On the rooftop under the night sky, the air was filled with crushed moonlight that dissolved on the concrete at their feet. The girl's dark hair was gently lifted and dropped by the night wind, like the unwavering sail of a ship.
Having just left the dream, Alain woke up to the long-haired girl's tender voice, and his thoughts froze. He couldn't help but feel bewildered.
What's going on? Wasn't he supposed to be the one confessing? By the way, what happened while I was dreaming?
His eyes widened slightly. When he saw the anxiety in Misha's pupils as she clutched the hem of her skirt, he calmed down.
Forget it. I'll just handle this like I did that time.
Alain remembered his first kiss with Miluo during their first date in reality at Crystal Lun Park. Back then, it was just the two of them. Living under the same roof, driven by reason, they shouldn't have kissed.
Alain slowly walked over to her and gently took the girl's delicate hand.
Her closed eyelashes fluttered, then opened, her eyes meeting Alain's deep brown pupils.
From the meaning flowing from his gaze, she sensed Alain's feelings:
"Me too."
In an instant, a ripple flashed through her eyes. The night wind cut his reply to pieces. But Misha's hearing became incredibly sharp at that moment, accurately capturing those exact words.
Back home.
Alain opened the door and was immediately greeted by the sight of one big and one small Mita looking at him with faces full of gossipy anticipation. It was obvious Millie had been a blabbermouth.
"We're together now." Misha raised her hand, which was linked with his, showing it to Millie and Miluo with a hint of shyness.
"Yay~ Congrats, congrats!" With a cheer, Millie produced a roll of streamers from somewhere. Shattered rainbows fluttered around the two of them, landing in their hair and on their clothes.
Miluo clapped her hands in celebration, her eyes, full of admiration for Misha, screaming "So jealous!"
The long-haired girl awkwardly brushed the streamers from her hair. "Haha... well, I guess this was just a matter of time..."
"Yahoo~ Is this the confidence of the 'main wife'? You're amazing, bestie!" Millie teased.
"Ooh! As expected of big sister Millie, you're so thoughtful! This is great!" Miluo cheered.
"Hmph hmph~ Right?"
Alain was left completely ignored on the side.
"Hey... I'm the other half of this confession, why aren't you asking me anything?"
"Shut up, harem boy." Millie gave him a smug look and leaned close to his ear, "Bagged another one, huh? Does that mean you have to..."
"Ah, right!" Just then, Millie seemed to think of something and clapped her hands. The sound drew the attention of the other three.
"It's the little lovebirds' first day together, so we'll give you ten minutes of alone time!"
"Okay!"
After speaking, the Cap-Wearing Mita pulled Miluo towards one of the new house's separate rooms.
Alain remembered that room could serve as a spare room for Millie, but for now, it was a game room.
"Millie! Don't be a bad influence on Miluo!" Misha's lecture was completely ignored by her best friend.
With a soft "thud" as the door closed, only Alain and Misha were left in the living room, along with the brilliant sounds of games leaking from the other room.
He noticed the girl's gaze. When he turned to look, she quickly looked away. He could faintly see the blush on her ears.
Alain smiled knowingly. He really liked this kind of innocent feeling.
Leading Misha to the sofa, they sat down. Alain held her face and lowered his lips for a kiss.
The green plants on the balcony swayed in the wind, the veins on their leaves intertwining, gently and slowly leaning on and tangling with each other.
A moment later, their lips parted.
The two gazed at each other affectionately, their eyes tracing every inch of the other's skin.
"Sorry, darling, my 'relative' hasn't left yet," she said quietly, as if guessing Alain's thoughts.
"???"
Alain felt like his image in Misha's eyes might be cracking a bit.
He turned to see the girl giving him an inquisitive look. "Don't tell me... Alain has done this many times before?"
First of all, Alain admitted to himself that he really wanted to do it with Misha and the others. It's just... he didn't show it on his face.
