"I hope we meet again! But next time, Player, keep your hands to yourself!"
As he stepped off the bus and onto the solid ground, the sound of the horn behind Alain drifted into a sweet, melodic voice.
He turned back, eyeing the closing doors and scanning the bus's body. With a smile like a "domineering CEO," he said, "Next time we meet, I'll definitely make you leak engine oil. Be ready for it!"
"Ah~ You're terrible!"
Amidst everyone's waving hands, Bus Mita hurriedly departed the station, flashing her hazard lights as a farewell.
Alain, meanwhile, finally had to face the scorn of his companions after his "dirty talk."
"I have to say, having a Player like you is truly my tragedy." The Tiny Mita in his pocket looked utterly helpless.
Cool Mita remained noncommittal. "If you keep this up... you're going to drift further and further away from me."
"Enough. If you drift away, I'll just drag you back."
Alain tapped Tiny Mita's head, while his other hand grabbed Cool Mita's high ponytail. The next second, he looked at Cool Mita in disbelief—or more accurately, at the hair on the back of her head.
He stared in shock at the strands she had tied up herself. He gave a gentle tug, and the girl's head tilted back slightly with his movement.
"What are you doing?" Cool Mita looked doubtfully at Alain, who looked as if he'd discovered a new continent.
Surprisingly, she didn't feel any annoyance at having her lovely hair grabbed.
"...Nothing."
Alain felt that if he said what he was thinking, he'd definitely get beaten up—even if it might add at least 10% to the progress bar. No, maybe even 15%. But he had no desire to take an iron fist from Cool Mita capable of punching through viruses.
"My heart is like a needle at the bottom of the ocean; you still need to study it carefully."
"...That sentence gets a zero. I have no desire to learn it." Cool Mita made "beady eyes," crossed her arms, and made an 'X' sign.
After a brief chat, Alain looked down at the platform and then cast his gaze further out.
He could see that this area wasn't as tidy as the previous stop. On the contrary: the ground was full of unnatural potholes and uneven bumps.
He looked behind him; the edge of the bus platform looked as if it had been half-eaten by insects, with jagged bite marks everywhere. There were also several holes scattered sporadically across the ground.
"It seems the damage from the viruses is more severe here." Alain's deduction was approved by Cool Mita.
"Correct. Because this is considered the 'Deep Version,' and we are very close to the Version Exit. If nothing unexpected happens..."
She touched her forehead and recited the numbers, "Within ten minutes, we will encounter the first wave of unavoidable viruses. Within an hour, we can reach the Version Exit..."
"...facing the 'massive horde of viruses' you mentioned, right?" Alain interjected.
And they had no other choice. Because the Version Exit, where the "massive horde" resided, was the only path to where Cute Mita was.
Furthermore...
"What are you thinking about? It's so hard to figure out a Player's mood."
"Heh."
Alain sneered. Tiny Mita knew he was about to spout nonsense.
Alain turned to look behind him. Bus Mita had already driven so far away she was no longer visible.
He had asked about the schedule on the bus earlier... there were roughly only two shifts a day that came out here. And that one just now was the second one.
If they wanted to turn back, they'd have to stay on this dangerous platform for a whole day. It was better to move forward.
In other words, they had no way of retreat.
"Let's go."
The group began to move. Due to the tense atmosphere, little was said along the way.
Just as Cool Mita had predicted, they encountered the first wave of viruses less than ten minutes in.
Cool Mita rushed to the front as usual. With her strength, she dispatched the enemies while barely breaking a sweat.
However, as they continued, a second and third wave followed in quick succession.
Fortunately, after the first wave, Alain realized this wasn't sustainable.
Alain possessed a "Man-Headed Spider-Wasp" hidden away as a surveillance tool, allowing him to spot viruses in advance.
Thanks to this omni-directional monitoring, they successfully avoided several waves of viruses.
During one encounter that was hard to avoid, Cool Mita's hair accidentally got dirty.
After the battle, Alain naturally began to help her tidy it up.
"What a pity..." Cool Mita held the hair tie, which had snapped into a single string, looking distressed.
"I wore this for so long, and now it's just broken."
Alain was combing through her fine hair.
Cool Mita cherished her waist-length hair. In Mita's language: this was her "Moe Point" (charm point). But the hair tie, essential to that charm point, had snapped.
"There, there." Alain felt around in his pocket and happened to find a new hair tie to put on her.
Once her waist-length hair was retied into a high ponytail, her valiant and heroic aura returned.
"By the way, why do you have girly items like this on you?" Cool Mita looked at him in confusion, flipping her long hair.
"And, I get the feeling... your hair-tying technique is a little too skilled, isn't it?" The girl took out a small mirror—a must-have for girls—and turned her head to examine the hair in the reflection.
He tied it even better than she, a genuine female, did...
"Haha..."
Alain gave a dry laugh. The hair tie was something the others had given him before he set out.
He had also taken many miscellaneous items from them. They called it "spares for the road."
As for why he was so skilled at tying hair...
There were three girls in his home. The girls always liked him to play with their hair after they showered.
Among them, especially Millie. Her hair was also a ponytail, just much shorter than Cool Mita's.
Over time, the female family members had caused Alain's skills in dealing with girls to level UP significantly.
"Alright, back to business."
After finishing with her hair, everyone's voices came through Alain's earpiece simultaneously.
"You philandering radish head, we've found the Version Exit and the virus swarm," came Millie's voice.
Then came the Short-Haired Mita's voice, "You big philandering idiot, the number of viruses is roughly estimated to be over 40."
"Cough cough... Dear Philanderer. Please be safe on the road."
Unsurprisingly, that was Misha.
With a twitching corner of his mouth, Alain relayed the news to Tiny Mita and Cool Mita.
The three of them put away their playfulness and looked ahead.
There stood a wall that reached straight to the ceiling of this sci-fi version.
The ground, with purple and white streams of light flashing across it, formed a right angle with the wall.
And right at that angle, there was an unremarkable door.
But in front of that door, a dense mass of viruses was either lying down or feeding on code.
Every single one of them was waiting for the arrival of those who wished to enter.
___
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