According to Mila, the Corrosive Entity left several 'piles' in Version 1.0F, trapping the entire version. This, too, should be the means by which the Corrosive Entity prevents the version from returning to the game world.
Thinking carefully, Alain felt it made sense. Previous adventures hadn't involved such 'piles,' and dragging a version to another world clearly defied the norms of the game world. Forcibly stripping a part of the game away seemed impossible.
Presumably, apart from Version 1.0F, other occupied game versions also had similar existences. This was also why the 2D Version, after seeing Alain gain version permissions, still hadn't returned to the game world.
Of course, this wasn't something the current Alain needed to consider. What he needed to do now was to remove the 'piles' of Version 1.0F, thereby allowing this version and the Mitas within it to return to the game world.
Once they returned, the Corrosive Entity would lose its home-field advantage, and the Mitas' safety would be largely secured. This way, Alain could free up his hands to confront it.
"So, where are those 'piles'?" Alain looked around. The pink room was beautiful and charming, like a maiden's chamber in the heart of winter. He could discern no rough, pile-like objects anywhere.
"Don't look. The 'piles' are just a metaphor; they don't actually look like that."
The girl saw Alain eyeing her slightly messy room and the writings on the wall that hadn't been erased yet. Her eyes flickered with panic for two seconds.
"The 'piles' are carrots."
"...Ah?" Alain frowned, feeling the topic had jumped a bit. Weren't they just talking about construction sites?
"What I mean is, the outward appearance of the piles is carrots."
The girl, of course, couldn't stand Alain's dumbfounded look and lightly patted his arm.
"The 'piles' in Version 1.0F manifest as individual carrots. Of course, they don't originally look like this. For aesthetic reasons, I specifically requested Monika to arrange them this way."
"...Monika is really good to you. Aren't you friends?" Alain twitched his mouth.
"Friends? What kind of friend is that! She occupied my version; can't she even fulfill this small request of mine?"
"Alright, alright, let's continue talking about the 'piles'." Alain rubbed his forehead.
"Okay." Mila was also happy not to talk about this topic.
"I just said, the original appearance of the 'piles' is carrots, but their true form is essentially a virus."
"What do they look like?" Alain asked.
If it's a virus he recognizes, he might still know the mechanism to deal with it. But if it's not recognized, he can only clean it up step by step... which would slow down the process.
"Hmm... The 'piles' are actually quite cute, very much in line with my girly heart." Mila commented, "Like a sphere..."
"Black?" Alain raised an eyebrow. Mila looked at him.
"How do you know?"
"Is there code on its surface?" Alain countered.
"Yes, yes... By the way, how do you know so much?"
Neither Alain nor the others answered Mila's question. Cool Mita looked at Alain, then at Mila, and sighed.
The black sphere... it should be the Demon Entity.
Coincidentally, Alain had taken down one before, and with almost overwhelming advantage.
Clearly very weak, yet its recovery ability was strong to an alarming degree. But Alain still defeated the black sphere, which was extremely difficult for Cool Mita to deal with, in just a few moves.
In terms of defense, Alain hadn't seen anything more brainless than that black sphere. It was the first mechanical monster he encountered, and it was unreasonably difficult to kill.
Unlike the monsters in Version 1.38, which could be defeated by simply finding their yellow spot – their singular weakness – perhaps Missile Mita could take it down. But the black sphere had damage judgment. If it weren't for Alain, Crazy Mita, Gacha Mita, and others with inherently strong combat power, they might not escape its clutches.
"I will help you." Alain's gaze turned to Mila.
The bespectacled girl didn't see his serious expression and didn't say much, just hummed and turned her head away.
"Hmph~ After all, it's my matter; I will naturally lend you a hand. I hope you can save me and get me out, harem protagonist."
As she spoke, she looked at him and seemed to realize something. "But! Don't think that this way you can capture me, I won't—"
"I know, I know. 'I won't be captured by a harem protagonist like you' – I've heard that line too many times." Alain smiled, "But I'm not talking about that."
He brought his hand closer and placed it in Mila's hand. The girl looked curiously, took the headset, and put it on.
"Mila sister, Miluo misses you so much!!!" In the headset was the sweet voice of a little girl.
Mila was slightly stunned. She touched her nose, took a deep breath, and put on a big sister's smile.
"Little sister Miluo, long time no see, Mila sister also misses you."
