Alain watched the girls' joyous exhaustion and quietly capped the marker in his hand.
"Alright—Miluo, let's crush them together!"
"Definitely! Let's target Big Sister Misha first, okay?"
"Hey! Why are you always targeting me?"
Their cheerful laughter showed they no longer needed Alain as a translator.
But he had to add a "but."
Alain stood up and walked towards the kitchen door.
To let them defeat the virus unimpeded, Mila had left all the room doors wide open. Alain easily walked into the kitchen.
He stood beside the black mass, gazing at it coldly.
The black mass, at some unknown point, had begun to voraciously devour the surrounding furniture again. And its speed of consumption was even faster than when he first saw it.
"The Intranet Firewall's effect wore off. Can I use it again?" he asked, summoning 2D Mita to voice his question.
"Hey? What do you think skills are, a dime a dozen? Something you can use whenever you want?"
Inside the panel, she spread her hands helplessly while glancing wistfully at the girls' fight in the living room.
If not for the task at hand, she would have loved to join in on this exhilarating "girls' party."
"Intranet Firewall is pretty special, and Safety Protection is barely usable. As for things like Accelerated Cleaning, enabling them would be much more difficult."
"I see..." Alain turned back to look at the kitchen entrance. The harmonious laughter of the girls drifted from there.
He looked down at his own hand, then immediately looked at the kitchen door.
"..." Alain made his decision.
He walked to the door, placed his hand on the doorknob, and applied a little force with his forearm.
The door was like a mountain, not moving an inch.
Was I wrong? he wondered. Or is my guess just a pessimistic view?
Alain used even more force, his grip on the door turning into a "pull."
This time... the result was different.
The unmoving door gradually closed under his strength. Until—
With a soft click, the Mitas' laughter was completely cut off.
"There's not much time left." Alain looked at his palm, clenching and unclenching it a few times, before reopening the door and returning to the living room.
"Hah... hah... phew! I'm so tired!" Miluo panted, beads of sweat on her forehead. She sat on the floor, forgetting her decorum, and wiped her brow with her sleeve.
Mila also sat beside the girl, leaning against the cool wall, letting the sweat run down and slightly dampen her shirt.
"That was so refreshing!" Millie unceremoniously brought out some ice-cold colas, handing them to each of the girls.
"Thanks." Mila took one, opened it with a pop, and gulped it down.
"What a heroic swordswoman," Misha said with a light laugh, making a harmless joke.
Then, her gaze inadvertently shifted to Alain, who was standing alone by the windowsill.
She took a cola from Millie, walked over to Alain, and handed it to him.
"Thanks," he replied quietly, taking small sips.
"The fusion... it's gotten deeper, hasn't it?" the long-haired girl asked, gazing worriedly at his profile.
The young man put down his cola, pondered for a moment, and nodded lightly.
"Yes. I just tried. I can open the doors now."
"Mmm."
After her reply, the two fell silent, just quietly staring at the pure white windowpane.
Pale white particles, like snowflakes, drifted on the currents of the girls' laughter, landing on the table before dissolving into fragments of light and disappearing.
"Should I go?" Misha said. "For this kind of thing, it's more tactful if a girl brings it up."
"I'll do my best."
"No, I'll go."
After Alain finished his cola, Misha took the empty can from him.
"Okay. Um..." the girl called out to him, her eyelashes trembling as she bit her lip.
Meanwhile, Mila, who was still swapping fun stories about Version 1.0F and the real world with Miluo and Millie, felt a tap on her shoulder.
She turned around and saw a man with well-defined shoulders behind her. Obviously, it was Alain.
"What's wrong?"
"I need to talk to you about something," he said, pointing to the bedroom.
Although she could only see his silhouette and not his face, Mila could sense the subtle seriousness about Alain.
"Okay."
The two went into the bedroom, and Alain gently closed the door, blocking out the laughter from outside.
Inside, only silence and the sound of their even breathing remained.
Mila put on her glasses and broke the deadlock. "Let me be clear. While my opinion of you has changed, my favorability rating isn't high enough for you to 'capture' me yet!"
She raised a finger, looking just like a lecturing Misha, which made Alain smile slightly.
"Don't worry, it's not time for that yet. Speaking of which..." Alain looked at her teasingly, "You've actually changed your opinion of me? I thought the first thing you'd say when you came in would be 'Harem Protagonist'."
"Cut the crap, Harem Protagonist!" she said, crossing her arms in annoyance. "Just don't try to include me in your harem!"
"I'll do my best."
"Hmph~ Well then, whatever it is, just hit me with it!"
"Mmm."
He understood the meaning behind Mila's words perfectly. If there was something to say, he should just say it directly.
She probably already knew what Alain was going to say. In that case, the conversation could proceed smoothly.
"The bug in the kitchen is starting to affect us again." Alain walked to the bedroom door and opened it as if to demonstrate.
He could now feel that the "weight" of the door had lightened considerably. The degree of fusion... had deepened.
"I'm afraid it won't be long before everyone is completely absorbed into the game world," Alain said.
He had brought Misha and the others to reality by purchasing "real-world slots" from the Safety Guard.
If they were absorbed again, simply having to repurchase the "real-world slots" would be the easy, simple scenario.
A worse scenario would be having to modify the Safety Guard's program. This was extremely risky, something to be avoided if possible, lest they be detected by the "unknown port" and lose a crucial information advantage.
And the worst-case scenario... would be never being able to return to reality.
"So, you want me to help you get rid of the bug?" Mila asked in return.
"Yes."
"What the heck! Why didn't you just tell me from the start?"
She laughed lightly. "And here I thought it was going to be something difficult~"
Mila looked out the window, smiling.
"I didn't expect it to be this simple."
___
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