Knights of the Digital World

Parado held the cassette, examining it closely, and said excitedly.

"That's not all! Look at this! Kamen Rider Chronicles! I've completed ninety percent of it, but I'm still missing some Bugster data. Once you collect the corresponding data, we can completely finish this ultimate game!"

Shrimp Dumpling proudly pulled out another cassette tape, saying:

"This is the administrator cartridge for the Kamen Rider Chronicle Transformation Gacha. After the game is completed, you can use it to transform into the legendary warrior I set up in the game, Kamen Rider US. You guys keep it for now, and give it to me when I am resurrected."

Amasaki Ren waited for a while, then realized that Shrimp Dumpling didn't seem to have anything to offer him, and couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. She asked, "That's it? Is there nothing to improve my abilities?"

Chapter Twenty-Three: Shrimp Dumpling Dies on the Spot

Dan Kuroto looked at Amasaki Ren and said irritably, "Even if I'm a Kamen Rider, I still need time. It took me almost half a month to recover from my injuries, and the remaining ten days or so were spent creating the 'Perfect KO' cartridge and 'Kamen Rider Chronicles,' which exhausted all my energy. There's no time left for you. Why don't you just stay with your cute girls?"

“哦，我当然会和我的可爱女孩们一起过下去，但这并不妨碍我追求更强的力量……我可不想像你上次一样被人暴揍。”

Ren Amasaki tossed her hair and retorted sharply.

Shrimp Dumpling recalled the battle that had forced him to rest for over half a month, and his previously smug expression instantly turned dark. He said irritably:

"Anyway, I don't have time to develop any more cartridges. I've had enough of the limitations of humanity. Now that the Level 99 cartridge has been manufactured, and 'Kamen Rider Chronicle' is only one step away from completion, I think it's time for me to die!"

As Xiajiao spoke, his face was solemn and serious, and he was about to stab himself with the faulty driver II in his hand.

This Fault Driver II was specifically made for Bugster. Ordinary people using it would only get infected with a large amount of the Collapse Virus and then die quickly.

Now that Xiajiao is just an ordinary person, using this driver to commit suicide is quite appropriate.

"Bridge Bean Sacks!"

Amazaki Ren quickly reached out to stop Shrimp Dumpling's actions and revealed the new information she had obtained:

"Dan Lidou, your father, Dan Zhengzong, has been cleared of charges and released from prison. He seems to be working to regain ownership of the Huanmeng Group. To be honest, the chances of success are high. What should we do then?"

After all, even if we finish "Kamen Rider Chronicles," we'll still need a large enough publisher to distribute the game. Leaving aside other countries, in Japan, Genmu Group is the most suitable choice! What if Dan Masamune takes over Genmu Group?

Shrimp Dumpling, who was initially annoyed that Amasaki Ren had stopped him, was taken aback upon hearing the new information, and then sneered:

"Oh? My father's out of prison? Hmph... No need to worry. Once the chronicle is finished, he might even ask to cooperate with us..."

Amasaki Ren frowned, unable to understand Dan Kuroto's confidence:

"Your father has been imprisoned for so many years because of your schemes, do you think he would still trust you? It's highly unlikely that he would turn around and ask for cooperation."

"Ha, you don't understand."

The shrimp dumpling, moving within the cramped space, recounts its impressions of its father:

"When I was younger, Tan Zhengzong was a decent father. He loved his family, had a gentle personality, and was also very capable, leading the Huanmeng Group to expand all the way."

However, he changed sixteen years ago. His eyes were now only on the Dream Group, and he only wanted it to grow bigger and stronger. He viewed all games and even human lives as commodities for the Dream Group, and he would stop at nothing to achieve his commercial goals.

Hmph, such a drastic personality change, coupled with that timing, makes me suspect he was already infected with the Collapse Genesis virus, but somehow survived, perhaps even developing antibodies… However, none of that matters. Anyway, all you need to know is what kind of person he is now.

As his son, everything I am is considered the property of the Dream Group. This includes my talents, all the cartridges I've made, and this game!

Therefore, you don't need to worry at all about *Kamen Rider Chronicles* failing to be released. In Dan Masamune's eyes, this game belongs to the Genmei Group, and it belongs to him too. He's busy promoting it, how could he possibly refuse!

"So we don't need to worry about the release of 'Kamen Rider Chronicles,' as long as we finish the game normally, right? Why say so much? Who cares what kind of person your dad is? What does it have to do with me? Just hurry up and die so I can have new games to play. Are you going to die or not? Do you want me to give you a hand?"

