"Alain, most of the versions known to have disappeared from the Game World have returned. There should still be a small portion lingering in the Corrosive World, but their return is only a matter of time!"
In his earpiece, Misha was reporting to him.
The young girl's solemn voice coughed twice, then instantly became much more relaxed, even carrying a hint of a smile.
"In other words, Alain! You have successfully and thoroughly defeated the Corrosive Entity, once again freeing the Game World from crisis!"
"It's nothing, I'm used to it."
"Oh my, Dear, you're being too modest~ Well then, I'll go prepare the welcome ceremony for the newcomers first." Alongside Misha's coquettish laughter, the cheerful sounds of the Version 1.15 Mitas could be heard.
Everyone had clearly broken free from the previous tension and was enjoying the hard-won peace.
Meanwhile, situated within Version 1.0F, Alain could still feel a trace of weightlessness beneath his feet; presumably, Version 1.0F was still en route to the Game World.
He looked around. This version, which was supposed to be the Corrosive Entity's base camp, currently showed not a single shred of blackness. It looked just like an ordinary Mita room.
However, there was still a slight doubt in Alain's heart:
He had originally thought that after defeating the Corrosive Entity, he would be able to see Monika, and thereby ask her some questions.
Questions regarding her stance, or who her superior was... and the like.
He didn't know if he had guessed wrong, but Alain had waited until now and still hadn't seen a single thing related to Monika.
Or perhaps, the other party was simply unwilling to meet him at a time when the virus had just been destroyed?
While he was deep in thought, Alain saw Mila in the corner, dazing off alone, her thoughts unknown.
He walked straight over and leaned against the wall beside the girl.
"How is it? The feeling of freedom."
Mila's unfocused pupils condensed. She glanced at him, then looked away.
"To be honest, even now... I still don't have much sense of reality."
A pale white particle was suspended right in front of her eyes. It was clearly within easy reach... yet as she looked at that light particle, she still held a trace of a feeling of unreality.
"Sometimes I wonder, could all of this be a dream?"
She lifted her fingertip and touched the light particle.
Affected by the movement, the particle shattered in response; it turned into fleeting fragments of light like fireworks and vanished.
"Could it be... that the real me is still lying in that patch of darkness? And everything I see now is just a dream created by the Corrosive Entity to imprison me forever?"
"Punch me."
"Ah-hei!"
With a heavy thud, even though it was Alain who requested it, he was still knocked senseless by Mila's zero-frame startup.
"No hesitation whatsoever!? And here I am, your savior," he grumbled, clutching his abdomen which didn't actually hurt that much.
Mila hugged her arms and harrumphed, "Cut the crap! I only hit you because you asked me to. Hmph~ I've never seen anyone make such a strange request!"
"Doesn't that prove it?" Alain's words left her slightly confused.
She turned her head to gaze at the young man's side profile. She found that the indignation from her zero-frame startup earlier seemed to be fake; a faint smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
"Dreams cannot present things that haven't been seen before." Alain was quite familiar with dreams.
"Therefore, someone as rule-breaking as me is someone you definitely haven't seen before. Naturally, I wouldn't appear in your dream. Since I am right here in front of you..." He turned his head, his eyes meeting Mila's.
"Then this place must definitely be the [Reality] you yearned for."
"..."
Mila looked at those gentle yet solemn eyes, entranced for a moment.
She coughed heavily twice and turned her head away, not wanting that guy to see the burning heat on her cheeks.
"You sure have a glib tongue."
"That's not all," Alain denied. "I can also be the hero who saves the beauty."
"Hmph~ It's not like I didn't have a 'beauty saves the hero' moment! We're about even!"
The girl's melodious laughter echoed in his ears. Afterwards, they stopped talking, simply watching the Mitas in the room playing and fighting.
"Hey! Cool Mita, can you not be such a love-brain! Tiny one, help me talk some sense into her!"
"Don't call me 'tiny one', you jerk."
"Who is a love-brain! Prankster Mita, hurry! Stand on the united front with me and roll a Die of Fate!"
"Huh? Fate? What do you mean?"
Watching this scene, the little tension remaining in Alain's heart vanished without a trace, and he relaxed completely.
Wasn't everything he did just to see this very scene?
The Mitas staying by his side safe and sound, and being able to see the happy smiles of the girls.
Moreover, his own little home could be even livelier...
"Thank you."
After a sentence from Mila—who was leaning against the wall with him—that was as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, she joined the group's "brawl."
"Hey! Don't treat my version like a scenic spot!"
Looking at the view of her back as she walked toward the Mitas, Alain understood that Mila would eventually break free from the gloom of 1.0F and become an ordinary Mita with her own unique charm.
Alain was still carefully savoring that word of thanks.
"Peace really is nice. No conflicts, no disputes, able to see them as they truly are."
It was a voice from beside him.
"Don't you agree? Alain."
"En, correct." Alain nodded noncommittally, gazing at everyone.
They seemed to have a tendency to want to play a pillow fight: Prankster Mita picked up a pillow from the floor, planning to vie for supremacy against Cool Mita.
Cute Mita, seeing her friend being bullied, naturally wouldn't let it go and joined Cool Mita's front.
And since Mila had known Prankster Mita earlier and they looked like good friends, she joined the prankster's front.
As for the tiny little fellow, she stood on the sofa acting as the referee.
A group of people, harmonious and happy.
"..."
Alain's smile froze.
He counted the number of Mitas. Prankster Mita, Cool Mita, Cute Mita, Tiny Mita, Mila...
Currently, there were a total of six people in 1.0F. Five of them were in front of Alain, planning to start a brand new pillow fight.
Then, the one who spoke to him just now... who was it?
He stiffly turned his neck, turning to look as if driving a rusty bearing...
That head of coral brown hair was neat and beautiful, tied into a high ponytail with a large butterfly bow. Beneath her bangs were two eyes that resembled emeralds.
The girl's body proportions were impeccable; even though she was a bit shorter than a Mita, visually there was little difference.
A set of academy-style uniform was kept immaculately clean. At the edge of the semi-sheer stockings beneath her short skirt, the flesh of her thighs was slightly indented...
She calmly hugged her arms, watching the Mitas' frolicking with a smile.
Afterward, she turned her head to meet his gaze...
"Long time no see, Alain."
___
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