Not chosen, but forcing his way aboard~

(All you kids left unchosen, come collect your Digimon partners~)

The Digital World~

File Island, the Village of Beginnings!

"Huh? Am I in a hospital? No! Is this a primeval forest???"

Waking from unconsciousness, Zhou Zhu surveyed the trees around him, which looked nothing like anything that belonged on Earth. Unease began to well up inside him. This surroundings almost certainly meant that he had been transported to some unfamiliar world.

After all, no one could survive being hit by a speeding Dongfeng Truck with their body as intact as his.

Huh? What's this? An ostrich egg? Where did it come from? Surely I didn't lay it myself???

But that doesn't make sense either. Since when were ostrich eggs this big? And... these patterns. Who would be bored enough to scribble all over an egg...

Staring at the enormous oval egg beneath him, Zhou Zhu fell into bewilderment~

"Hey, kid, what are you doing? Get away from that Digi-Egg!" While Zhou Zhu was puzzling over it, a childish voice rang out, drawing closer from the distance.

"Huh? That voice~ Someone's here?" So I've ended up in a human world? Thank goodness. As long as it isn't...

What the hell? Is that... Elecmon???

Then this egg beside me... is a Digi-Egg?

I've been transported into the world of Digimon?

This is the Village of Beginnings???

Huh? This connection between our minds~

Is this Digi-Egg my Digimon partner? Am I one of the DigiDestined too?

With DigiDestined practically everywhere... have I ended up in Digimon's second series? But Elecmon and the Village of Beginnings were clearly part of the first series~

And where's my Digivice? The DigiDestined had Digivices in every Digimon series, didn't they? Even in the fourth series, where they didn't have Digimon partners, they still had those phone-like devices...

"Elecmon, don't get the wrong idea. I mean no harm. I only just got here myself." Looking at the tiny Elecmon, Zhou Zhu was already breaking out in a cold sweat.

A Digimon's strength couldn't be judged by its size. Besides, how could a mere human like him possibly go toe-to-toe with Elecmon, who could unleash an electric special attack?

"Hmph. You wouldn't dare."

Seeing Zhou Zhu back down, Elecmon walked over with a rather smug air.

"Elecmon, do you know where we are? I think I'm lost." Zhou Zhu didn't mind Elecmon's smug attitude in the slightest. After all, meeting Elecmon was far better than running into Devimon. He was utterly defenseless right now. If he could get the good-hearted Elecmon to back him up, he wouldn't have to live in fear of unknown dangers for quite some time.

"File Island, of course. Kid, if you've got no business here, leave." Stroking the Digi-Egg that seemed to contain Zhou Zhu's Digimon partner, Elecmon impatiently waved for him to go.

"Please don't, Elecmon. I've only just arrived here. I don't know anyone or anything about this place, and I can't fight at all. If I lose my way and run into some evil Digimon, won't I be in danger? Elecmon, please let me stay here for a while. I'll leave once I've gotten familiar with the surroundings. Would that be all right?"

As the saying went, an honorable person could be swayed with a reasonable argument. Since Elecmon willingly cared for these newborn baby Digimon, Elecmon clearly had a kind heart. Now that he had explained what would happen if he left, surely Elecmon wouldn't simply watch him walk into danger?

"Hmm... You do have a point. You can stay, but you'll have to help me look after the little ones here." Looking at Zhou Zhu, who really did seem incapable of fighting, Elecmon couldn't quite bring himself to drive him away.

"Thank you! Elecmon, you're such a good person. No wonder all the little ones here like you so much."

Yes~ The plan worked! Now I've not only secured my safety, I can mooch food off Elecmon too.

Shing~

A flash of light shone out~

The Digi-Egg Zhou Zhu had been lying on earlier was showing signs of hatching~

"It's coming out. The Village of Beginnings is about to welcome another new member." Even though Elecmon had witnessed this many times, the sight still stirred excitement.

Is it coming out? My supposed Digimon partner...

What will it be? WarGreymon's baby form? Botamon?

Or Chibomon, the baby form of Veemon, whose evolutions fill the most spots among the Royal Knights?

Failing that, a baby form of one of the Seven Great Demon Lords would be fine too~

Hmm, Sister Fa's baby form would be even better~

If nothing else, Hackmon's baby form would do...

I'm not picky~

"Gooji~"

The white light faded, revealing a rather ugly, smoke-shaped baby Digimon before the two of them.

"What's this? I've never seen it before..." I'm done for. It's not anyone from the original main cast. It doesn't even resemble any of their partners' baby forms~

"It's SmokeMon. You really don't know anything, do you?" In response to Zhou Zhu's question, Elecmon adopted the air of an eager teacher and happily showed off.

(Data) SmokeMon:

Baby I Digimon~

A baby Digimon surrounded by smoke-like gas. It is said to be a special Digimon whose DigiCore, located at the center of its body, is exposed and protected by smoke. Because SmokeMon's DigiCore is exposed, it covers its body with smoke produced by burning, making it a Digimon with an unusual ecology. It spreads the smoke its body produces throughout the surrounding area, then takes the opportunity to escape.

"SmokeMon? Elecmon, since you know so much, do you know what it'll evolve into?" Hoping to obtain more useful information, Zhou Zhu put on the air of a humble student.

"Heh heh, how could a question like that stump me, Elecmon? SmokeMon evolves into Flamemon, and then Candlemon. I've spent so long in the Village of Beginnings, and SmokeMon isn't exactly a rare Digimon. I've raised plenty of Flamemon myself."

At that, Elecmon looked even more pleased with himself.

"SmokeMon, Flamemon, Candlemon?" Looks like I'm stuck on the random extra route...

From what he had sensed just now, Zhou Zhu had already realized that he wasn't one of the DigiDestined at all. More precisely, he could be considered half a Digimon...

Because the SmokeMon before him was merely an avatar of his own consciousness. In other words, his single soul shared two bodies.

Hmm, it's a little like the situation with Marcus Damon's father, Suguru Damon...

The difference was that, even after being transported here as a Digimon, he had retained his human body.

No wonder I don't have a Digivice. I'm just an impostor...

But in that case, getting his other body to evolve would be difficult. For an ordinary Digimon, evolution was incredibly hard. There might even be a risk of the evolution failing.

"That's right. Don't underestimate this little one. It might look weak now, but once it evolves into Candlemon, it'll be so powerful that even I, Elecmon, won't be able to beat it."

Remembering a certain Candlemon born at the same time as himself, Elecmon couldn't help feeling a little wistful.