"Mm... The Corrosive Entity knows." As the Mita of Version 1.0F, Mila pondered, then voiced her question, "But what's going on with Monika and the Mist Entity?"
"You don't know about the Mist Entity?" Alain, suspecting a misdirection, still focused on the other question. "Monika is that woman with long hair, a bit plump, and a very gloomy personality."
"Tsk tsk... Then I know." Mila blinked, looking into the mirror, and spoke, "That woman... the one you call Monika, I actually think she's always been a very strange person."
"...You're also surprised by her somberness?" Alain twitched his mouth.
He still remembered the series of highly controlling words Monika had played for him during his second attempt to defeat her illusion.
"...Somberness? Why would you come to that conclusion? Don't tell me Monika is also your 'special connection'?"
"No, I'm not some harem protagonist."
"...Grumble, just watch her eyes darting around." The girl contemptuously muttered, then returned to the main topic. "If the person you're talking about is the same one I met... the first time I saw Monika was also the first time I saw the Mist Entity."
"She went silent for two seconds. But, it's very strange, you know."
"How so?" Alain asked.
"From her standing with the viruses, Monika is undoubtedly in the virus camp. But..." Mila grew increasingly confused, so she threw the question to Alain, "She hasn't actually done any substantial harm to me."
'?' Alain glanced at the Version 1.0F room. 'Viruses have clearly invaded here, and yet there's no substantial harm?'
"I know what you're thinking." Seeing Alain's observation, Mila patiently explained, "Typically, a version belongs to a Mita... and how can a Mita not belong to her version?"
"When a virus gains permissions over a version, naturally... the Mita's life and death fall into the virus's hands."
"The suspicious point is right here."
Mila adjusted her glasses. "Since the Corrosive Entity—Monika's subordinate, that is—has gained version permissions, why not just directly eliminate the version's Mita? Instead, my life was spared, becoming a potential future problem."
Alain didn't answer, instead tapping the headset Prankster Mita had just handed him twice.
Mila's language was rough, but her words, though crude, made sense. This was indeed a contradiction.
If Mila were truly killed by a virus, then Alain's purpose in coming here would become 'revenge' instead of rescue.
From the headset came Misha's somber voice: "From Mila's words, it seems Monika's stance and position are different from what we thought."
"Combining that with what Cute Mita said earlier about Monika's unknown conversation with someone, we can't rule out that Monika intentionally let Cute Mita hear it. So, I'm guessing—"
"Monika, is it possible that her relationship with the person above her isn't that good? Perhaps they have different objectives?"
Alain nodded subtly. From Mila's perspective, he also deduced a dangerous piece of information.
A Corrosive Entity that has gained control of a version can directly erase that version's Mita.
For the Corrosive Entity, this was undoubtedly bad news. Even its subsequent plans might have to change.
"Um..." Prankster Mita's gesture of raising her small hand interrupted his thoughts.
"What's wrong? Do you have something to say?" Alain smiled at her.
"Mm. Actually, regarding the Mist Entity that Miss Mila doesn't know about..." The short-haired girl, after pondering, revealed a piece of information.
"I might know a tiny bit of information, but don't get your hopes up too much."
"It's fine, a little is better than nothing."
Clearly, the commotion with the Mist Entity had passed, and the Corrosive Entity could also be defeated along with it...
But Alain still felt a strong sense of unease regarding the Mist Entity and its associated illusionary factors.
Whether it was the coincidental timing of its appearance, the specific content of the illusion, or the characters appearing within it...
All of it left a deep impression on him, and he felt a strong sense of crisis.
He had a feeling that everything concerning the Mist Entity wasn't over yet.
"When I was copied to Version 1.0F, I saw the Mist Entity." She finished this sentence and said no more.
...
Alain stared blankly. This information was truly "a tiny bit."
So—
"Darling, what's your take?" When in doubt, deploy Misha.
"Mm..." Misha was also pondering if she could get information from Cool Mita's words.
"Alain, don't you think it's strange?" Misha asked. "Why is it that—
The Mitas present in Version 1.0F don't know anything about the Mist Entity, but the newcomer's senses did?"
...
Alain was a little stumped by her question. Thinking about it, it was indeed true.
Mila didn't know about the Mist Entity because she could only operate within the Version 1.0F room, unable to even leave through the door.
This was understandable.
And Prankster Mita knew about the Mist Entity because she had actually seen it when she was captured and brought here—
'!' Alain understood something.
And Misha simultaneously arrived at the same conclusion.
The two said in unison:
"[Inconsistent Timelines]"
In other words, the Mist Entity appeared sometime between when [Mila's version was occupied by the capturing entity and Prankster Mita was captured]. It was something that happened between these two events.
