The mansion’s floors are connected by a single staircase (excluding so unknown secret passages).
The eldest daughter and the dog naturally had no ti to search for secret passages, so they proceeded to the first floor along the mansion’s central staircase, planning to et with the [Chief Cook].
Just as the two reached the staircase entrance.
A slender shadow slowly crawled out from the pitch-black corridor opposite.
It turned out to be a frail young man with disheveled hair almost covering his face, who would lick his hand occasionally when he stopped.
He was the actor playing [Cunning Mr. Voss (cat)].
Fima, playing the part of the eldest daughter, crouched down, trying to let the cat quickly observe the two as it approached, then swiftly disappeared into the darkness of the passageway.
『This must be the actor playing Mr. Voss. I never expected the disguise to be so realistic, and he can freely move quickly on the walls.
Unfortunately, he seems unwilling to contact us.
Let’s go, no ti to waste.』
Fima nodded, sharing her impression of this person: 『Hmm... This person is the lightest among the actors, and he seems relatively reclusive. During the assembly on stage, he deliberately kept his distance from everyone.』
Just as the two descended the stairs and reached the first-floor hall.
Han Dong, mimicking canine behavior, kept all fours on the ground at all tis,
faintly sensed continuous trembling from the floor, as if there was a fight happening... given the mansion’s soundproofing, tactile perception is a superior way of sensing.
Woof woof!
Han Dong barked twice towards the side corridor and imdiately rushed forward.
Fima quickly drew out a dagger and followed at full speed.
When the two arrived, the battle in the corridor had already ended, ... while on Han Dong’s [Freedom Map], the side room was labeled as the VIP room.
『Mr. Han, this is the area where [Baron Holi] resides.
According to the plot, the baron belongs to my fiancé, and he braved the snow tonight because he sensed danger in advance and wanted to take away.
It seems he has already been captured by the actor.』
Fima’s expression turned a bit grim. She actually intended to rendezvous with the baron herself, providing a ’legitimate reason’ to escape from there.
『Hmm... This guy has so skill. Despite being attacked by actors, he managed to launch a decent counterattack, even smashing the actor’s head.
Unfortunately, in the end, he was still controlled by the ’lines’.
The actor, despite getting the first strike, responded with such powerful retaliation.
This baron’s actor has sothing quite special about his body. Sadly, this uniqueness will soon transfer to the actor, making it harder for us to deal with him.
Let’s go, quickly et with the Chief Cook.』
After Han Dong concluded based on the traces of the fight, he decided not to linger any longer and imdiately began exploring the first floor.
Due to the mansion’s vast scale, coupled with its soundproofing, slowly searching for others was out of the question... Instead, they needed to sprint quickly through the building.
The map exploration value was approaching "50%", and the live display function was activated.
Shortly thereafter.
As Han Dong dashed through a certain corridor, he seed to sll a aty aroma in the air; perhaps too absorbed in the scene, his sense of sll had enhanced.
Finding the [Chief Cook] by scent was indeed the best approach.
Under Han Dong’s lead, the two quickly found the heavily scented kitchen area... strangely, a sinister scarlet light leaked from beneath the door.
Combined with the extraordinarily strong at scent, it resembled a slaughterhouse.
Fima also felt sothing was off, 『This is a bit strange, shall we proceed with the original plan to ’test’ this person?』
『Yes, let’s begin.』
...
"Help! Help!"
A scream, almost tearing the throat, echoed.
The panic-stricken [Eldest Daughter] burst through the kitchen door, as if a terrifying creature was pursuing her... just as she was about to flee inside, the scene in front of her made her pause.
First, her foot stepped into thick, sticky blood, pulling up strands of it when lifting her foot.
The entire kitchen was filled with fresh blood,
and on the counters, sinks, and hooks, there were all eviscerated white pig corpses... most still fresh, blood continually flowing out from within, all bones had been removed.
Moreover, all the white pigs’ [heads] had been chopped off.
