Chapter 4: The Flower Fairy Beast

That figure ultimately retreated in the end. The reason he ceased his attack was primarily because he had been intimidated by the aura radiating from Beast, forcing him to stop abruptly, and then flee.

Only after that figure had run off did Beast finally exhale, relaxing a little. In that instant, however, he felt a sharp pain from under his foot. After all, his foot was injured.

"Are you alright?" Just as Beast was about to collapse, the girl behind him suddenly reached out to support him.

It was then that Beast had the chance to properly observe the girl. She appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, with a bashful face adorned by a pair of beautiful eyes accentuated by long lashes, still carrying a hint of childishness, like two plump grapes. Her long black hair cascaded like a waterfall down to her waist.

She wore a pink short-sleeved top with denim shorts and trendy sneakers inscribed with digital runes, the style quite fashionable.

Beast replied nonchalantly, "It's nothing serious, just a minor injury to my foot. Once I log out and come back online later, it should be fine."

In this game, injuries and fatigue could only be healed with items while online, but if one logged out and waited a while before logging in again, these conditions would eventually disappear. The more severe the injury or accumulated fatigue, the longer one had to stay offline.

If Beast had really been beaten to annihilation, his account would have been ruined, and he'd have to start anew. However, if he was left with just a sliver of life and logged out in time, then, with luck, he'd recover in a day or two, or at worst, after a week or two.

"That's good," the girl sighed in relief, patting her chest. After settling Beast against a nearby wall, she said, "My name is Flower Fairy Beast. What's yours?"

Beast didn't believe that she was truly a Digimon as well. This was the "Digital Source World," after all, and those who played were naturally fans of Digimon. Most fans would choose the name of a Digimon. Still, Flower Fairy Beast?

Beast asked, "I'm called Beast. I remember there's a Digimon named Lilymon. Why didn’t you use that name?"

Flower Fairy Beast giggled as she sat beside him, "I was too slow, someone else snatched it. Luckily, Flower Fairy Beast isn't a bad alternative."

Beast asked again, "By the way, why did you come to a place like this?"

"Well..." Flower Fairy Beast hesitated but eventually took the Digiegg beside her, handing it to Beast as she explained, "I heard there was a golden Digiegg here, so I came. I didn’t know there’d be Digimon guarding it."

The Digiegg in her hand was much like any other Beast had seen in the digital world, except that—if one looked closely—there was a faint layer of golden light within, not easily noticed. This was unlike the rumors. Understandably so, for if the golden Digiegg’s uniqueness was too obvious, everyone would rush to snatch it.

"What are you doing?" Beast asked, puzzled by the Digiegg in her hands.

Reluctantly, Flower Fairy Beast replied, "You saved me. Without you, my account would have been ruined. So I want to give you this Digiegg. At least it's a golden one, and it’s sure to hatch a Digimon with exceptional potential."

"No need. An ordinary Digiegg is fine for me," Beast declined, not particularly interested in the golden Digiegg. To him, the color didn’t matter; it was just a vessel regardless.

But to other players, the golden Digiegg was a treasure. Beast could see how much Flower Fairy Beast wanted it, so he didn’t try to take it. Having lived long enough, he understood the ways of the world.

Was trading a golden Digiegg for the friendship of a stranger really worth it? Who could say? Some would think so, others not.

"But..." Flower Fairy Beast clearly wanted to protest, but seeing the resolve in Beast’s eyes, she held her tongue.

Beast said, "Enough, my mind is made up. Besides, look at me—short and chubby as I am—trading a golden Digiegg for a girl’s goodwill seems fair enough, doesn’t it?"

"Alright, but don’t worry, I’ll definitely—" Before Flower Fairy Beast could finish, Beast’s figure suddenly vanished from before her eyes.

...

The real world.

Beast silently took off his VR glasses and gazed at them, sighing deeply. It seemed he had bought a defective pair.

Normally, a full battery should allow four hours of playtime. When power ran low in-game, there would be a prompt to log out soon.

But this time, there had been no warning. The glasses simply ran out of power and logged him out. Fortunately, he wasn’t running a dungeon—otherwise, the sudden logout would have been infuriating.

Afterward, Beast searched for a long time before finding the transaction records between Wang Jie and the seller. Then he lapsed into silence.

From their chat, Beast learned that Wang Jie had knowingly bought a defective product. With no income, Wang Jie, unlike most people who could afford even the cheapest VR glasses, was among the few who couldn’t. Beast had no memory of Wang Jie’s past, so who knew why life was so hard for him?

Luckily, the seller was decent. Even though the device was defective, it still had all the essential features of the genuine product. The only issues were the lack of a power warning and rapid battery drain.

Ordinary glasses could last four hours, and with good care, Beast’s might make it past three. But without proper upkeep, two hours—or even less—was all he could hope for.

"Sigh, looks like I need to find a job and make some money..." Beast sighed to himself.