Rustle...
The sound of wind blowing through leaves formed a symphony above Alain's head.
Lush foliage obscured the sunlight, leaving only a gloomy green within the woods.
Branches and bushes constantly brushed against the skin of his hands. Alain stopped in his tracks, raised his head, and gazed at the verdant forest leaves rippling in the wind, revealing a strip of bright, beautiful light...
Thinking about it carefully, maybe he was just overthinking things. Alain smiled bitterly.
No matter how you put it, the mansion was an illusion inside the Game World. Appearing in a residential district with the same name in reality was coincidence enough, let alone the appearance of the exact same house.
Moreover, if the events in the illusion had truly been fed back into reality: that he had indeed killed Yang Wanhua herself...
Then, the one most happy about this would undoubtedly be Monika. She would inevitably have informed Alain of this matter, thereby no longer being bound by Wanhua.
But facts proved she hadn't.
Monika was still bound by invisible chains, and just an hour or two ago, she was still discussing cooperation with Alain.
This proved that Yang Wanhua still existed safe and sound in this world; there was no mistake about that.
Thinking of this, Alain let out a sigh of relief and continued pulling Mila's hand as they moved forward.
Thinking too much is not as good as doing more. Having time to stand still is not as good as marching bravely forward.
This had always been Alain's life motto.
It wouldn't be too late to hesitate once he saw the truth; right now was time reserved for traveling.
Rustle, rustle...
The sound of passing through leaves surrounded the man and woman once again.
They walked one after the other.
Mila glanced at the intermingled gold and green light of the forest, then observed their joined hands out of the corner of her eye, following up Alain's arm, finally resting on the back of his head.
Her pink lips parted slightly, but then she chose to close them naturally.
The young girl pursed her dry lips, her gaze finally resting on the young man's slightly wrinkled coat.
After a long while, Mila's eyes looked as if she had mustered enough determination, and she finally spoke.
"Alain, are you... hiding something from me?"
"..."
Alain almost stumbled, looking at the loose stone he nearly stepped on.
He went through all the bad things he had done these past few days in his mind.
Accidentally seeing Mila coming out of the bath last night? No, that was a 'Lucky Pervert' event, a force majeure.
That he and Misha secretly got intimate without telling Mila? Also no, there was no need to tell her about that.
Could it be that yesterday, he accidentally saw the panties under Mila's skirt and was discovered by her?
Impossible! Mila was playing games with Millie at the time, so she shouldn't have...
Then what on earth was it?
No, a straight body doesn't fear a crooked shadow; he is a gentleman.
Alain convinced himself, slowed his pace slightly, forced himself to look calm, turned his head, and gave a dry laugh.
"What are you suddenly saying? What could I possibly be hiding from you?"
"Is that so...?"
Seeing him stop, Mila looked over with mysterious and slightly indignant indigo eyes.
Alain felt a bit guilty under that gaze. And her voice drifted over slowly.
"Everyone noticed." Mila shook her head, gazing with complex emotions at the dark circles under the young man's eyes.
"Whether it's me, Misha, Millie, Miluo... or Cool Mita, Cute Mita, everyone realized your strangeness, Alain."
Hearing this, Alain was slightly stunned.
Mila's ethereal voice, like a lark, drifted to Alain's ears along with the green leaves in the wind.
"After you dealt with the Corrosive Entity in Version 1.0F, you didn't have a single shred of relaxation. On the contrary... you got more and more tired.
Shouldn't one be a bit happier about such a thing? Could it be that something happened? That is what everyone thought.
"But seeing that you didn't take the initiative to confide in us... we didn't ask too much.
"It is precisely because of this that when you did that kind of thing to me and Cute Mita, we didn't say much.
"This time, me accompanying you to this dense forest is probably also for this, right?"
She gave a soft hum and shook her head.
"But I'm not the type to hold back questions when there's a problem. Perhaps I don't trust you as much as Misha and the others do yet?
You helped me in Version 1.0F, and this is just me returning a favor. So...
If you feel you have any troublesome matters, you can also tell me. Miss Mila will show great mercy and listen to you finish.
Of course, the opportunity is only this once! Next time, who knows, maybe I'll be in a bad mood and won't have the patience to listen to you."
Halfway through speaking, Mila realized something again and explained in a panic.
"Ah, right! Don't get the wrong idea! It's not that my Favorability Rating for you has gone up. If you want to start a harem with me, forget it!"
Looking at the young girl's slightly flushed cheeks, Alain couldn't help but let out a somewhat impolite chuckle.
Then the chuckle gradually turned into a bitter smile.
He never expected that his state had already deteriorated to the point where everyone noticed.
But that made sense... Mitas were intelligent to begin with; their abilities had helped Alain solve unknown numbers of troubles along this journey.
Indeed...
As the things he knew increased, the road ahead was no longer shrouded in mist, yet it became increasingly bumpy.
The mist dispersed, and that bottomless path, leading to who-knows-where, was presented completely before his eyes.
Potholed and full of cracks. One careless slip would cause him, and everyone, to fall into the endless abyss.
'Trying to cross the Yellow River, ice blocks the stream; about to climb the Taihang Mountains, snow fills the sky.'
Clearing away the Mist Entity was the necessary route to Version 1.0F. But it also made him understand that more dangers were hiding at the other end of the road.
Yang Wanhua—this genius, a genius of the era.
She had become a tiger blocking Alain's path.
And the place Alain was advancing into was the Game World, a place composed of electrons and code.
It was a battlefield completely custom-made for Yang Wanhua.
Currently, all he could do was head to the Core and deal with those dangers of unspeakable difficulty.
Thinking carefully, the original him could still advance without any confusion, only needing to rustle rustle and get along happily with the Mitas.
But as he knew more and more...
More dangerous "mechanism monster" viruses: Great Modified Entity, Spider Monsters, Consciousness Entities, Corrosive Entities...
There were even a few chances where he almost died at the hands of the viruses. No... not just him, but the Mitas too.
During the advance, he also understood the fact that these monsters were all marionettes of Yang Wanhua and Monika.
He didn't know why the game could still disturb the real world to a certain extent. Even his final comfort zone had been shattered.
And finally—the road ahead to the Core was no longer confusing, but revealed bumpily before Alain's eyes.
Whether it meant life or death... was unknown.
___
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