Chapter 3: Welcome to Digimon World Online!

Meanwhile...

?

Jack Tidwell…

There was darkness at first as the game loaded. It always felt so desolate when you had to wait in inky black darkness as games loaded. Thankfully I was soon joined in this inky blackness by the developer logos. Bandai Namco, then Syncro Technology's internal development team "SyncroSoft", and finally the game's logo itself.

The title screen wasn't much to look at. Just the game's logo in a green wire frame void. The wire frame was scrolling at least, giving the screen some much needed movement. I could hear a generic techno song playing. It kinda sounded like a cheap knockoff of Sandstorm. I kinda chuckled at that before tapping the "Begin" button.

"Scanning for SyncroProfile™…"

After a bit of waiting the game loaded my SyncroProfile. It was basically an all purpose profile system for all of Syncro Technology's devices that functioned kinda like a social media profile. Not that I ever used mine much outside of using it to log into games. After it loaded my profile, I was then suddenly met with a mirror. My reflection was a pretty convincing likeness of myself. I wasn't expecting the graphics to be this advanced for an MMO based on a children's toy and anime franchise. I also wasn't expecting to be in my underwear.

I looked around to see buttons for various clothing items. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was the avatar editor. It was a surprisingly deep one too as I soon figured out. You could pick from a large selection of clothing items each with color sliders and pattern selections to customize them to your exact liking. I could even change my gender and body type if I wanted to. I could spend hours in here just toiling away at making my ideal avatar.

I wasn't really expecting something this extravagant in a game like this. I guess the publisher had more faith in this project than I thought. I spent so long agonizing over my avatar. If I was going to be meeting other people here, I wanted to at least look cool. At first I started out with a basic black t-shirt and white shorts with black and green side stripes. I decided my look needed something more. So, I added some side stripes to the shirt too, colored green and white. A pair of green and black gloves, and a nice four leaf clover logo with "Lucky" written in fancy text on my chest just for an extra splash of green and white.

Basic white sneakers with green trim adorned my feet complete with white, green, and black tube socks just for the hell of it. Black elbow pads and knee pads too, because why not?

I looked myself over in the mirror. It wasn't a bad design if I do say so myself but… I dunno… it felt like it was missing something. I thought about it for a bit before my eyes suddenly scanned across the "head accessories" option. Clicking on it, I sorted through the various hats, cat ears, and other such things until stumbling upon a pair of goggles.

Ah, the classic anime accessory! They appeared on my head as if by magic and after being colored to match the rest of my outfit, my avatar was officially complete!

After admiring my creation for a bit longer than I probably should have. I finally hit the "done" button and the game immediately began logging into a server. Funny, I thought there would be more than that… I don't even get to pick my class?

The scrolling wire frame background suddenly vanished, leaving only a black void that lasted for a lot longer than I was expecting. Did the game crash? That would be just my luck, wouldn't it? But that theory died the second I heard some kind of light whirring sound drawing ever closer.

Suddenly a little screen with a smile on it's screen flew right in front of me. "Hello! Welcome to Digimon World Online!" it greeted me as it buzzed around my head like a particularly annoying mosquito. It's voice kind of sounded like Claptrap from those old Borderlands games. "Before we can send you on your grand adventure in the Digital World, we need to pair you with your very first Digimon partner!" the computer said. "Your first partner will be chosen at random, but don't worry! If you don't like it, you can always wait and get another one!" it added with a wink.

Suddenly another figure appeared right in front of me. A little blue dragon creature about the size of a six year old. The top half of it's face was covered by some kind of ice mask save for it's two red eyes. It's body was a deep dark blue and kind of pudgy. Around it's neck was a thick mane of snow white fur that kind of made it look like it was wearing a fur coat. It's shoulders had a cluster of white hexagon markings on them. It's hands, feet, and the tip of it's tail looked to be made of ice, as were the pair of wing like spikes that jutted out it's back.

