Millie felt like she was on a reverse rollercoaster.
"Whoa, whoa?! What on earth is happening?!" The tender pink decor of the corridor sped backward on her left and right.
The grandfather clock at the second corner, the cabinet where the alarm clock was placed, the first corner, until the door opened for an unknown nth time, and a pushing force made her fall to the ground.
"Oof...!" A sharp pain shot through her rear, causing tears to well up in the corners of the girl's eyes.
"That hurt so much..." She vaguely remembered, as if time had rewound, going from the 15th loop back to the previous dark corridor, until now.
"By the way, where am I now?" Millie rubbed her bottom and stood up, looking around.
All she could see was tender pink decor. Vases on either side, and a counter beneath the vase on her right.
The number displayed on the counter was "1."
The first loop. In short... she seemed to have returned to the starting point.
"Er... What's going on?" She remembered that Little Mita seemed to have just adjusted the alarm clock, and then she came back?
Her brain, praised by Misha as "quick-witted," rapidly figured out everything Alain had guessed.
"No way... she actually adjusted my time through the clock."
Millie quickly realized a dangerous fact. She looked at the game controller in her hand, then at the corridor ahead leading to the next loop.
"I can't leave Alain alone... Otherwise, with his penchant for petite types, who knows what kind of criminal things he might do to Little Mita."
By then, if he gets caught by the police. What about herself... no, what about her best friend? No, no, no... It should be that if he was left alone, without the controller, and encountered that monster, he would definitely be in for a tough fight.
"But..." She looked left and right. According to her guess: the alarm clock could control her time. Then, her earliest time should have been in the "monster breeding house" outside the corridor. Why did she only return to the first loop?
At this moment, writing suddenly appeared in the corner of the wall, the elegant black characters attracting her attention.
[You're back? What happened?]
Clearly, it was Prankster Mita's handwriting. By the way, why was it black? Millie was puzzled, but still recounted what she had seen and heard deep in the corridor.
[I see... It seems Alain encountered Little Mita]
[As for why you didn't return to the monster breeding house, it's because I sensed your return and intercepted you in the first loop]
[If you had really returned to your original place, without the ring's guidance. I'm afraid you would have had to take a very long detour to reach 1.3B]
[And...]
The strokes paused, the subsequent writing carrying a rather apprehensive feeling.
[You absolutely cannot go back to the monster breeding house. A guy even more terrifying than the human-headed spiders, even the big monster, has arrived there]
"Er? What do you mean..." The girl didn't understand, but decided to thank her first.
"Wow, that was a big help!" Millie looked at the neat black handwriting, "By the way, why aren't you using pink anymore?"
[At this point, you still need to go through the loops one by one to reach Alain]
"Huh? Why aren't you answering my question?"
[Just use this for now]
With a "ding, clang" sound, a baseball bat appeared in the corner.
"Oh, a weapon." Millie picked up the baseball bat and swung it a couple of times.
Currently, it was known that the loop leading to where Alain was would only have small monsters appear when the corridor turned deep black.
By the way, did she have to experience a horror game all over again... Millie felt a bit like retreating, but for Alain... for saving the hero, what was wrong with that?
Absolutely... super cool!!!
[Anyway, you go ahead. Be careful]
"Oh. Why do you use black handwriting when Alain isn't around?" Millie's sharp little mind made the writer a bit frantic.
[Go quickly!!]
"Okay." Millie gripped the baseball bat and walked forward.
Before long, the door to the second loop sounded.
Prankster Mita, hiding on the side, was very helpless. Could she say that pink handwriting was exclusive to Alain?
"You two must be careful."
15th Loop
Alain watched the little girl before him clench her palm, then release it.
Afterwards, her gaze turned to him. After blinking, Little Mita vanished.
At the same time, he felt a tugging sensation on his hand.
Glancing over, the girl who should have disappeared was now standing beside him, tugging his hand and swaying it left and right.
Her eyes were filled with helplessness, yet within the depths of her dark pupils, they were hollow and powerless.
The girl seemed to be waiting for something. Her eyes, full of despair, yet seemed to be expecting Alain to let go of her hand.
"Player..." Only after she leaned closer did Alain hear that Little Mita's voice wasn't the usual clear sweetness, but carried a slight electronic noise.
"Are you hoping that I'll let go of your hand?" Looking at the cute girl gripping his hand with only her arm, Alain asked.
"Yes. Pull my hand away." The girl replied.
He put down the greatsword in his hand, squatted down, and brought himself to her eye level.
Alain believed that what he liked to do was to shatter all of Mita's "self-righteousness." Perhaps, this was the essence of his "occupational hazard."
The occupational hazard didn't just include words, but also physical actions. He made himself "forced" to do what he thought in his heart.
Just like...
Alain, as Little Mita wished, pulled her hand away.
Seeing this, the girl breathed a sigh of relief, understanding dawning in the depths of her dark eyes.
But the sense of despair didn't lessen; instead, it grew stronger. Dark clouds shrouded her face.
Alain wouldn't let her get her way so easily.
"Eh?" The girl felt her vision suddenly pull upwards, accompanied by a feeling of weightlessness.
In the blink of an eye, Little Mita was surprised to find that she was already being held in Alain's arms.
His arm was like a sturdy stool, and also like a cradle. It perfectly supported the girl's entire body.
Even while holding a girl, he still had time to take her to stand by the window's light. He still had the strength to stroke her small head.
"Can you tell me? Why did you want to send Millie and me back?"
The girl's single arm rested on his shoulder. She seemed to be held for the first time, or held so high, appearing somewhat insecure.
"Here, it's very dangerous. You shouldn't have come."
Her single arm, leaning on Alain's shoulder, then gripped Alain's free hand. Her eyes conveyed a strong sense of attachment.
Little Mita's hand strength was considerable; from this point, her strength reached Mita's usual level.
This made Alain slightly surprised, feeling it didn't quite match her appearance. But it could also be attributed to a cute contrast.
And she seemed to want to tie a bond between the two of them, her five fingers fitting perfectly with his.
But halfway through her words, her hand loosened again.
Alain sensed the embrace lighten in an instant. Looking at his arm, the girl who was originally sitting there had vanished.
"Did she escape?" He looked around, not seeing a single figure, as if she had never been there.
Afterwards, Alain walked to the second corner and saw, in the next loop, a pair of eyes peeking at him from a slightly open door.
Noticing she had been discovered, she frantically closed the door.
Alain vaguely recalled a line from a certain 'bad woman'; he felt it was particularly fitting for the current scene.
His eyes and brows bloomed into a smile,
"I really like... hide-and-seek."
_
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