The Reincarnator's Guide to Cyberspace 4 (Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth SI)

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

"Yes sir? You have a question?"

"Um, Katagiri-san, how do I put this on?"

Must. Resist. Urge. To. Face-palm.

"You hold it up like this and place this onto your ear, then press it towards your head-" I smiled patiently and repeated my instructions for the fourth time in front of the audience.

Dealing with the inevitable small group of technologically illiterate folk attending a fucking tech expo, of all things, is one of the worst feelings imaginable. Apparently, such a thing held true in this world, in as much as it did in my previous world.

This is why the only trade-events I enjoy attending are gaming conventions like E3 and Comiket.

Well, it could be worse. I could be trying to explain the difference between AR and VR to the United States Congress.

Overall, my presentation on the first day had gone well, most people were stunned by my innovations in the Augmented Reality space with my "Augma" device.

All I did was use parts of pre-existing technologies like Suedou's brain scanning/link tech, my Digimon's help in designing the hardware according to my own strict safety requirements, had it manufactured through my parent's connections then pulled a couple of all-nighters to make a few serviceable "demo" programs to wow the crowd.

Admittedly, it was my own creative design and coding efforts that made the whole show such a success, then again, it was hard to fail considering that I was ripping off everything from SAO Ordinal Scale.

I even managed to reserve half an exhibition hall for visitors to try out the Augma device and fight off giant boss monsters in AR.

Of course, to most people, it looked like an entire company of men in suits were flailing their arms about and running around like idiots. But for those that had the AR innovation equipped, they were having the time of their lives battling against fantasy monsters with boss battle music playing inside their heads.

There were some scuffles when some company rivals actually thought the weapons in their hand could hurt other AR testers, and attempting to kill each other in the middle of the boss battle but the security guards managed to resolve that issue.

"Thank you for trying the Augma, I hope you had an enjoyable time. Do come back the next day to participate in our events for a chance to win-" I made sure to thank each group of participants exiting the demo zone, while making sure to promote the next day's events.

Blasted event managers got the screen specs wrong. If they hadn't bungled up then I would be able to have a decently sized display screen to show the AR battles properly.

I planned to eventually let the rest of my staff handle the crowd for me, until then, I wanted to manage this myself until it was Reiko's turn so that I could encourage her properly.

It would be a whole lot less tiring if I hadn't needed to let all the VIP's have a go at it first. The things I do to keep potential partners happy… at any rate, it meant that one of the few people I actually cared about had to wait her turn before she got to experience the fruits of my labor.

"Hibiki! You didn't tell me you were doing all these cool stuff! You're like some genius high schooler straight out of an anime!"

Reiko was really happy for me regardless of the fact that she lined up for so long. She was currently calibrating the equipment required to play the "Ordinal Scale" ripoff.

"I did tell you. You just didn't quite get it until now."

"Telling me something over a meal doesn't count."

Reiko was the type of person that would zone out whenever she's in the midst of devouring her meal. I, myself, was a slow eater, hence I learnt the ability to communicate with other human beings while simultaneously consuming my meal out of necessity.

"What happened to multi-tasking? And I thought women had that skill maxed out from the beginning…"

"What do you… huh? Isn't that like… a major simplification? You're making fun of me, aren't you…"

"Sorry, sorry! Your focused face when you're vacuuming up your meals is always cute so I can't help myself from pointing it out a lot!"

"W-what do you mean, my face is "always cute" when I'm eating?!"

We were interrupted when a staff of mine rightfully pointed out that everyone else had just gotten ready and I shouldn't be chatting with Reiko any longer, lest the queue gets held up.

"We'll talk later, kay?"

"No deflections this time!"

Seems that she's wised up a little to my tricks.

"Okay, I promise. Any other questions before you go in?"

"Uh… the Augma will replace our clothes in the "demo" and I uh… just a thought. Is there any clothing damage?"

"This isn't Senran Kagura. No, like, as if I could get that approved for a public demo!"

Not that the Augma isn't able to get a "mental image" of the user's body in order to apply proper nudity overlays or anything… it isn't a feature so much as it is a method to apply form fitting clothing in AR with minimal effort.