"Meet your first Digimon partner! Bulucomon!" the computer said. Oddly, Bulucomon looked just as confused as I was when I first got here. Occasionally looking around at it's surroundings, or lack there of, with a look of concern. It struck me as odd because he was a video game character, you'd expect him to be in an idle animation.

I brushed the thought aside as the computer continued it's tutorial. "Remember to take good care of your Digimon! The more care you give it, the stronger it becomes!" the computer explained. "Remember to feed it, let it sleep when it's tired, and help it find a suitable toilet when it needs to relieve itself!" the computer explained.

So it was like a virtual pet? I didn't realize this game was that complex. I looked down to Bulucomon, who was returning my gaze. I felt something… kind of odd when I looked into his bright red eyes. This odd sense of… I don't really know how to put it into words… I guess… "familiarity" comes the closest. Like I was staring directly at a piece of myself.

God, what am I even saying? It's just a video game character! A bunch of code with textures slapped onto it! I guess I just wasn't used to the concept of a partner AI or I was just that desperate to connect with someone that I was projecting those feelings onto this digital dragon.

Oddly though, I noticed Bulucomon occasionally tilted it's head with this awestruck expression on it's face, as if it were thinking the same thing I was a second ago. I'm sure it was just going through a canned animation that was meant to give off that feeling. But still, whoever animated it went through a lot of trouble for something so minor.

"Okay!" Suddenly interrupted the computer. "Now that you have your loyal Digimon companion, let's show you how to use the DigiDek User Interface!" it said before a graphic of a figure appeared. "To bring up the DigiDek, simply double tap your forearm like so," the computer instructed as the figure on the screed did the same.

I did as the computer instructed, tapping on my right forearm twice. A glowing blue interface appeared before me. To my left was a display of my Digimon's stats. A little graphic of Bulucomon appeared in a little box, next to it was a heart rate monitor that I assumed was going to indicate his health, below were the basic stats you'd expect from an RPG like this. HP, DP which I assumed was what this game called "MP", strength, intelligence, speed, and technique. To my right were menu selection items. Again, mostly basic RPG stuff. Items, skills, quests, settings, and a map. There was a "friend list" option too, which I guess was there to make finding your gaming buddies easier. The Digidek only listed three at a time and you had to scroll with your finger to browse the options.

"This DigiDek has everything you need to play Digimon World Online! Currently it's in "exploration mode", this is the version of the Digidek you'll see when walking around the map!" explained the computer.

The DigiDek's options suddenly changed. "And this, is Battle Mode! This is the version you'll see when fighting enemies!" the computer explained. The options were reduced to four. Skills and items remained from before, but two new options appeared that I had no idea what they were for. "Enemy info" and "Digivolve".

Another menu appeared on the computer's screen listing all of the items on my DigiDek. "If you would like to learn more about the Digidek's options, please select one of the options you wish to learn about!" the computer instructed.

So I decided to try learning more about the items I knew so little about, since the other items I already knew about due to prior RPG gaming experience. First I selected "enemy info". The computer's face returned the instant I selected it.

"the Enemy Info option allows you to scan an enemy Digimon and see it's information! It's attacks, it's level, it's type, and even a little biographical information!" the computer explained. I guess I should have figured that, it's not like other RPGs didn't have similar mechanics. But, hey, no harm in being sure.

Now for the one I really didn't know. "Digivolve". I selected the option and the computer when on to it's explanation. "Digivolve is the process all Digimon undergo to get stronger and stronger!" it informed me. "There are six levels in total! Baby, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and the most powerful of all; MEGA!" it continued to explain. "Your partner is currently in his "Rookie" stage," it added.

I looked to Bulucomon who seemed to still be staring at me like a lost puppy. I shrugged it off and listened to the rest of the tutorial. "Each Digimon has different stat requirements to Digivolve into certain forms, so be sure to train with them to get the best results!" said the computer.

That was about all the tutorial exposition I needed so I simply clicked "Done". The computer floated back a few feet. "Okay, now you're ready to begin your exciting adventure through the world of Digimon World Online!" it said, "Good luck, and have fun!" it finally added before vanishing from existence.

