After meeting Cool Mita, she eagerly volunteered to join them. However, even with one more person in the party, it did little to alleviate Tiny Mita's small despair.
"You still have the nerve to say that!" Tiny Mita bared her teeth and chirped at him a few times, drawing a weary smile from Alain.
"You two seem to get along really well."
The high-ponytail girl walking slightly ahead glanced back at them, lost in thought.
"I guess so. I's not sure why we get along so well either," Alain said.
He and Tiny Mita had actually only met formally a handful of times. But for some reason, whenever they met, it was like they were old friends who had known each other for years and could talk about anything.
"Hmph! This guy might be a little dumb, but he is my player, after all!"
Tiny Mita didn't deny her relationship with Alain.
But... a relationship? Alain mulled over the word, his gaze involuntarily drifting to Cool Mita's back in front of him.
After their brief introduction, he had a preliminary understanding of this Mita:
Alain had heard the name "Cool Mita" from Misha before: she was very strong and as cool as Millie.
"Alright, little one, don't be discouraged," Alain said comfortingly.
"Don't say another word..."
A few green characters hung by her tiny mouth, crashing to the ground like hailstones.
"Being treated like that by you in front of a friend... you might as well just kill me..."
"No can do. If you, my lollipop, were to kick the bucket, my life from now on would be—"
Seeing her in person, the description was indeed fitting.
"Hey... bro, are you thinking about something inappropriate?" In his earpiece, Millie's displeasure was palpable.
Alain shook his head lightly, his thoughts drifting back to Tiny Mita and Cool Mita's earlier conversation: to the words "friend" and "relationship."
Tiny Mita called Cool Mita a friend, but Cool Mita herself didn't seem to know her.
The first thing she said when they met was, "Is that your pet?"
The little one was trying to be friendly, but she was getting the cold shoulder.
Alain tapped her little head.
"What?"
"Nothing."
As they spoke, Cool Mita's voice drifted over from ahead.
"I noticed you a long time ago, player." As she spoke, the pace of her steps didn't even waver. "It's amazing you could enter such a dangerous place all by yourself."
"It's nothing. I have her to protect me," Alain said jokingly, twirling his finger on the little one's head.
"Ah—Hmph! I will protect Alain! Can you move your grubby hands off me first?!"
Tiny Mita bit Alain fiercely, leaving a not-so-deep tooth mark on his finger.
"I seem to have witnessed two newborn legendary stars. But..." Cool Mita narrowed her eyes, "don't go falling from the sky, legends."
Alain heard this sentence.
"..."
He fell silent. To be honest, he didn't quite get it. He looked at Tiny Mita and saw she looked just as confused.
Didn't understand. Ignore, ignore.
"But I'm also quite surprised." Alain watched her back as she walked on without turning. "That you just happened to show up at such a dangerous moment."
Alain narrowed his eyes slightly.
He was referring to how Cool Mita had appeared to rescue them the moment the virus showed up. Combined with her trailing them at the beginning... was it possible that Cool Mita herself was being controlled by the virus?
After the precedent set by Miffy, Alain couldn't help but be wary.
"Heh!" The girl ahead suddenly stopped walking, a cold laugh cutting through the air, causing Alain to frown slightly.
Cool Mita's tone was a bit strange. Had he really guessed right?
The smile on Alain's face didn't change, but his expression immediately darkened.
Cool Mita was very strong, and she also seemed to know some fighting techniques. And...
Alain studied her skirt, as if it contained an interdimensional pocket.
Cool Mita possessed something that resembled an equipment slot.
As for Alain right now, the progress bar for accelerated cleaning hadn't filled yet. The only things he could use were the burst and passive effects of the Failed Works Gauntlet, plus Millie's game controller.
He wasn't completely confident he could defeat a Mita who could tear viruses apart with her bare hands.
Just in case, Alain assigned her the identity of a [Virus], adding the Safety Guard's passive damage bonus so he wouldn't lose if a fight broke out.
Tiny Mita also sensed the sudden change in atmosphere and looked back and forth between the two:
Alain was scrutinizing Cool Mita, while Cool Mita had stopped, a faint sneer visible on her lips.
Why did it suddenly look like they were about to fight in the middle of a conversation?
Although Tiny Mita considered Cool Mita a friend, Alain was her player. If it came down to it, she would stand, in utter turmoil, on Alain's side, opposing Cool Mita.
No... not this!
A player arriving and meeting a friend—these two things together should have resulted in double the happiness... Why had it turned into this?
After a brief silence, Cool Mita finally turned her head to stare at Alain.
And Alain saw a hint of inquiry in her eyes. His guard didn't lower as he listened intently.
"Everything is within my control."
After saying this, she flicked her high ponytail and continued walking forward without looking back.
Leaving Alain and Tiny Mita in disarray.
"...Was she just trying to act cool just now?" Alain asked the little one.
"I-I think so?" Tiny Mita was also a little unsure.
After their fruitless inquiry, they simply followed her.
Alain didn't let his guard down over a single sentence and took the opportunity to talk to her using the [Virus] identity he had conveniently assigned her.
"How did you survive getting here all by yourself?" He glanced at a pile of garbled virus code in the distance.
According to Tiny Mita, this was still the periphery, where there weren't many viruses... yet there were already more than ten Devouring Entities clustered together.
That Cool Mita could survive under these conditions truly surprised him.
"This is all the guidance of fate, oh, player." The girl narrowed her eyes and glanced at him. "The North Star of destiny guided me to you."
After speaking, she continued to watch the path ahead.
"...?"
What was that all about?
"[0%→5%]"
"???"
That can increase the progress bar? Alain was completely baffled. Just then, Short-Haired Mita's embarrassed explanation came through the earpiece,
"Sorry about that... Cool Mita, she's certainly a little... strange. But overall, she's a good kid..."
"It's fine."
Since Big Sister said so, Alain could just assume it was part of Cool Mita's personality.
In that case, time to add more fuel to the fire and focus on raising the progress bar.
Incidentally, Alain also wanted to learn more about Cool Mita and the virus world.
So, Alain took a deep breath and switched his mode from "Enemy Engagement" to "Mita Engagement."
For a moment, Tiny Mita looked up at him in surprise, her small frame trembling, as if she was once again seeing the Alain she had met not long ago.
The Alain... who had relentlessly bullied her...
"What version were you from before?" he asked, catching up to Cool Mita and walking beside her.
"A version... is it important?" she sighed tragically. "A version is merely a dwelling. My journey—"
"Is it to poetry and distant lands, or to the stars and the sea?"
"Ahem!" Cool Mita coughed once and instantly recovered her composure, as if nothing had happened.
"To the stars and the sea."
Although the expression on the girl's face was calm, the progress bar clearly showed her inner state:
"[5%→10%]"
"Why do you think I came to this place?"
"..." This question really stumped her.
"For what?" Cool Mita was a little curious.
"Have you not guessed?" Alain let out a cold laugh, his voice crisp and full of emotion, making even Cool Mita glance at him.
"...Please elaborate." The girl's eyes grew serious.
"I came here for love and hope." After saying this, Alain didn't wait for her to understand and walked briskly ahead.
Leaving the girl completely bewildered.
"Huh? Huh? What does that mean?" In his peripheral vision, Alain saw her start to ponder his "riddle," and he couldn't help but smile faintly.
Competing with him in being a riddler?
Alain had met an even bigger riddler—Monika.
So, when it came to being a riddler, he was confident he wouldn't lose to anyone.
After a short while, her contemplation seemed to yield a result, and she quickened her pace to catch up with Alain.
Cool Mita's next words nearly made Alain trip.
"Are you a magical girl?"
"...?"
Alain was stunned for a good three seconds before he could react.
The stereotype for magical girls is love and hope, but what about Madoka Magica and Nanoha?
He coughed twice and stared into the distance of the sci-fi landscape with a profound look. "Danger is coming."
