July 30, 2053 – 00:28 a.m.

A few hours later, Mitsuo, followed by a dozen people, including Gaho and Jin, is heading towards the trapdoor that is also the main exit of the former factory. When they reach the stairs leading to the exit trapdoor, they find Keina waiting for them. 

"Hi, Mitsuo."

"What is it, sister?"

"Are you sure you want to go that way and not use one of our passages through the sewers?" 

"Yes, we're not going far from here today. This is the shortest route."

"Okay... please keep an eye on him."

"Even though I don't want to babysit this idiot, I'll do it... but just know that I'm only doing this because you asked me to."

Keina smiles, satisfied to hear those words from Mitsuo. Meanwhile, Jin realizes that they are referring to him. "Idiot? Hey, are you talking about me? For your information, I'm the best student in my school. I could have even gone straight to university, skipping my last years of high school. The only reason I didn't was because I didn't want to abandon my friends Misaki and Kenji."

There is a loud buzz behind Jin. In fact, everyone present has heard him, and this has clearly triggered something. Jin notices this and turns around, trying to understand. 

"W-what's going on? Did I say something wrong?"

Mitsuo, who is standing next to him, clenches his right fist angrily and grits his teeth. He is clearly also in a state of extreme agitation and seems unable to control himself. Jin doesn't notice and turns to Mitsuo to ask for an explanation of what is happening.

"Excuse me, Masuo... what's going on with you crazy people?" 

Tears are even streaming down Mitsuo's face, but Jin only notices this now. "Hey... are you crying?"

"Don't say those names..." Mitsuo replies in a low voice.

"W-what names? I just mentioned my two best friends... Kenji and Misaki."

Mitsuo can no longer hold back and turns to punch him, closing his eyes and yelling at him with all his might. "I said you mustn't say those names!"

Mitsuo's punch lands, but when he opens his eyes, he realizes he has hit Gaho, who has stepped between him and Jin. In reality, the leader's blow has had no effect on Gaho, who is so physically imposing that he can be compared to a wall.

"What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?" asks Mitsuo, surprised that one of his companions is defending Jin.

"I'm following the orders of our leader, Keina" Gaho replies promptly. 

At this point, Keina herself joins the conversation.

"Yes... I was the one who asked Gaho to protect him from you too... I don't mean to offend you, brother, but you've shown signs of emotional weakness ever since he arrived here. If you can't manage your emotions, you'd better give up." 

Mitsuo, extremely upset by this revelation and deprived of his sister's trust, removes his fist from Gaho's chest.

"I think it's better if I lead tonight's expedition," Keina adds, but Mitsuo immediately objects. "No, I'll go. I apologize for betraying your trust earlier."

"Can you promise to ensure the safety of everyone present?" Keina retorts. 

"I can do that."

"Including Jin?"

Mitsuo stares at Jin for a few seconds, then replies. "Yes, I'll defend him too." 

"Good... then you can go."

Keina walks away, leaving the men led by her brother free to continue towards the outside of the base. Mitsuo heads towards the trapdoor that needs to be opened, while Jin takes the opportunity to thank Gaho for defending him earlier. "Hey, big guy... thanks for your help earlier."

"Don't get me wrong, kid... I only did it because the leader Keina herself asked me to watch your back while you're with us. Actually, I'd like to punch you too."

Gaho also walks away from Jin, who is left confused and unable to understand why so many people seem to have it in for him. "I wonder why Gaho and Mitsuo hate me... I don't think I've done anything wrong since I got here. Could it be because I called one of them a monkey and mocked the other's fantasies about 2053? It seems strange to me that they would go so far as to want to hurt me for such silly things." As Jin ponders this internally, he approaches the exit, managing to see Mitsuo enter the code to open the trapdoor. Jin easily guesses the password thanks to his extraordinary memory. Immediately afterwards, Mitsuo invites the whole group to follow him out of the base.

"Let's go, guys! Let's destroy the Gotha!"

