Really? We Have to Go Back?

"720 Security Guard, always by your side. No matter when, no matter where."

Alain stared at the unassuming banner at the top of the system panel, a wave of emotions washing over him.

It was true… the Security Guard had lived up to its motto, faithfully accompanying him from the real world to the virtual one, and finally, back again.

The irony, of course, was that this constant companionship became utterly useless the moment Alain returned. He had no intention of ever going back to Mita's world. The Security Guard's promise of "no matter when, no matter where" rang hollow.

Or so he thought.

"Yeah… that's what I thought," Alain muttered to himself.

His eyes drifted to the far right of the Security Guard's completed progress bar, to the string of numbers now glowing a triumphant gold: 100,000.

In the real world, Alain was saddled with a crippling debt of one million.

He clicked on the glowing numbers.

[Next Mission: Available in 720 minutes.]

The reward for completing the Security Guard's progress bar? Cold, hard cash.

"So, each mission pays enough to chip away at this debt…"

Another message popped up.

[Detected system bug: Security Guard erroneously transferred Mita's character and items to reality. This bug has now been fixed.]

[Compensation: 1. 20,000 as a resettlement fee for the character.]

[2. Please visit the system store. Note: Items can be freely used. Security Guard offers its sincerest apologies for this error.]

Two soft "dings" confirmed the deposit of 20,000 into his account. The payment was anonymous, originating from overseas.

"Character and… items? And a resettlement fee?"

Alain glanced back at the girl huddled on the sofa.

Kind Mita, finally grasping her predicament, looked utterly dejected, letting out small, whimpering "huh, huh…" sounds.

The resettlement fee… Alain had no intention of keeping most of it. It felt right to use it for Mita's living expenses. After all, she was the reason he'd received it.

This neatly solved the first immediate problem of a suddenly-appearing game character: food. As for her long-term stay, Alain decided to wait until after the next mission, letting Mita herself decide.

He understood "character" to mean Mita. But "items"?

Puzzled, Alain instinctively patted his pockets. His hand froze as he reached into his pants.

"…"

He knew exactly what it was.

As a two-time transmigrator and a seasoned veteran of anime and manga worlds, he'd remained remarkably calm during his encounter with Crazy Mita. Even locked in the small, dark room, he'd kept his cool.

But now, he was genuinely flustered.

He pulled the object from his pocket. Pure white fabric, adorned with a dainty pink bow.

These were… the mischievous girl's panties. The very ones he'd left an IOU for in that dark room.

So, this was the "item" the system had brought over?

"…"

Should he… you know?

Just kidding.

After a moment of stunned silence, Alain carefully put them away. He had a hunch… they might come in handy for teasing the mischievous girl later.

"She's probably furious right now," he mused.

He recalled the final moments of the game, her tearful pleas for him to stay… It was impossible to deny that he'd felt something.

A crying mischievous girl was undeniably cute.

If Crazy Mita ever found out about her stolen panties, she'd be livid.

He made a mental note: bring a gift for the mischievous girl next time he entered the game. Otherwise, she'd likely greet him with a chainsaw, professional skills or not.

He needed to cultivate this money tree carefully. Slow and steady wins the race.

His gaze then fell on the ring on his finger.

He'd almost forgotten the "token of love" he'd brought back with Kind Mita.

He also planned to explore the system store later. His attention was drawn to the third notification, marked by a small red dot.

[Security Guard Function: Bug Fix enabled.]

"…Bug Fix?"

He exited the message screen and focused on the icon. It had been grayed out and unclickable in the game, but now it glowed white, inviting interaction.

He clicked it. Kind Mita's avatar was the only thing displayed, with a progress bar-like text beneath it. The current task showed: Progress 25%.

After reading the system's explanation, Alain fell silent.

He turned his head, looked at Kind Mita, and sighed softly.

Bug Fix… Essentially, game characters were like "data."

The system, through some unknown power, had altered their fundamental existence, allowing them to exist indistinguishably from humans in the real world.

However, from the perspective of reality, game characters were still [Bugs] – entities that shouldn't exist.

And because the system had changed her [essence] as a game character…

Kind Mita could never go back.

Alain's heart felt heavy. He didn't know how he was going to tell her.

He tried to distract himself, focusing on the word "fix." What did that even mean?

He had three guesses. One: a favorability system. Two: helping Kind Mita acclimate to this world, integrating her into reality. Three: the "shyness" mechanic from the game.

If it was a favorability system, he'd rather pass. Bringing someone into reality and then courting them felt… exploitative.

He sighed again and checked the reward for reaching 25% progress in the Bug Fix.

[Mission Objective: Fix this character to 25% progress. Unlock system function: 720 Cloud Storage.]

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