Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Loading/Unloading (5)
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According to what the man said after scouting the restaurant and returning alone.
The "guest" Mannequins paid no attention to us whatsoever.
They were too busy with their own horrific meal to spare us a glance.
Crunch, crunch!
Clatter! Clatter!
"Ugh...!"
A nauseating smell and chilling sounds emanated from them, but we decided to ignore it as best we could.
"Um, I'll check around those tables over there. The ones with the tableware."
Rahee whispered, mustering her courage and pointing toward the inner part of the dining hall.
It was set up with tableware, as you'd expect from a hotel restaurant.
Of course, it wasn't just ordinary tableware.
There were hammers stained with red blotches and massive saws as well.
It was blatantly giving off an incongruous vibe. For her to suggest checking there first—Rahee seemed tougher than I'd thought.
Sure, it looked like there were a lot of items there, but I doubt I would've had the guts to go there first.
"Then I'll check these tables over here. Don't stray too far."
I moved in the opposite direction from Rahee.
Rahee began weaving cautiously between the tables, keeping an eye on the guest Mannequins.
She was inspecting the cutlery, plates, or even the centerpieces on the tables for checkmarks.
I pretended to search the tables while tracking Rahee's movements out of the corner of my eye.
At the same time, I kept checking the map in my head.
The dining hall itself only had stationary red dots—the "guests"—but the problem was the moving red dot emerging from the kitchen.
'...It's coming.'
A new red dot appeared from the corridor by the kitchen, silently approaching Rahee from behind.
I shifted my gaze from the map to Rahee and saw a Mannequin in waiter attire heading her way.
It held a sharp carving knife in its hand.
Rahee was too focused on an old menu on the table to notice the monster creeping up behind her.
I held my breath and moved as quickly as possible without making a sound.
As I'd felt last time, my Cheat Mode didn't just boost strength—it made my movements incredibly swift too.
Before Rahee could even look up from the menu, the waiter Mannequin was almost right behind her.
I reached its back and gripped its head tightly with both hands.
Creak.
Crack!
Like the protagonist in a stealth action movie, I snapped the Mannequin's head with a swift twist.
Unable to withstand my grip strength, its neck broke, and its upper body went limp.
I quickly tore off the name tag pinned to its chest pocket and shoved it into my pocket.
Then I dragged the limp remains behind a large dining table, into the darkest corner, and hid them.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
"Whew... No checkmark here."
Just then, Rahee set down the menu and turned her head.
I was casually fiddling with an empty plate on the buffet table, acting like nothing happened.
"Huh? Why are you over here?"
"Oh... Nothing on my side. But there are some silver salt shakers over there—could you check if they have checkmarks?"
"Sure."
I pointed to a table across the hall.
Rahee nodded and walked over carefully.
She seemed completely oblivious to what had just gone down behind her.
I swept the knife I hadn't managed to hide under the table with my shoe.
"Oppa! Look at this! It has a checkmark!"
A moment later, she came running back to me with a joyful face, holding a small silver salt shaker.
There was a faint green checkmark on the bottom.
"Oh, nice find... You're thorough."
It really was there.
I forced a smile and praised her.
My nerves were still on edge from dealing with the Mannequin moments ago, and cold sweat was beading inside, but I kept my cool.
"Now just the kitchen left, right...? Shall we go?"
"I'll check it first. You look around the planters by the hall entrance."
I reassured Rahee and headed toward the kitchen while she carefully inspected the planters around the hall.
My plan was to deal with the most dangerous one—the "head chef" monster—first.
That way, Rahee, who'd come with me, would be safe.
"Hmm..."
The kitchen was as dark and filthy as expected.
And right in the center stood a massive head chef Mannequin, at least twice the size of the others.
Bloodstained apron, enormous butcher knife in hand.
It was straight out of a typical horror game's chef boss.
Just looking at it made my heart clench.
'Still... it's not looking this way...'
Just like with the waiter Mannequin before.
As long as it wasn't facing me, it wasn't hard to muster the courage.
Thud, thud.
The monster dressed as the head chef silently chopped away at something.
I didn't even want to know what it was.
I took a deep breath and picked up a heavy rolling pin from the corner of the kitchen.
Holding it made me feel way more confident than going in barehanded.
I activated the Weak Point Detection Lv.1 skill I'd gotten as a reward for escaping the tuberculosis hospital.