"Haa, thank goodness! Okay! I'm off Hibiki!"

"Good luck Reiko!"

Reiko and the next group seemed to have learned from the previous participants example by not attempting to try "brute force" tactics, as Augmented Reality really doesn't work like that, and focused on dodging properly instead.

I decided to take a break behind my exhibition booth, one of the things I disliked about trade-shows like these is all the standing-up. It really wears down my legs.

Taking up my Digivice, I responded to a few messages from everyone (parents and Digimon) then used up my Stamina in a couple of mobile games. After sorting out what I needed to do, I looked up and surveyed the area to make sure that everything was in good order.

This wasn't a security technology expo, nor was I in a world where countries had advanced weaponry, so I didn't really need to worry about Iron Man 2 shenanigans. That said, I remained vigilant against Hackers that could potentially be lurking about. Some of my Digimon were helping by keeping an eye on the networks of this area to make sure nothing happens.

I was really grateful for their help. Just for that, I will be arranging a special feast for them. I would have to cannibalize a HDD in order to satisfy everyone, but it would be worth it.

Hmm? What's a little girl doing all alone over there?

I walked all the way to the other side of the exhibition hall, around the perimeter of the area designated for my AR demo, to check on the young black-haired girl watching my participants fighting against an invisible digital foe.

She looked to be around twelve to thirteen years old.

"Are you having fun just by looking at them?" I asked suddenly, she turned her head around quickly, shocked by the fact that I got behind her without her noticing.

"..." She was silent the entire time.

Ah, she's a shy one. "Ever fancied being a monster hunter? Well, with the Augma, you can be one too. It's safe for kids to try out, since I'm the boss, I can get you in with the next group so you won't have to wait in line. What do you say?"

"..." She shook her head.

"Aww, okay then. Hmm, so who did you come with? This isn't the type of event little girls like yourself would attend. Did you come with friends or family?"

"... Yes. Um, my father is in attendance but… he's busy."

I frowned, finding myself dismayed after finding out she wasn't a lost child, but a neglected one. What kind of self-respecting father would leave a little girl to wander around without a minder? I know Japanese children are a lot more independent than the children of other countries, considering that middle schoolers find their way to school by themselves via public transport, but I can't help but sympathize with the little girl.

Hmm, she didn't say anything about her mother… I get the feeling that I won't like the answer to that question. I'll trust my gut feeling and avoid that topic then.

"Well that's just not right. How about I escort you for a bit, if your father stops being busy, he'll call for you eventually right?"

"Yes, I have a Digivice. He'll call me when he's done… I think?"

"That's… good, I suppose. Oh right, introductions, Katagiri Hibiki. Nice to meet you."

"... Kamishiro, Yuuko."

I can literally hear my Digimon laughing at my "luck".

"A pleasure to meet you Yuuko-chan. I have the most brilliant of ideas!"

I left a message for Reiko telling her to meet me at the food area as I went there with Yuuko.

Self-Insert etiquette insists that I treat gluttonous loli characters with lots of food!

It is something I have learnt very well over years of… DXD fanfics, among other stories.

"Pick anything you want."

"... Umm, I don't want to impose."

Thankfully, my knowledge of canon allowed me to discern her intentions, and I simply followed her eyes to look at everything she stared at for more than ten seconds. I especially prioritized the food stalls that made her drool.

Reiko Tawa managed to find me at some point, and ended up staring at the small mountain of empty boxes and wrappers on Yuuko's side of the table.

"... Hibiki, was that there before?"

"Nope."

"Wow!"

Yuuko cheeks went a bit pink at being praised for chucking down so much food. Thankfully, Reiko was the innocent and cheerful type of girl, so Yuuko seemed to have realized Reiko didn't mean anything bad by that.

We had a pleasant time talking about all sorts of things. Feeling a bit cheeky, I reached for my compact medal case that I kept in my coat, for whenever I ran into Gachapon machines that churned out Digimon medals.

Funny that the Digital World manages to influence merchandise in such an odd and indirect way. I'm blaming the Digital World since its the closest explanation I can find to reconcile gameplay mechanics with this reality.

