5. Do not rush into the Demon King's Castle at the beginning of the game.

As night fell, Taichi stacked the firewood to one side, and Zeromaru breathed out a burst of flame from his mouth. Just like that, a campfire for warmth and light was made.

Taichi hugged his knees, the orange flames reflecting in his pupils.

"Zero, are all Digimon the kind that can't talk to each other?"

Zeromaru blinked. "I'm a Digimon too."

"Fair enough." Taichi shook his head. Since they were both Digimon, and Zeromaru was an especially aggressive type at that, there was no reason he alone could communicate and even become a partner, while the rest of them were all just mindless brutes charging in with nothing but howls and violence.

At that moment, Seadramon, who had been lying nearby pretending to be dead, suddenly let out a pained cry and propped himself upright again.

"Still want to fight?" Taichi immediately stood up from beside the fire and stepped back to shield Zeromaru.

To their surprise, a black gear suddenly flew out of Seadramon's throat.

The black gear shattered in midair with a loud crack, turning to dust that drifted away on the wind.

Taichi and Zeromaru looked at each other, both at a loss as to how something like that could have been inside Seadramon's body.

Judging from the wisps of smoke rising when the black gear broke apart, it was probably this thing, hidden inside Seadramon all along, that had been forced out by the intense heat of Zeromaru's V-Breath.

Once the black gear left Seadramon's body, the crimson in his eyes faded, revealing clear, lucid pupils beneath.

Seadramon lowered his body, and under Zeromaru's wary gaze, extended his mouth toward Taichi.

"You still want to fight?!"

Seeing that the other had actually bypassed him and tried to go straight for Taichi, Zeromaru immediately bulged his muscles, ready to teach him another lesson.

As if some memory of Zeromaru's savage beating remained in his mind, Seadramon reflexively drew his neck back, trembling visibly.

"Zero, wait a moment."

Taichi keenly noticed this, so he called Zeromaru back behind him. Then, under the other's cautious stare, he slowly approached Seadramon.

Seadramon stretched out his tongue, still carrying the scent of roasted meat, and gave Taichi a lick.

Perhaps because of his Ice Arrow finisher, Seadramon's tongue had cooled down and felt pleasantly chilly. When it brushed against Taichi's skin, he found himself enjoying the same refreshing comfort as an air conditioner in the heat of summer.

Taichi couldn't help but squint.

Seadramon's movements were very gentle. He even extended his tail and patted Taichi's face, much like a kitten from Taichi's own home playing with him.

"Hahaha, so you're acting spoiled with me."

Taichi rubbed Seadramon's head.

Given the contrast between Seadramon's behavior before and after, Taichi boldly guessed that the black gear had been influencing his nature.

"So that means the Digimon we saw earlier were also affected by black gears?" Zeromaru speculated.

Taichi thought about it and said, "Maybe some of them were. And some were probably just plain reckless."

"Seadramon, do you know where those black gears came from?" Taichi asked. He felt that something as obviously wicked as those black gears might be connected to his arrival in the Digital World.

After all, that's how the classic stories went, wasn't it? A hero summoned to another world in order to defeat an evil villain.

Seadramon blinked and thought for a long time, but in the end shook his head.

All he remembered was that he had originally been a quiet mature-level Digimon living in the lake, and his greatest joy in life had been biting the butt of the Ebidramon that sometimes came here to fish for electricity.

One day, a ripple suddenly spread across the calm surface of the lake. Thinking Ebidramon had come again, he swam toward the water with his mouth open, only to collide head-on with a black gear that broke through the surface and swallow it whole.

After that, Seadramon had felt as though he were trapped in a tiny pitch-black room. He could still sense things and see everything happening outside, but he could no longer control his body, until Taichi and Zeromaru forced the black gear out from within him.

Just like that, the clue they had only just found was cut off again. Yet Taichi had an instinctive feeling that the gear had flown out from the mountain at the center of the island.

There was no real reason for it, just the oppressive atmosphere, the dark clouds hanging over the mountainside, and the lightning that struck from time to time. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed exactly like the place where the final boss would be.

Seeing Taichi staring in the direction of Infinity Mountain, Zeromaru asked, "Are we going there next?"

Taichi hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"Let's explore the surroundings first, just as we originally planned."

When he played games, Taichi always preferred to clear all the side content around him first, grind himself up to the highest level, and only then go tackle the main story with the confidence to say, We can win. In simple terms, he was the sort of player who would clear every inch of the Ten-Mile Slope before moving on.

If they rushed straight to that mountain, it would be a bit like Link, having only just unlocked the basic powers of the runes and picked up a glider, immediately heading to the castle to save the princess.

That kind of speedrun-minded hurry would hardly be worth the price of admission.

"In any case, let's rest here today."

"Toot toot."

Just then, the sound of a car horn came from nearby.

Taichi turned his head and saw, on the far shore of the lake, a tram that had somehow come off its tracks.

Looking at the train, so utterly out of place in the surrounding environment, Taichi couldn't help muttering, "I've actually gotten used to this feeling of mismatch."

Riding Seadramon, Taichi crossed to the other side of the lake and boarded the train.

The moment he stepped aboard, the lights in the carriage switched on automatically, just like the phone booth by the seaside.

If they rested here, they would be sheltered from the wind, and the soft seats could even serve as beds. It was far more comfortable than camping outdoors.

Then Seadramon called out once. When Taichi and Zeromaru turned back to look, he flicked his tail and splashed more than a dozen fish out of the lake.

This astonishing efficiency immediately made Zeromaru's eyes light up.

Earlier, he had been displeased to see Seadramon trying to curry favor with Taichi, but now he rushed straight over and hugged Taichi's leg. "Let's keep him, okay? Please, please~"

Looking at Zeromaru, and at Seadramon's earnest gaze, Taichi hesitated.

But in the end, he decided to let Seadramon remain in the lake.

Leaving aside the fact that Taichi himself had no idea what kind of dangerous enemies he might still encounter in the future, Seadramon's habits would not suit the deserts, snowfields, and other extreme environments Taichi had seen while surveying File Island earlier.

Still, he promised Seadramon that once he had finished his business, he would come back to see him.

And so, Taichi and Zeromaru spent the first night of their adventure inside the train. The next morning, just as the sun rose, the two set out again and left under Seadramon's watchful gaze.

Watching Taichi's departing figure, Seadramon silently made up his mind: he would evolve into a powerful Digimon capable of carrying Taichi anywhere.