Free Web NovelChapter 242: Chapter 207: A New Toy Craze
"Digital Monster, what does that mean?"
Someone asked, confused, upon seeing the logo appear on the screen.
"Digital, I think it’s something new from the research institute. They say it’s a system that uses mathematics to represent the composition of Elements, or something like that."
"Really? I heard it was a collaborative project between the Mage Guild and the Zog Group."
"Who knows? Magic is already hard enough to understand. Now they’re making it even more confusing."
"Then what about the second word?"
"Based on the root, it seems to be borrowed from the word for ’monster.’"
It had been a long-standing issue that no one could ever understand the names of the Zog Group’s products.
Take the Yo-Yo, for example. Before anyone had seen *Firepower Young King*, who knew what the ’yo’ part even meant? To be honest, no one really knows even now. People just accept that a Yo-Yo is that toy that flies around on a string.
Then there was Lego. How on earth did that get associated with building blocks?
Speaking of which, those blocks were great in every way, except for the price... and the occasional agony of stepping on a small piece barefoot at home.
A domestic "torture" comparable to stubbing your toe on the corner of a table.
Amidst the onlookers’ confusion, the trailer on the Magic Vision Device began to show them exactly what the term meant.
"The home of the Digital Monsters—"
A line of text appeared on the screen, accompanied by Xiaode’s a cappella singing, his voice full of youthful energy and power.
After a flash of white, the scene transitioned to a meadow that looked like an oil painting, where colorful, uniquely patterned eggs were scattered about.
This was Founder Village, the birthplace of the Digital Monsters.
Cracks appeared on the eggshells one after another, and they broke open. Round, chubby, in-training Digital Monsters crawled out.
The heartwarming scene caused the audience’s voices to soften and rise in pitch.
"Oh, they’re so cute!"
"Aww, come give Auntie a hug!"
"Mommy, I want one! Let’s get one, please! I’ll be good, I promise I’ll study hard!" The children found the cuteness offensive impossible to resist, pleading as they shook their mothers’ hands.
"I’m the one taking care of that fancy mouse you begged for last time. Absolutely not," the mother replied firmly.
"That’s only because you like it too, Mommy," the child said with an innocent look.
Buying pets on a whim was a common phenomenon among children, and making money off them depended entirely on this impulsiveness.
"You think I *want* to take care of it for you? You can’t even handle your own business. Besides, this is just a cartoon. It’s not like Digital Monsters are real."
"But what if they are real?"
"We’ll talk about it then."
In truth, the mother was a little tempted herself. She had always liked cute things; otherwise, she wouldn’t have ended up taking care of her child’s pet fancy mouse.
The beautiful scene in the trailer didn’t last long. In an instant, the sky was filled with dark clouds, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled. The unmistakably villainous-looking Demon Beast appeared.
"A crisis that will destroy the world—"
The Digital World then transformed into a scene of utter devastation.
The same children who had just been clamoring for a Digital Monster now covered their eyes in fear.
However, curiosity made them leave a small crack between their fingers.
Unlike on Earth, where villains who weren’t aiming to destroy the entire planet could barely even call themselves villains, villains in Feilin’s literary works rarely had such grand ambitions.
The destruction of a kingdom was usually the upper limit. In most cases, disasters were confined to a single city or even a town.
The slogan "destroy the world" shocked many people present. Moreover, such a heavy topic didn’t seem like something a cartoon, a format typically aimed at family entertainment, would ever use.
But they would get used to it in the future. The so-called destruction of the world wasn’t a matter of ambition; it was just a series of nested boxes, something the creators could define however they pleased.
The trailer’s pacing suddenly quickened.
"The chosen children—"
Images of the main group of characters in peril appeared.
"Courage, friendship, honesty..."
"The source of power, a miraculous evolution—"
The scene showed the children facing off against the Demon Beast, the power disparity appearing immense.
At a moment of near despair, courage took the lead, and Agumon evolved.
As the audience watched with bated breath, Agumon transformed in a flash of light, becoming the reassuringly powerful-looking Tyrannosaurus Beast, which then engaged the enemy in a fierce battle.
At that moment, the band version of "Butterfly" kicked in. Over the thrilling music, a rapid montage of various Digital Monsters in battle flashed across the screen.
The grand scale and the battles, so completely different from what they expected of a cartoon, caused the entire toy store to fall silent.
The same scene was playing out in Zog’s directly-operated toy stores in major cities across the land.
The six-minute trailer ended, but it took a long while for everyone to react.
Not until the screen displayed the words: "Digital Monster Adventure. June 1st. Entertainment Channel. Don’t miss it!"
After a good ten seconds, someone finally asked, "Was that a trailer for a cartoon?"
In everyone’s minds, only productions on the level of a Shadow of Evil would get a promotional trailer, since you had to actually buy a ticket to see a Shadow of Evil.
Content on the Magic Vision Device, on the other hand, rarely had trailers. At most, there would be an announcement in the newspaper.
Even the current top-rated cartoon, *Tom and Jerry*, had been broadcast directly without any trailer.
Of course, you couldn’t really make a trailer for *Tom and Jerry*. The episodes were already so short; if you cut a trailer, you’d give away all the best parts.
"Will we actually get to see what was in the trailer when it airs?"
"We should, right? It’s called a trailer, after all."
"I’m definitely following this show. Those other Digital Monsters later on were so cool! I thought it was just going to be about those little pets that hatch from eggs."
What they didn’t realize was that this was actually a "trailer-scam" arranged by Zog. It was designed simply to showcase the Digital Monsters, revealing almost nothing about the actual plot.