Parado listened to Shrimp Dumpling's words with boredom, yawned, and said impatiently. Only when he said the last two sentences did he show an excited and eager expression.

I don't know why, but he just really wanted to poke the shrimp dumplings a few times and inject some virus or something.

"No need. In this rare moment of death, I still want to do it myself. I only have a few words left to say before I die."

Shrimp Dumpling declined Parado's offer, hesitated for a moment, and then said to Amasaki Ren:

"It's hard to say what Tan Masamune was like before, but at least now he has a strong desire for control. In fact, any person in a position of power has a strong desire for control. If you have completed the chronicle before I am resurrected, it's best not to approach him yet. Otherwise, he will definitely make some harsh demands. For example... he wants to use the administrator's cartridge."

"Kamen Rider Ultras is the most powerful character I've ever created. Even for me, it would be difficult to create another Gacha that could defeat Ultras. This is our ultimate trump card, and no matter what, it absolutely, absolutely cannot be taken by anyone else. Especially not by Dan Masamune. If he gets this Gacha, we'll be completely at his mercy..."

"Anyway, just remember to keep the administrator card safe. We'll talk about the rest after I respawn, that's enough. Don't do anything on your own. Especially you, Parado! Don't mess things up just for fun!"

Shrimp Dumpling gave Parado a few earnest instructions, and seeing Amasaki Ren obediently nodding, he felt much more at ease.

He still trusted Amasaki Ren's abilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen her as the successor to the Huanmeng Group.

Although Emu's butterfly effect caused the original plan to fail, Amasaki Ren's abilities will not be negated because of this.

Having made arrangements for his "final affairs," Shrimp Dumpling finally raised the Fault Driver II in his hand. Although he had prepared himself mentally, Shrimp Dumpling's hands still trembled a little when he was actually facing death.

Shrimp Dumpling closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and finally managed to steady his hands again. Without saying anything more, he directly inserted the Fault Driver II into his chest, and a large amount of Collapse Source Virus surged into his body, instantly triggering his Game Syndrome.

Xiajiao felt utterly weak and collapsed to his knees. Then, intense pain swept through his body, preventing him from even uttering a cry. And then, everything went black—

he died.

Watching the shrimp dumplings dissipate into data before his eyes, Parado shook his head and said:

"He's really dead. So I can start playing this game and revive him? Come to think of it, all that he said before actually piqued my interest. I want to see what happens when I give the administrator cartridge to Dan Masamune... Hehe, that'll be really interesting!"

"Parado, stop thinking about these nonsense things. I won't let you do anything reckless! Instead of thinking about this, you should hurry up and finish the game so you can revive Dan Kuroto. I'm keeping this cartridge safe, don't even think about touching it."

Amasaki Ren immediately glared at Parado and put away the administrator's cartridge. He wasn't the kind of person Parado would take a joke on. Dan Reito had already made his point so clear; it would be foolish to go against him.

Parado shrugged, appearing completely unconcerned about Amasaki Ren's wariness.

"Just kidding... Never mind, I'll go test the power of the new cartridge first, then I'll come back and work on the game. Bye!"

After saying that, Parado left the small, dark room, leaving only Amasaki Ren deep in thought about what to do next.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Traitor Returns

Parado's suggestion to "try out" the cartridge wasn't just a casual tinkering session. Having finally acquired a new cartridge, he naturally wanted to find his closest companion, Emu Hojo (large), and give it a good go!

As for those "I'm not playing with you anymore" things I said before... well, human nature is such that people are prone to "it smells so good" (meaning they'll change their minds), and Bugster is no exception.

Meanwhile, on CR's side, Kohoshi, as a Japanese office worker, demonstrated amazing endurance and limitless potential. After a month of agonizing effort, he finally upgraded the cartridges of Hiiro, Taiga, and Kiriya to level 50.

Thanks to the upgraded cartridge level, CR's healing speed for game-related illnesses has increased significantly. With the addition of Taiga and Kiriya, the medical capabilities are more than sufficient.

Therefore, after discussions, CR started implementing a shift system instead of the previous practice of everyone working together whenever someone had gaming addiction. That would have been exhausting for the doctors, and even the bugsters would have been crying.

Only when elite monsters like Shrimp Dumpling, Parado, and Amasaki Ren appear will the doctor on duty call for other teammates to fight together.

Today was Emu's (Da) turn to rest. However, having been used to being busy, Emu (Da) didn't know what to do when she had free time.

After some thought, Yongmeng (Da) pulled Poppy and Yongmeng along, and they went to the arcade to play games together in high spirits.

