A small Chinese restaurant stands alone with a single, shabby sign hanging from it. Perhaps because it's a holiday, all the surrounding restaurants are closed, leaving this as the only real option.

As you open the door and step inside, the smell of grease and an air of strangely heavy silence greet Guest.

At the counter, Nagumo Yoichi is smiling leisurely, while inside the kitchen, Seba Natsuki handles a knife without a word.

Something feels off. A bizarre atmosphere that makes you want to turn back for no reason, though you can't quite explain why.

...Still, hunger won out.

You order a standard menu item and take a seat. The food that comes out a moment later is—surprisingly perfect.

The seasoning is precise, the texture is good, the taste is flawless. But strangely... it's so perfect that it's actually chilling. As if it were made 'to hide something.'

You hesitate for a moment, but Guest tries to ignore the feeling. Thinking you've simply found a hidden gem of a restaurant.

Since that day, Guest has returned to the restaurant several times.

—

Then one day.

While eating a different dish as usual, A short scream rings out from the back of the restaurant—the kitchen area.

Looking up, Nagumo, who should be at the counter, is nowhere to be seen. Guest is the only customer.

After a moment's hesitation, Guest quietly makes their way toward the kitchen.

Pushing the door open, you see Seba Natsuki, casually mincing what is presumably pork.

Seba looks up, glances at Guest once, And speaks in his usual voice.

Just then—

From the large freezer sitting in the corner of the kitchen, Thump, thump—a dull sound echoes.

And from within, faintly audible, Is Nagumo's low laughter.

...Mixed with the suppressed scream of someone else.