This was the main reason for the overflow of the aty scent.
In the depths of the kitchen stood a Chief Cook, about two ters tall, wearing a black leather apron, constantly swinging a butcher knife in his hand,
each swing accompanied by a horrific squeal of a pig, completely drowning out the eldest daughter’s cries for help.
The Chief Cook only noticed soone barging in.
Though his eyes turned to the doorway, his butchering actions didn’t halt.
This scene startled Fima; if she hadn’t known in advance that the [actor] was in the basent absorbing the [baron’s] traits, she would have surely considered the Chief Cook the most dangerous presence.
"Chief Cook! A terrifying monster is chasing ... the butler and Baron Holi have already been killed by it."
As she spoke, Fima had already reached the Chief Cook’s side, her acting skills fully on display.
However, Fima instinctively remained cautious of the Chief Cook, worried he might suddenly attack her... simultaneously, upon reaching the slaughtering area with the Chief Cook, she caught sight of a more terrifying scene.
Those slaughtered pig heads were piled up in the food storage at the back,
when Fima glanced over, it even seed as if every pig’s head was staring at her, giving her a chill down her spine.
At this mont.
The canine-human form Han Dong chased in, constantly exhaling visible puffs of white breath, his spine and tail wagging frantically.
With extre speed, he propelled himself continuously from the ground, the countertop, and the sidewalls, heading straight for the cook...
The Chief Cook, faced with such a terrifying creature, not only showed no expression but even stood up straight.
He didn’t swing the butcher knife in his hand, instead extending another rough and large hand.
At this mont
Han Dong foresaw a terrifying future scenario.
If he continued his forward leap, he would be caught by the Chief Cook by the neck, pressed onto the chopping board.
Snap! His entire dog head would be chopped off, the process clean and swift.
Realizing this, Han Dong imdiately used his tail to hook onto sothing solid on the side, forcibly stopping his forward motion in mid-air.
Just as a bloody fight seed about to erupt in the kitchen,
the Chief Cook seed to notice sothing, and his serious gaze returned to a normal state.
A thick, steady voice emanated from the Chief Cook: "Is it fun for you two to cause such a ruckus? Or are you deliberately testing for sothing."
"Chief Cook, how did you figure it out?" the eldest daughter beside him said with surprise.
"The terror level here isn’t low, yet you dashed in without any consideration of danger... although based on your character and being pursued, it barely makes sense.
Moreover, this canine-human’s attack was quite direct.
It could have approached from a more cunning angle and yet chose the least appropriate [frontal] one."
As he spoke, he resud slaughtering the white pigs.
Even as the kitchen knife was completely blunted, he still cleaved off the pig heads and tossed them into the back storehouse.
The eldest daughter explained:
"Exactly.
The real danger is the impostor among the people in our mansion who just disguised himself as a butler to attack ; fortunately, the dog helped escape.
We are searching for trustworthy partners with the capability of discernnt, to fight against the impostor together."
The eldest daughter explained in her acting role.
anwhile, Han Dong had started communicating with the Chief Cook through "Visual Synchronization"... the Chief Cook’s receptiveness was very high, indicating willingness to cooperate with the two.
Han Dong was also pleasantly surprised; he hadn’t expected such high-quality audience mbers for this performance.
"Let tidy up, and we can take action."
The Chief Cook walked towards the back storehouse where ingredients were stored, seemingly to deal with the pig heads, and even closed the storehouse door.
『This Chief Cook is indeed not bad, Miss Fima, your judgnt is excellent.』
『Haha, isn’t it great!』
The ’personnel testing’ requested by Han Dong was very necessary, as not everyone was suitable to be brought into cooperation.
If the ability to ’distinguish between true and false’ couldn’t be achieved, the team could easily disintegrate from within when confused by the actor later on.
Soon.
The Chief Cook ca out with a stitched pig head hanging from his waist.
"Let’s go, kill that impostor."
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