"How was it?" The girl's playful smile was reflected in Alain's eyes right now. "'The feeling of the hero saving the beauty'?"
Alain didn't reply. He turned his head slightly and nodded his head "petulantly."
"Mhm, mhm... the feeling, it isn't bad."
"...Can you not make that disgusting face?" She couldn't stand it and finally put Alain down. "And to think I just said you were a little bit cool."
"I have always been handsome."
Alain smiled, picked up the tachi from the ground, and handed it into Mila's hands.
"Thanks."
A silver glint flashed past the girl's side. In the blink of an eye, the tachi was sheathed.
That dashing appearance made Alain take a second look. Don't let his earlier dramatic act fool you; in reality, he still thought Mila was very cool. After all, a girl wielding a blade... completely aligned with his fetishes.
However, it really was just a little bit short.
Alain looked at Mila's straight back, a look of emotion flashing in his eyes. Just now, if he really had to go up and hack at it alone with his "whiteboard" stats, he probably would have had to activate "Internal Injury Optimization" and use the final charge of the Failed Works Gauntlet.
Facing the Corrosive Entity, he would have lost his final trump card. But Mila's appearance clearly filled that fatal gap in his anti-air defense.
Thus, under the cooperation of Alain and Mila, the Version 1.0F [Lance] was exterminated!!!
"Cough cough—The tachi is really amazing!!!" The prankster's laughter rang out as expected, holding onto Alain's arm. "And Alain, you were really—super cool just now!"
"Mm, indeed."
Cool Mita walked over slowly with a cute smile.
"It... it wasn't bad." The twin-tailed girl looked at the handsome guy and awkwardly added a sentence, "You two, are both amazing."
Seeing this, Alain couldn't help but want to tease them a bit. "Are we both handsome?"
"Eh? Why give me this kind of death question?" Cute Mita looked at Mila, who cast a questioning gaze at her. "Both handsome, both amazing... is that not okay?"
Alain laughed lightly.
He had advanced all the way from Version 1.9 to now—wasn't it for this very scene before his eyes? The melodious sound of the girls talking and laughing drifted through the room of Version 1.0F. Their faces were full of smiles, melting the frost, like the ethereal sound of a piano.
To let everyone find happiness and joy—Alain wasn't joking. No matter what means he had to use, he would protect the safety of those around him. This was also for his own sake.
"Rumble..."
Just as he was thinking this, a blinding vibration drifted up from beneath everyone's feet. The house they were currently staying in seemed to have turned into a toy house, being lifted by a large hand and flying off into the distance.
According to Alain's guess, it must be because the [Lance] of Version 1.0F had been cleared. The version no longer needed to linger in the Corrosive World, and was thus flying quickly toward the original Game World.
The result was very gratifying. As long as they returned to the Game World, they wouldn't need to fight the Corrosive Entity on its home turf, and they would be able to gain some initiative.
Assuming Monika really was their ally, the Corrosive Entity wouldn't even "notice" that Version 1.0F had escaped its control. In layman's terms: The version was snatched back by Alain and the others, and the Corrosive Entity likely wouldn't dare make a peep.
At this moment, Short-Haired Mita's voice was quickly delivered through the headset.
"Alain, there is good news here."
Big Sister's tone was incredibly excited, with great emotional fluctuations. Alain couldn't help but be a little curious about the "good news."
"What is it?"
"We just found out that the 17 versions in the Game World that were severely corroded have all returned to normal!"
"Really?" This was truly joy upon joy. Alain lowered his head.
Defeating this [Mastermind Entity] stationed in Version 1.0F, returning to the Game World, and finding the 17 most severely violated versions restored to normal... Then, they only needed to defeat the main body of the Corrosive Entity, and the rest of the game versions would return to peace.
After that, it would be the Core...
Wait.
Alain's hand, which was just about to put away the greatsword, suddenly froze in that instant. His eyes went wide, his pupils dilating in disbelief, and his forehead felt as if a dagger quenched in ice had stabbed into it.
Wait a minute...
The most severely violated versions... there were 17 of them?
That implies those 17 versions were the Corrosive Entity's main targets. At the same time, the carrots they just found—that is, the Modified Entities—also numbered 17.
That means the Corrosive Entity used the Modified Entities as endpoints to violate those 17 versions, thereby occupying them. 17 versions, 17 targets.
Are these "targets" designated?
Alain remembered learning from Cute Mita that Monika calls a certain person "Miss." This target must have been set by that "Miss."
If they destroyed all 17 targets designated by the Miss...
Known fact: The "Miss" is Monika's superior and possesses higher authority than Monika. Then, the failure to invade the 17 version targets means...
Version 1.0F receiving the news of the invasion by Alain and the others would likely report to Monika, thereby directly restricting the higher manipulator there. That is to say, even if he assumes Monika is their ally, it is actually useless.
Because with the failure of the invasion of the 17 version targets, Monika's superior will inevitably learn of this point before Monika does...
And the superior—the "Miss"—is known to be the creator of the virus, and also the chief culprit behind the current state of the world. So, what will she do?
The answer...
"A-Alain!!!"
Behind him, a girl's scream rang out. Alain didn't want to turn around, but he still chose to face the reality that followed close behind.
He looked in the direction of the sound. It was Prankster Mita's direction.
The short-haired girl was staring in disbelief at the scene before her eyes: "What exactly... is going on?"
She asked in a low voice, her pupils dilated, reflecting the appearance of the Mitas: Cool Mita, Cute Mita, and Mila. The three Mitas—the colored textures on their bodies were gradually turning toward black and white.
Their color was being stolen.
"Alain!!!" The high-ponytail girl looked at her own body in astonishment, then looked at Alain with confusion, her eyes filled with deep pleading.
Snap!
Mila's hand, which was just about to place the tachi down, became unsteady. The tachi passed directly through it and stabbed into the ground.
"Eh?" She tried to grab it, only to find her hand turning black and white, and developing toward transparency.
"No... way?" Cute Mita was also observing her own appearance. In the mirror, she flickered between light and dark, and her blue hair gradually turned into a dead silence of black and gray...
They were fading. They were becoming transparent. They were leaving this world.
Rumble—
And at the same moment, a sound rang out in Alain's ears. It was as if an ancient bell had been struck. Deep and prolonged, deafening to the ears.
He looked up. A corner of the ceiling in Version 1.0F had been dyed a rich, heavy black.
___
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