The black void vanished along with it, being replaced by what appeared to be a small town. It looked like what you'd expect from a game like this. Very small, very cozy feeling. There were shops all around us selling equipment, items, food that I assumed was for my partner, and various things of that nature.

I could see other players walking around, shopping at the various shops or talking with friends. I noticed all the stores where being ran by what I assumed were also Digimon. There was a little lizard in a tiger striped pelt selling items out of what looked like a crudely made lemonade stand, a red and white bird sweeping the doorway to a far nicer looking shop that sold "boost chips", whatever those were, and a centaur like creature washing the windows of some kind of inn.

I have to admit, I was starting to see what drew people to this game now. This hub world felt so full of life that out could be forgiven for mistaking it for a real town. It's a shame it's only an MMO with a nonexistent story, this looks like a world I'd want to get lost in.

Okay, enough virtual sight seeing, it was time to get down to business. I came here to connect with someone and this hub world was so full of people surely one of them would be friendly, right?

But, they all looked so busy. I'd hate to bother them and make everyone think I'm annoying or worse, clingy. So I began to walk with no real destination in mind. I mean, I didn't know anything about this game so it wasn't like I would know where anything is anyways. Maybe I should ask someone? Kill two birds with one stone, as it were.

I soon found someone, another player who had a little brown and green bird like Digimon as a partner. He looked to be a young black man around my age. He wore a red and white hooded t-shirt with gray sweatpants and white sneakers. I couldn't really tell what he was doing exactly, just sort of wandering around and talking to himself, although I couldn't quite tell what he was saying… it seemed like he was on mute.

Oh well, I've gotten this far. "Uh… e-excuse me," I stammered.

The guy then threw his hands up and tapped something. "Dude! You just totally ruined my intro!" he snapped at me.

"I-Intro?" I asked.

"Yeah! My sign on! Now I've gotta do it over again!" he yelled.

Oh boy… it seemed he was on mute for a reason. Now I'm anxious and embarrassed. A winning combination! "I-I'm s-sorry!" I apologized, hoping to salvage this botched attempt at socialization.

"You should be! You're like, the fifth person to cut me off today!" he complained. "God, it's like no one here respects the YouTube game." he grumbled.

"Y-YouTube?" I questioned.

The guy looked at me like I was crazy. "Come on, you don't recognize me? Koe-Man the Gamer?" he said. I just sort of stared blankly at him. "Come on! I have, like, five hundred thousand subscribers!"

It was pretty obvious this guy was a YouTuber. But one I had never heard of before which seemed to be bothering him a little bit. "S-Sorry… I haven't heard of you,"I confessed.

The YouTuber just groaned. "Unbelievable," he muttered to himself. "Look… I'm trying to record a Let's Play of this game, okay? My subs have been asking for it for months now and I finally got around to it," he then explained. "But I can't start the video without my intro and people keep messing it up!" he then grumbled. He then ran a hand over his face and sighed. "Sorry, man, I-I shouldn't be blowing up on you like that," he then apologized. "It's just… I'm really hoping this game gets my name out there, ya know?"

I guess I kind of understood. DWO was a pretty popular game and it would no doubt drive traffic to his channel… and I just made that harder for him. Go me. "L-Look, I didn't mean to ruin you intro, I-I'm just new to the g-game and uh… I was hoping you could point me in the right direction," I explained.

The YouTuber nodded, "I get it," he said. "The tutorial doesn't do a very good job of explaining things beyond your DigiDek."

He wasn't wrong about that. "Look, I only just started playing this game too, but I know from other people's videos that the starting area is Northern Forest," he explained to me. He then pointed to his right. "It's that way."

"Uh, thanks… sorry again for… for ruining your into," I said, I went to leave but the YouTuber stopped me.

"You're just gonna leave without giving me your name?" He asked.

Wow, I really was bad at this whole "socializing" thing, wasn't I? "I-I'm Jack," I introduced myself.