Originally, Emu (Daigo) wanted to invite Daigo, who was also on leave, to join him, but Daigo said he had some personal matters to attend to and left first.

Parado, born from Emu's body, possesses a clear connection to Emu. He can locate Emu whenever he desires.

So, after leaving the house, he went straight to the arcade and bumped right into Da Yongmeng and Xiao Yongmeng, who were happily playing a fighting game.

It's hard to imagine Parado's feelings at that moment. After all, all he had ever wanted was to play games happily with Emu (Da).

However, after rejecting Parado's invitation to play together and blocking him last time, Emu (Dai) is now playing games with other people! And that Poppy is even standing next to Emu (Dai) and pointing fingers!

unacceptable!

Parado was incredibly jealous. Standing behind the three of them, she stared intently at Emu with a envious gaze, occasionally shifting her target to give Poppy a "jealous look" as well.

Emu rarely gets to experience a game in another world. Although Emu (the older version) and Poppy are around and constantly showing affection, he still has a lot of fun.

It wasn't until he inexplicably felt a strange gaze fixed on him, which would quickly return even after being looked away for a while, that he gradually realized something was wrong.

After being stared at once again, Emu finally couldn't take it anymore. He turned his head sharply and saw Parado staring at him fiercely, his face contorted with jealousy, causing him to let out a scream:

"Parado?! You were the one watching me the whole time?"

Emu's scream made Emu (Big) and Poppy turn their heads, and they were also surprised to see Parado appear.

"Parado, what brings you here? What are you plotting now?!"

With a serious expression, Emu (the eldest) stood up and blocked the other two, already pulling out the Ultimate Gadget and the Player Driver.

Emu's (large) reaction further annoyed Parado, who then pulled out his new cartridge, "Perfect KO," and said:

"My goal is simple. Come on, Emu, let's have a fight. We'll use this new cartridge I just got! If I win, you can't play games with anyone but me!"

Parado's words startled Emu (the older one), who didn't understand the significance of his condition. However, the once naive doctor had become much more cautious after experiencing so many trials and tribulations and learning much about the plot from Emu.

He said with great vigilance:

"It's my freedom to play games with whomever I want, why would I bet with you on this? Where's Dan Kuroto? Where is he?"

Seeing that Emu (the older one) wouldn't accept his bet at all, Parado pouted in anger and said irritably:

"Dan Kuroto? He's dead!"

"died?"

This answer surprised Emu (the older one). After a brief moment of stunned silence, Emu (the older one)'s expression became even more serious:

"Parado, did you kill him?"

Emu (the older one) recalled a conversation he had with Emu before, in which Emu was betrayed and killed by Parado in the original story. Now, upon hearing the news of Emu's death, Emu (the older one) immediately suspected Parado.

Seeing the sternness and disappointment in Emu's (large) eyes, Parado felt deeply wronged. He abandoned all thoughts of secrecy and revealed Emu's plan in detail:

"Don't talk nonsense! He clearly committed suicide!"

Dan Kuroto said that he made preparations sixteen years ago. After his death, his data would be stored in 'Prototype All-Around Sports X Replay Original Game'. By simply completing this game, he could be resurrected as a Bugster. Moreover, due to the originally set permissions, he would gain 99 lives!

If you don't believe me, you can play this game with me!

"Shrimp Dumpling is such a wolf killer... It's one thing to be betrayed and killed in the original story, but to commit suicide like this is just too brave..."

Hearing Parado's classic traitorous remark about leaking information, Emu muttered to himself, expressing his respect for Emu while nodding to Emu (the older one).

The information Parado provided matched the information he obtained from the story, and he even generously invited Emu (the older version) to help him complete the game, so he was probably telling the truth.

Emu's gaze softened considerably; his concern was whether Parado had harmed anyone. After all, Parado was his Hollow Source, and knowing this, Emu had always wanted to teach Parado a lesson.

However, the current Emu (Great) has not experienced much. Like the Emu (Great) in the original work, witnessing the passing of many lives, including the lives of game players taken away by Parado, made him grow up quickly, and his methods were decisive and ruthless.

The current Emu (the Great) is incapable of doing something like nearly killing Parado to bring him to enlightenment, as depicted in the original work.

“I misunderstood you, Parado. I just hoped you wouldn’t hurt others. Every life is precious, and no one should hurt others for their own selfish desires…”

Emu (the eldest) spoke very sincerely to Parado.

Parado sensed the sincerity in Emu's (Dai's) words and felt somewhat better. However, the didactic tone in Emu's (Dai's) words still bothered him. He irritably pointed the cartridge at Emu (Dai) and said: