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Compared to the restaurant in front, the back kitchen was even darker and more eerie, with dull bone-chopping sounds occasionally echoing from the darkness.
Amamiya Natsuki and Hayasaka shared a cloak, pressing close together as they entered the back kitchen.
"Infiltration successful."
Before long, the two followed the fat chef they had just seen and arrived in a greasy, dirty kitchen.
"It smells awful."
Hayasaka Ai's willow-like brows furrowed slightly, and she raised a hand to cover her nose and mouth.
The air was filled with a dull, bloody smell, and also an indescribable stench; it was indeed quite unpleasant.
"The hygiene conditions are truly concerning," Amamiya Natsuki whispered, complaining, "Anyone who dares to eat here will probably turn into a 'spraying warrior' under Wallace."
"Ew, Senpai, that's disgusting."
"I have even more disgusting things; I'll show you later."
"Tch."
"..."
Looking at the unlucky player whose limbs were bound and who was casually discarded in the corner, Hayasaka Ai leaned closer and whispered in his ear:
"Pervert Senpai, what do we do now?"
Amamiya Natsuki turned his head, leaned close to Hayasaka Ai's ear, and whispered: "Don't act rashly yet."
Junior Hayasaka's pretty face flushed slightly: "Pervert Senpai, don't blow on my ear."
"I'm sorry for needing to breathe."
"..."
The unlucky player who was caught lay motionless in the corner, either having given up struggling or deliberately lowering his presence.
"That guy should be fine for a while," Amamiya Natsuki whispered, "Let's first see how many people are in the back kitchen."
"Understood."
Hayasaka Ai nodded lightly, her eyes calm.
If it were the Sheltered Ojou-sama in trouble, she would definitely rush out to rescue her immediately, but that unlucky player whose identity was exposed was most likely an unknown stranger, so Hayasaka Ai naturally wouldn't prioritize their safety.
The two continued to hide in the corner, observing in secret.
"Senpai, there's another chef in the corner," Hayasaka Ai pointed, "Right there."
"I see him."
Amamiya Natsuki squinted and looked. On a chair in the corner sat another chef in a greasy work uniform, dozing off.
"Chika isn't here, and I only have one Seize and Eliminate Evil. I need to be more cautious," Amamiya Natsuki whispered, "First, lure that fat chef away and defeat them one by one."
The kitchen was very small. Even a slight movement would awaken the dozing vengeful spirit chef. Facing two vengeful spirit chefs at the same time would undoubtedly be quite dangerous, so Amamiya Natsuki naturally chose to act cautiously.
After speaking, Amamiya Natsuki took out a wind-up frog—this thing was just an ordinary toy opened from a Blind Box, similar to a pack of tissues, with no special function.
However, at this moment, as Amamiya Natsuki tightened the spring and set the wind-up frog down, it immediately started clicking and hopping, its sound exceptionally clear in the dim corridor.
"What is it?"
A muffled sound came from the kitchen.
The fat chef, who had been burying his head in chopping meat, heard the movement, grabbed his cleaver, and walked out with heavy steps.
After releasing the bait, Amamiya Natsuki tightly hugged Hayasaka Ai. The two stood together in the shadow of the other corner, holding their breath and observing quietly.
Nothing unexpected happened.
Under the presence-blocking effect of the cloak, the fat chef didn't notice their presence at all. He chased the wind-up frog and quickly disappeared into the hallway.
"Let's go into the kitchen."
Amamiya Natsuki put away the cloak, and without any hesitation, he and Hayasaka Ai walked into the kitchen.
The chef who had been dozing on the chair was already awake, yawning lazily and unwilling to move.
Now, seeing Amamiya Natsuki and Hayasaka walk in, he couldn't help but stand up, his face fierce as he said:
"Who are you? This is the kitchen, unauthorized personnel get out!"
Amamiya Natsuki and Hayasaka naturally had their disguises activated, one a doctor and one a Nurse, so they weren't attacked immediately. However, such an abrupt intrusion clearly still aroused suspicion.
As the fat chef spoke, he looked at the cleaver on the cutting board not far away and reached out to grab it.
"We are law enforcement officers from the Food Safety Investigation Bureau. We just received a report that your restaurant is abusing Hextech, adding various food additives harmful to diners' safety to your soy sauce," Amamiya Natsuki took out his ID card and talked nonsense in a serious manner, "Are you the person in charge here? Please come with us and cooperate with the investigation."
"Eh?"