Alain recalled that Ugly Mita had once snatched Mila's small clothes in Version 1.0F, and that was... about half a month ago.
That is, at least two weeks ago, at the time of Ugly Mita, Mila hadn't been captured yet,
while Prankster Mita was captured two days ago.
This way, the timeframe for the Mist Entity's appearance can be compressed to within 12 days.
"Oh, right, Cute Mita." He looked at the twin-tailed girl, who was waiting idly to the side. "Weren't you also captured in The Forgotten Jigsaw Puzzle? Did you see the Mist Entity then?"
"No." Cute Mita denied. "After I threatened Monika face-to-face, I fainted as soon as I reached the Forgotten Version. But I clearly remember, there shouldn't have been any mist there."
"Understood." Cute Mita left Cool Mita a week ago.
If we take the current timestamp as [now], then the Mist Entity appeared between [seven days ago and two days ago].
This is a total of five days.
Alain recalled the dates of these five days in his mind. Before entering Version 1.0F, he had already returned to reality a second time to look for the house where Yang Wanhua had imprisoned him, to see if it existed.
Hypothesis: If that house from the illusion truly exists in reality, then Yang Wanhua is very likely to have some kind of connection there.
Alain in the illusion had only been confined to the bedroom, completely unable to see other rooms.
—
At that time, he could search for information within the house from the relevant dates. This would confirm whether that person's connection truly exists.
Of course, this was just a hypothesis; an illusion is still an illusion. How could it possibly project real-world objects?
Alain decided not to have too many expectations for now.
"Then, there's the Corrosive Entity problem." Alain looked at Mila. "You should be very clear about these things, right?"
"Mm." Her gaze at Alain dimmed slightly. "I know you came to this version to clear out the Corrosive Entity. But honestly, I'm still a little scared right now..."
As she spoke the word "scared," her eyes flickered, but she still managed to suppress it.
"Forget it, it's nothing!"
She shook her head, cast aside distractions, and explained:
"The Corrosive Entity's main body doesn't usually stay in this version; it seems to often go out with Monika." She changed her tone. "If you want to deal with it, you might have to wait a while longer."
"No, it's fine."
After what Mila had just said about "the Corrosive Entity can easily decide a Mita's life and death"—this matter...
Alain believed that subduing the Corrosive Entity couldn't be rushed.
At the very least, he had to get the Mita here out into the game world before he could fully focus his efforts on fighting the virus.
The game world wasn't the Corrosive Entity's home ground like the Corrosive World/Virus World. Without a home-field advantage, they would gain more initiative.
"I wanted to ask..." He looked around Version 1.0F. "If I want to help you retrieve your version, to let 1.0F return to the game world, do you have any method?"
Alain felt his question was not simplistic, and added, "Also, if Monika finds out about this, how do you think she'll make the Corrosive Entity act?"
...
Alain's question was very difficult; even the intelligent bespectacled girl couldn't help but begin to ponder.
Alain and everyone else didn't disturb her, only giving her looks of trust.
"I don't think... she'll act."
After a while, she came to a conclusion.
"Based on my understanding of Monika, she clearly doesn't want to harm Mitas. Either she'll let it go, or... she'll only consider reclaiming Version 1.0F later."
"That'll do." Alain nodded.
"Also, regarding how to return to the game version..." Mila looked at her room. "Actually, I also know how to do it, but carrying it out... is truly fraught with difficulties."
"How so?"
"Do you know about the piles driven into construction sites?" She looked at Alain.
The young man was puzzled as to how the topic had strayed so far, but seeing her serious expression, he knew Mila wasn't joking.
"I know, they're usually driven into the ground by machines, used for stabilizing high-rise foundations and such."
"Mm. Version 1.0F also has something similar to a [pile]." Looking at him, the girl replied.
"Just like the essence of Mita—the underlying code is player-friendly."
The essence of a version room is also Mita.
"Typically, no matter how a version's permissions are invaded, a Mita will still retain the most basic permissions."
"Such as changing furniture positions, adjusting lighting, and so on."
Alain nodded. Mila was still a Little Mita; even when her version permissions were almost completely invaded, she indeed still retained some basic permissions to open and close doors.
"But now, I don't have even a tiny bit of permissions." Mila waved her hand helplessly. "The reason is—"
"Is it the [pile] you mentioned?"
"Exactly." The girl didn't doubt him. "The [pile] has completely locked the version in the Corrosive Entity's hands. And right now, I'm practically like a 'resident' of Version 1.0F; I can only stay in the room and can't make any movements."
"That's why the Corrosive Entity felt safe leaving me alone..."
___
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