According to Charija, this game was a monster-fighting arena where different creatures battled, devoured one another, and evolved—until one finally rose as the ultimate champion.
Tomoki, that kid, had always been a little fanboy of Ultraman Tiga. Probably because he saw the game was filled only with monsters and felt something was missing, he went ahead and made a Tiga character just for Yu Zhou.
"Tomoki, you really are something," Yu Zhou muttered in admiration.
He loaded the two files Tomoki sent into the game.
The first was the Tiga character Tomoki had crafted. To Yu Zhou's surprise, the boy had nailed it—every skill Tiga had ever used was faithfully included.
Then again, it wasn't shocking. Tomoki worked as a TPC technician despite his young age, and with his obsessive collection of Tiga data—not to mention having a mother who was TPC's chief strategist—it was easy for him to access just about anything.
Even though this was a monster arena game, the system's "custom monster" function allowed mods, which meant characters like Tiga could be brought in.
Still, Yu Zhou didn't start with Tiga. Instead, he opened the second file.
The monster he had personally designed.
On the screen, a gigantic Kun—like the mythical whale—thrashed its massive tail and let out an earth-shaking roar.
"It's strong, no doubt about it. Can't believe he actually pulled this off…"
Yu Zhou selected the Kun and named it: "Start With One Kun."
Then he entered matchmaking.
Just like before, it only took a few seconds to find an opponent.
The other player's monster was clearly cobbled together from default parts—another newbie, just like him. The matchmaking system seemed fair, pairing rookies against rookies.
But there was one problem. Yu Zhou wasn't just a rookie—he was a hidden boss.
No, not a black horse. A black Kun.
"Take this—Heaven-Crushing Slam!"
Following the combo sequence Tomoki had given him, Yu Zhou hammered out the inputs.
On-screen, his Kun slammed down on the enemy monster before it could react, instantly cutting half its health bar.
"…Was my monster too weak?"
On the other side, his opponent blinked at the screen, stunned by the massive drop in HP.
"And why does that thing look so… weird?"
The whale-like behemoth slammed down again, wiping out the rest of his health.
"Devour!"
Yu Zhou pressed the command. His Kun spread its colossal jaws, swallowing the defeated monster whole. Its body swelled even larger.
"Ahhh, that's satisfying."
The sheer thrill of steamrolling an enemy released a rush of dopamine. Yu Zhou grinned.
"Again!"
Still buzzing, he hit the matchmaking button. Another opponent appeared—yet another newbie with a sloppy creation.
This time, Yu Zhou's Kun charged headlong. The sheer difference in size and power sent the enemy monster flying, shredding a third of its HP in one hit.
The other player's jaw dropped.
What kind of damage was that?! Who has a monster that takes off a third of your health with a normal attack?!
Before they could react, Yu Zhou's Kun finished the job, swallowed the corpse, and another victory screen appeared.
One after another, Yu Zhou crushed new players, his Kun devouring them all and growing ever larger. He joked inwardly that he was probably curing dozens of kids of gaming addiction all at once.
By the time little children across the servers were crying with their game discs in hand, Yu Zhou's Kun had already evolved into a new form.
"Choose an evolution path."
Options popped up on-screen: Bone Kun, Corpse Kun, Demon Kun, Immortal Kun, Flesh Kun, Vegetable Kun…
Yu Zhou stared at the list, hesitating.
His cursor hovered over Demon Kun, then over Immortal Kun. Both sounded ridiculously overpowered.
But then he reconsidered. His Kun was already insanely strong—he hadn't lost once. If it grew stronger, there'd be no challenge left at all.
After some thought, he moved the cursor to the last option: Vegetable Kun.
"Alright, this one sound weak enough."
He clicked. The Kun's body lit with a green glow, evolving—until, finally, a giant whale-like monster appeared on-screen… with two leafy sprouts sticking out of its head.
"…Seriously?"
Yu Zhou stared at the ridiculous sight, speechless.
He clicked matchmaking again. This time, his opponent brought out a Zombie Monster—one that had actually appeared in this world before. The player must have recreated it by inputting its data.
Yu Zhou's Kun entered the arena, its leafy sprouts swaying. He pulled out the guide Tomoki had sent him, full of detailed notes on Kun evolutions and skills.
Too much text.
"Eh, I'll just go AFK for now. My Kun's health is thick enough."
He let the match run while reading, barely glancing at the screen.
Meanwhile, his opponent was going insane.
"What the heck is this thing?! Why does it have vegetables growing out of its head?!"
"No matter! Go, Seelizan—attack!"
The enemy monster lunged and smacked Yu Zhou's Kun.
The health bar dropped by a sliver.
HP -1
"???"
The player's head filled with question marks.
What kind of God-tier opponent was this?! Why wasn't it fighting back? Why was its HP so absurdly thick?!
"Hmph, even if your health is huge, my Seelizan's corrosion will eat you alive!"
Snarling, the player mashed their controller.