Chapter 90 Royalty?

Chapter 90: Royal Treatment?

"What are you doing? Seriously, what are you doing?"

"That voice, it's definitely our streamer, but you're still not showing your face??"

"Wow, seriously no screen time at all, deliberately building suspense, huh, this sneaky bird."

"Actually, there were a few shots of him earlier, but I never would've guessed this flashy masked guy was the streamer."

"Even though I'm happy our streamer got first place, if you've got the guts, never show your face, ever!"

"Where did this masked handsome guy come from? I totally didn't notice him."

"Even a mask can't hide that beauty… Are you an actor who wandered onto the wrong set from another production?"

"Impossible!"

Lucas suddenly stood up, his previously composed expression completely gone, even showing a hint of unraveling.

He pointed at Yu Xin: "Where did this guy come from? How did he get the highest score?"

Host: "Mr. Lucas, the scores were determined by the judges…"

Lucas ignored him, striding up to Yu Xin, and aggressively fired off questions one after another: "What school did you graduate from? What awards have you won? Which restaurants have you worked at as head chef before?"

"I taught myself cooking, never attended a culinary school, haven't won any awards, and never worked in a restaurant. Right now, I stream games and occasionally cook." Facing the aggressive Lucas, Yu Xin didn't even flinch, his tone flat.

Ha, a cooking streamer. Lucas refused to believe that such a nobody had beaten him: "Then how did you beat me? I'm a Silver Shell Three-Star Head Chef! You're just a nobody, a rookie—how could your dishes possibly be better than mine?"

"Right, Lucas has a point. His skills are well-known—the Silver Shell Three-Star Head Chef title doesn't lie."

"Hard to say. Who knows if he's someone the show is pushing? Being all mysterious with the mask and everything."

"To promote a newcomer by using so many highly-ranked chefs as stepping stones—has the production team gone crazy?"

"Have any of you watched Ash's streams? His cooking is legitimately skilled."

"Hah, live streams? So no one's actually tasted his food then. Might just be all looks and no substance."

"The scores were determined by the judges," Yu Xin repeated the host's words.

"Who knows what kind of shady business is going on behind the scenes!"

Lucas's terminal vibrated, reminding him he was losing his cool. He sneered, pointed at Yu Xin, and said, "Fine, then I'll see what kind of *stellar performance* you can deliver in the next round that's worthy of this ranking."

Ignoring everyone, he marched offstage. The host then announced resignedly, "The elimination round is over. Congratulations to all the advancing contestants. The second round will be held in three days. Everyone, go rest and prepare for the next match."

Upstairs.

The three judges had already moved to the lounge after finishing their evaluations. The lounge was showing a live feed of the show, and away from the cameras, the three were more relaxed in their conversation.

"This Ash… I don't really have any impression of him. His resume isn't very impressive either," Felix Grant said.

"I have a vague impression. His techniques are quite sharp—he probably has some skill—but I haven't tasted his dishes," old Mr. Chen Hongyun racked his brain.

"I was the one who gave him the score," Ms. Luo Lan said.

"You?" Felix raised an eyebrow in surprise.

After all, Luo Lan's standards were high, and given her personality, she would never cooperate with the production team to push someone.

"His dish… was delicious," Luo Lan said. "No, I'd say perfect, an almost flawless flavor."

"My first impression was surprise. It's been too long since anyone surprised me like that. He deserves first place."

"In that case, I'll have to pay more attention to him," Felix's interest was fully piqued.

Someone Luo Lan called perfect… that was truly rare.

*

The Supernova Cooking Competition exploded in popularity right from the start, just as the production team had hoped.

Every contestant garnered significant discussion—Song Yu, Lu Qian, Lucas, even the pretty girl whom Ms. Luo Lan said had a poor attitude.

After returning, she immediately announced she would stop streaming recently to focus on studying cooking. She said she would only return to the public eye once she could make better food.

Her audience were supportive of this, leaving comments encouraging her progress and looking forward to her joining the next Supernova Cooking Competition to amaze everyone.

But without a doubt, the hottest topic was Ash.

His appearance, his mask, his unexpected defeat of Lucas to take first place—all sparked intense reactions.

Posts about him flooded the forums, one after another, each with incredibly high engagement.

《A Detailed Investigation: Just Who Is Ash from Supernova?》

《A Look at the Dishes Ash Made in His Previous Streams》

《AI Reconstruction of Ash’s Appearance》

《Let’s Discuss: Is Ash Supernova’s Dark Horse or the Production’s Favored "Royalty"?》

1L: Don't know, just wanna say forced promotion invites divine retribution.

2L: Hard to say, but if this is really a script to push someone, it's way too fake. Dragging so many great chefs down just to lift this "royalty" up—aren't they afraid he'll fall from such a height and shatter?

3L: Plus, what's the point of pushing a cook? It's not like he can enter the entertainment industry to sing, dance, or act.

4L: Every niche is saturated now. To get people into showbiz, they'll try anything—dating shows, farming shows, lawyer shows, comedy shows—don't they all end up in TV dramas eventually?

