The Most Dangerous Moment Is Finally Over

His parents were both busy in this life, and he spent most of his time home alone, so naturally, he had to cook for himself.

He had developed fairly decent cooking skills, but compared to the dishes in those gourmet anime, what he made could only be described as "edible."

He wondered when a version of himself from a gourmet anime would join the White Mist Space. There should be one, right?

With that thought in mind, Shirou began preparing a late-night snack in the kitchen.

During dinner earlier, Sastin had unexpectedly come over to mooch a meal. Shirou had only made enough for himself and Lala, so he had not eaten much.

Putting himself in her shoes, Lala was probably feeling the same way.

The following night, inside the White Mist Space.

"Are there newcomers? State your names."

Compared to yesterday, there were two more newcomers at the gathering place.

One had a huge belly and an obese build, dressed in a black suit. He looked exactly like an older young man who had completely neglected his weight management.

The other looked like a male high school student, but his bearing was nothing like that of one. He seemed more like a battle-hardened warrior.

He wore a McDonald's employee uniform, as though he had just gotten off work and had not had time to change.

With Kanbara Shirou from the Slam Dunk world as a precedent, the other Shirous did not rush over to shake hands.

"You were all originally Shirou Kotomine and were reincarnated into different worlds after death. You should understand now, right?" Celestial Dragon Shirou reminded them.

The high schooler Shirou nodded slightly, regret in his eyes as he sighed.

"I more or less get it. A Clone Flow Cheat, huh? But you came far too late."

"If you had come earlier, I wouldn't have had to flee to Earth and become an ordinary store clerk."

Tsukimi Shirou chuckled and reached out to shake his hand.

"Sounds like your original identity was rather extraordinary?"

The next moment, he could not help but let out a soft exclamation.

Demon Lord Shirou had crossed into the New World ten years ago and become an ordinary demon.

After spending immense effort uniting the scattered demons, he had been given the title of Demon Lord.

Two months ago, he had been defeated by a coalition army formed by demon traitors and human heroes, forcing him to use magic to escape to Earth.

Penniless and stripped of his magic power, he had brought along a loyal subordinate. To survive, he could only work at McDonald's.

He lived in a rented apartment, leading a poor life of thrift and frugality every day.

"I've seen this anime! The Devil is a Part-Timer. You should remember the plot too, right? How did you still end up like this? Was there no better way?"

"Sigh... There was no other way. I could only do this."

Demon Lord Shirou paused, then said with a smile.

"It couldn't be helped. With my abilities, I couldn't think of any better solution."

"Haha... No regrets?"

"Of course not. It was all because I was too weak. If I had been stronger, perhaps I could have found a more perfect solution."

"What about now? You have gained greater power. Are you going back?"

"Forget it. I'm staying on Earth. Compared to being a Demon Lord in the New World, life on Earth is much more comfortable. Besides... I'm already tired."

"Is life on Earth really more comfortable?" Celestial Dragon Shirou teased. "Aren't you always working? Your meals are only tiny portions every day."

"That was before. Things are naturally different now. With magic power and gold, isn't it easy to live a little better?"

While they chatted, Slime Shirou approached the newly arrived Fat Shirou and asked curiously.

"What's your situation, then? Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

Fat Shirou instinctively took a step back, his brows tightly furrowed as he remained silent.

At that moment, a fierce battle raged in his heart.

What these people said did not sound like lies.

But judging from their tone and expressions, they all seemed mentally closer to Shirou Kotomine, completely unlike him.

As for him, he had committed far too many evil deeds over the years. The thing he had recently been planning would be despised by any normal person.

Although his younger self had not been a hot-blooded champion of justice either, the difference in mindset between then and now was simply too great.

It was like Zelretch from five hundred years ago meeting Lord El-Melloi II five hundred years later. They would probably start fighting immediately, wouldn't they?

From their conversation, it seemed that as long as there was physical contact, memories and abilities could be shared.

Sharing abilities was good. He wanted that more than anything.

But sharing memories was a real trap.

Once their memories were shared, they might immediately turn against him.

Seeing that Fat Shirou remained silent, Slime Shirou circled him once and asked in surprise.

"What's wrong? Want to shake hands? We can share abilities."

The most dangerous moment had finally passed.

Chapter 52: The most dangerous moment had finally passed.

"No."

Fat Shirou took another step back, his usual fake smile appearing on his face.

"I have some reasons why I can't share abilities with you."

"You too?" Slime Shirou looked at him speechlessly and complained, "Why are both of you like this? Kanbara is doing it for his basketball dream. What about you?"

"I... am also doing it for a dream. Mine is... the dream of becoming a chef."

Fat Shirou gave a few fake laughs, and the events of the past thirteen years surfaced in his mind once more.

Thirteen years ago, he had crossed into a modern urban world, but his status was too low and his family circumstances too poor.

The original owner of his body had been a fifteen-year-old boy raised by a hostess, living at the very bottom of the poverty line in a home with nothing but bare walls.

Forced by circumstances, he could only use Suggestion and Hypnosis Magic to earn some money.

Of course, he had still kept to his bottom line at the time.

