Kamen Rider from the ancient times

A light drizzle was falling on the cement road.

Tsukasa Kadoya walked into a deep alley and found a photo studio that had been reduced to ruins at the end of the damp road.

Through the rusty iron gate, you can see that the small courtyard is overgrown with weeds, the walls of the house are peeling, the windows are broken, and the bricks inside are mottled from sun and rain.

The place was desolate and deserted. A somewhat damaged signboard was nailed to the wall by the entrance of the courtyard, and the words "Guangzhao Photo Studio" could be barely made out.

Tsukasa Kadoya pushed open the rickety iron gate.

Once inside the photo studio, the gloomy sky and the sound of rain were shut out, but a musty smell hit you.

The house, a complete mess, looked as if it had been visited by a monster. The photography equipment that had been used was overturned on the ground, and framed photos were scattered on the rough floor, their colors faded beyond recognition.

The place seemed to be filled with an atmosphere of darkness and oppression.

In this dilapidated photo studio, only a camera, fixed to a tripod, stands alone in the center.

It seemed to be quietly waiting for travelers.

Except for the viewfinder and lens, the camera was covered with a black cloth, which was covered with a layer of dust and had an old-fashioned feel, indicating that it had been around for many years.

Tsukasa Kadoya touched the black cloth covering the camera, then stuck his head inside, his eyes looking through the completely dark viewfinder.

Through the lens of this camera, what is opposite is not a dilapidated and desolate photography studio wall, nor is it pitch black covered by a curtain, but a beautiful city with warm sunshine and blue sky and white clouds.

That seems to be...

another world.

……

……

There is another world beyond this world.

Spacetime is an endless void.

The Shocker organization, whose goal is to dominate the world no matter when or where, has discovered more worlds, more timelines, and more Kamen Riders that need to be eliminated during its long-term conflict with Kamen Rider.

Narutaki, one of Shocker's executives and known as "Colonel Zoro," believes that his greatest enemy is Kamen Rider Decade!

Decade, who can travel between different worlds, often teams up with the Kamen Riders of those worlds to stop Shocker's great conquest to dominate the world. After his plans are thwarted by the other side several times, Decade has undoubtedly become a "demon" in Narutaki's heart.

So he took the initiative and spread rumors of being a "world destroyer" in the next world before Decade arrived.

Narutaki's plan was undoubtedly a success.

When the Shocker army once again entered the world, the Kamen Riders of that world, who no longer trusted Decade, were powerless to stop the Shocker organization's attack!
Using this method, Narutaki gradually became the most trusted executive in the Shocker organization.

Finally, he destroyed Decade!

……

Then I encountered another Decade.

It's not just Decade; those Kamen Riders who were either eliminated or brainwashed by the Shocker organization also exist in this vast world.

Shocker discovered countless new worlds.

What shocked Narutaki even more than the new world was that when he used the "History Change Machine" to eliminate the threat of Kamen Riders on a large scale, he also discovered countless different timelines.

The Shocker organization has always been full of talented people, and the history-changing machine has been upgraded to a time-changing machine because of this discovery.

If a timeline were simply erased, all the Kamen Riders in that world would disappear from the source, and the Shocker organization would be able to dominate the world from the source, eliminating the need for them to send out the Shocker army to wage a long tug-of-war.

Narutaki felt an extreme pleasure.

In this way, even Kamen Rider Decade, who can travel between different worlds, can no longer stop Shocker's journey!

"Shocker will eventually unify all timelines!"

As the leader's top executive, Narutaki raised his arms and shouted, and the enthusiastic cheers rose and fell in the square crowded with Shocker combatants and monster army.

Narutaki was enjoying the thrill of being at the pinnacle of power.

But as he prepared to enter the next world to fight again, a worry he had never told anyone before began to surface in his mind.

While manipulating time and altering the machine, Narutaki, who had accidentally entered a time rift, discovered something unimaginable—

There exists a special timeline in countless worlds, seemingly the source of everything, untouchable and unfathomable. It strikes Narutaki's heart like a heavy hammer, filling him with both immense longing and profound dread. Narutaki has a premonition that the Shocker organization, which controls countless worlds, must never touch that timeline, or all their efforts so far will be in vain.

Therefore, whenever he chooses the next world, he is extremely careful to avoid that timeline.

A giant aurora curtain appeared in the square.

The Shocker army, already prepared to plunder the next world, roared and bared their fangs as they rushed into that world.

Dressed in colonel's armor, Narutaki gazed at the world far removed from the source timeline. His tense mood eased slightly, and a confident and excited smile returned to his face.

"This world is nothing special!"

……

……

"Shi, what are you doing?"

Hearing the sound behind him, Tsukasa Kadoya snapped out of his reverie of observing "the world in the camera" and turned around.

The light rain outside had stopped sometime ago, and the sun had even appeared in the sky, its warm light shining through the broken glass into the messy photography studio.

Appearing at the entrance of the Guangzhao Photo Studio was a girl with a round face; her slightly puffed-out cheeks made her look like a plump, round summer orange.

Do you want to travel to other worlds?

Then the girl took a step forward, tilted her head, and leaned closer to him.

"Natsumikan..."

As if realizing something, Tsukasa Kadoya murmured the girl's name in a daze.

—Or rather, a nickname.

Feeling a little embarrassed by his stare, Hikari smoothed her hair and looked away, saying, "What are you doing, staring at me like that?"

Then Tsukasa Kadoya suddenly grinned: "Of course, it's about seeing where an orange rolled out from!"

Hikari Natsumi's eyes widened in disbelief, then she became angry and, without saying a word, stuck out her thumb at him—

"Behold my family's secret technique—"

"so close!"

As if he had expected this, Tsukasa Kadoya covered his neck and dodged to the side, while Natsumi Hikari, whose attack had missed, puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

Just then, a dull thud seemed to come from the dark second floor of the photo studio, followed by a flurry of dust falling from the ceiling.

Hikari Natsumi was startled and looked up: "Huh? Is there something up there?"

"It's just that the wooden planks are a bit loose due to years of disrepair. It just so happens that it rained today, so it's very damp."

Tsukasa Kadoya glanced casually at the ceiling and said, "Let's go, let's get out of here before this thing falls down and hits us."

Hearing this, Hikari Natsumi looked at him again: "But didn't Tsukasa just say he was planning to travel to other worlds? Aren't you going?"

"I want to go after lunch."

"Huh? Do you want me to make curry?"

"...I'll do it."

"You can actually cook?!?!"

When Hikari Natsumi let out such a shocked shout, the ceiling seemed to tremble, but Tsukasa Kadoya had already pushed her out of the dilapidated Hikari Photo Studio.

Sunlight filtered through the sparse leaves and spilled into the yard.

The ground smelled fresh and earthy after the rain.

On the second floor of the Guangzhao Photo Studio, in a dimly lit and gloomy room covered in dust, a young man, gagged and bound hand and foot, was writhing on the wooden floor.

The thing that just hit the floor was a magenta Polaroid camera that was hanging around his neck when he fell.

...(End of chapter)