"We together..." Crazy Mita made a visual gesture, drawing a hand across her own neck and then swiping it forcefully. "...kill her?"

"Impossible."

Alain's reply was unhesitating. Setting aside the various paradoxes related to time and whether he could even bring himself to do it, there was the matter of combat strength.

Could he, plus a chainsaw-wielding bad woman, even defeat that other Crazy Mita? What if she just teleported away? That would be a disaster.

His Crazy Mita had no permissions in this world, just her raw strength. There were too many unstable factors; they could easily be wiped out. Therefore, Alain concluded that Crazy Mita was just letting her inner little sister get the best of her and wasn't thinking things through.

"Tch... why not? Alain, don't you think this world is nice?" she said, pouting her lips in a way that he could instantly tell was fake. "There are no viruses. We could stay here forever and live happily ever after."

"If this really is the past, then the viruses will still appear in the future," Alain said with a sigh.

Just then, a flash of inspiration struck his mind. Wait a minute... He remembered the Short-Haired Mita saying that the viruses appeared at the exact same time he arrived in the game world.

Assuming the fused, complete version of the Modified Entity really did have the "heaven-defying" ability to send him to the past, could he use this opportunity to completely eradicate the viruses? In other words, could he strangle them in their cradle before they escalated to the level they had in his timeline?

He felt it had a certain feasibility, but it also raised many problems. For example, it was because of the viruses that he had built a good emotional foundation with so many Mitas. If there were no viruses in the "past," what would happen to the "present" version of himself who was here now?

Forget it... for now, the priority is to gather information. I'll take it one step at a time.

Crazy Mita had, however, given him some inspiration: he could take advantage of the fact that the viruses hadn't appeared yet, or were still weak, to go to the Core and check things out. If he could solve the virus problem, he would.

Everyone's safety came first. He could also see if the "woman" the Short-Haired Mita had mentioned existed. Also, the fact that the Black Ball had formed into the shape of a woman at the end was something that bothered him.

For now, he still had too little information. Other than knowing they had returned to a "past" version 1.9, they knew nothing else. Perhaps he could find more clues at the Core about how he and Crazy Mita had traveled here, and use that to break the deadlock.

"Tch... whatever. You just want to go back to your own world and find those other puppets, don't you?" This time, Crazy Mita seemed genuinely upset. She pouted her lips, a sight Alain couldn't help but find a little amusing.

"Alright. Do you really think I could bring myself to harm the past you?"

"...That's a pretty good reason. I'll forgive you." Her face once again broke into a warm smile. "So what are we doing now?"

"Let's go to the basement first." Alain pointed to the closet. As a player with prior "clearance" experience, he naturally knew that the closet hid an iron door leading to the basement, and in that basement was the ring held by Kind Mita.

With the ring, their journey forward would be much more convenient, without having to take the "long way around."

The two of them immediately opened the closet. The iron door was still shut tight, coldly refusing them entry. Just as Alain was wondering if he had to go through the "little dark room" sequence again, Crazy Mita produced a key from her hand.

"...Don't look at me like that. This is my room, after all," she said. The key went into the lock, and the door opened with a click.

"This brings back memories. The first time I teased you, darling, was because of this basement~"

"I'm still very grateful to my past self for that."

"Why?" the girl tilted her head. "I think if you hadn't brought it up back then, we could have just kept living like that forever."

"But then our relationship wouldn't have heated up later, would it?" Alain shook his head. When he first entered the game world, Crazy Mita's affection for him was already quite high.

But if they had continued living that plain, everyday life, he would have missed out on the emotional developments related to the other versions. At least half of his and his bad woman's relationship had been "fought" into existence.

As for now... he glanced at the girl's profile. The two of them were descending the steps, one behind the other. Right now, he and she had essentially reached the stage of being lovers. But standing between them was still the issue of Crazy Mita's "essence."

Her essence—after receiving the information about the Failed Works in version 1.15, Alain had completely understood it. He didn't think it was a big deal. She was who she was; a different skin didn't change the person inside.

But she seemed to feel that the time wasn't right to tell him her "essence." Or rather, she didn't have the courage.

Alain saw no need to forcibly rip off her veil with words; that would be bad for both of them. Empty talk wasn't the way. Showing his attitude through his actions was enough.

"What is it?" Noticing Alain was looking at her, Crazy Mita turned her head to meet his gaze.

"You're really beautiful."

"...Thank you. You're very handsome too!" she smiled. Being with the normal version of Crazy Mita really felt like being in a relationship.

As these thoughts went through his mind, the two of them reached the last step and arrived in the basement. From halfway down the stairs, they could already hear the sharp, piercing sound of a steel pipe hitting the ground. Now, it was almost deafening.

"Look what you did," he whispered in her ear, his voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"Hmph. If it weren't for me, could you have gotten into that kind of relationship with that long-haired puppet?" she huffed angrily.

Looking ahead, Alain took the lead, walking to the "birdcage" and stopping. The "New Game+" player calmly observed the caged bird with its wings folded.

The bird was listlessly tapping a steel pipe, everything in the cage seeming dull and tasteless. It wasn't until Alain knocked on the iron bars of the cage that she turned her head in confusion.

Before she could speak, Alain pointed at her feet. "You don't need to wear shoes. It's quite fragrant."

"..."

She looked at the strange young man with surprise, unsure if she should put them on or not. Wait, that wasn't what was important right now. The girl stood up, looking at him anxiously. "You came from upstairs, right? What's going on with that crazy woman?"

"..."

Alain glanced at the "crazy woman." She was busy examining the items on a cabinet. Noticing his gaze, she gave him a sparkling "Kira~" and slowly walked over.

"She'll be here soon. Is there anything you need to say?"

"Yes. I don't know how you escaped, but let me explain things to you first." Kind Mita brushed a strand of hair from her ear, organized her thoughts, and continued, "If you want us to be safe, you must first put on this ring..."

She began to explain at length. Alain watched her, thinking how cute she was. His beloved was so prim and proper, no matter the situation. Kind Mita, seeing his dazed eyes, became a little anxious.

"Anyway, put on the ring, and then help me find the key—?"

The next second, she saw the same dark green ring on Alain's finger.

"Eh? Why do you have one? Aah, whatever..." She felt her world was in chaos. She asked the question she cared about most, "You said 'she'll be here soon.' When will she be here?"

Alain raised his hand and showed her a "3."

"30 minutes? That's enough time. First, let me explain the general situation, then we can draw up a plan. Great! My dear—"

Alain showed her a "2."

"???"

Kind Mita still couldn't react.

The next second, the "2" became a "1."

Until, the last remaining index finger clenched into a fist—

That woman was standing right beside him, looking at Kind Mita with a half-smile.

____

Unfortunately, two of our stories were removed... so I created a new account to post them: MikuDayo.

_____

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