Chapter 28: The Newcomers' Cup

“The time was a bit short.”
Li Ping looked at the Agumon before him and sighed softly. The time was still too short; in these five days, Agumon had not managed to reach proficiency in mobile casting, though compared to the previous days, there had been significant progress.

“Thank you so much, Teacher Li.”
Although Agumon hadn’t mastered mobile casting, he was already quite satisfied with the current results. He believed that in the Newcomer Cup, Agumon would be able to put up a good fight against anyone.
Zhao Jie was genuinely grateful to Li Ping, who had selflessly given him tremendous help these past few days. Although it had only been five days, Agumon’s rate of improvement was much faster than when they were training back at home.

“I’ll be waiting here for your good news.”
Li Ping smiled indifferently. For a commoner to rise, one must be adept at seizing any opportunity to become stronger.
Wuling City wasn’t large, but every year, dozens of students became DigiTamers. However, those with the courage to compete in Shashi’s Newcomer Cup were few and far between, and as of now, not a single one had ever achieved a noteworthy result.
He hoped Zhao Jie would become the first.

Zhao Jie left the Digital Association with Agumon, heading home. Tomorrow, he would depart for Shashi.

“You seem to have high hopes for him?”
As Zhao Jie left, a man with flowing hair appeared beside Li Ping. Clad in a pale blue long robe, he looked as though he’d stepped out of ancient times. The middle-aged man spoke.
“Well, he does possess an A-level talent. It’s only reasonable that I’m optimistic, isn’t it, President?”
Li Ping replied calmly without turning his head.

This man in the blue robe was Fang Yun. Hearing Li Ping’s words, Fang Yun merely smiled and didn’t pursue the topic further.

“That place has shown signs of unrest again. Come with me to take a look.”

...

Zhao Jie’s parents had no objections to him going to Shashi for the Newcomer Cup. In their view, participating in the competition was a good thing.

“Agumon, do your best! If you get a good result, when you come back I’ll take you out for a feast!”
Huh?
Why not me?
Zhao Jie stared at his father, his mind filled with question marks.

After breakfast, Zhao Jie set out with Agumon. Next, he had to hurry to Shashi to sign in on-site; only then would his registration be complete.

The preliminary rounds would begin the following day. DigiMon that didn’t meet the required strength would be eliminated, and when only 128 contestants remained, the preliminaries would end.

Boarding the magnetic levitation train to Shashi, it took just an hour from Wuling City—truly convenient.

“Let’s register first.”
Soon, Zhao Jie and Agumon arrived at the venue for the competition: Helong Sports Arena.

Though only residents of Xiang Province could participate in the Shashi Newcomer Cup, Shashi was considered an international city, so there were still plenty of registrants.

“Bukamon, Gomamon, Pipefoxmon, Haha-mon…”
Zhao Jie queued up with Agumon, his gaze sweeping the surroundings. One after another, growing-stage DigiMon came into view.

“Zhao Jie, look, Wildmon.”
Agumon gently tugged at Zhao Jie’s sleeve, its other claw pointing at a nearby Wildmon in the queue ahead.

After the lessons it had received from Wildmon these past days, Agumon felt unexpectedly excited to see one here.

“Huh?”
Zhao Jie followed Agumon’s pointing claw and indeed saw a tall, burly, iron-headed Wildmon. What surprised him even more was the presence of a Little Demonmon—a DigiMon with explosive evolutionary potential.

Sensing Zhao Jie’s gaze, Little Demonmon looked back, wiped its neck with its hand in a provocative gesture, and stared challengingly at Agumon beside Yang Dong.

“Huh?”
Agumon’s eyes widened in surprise as it studied Little Demonmon, a species it had never seen before.

Soon the registration reached Zhao Jie.

“ID card.”
Upon hearing the staff member, Zhao Jie took out his ID and handed it over.

Since becoming a DigiTamer, his ID contained much information about his DigiMon; Agumon’s ID number was bound beneath his own.

“Zhao Jie, Wuling City No. 1 High School. DigiMon: Agumon. Age: less than one year. Any issues?”
Simple information appeared on the staff’s computer screen. After reading it, the staff member looked at Zhao Jie.

“No issues.”

After Zhao Jie answered, the staff used the computer to randomly generate a series of numbers, printed them out, and handed him his registration slip.

“Contest number 443?”
Seeing this number, Zhao Jie fell into deep thought. In his previous life, this number had a certain meme, but this was no longer the past, and the number held no particular meaning now.

“Zone C, Field 2. My opponent is number 777.”

Seven?
Zhao Jie was stunned again. Was someone targeting him? It must be!

Whether targeted or not, life went on. After registering, Zhao Jie brought Agumon back to the hotel he’d reserved in advance.

If he failed to achieve a good ranking, just the hotel fees alone would be a significant expense for him.

“Hey, son, you’re in Shashi already? Registered?”
No sooner had he returned to the hotel than his father called.

“Dad, I’ve registered. Just waiting for the preliminaries to begin tomorrow…”

After chatting with his father for a while, Zhao Jie opened the Data Elf app. The details of the point rewards for this Shashi Newcomer Cup had finally been announced.

First place: 200 points; second place: 140; third place: 100.

Fourth to eighth: 70 points; ninth to sixteenth: 40; seventeenth to thirty-second: 30.

Thirty-third to sixty-fourth: 20 points; sixty-fifth to one hundred twenty-eighth: 10 points.

Although anyone who makes it through the preliminaries into the top 128 receives some points, these are mere consolation prizes. Yang Dong would need at least third place to redeem that research paper.

Of the previous fifty points, he used ten to check Agumon’s evolution requirements, ten to buy the Stone of Courage, and the remaining thirty to purchase Digi-energy food for Ballmon.

“I wonder if that paper contains the evolution route for Greymon that I need.”

The thought made Zhao Jie feel a bit troubled. If it didn’t, even with a good result, the points would be wasted.

“I hope it does.”