"Here you go Yuuko, as a commemoration of our meeting, I gift you some of my prized Digimon Medals. Let's see what I have with me… aha! Machinedramon, a black-colored mecha dragon, really cool don't you think?"

"W-wha…? Machinedramon…?"

"Aww, Hibiki! You should give Yuuko-chan something cuter like… uh… what was it? Lopmon."

It seemed that even Reiko had some rudimentary knowledge of the Digimon medal gachapon prizes. Hmm, perhaps I could use that as an avenue to introduce her to the concept of Digimon?

"It's fine!" Yuuko nearly shouted and quickly swiped the Machinedramon medal, "I want it! Um… sorry, I mean, I like it… is it really alright for me to have it?"

"Of course it is. A gift is only a gift when it is freely given. And I said that I wanted you to have it, didn't I?"

"T-thank you! I will treasure this."

I think she might be overdoing it with the thankfulness… then again, did she even get any gifts in her lifetime? Her brother is in a coma (trapped inside the Eater core), her father is a workaholic after the disaster that was EDEN beta, the closest person to her is a manipulative bitch that isn't very subtle in her threats, her only other friends are Fei and potentially her Digimon.

Yeah, okay, I think I can see where she's coming from.

I took out one of my business cards (the personal ones, not the corporate card) and gave it to her, saying that if she ever wanted to chat she could call me up or message me. Knowing her, she might be too shy to ask for my contact details, so I pre-empted the attempt by giving it to her.

Also, I wanted to set the terms for how I provided my contact details, as I didn't want to use the modern method of simply connecting our Digivices. If I recall correctly, Rie had pretty much wiretapped (bugged) Yuuko's Digivice, so I would rather not risk any sort of direct connection on the off chance the bitch had a malicious virus in place.

"Oh, dear Yuuko-chan~ There you are!"

A voice distinct from the chatter of the large crowd reached us, the feminine cutesy voice sent shivers up my spine, both good and bad.

Oh god no.

I thought I managed to avoid her completely by only paying the necessary courtesies during the presentation period, but I forgot that hanging around Yuuko would increase that risk factor by several magnitudes.

Yuuko, Reiko and I turned towards the woman with short greenish blonde hair, yellow eyes, and a large rack half-covered by her black blouse. She wore an orange shirt along with a very short business skirt of the same color. Oh gods, those black elbow gloves and flower-patterned stockings that went up her legs were doing things to me! I could see how tight those stockings were by the skindentation, along the small gap of flesh between her skirt and stockings.

Fuck. Why did she have to be so evil!

"Miss Rie. What happened? I thought that you were attending the speed networking event now…"

"Oohoohoo! No, I'm not~ Maaaaybe I was struck with a sudden urge to find my dear, darling Yuuko!"

I barely hid my brief spike of fear. Her voice was so sickeningly sweet that it terrifies me. Her smile was bright yet her gaze gave me the impression that she was disgusted by what she saw.

I want to kill her so badly now. Alas, I can't do that. Not now, at least.

"Are you worried about me being alone? I'm used to waiting until father is done with work."

"Hehehe, that's so cute Yuuko-chan. Is that why you keep the lights on until so late? You're just going to waste electricity like that~ It's bad for the environment you know?"

"T-that's…"

Wow. Bitch move.

"Oh my! I'm sooooo sorry for ignoring you two, that was terrible rude of me! Kishibe Rie, nice to meet you! Thank you so much for taking care of poor Yuuko-chan!"

"A-ah… don't need to thank me. Hibiki-kun did most of the work! Ehehe, Yuuko-chan and I were just eating away." Reiko awkwardly responded to the brazen woman.

"Hibiki?" She sent a predatory smile my way, only to swiftly switch to one that made me feel even more unsafe than before, "Oooh! You're so cute!"

"P-pardon?"

Before I knew it, she walked right up to me and was… oh gods, she was checking me out!

"Wow, you work out a lot. Check out these abs, I'm so lucky your shirt doesn't hide much! One look and my heart is going doki-doki~ Oh! I can't resist! *poke* *poke* *poke*"

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

"S-stop that! Y-you're making Hibiki uncomfortable!"

