MiSide: but there are 720 security guards

With a "thump," like a stone dropping into a small lake, Millie also fell into Alain's embrace.

"?"

Corruption successful? Did Millie realize his fragrance? She's being so proactive this time? This was Alain's first thought. Alain looked over and only then discovered that where Millie had originally stood, there was now a humanoid mass of garbled code.

He hadn't even had time to see clearly what that thing looked like, but the greatsword had already made a move.

Millie, in his arms, "waaah-ed" as she manipulated the game controller. Blue light flared and then subsided; in just a few exchanges, the humanoid mass of garbled code was sliced in two. "Sc-Scared… Scared me to death."

Millie, her face pale, leaned against his warm chest, completely drained of strength. She lifted her small face, having just relaxed, only to see Alain's face close at hand, realizing she had once again fallen into Alain's tender trap. "Ah, ah!"

Hastily leaving Alain's embrace, the girl walked to the wall and took off her hat.

"..."

Under Alain's attentive gaze, she rather strangely banged her head against the wall a few times before stopping.

Calm… Calmed down.

"...What on earth is this girl doing?"

Alain's lips twitched, his gaze shifting to the mass of garbled code from earlier. After being split by the greatsword, the humanoid monster was still writhing on the ground, looking exceptionally disgusting.

"Not quite dead yet." Regarding this, he also had some idea. Alain suppressed his nausea and prodded the monster's body. Soon, he found a small clump of yellow substance in the cross-section of its body.

Wielding the greatsword, he gently scraped it, and the yellow spot turned into a mosaic, eventually vanishing. And the monster's originally writhing body also disappeared without a trace.

Taking Millie's hand, Alain stepped into the next door. After opening the door, the number on the counter to his right changed to 10. Out of caution from the previous humanoid monster, this time he had Millie hold his arm, embracing it. This way, he could avoid any sudden sneak attacks.

"Eh? So close?" Millie also expressed her confusion; she highly suspected this was Alain's excuse to get close to her. Alain didn't deny this.

"Come on, lean over." Selling a bit of his masculine charm for his good bro, it was nothing. Millie unexpectedly said nothing, embracing Alain's arm and leaning over.

"...This is the last time. This is for combat. Mm, that's right. For combat. For our mutual safety." The girl found an excuse for herself, seemingly trying to convince herself.

And Alain was very unromantic. "No, I just wanted to get closer to feel your fragrance." Unsurprisingly, Millie twisted the soft flesh at Alain's waist.

Amidst their playful banter, the 10th loop quietly passed. Nothing happened. And upon reaching the entrance of the 11th loop, Alain raised his flashlight, shining it towards the grandfather clock. The hour hand on the grandfather clock pointed to "3," and the minute hand landed on "12," indicating "three o'clock sharp."

The last time he checked the grandfather clock was at the entrance of the 9th loop. At that time, it was "one o'clock sharp."

Confused, he still couldn't find any answers. So, he turned his gaze to the 11th loop. It was equally pitch black. Only the light from the flashlight could provide a slight sense of security.

At the same time, Alain also realized: Prankster Mita's concerned writing hadn't appeared for several loops. The worry from Millie beside him made him unable to avoid thinking he was making a fuss over nothing.

Until, they once again passed through the 11th loop without incident.

"Still nothing happened?" Alain was puzzled. Logically speaking, the brightness had already reached the point of being pitch black. But under the current circumstances, let alone that BOSS. He hadn't even seen Little Mita's shadow.

He looked at the counter by the door, the 12th loop's counter. He simply turned back again, looking at the corridor of the 11th loop. Shining the flashlight on the grandfather clock. The positions where the hour and minute hands landed were exactly "4 o'clock sharp."

"Is this some kind of hint? The clock." When it comes to puzzle games related to clocks, there is generally an important game turning point: That is, 12 o'clock sharp. 12 o'clock sharp is either the moment of failure, or... something will happen at this time.

But these were ultimately just guesses. After all, every time he and Millie just stood at the exit door, the clock was always at the hour, which was too strange.

Could it be, the time on the clock was directly proportional to the progress of the loop they were in each time? Every time they approached the exit of the current loop, it would cause the clock time to advance. And upon reaching the next loop, the clock would also be exactly at the hour... If this speculation was correct, then what kind of event would happen in the 20th loop—that is, when the clock returned to 12 o'clock sharp?

Whether Little Mita would appear, or the monster would appear, was also unknown.

Or, was there no relationship at all between the clock and the loop's progress? Just thinking about it was useless; Alain's gaze turned to the darkness of the 12th loop. He realized that he hadn't checked the remaining two of the three clocks: the wall clock and the alarm clock. He could observe them in this loop.

At this time, many pipes appeared on the ground. The direction of the pipes seemed to lead to the entrance of the next loop. Leading Millie, they continued forward. This loop, apart from the added pipes, had no other changes.

Before long, Alain reached the middle of the corridor—the cabinet. The small television still flickered with a red snowy screen, and the indistinct human figure within had vanished without a trace, turning instead into a pattern resembling a cat.

"The kitty you like."

"No, no, no... At a time like this, liking it is useless." Millie objected.

Alain focused his gaze on the two clocks beside the cabinet, then shone the flashlight on the grandfather clock in the corner not far away. The time displayed on all three clocks seemed to be consistent. At this moment, it was "four-thirty."

The "half" in four-thirty made Alain feel it was worth pondering, because they had just reached the halfway point of the twelfth loop. Then, his previous guess was correct: the progress of the two of them moving forward was indeed reflected on the clock.

At this point, Alain had a new question: when the clock reached 12 o'clock, that is, the 20th loop, what would happen? Confused, he continued forward.

"Don't you think it has the feel of a puzzle game?" Millie tugged at his sleeve.

"I also think it has the feel of a romance game."

"Why?" the girl was puzzled.

Alain then pointed to their embracing arms. His arm was deeply embedded in Millie's chest, the soft objects deforming slightly under the force of the hug. The girl "waaah-ed" and loosened her grip a bit, yet still didn't let Alain's arm escape its restraint.

As the two walked, the uneventful 12th loop brushed past their shoulders. Standing at the entrance of the next loop, Alain once again used the light to illuminate the clock on the grandfather clock. The time displayed was "five o'clock sharp." Proving his speculation was not wrong.

As for the 13th loop currently behind him... Alain turned his head, looking at the empty darkness. Within it, came bursts of "hissing" sounds.

"Looks like the break time is over."

"Don't worry! We're invincible!" Millie's inspiring words made Alain's lips curve into a slight smile.

They brazenly passed through the darkness, passing the first corner. After turning their gaze... A human-headed spider had been waiting in the middle of the road for a long time.

___

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