He thought of it as borrowing money, and he had even written down every name in a notebook so he could repay them later.

Drawing on more than ten years of cooking experience, he opened a restaurant, since cooking was the only thing he was best at and had confidence in.

After it opened, business boomed and praise poured in.

His wallet grew thicker, he moved into a new home, and his life steadily improved.

If it had ended there, it would have been an inspiring story.

Yet the world rarely went as one wished.

Three months after opening, he happened to hear the name Totsuki Academy.

As someone with over ten years of cooking experience, he believed he should be able to pass the entrance examination.

After polishing his credentials at Totsuki and obtaining a Totsuki diploma, his restaurant would become even more popular.

But during the entrance examination, he encountered a woman named Nakiri Mana, who criticized his signature dishes as utterly worthless.

What had been a sure admission immediately became impossible.

At the time, he had still maintained a relatively good attitude, believing it was not such a big deal.

Without Totsuki, his restaurant's reputation would merely grow a little more slowly.

Half a year after opening, he encountered that woman, Nakiri Mana, once again.

Nakiri Mana once more disparaged his food as worthless, stopping just short of saying, "You're not fit to be a chef at all."

As a famous figure, her words instantly appeared in magazines, newspapers, and on television, spreading further and further.

As a result, the restaurant he had run for half a year became deserted overnight, with no customers to speak of.

Thus, all the money he had earned was lost, and he was left owing a mountain of debt.

The pitiful woman who had raised the original owner of his body also suffered a tremendous blow. She fell gravely ill and passed away not long after.

Although he had no real feelings for her, although he disliked her daily nagging, although he considered their relationship nothing more than roommates living together, although he had never once called her mom since crossing over.

When he saw that even while lying in a hospital bed, with her life nearly spent, she was still smiling as she comforted him, Shirou felt as though something inside him had broken.

From that day onward, Shirou added that woman's surname to the beginning of his own name—Sakurai.

And from that day onward, his bottom line sank lower and lower. He began using Suggestion and Hypnosis Magic to make money, branching into every industry. He did whatever made money, but never touched the food industry again.

In a magicless gourmet anime, someone who knew magic could do whatever he pleased.

In just thirteen years, he had built a business empire.

Naturally, it was a dark empire built upon endless corpses, with countless lives buried beneath it.

Recently, he felt that he had gained enough leverage to forcibly acquire Totsuki and had begun putting the plan into motion.

His targets were not only Totsuki, but also Nakiri Mana and her daughter, Nakiri Erina.

Thinking of Nakiri Mana again, Sakurai Shirou could not help frowning as he thought.

I thought I stopped caring about the past long ago. I thought I only wanted to make a move against them because of interest, but why does thinking of those events again fill me with such intense disgust?

Those thoughts flashed through Sakurai's mind in an instant.

But in Slime Shirou's eyes, one second he had been smiling brightly, and the next his face had darkened as though he had lost the entire world. Slime Shirou asked in surprise.

"What's wrong with you? Are you playing some kind of face-changing game?"

"Nothing." Sakurai Shirou's fake smile appeared again. "Thinking about how my dream is getting farther and farther away made me a little sad."

"I see. Don't lose heart. You're still young. With our help, you'll definitely be able to achieve your dream."

Slime Shirou paused before continuing.

"You said just now that it was for your dream of becoming a chef. Does that mean you crossed into some gourmet anime world?"

"Mm. I'm in the world of Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma."

"Oh, oh... Then you joined Totsuki Academy? Looking at your build, it doesn't seem like it."

"What's wrong with my build?" Sakurai Shirou seemed to have been struck where it hurt and could not help raising his voice.

"What chef is that fat? You don't look like a chef. You look more like a gourmet critic." Slime Shirou hopped around him several times.

Sakurai Shirou was silent for a few seconds before nodding faintly.

"You're right. I am indeed a gourmet critic, but that is only a side job. My main profession is still being a chef."

Of course, that was only half true.

He did work part-time as a gourmet critic, but he spent nearly all his time being picky and viciously critical. He took pleasure in suppressing rookie chefs and ruining the opening of new restaurants.

As for being a chef, he had given up cooking thirteen years ago and had not personally prepared food since.

"What a pity." Tsukimi Shirou wore a regretful expression. "A professional chef finally joined us, yet he refuses to share abilities. Otherwise, I could definitely let Lala see what real cooking is."

"A chef..."

Celestial Dragon Shirou rested his chin on his hand and pondered.

"I can understand a basketball player. After sharing our power, it would be impossible for him to keep playing basketball."

"But being a chef does not seem to conflict with sharing power at all, does it?"

"Rather, after sharing all our powers, your five senses would be enhanced to an incredible degree, far beyond things like the God Tongue, God Nose, and ears from gourmet anime."

"Even if you were originally just an ordinary person, you could instantly become a culinary genius."

Sakurai Shirou could not help falling silent. At that moment, he felt that anything he said would arouse suspicion.

But when he thought of the risks of sharing memories, he immediately calmed down. He let out a soft sigh and said in a deliberately helpless tone.

"It can't be helped. This is also to reduce the risk. If my cooking suddenly improved by leaps and bounds, it would definitely be exposed."