Reiko came to my defense! I'm saved!

"Ohohooo? You're both so adorable~! Ah, just what I like to see, the reactions of two young virgins… well, that's enough. Anymore and Yuuko-chan might see some R-18 things~ Yuuko-chan, let's be off then! Your father may be leaving early to handle some things back at the office."

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until later.

"I-is she gone?"

"Y-yeah… Hibiki… is she your type."

"Hell no! Yes! I mean, 'no' in personality, 'yes' in body!"

Reiko sighed and placed her hand on her hips, "Well… I guess I should be happy that you are healthy."

I looked at her with my "wtf are you saying" look.

"With how many girls throwing themselves at you in school… I was kinda worried that you, well, weren't interested in the opposite sex."

"For real?"

"Nah! I was just kidding. You didn't believe I would think that right?"

"I don't know. You were pretty convincing there."

"You wouldn't have tried to push Highschool DXD to me for the "plot" if you swung that way."

"... I did, didn't I?"

"Yep!"

"I'm probably the weird one, aren't I? Oh yeah… before I forget, thanks for that. You know, covering for me. I'm don't know what came over me." Aside from the existential fear of making myself react in a way that catches more of Rie's attention, that is.

"Um, hehehe, you're welcome. I just couldn't stand that… that woman, just walking up to you like that and… anyways! Um, what was that about me having a cute eating face again?"

"Eh? I thought that was self-explanatory?"

"I want to hear you say it again."

And so I did.

The rest of the tech expo passed without much excitement.

Several months worth of work prior to the expo had paid off, and with most of the designs sent in for approval, I could afford to just chill at home while leaving my staff to handle the rest of the work for now.

It was now summer vacation and Reiko had taken to hanging out in my house every other day, which cuts into my Digimon-related activities, but I was happy about it all the same.

"Hibiki, look what I found. Isn't this weird? Look at this magazine." Reiko pushed up a magazine to me on one morning.

"It's an interview with … Rie?"

"Yeah, they call her one of the most successful women in Japan for the year, apparently it's something to do with managing EDEN and getting high growth rates for usage. Isn't it, like, weird that someone like her is so successful? They're even saying that she might end up CEO one day because the shareholders aren't very happy with Satoru Kamishiro's… hey wait, isn't this guy Yuuko's dad?"

Oh, did Reiko just noticed that?

"Well… it's certainly a bad idea if Rie did become CEO."

"Really? I don't like her, but if she's good enough to get promoted so quickly, then wouldn't she make a good CEO?"

"Reiko… do you get the impression that Rie Kishibe is the type that likes to boss around and control others?"

"... With how she treated Yuuko and the contents of the interview, I think so."

"Let me put it this way. It is a well known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, by the fact itself, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President or CEO or whatever, should on no account be allowed to do the job."

"Ah, you mean like politicians!"

"You're learning."

At least she's filling her head up with a lot more things other than music after the tech expo widened up her world just a little bit. I wouldn't want her living her entire life as a staff member in Shibuya Records or something. I have standards for the people I associate with!

Later that day, I received a message on my Digivice from a new number. After having it checked for any viruses or invading Digimon, I opened the message and found that it came from Yuuko.

… It was a really long message.

I drafted out my reply and sent it back to her.

"Wh-what the hell is going on here?!"

I woke up and found 42 messages this morning, and they're all from Yuuko!? A lot of the content were one-liners, there seemed to be a lot of variety, as if she read some online steps on how to compose a message… from at least twenty different sites.

Wait a second, isn't she a middle-schooler right about now? Or at least a sixth grader?

I expected a courtesy message or email, and maybe… she would contact me in a couple of years time when she needed my services as a hacker or computer genius.

I didn't really expect a flurry of messages to a guy four years older than her?

Shouldn't someone teach her to not message an older male at such a delicate age?

What is her father- oh, never mind.

Her mother, oh wait, she's dead. Her closest mother figure is… fucking Rie Kishibe, who has… broad taste and... unlimited desire in her professional and personal life.

I have a bad feeling about this.