"What?!" Misha still relayed the news of 2D Mita's safety to Alain and Short-Haired Mita, who were busy comforting each other.
Upon hearing this, Short-Haired Mita's expression slowly turned to a daze, and the tears welling in her eyes were instantly evaporated by a raging fire.
"Excuse me, Misha. Can you… can you call her out for me?"
"W-Well…"
Misha looked at 2D Mita, who was cowering under the computer desktop with her head in her hands, and could already imagine the child being harshly scolded by her short-haired big sister.
Meanwhile, Alain, acting as if nothing had happened, picked up his greatsword from the floor. "Heh, I knew it all along."
…As the first Mita to be by Alain's side, Misha saw at a glance that the young man's sword-wielding hand was trembling, but she didn't point it out.
"Alright, alright, as long as she's okay, right?"
Acting as a mediator, Misha gently consoled the two. After nearly ten minutes of coaxing, she finally convinced Short-Haired Mita to give up the idea of a lecture and a spanking.
"I think I've got the situation figured out now."
Alain rubbed the bridge of his nose. That whole ordeal had given him quite a scare, more startling than one of Prankster Mita's jokes.
"Heh, but it's not over yet."
The long-haired girl outside the screen could see the two people inside the game window and the one person on the computer desktop.
"This time's objective is complete. Not only did we find the path to Version 1.0F, but we also rescued a Mita. However—" Misha's tone shifted. "There are still two things we need to figure out."
Alain picked up the thread, "First, why was 2D Mita unharmed after falling into the version's fissure? And can she still return to the game world?"
Short-Haired Mita added, "Second, as the mandatory path to Version 1.0F, can we still enter the 2D Version?"
2D Mita listened to the trio's remarkably coordinated conversation. In just a few sentences, they had summarized all the current objectives…
How did they build this kind of rapport? It feels so amazing…
Will I be able to have this kind of rapport with everyone in the future?
A sense of longing grew in the girl's heart.
"Ah, let's not worry about whether 2D Mita lives or dies for now. Let her do whatever she wants." Short-Haired Mita was still angry.
"Good point." Alain didn't indulge her this time either.
"Hey, you can't do that!!! Please worry about whether I live or die!"
He and Short-Haired Mita chose to ignore 2D Mita's cry of anguish.
Alain walked towards the door to the miniature version, using the ring's function to open it.
Behind the door was the 2D Version, covered in a web of countless fissures.
"We can still pass through. The 2D Version has already registered the ring. By the way, my dear, can you take a look at this for me—"
Alain laid the version's console flat in front of the computer screen.
Misha curiously examined the console, which belonged to Short-Haired Mita's version permissions. The strings of code marked on it looked like her native language.
"Hmm… the version's recent anomaly was probably a 'self-destruct' mechanism left by the virus."
"I see…" Short-Haired Mita lowered her head in thought. "'If I can't have it, no one can,' is that it?"
"Fortunately—" Misha's relaxed tone reassured them, "2D Mita transferred ownership of the version to Alain earlier, so the virus didn't fully succeed. Now, the version's auto-repair function can still operate normally, it'll just take some time…"
"That's fine." Alain waved his hand dismissively. "Anyway, after being startled by a certain someone, I'm not in the mood to press on. Let's rest for a bit."
"Ooh…" 2D Mita whimpered.
Hearing that cute sound, Alain's anger subsided by more than half. "Alright, on to the next question."
He closed the door to the 2D Version, letting it repair itself.
Then he turned to look at Misha outside the screen, "Why exactly is 2D Mita okay? And can she still get back into the Mita game?"
"About that…" A certain paper-thin person involved recounted what had just happened.
Short-Haired Mita put a hand to her forehead. "This is useless… None of this makes any sense. I can't figure out at all why she would fall out of the game world."
"We can only chalk it up to a bug," Alain said, glancing at the floor as if speaking to her in another world. "So, can you come back now?"
2D Mita raised a hand, touched the Mita game window, and tried to enter. "It seems like I can't, but also like I can…?"
"What do you mean? Can you be more specific?"
Short-Haired Mita's desire to know made her tone a bit anxious.
2D Mita closed her eyes, sensing. "I can feel that the game world isn't rejecting me, but I just can't get in. I probably need some kind of medium… right?"
"A medium…"
Alain carefully considered her words. 'Vehicle' might be a more fitting term than 'medium'.
2D Mita was currently on his computer. And on the computer, what could connect the Mita game and the desktop? The Mita game's root directory? Or…
"!"
He thought of something and turned his gaze to Misha. "My dear, can you see a shortcut on the desktop called 720 Safety Guard?"
"Hmm?" Misha said, scanning the area and happening to see a light blue spherical icon. "Sometimes… but it's an antivirus software? Are you trying to—"
"Huh?! No way! I don't want to be treated like a virus!" 2D Mita shook her head so hard she looked like a piece of paper fluttering in the wind.
"That's not it," Alain reassured her, then gave Misha an instruction, "Can you open it?"
"Okay."
The girl double-clicked the mouse, and a completely unremarkable antivirus interface appeared before her.
Misha described what she saw to Alain.
"I see…" He already knew that what he saw in the Safety Guard was different from what others saw.
"Wait a second…" 2D Mita's surprised voice came through. "I can feel… like something is calling to me."
"?" While Misha was confused, she saw 2D Mita slowly walk towards the Safety Guard's window.
Until she reached out and touched the light blue window…
At the same moment, Alain saw a bright red pop-up appear in the bottom-right corner of his vision.
[An external command is attempting to modify the Safety Guard. Do you wish to execute?]
[Yes][No]
He hesitated for a moment, then clicked [Yes].
[This may cause a system error. Do you wish to continue?]
[Yes][No]
Alain's fingertip trembled on [Yes] for two seconds, then moved to [No].
He swallowed hard and clicked [Yes] anyway.
[As you wish. The Safety Guard will always be by your side, whenever and wherever]
"Huh?" Misha's surprise echoed from outside the screen. "2D Mita… is gone?!"
___
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