A few hours later, the group is returning to the base. Everyone seems enthusiastic about what has happened except Jin, who appears very disappointed. "Did you see that, Jin? Today we carried out another great counteroffensive against the Gotha," Mitsuo exclaims cheerfully.

Jin glares at him and then reminds him of what really happened during this much-hyped mission. "You just threw some flyers around, put up a few posters, and wrote some graffiti on the walls with paint. I can't even begin to understand how you can get so excited... I guess you're living some kind of collective fantasy."

"You're a real idiot! Do you still believe that Gotha doesn't exist? Do you really think you're not in 2053?"

"Assuming that I don't believe any of this, even if I wanted to take what you say as true, you have no proof to show me. You say you don't have internet or mobile devices because they would track you down, you say there's this Gotha hunting you, but even during tonight's mission, no one was seen. Furthermore, there are no signs of major technological advances such as... I don't know... flying cars."

"You really are a hopeless idiot" Mitsuo declares.

When the group returns to base, Jin wants to assert his right to leave the Resistance, which he considers to be nothing more than a group of lunatics who have somehow kidnapped him. With this in mind, he turns to Mitsuo. 

"You said that if I followed you tonight, I would be free to leave, remember?"

"Yes, that's true."

"Then I guess our paths part here."

"Poor fool, how do you think you can survive in an era you don't know? What will you do after you leave us?"

"I have a lot of things to do... for example, finish the visual novel I was creating with my friend Kenji. I also have my fantasies about parallel worlds, but mine involve lots of sexy girls, not totalitarian organizations like yours."

Jin starts moving towards the trapdoor, the combination to which he now knows.

"A visual novel, you say?" Mitsuo asks, catching Jin's attention, who stops. "Uh?"

"You said you're making a visual novel with your friend. So it's a video game where you make decisions that affect the story, right?"

"Yes, well, it's not like there was a big plot behind it, we're just focusing on making the girls as sexy as possible. Kenji in particular thinks this is quite important."

"That means you haven't finished the game yet, right?"

"Well, no... he wrote the script, but I'm the one with the programming skills and I have to finish making it. Anyway, it's more of a hobby... I always have a lot of free time after school, since I'm much more prepared than my classmates, I don't need as much time to study and do my homework, so we indulged our passion for 2D girls and video games by making one that would satisfy all our desires."

"It's a nice idea, I have to admit."

"Thanks, I'll go finish it then... maybe I'll give you a copy, Mitsunobu."

"My name is Mitsuo, you idiot! How many times do I have to tell you?!"

"Sure, sure... anyway, goodbye!"

"Ah Jin, about the game... don't worry about getting it for me, I've already finished it dozens of times. Even though my father always tried to hide it from me, I kept finding it wherever he put it."

"W-what?"

"I'm talking about "Lab Girls," the visual novel where you play a famous physicist employed at one of the most important international research centers, surrounded by a group of female researchers dressed in clothes that are, shall we say... not really suitable for a real work environment."

"B-but how do you know..."

"The video game is a bit old and the graphics leave something to be desired; you can tell it wasn't made by professionals. But for me, having grown up in the basement of an abandoned factory, having to give up all the comforts that this era offers us in order to escape the elite, having a pastime like this was a blessing."

"That's impossible... I still have to finish it, and only Kenji and I know about it... we haven't even told Misaki... we thought she would give us pigs and get angry."

"If you think I'm making this up, why don't you follow me to my tent? I'll show you in person, then you can leave if you want. After all, I'm sure you've seen our security code."

Jin is now completely consumed by curiosity about how Mitsuo knows about the video game, which he had never mentioned to anyone except its co-creator Kenji. He also realizes that it wouldn't be very difficult to escape from the base now that he has seen the password, so, after considering these things, he decides to accept Mitsuo's offer. "Okay, I can't resist my curiosity. I'll come with you."

Mitsuo smiles, then heads for his tent with Jin following him.