5L: I've been watching Ash since he started streaming. His cooking skills and the final dishes seem genuine.

6L: Right… and many restaurants have recreated his menus—they taste great.

7L: Even Young Master Cheng has been supporting him, plus that mysterious top donor. They can't all be part of the script, right?

8L: Let's wait and see. If he's a fraud, he'll definitely be exposed next round.

9L: If the production team keeps protecting him, it's hard to say.

10L: It's fine, Luo Lan is still there. I don't believe the production team can buy off even Luo Lan.

11L: Exactly! Right now, I only trust Luo Lan!

Regarding Ash's true skill level, most people are reserving judgment for now, with only Ash's fans and Lucas's fans arguing fiercely.

That night, a post from a small account made it to the top of the Starnet trending searches late at night, sparking widespread discussion.

The person claimed to be a former liaison for the Supernova Cooking Competition, involved in all communications between the production team and Ash.

He claimed that Ash was a heavily promoted figure jointly backed by Penguin Video and Flying Fish Platform. Penguin Video had taken a keen interest in Ash's clout and invited him since the show's planning stages. He personally witnessed the show's producer saying that as long as Ash agreed to participate, any final ranking could be negotiated.

As for the mask, it was purely an attention-grabbing gimmick. Perhaps Ash would even reveal his face voluntarily once he reached the finals.

This statement caused an uproar among the audience of the Supernova Cooking Competition, almost serving as a smoking gun that Ash's first-place win was scripted by the production team.

"I knew it! How could a Silver Shell Three-Star Head Chef be defeated by someone who just streams video games?"

"Penguin has no shame—they'll create any script for the sake of hype. Poor Chefs Lu, Song, and Lucas, all reduced to stepping stones for the crown prince."

"What's the use of propping him up? Without real skills, he'll eventually crash and burn."

"I love watching nepo babies crashing and burning. I'm already looking forward to seeing how Lucas humiliates him in the next episode, and Teacher Luo Lan, please hold nothing back and criticize him harshly!"

Countless negative posts soon followed, dissecting how Ash used special effects and filters during his livestreams from a technical perspective, arguing that the food he made wasn't actually that delicious.

Ash was a complete fraud, taking advantage of the fact that no one could taste his food, and boasting about it so convincingly that people believed him.

Such negative posts swarmed across various apps and forums, with comments overwhelmingly one-sided, to the point where even Ash's fans were almost swayed.

Even when Cheng Zikun stepped forward to clarify and explain on Ash's behalf, he was questioned for being a friend of the young master of Flying Fish Platform, suggesting he could easily be covering up for Ash. People even left sarcastic remarks and memes under his posts.

Cheng Zikun was infuriated by these twisted accusations. To any clear-minded person, it was obvious that this was a targeted smear campaign against Yu Xin, yet the audience believed they had uncovered the truth and refused to listen to any explanations.

He called Yu Xin to vent his frustrations—this was the first time he had faced such large-scale ridicule from netizens, and he couldn't help wanting to retaliate.

Yu Xin, however, remained completely unbothered, as if the criticism wasn't directed at him. He simply said, "Just leave it be for now. There's no point wasting your breath on them."

On the other side, at the Yu residence.

Yu Ning and Lucas were together, monitoring the real-time buzz about Ash and Lucas on StarNet.

Naturally, this was Yu Ning's doing. He had bribed a staff member from the production team and paid for the smear campaign—a tactic that never failed. Now, the internet was flooded with criticism aimed at Ash.

Lucas leisurely sipped his red wine, pleased to see the audience's backlash stirred up. Countless comments flooded his page, declaring Lucas the true winner and insisting Ash was unworthy. This made him feel thoroughly satisfied, allowing him to fully vent his pent-up frustration from the competition.

"Your move was brilliant. The response we've gotten is even more intense than expected," he said, clinking glasses with his collaborator. "What do they call this—building up by first tearing down?"

"Consider it a blessing in disguise," Yu Ning replied. "From now on, you must secure first place in every match! There can't be any more surprises."

"Don't worry," Lucas said arrogantly, downing his glass of red wine. "In the next match, I'll publicly tear off that fig leaf Ash uses to hide behind and make him understand the consequences of showing me up."

There was no way the production team could remain unaware of such a major incident. Just as Yu Xin had anticipated, they chose to stay put and let the accusations fly.

They believed that lies can't become truth, but likewise, the truth could never be falsified. Yu Xin genuinely had the skill to earn first place, and that was something no one could erase.

Jing Yun promptly communicated with Yu Xin, explaining that the staff member in question was merely a minor staff member who had not been directly involved in communications with Yu Xin. The individual had already been fired.

"Rest assured, your true identity is known to no more than three people, including myself. I guarantee it won't be leaked. This incident was due to our oversight. From now on, we will be extra cautious in all matters related to you," Jing Yun assured him over a personal phone call.

With neither the production team nor Yu Xin intervening, the online public opinion intensified, drawing even more attention to the show.

Three days later, the second episode of the Supernova Cooking Competition aired as scheduled.

Author's Note: The competition format is inspired by real-life variety shows [head pat].