Alain looked at the palm of his hand. The power from the burst of the Failed Works Gauntlet was gradually fading.
As for the results...
He felt his limbs, focusing his attention particularly on his back. He could now speak and move normally, completely unaffected.
In other words—he was now Alain, not some kind-hearted protagonist in a galge.
His gaze then swept around. He momentarily ignored 2D Mita, who was staring at him as if he were a tentacle monster.
After he had successfully resisted using the gauntlet, the 2D Version, as if made of glass, fell into a shattering agitation.
The furniture in the room was no longer just textures to the three-dimensional Alain, but was gradually becoming more refined models, models of a quality comparable to reality.
At the same time, the door opened and closed on its own, the floorboards creaked with a "zhi-ya-ya," and the texture on the ceiling took on a wave-like shape.
For Alain, the version's oppressive feeling was gone. In its place was a faint but distinct repulsive force.
It was as if every pixel, every byte, every color dot in the entire 2D Version was screaming for him to "get out."
"Not a very warm welcome, huh?" Alain scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
If the enemy's defenses are broken, it means you're doing something right.
If the enemy's defenses aren't broken, it means you haven't done enough and need to continue punishing and humiliating them mercilessly.
"Ahem... Alain, I told you, we're watching," came Mita's voice from the box, unheard for several minutes. She had clearly seen Alain's inner monologue.
"It's fine, my dear. You can accept me like this, can't you?"
"I can accept it... but I'd still prefer if you were more mindful of the situation." His lovely dear seemed to be sighing, face in her palm.
But the complete lack of urgency in their conversation made the nearby 2D Mita a little curious.
She had more or less given up by now, resigning herself to being that hopeful little kid from before. This player said he would be with her forever, so she couldn't be happier. Resist? She'd wait until Alain was in danger for that.
"What are you going to do?" she asked, bewildered.
Breaking free from the pressure exerted by "that guy" and ceasing to be a tool of a protagonist... it seemed like a difficult task, yet the Alain before her had done it with ease.
But even so, this was merely "resistance," not a "counterattack."
Counterattacking "that guy" and breaking the "protagonist" curse were two entirely different levels of difficulty.
But unexpectedly, 2D Mita felt not a shred of impatience in her heart, and even she didn't know why.
Looking at his greatsword... no, at that confident smile that seemed to have everything under control, the girl felt he must have some unexpected method up his sleeve.
What would Alain do?
"What will I do? It's simple." Just as 2D Mita expected, Alain's potential seemed to extend far beyond what she could currently see.
His hand fumbled in the empty air before him, leaving 2D Mita completely baffled.
What... is he trying to do?
The next second, right before her eyes, Alain pulled a semi-transparent, deep blue, rectangular "placard" out of thin air.
"What is that?!"
As a galge heroine, 2D Mita knew exactly what that was.
"The dialogue box?! How did you take it out?" The voice from the small box was also shocked. 2D Mita felt the same.
It was like... the protagonist of a galge suddenly moved the active dialogue box into his own hands. It felt a bit meta... no, it was way too meta.
"Big Sister, you're underestimating your player," Alain's voice sounded relaxed.
With a light snap of his hands, the dialogue box, like stained glass, showed a web of countless cracks.
The next moment, it shattered with a sound, becoming colorful sliders that drifted away in the windless air.
And the shattering of the dialogue box seemed to be the starting point for the arrival of something new:
Before his eyes, a black ripple spread out from a point on the wall of the 2D Version.
The ripple suddenly surged across the entire version. It extended past her feet and over his shoulder.
The agitation of the furniture instantly ceased.
But the moment he saw that ripple, Alain felt the version's repulsive force against his entire body suddenly escalate, becoming a "wind" that battered him.
"That guy... is probably coming..."
2D Mita quickly moved to Alain's side, her stern gaze fixed on the wall texture from which the ripple emanated.
In the very center of the wall, a small black dot appeared on its own, as abrupt as an ink stain on white paper.
"The 'guy' you're talking about, is it the virus?"
"I don't know... It suddenly broke into my room one day and trapped me here..." Mentioning this, the girl's face could not hide her fear; the terrifying emotion was already etched deep in her heart.
"I told you, right? Two Mitas wanted to help me, and one of them was a combat type. But even she..." She recalled the desperate scene, "Her power, far exceeding that of other Mitas, couldn't even break its defenses... It was an overwhelming victory for it."
"I-It even... devoured the versions of those two Mitas, right before my eyes... I—"
I see... so that monster's defenses are that strong? Although Alain had his doubts about whether his greatsword could cut through, he had no choice but to try now.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here." He patted 2D Mita on the back, then pulled her behind him.
"...Thank you." Through Alain's shoulder, the girl saw the black dot on the wall gradually expanding—like a spark burning through paper.
And all over Alain's body, the repulsive force from the version grew more frantic. The "wind" was no longer just a headwind but more like a tornado sweeping him up towards the clouds.
Right now, Alain was struggling to even stand still, let alone move forward.
"Mita, do you trust me?" He didn't look back, his attention completely fixed on the spreading blackness.
"Things have already come to this, what are you talking about?" The girl's face flushed slightly. "I trust you..."
"Good. Then... can you give me your version's permissions for a moment?"
He took a deep breath, suppressing the version's repulsive force.
"...Okay." 2D Mita hesitated for a moment, and though she didn't understand, she did as he asked.
A control panel suddenly appeared in front of Alain. It displayed an indicator that read "Ownership Acquired."
His body felt lighter, yet a faint repulsive force still remained.
I see... 2D Mita's version had already been corroded, with few permissions left.
