Version 1.15, the black Failed Works continuously surged towards the equally pitch-black door, like a deep black drain. The surging tide, however, struggled to persist against the resistance of the three girls guarding the door.
"Hah, hah...!"
Misha's heavy breaths made her ample chest continuously rise and fall. Her right hand was already exhausted, a sense of numbness pervading every muscle fiber.
For nearly half an hour, she had done only one thing: swing her baseball bat, repelling the Failed Works attempting to pass through the door behind her.
Initially, she could move back and forth among the puppets, more effectively distracting them. As her stamina drained and time passed, even her steps became a luxury. Now, she was utterly exhausted.
Fortunately, the Failed Works' target wasn't them, so she didn't need to expend energy blocking attacks. She only needed to block their advance.
"Everyone, how are you doing?"
The girl's right arm was clasped at her shoulder, drooping limply, as she tried to check on her two allies.
Short-Haired Mita's stamina was slightly worse than hers, with a somewhat "clerical" demeanor, currently leaning against the wall, propped up by her large hammer. Prankster Mita was, after all, considered "active duty" personnel. Yet, Misha could tell that her footsteps had weakened considerably.
"The situation is quite bad."
Misha's gaze shifted behind her. What exactly was beyond that door? Could it be Darling?
He must have already encountered the Modified Entity, right? And then the Modified Entity summoned the version 1.15 door to corrupt the Failed Works, turning them into allied forces to support Alain and his companions. Currently, this was the only conclusion she could draw.
Therefore, Misha believed what she had to do was also very simple.
"Continue... blocking!"
The girl gathered her resolve, thinking of the young man who was upholding the game world. He must be fighting right now, so she couldn't give up halfway either.
Besides, she still had to make dinner at home, the chores weren't done, and she hadn't even heard Alain's confession yet...
"Sigh... I only wanted to see you, but I didn't expect to get infected by the virus. What a failure..."
So!
"Hey, Misha! Look!"
Judging by the tone, it must have been Prankster Mita's voice. Misha was too weak to reply, only able to follow the sound with her gaze. What she saw was an incredible sight:
The Failed Works, surging like a tide, continuously pouring towards the black door, now all came to a standstill in unison. They were like wind-up toys broken in a store warehouse, their bodies frozen, occasionally twitching rigidly.
But there wasn't a single sound of footsteps.
"What... what's going on?"
The blackness on the surface of the Failed Works' bodies seemed to be washed away by an unseen current, gradually fading, revealing their brownish-yellow original color. The virus was receding, normalcy was returning, and the footsteps had ceased, revealing a certain truth:
"If my guess is really correct..." Misha's gaze shifted to the black door, which was also gradually disappearing,
"Alain is truly battling the Modified Entity. And the current situation is because—!"
Misha's encouraging tone reached Short-Haired Mita and Prankster Mita's ears, and they let out a weary sigh.
"He succeeded!"
As she finished speaking, the long-haired girl's entire body seemed to lose all strength. A strong sense of relief enveloped her, causing her to slump to the ground.
The baseball bat "clacked" to the ground, and Misha leaned against the wall, utterly devoid of poise. She was too weak to speak.
Prankster Mita and Short-Haired Mita also let out long sighs and walked over to Misha.
The three exchanged silent glances, each conveying their inner pride and peace.
"He succeeded!"
"We succeeded!"
Alain looked ahead, commenting thus.
Under the combined slash of him and Crazy Mita, even the fused Modified Entity found it hard to resist, instantly crumbling apart.
Inside the Core, the blackness on the Failed Works' bodies was fading, their movements gradually slowing down, until they came to a standstill. And those slowly emerging from the screen stopped appearing as well.
Clearly, the source itself was completely safe now. The Modified Entity, it's dead. Alain came to this conclusion.
He recalled the scenes he had "experienced" with the Modified Entity: from the past in the gray-white room, all the way to the series of events stemming from the Black Ball's corruption of the Failed Works. In fact, it was very likely the culprit behind the disturbance of his peaceful life in reality.
But now, it was safe.
"Whew..." Alain sighed in relief, but didn't lower his guard.
Instead, he focused his gaze on the girl who had lost her Modified Entity form.
