Digital Hackers' Memories

What do you mean the opponent is too weak? It's clearly our side that's too strong!

Alphamon, Omegamon, Gankomon, Kaiyomon, Diaboromon, and a minor blue Sistermon—with such a luxurious lineup, defeating anyone would be as easy as cutting melons and vegetables.

Without these helpers, Breviluddramon doubted whether he and Durandamon could even get close to the colossal Invader Mother.

"what!!!"

Just as the group was about to press their advantage and completely destroy the Corruptor Mother,

The Corruptor Mother, which had been knocked to the ground, roared in fury once more. Its originally severed limbs rapidly decomposed into countless Corruptors, which then climbed up its main body and reassembled into four new arms.

The second round of the battle... has only just begun!

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

"This won't do; we're fighting too restrictively!"

Standing at the rear of the battlefield, Sanada Shin immediately saw the crux of the battle.

The other Digimon were undoubtedly fighting with all their might, but Alphamon, Omegamon, and Gankomon, as Royal Knights, were clearly holding back.

This is not surprising, because the current Invader Matrix is, in a sense, the World Tree.

In this context, destroying the World Tree would mean destroying the Digital World, something no Royal Knight could accept.

Therefore, despite having the absolute advantage through their combined efforts, until a better way to deal with the Corruptor Mother is found, all they can do is limit the expansion of the Corruptor Mother and weaken its power as much as possible.

"Yes, that's too passive."

Takumi clearly saw the crux of the matter and frowned as he pondered.

If the enemy's strength is clearly superior to that of one's own individual, and one still hesitates to kill them out of consideration for their identity, this is irresponsible towards one's own combat personnel.

Takumi wasn't the kind of fool who couldn't see the situation clearly. He knew that if things continued like this, even if their overall strength surpassed that of the Invader Mother, they would eventually be defeated one by one.

Therefore, they must find a way to resolve this contradiction before the worst-case scenario occurs.

"Perhaps I can hack into that matrix and dismantle its structure from the inside."

This was the suggestion from Takumi, who had once used the unique properties of the data body to infiltrate the Invaders.

Just like when he last encountered Adam, Sanada's new avatar, and hacked into the Invaders' database, Takumi can now use the Invaders' Matrix as a springboard to hack into their database again.

Furthermore, since the springboard they are using this time is the mother body of the eroded entity, Takumi is even confident that he can liberate and rescue all the eroded entities that have devoured human mental data.

"No! I object!"

Arata Sanada, who was nearly corrupted by the Corruptor, decisively opposed Takumi's actions, because no one understood the danger better than he, who had once been Adam.

If it weren't for Yugo Kamishiro's "afterimage" helping him after the meeting, he probably would have become Adam himself, and Takumi would have been completely assimilated as an corrupted being.

"I object too!"

"Me too!"

Yuko Kamishiro and Nokia then clearly expressed their stance, stating that they would not allow Takumi to resolve this crisis in such a risky manner.

"There are many ways to deal with the Corruptor Mother, and risking your life is definitely the worst possible option."

With her clear logic, Yuko Kamishiro thinks more deeply than Nokia and can foresee more dangers.

"Don't forget, the Infiltrators evolve by infiltrating data. If you are unfortunately assimilated by an Infiltrator, it will only make the situation worse."

In previous incidents, Yuko Kamishiro had already witnessed the unique nature of the "Data Body".

If the Invader Mother were to acquire the same abilities as Takumi, she had no doubt that the "dimensional ascension" that had been forcibly interrupted by Alphamon would reappear.

By then, even if the strongest Ultimate beings joined forces, they probably wouldn't be able to stop the Invader Mother from destroying the world.

"Taking risks is not the act of a wise person."

Just as Sanada Shin, Nokia, and Kamishiro Yuko were all trying to stop Takumi's adventure, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind them.

"Takumi, you are much more important than you think."

Appearing out of thin air in this sealed space, the ethereal white-clad youth manifested himself from nothing to something, from nothing to reality, clearly demonstrating the entire process of his materialization to outsiders for the first time.

"Yugo?"

"elder brother?"