"Koe, Koe Sullivan," he introduced himself. "I know, it's a weird name, what can I say? My parents are weird people," he added with a smile. "Look, Jack, I'd go with you but… I have stuff I wanna record in File City before I go out into the great beyond," he then explained to me. "But that area is so easy from what I've heard, so you should do alright on your own," he said before patting me on the shoulder, which since we were virtual avatars I didn't feel and his hand just sort of clipped through it. "Good luck man, and sorry again for yelling at you, I'm just really passionate about what I do, see you around," he said before walking off to do his intro again.

Well that was awkward, but at least I had a destination now. I double tapped my forearm to bring up my DigiDek and opened the map. It seemed the entrance to the Northern Wood wasn't too far from where I was. So I kept it open and made my way there, I was curious about this game's combat system anyways and some low level grinding should help with that just fine.

Meanwhile…

Northern Forest…

Carly Smith…

Two hours had passed since my fight with my parents, turns out watching my giant digital grizzly bear maul low level enemies was a great outlet for pent up aggression. Of course I was way too high a level for this area since it was a beginners map meant for new players. But I needed the easy Xps and Bits anyways. I was so close to Digivolving Grizzlymon, I was low on healing items, and needed both for the new high level area I unlocked last time I played.

Although I still wish these Gotsumon would at least try to put up a fight instead of fleeing in terror as Grizzlymon mauled their little friends. It was like watching Jason Vorhees slaughter camp counselors.

"So you're just going to take your aggression out on a bunch of low level rock people?"Asked Travis. Oh yeah, he was here too. Since we were supposed to explore the new dungeon I unlocked together. Behind him sat Meramon, his Digimon, looking very bored.

"I've had a really bad day, today," I said.

"You had to know your parents would find out at some point," Travis pointed out.

"I just wish they would understand that I don't want to waste my life away running some worn down old diner," I said as Grizzlymon took out another Gotsumon. "It's so frustrating how stubborn they are about it," I added.

"I fail to see how that's the Gotsumon's fault," said Travis.

"They're just video game characters, Travis," I pointed out. "This is what they were made for."

"I know, but still… it feels kinda mean," Travis said.

"Well I feel like being "kinda mean" today," I replied as the victory screen appeared before me. I scanned my eyes across it's contents to see what loot I got. "Five Thousand bits and an HP recovery disk," I said. "Not a bad haul for the starting area,"

Travis hopped off the rock he was sitting on. "So, we ready to hit the dungeon yet? Or do you still wanna bully the rock people and steal their lunch money?" he asked me.

I opened my Digidek to check on Grizzlymon's stats. He still needed about one hundred and eight six more experience points before he could Digivolve to his next form. "I still need a few more Xps," I said.

"You mind if I get some too? Meramon here still needs a little more in strength so I can get SkullMeramon," Travis informed me.

Travis going with a Digimon made of fire always struck me as a little bit odd. He was always drawn to "dark" Digimon. That's why I thought him having an Impmon made sense back when his partner was a rookie. But when it digivolved into Meramon it suddenly stopped making sense.

"Ya know, I never understood why you went with a man made of fire for a partner," I pointed out. "I always figured Devimon was more your speed."

"Because Devimon doesn't Digivolve into Skullmeramon, and Skullmeramon is one of the most metal Digimon in the game," Travis replied. Yeah, I guess I should have figured that was it. He always did value form over function.

I chuckled a little, "Fine, let's go find some more low level Digimon for your little fire monster to beat up so he can turn into bootleg Ghost Rider," I said and we both began our journey through the forest.

"So, how are things back home?" I asked Travis.

Travis shrugged, "Dad still can't find a job," he replied, "Apparently the place he applied for was "looking for more qualified applicants"," he added with a sigh. "But, thanks to me and mom we're managing to keep a roof over our heads."

"So, other than that, things are great?" I asked.

"Yeah, super," he tepidly replied.

I sighed, "Life, am I right?" I joked.

"Hey, at least you have financial stability," he told me. "Complain all you want about your parents railroading your life, at least you don't have to worry about getting evicted."

"I dunno, after that blow up I had before logging on I might get thrown out," I said.

"It was that bad, huh?" he asked me.

