As the two journeyed onward, the number of viruses had grown considerably compared to when they started.
Fortunately, they could evade most lone enemies thanks to the human-headed spider-wasp's 360° flawless detection. Even small waves of enemies could be handled with ease, thanks to Cool Mita's monstrous strength.
Along the way, Alain mulled over what Cool Mita had told him: [At the version exit, I saw her back as she headed to the next version.]
This sentence held a great deal of information. Based on Alain's experience, there were two possibilities.
The first, and worst-case scenario: Cute Mita had been possessed by a virus, like Miffy, which was why she could pass through the version exit unimpeded.
After Cool Mita shared this information with him, Alain told her about the other possibility:
The second: Cute Mita had found a way to travel to the next version without being attacked by the viruses.
Cool Mita accepted this possibility, and some of the hesitation on her face faded, allowing her to focus on moving forward.
Just a moment ago, Alain had also learned her reason for traveling with him: to find Cute Mita in the next version.
In that respect, their goals were aligned.
"Phew... okay." After dealing with the small group of viruses before them, Cool Mita wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Millie, unsurprisingly, cut in to tease him: "Hmph, my dearest friend, he's just having a chuunibyou flare-up! What's that saying? 'A man is a boy until the day he dies'?"
"..." Alain gritted his teeth. He would definitely make Millie pay for that when he got back.
Lost in thought, he suddenly stopped walking and looked ahead.
"?" Tiny Mita, confused in Alain's shirt pocket, asked,
"What's wrong, Alain? You suddenly got so serious. That's not like you at all."
"...As if you know me that well. And I'm always serious."
Alain called Cool Mita over. She obediently came to his side and followed his gaze.
"Looks like we can't avoid this one," the girl said, her expression grave.
In their line of sight was a futuristic area resembling a bus station.
However, one corner of the platform was a chasm like a cliff's edge. It seemed they had to take one of the "floating buses" Alain had seen earlier to reach the next platform.
And crowded on the bus platform was a dense mass of viruses. From worms to spiders, every type was there, numbering over twenty.
Cool Mita glanced up at the sky, just in time to see a floating bus slowly approaching.
She was grateful that Alain had spotted them. After all, the viruses were around a corner, and if they had been careless, it could have turned into a nasty ambush.
But... both the viruses and the bus were at the very edge of their field of vision, far in the distance. Plus, the viruses' own colors were dark, just like the purple-black floor, making them even harder to spot.
So, how had Alain noticed them at a single glance?
Was a Player's eyesight better than a Mita's? As the girl puzzled over this, there was no time to hesitate.
"I'll go," Cool Mita said decisively, about to stand up. "The bus is coming, so it has to be now."
"Alright. I'll help you."
Alain, listening to the Mitas reporting on the viruses through his earpiece, decided to focus on the task at hand.
He was about to draw his greatsword from the Accelerated Cleaning skill, but saw Cool Mita rush forward first, leaving him with a single sentence,
"No, you stay right here!"
Without looking back, she pulled a baseball bat from under her skirt and charged toward the swarm of viruses.
"This again," he sighed. In fact, when they had encountered the last few waves of viruses, Alain had already offered to help.
"You'd just be cannon fodder if you went up there anyway. Better stay here and let me protect you!" she had said, flexing non-existent muscles.
Alain then realized this kid was also trying to care for him in her own clumsy way, and he couldn't help but smile.
But the girl refused, no matter what. When he asked for a reason, she wouldn't say, only giving him a pensive look from the side.
Alain understood. This wasn't her being cryptic; Cool Mita truly had a reason she couldn't tell him.
"Hey—" But this time, Alain didn't just go along with her.
The girl turned her head, glancing at him while there was still some distance between her and the enemies.
"After you deal with this wave of viruses, tell me your reason."
"N—"
"If you don't agree, I'm coming to help you right now."
"Ugh! Fine, fine!" Cool Mita grumbled, uncharacteristically annoyed, then turned back towards the viruses without another look.
Tiny Mita spoke up from his pocket, "Alain, it's probably better if you don't go."
"Huh? You're saying that too?" Cool Mita was a new acquaintance, so he could understand her worrying about him.
But Tiny Mita knew him well.
On second thought, he had never fought any monsters in front of Tiny Mita. It was no wonder the little one was worried.
As expected, Millie's teasing voice came through the earpiece, "Darling, you're quite the popular one~ A Mita-charmer!"
"But!" Millie continued, "bro hasn't moved at all, and my hands are getting a little itchy."
"Don't worry, you'll get your chance," Alain said. His whisper was as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, and Tiny Mita paid it no mind.
She just assumed his chuunibyou was acting up again.
Alain, unaware his reputation was being tarnished, was still thinking about the current batch of viruses. Cool Mita could handle them on her own. He might as well let her have her way.
But after this, a "large" number of viruses were gathered by the gate. Cool Mita definitely couldn't handle that alone.
And Alain would certainly not stand by and do nothing.
While the fierce battle raged on ahead, Millie's calm voice came through the earpiece, "Oh-ho? My good bro, are you a prophet?"
"Heh?" To avoid a strange look from Tiny Mita in his pocket, Alain just grunted lightly.
Millie's reply came right on cue, "An old friend is approaching from behind you."
The capped girl's voice was excited, occasionally punctuated by the sound of controller buttons being pressed.