Turning around in astonishment, Sanada Shin and Kamishiro Yuko stared wide-eyed, their eyes filled with disbelief.

"No, it's not Yugo Kamishiro!"

The helplessness on his face instantly turned into vigilance. Having had contact with Yugo Kamishiro several times before, Takumi immediately denied the white-clad boy's identity.

"Or rather, it's not entirely Yugo Kamishiro!"

Since the experiment eight years ago, Yugo Kamishiro's mental data has been corrupted by the Corruptor, and he has become a part of the Corruptor.

Whenever an invader is about to appear, Yugo Kamishiro's phantom will appear in advance, warning the surrounding creatures in a way that is almost an "omen".

Furthermore, the more powerful the invaders appear, the more obvious Yugo Kamishiro's phantom will become, and the clearer his consciousness will be.

Theoretically speaking, it's not impossible that a fully conscious Yugo Kamishiro would appear near the Corruptor Matrix, which is an aggregate of countless Corruptors.

However, all of this is based on one premise: that the Yugo Kamishiro who appears in the outside world has no memory of what happened eight years later.

All the memory data that constituted the white-clad boy were frozen eight years ago, at the moment before the β experiment ended.

"While the real Yugo Kamishiro knows about my 'data body,' the illusion of Yugo Kamishiro that appears in the outside world cannot possibly know this!"

Ultimately, the boy in white is merely a projection of Yugo Kamishiro's fragmented memories, and is not the same as the real Yugo Kamishiro.

"Who are you? How do you know we exist?"

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Protagonist's Battleground

"hold head high!"

As if in response to Takumi's question, a low roar suddenly came from behind the boy in white.

Immediately afterwards, a giant dragon made entirely of steel appeared out of thin air and stood right behind the white-robed youth.

"Infinite Dragon Beast?!"

Yuko Kamishiro's eyes showed disbelief, because the steel dragon that appeared at this moment was none other than the Infinite Dragon Beast.

Furthermore, the welding marks on the neck of the InfiniteDragon Beast indicate that this InfiniteDragon Beast is the same one that was previously beheaded by Kingmon with a single sword strike.

"Are you YUGO?"

Suddenly turning her gaze to the white-clad boy who looked exactly like Yugo Kamishiro, Yuko Kamishiro's voice trembled slightly, as if she had seen something incredible.

“In a sense, I can indeed be considered YUGO.”

Without denying his identity at all, YUGO casually took a step forward and reached out his hand to Takumi in his bewildered gaze.

"You may not remember me, but I was the one who gave you your first 'Digimon Catcher' program."

As soon as he finished speaking, Takumi, who had been somewhat bewildered, suddenly changed his expression and glanced at Yuko Kamishiro, who was speechless with shock.

Because Takumi's Breviluddramon and Durandamon were given to him by Yuko Kamishiro, who appeared as "YUGO" at the time.

However, during his subsequent adventures, Takumi encountered an Invader, which caused his mind and body to separate, thus transforming him into the "Data Body" he is today.

The physical body lies dormant in the nursing ward of the Kamishiro Central Hospital, while the independent mental data can freely traverse between reality and virtuality, becoming a relatively independent entity.

"But...aren't you Yuuko's data avatar?"

Takumi is unaware of the relationship between Yuko Kamishiro and YUGO. In his eyes, YUGO is merely a data avatar created by Yuko Kamishiro using the image of her brother.

It's like how modern people habitually register several "aliases" when they go online. Takumi never felt that there was anything abnormal about Yuko Kamishiro pretending to be YUGO.

“I am Yuko’s data avatar, but I am not entirely her data avatar.”

"I am a virtual personality that has distorted Yuuko's memories and personality, and can appear on the EDEN network on my own."

As he said this, YUGO deliberately glanced at Yuko Kamishiro who was standing to the side before continuing in a low voice.

“You can think of me as Yuko’s second personality, a secondary personality that simultaneously possesses the image of Yugo Kamishiro and the memories of Yuko Kamishiro.”

At this point, Yuko finally recovered from her shock and strode forward to slap away Yugo's outstretched arm as he reached for Takumi.

"Didn't you already disappear?"

