Chapter Three: Hello, Black Orb Beast

To find a digital egg with immense potential among so many is somewhat akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.

“Hm? Hm?”

As Zhao Jie wandered aimlessly, a faint sound reached his ears.

What was that sound?

Following its source, Zhao Jie walked forward, and soon, a black sphere appeared before his eyes.

The sound was coming from this black sphere.

Amid the multitude of digital eggs, there was a Digimon that had already broken free from its egg and entered the infant stage.

Undoubtedly, this Digimon was somewhat special.

When the full form of the sphere came into view, Zhao Jie was taken aback.

Isn’t this... isn’t this Botamon?!

Some might not recognize Botamon, but mention Agumon or WarGreymon, and anyone familiar with Digimon would know.

After all, Botamon is Agumon’s infant form.

Zhao Jie hadn’t expected to encounter Agumon’s earliest form here.

In his previous life, there was a saying: Dragon-type Digimon are the dream of every protagonist.

Looking at Botamon before him, Zhao Jie’s eyes blazed with excitement.

Never mind the likes of Omnimon from the Royal Knights—just reaching WarGreymon would be enough to make him ecstatic.

In this world, research into Digimon evolution had only reached the level of super evolution.

Whether or not anyone had discovered mega evolution was unknown; at least, it had not been made public.

“Little one, would you like to come with me?”

Zhao Jie crouched down, a gentle smile on his face as he addressed the Botamon before him.

“Hmm? Hmm?”

Botamon’s big eyes looked around in confusion, seemingly surprised to hear another voice.

“Hmm! Hmm!”

Upon seeing Zhao Jie, Botamon’s tone turned excited, the little ball bouncing up and down.

“Would you like to come with me?”

Zhao Jie held out his hands, looking at Botamon with deep affection.

“Hmm? Hmm?”

Botamon hopped back cautiously, but seeing that Zhao Jie made no further move, it bounced forward again.

“Do you want me to play games with you?”

“Hmm. ╰(◉ᾥ◉)╯”

“But I’m about to leave. If you come with me, we can go out and play games together.”

“Hmm? (♯｀∧´)”

After thinking it over, Botamon finally hopped into Zhao Jie’s hands, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Then, it’s settled. You’re the one, Botamon! I’m counting on you in the days ahead.”

Zhao Jie stood up, cradling the Botamon in his hands, his face beaming with joy.

“Hmm,” Botamon called out in response.

At that moment, a peculiar bond formed between the two.

“Hmm? (๑ˊ•̥▵•)੭₎₎”

Botamon made another puzzled sound, feeling an unexpected sense of kinship with the young man before him.

“Hello, Botamon.”

Zhao Jie gently stroked Botamon’s round head with his other hand.

“Hmm (｡>∀...”

A short while later, the doors opened once more. The man with the handlebar mustache was waiting nearby, with Lopmon perched atop his head.

“I have a question.”

A lazy voice came from Lopmon’s mouth, its eyes smiling as it gazed at the Botamon in Zhao Jie’s hands.

“Hmm (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)ﾂ”

Botamon cried out excitedly—it was the first time it had seen another Digimon capable of speech.

“Botamon? So that’s your choice? Come, let’s register, and you can take it home.”

The man with the mustache looked at the Botamon in Zhao Jie’s hands with some surprise.

As expected of someone with an A-class talent—he could directly bond with an infant Digimon.

Back when he first started, he hadn’t even seen the shadow of an infant Digimon. Truly, people cannot be compared.

After completing the registration process, Botamon was returned to Zhao Jie’s hands.

“Heavens, so this is Botamon! It’s adorable!”

Mom and Dad Zhao quickly snatched Botamon from Zhao Jie’s hands.

Botamon was pitch black all over; Zhao Jie honestly couldn’t see what was so cute about it.

“By the way, infant Digimon require a great deal of energy to continue evolving. You’ll need to buy some food for it.”

As they were about to leave, the mustached middle-aged man reminded the Zhao family.

Heeding the advice, the family went straight to the store that sold Digimon energy food after leaving.

Spending nearly twenty thousand yuan on supplements for Botamon, they finally set off for home.

“Come, let me take a photo and post it on my feed so everyone knows my son has become a Digimon Tamer!”

As soon as she got in the car, Zhao’s mother’s eyes sparkled. She took out a treat and waved it at Botamon.

“Hmm?”

Seeing food, Botamon’s eyes lit up and it darted to Zhao’s mother’s side.

“Come, one, two, three, cheese!”

Soon, a photo of Botamon snuggling next to Zhao’s mother was posted online.

Today I took my son to test for Digimon Tamer qualifications. Fortunately, not only does he have the talent, he even brought home a Digimon.

After this, Zhao’s mother became engrossed in chatting on her social feed, only snapping back to reality once they arrived home.

Ding-dong!

A notification appeared on Zhao Jie’s phone. Upon opening it, he saw it was from the school regarding the Digimon class.

After filling out a simple form, Zhao Jie soon received his class assignment.

There were two classes in total, with eighty students overall. Zhao Jie was assigned to Class One.

“Ding, Liu Cheng invites you to join Digimon Class One. Do you accept?”

After clicking confirm, Zhao Jie joined the group chat named Digimon Class One.

Liu Cheng: “@Zhao Jie, new member, report your talent and Digimon.”

Peng Wei: “@Zhao Jie, new member, report your talent and Digimon. Next in line, keep the formation.”

Looking at the flood of messages in the group chat, Zhao Jie scratched his head. Is this the joy of idle chit-chat groups?

“A-class talent, Digimon is Botamon.”

After sending the edited message, the chat instantly went silent, only to explode even faster.

“No way? Zhao Jie, do you realize what an A-class talent means?”

“Stop kidding. I haven’t heard of any A-class talents appearing in Wuling City this year.”

The last speaker was the son of a wealthy businessman in Wuling City, with access to more information than most.

“Yeah, Zhao Jie, I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person. Let’s not brag, we’re still friends.”

“…”

Reading the barrage of messages, Zhao Jie touched his lips. He was telling the truth, after all.

“Ah Jie, tell me honestly, what is your talent?”

The first person to pull Zhao Jie into the group had been his best friend, Liu Cheng.

Now, Liu Cheng sent Zhao Jie a private message, asking him directly.