The Strange Cat from Fuuto

"His grades and deviation scores have been very good recently. I attended a parent-teacher meeting before, and his homeroom teacher said that Li Dou would have no problem getting into the University of Tokyo!"

"But I'm a little worried about him!"

"Cough cough..."

A series of coughs erupted, and Dan Masamune got up from the bed and helped the person in the frame: "Let's not talk about this anymore!"

Have you been taking your medication properly lately?

"Hasn't the condition stabilized?"

"I'm fine!" After waving her hand, the person in the camera continued, "I'm just worried about Li Dou!"

"After all, he is our hope!"

"I know, I will have a good talk with him!"

Dan Masamune helped Poppy lie down slowly, and Poppy's vision turned to darkness.

Before Poppy could even process what was happening, her eyes were still blinking, and she was pulled back into her memories.

"Mom, come with me!"

The shrimp dumpling is now dressed in casual clothes, but she looks much more mature than before. She's taking the shape of what she'll look like now.

"What's wrong now?"

From a doting perspective, the owner allowed the young shrimp dumpling to lead him forward. After passing through the long server room, there was a hidden door, inside which was a box.

"I've staked my future on this, and I'm only telling you this, Mom!"

"That's really great!"

"Uh-huh!"

The boy, nicknamed "Shrimp Dumpling," blushed and lowered his head shyly after being praised.

"mom!"

"Ok?"

"Happy birthday to you!"

Upon arriving here, the memory abruptly ended again, and Poppy opened her eyes: "Where...?"

"We absolutely have to go there!"

Poppy, as if possessed, stood up, transformed into data and disappeared from the second-floor lounge, heading straight for the location that appeared in her memory.

At the same time.

CatsDog, top-floor office.

"Oh?"

Miku, who was lying in the cat bed, let out a soft hum.

Miko, who was standing next to Miku, looked up curiously and asked, "What's wrong, Dad?"

"It was just a backup plan, but now it's being used!"

"Oh!"

After getting the answer, Miko lowered his head indifferently and continued to doze off obediently next to his father. Miko glanced at his increasingly lazy son, smiled helplessly, but still took the initiative to hug him tighter with his tail.

The little cutie next to him kept grinding his teeth as he watched this scene.

"You idiot brother!!"

That's my spot!

...........

Genm Games.

After entering the lobby, Poppy, in a daze, drifted towards the server center of Genm Games and passed through a long corridor.

Poppy stopped in front of a huge poster as the large server chassis hummed.

"here it is...."

Poppy, looking around with a bewildered expression, realized that she was in a place she remembered.

Why did I come here?

Poppy, her expression turning terrified, took a step back, but then, as if controlled, she stiffly moved her body and took down the huge poster in front of her.

After the poster was taken down, an old door was revealed.

"Crench!"

The door opened, and Poppy quickly entered. Inside was a small room that resembled a storage room. The cramped space contained only a yellowed wooden table with an open suitcase on it. Inside the suitcase were a Gamer Driver and a black cartridge, with a project plan on top of them.

"Crack!"

Poppy regained consciousness after closing the door, and when she saw what was in front of her, a memory resurfaced in her mind.

"Mother...."

Through blurred vision, Xiajiao, now an adult, stood by the bed, her voice filled with guilt and shame.

"It's... alright, Li Dou!"

"Mother..."

"It's fine!"

The memory abruptly ended again, and this time Poppy's eyes welled up with tears, her heart filled with self-blame and regret.

Why am I crying?

Poppy wiped away her tears and opened the plan. The more she read, the more serious her expression became, with even a hint of joy.

"this....."

"Perhaps this can help Emu and the others!"

Poppy slammed the plan shut and looked at the briefcase, a determined glint in her eyes.

"We must help them!"

Poppy closed the suitcase, took it, and left Genm Games, transforming it into data.

A moment later, Poppy appeared on the rooftop of Seito University Hospital, opened the briefcase in his hand, looked at the cassette tape inside, and said: "I am Bugster, no virus can harm me!"

Poppy took a deep breath, tucked his driver into his waistband, and pulled out the cartridge.

"Mighty Action X!"

After the cartridge is inserted, the black game area opens up, and a gray-black screen appears behind Poppy.

"Huh, can't start?"

Poppy, fidgeting with the driver at his waist, turned around with a suspicious look. "Could it be...?"

With a determined look, she leaped into the game world. Everything in the game world was gray and black, including the pixelated boxes that were everywhere.

"Something seems off about this gaming world."

Just as Poppy was in a daze, a noisy chattering sound came from behind. Looking in the direction of the sound, a group of Bugsters with insect-like heads rushed over.

"ah!"

Poppy screamed and turned to run. She was chased by Bugster with the bug head for most of the map before finally hiding on the rooftop of a building.

"Finally got rid of them!"

"That was really dangerous."

Poppy had barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief when the chaotic chattering reached her ears again.

"This is..."

Poppy jumped back and, pressed against the door, looked warily at the Bugster sitting blankly on the box.

The Bugster turned its head and glanced at Poppy blankly, then ignored it and resumed its original posture.

"Something's not right with this Bugster!"

Poppy cautiously approached and pointed at him with her finger, but at that moment, Bugster's body flickered for a moment, revealing the shape of a shrimp dumpling.

"Li Dou?!"

But in an instant, the shrimp dumpling shape disappeared, and it reverted to the dull appearance of the Bugster with its worm-head shape.

"How could this be?"

Poppy shook Shrimp Dumpling's arm, but there was no reaction: "Li Dou!"

"Li Dou!"

"I'm Poppy!"

"Li Dou, Li Dou!"

"I'm Poppy!"

After several attempts, Shrimp Dumpling didn't respond at all. Poppy scratched his head, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he fastened the Player Driver that he had brought with him to Shrimp Dumpling's waist.

The insect head shape flickered for a moment, then returned to the shape of a shrimp dumpling.

"I am immortal!"

"I am immortal!"

"I am immortal!"

Even this shrimp dumpling looked blank and dazed, repeating the same sentence over and over again inside.

"It's not working yet!"

Frustrated, Poppy tore his hair into a mess and suspiciously took out the original Mighty Action X cartridge.

"Could it be that..."

Poppy pressed the cassette and inserted it into the driver in the dumpling's waist.

"Swish, swish, swish..."