But his muscle memory expressed it perfectly. For example, what Misha said on the confession rooftop about him "getting handsy at night."
Second... his darling was actually asking him a trick question on the very first day of their relationship?
"By the way, you don't happen to have a lot of experience, do you, Alain? Come to think of it, I've never asked about that."
Misha belatedly tapped her chin, the curiosity in her eyes growing even stronger.
It sent a chill down Alain's spine.
"Tell me, how many girlfriends have you had?" She took out her "Alain Notebook."
He sighed, deciding to confess everything.
"One."
"Huh? I thought it would be a lot. So... how did you two meet?" Misha's starry eyes sparkled.
"Um... We were at the same university. Besides that, it was because of her major, I guess? It left a deep impression on me," Alain said, slowly digging through his memories.
"What about it?" Misha asked, even more curious.
"Because, there were very few girls in that major, you know?"
About his ex-girlfriend, he remembered she was a computer science major. That certainly left an impression on him, a liberal arts student.
"Oh... and why did you break up?" Misha's eyes sparkled, looking like she'd reached what she thought was the key point.
The hand holding the pen was itching to move; it seemed she planned to absorb the lessons from Alain's past failures.
"Sigh... You have to ask that too? Let me be clear, I'm not going to break up with you," Alain said.
"H-Hmm... I know, but I just want to learn from my senior's experience," Misha fidgeted with her fingers. "Otherwise, as your partner, if I do something Alain doesn't like, I..."
"Alright, alright."
But just as he was about to speak, he couldn't get a single word out.
By the way, why did he and that psycho break up?
Misha waited for a while and also calmed down. "Sorry, you don't want to talk about it, do you, darling? It's okay, it must be a sad memory."
"No, it's just that I've forgotten. Let me tell you when I remember, okay?"
He helplessly patted Misha's head.
"Mmm..." The girl rested her head peacefully on his shoulder, nuzzling his sleeve like a cat, sniffing the scent of laundry detergent.
The two of them looked out the window of their new home.
The large floor-to-ceiling window reflected the distant city nightscape, where the specks of civilization's lights and the moonlit night's stars connected to form a brilliant lake.
A lot happened tonight.
His thoughts couldn't help but drift to the events of the evening.
On the way back, Misha had told him about what happened during his sleepwalking state. Alain had explained the situation and received her understanding.
By the way... what was the deal with that mysterious "girl"? A perfectly good confession was nearly turned into a farce because of his sleepwalking.
On the way back, he had realized this "sleepwalking" situation was very similar to the "false Core" incident, wasn't it?
Judging from how he woke up last time, he and Crazy Mita were also sleepwalking in the White Labyrinth while they were dreaming.
But, that mysterious person had clearly denied being the black-haired girl.
Although he couldn't rule out that she was lying... Alain still made the following speculations based on his assumptions:
First, and the worst-case scenario: the black-haired girl isn't the only one with the ability to control dreams; there might be others he doesn't know about.
Second: there's only one person controlling dreams. The black-haired girl and the one who pulled him into the real-world dream this time have somehow borrowed this ability from each other.
No... it's probably not an ability, but some kind of "virus."
So, was this incident in the real world also the work of an electronic virus from the game world?
Could it be from one of the versions he has to visit next?
What a pain...
Alain decided to give this virus that alters his dreams a codename, so he could discuss it with Misha and Short-Haired Mita later.
Alain explained his thoughts to the long-haired girl.
"Huh? So you're saying, in reality there's another... No, this isn't the time to worry about that." His darling quickly calmed down.
"Dreams... or more specifically, consciousness? Controlling consciousness..." she concluded, "Let's just call it the 'Consciousness Entity,' shall we?"
"Your talent for naming things is much better than mine."
"Oh, stop it~ You don't have to flatter me about things like that!"
Misha playfully tapped his shoulder, then saw something and shot Alain a look.
"Your other girlfriend is demanding your attention."
"???"
______
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