It was a peaceful, routine day at the Kyokuseiryō dorms, home to a lively group of Tōtsuki Culinary Academy students: Shōji Satō, the loud and energetic rocker; Ryōko Sakaki, the quiet yet skilled fermenting expert; Yūki Yoshino, always cheerful and obsessed with meat dishes; Zenji Marui, the bespectacled bookworm; Satoshi Isshiki, the carefree yet undeniably talented upperclassman; Shun Ibusaki, the mysterious master of smoked foods; Daigo Aoki and his equally passionate counterpart, Shoji; Megumi Tadokoro, the timid yet growingly confident chef; and, of course, Sōma Yukihira, the ever-determined culinary prodigy. Overseeing them all was their strict yet kindhearted dorm mother, Fumio.

The day had been like any other—filled with the usual commotion of friendly banter, cooking experiments, and the occasional chaos that came with living in a dorm full of aspiring chefs. That was until a sudden, firm knock echoed from the main entrance. Conversations paused, and curious glances were exchanged. A new resident, perhaps? The possibility stirred excitement and speculation among the dorm members. However, what caught Shun’s attention most was a strange sense of familiarity. Did he know this person?