"The plot is finally starting. I wonder if I've got a cheat skill!"
In front of Yukihira Diner, a young man stood watching everything unfold inside.
His name was Logan, a transmigrator. Before crossing over, he had run a small snack shop on his own. As for the reason he transmigrated—pure, dumb misfortune.
The gas company he partnered with had gone bankrupt, and Logan was forced to switch suppliers. Unfortunately, the new one was shady, and their gas tanks were faulty.
Logan's last memory before transmigrating was the sudden explosion of a gas tank. The next thing he knew, he had become a baby in swaddling clothes.
Before he could fully process his new identity, tragedy struck: the parents in this life, whom he had only known for a few days, died in accidents one after another.
This reminded Logan of something he often read in transmigration novels: "Parents of transmigrators are in a high-risk profession." It seemed painfully true now.
Thus, Logan became an orphan. But to his relief, his parents in this life had held important positions at the Tōtsuki Resort and left him a sizable inheritance.
They had also been close with Gin Dōjima, who was only 23 years old when Logan was born.
Although Gin already held a respectable status at the time, he had not yet become Tōtsuki Resort's head chef or a board member.
Logan's parents had supported Gin when he first joined the resort, and after their passing, Gin looked after Logan in their stead.
When Logan was older, Gin arranged for him to attend Tōtsuki Academy.
Logan was quite familiar with the Food Wars! universe. Running a snack shop in his previous life, his main hobby outside of work was reading novels, manga, and watching movies.
So, after realizing he had transmigrated into Shokugeki no Soma, he trained his culinary skills diligently. After all, in this world, chefs could awaken supernatural abilities.
Though Logan wasn't a master chef in his past life, he had solid basics.
At Tōtsuki, he quickly improved, and now stood out among his peers.
Of course, he was still no match for the real cheats—like Erina Nakiri. Her "God Tongue" was a double-edged sword, but before losing control, it was an OP ability.
A dish that takes years to refine could be broken down in a single bite by her God Tongue.
She could also spot flaws in recipes and perfect them in record time—something ordinary chefs spent ages trying to do.
There were also others with unique gifts—Ikumi Mito's tactile sense, Akira Hayama's incredible sense of smell.
While these weren't exactly supernatural, they were far superior to normal human senses.
So, even though Logan had lived a second life and trained his cooking since childhood, he was still just among the best of his class—not above it.
His skills were comparable to people like Yūki Yoshino and Ryōko Sakaki from Polar Star Dormitory.
Incidentally, Logan was also a member of Polar Star—though not by choice, but through Gin Dōjima's arrangement.
Since Gin came from the dorm himself, he naturally sent promising students like Logan there.
So Logan became one of the first to move into Polar Star.
All these years, aside from sharpening his culinary skills, Logan had been quietly wondering whether he had a cheat system—because that's what transmigrators usually get.
But over a decade passed, and still no sign of any cheat system. Logan was starting to lose hope.
Still, he didn't give up. That's why today he was in front of Yukihira Diner—hoping that his golden finger might only activate once the plot began.
After all, many novels he'd read before had cheat systems with bizarre activation requirements. Some only kicked in once the main story began.
Just to be sure, Logan had kept watch at the diner every day during the holidays, determined to witness the plot's beginning firsthand and confirm whether he had a cheat.
So when he saw Sōma Yukihira impress Yaeko Minegasaki with his cooking, he recognized it as the story's starting point.
Still, this world wasn't exactly like the Shokugeki no Soma he knew.
The biggest difference: food didn't have literal drug-like effects. At least, not so far. Logan hadn't seen any food-induced hallucinations or clothes-exploding reactions.
Even miracle-chef Sōma hadn't made food with that kind of power. Nor did the Nakiri family seem to pass down such abilities.
Logan actually appreciated that. He had no desire to live a lonely life. He was a normal guy.
In fact, over the years at Polar Star, he and Megumi Tadokoro had grown close. Logan had helped her overcome her anxiety, and now they were dating.
So the lack of "clothes-exploding" food or Nakiri's lewd "teaching techniques" was a relief. He didn't want to suddenly get stripped during a cooking match or see his girlfriend suffer the same fate.
Still, the Nakiri family retained one peculiar trait—Clothes-Bursting Reactions. Logan didn't mind that. As long as it only affected them, it had nothing to do with him.
[Plot Detected. Fishing System Activation. Uploading System Info…]
Just as Logan witnessed the beginning of the story, a robotic voice echoed in his mind. A virtual screen materialized before him.
The sudden voice caught him off guard, but once he regained his composure, Logan lit up with excitement—his golden finger had finally arrived.
"I knew it! As a transmigrator, I had to get one!"
Staring at the screen, Logan chuckled to himself, then focused all his attention on the newly awakened system.