The two and the girl exchanged a glance, and the girl, as if defeated, disappeared around the corner.
"Shall we go after her?" Millie tightened her grip on his hand, and Alain nodded in response.
They quickly passed through the corridor and rounded the corner. But the girl was no longer in sight.
Alain looked straight ahead; the only entrance and exit here was the door leading to the 15th loop.
"Let's go," Alain said, and, holding Millie's hand, he familiarly passed through the door.
Upon entering the 15th loop, the brightness of the room was still at a normal level.
Alain didn't pay much attention, quickly walking past the first corner, and in a blink, he saw the petite girl standing in front of the cabinet in the middle of the corridor.
Her small, exquisite hands were adjusting an alarm clock.
When she saw the two of them again, it seemed the alarm clock was also adjusted: she placed the alarm clock back on the tabletop.
The numbers on the alarm clock, according to Alain's estimate: the 15th loop should be after 7 o'clock. But after Little Mita's adjustment, it returned to 0 o'clock sharp.
"What is she planning to do?"
Alain was puzzled. Just then, Millie, who was diagonally behind him, suddenly let out a murmur:
Turning his head, he saw countless strings of numbers hovering around Millie's body.
The numbers seemed to be composed of time, a series of times drifting around the girl.
Then, Millie proactively released his linked hand.
"What's wrong?" Alain thought his bro's sense of betrayal was acting up again and was just about to tease her a bit.
However, the girl seemed to have already guessed his thoughts and frantically denied it,
"No, it's not that I wanted to let go!"
"Huh?" As soon as her words fell, Alain faintly heard the "tick-tock, tick-tock" sound of a clock.
He seemed to see the hour and minute hands rapidly rewinding, heading towards where time came from.
As for Millie... she was facing Alain, but her steps were like time rewinding, walking backward.
"Huh? Huh?!" She stared dumbfounded at Alain, reaching out her hand, her eyes filled with an intense plea for help.
And Alain also wanted to grab the girl's hand as always, holding it tightly.
But the reverse flow of time was faster than his outstretched hand; in an unguarded moment, his hand brushed past Millie's skin, sweeping over her hand.
Alain quickly ran back to the first corner. Sure enough, Millie was like time rewinding, retracing her original steps, opening the door, closing the door, and disappearing.
He hurriedly returned to the entrance of the 15th loop, wanting to open the door and see what had happened to Millie.
But the tightly locked doorknob seemed to have placed a mountain between the 15th and 14th loops, making it difficult to pull.
Lifting his greatsword, he struck with all his might—but only left a shallow mark.
"The door is hard to break?" Alain frowned, "What on earth is going on... Millie went back?"
While thinking, he thought of the alarm clock the little girl had adjusted earlier.
Indeed, only after she finished adjusting the alarm clock's time did Millie, as if time were rewinding, uncontrollably go back.
Not knowing what he thought of, Alain's pupils shrank slightly, and he immediately left the entrance door, rushing to the first corner.
That girl quietly turned her head and glanced at him.
And at this moment, she was right in front of the third clock—the grandfather clock.
The time on the grandfather clock, just like the alarm clock, had been adjusted to 0 o'clock sharp.
"Bzz" Alain seemed to hear a burst of static in his ear; the "tick-tock" of time and the whirring of minutes were bewildering.
He could clearly feel his body uncontrollably intending to flow backward.
Its target was the previous loop, or even earlier.
Ahead of him were wave-like fluctuations of time, pushing him wave after wave back down the corridor he had come from.
And faster than his body's movements, the Security Guard's pop-up window appeared.
[Firewall Intercepted]
The tide of time before his eyes stopped; the "tick-tock" sound in his ears instantly quieted; his body returned to Alain's control.
"?" That girl clearly let out a surprised "Huh?", her tone filled with puzzlement, as if saying "why doesn't time have any effect on you."
And having gone through this, Alain also had some guesses about what had happened before.
Perhaps, those three clocks: wall clock, grandfather clock, alarm clock. Correspondingly, were the three of them.
Previously, Little Mita, who was in the television, had him adjust the wall clock. And after adjusting it, she appeared. This meant Little Mita's time was controlled by the "wall clock."
Afterwards, Little Mita fled to the 15th loop. After adjusting the alarm clock, Millie walked back as if time were rewinding. Then, Millie was constrained by the alarm clock.
And she, again, wanted to adjust the grandfather clock representing Alain. However, the time rewind was intercepted by the Security Guard.
When he first entered the corridor, he had vaguely sensed that the grandfather clock seemed to have some connection with him. It was precisely because of this reason that he had occasionally noticed the situation of the three clocks.
Until now, he had confirmed the fact.
"Why didn't you go back?" The charmingly cute girl looked at him blankly, and only then did Alain have the chance to take in the full appearance of 1.3B's Little Mita.
She had short, dark blue hair, but one side of her temple was missing.
On one side of her face was a long, centipede-like scar, crawling, passing over her right eye, piercing her head.
Her fair limbs bore several scars.
As for her right arm... it was completely gone.
All of this was no different from Prankster Mita's description in version 1.5.
Wounds invisible to ordinary Mitas were vividly displayed on her body.
However, all of this did not diminish the owner's inherent cuteness.
Even though her body and face bore scars, one eye couldn't open, and the other eye was completely dark. This didn't make her look terrifying; instead, she resembled a flower about to be battered and withered by a storm, evoking pity.
Alain gently exhaled, temporarily suppressing his sense of helplessness. He slowly walked forward.
"Can you tell me? Where did you send her."
"She didn't go anywhere, and she's not in danger. She..." Little Mita had one hand behind her back, her gaze falling on the alarm clock on the cabinet, "went back to where she should go. Or rather, she just left the place she should have left."
Afterwards, her blank gaze turned to Alain, "You? Player. Why is time ineffective on you?"
"Me?" He chuckled twice, "My time, before I grab your hand, cannot flow backward."
"Grab... my hand?" She looked at her single arm in confusion; the scar running through her palm seemed not worth it.
The girl clenched her fist, then loosened it.
Greetings! ✨ Walnut here!
🔥 AN INCREDIBLE OFFER IS ON THE TABLE! 🔥
We're only 15 members away from our 65-member goal! 🎯
The second we hit it, 10 BONUS CHAPTERS for ALL STORIES will be released to everyone. No exceptions!
🪦 Your membership is the key. Let's make it happen!
100 powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone! 5 reviews = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone!
Secure your early access before it's too late!