Although her tone wasn't particularly harsh, Yuko Kamishiro's rare reprimand still startled everyone present.

It's important to know that, aside from disguising herself as YUGO, Yuko Kamishiro is mostly a cold and aloof person who is not good at socializing.

Yet, this same Yuko Kamishiro displayed an almost protective stubbornness in front of YUGO.

"Hehe, you said I just disappeared. Disappearing doesn't mean I'm dead."

Slowly withdrawing his arm, YUGO, amidst Takumi's puzzled expression and Sanada's sudden realization, turned his gaze back to Yuko Kamishiro.

“Originally, everything that happened here had nothing to do with me, and I was already prepared to ‘disappear’.”

"Unfortunately, there's always this guy who likes to play the 'good guy,' and I can't just watch him go to his death, so I have to show up again."

Judging from Takumi's sullen expression, Yugo intentionally or unintentionally cemented the label of "pushover" onto him.

"Haha, Takumi is indeed a bit too much of a 'pushover' sometimes!"

Completely ignoring the almost chaotic atmosphere between Yuko Kamishiro and YUGO, the usually oblivious Nokia suddenly burst into carefree laughter.

"You guy..."

With a helpless glare at Nokia, who seemed oblivious to the atmosphere, Sanada Shinya had no choice but to take a large step forward and block the way for Kamishiro Yuko and YUGO.

Now that Yuko Kamishiro, who is his comrade, has already expressed her opinion, even if Shin Sanada still wants to get some information from YUGO, he has no choice but to switch sides without hesitation.

"I don't know what happened, but you came here to help, right?"

As he said this, Sanada Shin deliberately observed Yuko Kamishiro's expression, but he couldn't discern anything from her expressionless face.

Just like that almost protective behavior just now, it was merely an illusion.

That couldn't be just my imagination, could it?

With these thoughts running through his mind, Sanada Shin regained his composure and turned his gaze back to YUGO, who in a sense was a "darkened version of Yuko Kamishiro".

"I probably can't get help. I just don't want to see some idiot go to his death."

Perhaps because of the complete separation from Yuko Kamishiro, YUGO is now more mature and open-minded than before.

"You've probably already realized it yourself, haven't you, Takumi?"

Ignoring Yuko Kamishiro's slightly changed expression, YUGO looked at Takumi with a serious expression, as if he were looking at a rare treasure that was ruining itself.

“You are different from us. You are not a pure data life form, but a human who accidentally gained data abilities.”

"The prolonged separation of your body and mind must have already destabilized your mental structure!"

Although it's a question, YUGO used an affirmative tone here.

"If you forcefully use the 'Login Jump' ability again, your mental consciousness will disappear."

YUGO was telling the truth, because when Takumi fought Adam, his body was already flickering, just like when there was a network problem and it was lagging.

"Takumi?"

Yuko and the others obviously recalled that scene from back then, and immediately turned to look at Takumi, whose expression remained unchanged.

Clearly, Takumi, as the person involved, had already vaguely sensed this, but he had kept it a secret from everyone.

"Those who do not cherish their 'savior' are not worthy of being called 'saviors' at all."

"Take another step forward," YUGO emphasized solemnly in a meaningful tone.

This time, however, no one, including Yuko Kamishiro, tried to stop YUGO from moving forward.

"Takumi, you don't need to, and you have no obligation to, sacrifice yourself anymore..."

"Alphamon and Omegamon are the 'Apostles' who must bear the responsibility, while you are just an unfortunate mortal who was caught up in it."

"Besides, you've already done enough for this world. Even if you give up now, no one will blame you."

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PS: To be honest, I never understood who Takumi's romantic partner was while playing the game.

Nokia was ruled out first, as she was the official "idiot couple" partner of Omegamon. In the end, she even formed a new "cyber detective duo" with Shin to find evidence of the existence of Digimon.

As for Kyoko Kuremi and Yuko Kamishiro, Kyoko Kuremi is more like a guide or an NPC, and her participation in the main storyline is not high.

Furthermore, now that the book has introduced the existence of "Alphamon," let's pair up Kyoko Murami with Alphamon.