"Player, what do you think of me?"
At this moment, Alain was facing the greatest crisis of his life.
Prankster Mita seemed to be jealous and was leveling an unanswerable accusation at him.
"Who's jealous? I wouldn't get jealous over a sneaky cat... hmph!"
"..."
Right, they could now see through his innermost thoughts.
And under Prankster Mita's gaze, the dialogue box on the screen changed at that very moment.
It changed.
[Prankster Mita is a good little sister.]
"...That's it?" The short-haired girl felt like her world was collapsing. She muttered to herself, grabbing her hair, her face a picture of misery.
She'd been plotting to conquer Alain all day, only to be rated as a 'good little sister'?
You can't be serious?!
That one over there gets a marriage proposal, and I'm just a good little sister?! Sob... This is so hard...
[The little sister archetype is her unique appeal. As an only child, I sometimes imagine having a cute, clingy little sister who calls me 'Onii-chan'. When I'm with Prankster Mita, I put myself in the role of the older brother. And then... every time she gets close and cuddly, I get this strange, perverse thrill.]
"..."
She fell silent. She hadn't lost yet~ She wasn't just a simple good little sister, she was... a good little sister who could give her player a perverse thrill!
No... I have to press my advantage now!
Prankster Mita bit her lip and opened her mouth slightly, only to find... she couldn't get those three words out.
[Hm? Why did it suddenly get quiet out there? Don't tell me my thoughts are running wild again? Dammit... I have to control my thoughts!!!]
That's right... Prankster Mita was, on the contrary, fired up by that sentence in the dialogue box.
She bit her lip gently and, deciding to go for it, squeezed her eyes shut—
"O-Onii-chan! I want to marry you in the future too!!!"
[!]
"Ah!"
"Prankster, you?!"
Alain's dialogue box, Misha, and even Big Sister were all stunned.
[My little sister is too good at this. I think I'm the one being won over.]
"Yay!" Prankster Mita raised her hand high. A great victory!
"Well then, I suppose it's my turn." Short-Haired Mita took a deep breath, as if facing a grueling war.
"Alain, what... do you think of me?"
[Big Sister is so lewd.]
"...?" She froze.
[Whenever I think of Big Sister, I can't help but picture her sitting on a high chair, swinging her long legs. I have to say, it's really lewd. I honestly don't know how Big Sister can act so serious all the time, yet still give off such a lewd feeling when she swings her legs. She's practically a human lewdness generator. No... perhaps it's the combination of her seriousness and her leg-swinging that creates that explosive lewdness.]
"You! Every time you mention me, all you can say is 'lewd'! I'm really..."
"Sister, calm down!" Prankster Mita grabbed her arm, stopping Short-Haired Mita from losing it.
"I-In a way, didn't you win too, Sister?! Look, Alain isn't this direct with me or Misha!"
"Sob... This isn't the kind of victory I wanted!" Short-Haired Mita said, exasperated.
[Big Sister's whimpering... so delectable.]
"You bastard, Alain! When you get out of that computer screen, I'm going to punish you severely!"
[...Elaborate on the punishment.]
"Ugh..." Short-Haired Mita thought for a moment and realized she couldn't really think of any excessive punishment for Alain.
"F-First, I'll kick you, and then I'll humiliate you by using you as a chair?"
She found her train of thought, clapping her hands with a flash of inspiration. "That's it! Since you like my legs so much, I'll use my legs to punish you severely! And guide you back to the right path."
Yes, that was her goal. Liking her legs was definitely not the right path. She had to make Alain discover more of her good qualities!
[...]
A few ellipses appeared in the dialogue box, and Short-Haired Mita wondered if her punishment was too harsh.
[I want to wash Big Sister's feet]
"Huh?!" Short-Haired Mita's face went pale for a second. She realized that Alain was straying further and further down a deviant path.
A moment later, everyone collected their thoughts.
And the person sitting in the computer chair had switched from Short-Haired Mita to Prankster Mita.
"Heh... I'm just a human lewdness generator..." Short-Haired Mita muttered to herself while squatting in a corner.
Misha, in the real world, saw this and facepalmed. "Honestly, we're in the middle of a mission, how did things turn out like this..."
"Shut up, marriage candidate!" the short-haired sisters snapped in unison.
[Are these three reliable at all? Maybe I should just get rid of the Failed Works Gauntlet first?]
"Ahem... Alright, alright. Let's focus on the mission!" Misha spoke up, pulling everyone's thoughts back on track.
Short-Haired Mita also stood back up next to the computer and spoke to Alain:
"Alain, what can you see on your end?"
[A room.]
"Hmm..." Short-Haired Mita observed the scene displayed on the screen.
In the top-left corner, there was an email icon with a little red dot. In the bottom-left corner were 'savedata' and 'loaddata' labels, meaning save and load.
