"Alright." Alain casually set down his weapon and wiped away a sheen of non-existent cold sweat.
The Failed Works was tough; its sturdy external structure was like armor protecting it.
However, the domestic carbon steel fire extinguisher Alain used as a weapon was even tougher. With just a few blunt strikes, he had smashed the thing until it was dented and lumpy all over.
Added to that was the timely support of Mila's katana...
Alain looked at the pile of dismantled parts on the ground and nodded with satisfaction.
As expected, one shouldn't drop their guard even in reality. Having a fire extinguisher nearby this time counted as him getting extremely lucky.
Next time, he might not have such good fortune.
Alain already planned to prepare a weapon that would be most handy for him currently. That would be:
A big—
Chainsaw.
And it had to be a German-imported chainsaw. Combined with Alain's own strength, when it came to dismantling Failed Works, it would be absolutely precise, taking them apart one by one.
"By the way, why are there Failed Works in reality?" Mila looked at the rolled edge of her blade with heartache, while simultaneously glaring resentfully at the Failed Works that had long since been wrecked into a pile of parts.
"It hacked my katana until it's all scratched up!"
"I don't really understand either." Seeing the Failed Works again, Alain was no longer surprised.
Even if the Failed Works served as a "bodyguard" for Yang Wanhua's residence, he felt it was to be expected.
Thinking about it carefully, given how Yang Wanhua looked at people in the world as if they were objects, how could she possibly allow strangers to enter her and Alain's home?
Only the handiest viruses from the game could catch her eye. Furthermore, the Failed Works was an individual with extremely strong solo combat capabilities. Invulnerable to swords and guns; even if there were intruders, it could resolve them in no time flat.
"However..."
Have Failed Works appeared in reality again? This was bad news.
If that woman Wanhua wanted to make a move on him in reality, she could have directly sent out a "Virus Alliance" to capture his large apartment.
Even if the other party hadn't done so, it still made Alain keep his guard up.
K-ch—
Mila sheathed her katana and patted Alain's shoulder. "I guess we can say it was a close call but we're safe."
"Yeah, it's a good thing you brought a weapon." Alain also breathed a sigh of relief and turned to check the surrounding environment.
When they fought the Failed Works, the battle had gradually moved into the interior of the residence.
Currently, this should be the living room area. Under the combined assault of his fire extinguisher and Mila's katana, the sofa's cotton had exploded out, the furniture was scarred, and the walls were covered in cracks, with deep dents sunken in here and there.
In short, a moment of carelessness had turned the place into a mess.
Yet even so, Alain could still recognize this familiar decoration style; he wouldn't forget it even in his dreams.
Everything was identical to the decoration style he saw during his imprisonment in the illusion.
Click!
He turned on the living room lights.
The classical European style made the entire living room appear slightly gloomy. The dark brown wooden furniture made them feel as if they were in an old castle. However, in the warm yellow light that resembled a hearth fire, it actually seemed somewhat cozy.
As for the smell... he couldn't smell Yang Wanhua's body scent. Instead, there was a mix of dust kicked up by the fight and the scent of raw wood, which was overly cluttered.
Mila walked around, and Alain simply began exploring the surroundings.
Coincidentally, the two walked together to a photo on the same wall.
"This is you, right?" Mila stood on her tiptoes and took down the photo. The bright glass frame perfectly reflected the photo's original colors.
The photo was free of even a speck of dust, maintained to be bright and translucent, everything looking brand new.
The content of the photo showed a man and a woman laughing heartily on a bridge.
The young girl was holding the young man's arm, and the young man was holding her hand in return.
The young man's appearance overlapped with the Alain standing beside her.
"Correct." Alain took the photo, his fingers rubbing against it as thoughts gradually rose in his eyes.
This was from the time they had just started dating, traveling in a certain water town with Yang Wanhua.
At that time, Yang Wanhua still behaved very normally. The Alain of that time also hadn't anticipated that so many things would happen afterward.
Everything was from a time of innocence, he lamented.
"Hmm... judging by appearances, you actually look like the one who would play dirty," Mila laughed.
It wasn't that she was arrogant; Mila's looks could be said to be devastatingly unbeatable in reality. Yet in front of the young girl named Yang Wanhua in the photo, she was actually evenly matched.
She was like a young lady from a noble family who had walked out of a 2D world... No wonder the Alain of the past liked her so much.
"Heh, is that so?" Alain didn't get angry; instead, he skillfully disassembled the photo from the frame.
He glanced at the back of the photo and chuckled softly twice.
Just as expected—
"Eh?" Mila also followed his gaze and looked over; in an instant, she sucked in a breath of cold air.
"What... is this?"
The back of the photo was covered in the words "I love you," written in elegant handwriting.
Neat and tidy, arranged vertically. Different pressures of the brush strokes made some "I love you"s appear slightly blurry.
If one focused on the wider view, she discovered that these countless "I love you"s formed a larger "I love you."
This affection made Mila shudder.
"That's too terrifying..." she lamented, looking at Alain with sympathy.
This heavy love, combined with the things Yang Wanhua had done... it was as if "I love you" had turned into hook after hook, binding Alain.
Fortunately, he had walked out of it.
Rip—
Alain tore the photo apart, ripping it into piece after piece of scraps, and scattered them into the air.
The fragments of the photo immediately resembled snowflakes, drifting slowly in the air, drifting past Mila's eyes, past Alain's shoulders, and onto the wooden floor.
"These things don't matter anymore,"
He said. No matter how Yang Wanhua expressed her love, there wouldn't be a single ripple of fluctuation in his heart.
Seeing Alain's unwavering face, Mila smiled. "Then, what we need to do hasn't changed, right?"
"Correct." Alain nodded. "Explore the residence and see if we can find information on Yang Wanhua. Or even... she herself."
The two decided not to split up, but to stick together to avoid being attacked by Failed Works.
Clack, clack, clack...
Light footsteps stepped across the wooden floor, echoing through the corridor.
They searched the living room once and didn't find anything, so they decided to head to other rooms to look.
Soon, Alain and Mila saw two flights of stairs, one going up and one going down.
"How about it? Go up or down?" Mila asked.
"Let's... go down first," Alain decided.
In movies and TV shows, "secrets" were usually underground... this had already become a stereotype of sorts. Alain also planned to follow this principle and explore downwards first, to try and see if he could save time.
The two walked down following the stairs. As the natural light penetrating from the window faded, dim yellow lights lit up in response.
Very quickly, they discovered an iron door.
And a Failed Works in front of the iron door.
___
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