After Mila pointed out the location of the bug causing the display error, she opened the two doors separating the kitchen, living room, and bedroom, allowing Alain and the others to proceed to the kitchen unimpeded.
After doing this, she disappeared somewhere, leaving Alain and the others to their own devices.
When everyone reached the kitchen, it was just as Mila had said—an irregular, pitch-black sphere glowed with a dark light, like a black hole, constantly sucking in surrounding objects.
Plates, tables, chairs, and the television continuously transformed into streams of code, flowing into the darkness. Yet the room kept creating new furniture. The cycle repeated.
"Is that it?" Alain opened the Safety Guard. 2D Mita was looking at the spot Alain was pointing to.
"Get a little closer."
"Okay." Following the girl's instruction, Alain walked toward the black hole, stopping only when the last bit of safe distance grew tight.
2D Mita observed from the phone screen and soon came to a conclusion:
"That's it. Should we try to deal with it now?" she asked.
Alain glanced behind him, and the Mitas all nodded.
"Let's do it now," Alain said, not wanting any further complications.
"Alright. I'll now enable your skill uses for the real world."
"Ding—"
A soft chime sounded in his ear. On the Safety Guard panel, the Intranet Firewall icon was restored to a usable state.
"How does that work?"
Alain was confused. Although it seemed like they were currently in the game world, their bodies were still technically in reality. Could the Safety Guard enable skills in the real world?
"It's absurd, right?" 2D Mita's smile was a bit forced. "But I'm surprised too. It activated smoothly. It's just for one time, though. Okay, go ahead and try it."
"Okay."
Alain tapped the Intranet Firewall icon, then fixed his gaze on the black mass.
The Mitas also watched the dark mass intently, sitting upright and holding their breath, afraid of disturbing Alain.
"Rumble—"
The next moment, the dim sphere entered a state of paralysis. Its black surface surged violently, kicking up layers upon layers of "waves."
The black waves crashed against the walls, causing the light pink wallpaper to ripple. A large section was corroded, revealing the "non-game area" behind the wall.
Alain took a few steps back until he was standing in front of the Mitas.
Then, they all felt a vibration from beneath their feet simultaneously.
It was like an earthquake. Amidst the rumbling, Alain and the girls had to find something to hold onto to keep from falling.
But the tremor only lasted for two seconds before everything returned to normal.
"Is... is it fixed?" Millie looked up at the ceiling, which was still the same light pink, completely unchanged.
Alain said nothing, his gaze fixed on the black mass.
Aside from the initial surge, it was now—completely still.
Although its size hadn't changed compared to before, at least it was no longer consuming the room's furniture.
Which meant—
"It worked, but not completely... is that it?"
Alain pondered. At the same time, 2D Mita offered a theory from the phone, "Perhaps we still need Mila, who is in the game world, to personally fix that bug before we can return to the real world."
"Mmm." He nodded and turned back to the others.
"Let's go." He led the girls out of the kitchen. Just as they turned into the bedroom, they happened to hear a series of "Heave-ho, heave-ho" sounds from a corner.
Without a doubt, it was Mila's.
Just as he was about to ask Mila for help, the scene that met his eyes made him feel—This Mita was really strange.
"Heave... ho! Heave... ho!"
In the empty space between the television and the sofa, Mila had moved the coffee table aside and was doing some rather strange "push-ups":
The girl was kneeling, her hands on the floor, repeatedly lowering and pushing herself up.
After doing an unknown number of these "push-ups," she would casually glance at the door they had just come out of.
As if worried her "great feat" was being ignored.
"Uh..." Even Millie, the resident prankster, couldn't figure out what was happening. She tugged on her best friend's shirt, "What is she doing? Bestie, do you know?"
"I don't know... Miluo, do you know?"
"I don't know either. Alain, do you know?"
"Alain doesn't know." Alain was the type to ask when he didn't understand. With a pop, he uncapped the marker Mila had lent him and wrote a few words on the wall.
He had asked Mila for her opinion earlier: it was hard to communicate without a computer. She had said to just grab a pen and write wherever he wanted. And so, with a series of scratching sounds, these words appeared on the wall by the kitchen door:
"[What are you doing?]"
She glanced over casually, then threw herself "wholeheartedly" back into her task.
"W-What am I doing? Can't you tell? Phew..." She was still kneeling, but this time she pushed her body up with just one hand, using the other to wipe away sweat in satisfaction, "Push-ups, of course! Working out when I'm alone isn't so bad, huh!"
"[...As long as you're happy.]"
"Hmph... And I have to say, the results are pretty obvious! For example—"
She put one hand behind her back, supporting herself with the five fingers of her other hand, and gradually lifted them— —until only a single finger was left, supporting the entire weight of her body!
"Look! I can even do this!"
Her powerful index finger suddenly erupted with incredible strength, a single digit—pushing up her entire body!
If one could ignore her comical kneeling posture, she would surely be a "master of the push-up domain."
"Aiya—" The next second, the master of the push-up domain's finger gave out, and her whole body fell to the floor, leaving her with a red face.
"That hurt so much..." She clutched her nose, slowly getting up, and casually grabbed a tissue to plug her nosebleed.
"..." Miluo and Millie watched her in silence, completely unable to imagine what she was trying to do.
As for Alain and Millie...
The two of them looked at Mila not with confusion, but with complete understanding.
Alain picked up the marker and wrote on the wall, "[That's amazing. I can't even do a one-finger push-up]"
"Hmph~ Of course! You think a small-fry harem protagonist can compare to me? Go work on your own physique first!" Her proud and smug look made everyone chuckle.
"Of course, of course, this isn't all I can do! You all—especially you, little sister Miluo, you saw that!"
She picked up the tachi that was set aside, then stared at an "Easter Island statue" on the TV stand.
Mila's gaze was like a torch, flashing with a sharp coldness. Like a blade about to be drawn.
___
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