The unlucky player, who had given up hope and was lying motionless in the corner, immediately opened his eyes wide upon hearing this speech that was completely out of place with the dungeon, and looked over with a gaze mixed with tension and anticipation.
"I'm just a chef working here," the fat chef quickly shook his head. People in the chef industry seemed to be afraid of law enforcement officers coming for inspections, and even vengeful spirit chefs were no exception. "The supervisor is... Wait, what you have in your hand isn't an enforcement badge, is it?"
"Sorry, I grabbed the wrong one," Amamiya Natsuki put away his physician's ID card as if nothing had happened, then turned to Hayasaka Ai, "You show him."
"Yes, Senpai."
Hayasaka Ai nodded cooperatively and extended her right hand.
Under the fat chef's suspicious gaze, the bracelet on Hayasaka Ai's right hand suddenly glowed faintly, and then the light flowed and condensed, quickly transforming into a pistol with an exaggerated design, clearly shaped like a pink heart.
And then...
Hayasaka Ai pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Biu~
A pink heart-shaped light bullet flew out, leaving an exceptionally clear bullet trajectory in the air.
The fat chef wanted to dodge, but at such close range, there was simply no way to avoid it. The pink heart directly entered the fat chef's body.
[Name: Heart Strike]
[Type: Weapon]
[Introduction: This is a weapon created by a Magical Girl. When fully charged, it can be used as a pistol. The fired bullets will randomly come with effects such as petrification, sage time, and a change of heart.]
[Please note: If you don't want to become a master of human tracing, you might need to master basic shooting skills]
[Remarks: As is well known, Magical Girl weapons never kill people. Our slogan is to purify the evil in the world with love!]
[Current remaining ammunition capacity: 1]
[Please replenish Love Energy in time. When the energy is insufficient, this weapon will be unusable.]
This Magical Girl prop weapon had a unique design, but its bullets flew slowly, their trajectories were obvious, making them easy to dodge, and its ammunition capacity was too small, requiring frequent replenishment of Love Energy… Hayasaka Ai rarely used it, but today was a special circumstance.
Although it had many shortcomings, this gun was also quite powerful.
For example, Amamiya Natsuki had been a test subject, and in his Sage state, he was truly desireless.
At this moment.
After being shot, the fat chef's grip on the kitchen knife he had just seized loosened, and it clanged to the ground, followed by him kneeling with a thud.
"I was wrong, I was truly wrong…" The fat chef began to self-reproach and repent, clearly triggering the 'Change of Heart' effect. "I slacked off at work, only wanting to sleep. I only rinsed ingredients with water and never thoroughly washed them. I didn't wear a mask or hat when cooking, and I even spat into customers' food…"
Damn it! Spitting is too disgusting! Who would dare to eat out after this?!
"Also, to make the food taste better, we added various Hextech. Before, we thought as long as we could make money, what did the safety of the diners have to do with us? It's not like only we added it; everyone did the same. As long as it didn't kill them, it was fine…"
Hey, hey, you really dare to say anything! Be careful, a lawyer's letter might appear out of thin air!
Amamiya Natsuki's eye twitched slightly. He turned to look at Hayasaka Ai, and said with a serious expression:
"Never point that gun at me again."
Now it seemed that the Sage state triggered back then was actually very lucky. If it had been 'Change of Heart'… it was hard to imagine how socially devastating it would be.
"Is Senpai scared?" Hayasaka Ai's eyes twinkled, and a joyful smile appeared on her lips. "As long as Senpai makes me happy, I'll agree."
Amamiya Natsuki said expressionlessly:
"So, your gun is out of bullets, right?"
"Hmph, there's still one."
"Then that's perfect. Shoot again later, and I'll save my skill."
"No, I want to use it on perverted Senpai to see how much perverted Senpai has been hiding from me."
"…"
While they spoke, they didn't waste time with their hands. They quickly took out ropes, tied up the fat chef, and dragged him to a corner.
Most of the things in the dungeon were vengeful spirits and monsters, either having died once or possessing extremely strong vitality. Take the vengeful spirit chef in front of them, even if his head was chopped off with a knife, it would grow back after a period of time. The exact duration of this "resurrection" was currently uncertain—since they were beings that existed after death, they naturally wouldn't die again.
Players had reached a consensus that unless under special circumstances, they would not actively kill vengeful spirits in the dungeon. Firstly, they couldn't be completely killed, and secondly, it was very likely to provoke the vengeful spirits, unnecessarily increasing their own danger.
"Excuse me, are you… ?!"
