11. An Unprecedented Foe: More Formidable Than the Andor Beast

On this side, Taiyi and Lingwan had already bid farewell to the Andoru Beast and stepped out from the wasteland, entering a new forested area. The wasteland and the forest were less than two kilometers apart, yet the difference between the two regions was striking. This was truly a world made entirely of data; the common sense Taiyi had developed in the human world was utterly useless here.

Take his clothes, for instance. Having been in the digital world for over ten days, Taiyi had engaged in various extreme activities—off-road running, weightlifting, hand-to-hand combat—and had sweated profusely. Yet his clothes remained as fresh as when he first crossed over, crisp and scented faintly with laundry detergent.

Of course, it was convenient that his garments stayed perpetually clean, but that didn’t mean Taiyi was willing to come into contact with anything dirty...

So, half an hour later, when a horde of Snot Beasts began hurling excrement at him, he didn’t hesitate for a moment: he spun around and bolted away as fast as he could.

Taiyi was in an utterly miserable state, more frightened than he had ever been—even more than when facing billions of Andoru Beasts.

Deep within the forest wandered a fully evolved digital beast named Kuma-kun.

Originally a kind-hearted creature and the lord of Toy City, Kuma-kun always warmly welcomed every visitor passing through. His special move, the Heartfelt Strike, could evoke the most beautiful and joyful memories from the hearts of his guests. He was the kind of digital beast who found happiness in seeing others happy.

But ever since he had been controlled by the Black Gear, Kuma-kun had turned into a violent thug forcibly capturing digital beasts near Toy City.

His special move had changed as well—it now controlled others’ wills. The toys in Toy City, once made to serve visitors, had become tools used against them, forcing the visitors to run around chased by toys while muttering, “So happy, so happy,” over and over.

That day, as usual, Kuma-kun was searching the forest for “guests.” However, since his temperament had drastically changed, all the local residents had moved away.

Finally, he sensed a disturbance from afar, and his eyes glowed bright red, wide with anticipation.

He spread his arms wide, eager to capture the “guests” and give them a proper welcome.

After a moment, Taiyi and Lingwan appeared in the distance, followed by a large crowd of Snot Beasts.

“Why on earth are these guys chasing me?!” Taiyi felt like he was going to lose his mind. He had simply wanted to get a cold soda from a nearby vending machine, but he had just spent all his money at a phone booth not long before. So, he decided to try a 45-degree angled mechanical repair strike on the vending machine, which promptly toppled over, releasing a swelling Snot Beast from inside.

Snot Beasts were digital creatures that lived year-round in dark, damp places like sewers. Though small, their lethal move was to throw excrement, which was disgusting but effective. They were actually mature digital beasts.

These kinds of creatures typically developed by absorbing too many miscellaneous data during their growth phase, leading to chaotic and unpredictable evolution. When they evolved into the weak, ugly, and despised Snot Beasts, their impatience and frustration made them hypersensitive and petty.

So when Taiyi accidentally injured one of them, the Snot Beasts instantly became agitated.

“Why are we forced to crawl around in dark corners, while you get to stand on stage looking all shiny and bright?!” they snarled.

The vending machines nearby had long been Snot Beast habitats, so when one emerged, dozens more crawled out and swarmed toward Taiyi and Lingwan.

“Didn’t I tell you not to use those weird moves? It was even in the chapter title last time! Why don’t you ever learn?!” Lingwan shouted at Taiyi as they sprinted.

“You’re so noisy! Then why didn’t you stop me from the start?!” Taiyi snapped back.

Busy bickering, neither noticed a huge yellow bear plush standing right ahead.

The Snot Beasts, seeing a fully evolved digital beast before them, immediately scattered.

“Welcome—pfft!”

Halfway through their run, Taiyi and Lingwan suddenly felt as if they’d collided with something. Looking back, the Snot Beast horde was gone. Only a large yellow bear costume lay in the middle of the road, and a black gear flew out from the zipper on its back, shattering into fragments in midair.

Taiyi and Lingwan exchanged glances.

“Could this be Kuma-kun?”

“Yeah, looks like it.”

“Is this a fully evolved form?”

“Seems so.”

“This is pathetic!”

Taiyi couldn’t fathom how a fully evolved Kuma-kun could be so weak. Even if Andoru Beasts weren’t combat types, they weren’t supposed to be as fragile as air.

He sighed, thinking that with the appearance of Andoru Beasts, the world level of Fairy Road Island should have risen, and from now on, they should encounter fully evolved or at least strong mature-stage digital beasts of similar rank.

But now it seemed Andoru Beasts were probably the upper limit of power on Fairy Road Island.

After a while, Kuma-kun rubbed his head and sat up.

“What happened?” Taiyi approached, feigning concern while secretly stuffing the cotton spilling out of Kuma-kun back inside.

“You’re awake! You were controlled by the Black Gear before, but luckily Lingwan and I came by and saved you,” Taiyi said.

The simple-hearted Kuma-kun readily believed him and said gratefully, “You humans are really kind.”

“After all, I’m the Chosen Child,” Taiyi said proudly, hands on hips, making Lingwan twitch his mouth in disbelief.

Taiyi was becoming shameless by the minute.

“A truly noble child,” Kuma-kun muttered, shaking his head in shame at how easily he had fallen into corruption.

“Originally, toys are meant to bring joy to everyone, but as they grow old, they are casually discarded by their owners.”

“As the lord of Toy City, I couldn’t accept this reality. Toys deserve a higher status; they shouldn’t just be the ones played with, but should also be the ones playing... It was this feeling that twisted me when I was controlled by the Black Gear.”

Taiyi comforted him, “I can somewhat understand how you feel.”

When Lingwan was once regarded as a bug by the Digital Beast Tournament officials, Taiyi had also thought, “It’s not Lingwan’s fault, it’s yours!”

Lingwan nodded, “If anyone badmouths Taiyi, I’ll beat them up badly, too.”

But no matter what, blaming many for the mistakes of a few was still too extreme.

Feeling the sincerity of both, Kuma-kun was deeply comforted.

They were good kids who knew how to cherish what was around them.

Kuma-kun said, “To thank you for saving me, please come back to Toy City with me. Let me give you a proper welcome.”

Taiyi and Lingwan exchanged a glance.

“Well... it’s getting late anyway.”

Might as well go.