Digital Hackers' Memories

Unfortunately, non-Dragon-type Stormfoxes clearly do not possess any of the above qualities.

Most fatally, under the tight grip of Taro Nakai's "armrest," the Wind Disaster Beast felt itself suffocating little by little, and its originally abundant power was gradually disappearing.

As expected of a human I admire...

After this thought flashed through his mind, the Wind Calamity Beast was actually forced unconscious by Taro Nakai.

......................................................................................................

"Won?"

After confirming that the Wind Disaster Beast had lost its ability to resist, Makiko Date looked at Taro Nakai, who was slowly getting up from the ground, with an expression as if he were looking at a monster.

Even though the Windstormmon had been injured, Taro Nakai's ability to defeat a Champion-level Digimon with his human body was still far beyond Makiko Date's imagination.

If Taro Nakai had that level of fighting ability during his middle school years, even if Makiko Date had a hundred times the courage, she wouldn't have dared to fight such a monster.

Makiko Date is just a bit slow on the uptake and has a carefree personality, but she's not stupid.

"Cough cough... This 'monster' is much more difficult to deal with than I imagined."

Upon hearing Makiko Date's words, Taro Nakai coughed softly as he explained to her.

"Even when injured and unarmed, he is still a bit stronger than the most powerful boxer I've ever seen."

Taro Nakai has encountered top-tier boxing champions who can deliver a punch of 500-600 kilograms before, but compared to the Wind Disaster Beast, their punches are not much stronger than a child's.

If Taro Nakai hadn't been consciously using techniques to limit the Wind Disaster Beast's power, he probably wouldn't have been able to withstand even a single punch from it.

"If we're talking about monsters, you're the real monster!"

At this point, Makiko Date seemed to suddenly realize something, and her eyes widened abruptly.

"Wait, you don't know what a 'Digimon' is, do you?"

In Makiko Date's memory, Taro Nakai had never really been exposed to the internet since middle school.

Furthermore, since the other party used the word "monster" when referring to the Wind Disaster Beast, Makiko Date instinctively felt that Taro Nakai might not realize just how terrifying the thing he had just defeated was.

"Digimon?"

Forcibly straightening his slightly misaligned neck, Taro Nakai repeated Makiko Date's words with a puzzled expression.

"You really don't know what Digimon are..."

"Digimon are the biggest 'hot topic' lately. Don't you ever go online?"

Staring silently at Taro Nakai, Makiko Date thought she was one of the "old-timers" who wasn't very good at dealing with computers and the internet among her peers.

But what she never expected was that there were people like Taro Nakai who didn't use the internet at all.

"You mean the EDEN network?"

Slowly exhaling a breath of stale air, Taro Nakai didn't seem to care at all about Makiko Date's monstrous gaze.

“I did have an account before, but I haven’t used it for a long time.”

"Because I have a henchman who is good at 'hacking' who said that my personal data had already been sold to information dealers by my rivals in the underworld."

"So for the benefit of the group, I generally don't use my account unless I'm sure who used my personal information."

At this point, Taro Nakai hesitated slightly.

"Actually, more than any of that, what I really want to know right now is why this creature you call a 'Digimon' didn't choose to run away?"

Chapter Ten: The Materialized Data Incarnation

"Why didn't this creature, which you call a 'Digimon,' choose to run away?"

Reminded by Taro Nakai, Makiko Date, whose thinking was more active and whose investigative abilities were more outstanding, instantly realized that something was wrong.

Based on her initial assessment, the Wind Calamity Beast was fully capable of leaving this dangerous place before being surrounded by Taro Nakai and his group.

After all, the time between injuring the yakuza members and Nakai Taro and his group appearing to besiege the building was not short.

Especially when the Windstorm Beast is wounded and pursued by special forces, its first reaction should be to leave this dangerous place once it discovers that its hiding place has been exposed.

"Who is it... protecting?"

In a flash, Makiko Date, who always relied on her intuition, turned her gaze to a container not far away.

Is it one of its kind?

