Looking at those highly recognizable clothes, that pretty face, and those highly recognizable emerald eyes...
Undoubtedly, it was the person Alain wanted to find and question clearly:
Monika.
The moment the young man's pupils reflected the girl's appearance... it was as if a curtain capable of turning the world upside down had been lifted.
But the earthquake was fleeting, and his gaze returned to a clarity as calm as water.
Alain remained leaning against the wall, silently opening the Safety Assistant panel, his gaze focusing on the icon for 'Accelerated Cleaning'.
Only after confirming that he could react to any crisis did Alain speak nonchalantly,
"You are still so impolite. You never knock when coming to someone else's home."
"It can't be helped; this is an emergency situation. Besides..." Monika held her ample breasts up with her arms, quietly watching the Mitas' frolicking. "Haven't you been looking for me all this time?"
In his peripheral vision, Alain silently lamented that although this guy's height was quite a bit shorter than a Mita's, her breasts seemed even larger.
Padding, right? Alain felt a slight urge to ask, but he didn't want to fight right now...
"Please do not look at a Lady's chest like that; it is very rude." The girl glanced at him calmly, slightly tilting her body to turn to the other side.
"You actually get shy?"
"No, this is just a natural reaction."
She unclasped her arms, gracefully brushing back her long hair, then placed her hands behind her back and leaned against the wall alongside Alain.
"So, what do you want to ask me? Although there are many things I cannot answer, that is."
"Cannot answer..." Alain pondered the meaning of her words, silently tapping his headset twice—
"Ah, right. I do not wish for anyone other than you to hear the following conversation."
Pa!
Monika snapped her fingers, and a rustling noise like the desert wind emitted from the headset.
The communication... was cut off?
Alain was not surprised. He did not find it unexpected that Monika could achieve such a thing.
Anyway, even if Misha and the others didn't hear it this time, he could go back and tell them himself.
"Also." Monika had anticipated what Alain was thinking and turned her head to look at him. "It doesn't matter if those Mitas beside you hear what I say. But please, do not let Crazy Mita know."
"..."
Crazy Mita again.
The tide of confusion regarding Mina rose and fell in Alain's heart... It wasn't that he distrusted her, but rather that there were simply too many questions.
"Can you talk to me about it? Whether it's the Mist Entity or you, both seem to intentionally or unintentionally bring up the matter of Crazy Mita."
"Sorry, I cannot speak about this matter."
She shook her head, keeping her mouth shut.
Just as Alain wanted to press further, the girl lifted her fingertip, placed it on her lips, and made a 'shushing' gesture.
"..."
He nodded.
He could roughly guess Monika's meaning. In Version 1.0F, the walls have ears.
Or perhaps, Monika herself had been implanted with some program similar to a 'monitoring device,' where every word and action would be transmitted to her superior.
Judging from the fact that she took the initiative to come find Alain...
Perhaps, the 'monitoring device' could be further deduced as 'underlying code.'
In other words, Monika did not possess the [Permission] to speak the facts regarding Crazy Mita.
That is: Insufficient permissions.
Then, this was likely the truth behind Monika being a Riddler—it wasn't that she didn't want to say, but simply that she wasn't allowed to.
"However, you really... didn't listen to my words at all." Her voice interrupted Alain's train of thought.
Monika looked at everyone in Version 1.0F, a complex light flashing through her emerald pupils.
At first, Alain was still puzzled by what she said...
Immediately after, he recalled that last time in reality, when he went out on a date with Crazy Mita who was dressed up as Miffy, he also happened to encounter Monika in her real estate agent form.
At that time, she seemed to have said this:
"Shortcuts, sometimes it's okay to take them." Monika's retelling drifted by his ears.
She thought better of it, then waved her hand with a bitter smile,
"But asking you to ignore all this and move forward directly... is also impossible, huh."
"...En." Although he was in a fog, Alain still acknowledged it.
At this moment, a spark flashed in his mind... Could it be that what Monika meant referred to...
That he shouldn't have gone to the Corrosive World to save the Mitas and the versions here? But rather moved forward directly, going to the Core?
"..."
He thought about it and found that it was indeed so.
If, before entering 1.0F, Alain had directly skipped the Corrosive World and instead proceeded to the Core through Ugly Mita's version...
Then the place where he was standing now should have been the Core.
But this was obviously unrealistic. Leaving aside whether Alain had the resolve to abandon Mila, Prankster Mita, and the others...
Just the total version corrosion caused by the Corrosive Entity compelled him to pass through the Corrosive World and shatter the Corrosive Entity—
Wait a minute...
Alain stroked his chin, the thoughts in his mind becoming increasingly clear.
Assuming Monika really was his ally...
Her intention in giving that sentence 'Shortcuts, sometimes it's okay to take them' should have been to let him move forward directly...
Then, was the Corrosive World actually a means to delay Alain's time?
But for what purpose did the hypothetical enemy—Monika's superior—want to delay Alain's time?
Or could it be that something happened at the Core?
"Since you have already arrived at Version 1.0F, there is no helping it, Alain." She sighed helplessly, then walked in front of Alain, looking up to gaze at him.
"What I am about to say next, you must remember."
"...Okay." He didn't understand, but he accepted it all anyway.
Monika smiled with satisfaction and spoke,
"Remember, absolutely do not treat your reality as a comfort zone; it is not as beautiful as you imagine."
"En." Ever since the Failed Works incident, Alain hadn't treated reality as a comfort zone anymore.
His home was currently stocked with baseball bats and a series of other self-defense instruments.
"You also need to be mentally prepared. Afterwards, anything that happens will extremely likely shatter all your current cognition. I..." She lowered her head and pursed her lips,
"That is all I have to say. Regarding other matters, currently... I also cannot fully trust you."
After Monika finished speaking, a slight glow surfaced on the surface of her body.
Within the light, she gradually blurred... Obviously, she was about to disappear.
"How about we formally confirm our cooperation?" Alain asked, looking at her face.
Hearing this, Monika froze slightly for a second, then smiled faintly,
"On this point, I still need to consider it a bit. There are many things about which I cannot place my trust in you either."
She lifted the hem of her skirt and performed a curtsy to Alain,
"Well then, I hope we can meet again next time. I also hope you won't be drowned by despair..."
"Heh heh." Alain let out two cold chuckles.
"Please don't. Every time I meet you, I never get any good news."
"Is that so..." She made no comment. After pondering for a moment, she released her skirt hem, then placed one hand over her chest and performed a curtain call bow,
"In case I don't see you again, good morning, good afternoon..."
She raised her head, the silhouette of her figure instantly becoming a bubble, leaving only an empty sentence in the room:
"And good night."
___
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