Chapter Twenty-Four: The Snot Beast

"Is it the Snot Beast?" Gabumon spoke hesitantly, perhaps still unsure.

"What is the Snot Beast?" Azhu asked.

"It's a Digimon that loves dark, damp places, and has absolutely no knowledge or manners," Gomamon explained, his tone dripping with disdain.

"Is it strong?" Taichi, hearing how unwelcome the Snot Beast was, grew curious.

"It's very weak, but extremely, extremely filthy."

"Filthy? How... filthy?"

"It's the most unpopular kind of Digimon... that kind of filthy."

Now, instead of fear, the children's curiosity was piqued; they all seemed eager to see what a Snot Beast looked like.

"Well, I won't keep you company any longer. I'll go ahead and wait for you up front," Qin Fei said, wasting no time as he darted forward while the kids stared blankly at the source of the sound behind them.

He remembered what the Snot Beast looked like—and its revolting special move... the Feces Toss.

"Hey! Qin Fei!" Seeing Qin Fei turn and flee without hesitation, the other children felt a sudden jolt; their fear finally overcame their curiosity.

"It might really be filthy, let's run too!" Mimi was the first to respond, unable to resist chasing after Qin Fei's retreating figure.

Taichi, however, was less concerned; after all, they had heard it was weak and there were so many of them—what was there to be afraid of?

"Gugua, gugua, gaga..." The sounds behind them grew clearer, and a swarm of green creatures seemed to be squirming swiftly out of the darkness.

"It's the Snot Beast, for sure! Run!" Upon seeing the source of the noise, Agumon was instantly terrified and bolted without a second thought.

The rest of the children and Digimon scrambled forward in a panic.

"It's weak, why should we run?" Taichi finally saw the swarming, shell-less slug-like abominations, but still didn't sense any danger, and just followed the group in a lackadaisical manner.

"You'll find out soon enough!" Agumon urged, sounding exasperated.

"Smack!" Suddenly, the sound of something muddy hitting the wall rang out, accompanied by a bizarre stench.

"What is that? Oh my—!" Taichi's face turned pale as he caught sight of the unspeakable thing on the wall ahead, and his pace quickened dramatically.

Soon after, more unspeakable filth flew toward them like a barrage of bullets, splattering onto the ground and walls with a series of wet slaps.

"Aaaah!" Realizing what it was, Sora and Mimi, the girls, shut their eyes and sprinted blindly.

"This way, everyone come this way!" Suddenly, Qin Fei's voice called from up ahead. All the children looked and saw him beckoning from a hole in the wall.

Their faces lit up with hope and they rushed inside one after another.

"Hurry, hurry!"

In a patch of light, Qin Fei continued to wave, clearly having found the exit.

"Run! Don't let the Snot Beast catch up!" Taichi shouted anxiously from behind.

Finally, looking up at the dazzling sun in the sky, a feeling of being reborn surged through the children’s hearts.

The warmth of the sun enveloped them, making them close their eyes and savor the sensation.

"Look! The Snot Beasts are retreating."

Bathed in sunlight, the disgusting creatures finally slithered slowly back into the sewers.

"The Snot Beast fears sunlight more than anything," Agumon explained, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Getting hit by Snot Beast’s filth was worse than fighting a fierce Digimon directly.

"Let’s go, let’s go, now’s not the time to rest." With the crisis averted, the group rested briefly on the yellowing grass, then pressed onward.

But this time, their spirits were clearly lower.

"..."

"Huh?! There’s a vending machine here? So many..." Not long after, the group stumbled upon a bizarre cluster of crooked vending machines, astonishingly numerous, filled with sodas, colas, orange juice, and more—just the sight made their parched mouths water.

The Digimon, however, looked uneasy.

"Mimi, you’re not thinking of drinking, are you?"

"Of course!" Ignoring Palmon’s warnings, Mimi ran down with excitement.

"Really..."

"She can’t help it, she’s still a kid," Taichi and Sora exchanged helpless smiles.

No one stopped her, curious whether the vending machines would actually work.

Qin Fei glanced at the sky and quietly followed.

He knew exactly what was inside.

...

"Palmon, do you want some?" Mimi asked.

"No thanks!"

"Why so grumpy?"

Mimi pouted at Palmon's annoyance, but her delight at the prospect of soda quickly overtook her. She pulled out a coin and dropped it in.

"Clang."

"Ah!" But instead of soda, the vending machine’s casing suddenly toppled forward, nearly crushing her.

"Miss!" As Mimi and Palmon prepared to flee in panic, a strange voice called from within the vending machine.

They stopped, curiosity getting the better of them.

"Snot Beast?!"

A familiar small figure appeared inside, making Mimi and Palmon exchange bewildered glances.

"Want to go on a date with me?"

Its first words were a surprise, clearly indicating an interest in Mimi.

Faced with such an odd request, both were dumbfounded.

"It’s hitting on Mimi, wh... what should we do?" Palmon was suddenly at a loss, looking to Mimi.

"What do you mean, what should we do? No way am I dating such a filthy thing," Mimi replied bluntly.

"Better not anger it," Palmon whispered nervously.

"It’s fine, we’re under the sun, it can’t come out," Mimi said smugly, but before she finished, a strong hand grabbed her and pulled her away.

"Qin Fei? What are you—?!" Seeing Qin Fei, Mimi blushed, then asked oddly, "Do you want soda too? But there’s no—"

Qin Fei stopped her, pointing up at the sky.

At some point, vast clouds had blocked out the sunlight.

"No way!"

Mimi realized what was happening, panic in her eyes as she glanced back.

Just then, countless vending machines collapsed, and sticky, revolting Digimon—Snot Beasts—crawled out from inside.

Like a green beastly tide, they surged toward her and Qin Fei.

"How can there be so many?!"

Mimi’s face twisted in terror; now she needed no prompting as she ran desperately alongside Qin Fei.

"What?! There are so many here!" Taichi and the others were stunned by the sight behind Mimi and Qin Fei; just when they thought they'd escaped the Snot Beasts, they encountered even more.

Worst of all, the sky had grown dark.

"Stop dawdling! Run!" Dragging Mimi past the frozen children, Qin Fei shouted a reminder.

Everyone snapped out of it and ran for their lives once more.

"Crimson Shatter!"

A blood-red axe swept through the green tide, slaying several Snot Beasts.

A torrent of data surged in, forming a brand-new card in Qin Fei’s hand.

"Snot Beast, Champion level, special move: Feces Toss..."

He tossed the card away with disgust; he wanted nothing to do with it.

Loretta Beast leapt back, apparently unwilling to absorb Snot Beast’s data either.

But the Snot Beasts remained densely packed; Loretta Beast’s attack had barely made a dent.

"There are too many, everyone split up!" At Yamato’s urgent shout, the group scattered in pairs.

Qin Fei hurriedly pulled Mimi into a nearby forest.