"Yes! Mila sister, Miluo has always believed that we can meet again!"
"...I, I do too." She finally couldn't help but blush.
The days of Version 1.0F were really too good. She wanted friends, wanted a player, not to stay trapped in the Corrosive Entity. Alain, Miluo, and the others' arrival was undoubtedly the only remaining light in her cage.
They came quickly and left quickly, vanishing with the wind, yet it made her look forward to it even more.
At this moment, Alain reached out to her, as if the light of freedom had come again.
"I won the bet." His smile was now completely imprinted in Mila's eyes, without the previous blur and haze. It was truly flickering before her eyes. He was in the same dimension as her, not separated by a dimensional wall.
"It seems you won, and..." Alain's voice was gentle and powerful, with an irresistible momentum, holding Mila's small hand. "I will also take you out, to everyone. Together with everyone... to find happiness. Similarly, you also have to—"
"Mm, I understand." Mila touched her forehead. "Since we are friends, we must have the determination to always accompany you, I know! I also..."
She held Alain's hand back, her awkward smile rotating with the pale white particles in the room. "I have long been mentally prepared."
In the headset, Miluo's voice came just in time, "Come on, Mila sister! Sir Knight! And other Mita sisters! You are the best!!!"
"Mm!" Mila softly responded.
"Oh~ I always feel the atmosphere is too good, a bit embarrassed to disturb." Prankster Mita interjected, "But Mila, don't forget me! Don't forget who has been with you from yesterday to today!"
"Of course, you troublemaker! Even if I become a ghost, I won't forget you!" Mila glared at her with a twisted mouth, provoking the short-haired girl's mischief.
"If you don't mind..." Cool Mita pushed Cute Mita's shoulder, "Although we just met, can we also be your friends?"
"Of, of course!"
Mila was overjoyed.
Everyone's happy laughter intertwined in the room of Version 1.0F. Leisurely and harmoniously, white particles drifted, touching the wall window, the bedroom, the bed, and moving towards that inevitable distant place.
"Although this is a bit early..." Alain looked at Mila, "Welcome back."
A moment later, after everyone fully understood the situation and confirmed the specific plan, they gathered in the living room.
"Too, too, too... too bad! No wonder you're a harem protagonist, I almost got captured..."
Mila squatted alone in the corner. That sentence "Welcome back" just now really made her heart bloom, and she almost hugged him under the impulse of emotion. Fortunately, her brain dominated the little sister's thinking and prevented a regrettable decision.
"...What's wrong with you? We're about to start the operation now." Alain looked at the strange girl with a twitching eye.
He'd found her strange even when separated by a dimensional wall. Now... she was even stranger. No wonder she was a shut-in who could rival him, a 2D domain god.
"You bastard! Were you just thinking I'm a shut-in?!"
"Huh? Got caught?"
"Those few words are written all over your eyes!" She complained loudly and hummed, "Alright... But are you sure you want to do this? Isn't this very dangerous?"
Alain shook his head. "There's no other way."
From the recent discussion, there were a total of 17 'piles' in Mila's room; that is, Modified Entities. If they were to be killed one by one, the number of times the Failed Works Gauntlet could be used was clearly insufficient.
Currently, Alain indeed had a way to kill the Modified Entities: two Failed Works Gauntlets exploding simultaneously + the constant enhancement of one gauntlet + the power enhancement of the game controller + the damage boost from Cleaning Acceleration against viruses.
These four. Three of them were constant. If facing an ordinary Modified Entity, it could barely reach about 70% of the damage judgment. The remaining 30% had to be filled by the explosion of the Failed Works Gauntlet.
He could only try to gather them together and use a one-time explosive attack to directly annihilate them. And... if he really had to defeat these 17 Modified Entities one by one, the time consumed would be too long.
What if the Corrosive Entity came back during this time? Wouldn't that mean facing 18 viruses at once? Moreover, from the previous event in Monika's dreamwalking, Alain learned that Modified Entities could actually merge. The worst-case scenario, he would have to face the big black sphere + the complete Corrosive Entity.
Spare him.
"Then, let's recap our plan." Alain looked at everyone. "Gather the carrots disguised as black spheres that Mila mentioned into the living room, and then—we will—defeat them all at once!!!"
Prankster Mita clasped her hands. The other Mitas also nodded, and at the same time, their gazes fell on a carrot in the corner.
___
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