Parts of the head chef Mannequin's body gradually turned red, until its entire form glowed crimson.
Were all these spots weak points?
"...Hoo..."
I approached silently and grabbed it from behind.
I slowly raised the rolling pin, gripping it tight.
"Hngh!"
Holding my breath, I swung with all my might at its head.
Among the many red-marked body parts, I targeted the most obvious weak point.
Whoosh—!
Splatter!
With a dull thud, the head chef Mannequin's head shattered.
Thud.
The headless massive body swayed for a moment before collapsing motionless to the floor.
Its enormous size caused its torso to crack a bit from its own weight upon falling.
I quickly snatched the name tag from its apron.
Sure enough, both the waiter and head chef name tags had green checkmarks.
I dragged the heavy remains into the large freezer in the corner of the kitchen, tossed them in, and slammed the door shut.
Perfect evidence disposal.
"Phew..."
I returned the rolling pin to its spot and wiped imaginary sweat from my forehead.
The kitchen was now threat-free.
That's when Rahee cautiously poked her head in from the kitchen entrance.
"Oppa, you okay? I thought I heard something..."
"Oh, yeah? Really? I didn't hear anything."
She scanned the kitchen and let out a sigh of relief.
"Good... Looks like that guy was right—no head chef in here. We're really lucky."
At her innocent relief, I couldn't bring myself to tell the truth and just gave an awkward smile.
"Oh, yeah, totally. Lucky us. Haha."
The kitchen search went smoothly.
Thanks to me clearing it out first, Rahee and I could rummage through every corner without danger.
We found a silver cutlery set with a checkmark, a glass bottle containing some unidentified herbs, and even an old cookbook hidden on a shelf.
The cookbook cover had a faint checkmark too.
"This is a pretty good haul, right?"
"Time to head back. Yeah?"
As we packed up to leave, I felt eyes on me.
I turned, and one guest Mannequin had stopped eating and was staring right at me.
Our eyes met, and tension hung in the air.
And then—
Swish.
The guest Mannequin simply lowered its head and pretended to eat.
It scraped at an empty plate with a fork, clattering away.
Was it pretending not to see me?
"Oppa, let's go quick."
"Yeah? Oh, right."
We grabbed our finds and headed back to the lobby.
The lobby atmosphere was still heavy.
Some people slumped exhausted against the walls, while others paced anxiously near the settlement hole.
The number above the hole still read
I gave Rahee a look and strode confidently to the settlement hole.
I could feel the other survivors watching our return and the items in our hands.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. We're fine."
A middle-aged woman approached first, checking us over.
After a quick reply, I placed the silver cutlery set, glass bottle, and old cookbook from the kitchen into the hole one by one.
The points rose less than I'd hoped.
Sighs of disappointment rose from around us.
"What do we do..."
Rahee and the middle-aged woman looked on the verge of tears.
But I still had my ace in the hole.
I pulled out the two "hotel staff" Mannequin name tags I'd pocketed earlier.
The waiter's and the head chef's. I tossed them into the hole one after another.
The waiter name tag added 3,000 points, and the head chef's a whopping 5,000, blasting past the goal in an instant.
Everyone in the lobby gawked at the numbers in shock.
"W-What!"
"The points just...!"
"It passed! We passed!"
As the murmurs threatened to turn into cheers, the settlement hole began emitting a soft green glow.
Then, the wall on one side of the lobby—the spot where the staircase we'd come down had been—split open with a heavy rumble.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Dust poured out and stones shifted, revealing the vanished staircase once more.
At the same time, new messages popped up in front of my eyes.
[Target amount achieved.]
[Escape route unlocked.]
[Special reward granted for excess 3,000 points.]
[Strength stat increased by 1. (Current Strength: 6)]
[Passive skill 'Assassination Lv.1' acquired.]
'Assassination?'
Another attack skill this time.
I was a bit disappointed it wasn't something defensive or evasive, but the +1 Strength was huge.
For me, it was practically like gaining 100 Strength.
'...And it gets even stronger?'
At this rate, was I the monster?
"The stairs! Real stairs appeared!"
"We're alive!"
The lobby erupted in cheers.
People hugged each other in joy and rushed toward the newly revealed staircase.
"Oppa! Hurry!"
Rahee teared up and tugged my arm.
I nodded and climbed the stairs with her.