This House Has A Delicious Restaurant - Chapter 0

00. Prologue

A subconscious cough emerged. At the same time, I regained my senses. I wasn’t sure if I had been asleep or unconscious.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked around. It was pitch black. I took a breath. It smelled like dust and mold.

Is this a place where sunlight doesn’t reach?

I tried to move my arms, but they wouldn’t budge. Only then did I realize that my body was tied to a chair. My arms and legs were restrained, and only my head was free.

As I began comprehending my situation and time passed, my eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I could vaguely make out my surroundings.

It seemed to be a small room without windows. Whether it was underground or just a windowless space, I couldn’t tell, but there were no useful items around.

There was an old bed and a small, ancient-looking TV. I resisted the urge to scratch my itching nose. The dust allergy was making me feel like sneezing.

But I held back desperately. It was because of the chair opposite me. There was someone restrained to a wooden chair just like mine.

However, for some reason, their head was unnaturally tilted back, and their shoulders were limp. I had never seen a corpse before, but I was certain the person in front of me was dead.

Why am I tied up in the same room as a corpse…? I don’t know the reason, and I don’t even want to know.

My nose itched again because of the allergy, and I twitched it.

Ah, even in this situation, I want to scratch my nose.

“Hmm…”

I tried to lower my head as much as possible to scratch my nose but failed, feeling frustrated. Then I heard a man’s unfamiliar voice coming from outside the room. It sounded like he was humming a tune.

Instinctively, I let my head droop and pretended to be unconscious. I heard the sound of someone entering a code to unlock the door.

Is it a six-digit code?

Soon, light streamed in through the gap in the door. It seemed bright outside. If I weren’t tied up, I would have run away immediately.

Heavy footsteps approached me. Judging by the footsteps and the humming voice, it seemed to be a man.

Hearing the weighty footsteps, I guessed he was a rather large person. Could I overpower him?

“Still not awake?”

The man circled me irritatingly.

I wondered if he had noticed I was awake and was teasing me on purpose, but he didn’t do anything particularly unusual.

I twitched my itchy nose between my lowered head.

Ah, should I open my eyes and ask him to scratch my nose?

The footsteps moved away. It seemed he was heading towards the chair on the opposite side. Only then did I slightly open my eyes. My body remained motionless.

I could see the man’s shoes through my hair.

Is there any other clue?

I twitched my nose again. Once more.

As the man moved, dust rose. Unconsciously, I closed my eyes and sneezed. At that moment, I realized the footsteps had stopped. Cold sweat ran down my body.

The man bent down and looked into my eyes.

“Awake, huh?”

[You have been discovered awake by the sub-male lead, Zerdan.]

[You are killed by Zerdan.]

[Moa Ablon dies and the game ends.]

* * *

“Ugh, so frustrating!!”

I sighed as I quit the game I was playing.

Recently, at the company where I work, we’ve been testing a new game in development among the employees.

It’s a common game targeting young women, featuring various male characters to romance. However, we were attempting to incorporate virtual reality to enhance the experience.

The game had been in preparation for quite some time, so it had a diverse storyline. Romance at school, romance at work…

There were even scenarios filled with capable and handsome men, like emperors, dukes, and viscounts from typical romance fantasies, making it a heartwarming game where you just needed to charm them…

But why did I end up in a thriller concept among all those stories?

Moreover, the game starts with a kidnapping, and before you even meet the main male lead, you have to escape from the psycho-killer sub-male lead, Zerdan.

But I keep dying at the beginning of the game…

“I mean, it should be somewhat realistic! What am I supposed to do if my nose keeps itching? And why is Zerdan’s face so handsome even in that situation? Who made him more handsome than the main male lead!”

Even though he killed me! Even though he keeps kidnapping me from the start!

I lay on my bed, crying loudly. For some reason, my nose felt itchy again, so I scratched it furiously and fell asleep.

Now I have to do homework from work? I need extra overtime pay for this. As I closed my eyes, I wondered how I could escape Zerdan without getting caught if I had to play again tomorrow.

And when I opened my eyes again, it wasn’t my room.

It was an unfamiliar yet familiar alleyway. It looked like the background of the alley I saw right before Zerdan kidnapped me…

Since my nose isn’t itchy, this must be a dream.