"I may have accused them of not actually loving me and seeing me as just their replacement for when they retire," I explained.

"Ouch," Travis winced, "Still, I'm sure after you both cool off everything will be okay," he assured me.

"Sure," I sighed. "Ya know, sometimes I wish I could be as optimistic as you," I told him.

Travis just shrugged. "It's a lot more work than you'd think," he admitted with sadness dripping from his voice.

I put my hand on his shoulder, "You and your family will get through this," I told him. Travis simply nodded and we both continued on our way. It was sometimes easy to forget that I wasn't the only one in the world with family problems. Still, I had a lot to consider before I logged off for the night.

Elsewhere in Northern Forest…

Jack Tidwell…

Yup, this forest definitely looked like a standard RPG starting area. A simple lush green forest. I did notice that there seemed to be weird plugs jutting out of the ground like stumps. I guess this was the level designer's way of trying to make the forest more interesting. But I couldn't help but find it a little weird.

"Well… here I go," I said to myself before walking into the forest. There really wasn't much to it beyond the odd out of place vending machine and other electronic device. Just a simple forest level with low level enemies to fight. Although none of them seemed all too interested in fighting me.

I had happened upon a cluster of little magenta lizards with purple and white tiger striped pelts on their heads. But they just sort of ran off the second they saw me. Okay… odd. Maybe those were just background NPCs meant to give the forest a little more life? That must be it.

Then I was suddenly startled when the word "BATTLE" appeared in front of me in bright pink letters! I turned around to see one of the pelt lizards had chosen to stay behind and stand it's ground.

Bulucomon immediately stood between me and the pelt lizard. The two sort of circled each other like two boxers about to start a match. I decided to take this time to try the "Enemy Scan" feature on my DigiDek and see what I was dealing with.

After a bit of loading after selecting the option a stat screen showed up with the lizard's picture and stats.

Psychemon

Rookie Level

Data

A variant of Gabumon, Psychemon is known for it's flashy color scheme, it is known to be far more sociable than Gabumon, but just like Gabumon, it immediately loses it's courage the second it's pelt is removed.

Attacks:

Colored Sparkle- Does substantial electrical damage with a 20% chance of inflicting stun on target enemy.

Colorful Dance- Does medium light damage with a 40% chance of inflicting confusion on target enemy.

The second I finished reading that short description the two Digimon clashed. Bulucomon and Psychemon both grappled with each other in a test of strength but a headbutt from Psychemon forced Bulucomon to stagger back.

Bulucomon barely took any damage from the shot through and quickly answered back with a hard tail whip that knocked Psychemon right on his back. As with most RPGs, Bulucomon was more than a match for this random starting level enemy.

The fact I didn't have direct control of the fight struck me as odd. I expected to be controlling Bulucomon in battle but apparently I instead took on the role of coaching him through the fight. I guess I get it, it forces you to focus more on strategy, but it was still odd.

I barely got that thought through my head before I was suddenly met with the victory screen. It seemed while I was pondering the game's mechanics Bulucomon managed to land a devastating uppercut to Psychemon, who then chose to flee instead of continue the fight.

I got a little victory jingle, XP, and some loot. Said loot was about five hundred bits and three HP Disks. I had no idea what this game's economy was like so I didn't know if five hundred bits was considered "generous" or not. I guess I'll find out when I try to buy items.

Admittedly that was kind of a short fight, but it was a random encounter in the beginning area of the game, it was fair to expect it to be easy. Bulocomon soon rejoined my side with a satisfied look on his face and his tail wagging behind him. I have to admit, he was kind of adorable. Which I guess was intentional given this was a collectible monster game.

I decided to venture further into the forest, I wanted to explore a bit more and see what I could find. According to the in game map this area was pretty large. Which meant there had to be something interesting in there somewhere. Easter Eggs, items, even just cool looking scenery.

In my head I knew I was just procrastinating. Intentionally wasting time to avoid interacting with the other players. But… they'd still be there later and I was still kind of reeling from my awkward encounter with Koe.

