Alain was holding Prankster Mita, who was trembling from head to toe, as they exited the room.

"Th-thank you... Player, you saved me..." she said, wiping away her tear-streaked face. She buried her face in Alain's shoulder, sniffling as she took in the scent of his laundry detergent, her hands tightly clutching her skirt. Internally, she was berating herself for being unclean. He won't like a girl who leaked... He must never find out about this.

Alain looked at his progress bar. It had gone from [60% - 70%]. The results were gratifying.

When he had entered the room earlier and turned on the lights, he had immediately seen the thing standing in the center—the mother monster from version 1.3B. To be honest, at this point, it was impossible for him to be scared. He had, after all, been through so many "hardships": the Devourer, the Modified Entity, the Parasite... not to mention numerous run-ins with his bad woman. No matter how scary a monster was, could it be scarier than a giant-sized Crazy Mita tearing monsters apart with her bare hands?

He wasn't just playing along with Prankster Mita for no reason. While she was indeed very cute, increasing the progress bar was a secondary objective. That's right, playing with her was the main objective.

"Player... you're a really good person," Prankster Mita said, her state noticeably calmer now. She leaned against Alain's shoulder, barely managing to stand up straight.

"It's nothing, Big Sister." Alain's arms were wrapped around the girl's slender waist, just barely keeping her from collapsing. "If you need help, Big Sister, you can always call me."

In the midst of her post-fright afterglow, Prankster Mita suddenly realized, Wait, aren't I supposed to be the older sister right now? Luckily, her disguise was flawless; there was no way Alain could have found out. He hadn't discovered her "Big Sister" act! Therefore, it wasn't a complete failure, which meant it was a "semi-victory!"

That's right! A single prank failing was nothing. Besides, it hadn't failed completely—he still held her close! Prankster Mita firmly believed this and successfully roused her spirits. The first prank was a semi-victory, so it was time to move on to the second prank.

Prankster Mita, fighting!!! Give Alain the deepest fear, and then reap his affection!

Just as she was psyching herself up, she remembered her ultimate move! Her finishing blow! Prankster Mita was confident that as long as she used that, she had a 100% chance of making Alain cry "uncle." Then she could rightfully get all clingy with him.

"Player, I have something to do, so I need to step out for a bit."

Hearing Prankster Mita's cheerful voice, Alain sensed an opportunity to tease her.

"Wait a minute," he said, grabbing her by the wrist.

"?" The short-haired girl turned her head, looking at him with uncertainty, thinking she had been exposed somehow.

"Big Sister, I was hoping you could give us a tour of this place," Alain said, looking around as if he was a curious tourist.

He then glanced meaningfully at his good comrade-in-arms, Misha.

What's going on? Prankster Mita thought. Why has the atmosphere suddenly changed? I haven't been exposed, have I? And that look on Alain's face... it's definitely the prelude to some bullying. The last time, in version 1.5, he made that exact same face. And then... I lost over a dozen pairs of my panties to him, including the one I was wearing!

This time, in 1.15, he wanted to pull the same trick.

"Me? I was just going to look for some documents," the short-haired girl said, pointing to a door ahead.

Alain's eyes narrowed. "Weren't you just terrified of the figurine in that room? Why are you going back? Don't tell me—"

"Or rather—" Alain took over the conversation, "do you have something urgent you need to do?"

It's over... he suspects something, doesn't he?

The girl's heart was filled with a scorching fighting spirit. She understood that she absolutely could not back down here! Not after her previously confirmed happy married life was on the line! It would all be gone! She could just imagine Alain's disgusted face if he found out... No, no, he absolutely cannot know.

For her fun! She would cast everything aside to achieve her goal! Even if the consequence was getting ganged up on and scolded by both Alain and her sister afterward, it would be worth it!

"I... I was so scared just now, I leaked."

Her words brought a dead silence to the room. Misha, though she didn't understand, still followed the topic down. "Right. The version functions you mentioned, you haven't finished explaining them yet."

"Oh? Hmm?! Why are you suddenly so excited? And you're so close!"

"I would like you to enlighten me."

"Hmph... Anyway, it's just..." The girl whispered two words in his ear, and Alain had a sudden realization. He had read online before that women, due to the length of their urethra, muscle structure, and other reasons, were more prone to that than men. So, what she was saying was that Prankster Mita, in the room just now, was so scared by the monster figurine she had set up that she—

Seeing her chance, Prankster Mita easily broke free from Alain's grasp and rushed towards the door without stopping. With a slam, she disappeared behind it.

"Aah! Help me!"

Half a minute later, Alain, watching the progress bar jump from [70% - 80%], turned to look at Misha, ignoring the notification sound for "Cleanup Acceleration Unlocked."

"What did she just say? Why didn't I get that?" He genuinely didn't understand. The context didn't match at all. For the progress bar to jump 10%, it must have been something explosive.

"A-ahem... Alain, don't ask too many questions," his beloved said, awkwardly turning her head away to fiddle with her hair.

This just made Alain want to know more.

The thought of what happened half-way through his contemplation, a terrified scream came from the room where the short-haired girl had disappeared. After a moment, the shouting grew fainter until it disappeared completely.

Alain and Misha looked at each other, and then a knock-knock sounded at the door.

"Knock knock~ Which naughty child isn't asleep yet?"

That voice, filtering through the door along with the faint whirring of a chainsaw, echoed into the room.

_____

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