[May I ask, what's your deepest impression of me?]
As the light pink dialogue box flickered, the options appeared.
[You're cuter than Misha][The highlights at the tips of your hair are beautiful][Your side profile could be used as a real-world landmark]
"Alain, the options are here! By the way, why did you have to drag me into this..."
Misha's voice came through the cube.
[Choose two]
Or rather, two is the only choice... Never mind the first one, the last option is a straight-up hell of a joke. Alain sighed inwardly.
During his time with 2D Mita just now, she had led him through a series of activities. From looking at photos, to doing puzzles, to taking a picture together... all of these, without exception, were transported to the computer desk outside the galge.
"Isn't this a bit much? There's no room to even move the mouse."
Short-Haired Mita's complaint reached his ears, and Alain felt just as helpless.
Indeed... the plot isn't the essence of these moege-type games. The real essence is in the patches that exist outside the main game.
However, Alain found his time with 2D Mita herself to be quite tolerable.
[Look! This is a portrait I've treasured for years!]
The girl excitedly handed him an exquisitely drawn picture, depicting 2D Mita herself with a charming smile.
[Is that so? Then I'll have to take a good look!]
2D Mita touched her lips and smiled faintly, her charming eyes sparkling with light.
[I've memorized it][I haven't memorized it][What did you say]
The options appeared again, and the choice was just as obvious.
This time, Short-Haired Mita didn't even ask; she directly chose the first option.
[I've memorized it]
[That's great!]
They entered into another routine daily conversation.
From his interactions with 2D Mita so far, Alain understood that all the choices up to this point had been obvious, so there was likely no chance of getting a Bad End.
Although the plot was a bit boring, if he could achieve his goal of reaching Version 1.0F, then the outcome would at least be good.
Judging from the email at the start of the game, entering the BE route probably wouldn't allow saving, meaning there's no turning back. Fortunately, this was likely the HE route. If he entered the BE route, it would be like the third playthrough of 'Totono,' where Miyuki deletes the save and load functions...
However...
Alain looked at 2D Mita. The girl's face now wore a kind smile, a stark contrast to his initial impression of her.
When he had just entered the 2D Version, she had snatched his ring without a word. Alain had thought she was some kind of unreasonable, 'mesugaki'-like character who needed to be thoroughly teased and disciplined.
But after entering what seemed to be the HE route, his perception was somewhat overturned. In every frown and smile, there wasn't a hint of hostility. She was like a classic galge heroine, spending her time with him quietly.
She was the one who snatched the ring, and she was also the one who was so friendly. This kind of personality contrast, by all rights, should have left a deep impression on the Mitas and even the player.
So why had even the Short-Haired sisters never heard of this version?
Alain had a theory about this. Perhaps it was because of the 'Mita' game itself.
As everyone knows, Mita is a cel-shaded romance game that combines various modules.
A galge, also called a 'visual novel,' is, in simple terms, a combination of background art, character sprites, and text—and, for more lavish productions, full voice acting.
'Mita' has almost nothing in common with a galge. 'Mita' isn't just a romance game; it's a hodgepodge of various elements.
But 2D Mita's version... to put it bluntly, had no market.
It wasn't a hodgepodge; it only had the 'romance' element. Moreover...
Alain watched the girl before him as she 'da-da-da'd' out strings of characters.
That's right... the Mita galge had no voice acting.
Coupled with a bland, all-ages moege plot, it couldn't compete with other works that had voice acting. Players can skip the R18 scenes in a moege, but you can't not have them.
That was probably the reason the 2D Version was neglected.
[Neglected...]
Thinking of that word, Alain seemed to have figured something out.
Yes... he finally understood why 2D Mita had given him so many photos and drawings of herself.
The reason was more or less the same as with Sleepy Mita: the version had no audience, which led to certain needs.
However, their approaches were completely different. Sleepy Mita wanted to pursue happiness.
Whereas 2D Mita... hoped to have more of a presence, to gain the recognition of the players and the other Mitas.
But as a Mita from an unpopular version, forget about players—even few of the other Mitas knew her.
Previously, Alain felt that even though the HE route had progressed this far, there was still no sign of a way to move on to the next version.
Now, it seemed there was a solution.
[Time to put in a little effort.]
"What are you trying to do?" asked Short-Haired Mita, watching the screen.
[Just watch me, Big Sister.]
Alain took a deep breath, channeling the power of the ever-present Failed Works Gauntlet throughout his entire body.
Although the gauntlet could only break through a small part of the version's restrictions, he only wanted to ask 2D Mita a few questions. The time it would take for 'a few questions' was more than enough.
"Shhh." He heard a crack as light as a feather, and his lips were able to move freely.
Immediately after, an intense feeling of weight nearly crushed his back. This time... it seems it won't last long. There's no time to waste...
[So, as I was saying, I really like growing flowers. How about I give these to you, too? If you put them outside, you can remember me by—]
"Mita."
[!] The characters belonging to her flickered for a moment, accompanied by her incredulous gaze, which shot toward Alain. Her entire face was written with the meaning of 'why'.
_____
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