The Dark Woman, who had originally sat upon the throne, was now having the pitch-black substance on her entire body fade, from bottom to top. He could now make out her black thigh-high stockings and the back of her warm gray jacket. Her legs beneath the pleated skirt were long and slender.
The girl's beautiful hair at the back of her head was coral brown, tied into a large bow with a ribbon, forming a lovely high ponytail. As for her front face, Alain couldn't see it because she was facing away.
"Is she... not a Mita?"
Alain instantly felt a lack of interest.
Furthermore, a real-world hair color like coral brown, combined with her previous actions, left Alain, this master of pure romance in the 2D world, with absolutely no favorable impression of her.
"Hey, you."
The other party hadn't said much since he defeated the Modified Entity, falling into a state of stagnation.
"Tell me everything you know."
Alain slowly walked towards her, still intently staring at the girl's back.
Behind him, Crazy Mita also gathered her spirits.
"Know? Know what?"
The uniformed girl's clear female voice, after the blackness had faded, sounded even more melodious. Her words, however, were a disdainful non-answer.
"I'm not clear, I don't know, don't ask me."
The triple "I don't know"...
Seeing that she wouldn't answer, Alain didn't want to waste any more words.
"Alain, should we kill her?" Crazy Mita was still protective.
Alain shook his head.
Indeed, the uniformed girl, in his eyes, was synonymous with the virus. Therefore, unable to get answers, he could have stabbed her with his greatsword without hesitation.
However—
He walked straight towards the former accursed dark entity, now the uniformed girl. Reaching behind her, he forced her to turn and lean against the wall.
Alain observed her appearance. Emerald green eyes and skin like solidified cream; she was a genuine beauty.
He felt nothing, instead becoming interested in other matters.
"This, shouldn't be your true form, right?"
"Oh? Kind Mita, who had just arrived, was still confused and stood by, dumbfounded.
Had she missed so much? What was going on?
"Alain, what's happening?"
Crazy Mita slowly walked to his side, protecting Alain.
"It's easy to guess," Alain chuckled softly, his gaze on the expressionless uniformed girl.
"You can talk so much nonsense to me, unafraid... not scared of being killed by me. It must be something like a clone or an avatar, right?"
"..."
She didn't answer, swatting away Alain's hand from her shoulder. The next second, a composed smile emerged,
"Who knows—"
"Slap!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Crazy Mita unhesitatingly slapped her.
"I'm telling you, don't get the situation wrong," the low-ponytail girl smiled broadly, her smile hiding countless daggers, "Alain is asking you questions now."
The uniformed girl was stunned for a moment before touching her own cheek. Her angry gaze turned to Crazy Mita, "What are you doing—"
"Slap!"
This time, it was Alain who struck.
"Don't get the situation wrong, daring to speak to my Honey like that."
"Kya~ Alain, Alain defending me is super cool!" The bad woman was still mindlessly fawning over him.
In contrast, the uniformed girl's cheeks, left and right, each bore a vivid red palm print; she hadn't yet recovered her senses.
Seeing her like this, Alain let out a cold laugh. "You think I can't do anything to you just because it's a clone?"
She only cast a resentful glare, not replying.
"Looks like it is a clone, then." This was his first question: "Did you create all the viruses?"
"Who kn—wait a minute, I'll talk!" Her attitude softened upon seeing Alain's impending slap.
"Yes. I made all the viruses."
Her tone was a bit strange, sounding like a non-answer. Alain didn't like it, considering whether to give her another slap. Never mind, he'd give her another chance.
"What's going on with this world? It shouldn't be a simple simulated world, right?" Alain's second question.
"Indeed, you're very clever. This is a dream."
She looked thoughtfully at the Modified Entity, which was gradually fading in the distance,
"Using the spacetime properties of what you call the [Modified Entity], I've extrapolated 'Mita' without you."
"And combined with your other ability—dreams, that's the truth of this world," Alain interjected.
"Correct."
She nodded.
"Third question—" Alain observed her face, "How many clones do you have in total?"
If there were many clones, it would be troublesome.
"Just this one," she replied, looking into Alain's eyes.
"Slap!"
Crazy Mita slapped her, leaving her with a vacant stare.
