onto the wastebasket in the corner overflowing with tissues. "There's so much trash here already—you should clean it up."
"I'll take care of it, Riko. You should go rest."
"You usually handle the cleaning, Ako. Let me take care of it this time. I'll toss it outside."
"It's really fine..."
——————————
"Huh? The trash is gone...?"
Half an hour later, seeing the now-empty wastebasket, Sora had a subtle expression. But he didn't think too much of it. Instead, he pulled out his chair, opened the notebook on his desk, and began jotting things down.
[Mission]: Surpassing Sales Quota
[Description]: Achieve 1 million yen in sales within 15 days to unlock an Iron-tier reward, 2 million yen for Bronze-tier, 5 million for Silver-tier, and 30 million for Gold-tier.
[Current Reward]: Universal Seasoning Bottle
[Grade]: Bronze-tier Kitchen Tool
[Universal Seasoning Bottle]: Contains a subspace that can store various types and forms of seasonings. Allows on-demand switching, has automatic grinding, and adjusts powder grain size and output control.
Unfortunately, due to not encountering "Mr. Rich" again, even with maximum effort, Sora only managed to bring in 3.83 million yen in revenue. Still far from the 5 million needed for the Silver-tier reward.
This was mainly due to his restaurant's location. Sanwa Street was in a working-class area, serving mostly office workers and students. Their spending power was limited—if prices were too high, customer flow would drop drastically.
That said, thanks to online reviews from Akame and Kurome, a group of curious online fans had been drawn in, which did boost his business to some extent.
Nowadays, Hoshino Restaurant had people lining up before it opened. He had even launched a breakfast section—simple soy milk, fried dough sticks, and fried pancakes.
Even so, no matter how hard he tried, he still fell short of the Silver-tier reward. Tonight, when the task ends, the reward will be calculated. Judging by the description, the Universal Seasoning Bottle wasn't extraordinary—but it was practical.
Not a bad trade.
After jotting down the accounting figures, Sora went to bed. The next morning, he got up early and the first thing he did was check his task list.
Sure enough, the sales target task showed as completed. In his inventory, a new item had appeared: the Seasoning Bottle. At the same time, a new mission popped up.
[New Mission]: Sanwa Street Chef King Contest
[Description]: Sanwa Street will soon host its annual cooking competition. Over a hundred shops will participate. The top three winners will receive the "Sanwa Gold Signboard" award.
[Requirements]: Place in the top three to earn a reward. Higher ranks receive more rewards.
[Rewards]:
① Cooking Technique: Spice Equation
② Silver-tier Ingredient: Blazing Fire Mountain Pork (1kg)
③ 10 million yen
④ Cookbook Encyclopedia (Incomplete)
⑤ Magical Spices (Small Amount)
Sora instantly perked up upon seeing the reward list. He sat up in excitement, tapping his finger midair with a smirk on his lips.
However, after the excitement wore off, Sora began thinking seriously. If he wanted the reward, he had to rank in the top three. That would be difficult.
Though Sanwa Street was a modest food street with frequent business turnover, it still had century-old establishments with secret recipes passed down generations.
Notable examples included:
Toramon's Unagi Rice
Sukiya's Sushi
Ipei's Yakitori
Heisei's Sashimi
Kurayui's Desserts
Sora had already developed a rough understanding of the street's layout. With over a thousand stores, one-fifth were food-related.
This was a food-centric world—culinary skill was the ultimate productivity.
Of course, more people meant fiercer competition. That's partly why cuisine in this world tasted so good. The other reason was the high quality of ingredients and seasonings.
As the saying goes, "With the right seasoning, even a shoe sole tastes good."
Quality ingredients significantly affect flavor. For example, the same cut of steak can vary in price by dozens of times—not just marketing, but also inherent quality.
Looking into the mirror at his radiant and handsome self, Sora smiled brightly. After a quick wash, he energetically started preparing breakfast.
Everything was ready by 6 AM. He woke up his family for breakfast, which took 20 minutes. After that, he, Ako and Riko set off.
They had already prepped the ingredients the night before, so once they arrived, they could begin immediately. With efficiency, he could be open for business by 7.
His shop mainly sold fried dough sticks, pancakes, and soy milk. As long as prep was done beforehand, these quick meals could be served rapidly.