"Shut up?" Mono laughed. "Beg me then."
He was in quite a good mood now.
Six glared at Mono.
Mono simply ignored her.
He even started shouting loudly again:
"Six is a Stinky Girl—"
"Her..."
With Mono's shouting, the strangely oppressive atmosphere had long been completely shattered by his antics.
She couldn't get back into her previous state.
Little Six looked at Mono aggrievedly.
What should she do if she didn't want this friend anymore?
Was it too late for a refund?
"I... I'm begging, you, okay...? Just shut your mouth."
Sixth Master finally spoke again.
She seemed to have compromised.
She couldn't hit him, and she couldn't outtalk him—what else could she do?
"Say it louder, I can't hear you." Mono shook his head.
Little Six clenched her fists tightly, glaring at Mono.
"I'm begging you!?"
Mono: "Say it one more time!"
The sound of teeth grinding rang out.
"I'm begging you..."
A smile curled at the corners of Mono's mouth.
"Good, good, not bad at all. Since that's the case, I'll reluctantly forget about this matter for the time being."
Mono smiled, knowing when to stop.
"Why 'for the time being'?" Little Six glared again.
"I don't know when I'll be in a bad mood. Once I'm in a bad mood, I'll think about happy things. Is there a problem with that?"
Little Six: "..."
"Alright, stop making that sour face. I was just joking with you. I'll forget it all in a moment, okay? One look and I can tell you can't take a joke. What a boring girl."
Little Six: "..."
Mono started asking about this and that again.
This time, Little Six didn't dare pretend she couldn't hear him.
Even though she was being toyed with and left feeling conflicted.
Somehow, this feeling didn't actually make her angry.
Little Six was puzzled. She didn't understand why, despite being put in such a passive position, she felt a mysterious sense of relaxed ease.
This kind of relaxed posture had almost never appeared in her daily life for a very long time.
Even the music box had never brought this kind of...
No, they weren't the same thing.
These were two things that couldn't be compared.
They could both exist.
Little Six stared blankly at Mono.
Mono talked to himself for a while. Finally, seeing Sixth Master go from her initial silence to anger, then gradually calming down and regaining a human touch, he breathed a sigh of relief.
His efforts hadn't been in vain after all.
He had finally managed to shake off that inadvertent, inhuman, and mysterious sense of depression flowing from Sixth Master.
Mono was afraid she would turn into a mon... that would be terrible.
Although it sounded somewhat unscientific and quite fantastical—after all, how could a person turn into another kind of existence just because of emotional fluctuations?
But when applied to Sixth Master, common sense could not be used as a judge.
To the side...
Listening to Mono's words, without realizing it, Sixth Master had closed her eyes once again at some point.
Her breathing had completely leveled out.
Her long eyelashes trembled slightly with the breeze.
A soft snore seemed to come from the tip of her nose.
Her curled-up body held the box, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
Was she asleep?
Did she seem to be having a beautiful dream?
Mono looked at her thin and slightly dirty little face, guessing, but he stopped talking.
Looking at the surrounding mist, he also began to daze off.
In a way, he actually quite admired this Sixth Master, who was ruthless and of few words.
With such a weak body, she had managed to survive until now in this distorted Nightmare World.
Perhaps there had never been anyone she could confide in about the pain she endured.
Had she really never been afraid? Had she really never felt terror?
Mono didn't believe it.
As long as one was human, there would definitely be fear.
Even monsters might not be able to remain unfazed when facing death.
The fact that Little Six had become this numb and cold meant she had definitely endured unimaginable tempering.
Without even thinking deeply about the details, Mono could guess how difficult it had been.
If it were anyone else, they might have already been assimilated by this world.
Or perhaps they would have been killed.
But she hadn't fallen for any of it.
She had endured everything.
And having withstood the trials, she still retained her own will.
Mono thought to himself as he looked down at the Eighth Master who was still tightly clutching the music box even in sleep.
He suddenly had a realization.
She was also afraid, but she persisted because of this box?
As the only thing in this world that could give her comfort, perhaps it was only the music of this familiar music box.
It was her reliance, the object that allowed her to maintain her true heart.
That was why she was so obsessive about the box.
"If I don't break her box, will the ending change?"
Mono couldn't help but wonder.
He was still very concerned about the potential future event where Sixth Master would betray him.