Realizing the same thing, Taro Nakai, whose action and execution abilities far exceeded those of ordinary people, directly opened the container, revealing the black-eared beast hiding inside, trembling with fear.

"It's really unexpected that such a ferocious monster would have the instinct to protect its own kind?"

It was still Nakai Taro speaking, but his tone seemed to have changed somewhat.

Perhaps there was some reason why the Windstorm Beast attacked its own members last night.

"Protect our fellow human beings..."

Looking at Taro Nakai, who seemed to be deep in thought, Makiko Date really wanted to say, "Aren't you the same?"

Despite appearing to be such a fierce and cruel man, he surprisingly values ​​friendship and companionship.

Putting aside his experiences in middle school, just to avenge the members of the organization, he dared to take on a Wind Beast that even a special forces team might not be able to defeat. Such an action is probably only something that Taro Nakai would do.

......................................................................................................

At the entrance of Chen Ze's apartment.

"As expected, the fried rice made by the fox spirit is still the best."

After greeting the gatekeeper, Chen Ze ignored the man's bewildered expression, as if asking, "When did you get back?" and walked out, patting his belly with satisfaction.

During the six months that Chen Ze spent in the Muji world, he hadn't tasted human food for a long time.

Therefore, in the past few days, Chen Ze seemed to be making up for the regret of not having tasted any delicious food in the previous six months, and he frantically tried all kinds of different delicacies and snacks.

Not only was Chen Ze completely satisfied with this, but even the fox spirit X, who had been busy cooking, was very happy.

Chen Ze was enjoying the food, while the fox spirit X was enjoying watching him eat.

In particular, "egg fried rice," which is simple to make and has a strong hometown flavor, became Chen Ze's favorite during this period.

drop by drop...

So, just as Chen Ze walked through the bustling streets and arrived at a street corner not covered by cameras, the EDEN device he wore on his forehead suddenly went off.

It wasn't the sound of receiving a text message or voice message, but rather a rapid, alarm-like sound.

This special alarm sound was deliberately set up by Chen Ze and connected to a counter-surveillance program he wrote himself, which can automatically trigger an alarm in the weakest areas of surveillance and network.

"Hmm, is this the blind spot of the surveillance camera?"

Looking up and around, Chen Ze indeed didn't see anything resembling a surveillance camera nearby.

It's important to understand that in today's era of big data and interconnected networks, most streets and areas, except for private areas like apartments, are equipped with real-time surveillance cameras.

Once any suspicious persons or dangerous incidents are discovered, an alert will be sent to the relevant departments immediately.

Normally, Chen Ze wouldn't care about these things; on the contrary, he would only feel that these measures would bring ordinary people a great sense of security.

However, since the Digital Gate opened and more and more Digimon appeared in the real world, these almost ubiquitous surveillance cameras have become something that Chen Ze increasingly dislikes.

Whether it's Reijumon X or someone wanting to test the effects of hacking skills in the real world, they must avoid those ubiquitous surveillance cameras.

For example, right now...

Chi!

With a crackling sound of electric arcs, countless 0s and 1s appeared on Chen Ze's body surface.

The next second, an application in the goggle-type EDEN device is launched, driving the reconstruction and combination of those different forms of digital waves.

In less than a thousandth of a second, Chen Ze's original body disappeared, replaced by a burly man nearly 1.9 meters tall.

An overbearing aura, a calm and serious expression...

This burly man was none other than Chen Ze's virtual avatar, created by digitizing the personal information he purchased on the black market using his hacking skills.

If Makiko Date were to see this scene, she would be surprised to find that this burly man bears a striking resemblance to Taro Nakai.

Or to be more precise, this was a data avatar created by Chen Ze using some of Taro Nakai's personal information, which was enough to deceive EDEN's public area detection.

Theoretically speaking, as long as Chen Ze doesn't run into the original owner, Taro Nakai, or use this avatar to log into the relevant banking system, his fake identity won't be discovered.

"Sure enough, even the virtual avatars can now appear in the real world."