The unlucky player who had been caught looked over excitedly.
"Shh."
Amamiya Natsuki gently made a shushing gesture, pointed outside the kitchen, and whispered: "The guy who just went out is about to come back."
"Mm-hmm."
The unlucky player quickly nodded, pursed her lips, and obediently stopped talking.
At the same time.
Thump, thump, thump.
Dull footsteps came from outside the hallway, along with panting sounds, clearly belonging to the fat chef who had just chased the wind-up frog.
Amamiya Natsuki turned to look at Hayasaka Ai. Their eyes met, and without needing verbal communication, Hayasaka Ai nodded slightly and quietly hid behind the door.
"Who are you?"
Seeing the unfamiliar doctor in the kitchen, the fat chef paused, and a wary expression appeared on his chubby face.
"I am a Hospital staff member, this is my ID card." Amamiya Natsuki said seriously, "The Hospital has received multiple reports that your restaurant has illegal business practices, and even spits into customers' food. The circumstances are severe. Please suspend operations and rectify the situation seriously."
"I'm sorry, you should talk to the supervisor about this…"
The fat chef was clearly bluffed. He squinted his small, green-bean eyes and leaned closer to look at the information on the ID card.
At the same time.
Hayasaka Ai quietly appeared from behind the door, pulled the trigger with a calm expression, and shot out a heart-shaped ray.
At such a close distance, there was no need to aim. The fat chef had no room to dodge and was directly hit. His body swayed, and he sat down on the ground with a thud, as if nothing in the world could move him anymore.
"Is this… Sage Time?"
Hayasaka Ai transformed her weapon back into a bracelet, crossed her arms over her chest, and turned to look at Amamiya Natsuki. "Senpai should have a lot of experience, right?"
"I have no experience." Amamiya Natsuki said with narrowed eyes, "I only remember someone hiding me under a skirt, and they weren't even wearing one…"
"Perverted Senpai! Lewd! Pervert!"
Hayasaka Ai's pretty face quickly flushed, and she couldn't help but shout:
"I was clearly wearing one, okay?!"
"…"
Using the same method to tie up the fat chef, Amamiya Natsuki walked up to the unlucky player, crouched down, and whispered:
"Are you a player?"
"I, I am a player!"
Tears welled up in the unlucky girl's eyes, and she quickly nodded to confirm her identity.
"Words alone are not enough." Amamiya Natsuki whispered, "Please answer a question to prove your identity."
The unlucky girl immediately became nervous: "What question?"
Amamiya Natsuki thought for a moment and said:
"What are the names of the two scientists who proved quantum entanglement and won the Nobel Prize in Physics for it?"
The unlucky girl's eyes widened, and her lips trembled: "I'm sorry, I can't remember the names of those foreign scientists… and weren't there three of them?"
"Correct answer."
Amamiya Natsuki helped untie the ropes.
"Thank you."
The unlucky girl didn't care about the grease and stains on her body and quickly stood up and bowed in thanks.
Hayasaka Ai whispered:
"Let's go outside to talk."
There were still two vengeful spirit chefs in the kitchen, so some things were inconvenient to say.
The three walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
"Check your mission panel, there's an option to remove your identity disguise."
Amamiya Natsuki reminded her.
"I understand."
The unlucky player quickly nodded, and a faint light soon flashed around her, revealing her true appearance: a very cute girl with long black hair, but her eyes were teary, making her look quite miserable.
"Nice to meet you, please take care of me. I am Irihoto Yui…"
The unlucky girl's player identity was completely confirmed, with no further doubts.
Amamiya Natsuki then removed his disguise, revealing his true face, and casually said: "Where do you live?"
"In Tokyo…"
Her name and home address were all given out. Confirmed, she was clearly a rookie player with not much experience.
Hayasaka Ai whispered:
"Can you tell me your mission content?"
"Of course." Yui quickly nodded, wiped her eyes, and said tearfully, "My character identity is a restaurant helper. The main quest is to work enough hours at the restaurant. They told me to make the usual midnight snack, but I didn't know what to make, and then…"
At this point, the unlucky girl couldn't help but bite her lower lip.
Even though she had been rescued, what about the restaurant helper dungeon quest?
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed impossible to complete…
Amamiya Natsuki asked:
"Besides those two fat chefs, have you seen anyone else in the back kitchen?"
"No." Irihoto Yui shook her head. "If there were anyone else, I would definitely know."
"What's going on?" Hayasaka Ai frowned. "Where's the Young Lady?"
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