This sudden flying tackle completely exceeded Zero's expectations, and before he knew it, he was tightly embraced.
"Rina?!"
"Hehe, I was thinking earlier, Zero-kun would make a great body pillow—and yep, exactly as soft as I imagined~"
"…"
From a purely physical perspective, Koromon's size was just about perfect for an average girl to hold comfortably. With his fluffy, marshmallow-like body, it certainly felt nice to hug.
Honestly, if Zero had still been human, he'd also have wanted a Koromon to cuddle at night. But now, the situation was totally different.
"Wait, we won't be able to rest properly like this, right?"
Zero tried very hard to clarify his stance. Yes, he earnestly tried—but in the end…
…She was simply too big.
Eventually, Zero was defeated by his own smallness. And Rina herself seemed entirely oblivious to it—looking down at his own shape, Zero had no choice but to accept this helplessly.
In this form, he was indeed just a harmless little pillow creature. Any attempts at explaining concepts like "men and women shouldn't get too close" were merely perceived by Rina as cute tsundere protests.
"Haha, even though Zero-kun's voice does sound like a boy's, you're just so cute—boy or girl, who cares~?"
"…"
Dammit, she's so logical I can't even refute a punctuation mark!
Meanwhile, Hajime, watching from the side, clearly didn't understand what the fuss was all about—
"—People's joys and sorrows are not connected; all I see is noisy chatter."
Thus, Hajime comfortably closed her eyes by the campfire, but seeing this, Rina's eyes lit up again.
She bounced eagerly over to Hajime, asking, "Hajime-chan, can I lean on you to sleep?"
Hajime blinked in confusion, but nodded unconcernedly. Zero, however, felt something was off.
"…Wait a sec, why did you specifically ask Hajime-chan's permission, but just ignored mine when using me as a pillow?"
"Because Hajime-chan would definitely agree, but Zero-kun looks like the type who'd resist~"
"…"
Facing Rina, who said all this with a mischievous grin, Zero immediately felt a solemn respect rising in his heart…
Oh no. Could Rina actually be secretly black-hearted?!
The crackling campfire flickered warmly. Hajime lay sideways next to the fire, with Rina comfortably leaning against her. The soft, warm fur covering Hajime's body felt incredibly comfortable to rest upon.
Holding Zero's round form tightly in her arms, Rina sat bathed in the orange glow of the campfire, creating a gently warm scene.
Under this cozy atmosphere, Hajime and Rina soon drifted into sleep. Only Zero, held firmly by Rina, found it impossible to fall asleep.
Rina slept completely unaware, occasionally muttering dreamy nonsense while subconsciously kneading and squishing Zero's body, sometimes even rubbing against him.
For Rina, these were likely unconscious gestures, just as if she was holding a real pillow.
But for Zero, this was torture of a very particular kind.
Helplessly, Zero stared upwards, counting stars to lull himself to sleep. The Digital World's sky seemed not much different from the Real World's…
…Although Zero hadn't been able to recognize many stars in the Real World either. So, he only vaguely felt the two skies looked similar. Perhaps in the eyes of an astronomy enthusiast, they were utterly different.
By the time Zero reached the two-hundredth star, a faint sense of drowsiness finally began to creep in. But right at that moment, he noticed a shooting star streaking across the distant sky, swiftly trailing a flickering tail of fire before vanishing in an instant.
"?"
...
At the very center of File Island stood a towering, barren mountain. Atop its summit loomed a Gothic-style castle.
…Every Digimon living on File Island knew very well that this place was an absolute forbidden zone.
The more a place adhered to the law of the jungle, the stronger territorial boundaries became—just like the lake where Zero and the others currently stayed, which had belonged to Seadramon.
But this barren mountain and the castle upon it belonged to the island's greatest evil—the original rookie-village boss from the first Adventure series… Devimon!
On the eerie castle wall, a shadow gracefully descended, wide demonic wings flapping gently.
…This figure looked almost exactly like a traditional "demon," with its slender body, sharp claws, pitch-black horns on either side of its forehead, a crimson bat-shaped symbol on its chest, and multiple black belts wrapped around its limbs.
These iconic features would repeatedly appear among other Demon-type Digimon, establishing it as a classic "origin" design.
Its scarlet eyes gazed arrogantly across the entire island, like a king surveying his dominion.
And indeed, Devimon was currently the undisputed ruler of File Island—at least for now, as even the island's few Ultimate-level Digimon posed no threat to its rule…
…or at least, that should have been the case.
"This strange feeling…is irritating."
Devimon's gaze fixed upon the distant Digital Forest. As one of the "rookie villages" on File Island, the Digital Forest had no especially strong Digimon holding dominance.
A Digimon of Seadramon's level was already considered a local tyrant; even Rookies could thrive there comfortably.
For Devimon, that place shouldn't produce anything capable of threatening its dominance.
…And precisely this negligence allowed the Chosen Children to safely survive their initial growth phase.
Yet today, Devimon sensed a distinctly unsettling aura from there.
The aura itself wasn't strong—at least by Devimon's judgment, it posed no direct threat.
But the presence appeared briefly, then quickly vanished without a trace.
It almost seemed like the other party could freely conceal its power, and this aspect intrigued Devimon somewhat.
But after all, it was just a bit intriguing. Devimon currently had far more important things to do.
It opened its hand, where a black fog condensed into a pitch-black gear.
"…Soon. Once I collect enough data, every Digimon on this entire island will become my minions…my nourishment…my strength!"
To Devimon, this was presently the highest priority. That fleeting aura would be put aside for now.
…Although, ignoring it completely would be too careless. Devimon's lips curled upward slightly.
"Perfect. Let's use this as a test…"
As it spoke, it raised its palm, causing the black gear to rise swiftly into the air, shattering midair and transforming into dozens of smaller gears. These then scattered, swiftly flying towards the Digital Forest…