Lost Mita remained lost in tears of hope, Misha comforting her softly, until after some time, she finally wiped her eyes.
"S-sorry... for letting you see me like that."
"It's okay. Let's go give it a try now."
Alain's gaze shifted to the other side of the corridor, towards the door leading out of this wrecked gray-white room.
But before leaving, Alain first looked down at the mosaic pattern on the floor where the creature had been.
Trickles of code were still emanating from the center of the mosaic, though it was far less dramatic than the initial torrent of a thousand streams. Glancing around, most of the voids in the corridor walls had been filled, leaving only a few small holes still absorbing residual code from the defeated worm.
From the moment Alain first saw the virus, he had wondered: would killing it using his anti-virus system yield some kind of reward? He felt like an agent of his "Security Guard" anti-virus software within the game. Or perhaps, he was the Security Guard itself, purging the virus.
Yeah, right, like there'd be big rewards. This stingy system was probably feeling generous just giving him that memory optimization earlier.
As he mused, the last trickles of code from the mosaic vanished completely, leaving the corridor floor looking as if nothing had ever happened there.
"Hm?"
But where the worm's remains had been, on the now seemingly empty floor, a line of text materialized.
[DLC-Worm:＃8*f@l2＃j!m＆5n^3K%]
The title and the code string both glowed with a legendary gold color. Alain wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
At the same moment, a system notification from his Security Guard popped up.
[Reward Code Function Unlocked]
Reward Code?
Alain mused skeptically. A new function unlocked the very instant he killed the worm? And they claim that Devourer wasn't a virus?
Alain opened the interface—a plain black window appeared. Mentally, he tried inputting the DLC code he saw on the floor.
[Your Cleaning Acceleration has been upgraded]
"?"
Simultaneously, the greatsword beside him, which had been slowly fading after the battle, suddenly became solid and substantial again.
[With Cleaning Acceleration, the weapon's persistence outside of combat now depends on the user's lingering battle focus]
Easy enough to understand, Alain thought. Before, the greatsword would dissipate shortly after a fight ended. Now, after the upgrade, even out of combat, if he hadn't mentally let go of the battle readiness, the sword would remain.
Nice, extra security!
"Alain, what are you looking at?" Misha, done comforting the Lost Mita, came over, curiously peering at the empty spot on the floor Alain was staring at.
"You can't see it?"
"See what? Is something there?"
"It's nothing..." Alain mused. Is this some special feature of the Security Guard system? Misha can't even see this reward...
Alain glanced over at the long-legged girl nearby. The girl with the braids was idly tracing patterns on the floor with the tip of her shoe, occasionally glancing his way. Clearly, she was eager to get going.
"Alright, let's go."
The three of them left the main corridor, heading into the gray-white room that served as a junction.
The room's interior had been devastated by the Devourer: Perfected Form. Furniture lay shattered and scattered, broken down into component parts, mostly unusable. And yet, most of this behemoth's body had been eliminated by the device centered on the ceiling—a death caused by the environment itself.
Alain glanced up at the black sphere; it showed no signs of activity. He turned back to remind the Lost Mita, "Remember not to step on the black lines."
"O-okay."
The Lost Mita had witnessed the black sphere's power, so she naturally didn't dare make any careless moves, carefully following behind Alain and Misha.
Soon, they reached the second door within the room—the one that connected to other Mitas' rooms.
Alain took a deep breath, preparing to try his luck opening the door repeatedly, like drawing cards in a lottery, hoping to land on her room. His ring hadn't saved the location of that specific room earlier.
As for the risks of this "door lottery"... they certainly existed. For instance, running into one of the aggressive Mitas.
He asked Misha about it. She replied, "That's true... but most Mitas in this game world are friendly. As long as your luck isn't abysmal."
"Okay."
Alain figured his luck was generally pretty good.
So, he reached for the doorknob and opened the door.
Before him lay a rather dimly lit room. It wasn't the oppressive darkness of a storm, but rather the gentle, starry dimness conducive to sleep. A star projector cast shimmering constellations onto the walls, creating a cozy atmosphere. Faint sounds of peaceful breathing could be heard.
Unfortunately, this wasn't his target. Alain closed the door.
"Not this one. But don't worry," he reassured the Lost Mita, "we'll find it eventually."
"Mm." The Lost Mita seemed to understand how the door worked now. She and Misha stood close by Alain's sides, ready for any potential danger.
Click.
He opened it a second time. Still not the Lost Mita's room, but the one belonging to the Mita with glasses he'd seen before.
He closed it.
This second miss didn't discourage Alain in the slightest. If anything, it suggested the pool of rooms this door connected to wasn't excessively large.
Click.
Third time.
Click.
Fourth time.
Click.
Fifth time.
...
In the process, they did encounter some genuinely perilous glimpses: one room was filled with robots resembling puppets, their eyes glowing red. Another revealed grotesque spider-like shapes made of glitched code, topped with human heads. On one occasion, they even caught sight of that treacherous woman groggily getting up from a bathroom floor. Luckily, they only saw her back, and she likely didn't notice them. Horrified, Alain slammed the door shut instantly.
Time skip back to the current attempt.
Click.
He opened the door for the nth time. Saw another "normal" room for the nth time.
The door opened onto a bedroom. Gentle sunlight cast dappled patterns on the walls, and motes of bright dust drifted in the air like daytime fireflies.
Alain's eyes immediately focused on a photograph on the wall.
A girl beamed hopefully from within the wooden frame, her braid caught mid-air. The photo itself radiated an aura of joy and laughter.
He checked the doorframe – no black stains.
Behind Alain, the Lost Mita stared, dumbfounded, at the scene before her, her eyes wide with disbelief.
The home she had searched for countless times, opening innumerable doors always in vain, was now right in front of her.
The Lost Mita felt a chaotic tangle of emotions in her heart, like a jumbled ball of yarn. But she knew this overwhelming mess was a good thing. She didn't know how she could possibly thank Alain and his Mita.
It wasn't until Misha gently nudged her back that the Lost Mita snapped out of her daze.
"C-can I go in?"
She asked Alain involuntarily, her voice filled with the awe of someone receiving an incredibly precious gift.
Alain simply smiled in response.
"Shouldn't we be asking you that?"
"..."
The Lost Mita didn't quite understand the player's meaning at first. They had helped her find her home, given her a gift unlike any other. Then, realization dawned like a ripple spreading in her eyes.
That's right... This is my home. I'm the host here.
And a host must never be rude to her guests.
At this thought, a sweet smile bloomed on her face, mirroring the gentle girl in the photograph.
"Excuse me... may I invite you to be guests in my home?"
The Lost Mita clasped her hands before her chest, regarding her two honored guests. Then, realizing her formality might seem stiff, she hastily, perhaps a little flusteredly, extended her hands towards them.
Alain and Misha exchanged a knowing smile, understanding each other perfectly.
"Okay."
Together, they each took one of the Lost Mita's outstretched hands.
Becoming the very first guests to visit her home.
___
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