Alain sheathed his greatsword, glancing at the large puddle of black liquid left behind by the "melting" Modified Entity. He walked over to the 1.3B Mother Monster to check for any signs of life.
Confirming that no finishing blow was needed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. The two viruses that had suddenly appeared after he entered the illusion were now confirmed to be completely eradicated.
However, Alain still felt a lingering tension within him that had yet to be released. He gazed at the dense fog ahead.
Although he hadn't immediately checked if he could proceed to the next version upon exiting the illusion... the fog seemed to retreat the moment it touched him. This proved that he had obtained the qualification to enter Version 1.0F. In other words, the illusion had been successfully broken.
Realizing that he had accomplished all of this, Alain finally turned his attention to check on Cool Mita.
The moment he emerged, he had seen Cool Mita covered in wounds, collapsed on the ground in a miserable state. Fueled by a sudden surge of anger, he had grabbed his greatsword and hacked at the viruses.
Now observing her closely, he discovered that the girl's injuries were even more severe than they had appeared at first glance. He crouched down in front of Cool Mita to examine her wounds.
Her red knit shirt was tattered, and bloodstains on her skin were visible through the tears in the fabric.
But what truly shocked Alain was the wound on her shoulder: The fabric there had been torn away, revealing her pale shoulder. The edge of her shoulder had been lacerated, leaving a vivid, bloody gash that was still dripping blood. A hint of white bone was faintly visible.
Alain thought to himself that he hadn't been ruthless enough when killing the virus earlier. He had slain the Big Spider instantly without torturing it properly. Even the phrase "tearing it into ten thousand pieces" felt insufficient to Alain.
Of course, he knew the immediate priority was to treat Cool Mita.
"Can you stand up—hm?" Alain looked at the girl's face and noticed her cheeks were flushed red, like the glow of a sunset.
Cool Mita's eyes darted around like twinkling stars, unfocused and elusive. She would occasionally glance at him, only to look away the moment their gazes met.
Is she... hurt that badly? Alain wondered inwardly, his gaze fixed on the heavily injured girl with deep distress.
"I'm sorry..."
"..." Hearing this, Cool Mita stared at him blankly before blurting out, "Eh? Why?"
"Because I came too late."
"No, not late... You came just at the right time..." She stammered, her face turning even redder.
Then she saw him stand up and take off his shirt.
"Eh? W-What are you doing?!" Cool Mita watched his actions in shock, momentarily at a loss.
"Still, I let you get hurt." He used a strip of cloth to tie a knot over the wound on her shoulder, managing to staunch the bleeding.
He grabbed the girl's clothes from the side and handed them to her, then stood up and turned his back to give her privacy.
Behind him, Cool Mita silently put on her clothes.
"If you hadn't come, I probably... would have died in the siege of those two viruses."
Cool Mita recalled the strength of those two viruses... She likely would have lost against even one of them. And she had faced... two. Yet, with the support of the Man-Headed Spider-Wasps, she had successfully survived until now.
And held on until Alain's arrival.
"...?" Thinking of this, Cool Mita couldn't help but look at the young man's back in confusion.
When did I... start trusting him so much?
True, facing the siege of two viruses, she had been at a dead end... but Alain had always commanded the battlefield as a "strategist." She had never seen him kill a virus personally... just now was the first time.
So why did she believe so strongly that as long as he came, everything would be fine? And, it actually turned out fine...
Cool Mita recalled how Alain, wielding a greatsword, had brute-forced his way through the siege of the Black Sphere and the Spider... She wasn't too clear on the Spider Monster's strength, since the Man-Headed Spider-Wasps had been supporting her.
But the Black Sphere—Cool Mita understood it deeply after their long battle. The Black Sphere was extremely hard; she had broken two bats on it and barely scratched its defense.
Even if she luckily caused a little damage, the Black Sphere would recover in the blink of an eye, as if nothing had happened... To counter that recovery ability, one had to deal a massive amount of damage in an extremely short time—what games called "passing the damage check."
And Alain...
Cool Mita remembered how Alain had just picked up the greatsword and chopped the Black Sphere into a mess with just a few strokes.
What exactly is he? Or rather, what has he experienced in the past?
He didn't even give the Black Sphere time to erode the ground. He skillfully countered every possible move of the Black Sphere, sealing its actions in an extremely short time... Then, killed it in one blow.
This strength didn't seem like a Player at all... It was more like he ran out of God of War next door. The girl wouldn't be surprised if he shouted "Leviathan's Fury!!!" the next second...
"Who exactly is Alain?" Cool Mita murmured inadvertently, only to be overheard.
"Who I am... is that important?" His feigned deep voice earned a look of disdain from Cool Mita.
"I thought you were cool just a moment ago, but now..." The girl sighed.
"Oh? You thought I was cool?"
"N-No! You're not cool at all!!" She panicked and changed her tune.
Scrambling to stand up—
But a piercing pain in her heel immediately brought tears to her eyes.
"It hurts..."
She was about to fall, but Alain caught her instantly.
"You... your foot is injured too?" The look in his eyes was one of frustration at her carelessness, as if he were about to lecture her.
Cool Mita looked at him and could only nod meekly.
"Mmm..."
"You didn't say anything earlier... No, my observation was lacking."
"That's not it, it's because I didn't tell you."
Alain didn't intend to listen to her excuses and helped her sit down. He carefully held the girl's ankle and took off her shoe.
Cool Mita was the type who liked bare legs, so she was only wearing a pair of warm white boat socks. Her round, cute toes were wrapped snugly in the socks.
Alain's fingers warmly and silently brushed over the skin of her ankle, feeling for the bone dislocation.
"A-Alain..."
The girl didn't know why, but having her feet looked at and... touched like this gave her a strange feeling...
"Leave to me," he said, silently tapping his headset twice.
"Mm, okay..." Cool Mita didn't notice his action; she nodded gently and left her foot in his care.
Soon, his thumb found a small, abnormal protrusion. As expected, it was a dislocation.
He placed his hands around the dislocated area, followed the prompts from his headset, and suddenly applied force—
Crack.
The ankle snapped back into place.
"Done. Stand up and see how it feels." He put the girl's foot down, casually tickling her sole as he did so.
Cool Mita felt the momentary itch. Her face stiffened and she pursed her lips, but she didn't say anything.
"Okay..."
The girl stood up, hopped a couple of times, and exclaimed in surprise, "It actually... recovered? Ouch!"
When she made a sudden movement, the tearing pain in her shoulder quickly brought tears to her eyes.
"Idiot, be careful." Alain observed the cloth wrapped around the girl's shoulder, where the color of blood was faintly seeping through.
The hemostasis was working, but it would be best to go to Version 1.15 to treat it properly... or find Cool Mita's room and regain her permissions so the wound could heal automatically.
Having determined his goal, he let out a sigh of relief.
"By the way, how are Cute Mita and the others?" Alain looked around but didn't see the shadows of the two little ones.
"I told them to stay back... Phew, otherwise it would be too dangerous here." Cool Mita said, pointing into the distance.
Indeed, two hazy shadows, one big and one small, could be seen looking this way from the misty area. They must have realized the sounds of battle had ceased but, without Cool Mita's command, were worried and unsure whether to come over.
"..."
Perfect. While he and Cool Mita were alone, he had something to ask her—about Cute Mita.
"Cool Mita." Alain turned his gaze to the ponytailed girl. His solemn expression made Cool Mita turn serious as well.
"Can you tell me more about Cute Mita?"
___
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