She was a gentle and elegant office lady, carrying a shopping bag, looking as if she had just casually stepped out to do some shopping. Her height was probably about the same as Alain's. But with her well-proportioned figure and the addition of high heels, she appeared very tall.
[The realtor lady? She's a very kind woman, about 30 years old, with a tall and slender figure. A very mature person.]
This was Misha's description of the real estate agent for the large apartment. These characteristics perfectly matched the woman before him.
Realizing this, Alain smiled wryly and touched his forehead, thinking he was just being too paranoid, associating every mature woman he saw with that realtor...
Honestly, the description was very broad; finding her in a sea of people would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. How could he possibly run into her just by coming out once?
"Tap, tap, tap..."
But, whether it was his imagination or not, the crisp, pleasant sound of high heels was getting closer and closer.
"...?"
He looked up, and the office lady was standing gracefully right in front of him. What was going on? A coincidence? Could it be that much of a coincidence? Or maybe she was just coming over to ask for directions?
"Long time no see, Mr. Alain." Her words shattered all of Alain's hopeful delusions.
Right... coincidences don't happen that easily. The confusion on Alain's face vanished as he looked directly at the woman.
He was certain her face wasn't one he recognized. He had no memory of it whatsoever.
He feigned ignorance, smiling as he asked, "Excuse me, do we know each other?"
Seeing this, the office lady fell silent for a moment, her brightly lipsticked lips trembling.
"203."
With that number, the silence shifted to Alain. 203 was the apartment number of the large flat.
"So it really is you. I didn't think you'd have the nerve to see me." Alain sat back on the bench, casually crossing his legs.
Seeing his attitude, the woman frowned. "What? Is there a problem with the apartment?"
"Nothing's wrong with it. I'm very grateful for your gift..." Alain bowed his head slightly in thanks, his gaze never leaving her. "Really... thank you so much, Monika."
"?!!"
He could clearly see the realtor's smile freeze the moment she heard that name.
Alain sneered, thinking to himself that he'd guessed right. He had just thrown the name out there on a whim.
After all, after getting the information from Miffy, a lot of things could be connected. For example... the consciousness entity was a gift from Monika to Miffy.
And at that time, there were two realtors for the large apartment: one inside the dream and one outside. The one inside the dream was Miffy. So, was it possible that the one outside the dream was Monika?
This was just speculation. The only person who had completely come to light was the 'woman' from the core—Monika. Thus, his earlier guess: was Monika the realtor? The answer, now, was abundantly clear.
"Sigh..." Monika let out a faint sigh, snapped her fingers lightly, and her body's surface flickered with a fleeting shimmer.
Colors reconfigured themselves, code systematically shifting into new blocks of color.
Alain silently observed the reactions of the pedestrians around them. Was it as he expected, or a surprise?
There was no reaction at all. Passersby continued to walk and chat, the world kept turning, and nothing changed.
When the bizarre, kaleidoscopic phenomenon on her body subsided, the coral-brown-haired girl appeared before his eyes for the second time.
Alain observed her height; she was a good deal shorter than the office lady, only reaching his lips. Compared to her foreign-sounding name, her height was rather petite, only about 1.6 meters. For comparison, the Russian girl—Mita—was 1.75 meters tall.
"Am I pretty?" The brown-haired girl blinked her large eyes, expectantly awaiting Alain's assessment.
Hearing this, Alain shook his head without hesitation. "My assessment is: not as good as Crazy Mita."
For some reason, Monika seemed to really dislike Crazy Mita. And Alain happened to want to provoke her.
"Heh, heh... You really have a way with words. In front of a Lady, praising another girl."
She shook her head lightly, causing the large butterfly bow tying back her extra-long hair to sway gently with her tresses.
"Forget it. I didn't come here to listen to this."
She took a box out of the shopping bag beside her and thrust it into his hands, ignoring his reaction.
"?" He examined the box. It was just a plain cardboard box with no decorations, looking remarkably simple.
"Shortcuts can be taken sometimes." The girl remarked cryptically as he examined it.
"Well then, that's all the business I had. We'll meet again~"
After that, she left as quickly as she came, leaving only the faint fragrance of her hair behind.
Alain subconsciously reached out to grab her arm, but his hand closed on nothing but air. He glanced around for a handy weapon, contemplating whether he should just attack her.
The mall was wide open; the only thing he could use was a fire extinguisher, but that wasn't realistic. At the very least, he needed to ask for more information.
"Why did you give Miffy the virus? Why are you invading the game world? And what did that sentence just now mean?"
"I don't know, I'm not telling you, it's a secret~ Bye-bye!" She reached the corner, looked back at the rapidly approaching Alain, and gave him a sparkling wink.
Then she turned the corner and was gone.
By the time Alain reached the mall's corner, the girl's figure was nowhere to be seen.
"...So weird."
She comes all this way to see me, gives me some useless box, but won't tell me why. And then she spouts some baffling nonsense.
[Alain...]
If I'd known... I should've just grabbed the fire extinguisher and smashed her with it the moment I saw her.
[Alain]
Alain thought he should probably remember what she said. As for now...
His gaze fell on the box in his hands, and just as he was about to open it and find out what was inside—
—
[Alain!]
A voice calling his name by his ear instantly pulled his thoughts back to reality.
"...?"
In a daze, it felt as if something had shattered, dragging his consciousness up to the surface.
With a start, he looked around blankly at the bustling mall. His surroundings hadn't changed at all.
"Alain, what's wrong?" The only change was the sound of Crazy Mita's worried voice.
He looked toward the sound and saw his own reflection in the girl's glittering eyes.
"Sorry, I'm fine," Alain said, smiling to reassure her. "By the way, what was I just doing?"
"A woman came over to ask for directions just now, and you ended up staring at her completely mesmerized." As she spoke, the girl shot him a harsh glare. "I saw you two talking just fine, then I don't know what was said, but she started running, and you started chasing her."
"A woman... so everything that just happened was real."
Realizing something, he looked down.
Sure enough... the box that should have been in his hands was gone.
"Bzz, bzz—"
His phone began to vibrate in his pocket.
He pulled out his phone and looked. The lock screen read—
[You have received an email.]
___
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