"When a new player arrives in the Mita world, I do this: I calibrate a puppet. If all its parameters are correct, it will undergo simple training and then be dispatched to that player's side." The Short-Haired Mita released the lever and stepped back, signaling for Alain to give it a try.
And Alain turned his incredulous gaze upon his beloved.
Wait a minute... If they're puppets on the inside, then why are my dear's breasts so soft and bouncy? Why is my bad woman's chest so soft? Why are my good bro's lips so tender and smooth?
"D-don't look at me like that, I don't know either..." Misha, upon seeing the truth of her birth, was also a little conflicted. "My dear, you... you won't stop liking me, will you?"
"On that point, please rest assured," Prankster Mita, who was still hugging Alain's arm, chimed in. "After a puppet is granted a human appearance, its internal puppet structure is replaced with normal flesh and blood. So..." she hugged Alain's arm even tighter, her face blushing, "...after we get married, we can have children normally. Hehe~ I just memorized that last night. Aren't I amazing?"
"You're amazing," Alain said, breathing a sigh of relief. If their internal structure was puppet-based, could they still get their periods? That was a truly baffling thought. But he wouldn't be able to do it anyway, and besides, he liked Mitas for more than just their bodies.
Only the Short-Haired Mita looked on with a complex expression, her gaze shifting from the clingy Prankster Mita to the relieved long-haired girl. Finally, her eyes landed on Alain. He felt her gaze was piercing... as if he were a pig who had just rooted up her prize cabbage.
Afterward, Alain also tried his hand at approving and granting a Mita's appearance to a puppet. Under Prankster Mita's quiet guidance, he successfully got the hang of it. During the process, he encountered a puppet with glowing red eyes that looked extremely unstable.
"When you encounter this type of puppet, please do not hesitate. Pull the lever directly." Prankster Mita guided Alain's hand. With a thunk, a trapdoor opened beneath the red-eyed puppet's feet, and it disappeared within.
"That one just now was..." The puppet's extreme aggression gave Alain a nagging feeling. He was reminded of the Failed Works.
"That was a Failed Work," the Short-Haired Mita said, walking over. "Failed Works possess strength slightly higher than a normal Mita.
And some Failed Works are far more powerful. Due to their instability, we have no choice but to 'banish' them to prevent them from harming players." She looked thoughtfully at the Gauntlet of the Failed Work on Alain's arm. "For example, the equipment you were given was taken from the body parts of a Failed Work that had lost consciousness. You could say you were lucky."
"Wait a minute." Alain sensed something critically important and looked at the short-haired girl's face. "Are you saying... Failed Works also have consciousness?"
"...Yes," she confirmed. "A small portion of them do."
"Then, after they're abandoned by the game world, what happens to them?" Alain could just imagine their despair upon realizing they were failures. Just one step away from becoming a Mita, only to be plunged into an endless abyss at the "factory," branded with the name "Failed Work."
She looked up at the ceiling, as if seeing through the building to the vast game world beyond. "The game is a commercial product. Since it's commercialized, conditions that hinder profitability must be discarded. This is my duty. There is nothing I can do..."
Alain sighed. His gaze fell on the next puppet. Its eyes and other test parameters were normal. Therefore, it would surely become a Mita and live happily with a player.
But... what about the Failed Works?
His thoughts couldn't help but drift to his ruthless, bad woman. Crazy Mita was also a special Mita. Her subconscious seemed to be written with the code of a normal Mita, but... Crazy Mita was not friendly at all towards other Mitas.
He thought of how Millie, Lost Mita, and Miluo got along like best friends and sisters. But Crazy Mita, it seemed, subconsciously hated other Mitas.
He recalled the scene where he rescued Misha from the basement, and the scene where Crazy Mita burst into Millie's room.
If he hadn't been there at that time, what kind of ending would Misha and Millie have faced? She was so incomparably violent.
He had a faint feeling that the Failed Works and Crazy Mita were connected in some way.
Or rather, he had almost guessed the "essence" his bad woman wanted to tell him but never had the courage to. It was both an intuition and an inspiration drawn from the facts before him and information from the past.
"My dear... you look pale," Misha's concerned voice broke through Alain's thoughts.
Only then did he realize that not just Misha and Prankster Mita, but even the Big Sister herself were looking at him with worry.
When the Short-Haired Mita noticed her gaze had been discovered, she coughed twice.
"The facts are as you've seen. If you want to blame me, I'll accept it."
"Blame you? There's no need. This is just your duty," Alain said, shrugging with a wry smile. For him to act like some kind of saint and preach, "Why don't you give life to all Mitas!" would be far too irresponsible.
According to Prankster Mita, the Short-Haired Mita had shouldered this burden as an obligation. In Alain's eyes, she was someone worthy of great respect.
"Big Sister, thank you for your hard work."
"..." The Short-Haired Mita didn't reply. She crossed her arms, looking at him, somewhat lost in thought.
"You did great, Alain!" Prankster Mita gave him a thumbs-up. It was this action that seemed to make a certain Big Sister pointedly turn her head away.
"Anyway, that's how it is. Do you have any other questions?"
"About the 'training' after a Mita is 'born,' what does it entail?" Alain asked.
"The so-called training is what you saw downstairs," she said, organizing her words before continuing.
"Newborn Mitas are afraid of the gazes of others, as well as bright environments. Therefore, they need to stay in a dark environment for a while to adapt to the world."
Alain couldn't help but look at Misha, eliciting a shy blush from her.
"Um... what about me?"
"It's nothing," he said, recalling how Misha had been so overwhelmed when she first entered the real world, walking through the bustling campus in broad daylight.
A Mita, on a normal day, receives the gaze of one player at most.
To suddenly be thrown into a "hodgepodge" of people... it was an unbearable situation. She was also incredibly gentle. A parallel world like that... Alain didn't want to see it.
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