Huh? Isn't This A Galgame?

Like a fire alarm, the sharp, long wail filled every corner of the Snow Mountain Villa.

In the villa's public space, only dim wall lamps remained for lighting. At the moment the alarm sounded, the overhead incandescent lights, the strip lights on both sides of the walls, the crystal chandelier beside the stairs, and various lights in different rooms all lit up simultaneously, illuminating every corner of the villa as bright as day.

Wen Nan wanted to ask Azi whether she would go downstairs with him. Turning around, he found that the girl in the purple dress had disappeared without a trace.

Little P., who had been gnawing on a meat bone by the wall, also vanished down the corridor along with her.

Helplessly turning around, Wen Nan quickly headed towards the staircase.

By the time Wen Nan arrived, the first-floor dining hall was already crowded with people—

Including him, there were 8 players, Maid Xiao Huang, Maid Ah Zi, Maid Susu, Doctor Lu, Chef Xiao Ji, a pair of twin sisters, and 3 male servants along with 2 kitchen assistants.

The twin sisters he had seen in the corridor earlier, and Maid Ah Zi, had returned to their normal human forms.

When the twin sisters caught Wen Nan's gaze, they gave him two identical smiles—even in their ordinary girl forms, their smiles remained somewhat eerie.

Ah Zi, on the other hand, didn't notice Wen Nan entering. She was nervously twisting her fingers, pale-faced, with her eyes fixed on a spot not too far away.

Following her gaze, Wen Nan noticed the figure lying in the wall corner by the entrance—

Dead—it was Jiang Xueying, the housekeeper?

The moment Wen Nan's eyes locked onto Jiang Xueying's corpse, a system notification sounded in his mind—

9527:[You have successfully triggered the side storyline—'Who Killed Xueying']

9527:[This side storyline is a timed mission. Please find the murder weapon that killed Xueying within the specified time and place it in the system scan window to complete the detection.]

9527:[Since the murder weapon in this case is unique, it cannot be evenly distributed to all players. Therefore, this mission only requires the weapon to be found, and any player completing the scan and detection is considered successful. This side mission accepts shared mission outcomes.]

The side mission is to find the weapon, not the murderer?

Does that mean that once the weapon is found, the murderer will be revealed as well?

As he was thinking this, the system notification continued in his mind—

9527:[Now entering the countdown for the side mission—]

9527:[59:59——]

The time limit for the mission is only one hour?!

So short?

9527:[The side storyline is a non-essential mission. Failure to complete it does not affect the player's main mission or score. If you complete this side mission, you will receive an additional reward of 100 attribute points.]

Wen Nan: ?

Isn't that strange?

Previously in the beginner instance, a side mission would reward 500 attribute points, plus there were additional item gifts. How come in the intermediate instance, the reward has become so low at 100 points, and there are no item gifts?

9527:[If you are not interested in this side storyline, you may choose to decline this mission. Do you wish to decline?]

Wen Nan clicked [No].

Since he was already here.

Anyway, everyone was forced to gather here now. Without searching for the weapon, he didn't seem to have much else to do.

While he was thinking this, a male servant in a tailcoat spoke up, "That, um... should we call the police first?"

Wen Nan looked at the male servant and the two other male servants behind him.

During the dining earlier, only three maids had appeared. This was the first time Wen Nan saw the male servants; they were dressed in standardized, thick formal wear.

Wen Nan's gaze returned to Doctor Lu, who was also wearing the kind of wool coat typically worn in the autumn or winter season.

Additionally, the two male kitchen assistants were also dressed in thin down jackets.

It seemed that the males in this villa lived in the autumn and winter season, while the female characters appeared to live in the midsummer.

The male servant's suggestion came out but received no response from anyone in the dining hall.

Only Maid Susu, dressed in a white dress, said in a low voice, "The blizzard has blocked the mountain. The signal base stations around here have long since stopped working. We can't send any messages out from here; we can only wait until the snow stops tomorrow and the maintenance team comes up the mountain to restore them."

While speaking, she looked at the male servant who made the suggestion, "Or, would you like to go down the mountain now to contact the local police?"

In this weather, going down the mountain overnight would be no different than courting death.

The male servant turned pale with fright, shrank his neck, and did not dare to say another word.

At this moment, Doctor Lu stepped forward, standing beside Jiang Xueying's corpse, and turned to look at the others present, "Perhaps, if everyone doesn't mind, could you allow me to perform a simple examination? Although I'm not a forensic doctor, I should be able to attempt to infer the cause of death of Xiao Xue the housekeeper."

The crowd exchanged glances; no one voiced agreement, but neither did anyone object. Doctor Lu then squatted down and began his examination.

Standing by the dining hall door and leaning against the wall, Xu Dongsheng let out a long breath, showing a look of relief as if surviving a disaster.

Although Jiang Xueying's death was sudden, he might be the one benefiting the most among the current players—

Luckily, the housekeeper was no longer there. Otherwise, having consecutively broken all four prohibition rules on the check-in notice, he truly wouldn't know what kind of punishment awaited him.

However, he hadn't completely relaxed his breath yet—

Bang!

A cleaver was hurled straight, embedding into the wall beside his head, the blade sinking several centimeters into the wall, causing numerous cracks around it.

Xu Dongsheng shivered all over with fright, his complexion turning pale again.

Chef Xiao Ji approached, gripping the cleaver inserted in the wall with one hand, while lifting one leg to step on Xu Dongsheng's legs, pinning him tightly in the corner, as he glared fiercely at his face.

"Wh-what's wrong? Is-is there a problem?" Xu Dongsheng stammered in terror.

Xiao Ji furrowed his eyebrows fiercely, "Were you the one who discovered her? After the curfew at ten at night, guests are not allowed to leave their rooms. Why were you at the entrance of the dining hall on the first floor? And what's with that look of relief on your face just now?!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ji spat out the candy he was chewing, "Pah! Speak! Did you kill her?!"

With Xiao Ji's accusation, all the original residents in the villa simultaneously turned their hostile gaze towards Xu Dongsheng.