So far, the UI of this galge seemed remarkably simple.
There wasn't even a logout button.
Short-Haired Mita relayed what she saw to Alain.
[No logout button? Is this Sword Art Online?]
"Sword Art Online?"
[Never mind. The Asuna from the doujins is also quite delectable—]
"Alain!"
[...Sorry, just an inner thought.] As he silently apologized, Prankster Mita, outside the game, had already clicked on the red dot on the email icon.
"Hmm? There's a message inside?"
There were two unread emails in total. She clicked on one of them.
[The Bad End route currently has a bug that will cause the save and load functions to malfunction. Please do not enter.]
The second one read: [Please note: Choices made within the game must be carried out. Please consider carefully before selecting.]
"These must be the instructions for this game. Especially the second email..." Misha narrowed her eyes and stated her conclusion. "In other words, if one of the game's options is 'stay here forever' or 'don't leave', then it must be fulfilled... That's my take on it."
"I think so too." Short-Haired Mita put a hand to her forehead. "Since Alain can't see the game's UI, it means the choices can only be made by us."
Prankster Mita found the silver lining. "But isn't this also an opportunity?"
She looked at her sister and the real-world Misha standing by the desk.
"The power to save and load is in our hands, which means we have more room to maneuver. For example, saving right before a choice."
[Good little sister, you really have a talent for galges.]
"Hee hee~ Thank you, Onii~chan~" Prankster Mita giggled.
Misha said, "Then let's try the save function first."
"Okay." As the operator, Prankster Mita moved the mouse and opened the save screen.
"Only one save slot?" She frowned slightly. "That's very limiting. Do we need to be careful about when we use it...?"
Misha was thinking, looking at Alain on the screen. Her furrowed brow suggested she had noticed a problem.
"Alain, your reason for entering this room should be to find the path to Version 1.0F, right?"
[Correct.]
"But this place doesn't look like a normal Mita's room at all, let alone our objective." She tried to voice her conclusion. "Should you retreat with the gauntlet first? We can reconsider our strategy."
[No need.]
Unexpectedly, Alain rejected Misha's suggestion.
His gaze fell upon the ring on his finger. The dark green ornament was emitting a faint glow.
This was also the reason why Alain hadn't chosen to immediately leave this version that could restrain his body.
As soon as he entered this 2D version, the ring began to vibrate. In other words..."
[Let's call it the 2D version for now. The ring is reacting in the 2D version.]
"This is the path to Version 1.0F? How is that possible?!" Short-Haired Mita said in surprise. "But 1.0F is in a nearly lost state!"
[It's simple.]
The dark blue dialogue box paused, then changed.
[This version, just like 1.0F, is already 'lost'. Which means, this version must be the necessary path to reach 1.0F.]
"So, do we need to find the 'female protagonist' to understand the situation?" Misha asked.
[Maybe I should check the other rooms?] The dialogue box displayed Alain's guess.
"Alain, are you able to move?"
[I can. I used the gauntlet's permanent buff just now to get partial freedom of movement.]
Alain walked towards the bedroom door and opened it without hesitation.
"I see her," Prankster Mita said.
In the screen's field of view, there was a 2D girl—
—meditating on a large bed.
[Meditating?]
Alain was puzzled. Was this some kind of new character trope?
The girl, unsurprisingly, was a Mita. She had indigo hair tied into two short pigtails, wore a bright red, faux-layered T-shirt that was slightly different from the standard outfit, and a pleated, dark blue miniskirt.
She had her eyes peacefully closed, as if contemplating the nirvana of Buddhism and the great Dao of Taoism.
The next moment, she opened her eyes as if she had already anticipated Alain's arrival, and smiled faintly:
[You've come.]
On the computer screen, the dialogue box's color changed from Alain's dark blue to a light pink, displaying this content.
"I see... The dark blue dialogue box is Alain, and the light pink one is this Mita." Prankster Mita clicked the mouse, and then the male lead, Alain, and the female lead, Mita, began a rather routine conversation.
Misha said, "I've never seen this Mita before... Do you know her, Sister?"
"I don't." Short-Haired Mita shook her head, indicating she hadn't heard of her.
At the same time, the light pink dialogue on the screen changed again.
[So, for what reason have you come to this version?]
Then, three options appeared in the center of the screen, pausing the conversation between the male and female leads:
[I came here to find you] [I want to go to Version 1.0F, can you help me?] [To see a poor, forgotten soul]
_____
🔥 Check out the new story releases! 🔥
🪦 A 25% discount is active on my P... support page!
✅ Unlock a 40-chapter backlog for ALL my series.
✅ Receive exclusive content and regular updates!
Help us reach these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 universal bonus chapter
🚀 80 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters for ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnutchan