"Mimi…? Wait, you're Mimi Tachikawa?!"
Perhaps because that mysterious evolution program originated from Mimi, the newly evolved Koromon clearly fit her aesthetics much more closely.
At the very least, Chen Ze refused to believe that the overly cute, obviously girlish "scarf" now draped around him could possibly be something naturally evolved from a YukimiBotamon.
But precisely because of this, Chen Ze finally understood why the name "Mimi" had felt oddly familiar.
Because among the original seven Chosen Children from the Digimon anime he remembered, there was a little girl who symbolized "Purity"—named Mimi.
Although Mimi's screen time in the original story wasn't exactly extensive, her character growth was among the most significant of all the children.
From a spoiled little princess at the start, she eventually matured into someone capable of uniting Digimon of wildly different—even conflicting—personalities. Her innate charisma had truly blossomed in the later parts of the story.
Yet, if Chen Ze remembered correctly, Mimi's partner was supposed to be Palmon—who would eventually evolve into Lillymon, and ultimately, Rosemon.
In other words, the YukimiBotamon who'd inadvertently accepted Mimi's influence now had a similar inclination—towards purity, and more unsettlingly, femininity.
First, there had been the possibility of evolving into Angewomon…
And now, he'd also absorbed data containing a clear feminine, purity-driven evolutionary tendency…
Within just one short day, Chen Ze felt nothing but overwhelming malice from this universe.
I'm clearly a straight man through and through, so why am I constantly intersecting with evolution routes that have feminine undertones?
"You can talk now?"
Completely unaware of Chen Ze's inner turmoil, Mimi—after a brief moment of surprise—immediately became engrossed by the Koromon who had suddenly started speaking.
"You know my name? What's yours?"
Seeing Mimi's eyes glittering with question marks, Chen Ze had many more doubts than she did.
Just what was that pure, mysterious power earlier?
Wasn't that supposed to only appear after Homeostasis had collected data on Kari Kamiya?
Could it be that the Chosen Children hadn't been selected at random? Even without ever entering the Digital World, they already possessed some innate potential?
In other words, the "Crest of Purity" was a power Mimi had already held inside her, and Homeostasis had simply facilitated and fully introduced it into the Digital World?
When he thought about it, that logic actually made a lot of sense. After all, the Chosen Children didn't start off strong.
From their Digivices to their Crests, and ultimately achieving Mega evolution—the children had gradually uncovered and strengthened their own powers step by step before finally achieving victory.
Compared to that future overwhelming power, strong enough to evolve Palmon into her Ultimate or even Mega forms, the current Crest of Purity—which barely managed to evolve YukimiBotamon into Koromon—was indeed just an initial prototype.
"My name is…"
His youthful, childish voice couldn't conceal Chen Ze's confusion. He almost blurted out his real name—Chen Ze—but stopped just before doing so.
"My name… is Koromon."
After a brief hesitation, Chen Ze ultimately chose not to say his human name, directly adopting the identity of "Koromon."
Aside from the fact that his current form was literally a Koromon, he'd also quickly realized something else: even if he told Mimi his real name, it wouldn't mean a thing to a little girl like her.
Moreover, Chen Ze kept firmly in mind his hacker identity and code of conduct—never leave behind any information that might expose your true identity in networks or unfamiliar territory.
Especially in this completely alien world, layering on an additional mask or an alternate identity was undoubtedly safer than directly revealing his true origins.
—[The Hacker's Survival Code]
—[Rule Two]:A real hacker never limits himself to just one identity or persona.
...
Meanwhile, in a disconnected cyberspace somewhere within Hikarigaoka, Nerima Ward.
"Those 'Virus Busters' really are a bunch of brainless fools!"
Just as Chen Ze had anticipated, Renamon—despite bearing the full brunt of Deputymon's self-destruction—hadn't died. Instead, at the very last instant, she'd torn through the digital blockade and arrived in some unknown part of cyberspace.
This space existed somewhere between reality and the digital plane. Yet, unlike the usual network, this place was closer to the Digital World than to the human realm.
Here, pure data was no longer mere information; it instead took on a tangible form, shaping itself into something solid.
It looked like a huge, colorful maze, with chaotic blocks of various colors stacked haphazardly throughout the entire space, creating a nearly hallucinogenic visual bombardment.
"Where is this place?"
Forcing herself to maintain composure, Renamon—who had finally snapped out of her previous frenzy—glanced cautiously around, realizing she couldn't recall how she'd entered this strange realm at all.
That was abnormal. Renamon was a Digimon, after all.
Unlike living beings in the human world, Digimon rarely experienced "forgetting."
Unless their data was damaged or incomplete, some powerful Digimon could even retain faint memories from previous lives after being reborn as Digi-Eggs.
Although not common, it proved how superior Digimon were when it came to memory.
Without exaggeration, since each Digimon's Digital Core essentially functioned as a supercomputer, their intelligence and memory far exceeded that of ordinary humans.
Perhaps the only aspect these semi-artificial intelligences lacked compared to real humans was creativity.
But even that wasn't absolute. Beyond regular Digimon existed those incredibly powerful Mega-level Digimon, who were akin to gods.
Once evolved to that level, Digimon completely broke free from their innate limitations, possessing wisdom and power comparable to actual deities.
In Renamon's understanding, only beings resembling gods had the capability to silently erase portions of her memory, leaving her trapped in such an eerie place.
"Could you be that 'God' Angemon spoke of?"
Narrowing her eyes warily, Renamon silently tensed every muscle in her body, fully prepared to launch a desperate counterattack at any moment.
That was Renamon: a Rookie-level Digimon who would never abandon a chance for survival, no matter how dire the situation or powerful the enemy.
"No. You're definitely not God. You lack the aura befitting a true deity."
As if speaking to herself—or perhaps directly addressing this space itself—the sharp gleam in Renamon's eyes grew increasingly intense as time ticked by.
"You must be the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes—the one who sent us into this world, aren't you?"