The radiance of the ring reached its most blazing point.
Alain looked at the unremarkable door before him, realizing he had reached his destination, and immediately set Mina down.
The young girl stood obediently to the side, tidying her slightly messy dress. Although the gloom on her face was somewhat better than before, a faint, lingering haze could still be seen.
Alain raised an eyebrow, aimed at her butt, and delivered a swift spank—
Smack! The sound was crisp, causing Mina to clench her teeth and widen her eyes.
"What are you doing?!" She stared at Alain angrily, rubbing her sore butt.
"Nothing much. You looked like it was that time of the month, so I just wanted to liven up the atmosphere."
Alain spread his hands, as if none of these actions were his doing.
"I really don't understand your way of thinking," she sighed helplessly. "Other Mitas look at me as if they've seen a God of Plague, yet only you... dare to spank my butt."
"You? A God of Plague?" Only then did Alain belatedly realize that this girl had initially planned to imprison him just like Yang Wanhua.
It was just that, through the mutual influence between her and Alain, Mina had changed a lot.
But her essence hadn't changed.
"Is there such a cute God of Plague?"
"Hmph~ I'll give you credit for being a sweet talker." Mina accepted his explanation, once again rubbing her soft flesh in pain. "I really hope you can treat me gently, just like you treat the Long-Haired Doll... I really don't know if you see me as a lover... or just a disposable mistress."
"...Mistress?" He really didn't know how Mina came up with such vocabulary.
But never mind... before opening the door, Alain had one more thing he wanted to ask her.
"I want to ask you something." regarding Mina, he didn't intend to hide anything, opting to ask directly.
He looked at the door ahead. "Do you know Yang Wanhua?"
"Yang... Wanhua?" The young girl seriously pondered these two words. After a long while, she shook her head. "I have no impression of her."
"Is that so..." Alain hadn't held much hope to begin with.
His original doubts regarding the connection between Mina and Yang Wanhua stemmed from the similarities in their personalities.
After all, Mina also had photos she secretly took of him, and Yang Wanhua's residence had a photo wall; Mina had once wanted to imprison him under one roof, and Yang Wanhua was the same.
But Alain felt that Mina was far cuter than Yang Wanhua.
Thinking so much was useless; the key... was to get the answer from Core Mita.
Alain pondered this, raising his hand to open the door.
However, Mina suddenly darted over, blocking the front of the door.
Under his confused gaze, Mina smiled sheepishly. "Alain, did you forget? That is my boudoir. Of course, I need some time to prepare!"
"...Huh?"
A girl's boudoir? If one really had to say that, hadn't he broken into girls' rooms countless times?
No, with the mission imminent, this wasn't the time to care about such trivial details.
"With our relationship, do we still need to consider that?"
"Oh my... girls always care about some privacy, you know!" Mina didn't let Alain have his way this time.
She stared into the young man's eyes as if pleading for help, her teal-blue pupils blooming with specks of starlight.
Seeing this, Alain said helplessly, "Fine, but you have to be quick. Also, help me check for Core—"
"Okay! I'll get ready immediately!" After speaking, she opened a crack in the door and vanished in a flash.
Bang!
The door was almost overwhelmed by her monstrous strength, and even the wall cracked in several places.
Watching this, Alain felt worried about his future...
"...Muscle woman."
BANG—!!!
The door seemed to have heard his words; it opened for an instant and immediately slammed shut again, emitting an earth-shaking sound.
A piece of broken modeling smashed onto Alain's head, knocking him silly.
"Cough, cough... walls have ears."
Alain simply leaned against the wall, waiting for Mina's so-called "room tidying."
He certainly wasn't that stupid; he understood that Mina was likely hiding something crucial from him.
But Alain knew that his main goal in coming to Version 0.98 was for Core Mita.
And Mina's secret was presumably related to the Failed Works. He had known about these things for a long time, so there was no need to continue delving deeper or overthinking it.
As long as it didn't endanger the safety of the Mitas or obstruct Alain's path forward, he could allow Mina's repeated willfulness.
Creak—
The sound of the door opening.
Alain turned his head and saw a small head poking out from the doorframe. It was Mina's gaze, faintly observing the outside world.
Her eyes met Alain's, and she glanced away guiltily.
"Ti-tidied up. Do you want to come in?"
Hearing this clumsy question, Alain wanted to laugh a little. "What are you saying? I'm already here, of course I'm coming in. What? You won't even let me see the bridal chamber?"
"Bridal chamber... it hasn't gone that far yet." Mina scratched her cheek, opening the door wide enough for Alain to enter.
Alain slowly walked inside. Entering his vision was bright lighting and a tidy room.
Pink wallpaper, floating white particles, and photos of a low-ponytail girl on the wall—
"D-don't look! Aren't you looking for Core Mita?" Mina anxiously waved her hand to distract Alain's vision.
He asked in confusion, "Did you not see Core Mita when you just came in?"
"Me? I was tidying the room... how could I pay attention to that much?"
Seeing Alain about to speak again, the young girl hurriedly said, "By the way, there's strength in numbers! How about we split up to search?"
"Hmm? That works too..." Alain intended to walk toward the bedroom but was stopped by Mina, who spread her arms like she was guarding a calf.
"N-no. I haven't tidied up the bedroom yet; it's really too messy! So..."
The young girl pointed to the other end of the living area.
"You go search the kitchen and living room, how about it?"
What she said was a question, but what she did was a statement: she opened the bedroom door and, just like a few minutes ago, vanished in a flash.
"???"
Leaving Alain alone in the living room in confusion.
"Living room..." Alain looked around, sizing up the empty living room. "Does this even need searching?"
His gaze fell back onto the photos of the smiling, lovely young girl on the wall.
He held a photo, looked at Crazy Mita, and smiled faintly.
His Honey was cute no matter when. It was hard to imagine that such a young girl was originally a Failed Work.
Alain sensed an indescribable contradiction, but he couldn't grab that crucial thread.
Forget it, he thought.
Then, looking at the only room he needed to search—the kitchen—Alain walked over slowly.
With a creak, the young man's back disappeared into the kitchen.
____
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