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With the scores from the three judges, Renz successfully passed both the preliminary and secondary reviews, directly securing a spot in the top 16 of "Underground Chefs." Under the selection of the three judges, Renz also had the autonomy to choose which mentor's team to join. However, unlike some who had no choice, Renz's skill allowed him to choose. He could pick any one of the three judges: Yoshino Ono, Tsuru Kanemoto, or Mana Nakiri.

First to be excluded were the first two, as they couldn't teach Renz anything new or bring anything new to him.

In this "Underground Chefs" program, these two judges were more like accompanying runners. The camera's focus remained on Mana Nakiri. From the perspective of judging prowess, Mana Nakiri was clearly superior. In terms of relationships, as Erina's mother and Renz's mother-in-law, it was only natural for Renz to choose Mana Nakiri as his judging captain and join her team.

However, his mother-in-law's attitude was simply too harsh. Although Renz could tell that Mana Nakiri wanted to target him, to suppress his sharp edge, and not genuinely imply that his cooking was subpar, being deliberately suppressed still felt very uncomfortable.

On second thought, Mana Nakiri might have wanted to secure some family status for Erina. Her suppression was also a way to put pressure on Renz, to make him recognize the disparity in their identities. If he wanted to pursue a career in cooking, the Nakiri family held immense power, and he shouldn't even think about doing anything that would upset Erina.

But... Erina's family status was already high enough, practically imperial treatment. When she got angry, the whole family would find ways to appease her. Giving her even more status would make her uncontrollable, wouldn't it? After a few silent complaints, Renz didn't overthink it. Just as he was about to choose Mana Nakiri as his mentor, Erina's clear voice rang out.

"Wait a moment, regarding the mentor selection, as Renz's support team, I need to discuss this," Erina's sudden declaration immediately drew the camera's attention. Renz also turned to look at Erina. For some reason, Erina seemed angry again. I beg you, please get angry less often.

At this moment, Erina's face was filled with displeasure. She walked to Renz's side, like a dominant CEO, taking his hand and walking toward table number eight. The contestant area gradually filled with murmurs.

Some contestants had already known that Erina was part of Renz's support team, while others hadn't noticed and became gossipy upon seeing this scene. In the previous rounds, the show's camera had focused entirely on the contestants, never on the support teams. This time, with Erina jumping out and stealing the spotlight, the camera naturally remained on her.

"What's wrong with you now?" Renz had no idea where Erina's inexplicable anger came from. Wasn't he about to choose Mana Nakiri as his mentor? He wasn't choosing an outsider, was he? Could he not even help his own mother-in-law, who was assisting, or help the Nakiri family?

"Don't choose my mother as your mentor," Erina said, feigning composure, as if she wasn't angry. But Renz had seen Erina in this state before; he just couldn't understand her thought process.

"Seriously? You're getting angry just because I choose your mom as my mentor?" Renz said, almost on the verge of tears.

"I'm not angry," Erina stated emphatically. "Didn't you notice my mom didn't give you any respect?"

"Whether she gives me respect or not, isn't she still our mom?" Renz said, momentarily stunned.

"That's one thing to say, but if she doesn't give you respect, she's not giving me respect. How can others give 10 points and she gives 9 points? Was it not delicious? I saw her swallow it, she didn't spit it out. Why only 9 points?" Erina fumed.

"No, you're getting angry about that?" Renz found it quite trivial. This kind of thing didn't cross Renz's bottom line, and he could understand his mother-in-law wanting to assert her authority. But who would have thought Erina would be upset on Renz's behalf?

"Don't be angry, don't be angry," Renz consoled her. "It's just a little bit of injustice for me." There was nothing to be done about it. Renz had no background, no family connections. Apart from his decent cooking skills, it was normal for him to be underestimated. Mana Nakiri had judged so many top chefs, even those ranked among the world's top ten. Renz was not well-known. If she had given him a perfect score of 10, it would actually be "harming" Renz. Not only might Mana Nakiri's judging ability be questioned, but Renz himself might also be questioned by many. 9 points was already very high.

"If you're wronged, I get angry," Erina snorted. "It's so annoying. If I could go back, I'd rather stay in the future."

Erina's volatile temper simply wouldn't change.

Renz's mouth twitched slightly. "Then tell me, what do you want me to do to make you happy?"

"Don't join my mom's team," Erina said honestly. "And you're not allowed to join any other judge's team either."

"They're not qualified to judge you, nor are they qualified to lead you. My mom might be qualified, but with that attitude of hers, forget it."

"So, you mean I'm going to work alone again?" Renz retorted. Each judging mentor had four team member slots, totaling twelve spots. The other four spots were for "discarded teams" those who passed the preliminary review but whose teams were already full.

Therefore, each judge needed to initially understand each contestant to see what kind of roles their team lacked before deciding who to take. The extra four people were quite unfortunate; they might have talent, but other contestants with greater skill or in similar culinary categories were taken by the mentors, leaving the "lower-tier" versions out in the cold.

Renz, in this competition, should be considered a gold card level individual. His strong comprehensive abilities meant he could fill any void. He could do anything asked of him, perfectly serving as an ace in any team. If Renz had joined Mana Nakiri's team, it would be a 100% certainty that Mana Nakiri's team would win this "Underground Chefs" reality show.

However, even if Renz didn't join Mana Nakiri's team, this "Underground Chefs" program was already a guaranteed win for Mana Nakiri. Comparatively, Mana Nakiri had the strongest appeal to the contestants on the field. If they could pass the review, most people would probably aim for an open spot on Mana Nakiri's team.

The pity was that compared to his mother-in-law Mana Nakiri, Renz cared for his wife more. Mana Nakiri's appeal in cooking, in Renz's view, was just okay. Erina also had the God's Tongue; it wasn't exclusive to Mana Nakiri. And compared to Mana Nakiri, Erina genuinely considered Renz's feelings and put herself in his shoes.

So, if he had to go solo, then solo it was. It wasn't like he couldn't beat others.

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