2 to 1

As soon as the dishes from the first Round-of-32 match were complete, black blindfolds were placed on the judges' table again.

It was a method we'd already seen once in Round One, but the atmosphere was different this time.

Back then, it had been a device meant to demonstrate fairness, but now it was being treated almost like a ritual.

The names were hidden, the faces were hidden, and even the decorations on the plates and the chefs' expressions were stripped away.

All that remained was taste.

I was reminded of a cooking survival show I'd seen in my previous life.

The scene where chefs divided into two teams competed using nothing but flavor, with their ranks stripped away.

When I had participated and been judged myself, I'd thought the production was laying it on a little thick, but now that I was sitting at the judges' table, I understood.

This was a fairly cruel method.

The chef had cooked with their name on the line, while the judges temporarily erased that name...