In previous experiments, Chen Ze only used some simple hacking skills such as invisibility, scanning, and personal firewalls, without actually trying to change his physical form.

This "transformation" made Chen Ze realize that the technology that could only be used in the EDEN network could now be realized in reality through the relevant EDEN equipment.

Chen Ze didn't know how many people were aware of this, but he knew it was a sign that the digital world was invading the material world.

Chen Ze could hardly imagine whether the world would collapse and be destroyed when the physical foundations and natural laws of the material world were replaced by the rules of the digital world, or whether this would be the catalyst for the birth of a more perfect world.

"Fortunately, the threshold for directly using hacking skills is relatively high, so only a small number of top-level hackers should realize this."

Unlike Chen Ze, who has a built-in digital core, it is only slightly easier for ordinary hackers to use EDEN devices to achieve their privileges on the network than to actually digitize them.

In a sense, the ability to use the data world in the real world is itself a "digitalization" phenomenon with a lowered barrier to entry.

Chapter Eleven Earth Online

"It may be few, but people will eventually realize this."

Slowly clenching his fist, Chen Ze could clearly feel that his current form was far stronger than his previous original form.

In other words, the materialized data avatars inherited the relevant settings on the EDEN network to some extent.

A height a head taller than average, muscles more robust and muscular than average, and a body without any "vital points"...

At this moment, Chen Ze felt as if he were playing a real game called "Earth Online," and his current body was that of a player in the game.

Aside from the inability to be resurrected after death, Chen Ze's current body is almost identical to the initial character in the game.

"No, if this is a game, then Digimon are the real players in this game."

He couldn't help but shake his head, thinking of the Digimon that had already appeared in the real world.

Compared to the few hackers, the real players are the Digimon who, due to the lowered barriers of digitalization, can freely travel from the EDEN Network to the human world.

In comparison, humans and hackers who have mastered hacking skills are at best NPC characters in this game.

Since the gates to the Digital World were opened by Swordmon, more and more Digimon have appeared in the real world.

However, compared to those unlucky souls who directly passed through the digital gate and came to the human world...

More Digimon appear in the real world through a weakened "dimensional wall," using EDEN as a transit point.

Compared to the former, the latter has advantages that the former cannot match, whether in terms of secrecy or other aspects.

At the very least, Digimon transiting through the EDEN network don't have to worry about directly confronting human armies and special operations teams, and can appear in the real world in a relatively safe way.

If all else fails, the Digimon can even hide in some of the chaotic areas of EDEN.

In any case, for the vast majority of Digimon, the EDEN Network and the real world are not much different; both are completely unfamiliar territories that they do not understand at all.

If the Digital World weren't being devoured by more and more invaders, the Digimon would never have taken such a huge risk to travel to a completely unfamiliar world.

"Forget it, now is not the time to think about these things."

Chen Ze gently shook his head, slowly walked out of the street corner, and stood back within the surveillance camera's range.

After a period of waiting that he wasn't good at, Chen Ze, having confirmed that his disguise had fooled the surveillance cameras, no longer hesitated and turned to head towards his real destination.

......................................................................................................

Meanwhile, at the school Chen Ze is currently attending.

"..."

Nogi Yu sat in her seat as usual, but looked at the empty seat in the second-to-last row by the window with a slightly melancholy expression.

Since the last school bullying incident, Nogi Yu has never been bullied by those school hooligans or thugs again.

On the contrary, due to Chen Ze and the fox spirit X's violent behavior on two separate occasions, the school's thugs have come to regard this floor as some kind of untouchable "forbidden zone".

Let alone the troublemakers from other grades, even those in the same grade as Chen Ze no longer dare to cause any trouble, for fear of being caught and beaten up by the demon fox beast X.

After all, it's normal for kids this age to fight, but those who dare to beat someone so badly they end up in the hospital are still a minority.

Undoubtedly, the fox spirit X, disguised as Chen Ze, has been regarded by his classmates and even some teachers as a formidable character they dare not mess with.

As a result, Nogi Yu, a well-known "cross-dresser," has become someone no one dares to mess with anymore.