"Well then, time to scratch that itch!"
"Yeah," Alain replied, but he didn't look back, so as not to startle the grass and alert the snake.
Now that everyone had warned him, he focused his attention behind him and could faintly perceive a rustling sound.
Like a snake slithering secretly through the bushes, spying on him from the unseen shadows.
"Clink."
In a daze, the sound of something hitting the ground, like a starting pistol, made Tiny Mita in his pocket whirl around to look.
The little one was surprised to see a small, dark shadow on Alain's white shirt.
Following the shadow's path upward, she saw a twisted, black object that looked like a compressed spring.
White code circled its body, a stark contrast to its bright red form, like a signpost announcing its presence to its two prey.
Its body was clearly much larger than the black bugs.
What the hell is that thing? Tiny Mita was horrified. In her peripheral vision, Cool Mita was fighting the black bug viruses; but above them was another, big red bug virus.
That thing has to be an elite monster, right?!
"Alain! Behind you!" Tiny Mita didn't even have time to be scared. Deep pink characters appeared as she clutched tightly onto the hem of Alain's shirt.
Alain turned to look at the sound of her voice.
The next second, a nostalgic smile spread across his face.
It was an old friend—a red Devouring Entity.
The Devouring Entity was currently diagonally above their heads, positioning its body in mid-air to aim its maw at the two of them.
The old friend's mouth was still as disgusting as ever, a bottomless pit. In terms of size, it must have swallowed quite a few ordinary Devouring Entities.
From the color of its body, Alain could deduce that this red Devouring Entity was likely the "leader" of the group of viruses Cool Mita was fighting.
So, if he defeated it, the threat to Cool Mita should be eliminated.
"Swoosh—"
A belated sound came from above as the Devouring Entity finished adjusting its angle and dove towards them at high speed.
"Run...!" Seeing Alain still standing frozen in place, Tiny Mita shouted anxiously. But all it did was add a few emphatic "!!!" to her spoken characters.
He didn't see the little one's anxious characters. He was just gazing at the approaching virus.
Alain himself wasn't too concerned. He cleared his mind, leaving everything to muscle memory and Millie.
He silently calculated the distance, calmly watching the Devouring Entity fly towards him. When it was close enough for him to clearly make out the English letters on its body, he threw a straight punch.
"Splat—"
Alain turned his head and closed his eyes, trying not to let the Devouring Entity's garbled code get into his mouth or nose.
He wasn't worried that other viruses might appear while his eyes were closed. If they did, his good bro would handle them.
But even as his vision plunged into darkness, he could still feel the garbled code flowing over his face like liquid, making his cheeks itch.
Fortunately, it disappeared after a few seconds. When he opened his eyes, the Devouring Entity was gone.
He shook his hand in disgust. The sensation of the impact was like smashing a rotten tomato, truly unpleasant.
From now on, I should avoid fighting bare-handed as much as possible.
He made a mental note of it as he casually walked towards Cool Mita.
An indescribable reddish "thing" had appeared at his feet.
"Huh? Huh?" Perhaps because he offered no explanation, Tiny Mita in his pocket was still in a state of confusion.
What just happened? the little one wondered, glancing at the thing on the ground.
That virus was right in their faces. Tiny Mita thought they were done for.
But then, Alain seemed to have thrown a lightning-fast punch and smashed the virus to bits? For real???
She quietly looked at Alain and saw that his face was completely expressionless, as if he had just done something trivial.
"Th-that... Mr. Alain?"
"What is it, Lollipop?" Hearing Tiny Mita's voice, he finally smiled.
"Um... did you just... take out that red thing?" her voice trembled.
"Yeah, it was a coincidence."
Alain said curtly.
"Oh, I see, a coincidence. That would explain it..."
For some reason, Tiny Mita let out a sigh of relief and shook her little head.
Right, that makes sense.
After all, the way Alain killed that virus with his eyes closed was just like a college student killing a chicken. So squeamish, so dramatic.
Although she found it a bit strange, Tiny Mita accepted Alain's explanation.
Meanwhile, after Alain killed the red bug, the viruses surrounding Cool Mita began to retreat in disarray. A few of them even staggered back to the edge of the platform and fell into the deep chasm below.
Cool Mita put away her bat, slightly surprised. The viruses could retreat? She'd never seen that before.
Could it be that she had accidentally killed some kind of leader?
Well, at least the outcome was good. They could keep moving forward.
The girl took out the handkerchief Alain had given her earlier and wiped her sweat.
She was glad the viruses had retreated for some unknown reason. Otherwise, a difficult, drawn-out battle would be unavoidable.
In her peripheral vision, she saw Alain and Tiny Mita slowly approaching.
Seeing they were okay, Cool Mita breathed a sigh of relief. She pointed at the fleeing viruses, which were scattering like a broken dam, and laughed coldly,
"Looks like you escaped your fate, too."
Alain also chuckled,
"No. Fate has always been on our side."
"Whoa, that line is awesome, gotta write that down, write that down..." Cool Mita started taking notes.
[40%→45%]
The two exchanged some harmless post-mission banter, leaving only Tiny Mita lost in thought.
She looked at Alain, then at the viruses, and her head started to spin again,
"A coin...cidence?"
She forced an awkward laugh along with the two cryptic speakers, leaning her forehead weakly against Alain, "Was it really a coincidence?"
___
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