What to Do After Finding Her?

Mita stared at him, momentarily speechless, before rushing to clarify.

"No, that's not what I meant! This information about Crazy Mita... it's a huge breakthrough!" She paused, a flicker of curiosity crossing her face. "By the way... what does 'faceless male protagonist in harem novels' even—"

"Don't worry about that." Alain cut her off, knowing that explaining that to a young girl would only earn him a look of utter disdain.

He quickly steered the conversation back to the mischievous girl. Kind Mita, thankfully, let the question drop and listened intently.

As Alain recounted how, shortly after receiving Crazy Mita's first kiss, he'd complimented her, saying, "Your short hair is also very cute," the girl's eyes sharpened, a hint of disdain creeping in.

"Hey, don't look at me like that," Alain protested. "I didn't know then."

"Uh... sorry. It was subconscious..."

Alain hadn't expected the disdain from their previous encounter to resurface so quickly. He was momentarily flustered.

"Anyway, that's what happened. After that, I was locked in a dark room, some... things happened, I ended up in the basement, and then I met you."

"Hmm... you've been through a lot, too." The girl in the cell offered a wry smile. Seeing Alain's gaze drop, she quickly added, "It probably won't be like this anymore. Because now you and I are on the same side, dear!"

"..."

The girl's earnest expression almost made Alain retort, but he held back. Right now, the more pressing issue was at hand.

"Have you found a way to deal with the mischievous girl, dear?" He asked.

"?"

The girl was slightly taken aback by his use of the endearment, but she pressed on. "Of course! I've devised numerous plans. Although it's challenging, with this ring, we can definitely defeat—her?"

At the mention of "plan," her eyes lit up, like a child eager to show off a drawing. But the next second, she latched onto Alain's word choice.

"...Huh?"

"What's with the 'huh'?"

"No, no, no... Did I hear you correctly?" Kind Mita's face was a mask of disbelief. "You just said you want to find her?"

"Yeah." Alain saw no issue with that. "I mostly just had a disagreement with her."

Besides, he still had 25% of that progress bar to fill before he could activate his return trip. He needed to find the mischievous girl to complete it, but he kept that part to himself. He also kept the Security Guard system a secret.

"Ha, ha... I'm sorry, I'm having a little trouble processing this..." The girl pressed her hand to her forehead, rubbing her temples as if trying to organize her thoughts. "You're telling me you want to go find a crazed woman who wields a chainsaw like a pen, has turned countless players into cartridges, and even trapped me here?"

"Generally speaking, yes."

"Please don't joke. That's incredibly dangerous!" Realizing her tone might be inappropriate, Mita softened her voice. "If something happened to you, I'd be very upset, dear... Sigh, my head is starting to hurt even more."

Seeing Kind Mita teetering on the edge of agitation again, Alain wondered if she had some kind of planning-related obsessive-compulsive disorder. Everything had to follow a strict plan. Any deviation, and she'd unravel... that sort of feeling.

It was the complete opposite of Alain's style. He was the type to act first and think later. Although the journey had been a bit... unusual, he'd made it this far without any major catastrophes.

Besides, that string of "dears" was surprisingly pleasant to his ears. He should tell that mischievous girl to take notes. But he had a feeling that would land him right back in the dark room.

"In short, let me explain our plan," Mita began.

"...Our?"

"The key is this ring. It can guide you to the correct, shortest, and fastest route."

"Skip! Skip!" The girl ignored his interjection.

"And at the end of that route is the [Core] of this game world. There, you'll find a way to reset Crazy Mita."

"...Why don't you go?"

"I haven't explained that part in detail yet." Mita considered this for a moment, then explained, "We Mitas, for certain reasons, can't enter the Core. But players are individuals from outside this world. That restriction doesn't apply to you. And you, dear, can return to your own world by restoring Crazy Mita to normal."

"..."

Faced with this deluge of information, Alain's forehead practically sprouted question marks.

So, none of the Mitas knew how to listen, did they?! First, there was the one who threw tantrums and ignored everything, and now this one, unilaterally dragging him into her scheme...

Kind Mita seemed to realize she'd been rambling. "Sorry, I haven't talked to a normal person in too long. I'm kind of talking to myself... Sigh. Anyway, Alain, can you help me?"

"...I'll consider it."

The truth was, Alain now had a way to get home. However, helping the girl in front of him escape the cell seemed like a manageable first step.

"Consider it?" Seeing that Kind Mita was going to say something, he changed the topic. He had an idea. "Nevermind that for now. Let me get you out of here first, okay?"

"Ah... I almost forgot about that! Thank you!" The girl's face broke into a relieved smile. But Alain felt it was far too early for celebrations.

"Do you know where the key is?"

"It's on the machine next to the sofa. But you don't need to unlock the door, just hand me the key."

Following Mita's directions, Alain found a golden key resting on a nearby machine. He picked it up and approached the cell. The girl reached out, but Alain pulled the key back.

"...Huh?"

"Kind Mita. I'm going to teach you something now." Alain's expression turned serious, prompting the already serious girl to nod solemnly, albeit confused.

"Please tell me, is there something I'm not doing well enough?"

"..."

Her earnestness left Alain speechless, but he decided to roll with it. "Don't you know? When you're asking someone for a favor, you need to lean forward 45 degrees, blush, expose your cleavage, get a little teary-eyed, then ask."

The words tumbled out of Alain before he could stop them. He was even a little shocked himself. Had the mischievous girl's influence rubbed off on him so much that he could casually drop suggestive lines to Mita-type beautiful girls?

That was the only explanation he could think of.

__________

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