No one could have imagined that Devimon would actually rise from the dead, forcefully stealing Haji's body and corrupting her DigiCore to perform a Jogress Digivolution. As Kiramon, it caught Zero completely off-guard.
Afterwards, just as Kiramon was about to be brought back under Haji's control, the surprise attack by the Black Gears allowed Devimon's lingering grudge to seize control, unleashing a devastating blast.
That was the last image Zero rembered clearly—Rina's Digivice erupting with light, colliding violently with Kiramon's attack, creating a swirling vortex between them.
What lay behind that vortex, Zero had no idea… and couldn't even begin to imagine.
His consciousness sank endlessly through darkness until the noise of a bustling crowd slowly awakened him.
"…Ugh, noisy… Where is this?"
Zero struggled to open his eyes again, but sohow his eyelids felt unusually heavy. His entire body felt strangely weighed down.
He found this sensation bewildering. Bright white light flooded his vision, forcing him to squint reflexively. After his eyes finally adjusted, Zero opened them wide—and imdiately froze.
Bustling crowds moved past, traffic lights cycled through red, yellow, and green, skyscrapers lood above, and cars blared their horns noisily.
At that mont, countless fragnted scenes—familiar yet alien, beloved yet detested—ca rushing back like a torrent from the deepest recesses of his mory.
These sights, so familiar yet so distant, left Zero stunned, nearly frozen in shock.
This place was…the real world!
Before he could gather his thoughts, a pair of hands scooped him up. Zero hurriedly turned his gaze, only to find Rina's anxious face looking back at him.
He was about to open his mouth to speak, but abruptly swallowed the words back. They were in the real world—if a toy-like creature suddenly started speaking on a busy street, it'd probably be headline news by this afternoon.
Human "common sense" from his past life rapidly awoke, advising him that it was safest to play the role of an ordinary stuffed animal.
Standing by the crosswalk, Rina murmured in astonishnt.
"…We're back? Is this… Odaiba?"
Hearing that extrely familiar na sent a sudden shiver through Zero. This place certainly had its connections to the Digital World.
But how did they end up in the real world so suddenly? Did Rina's Digivice and Kiramon's attack sohow tear open a path between worlds?
Or perhaps, Rina's Digivice itself possessed the ability to open gates between worlds, and under the dire circumstances, it decided the only way to protect her was to forcibly send them to the real world?
Indeed, the D-3 Digivice from Adventure 02 could easily open gates to the Digital World via certain networks, making it one of the most convenient travel thods between worlds in the entire series.
Considering how versatile Rina's Digivice was, it wouldn't be surprising if it shared similar capabilities.
But all of this was just speculation—Zero had no proof.
And right now, a far more pressing question remained:
…Where was Haji?!
Frantically looking around, Zero and Rina quickly spotted a familiar figure not far away.
However, she was no longer in Gabumon's form, having regressed all the way back to Tsunomon.
Even though she was now a Tsunomon, Zero recognized her imdiately from the unique signature emanating from her DigiCore—sothing akin to a Digital ID code.
Ordinarily, Digimon distinguished one another through these digital signatures, and nas were sothing used mainly for human convenience. Zero himself had adopted the practice out of habit from his forr life as a human.
Rina hurriedly rushed over, scooping up the unconscious Haji.
Luckily, Haji wasn't too far away, and passersby hadn't yet taken much notice. After quickly picking her up, Rina flashed a bright smile at the people nearby, tucked a Digimon under each arm, and swiftly walked away. With a quick turn, she ducked into a nearby café.
To any onlooker, it was simply a young girl holding two oversized plush toys. In a modern city like this, there were far flashier sights everywhere; no one gave her a second glance.
Settling into a quiet corner of the café, Rina placed Zero and Haji—still acting like toys—beside her, gave a small cough, and whispered:
"Zero, how's Haji doing?"
After a careful inspection, Zero found Haji had simply fainted from severe exhaustion. But without Haji herself waking up, there was no way to know if Devimon's lingering influence was truly gone.
For now, all they could do was wait quietly until Haji regained consciousness. From the look of things, that wouldn't be happening anyti soon.
"Then let's let Haji rest quietly for a while—ah!"
Suddenly, a cheerful lody erupted from Rina's pocket. Reaching inside, she pulled out her cell phone.
…This phone had been sitting unused in her pocket for two entire months, yet sohow hadn't drained its battery completely. That endurance was truly astounding.
Although, realistically, the reason it lasted so long probably had more to do with Rina not having touched it at all during her two months in the Digital World. Being perpetually out of service range ant it remained in a near-hibernation state, almost the sa as being switched off.
As soon as she returned to an area with signal reception, it had instantly reactivated—and now, soone was calling her.
But Rina's first instinct wasn't to see who was calling. Instead, she imdiately checked the date and ti displayed on the screen.
Although two months had passed for her in the Digital World, according to her phone, less than a single morning had passed in the real world.
Zero, of course, understood clearly that ti flowed differently between worlds. While Rina marveled at this revelation, she then glanced at the caller ID.
In an instant, she recalled:
…Two months ago, she'd made plans to hang out with a friend. She'd left ho early intending to kill ti at an arcade first before eting up with her friend in the afternoon. But instead of playing gas, she sohow got herself transported to another world.
Now, recalling it clearly, it was nearly ti for their agreed-upon eting. Her friend was probably calling to confirm their plans.
What should've been an utterly ordinary day now filled Rina with a surreal sense of nostalgia, as if a lifeti had passed.
…But being the type who rarely dwelled on such sentintal feelings, she swiftly snapped back to her usual self. With a spirited smile, she eagerly answered the call.
"…Yuuko-chan~ It's been so long~ Haha, I'm seriously so glad to hear your voice again~!"
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T/N: SHES 16 GUYS
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