In other words, he couldn't hold on for long. The repulsive force would probably throw him out of the 2D Version. When that happened, not only would he have wasted an Anywhere Door use, but 2D Mita herself would suffer retaliation from "that guy"—the Corrosive Entity.
The dark wall texture gradually became three-dimensional, and from it emerged a pitch-black, female-looking hand.
Seeing this, 2D Mita's grip on Alain's shoulder tightened.
He could deeply feel the girl's fear.
"Wait for me for a bit, okay?" Alain turned his head and gave her a bright smile, which made the girl愣 for a moment.
"Good luck." She returned a slightly forced smile.
Propelled by her smile, Alain slowly walked toward the dark hand.
"Looks like I'll never be free of these damn black things in this life."
He stared at the hand and raised his sword.
Indeed... the version was rejecting him. He couldn't last long. The risk of failure was that the virus blocking Version 1.0F might be impossible to clear.
Therefore, it had to be decided in one blow.
He gazed at the virus, mouthing the words:
You want me to get out? No, you're the one who should get out.
"Whoosh—"
An intense sense of obstruction made Alain's shoulders tense. It was as if he were facing a raging storm; just standing his ground felt like a luxury.
This was what he had imagined a tough battle would be like.
"Huh?"
The reality was, Alain was surprised to find that the moment his greatsword struck the palm of the black hand, it was like swinging a meat cleaver at a tomato. In a single encounter, the greatsword's edge sliced through the black hand as if it were cutting through vegetables.
Blue pixels passed from the palm to the back of the hand. Pitch-black garbled code dripped down the blade of the greatsword, trembling as it hit the floor and vanished.
"Huh?!!" 2D Mita's voice, so astonished it was beyond belief, nearly pierced Alain's eardrums. "Wh-wh-wh-wh-why?!"
"..." The corner of Alain's mouth twitched. He really wanted to say: You've asked the question I wanted to ask.
From the small box he had placed aside, a sharp intake of breath could be heard... clearly, the two outside were also finding the current situation unimaginable.
How to put it... it was the kind of letdown you feel when an RPG boss, built up for so long to be fearsome, turns out to be a slime girl.
His muscle memory took over for his thoughts: after piercing the enemy, the greatsword swung straight down, forcefully severing the black hand into two.
Fortunately, the virus had no internal structures like bones or flesh, so it didn't count as R-18G.
Alain didn't hesitate, pressing his advantage and directly severing the remnants of the black hand from the wall.
With a "thud," the severed hand fell limply to the ground, motionless.
Alain still felt this was just the beginning. Could it be that this black hand was just a minion infesting the 2D Version?
And that countless more minions were waiting behind it for him to vanquish?
But the black-stained wall answered his question:
The ink stain on the wall gradually faded, as if diluted with countless drops of water, revealing the wall texture's original pale pink color.
Of the blackened wall, only a single dot remained unfaded.
Alain and 2D Mita silently observed the scene before them, neither speaking, both still processing the chaos in their minds.
After a long moment, it was Alain who spoke first.
"Alright, problem solved!"
"Mhm! You're amazing, dear!" Mita's praise sounded like muscle memory, her tone particularly stiff. "That said, I never expected Alain to have improved so much..."
"C-Can you even call this 'improvement'?!" 2D Mita clamored. "What was that? Th-The 'guy' I've been afraid of for so long was like a trash mob in your hands?!"
I'd like to know too... Alain grumbled internally.
"Besides, if you solve it so easily, doesn't that make... the me from before look like an idiot?!"
The me from before also looks like an idiot... Alain judged himself.
"And! Doesn't that make the despair I suffered in the past a complete joke!" She collapsed onto the floor, questioning her existence. "Now, to be freed from my predicament so anticlimactically... ugh..."
"Just tell me if you're happy or not."
"I am happy..." When it came to such topics, she was honest enough to blush. "No! Player..."
2D Mita bared her teeth at Alain, like a young beast on its first hunt.
The next second, she pounced on him, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you so much!!!"
She said this through gritted teeth, her voice trembling with complex emotions.
"Thanks? If you want to thank me, then fulfill your promise properly." Alain patted her slightly trembling back.
"That was your promise to me! Hmph."
She pulled away from his embrace and grinned.
"To be with you forever..."
After a moment of warmth, Alain had a better grasp of the situation.
He didn't think for a second that a single black hand was the main boss occupying Version 1.0F.
It wasn't as if there hadn't been cases of "virus larvae" before: the Devouring Entity and Parasitic Entity both had their own small fry.
That black hand was likely a similar case. It should be a product somewhere between a "minion" and a "boss." If he had to label it... "Elite Mob" felt appropriate, Alain thought.
Besides, if he had truly eliminated the Corrosive Entity's main body, Short-Haired Mita's side should have had some reaction.
However... it seemed he had some kind of advantage over this virus. But what kind of advantage, Alain couldn't say.
Of course, he hadn't forgotten the goal of his trip and took the opportunity to ask 2D Mita,
"You can take us to Version 1.0F now, right?"
"Of course," she said with a wry smile. "You've helped me so much, how could I possibly refuse you?"
2D Mita thought for a moment.
"However... Version 1.0F." She looked at the ceiling with a complex expression. "That place... should be 'that guy's' main base. It's where he first began his corrosion."
"I see... By the way, can you tell me about the two Mitas who came to save you?"
"...Okay."
She lowered her eyes. Clearly, it was a memory she didn't want to revisit.
"Those two Mitas both had quite the personalities."
2D Mita raised her head to meet Alain's gaze, her eyes filled with hope for him. That's right, since Alain had saved her, he could definitely save them too!
"Their names are—Cool Mita and Cute Mita."
__
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