Adorable

Gazing into those eyes, Alain felt a profound sense of certainty that Crazy Mita's next words would come directly from her heart.

His gaze flickered towards Misha, conveying a silent message. [You leave here first; I need to talk with her alone.]

[Won't there be any danger?] Misha's mental reply was laced with concern.

[I can handle it. Give me ten minutes.] Alain reassured her telepathically.

[If you're not out in ten minutes, I'm coming in to help you immediately,] Misha responded firmly.

Misha quietly eased the bathroom door open. To mask the sound, Alain leaned closer to Crazy Mita, his lips near her ear. His warm breath brushed against her skin as he spoke, deliberately raising his voice, "What I said was all true." He glanced to the side, and seeing that Misha had safely slipped out, Alain breathed a small sigh of relief.

Actually, he hadn't been lying.

When he was teasing her, the strange woman's submissiveness, her shyness, every word and action had struck Alain as surprisingly innocent and pure.

Even her relentless pursuit, her willingness to use any means to capture him, had taken on a somewhat extreme, yet endearing, quality of gap moe.

Of course, from the perspective of the person being chased—Alain—this particular brand of gap moe was a bit too… "gap moe."

"Is… that so," Honey murmured, the turbulent emotions in her eyes gradually subsiding. "Then…"

She hesitated again, her hand forming a claw-like shape and hovering near her eyes. Her slightly long nails dug lightly into her skin.

Alain couldn't help but feel a prickle of curiosity about Crazy Mita's intentions.

Under his watchful gaze, the girl's hand remained still, poised near her eyes.

The eyes that had just calmed now swirled with renewed emotion. Alain watched intently as a wave of anxiety washed over them.

Her other hand gripped Alain's collar, revealing obvious unease.

"..."

He couldn't imagine what could make Crazy Mita, who usually oscillated between cheerful exuberance and sinister darkness, display such an expression of vulnerability.

The strength of her grip on Alain's clothes caused his shirt to wrinkle and almost tear, as if she were desperately trying to hold onto something precious that felt both close and impossibly far away.

"The cuteness I perceived is your essence," Alain said softly, his words pulling her back from the depths of her thoughts.

She looked up blankly, meeting his unwavering gaze.

"The current you is still hesitating. Then, let the future you tell me again," Alain said with a gentle smile, taking the hand she had hovering near her eye and holding it in his own.

Appearance was a bonus, and even for Alain, that held true.

But he firmly believed that what truly resonated with the heart was essence… in game terms, the underlying code.

"I think your code is well-written, your modeling is good too. It's just that you have some… violent tendencies that give me a bit of a headache…" Alain admitted with a wry smile.

"My code… is well-written?" Honey repeated, her voice barely a whisper, as if savoring the unexpected compliment.

Alain noticed a bright light bloom in the girl's eyes. It was the unmistakable light of being affirmed, of being truly seen.

She involuntarily reached out and brushed Alain's hair, her hand resting gently on his cheek. She leaned in, closing the small distance between them, and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"Chu…"

After the brief kiss, her tear-filled eyes seemed to ask a new, unspoken question.

"Then, Alain. Can… you stay by my side forever? Starting from now, never ending," she pleaded, her voice filled with hopeful longing.

Hope radiated from her entire being. The intense heat in her eyes raised Alain's own internal temperature quite noticeably.

His thoughts couldn't help but drift to a conjecture he had entertained in the real world: could he somehow bring Crazy Mita into reality?

Back then, Alain had dismissed the idea, citing "the other party has antisocial personality disorder" as the primary reason.

But the girl's heartfelt words brought the possibility back to the forefront of his mind.

Alain could probably guess that there were two major obstacles to bringing the strange woman into the real world.

Setting aside the significant hurdle of "adapting to reality," the 720 Security System clearly identified her as a virus.

Alain subtly opened the system panel and navigated to the store page. His gaze fell on the item priced at "99 points."

The item was labeled: Bring out bug.

The last mission had cost him one point, used to purchase [Identity] for Misha. He now had 99 points remaining.

Alain tapped the item, setting Crazy Mita as the target of "Bring out bug."

[Error! Target is a virus]

As expected… Alain still couldn't fathom why the security system classified her as a virus. Perhaps that was also the reason the girl wanted to confide in him but couldn't quite bring herself to articulate it.

If he could figure out the underlying reason, he might be able to change Crazy Mita's status from virus to ordinary Mita in the future, thus making it possible to bring her into the real world.

In the meantime, he would also have to address her… other tendencies, at the very least mitigating her more extreme antisocial traits.

If she were to randomly harm someone on the street, Alain knew he wouldn't be able to handle the consequences.

He closed the panel. The girl's soft murmur came as he had anticipated,

"Alain, can you? Stay with me in the game world, don't leave… I don't want to leave you," she pleaded, leaning against his chest, her big eyes fluttering with earnestness.

"Okay?"

"...I'm sorry," Alain replied gently, a hint of regret in his voice. He had his own life to return to.

In his home in the real world, there was a dear person who would cook for him, who was still outside, patiently waiting for him to emerge from the bathroom door.

And in the future, Alain knew he would encounter and interact with more adorable Mitas. He also looked forward to seeing more beautiful "flower exhibitions."

"Okay…" Crazy Mita seemed to have anticipated his answer, and she let out a soft sigh.

"You can go. If I meet you again, I will definitely hold you tightly in my palm and never let go," she declared, stepping back from Alain's embrace. Holding the candy he had given her, she also took out a piece from her own pocket and clutched it to her chest.

"Just like the gift you gave me," she said, a wistful smile on her lips.

"Mm," Alain replied softly.

"You go. Afterward, I'll count down from three. If you're still here, don't blame me~ Darling," her tone returned to its usual playful edge, as if their heartfelt exchange had never happened.

And under the weight of her words, Alain turned and walked towards the bathroom door.

"Sigh… doesn't this girl have any charm? I can never keep you," Honey murmured, a hint of self-deprecating humor in her voice.

Alain didn't respond, simply brushing past her shoulder.

"If only there hadn't been a sound from inside the closet back then, would I have been able to keep you by my side?" she mused, her voice barely a whisper as he stood only a meter away from the door, within easy reach.

"Perhaps, I should have… torn that doll to pieces earlier. I regret it now," she added, a chilling undertone creeping into her voice.

He raised his arm, his hand reaching for the doorknob. And then, the girl's voice behind him gradually turned cold, sending a shiver down Alain's spine.

"Next time… next time. Even if I have to cut off your limbs, I will keep you here."

"Oh, right, I still need to count down from three, don't I?" she said, clapping her hands together.

Alain had already eased the bathroom door open a crack. He caught a glimpse of Misha's slightly bored profile.

"3… 2… 1."

"Thump!"

The door slammed shut.

Alain slowly turned his stiff neck, his gaze falling on the hand resting on his forearm.

Following the arm upwards, he met the bright smile of the girl… who had recited the three-second countdown in what felt like half a second.

She crunched the candy in her mouth, her lips curving into a crescent moon. Below her lips, the gleam of sharp fangs sent a shiver of unease through Alain's entire body.

"Time's up," she announced, her voice deceptively sweet.

____

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