"D-Danger..." Her expression immediately turned serious, and she nodded heavily. "Can you tell me about it?"
"Hm?" Alain glanced at her, surprised. "You don't know? That danger is imminent."
"Uh..." Cool Mita was at a loss for words for a moment. She scratched her cheek and said solemnly,
"Of course, I know." The girl gently fiddled with the stray hairs by her ear, looking very much like a teenage girl only in this moment. "But I want to hear your perspective."
"Heh, my perspective... is it important?" Alain lifted his bangs, his eyes looking listless. "I am merely... someone else's puppet on a string."
"Oh, ooh..." She didn't seem to have any doubts, the CPU in her brain whirring at high speed. She occasionally muttered, "That's such a cool line."
Tiny Mita had been listening to their conversation the whole time, a completely bewildered look on her face.
She recognized every word these two were saying, but why, when put together, did it become like a math problem?
Meanwhile, Alain was watching the system's progress bar grow.
"[10%→15%]"
Seeing that Cool Mita seemed to be taken in by his act, he smiled faintly.
Currently, the progress bar was at 15%. Just 10% more and he would have the boost from accelerated cleaning.
Alain considered whether to add one final push, but decided to focus on the matter at hand.
Hopefully, when it came to serious business, Cool Mita wouldn't be a riddler.
"By the way." The moment Alain started speaking, he saw the girl look over with her full attention.
This was just casual chat... Her serious demeanor was actually making him a little nervous.
"Since you're here, is Cute Mita here too?"
His original plan was to head to Version 1.0F to rescue Mila and eliminate the Corrosive Entity that was threatening the entire game world.
Before that, he needed to confirm the survival status of Cool Mita and Cute Mita. Now, Cool Mita was safe, but Cute Mita wasn't with her. If it was confirmed that Cute Mita was already...
Then, Alain would have no choice but to deliver the unfortunate news to the other Mitas and press on with a heavy heart.
"Cute Mita..." Cool Mita mulled over the name, her gaze lowering.
Seeing her like this, Alain sighed.
So, it was bad news after all.
In his earpiece, Short-Haired Mita's voice came through. "I can't believe... were we one step too late?"
But just then, Cool Mita's voice cut in. "Cute Mita... she went to a version."
"..."
Alain's mouth twitched as he screamed internally, Can you just say it all at once? You have to be a riddler even now?
"But, as for whether she's alive or dead... I don't know."
She stopped and gazed into the distance.
The sci-fi version was vast, with some platforms separated by bottomless chasms, only accessible by bus.
Alain frowned. "Can you tell me the details?"
"Mhm." Cool Mita nodded lightly and began her story.
"After Cute Mita and I arrived here, we went through a difficult time."
"We tried to find the coordinates to a room, so that... at least we'd have a place to belong, instead of like now..."
Cool Mita looked down at her feet, her expression complex,
"drifting everywhere."
Alain listened intently. "Did you find it?"
"...I didn't find it, but Cute Mita did." Cool Mita raised her head and stared into the distance.
"She wanted to move forward, to the next version. But the version exit was swarming with a large number of viruses."
"Mhm."
If even Cool Mita said "a large number," it definitely meant more than a dozen. The number was likely in the tens.
"I initially disagreed because there were too many viruses; it was just too dangerous. But..." She fidgeted with her fingers. "While we were sleeping, she went to the version exit alone, leaving only a letter..."
As she spoke, she took the letter out of her pocket.
Alain took it and opened it.
The gist of it was that Cute Mita swore she would find the "way home." When she did, she would come back for Cool Mita.
"But she never came back. And not a single virus at the exit was gone."
"Then—" Alain started to speak but realized he shouldn't say it.
The answer was obvious. Cute Mita had—
"But!" Cool Mita's resolute gaze caught his attention. "She must still be alive."
"Why are you so sure?" Alain was confused.
"Because, near the version exit, I saw her silhouette heading towards the next version."
___
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