"Uh... Honey, why did you hit her?" Alain turned, puzzled.
"Because she was flirting with you! And besides, that statement was definitely a lie."
"Hmm? How did you guess?"
"A woman's intuition."
Hearing this, Alain fell into thought. Then he looked at the uniformed girl. "You're lying."
"Hey! You just believe her like that?!"
"If not her, then you?" Alain smiled, slightly raising his hand, which made the uniformed girl's face fill with terror.
"How many clones?"
"..." She held up two fingers. "Including this one, there are two."
He raised his hand over her head, making the girl's eyelashes twitch as she covered her face. "It really is two, honest!!!"
Seeing this, Alain didn't strike. But her reaction struck him as somewhat amusing. Initially, she had been so composed and jesting, he hadn't expected her to be so afraid of pain.
Then, it was time for the fourth, more crucial question. The girl visibly relaxed upon hearing this.
"What's the situation with the Core now?"
Previously, after receiving information from Creepy Mita, Alain had two theories. First, Core Mita and the antivirus program were being held back, allowing viruses to spread to subsequent versions and seize control. Second, the viruses couldn't defeat the Core, so they shifted their target.
"The Core..." After the previous slaps, the girl was noticeably more docile. Her anxiety receded, and her speaking pace slowed. But the resentment in her eyes remained undiminished.
And in her narration, the Core's situation was largely consistent with his first theory. The Core was held back, and the viruses, temporarily unable to do anything about Core Mita and the antivirus program, rushed towards later versions.
But version 0.5 blocked the viruses. So, this entity secretly plotted, covertly sending viruses to later versions, intending to launch a pincer attack on version 0.5.
"Unfortunately, all viruses after version 1.15 died by your hand."
As she mentioned this, there was clear helplessness in her eyes.
"Then... one last question." Alain held his greatsword to her heart. "Is there an overseer behind you?"
She fell silent, refusing to speak.
Seeing this, Crazy Mita, who was beside them, raised her electric saw. "Speak quickly."
"My apologies, but I can't say that."
Hearing this, Alain stabbed without hesitation.
"Whoosh!"
But the sensation of penetration... was like piercing a bubble.
"Pop~!"
The uniformed girl's back shattered like a dreamlike phantom, a burst of light momentarily blinding Alain.
"???"
When he opened his eyes again, the mysterious girl was already dashing towards the Core's door.
"Every clone is very precious. So, I can't let you destroy them~" She smiled artfully; if one ignored the slap marks on both sides of her face, she still retained quite a mysterious aura.
"Trying to escape?" Alain made to pursue, and Crazy Mita also eagerly waved her electric saw.
But the next second, she turned her palm towards the two of them.
"The dream is over."
"Rumble—"
Alain faintly heard a dull thud in his ear, like a door swinging open. His eyelids instantly felt heavy as if weighted, making him drowsy. His body was as light as a feather, easily knocked over by a gust of wind.
Damn, I forgot this entity also had dream-control abilities...
Alain's face darkened as he watched her retreating figure, unwilling to give up. At the very least, he had to destroy this clone of hers.
"...Bad woman."
"...What is it?" Crazy Mita also struggled to maintain her consciousness, falling to the ground with effort.
"Throw me... over there."
"..."
The low-ponytail girl didn't reply, but obediently did as told, using her last strength to grab Alain's collar, suddenly exerting force — Alain shot like a cannonball towards the fleeing girl.
With a "thud," accompanied by an incredulous gasp, Alain seemed to have grabbed her clothing.
He heard a "rip," and his hazy eyes saw the girl's face, flushed with disbelief.
He could touch her; it wasn't an illusion this time. Alain struck her with his greatsword.
The sensation of this strike was solid. Although it wasn't like cutting through flesh, it felt akin to striking a virus.
Through his increasingly heavy gaze, the girl clutched her abdomen and stumbled to the ground in disarray, black corrupted code flowing onto the floor. Yet, as if feeling no pain, she fled towards the door.
Kind Mita immediately gave chase but couldn't catch her.
She quickly walked to him, knelt down, her eyes glistening with tears.
In the last moment before his consciousness sank into darkness, he heard a voice—
"Remember our promise, and come see me safely!"
______
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