As I went to venture forth, for a fraction of a second I could have sworn I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, a flash of something white and red. But the second I looked closer, whatever it was, it was long gone. I shook my head and chalked it up to my imagination and went back to exploring.

Meanwhile…

Carly Smith…

It didn't take long for us to find Travis another fight. A group of about four Psychemon. Of course, they were even weaker than the Gotsumon so the fight wasn't exactly going in their favor. In fact Travis had already taken out two of them. "Ya know, Carly, I really wish you would have picked an area with higher level Digimon than this," Travis said as he scrolled through his DigiDek

The two Pyschemon were trying to keep Travis' Meramon at bay with their Colorful Sparkle attacks but it barely even chip damaged him.

"And risk getting my Digimon injured?" I said. "Phat chance."

Meramon backhanded one of the Psychemon right into a tree, taking it out in one shot. Which left only one lone Psychemon left. Said Psychemon started to look panicked. "Go on, you know you don't have a chance, just run," Travis muttered under his breath, hoping to save some time by having the last Psychemon retreat.

The Psychemon did eventually decided to cut and run. Ending the fight and giving Travis the victory screen. "Can we go to that dungeon of yours yet? I know Digivolving our Digimon is ideal but these low level enemies are so dull," Travis whined.

Travis did have a point. There wasn't much fun in picking on such low level Digimon. But still, I didn't want to waste any bandages if Grizzlymon wound up getting hurt in a fight, I needed them for the dungeon. "Look, we're both pretty close to Digivolving our partners, just a few more fights and then we can go, okay?" I said.

Travis groaned. "You suck all the fun out of this game, ya know that?" Travis commented.

"It's called playing smart," I replied.

"Since when were you a strategist?" Travis chuckled. "I've seen how you fight, you whack your enemies with skill attacks until the enemy stops moving."

"It works," I said.

"Still not really "playing smart" though," Travis pointed out.

"As opposed to you who just throws everything at the wall to see what sticks?" I scoffed.

"I mix up my strategies, so my opponents never know what's coming," Travis explained. "I'm a wildcard, what can I say?"

I was about to tell Travis that wasn't exactly playing smart either but I happened to notice a figure looking over one of the Psychemon Travis had knocked out. "Travis," I said before pointing at the figure. Travis turned and immediately saw it too.

The figure was obviously a Digimon, a small one too. Had to be a rookie level at most. But it's back was facing us and I couldn't really make out it's form since it was wearing some kind of red hooded cloak.

I don't recall ever seeing a Digimon like this in Northern Forest before. I kept waiting for the battle prompt to show up but… it didn't. The Digimon just kept staring at the fallen Psychemon. The creature then slowly turned it's head towards us. It's face hidden by the shadows of it's hood save for it's piercing golden eyes.

Weirder still… the way those eyes were staring at us. They looked… angry. As if it were offended by our very presence. Something about that stare… despite knowing I was in a video game and thus in no real danger.. it still made me uncomfortable.

In a flash the Digimon suddenly ran into the woods. Immediately vanishing from sight with no hope of us being able to follow.

"The hell was that?" Travis asked me.

"No idea," I answered. "A glitched enemy maybe?" I theorized.

Travis shook his head, every bit as unsettled by that bizarre encounter as I was. "Let's get out of here," he suggested.

I nodded. I had no clue what that was about but it made me really not want to stay here any longer. So Travis and I both left that area and we both agreed that was enough grinding for today.

Still, what the hell was that thing? I've never seen a Digimon like that before. I wanted to believe my theory that it was just a glitched out enemy who's path finding screwed up. But… that look it gave us made that hard to believe. Maybe I read too much into it, but I could feel it judging me from under that hood.

I figured it was best I try to put that… thing out of my mind. But as I turned to look back I saw it again. Just standing there in the middle of the forest… staring at me.

But when I blinked it was gone again. Vanishing like a ghost in the darkness. I shuddered a little but I once again forced myself to put it out of my mind and just keep walking.

A/N: Ominous.

Don't worry, we'll find out more about this hooded Digimon later… if you haven't guessed who it is already.