Unable to pay off my debts, I had no choice but to become a Kamen Rider.

At 12:30 a.m., Asano Yu stood on the carpet in front of the automatic door of the convenience store. Behind her, the automatic door kept opening and closing, accompanied by a chorus of "Welcome" and "Thank you for your patronage".

But Asano Yu was too preoccupied to stop the noise, because the scene outside made him feel that it didn't matter whether he took one more step forward or one more step back.

He clutched the magenta camera in his hand, his gaze somewhat unfocused as he looked at the bustling street.

He felt he should immediately take a picture of the situation, but for some reason he couldn't lift his hand.

He had a feeling that he was being forced to accept this situation.

Because the scene before him was so different from his "daily life" in his memory, yet it unfolded so realistically.

On the sidewalk, an Orphnoch dressed in a sharp suit and carrying a briefcase hurried past. One side of his face showed fine marble patterns, and he looked rushed.

Nearby, several delinquents wearing baggy school uniforms and holding cigarettes were making a lot of noise, and two of them were even weirdos!

The strange man and the human were arm in arm, arguing loudly about something.

Damn it, aren't these delinquents afraid of dying?

Wait... why do those weirdos seem so timid and submissive?

To the right, towards the intersection, a tall Gurongi traffic policeman is walking this way—

He was dressed impeccably in his police uniform, which even had the wings of a bat curled up on his back. His sharp ears stood up, and his eyes were bloodshot, but surprisingly, there was no hint of murderous intent in them.

He approached the group of noisy teenagers and then said sternly:

"What time is it? Why aren't you home yet?! Do you believe I'll call your parents?!"

Such righteous words seem somewhat inappropriate coming from the mouth of a gloomy Gurongi monster.

But the boys did get up indignantly and prepared to turn and leave.

But then the Gurongi called out to him again:

"Wait! Put out your cigarette! Minors aren't allowed to smoke! It's also wrong to let others inhale your secondhand smoke on the street!"

The shouts from the Gurongi police forced the boys to put out their cigarettes, and one boy was even reprimanded by the Gurongi police for throwing his cigarette on the ground.

Asano Yu found the scene too bizarre, so he looked at the construction site not far away. In Tokyo, where land is extremely valuable, all people can do is renovate old buildings, but the construction site was still very busy.

A rhythmic rumble came from the construction site across the street. Several Leo cavalrymen moved nimbly on the scaffolding. The mass-produced knight armor reflected the orange-yellow of its safety paint in the sunlight as they worked together to hoist a huge glass curtain wall.

This not only looks much safer, but also serves as a warning, so there won't be any problems even if you start working in the middle of the night.

In the distance, at the entrance of a 24-hour store, human office workers and several strangely shaped people lined up, waiting for steaming rice balls and coffee. Their conversations and laughter mingled together without any sense of incongruity.

Everything was so harmonious and ordinary, so ordinary that Asano Yu felt a slight sense of unreality.

"bell--"

The shrill ring of his cell phone broke his reverie; it was the store manager.

"Hey? Asano-kun! Where are you? The shop bell keeps ringing, what are you doing standing there! Get back to work!"

The store manager's curses came from the other end of the phone, snapping Asano Yu back to reality. She quickly replied:

"Great store manager! Great store manager!"

He put away his phone, took a deep breath of the strange atmosphere that mingled with car exhaust fumes, and had no choice but to return to the convenience store.

The familiar cool air enveloped him, and the noisy electronic notification sounds finally stopped.

Store manager Takahashi emerged from the back lounge, glaring menacingly at Asano Yu. Today, Asano was wearing a T-shirt with a cartoon monster print—

The design is adorable; it's a chibi version of a Gurongi eating ramen.

At first, Yu Asano was puzzled, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was a collaboration with his own convenience store. In other words, the Q-version Gurongi is considered a mascot or an IP?

"What are you spacing out for?"

The store manager glanced up at him, his hands still busy counting the change.

"You were fine at work the past few days, right? What's wrong with you today? You're neglecting the shop!"

His rebuke was quite harsh, and Asano Yu could only nod repeatedly in response, not daring to resist.

"OK."

Asano Yu responded, but he couldn't help asking, seemingly casually:

"Manager...outside, I mean, on the street...those weirdos, do they just...live and work like that, normally?"

Upon hearing this, the store manager stopped what he was doing and gave him a strange look.

"Of course, what else? The 'Great Reconciliation' has been going on for so many years, and the protection law is very comprehensive! They pay taxes, use citizen cards, abide by the law, and go to get off work, eat, and sleep just like us."

As he spoke, he deftly paid the bill for a strange-looking customer who walked in.

"Hello, that's 450 yen in total. I'll take 500 yen from you, and give you 50 yen in change. Thank you for your patronage!"

After seeing the customer off, he turned back and looked at Asano Yu's somewhat stiff expression, then suddenly chuckled:

"Hey Asano-kun, you're not still stuck in those outdated knight-themed dramas, are you?"

"Those who occasionally cause trouble now are mostly extremists who are not adapted to society or people who are not thinking straight. Naturally, someone will deal with them."

"We ordinary people should just live our own lives. Stop looking around and observing everything! It's a waste of time! Aren't you a part-time worker? Focus on your job!"

He patted Asano Yu's shoulder, quite forcefully:

"Stop overthinking and get to work! If you keep acting this 'abnormally' nervous, I'll dock your pay!"

Asano Yu felt a little embarrassed by what he said, nodded, and silently walked back to the counter.

Just then, another customer arrived.

The convenience store wasn't short of customers at night, but this customer was still an oddball.

The first customer was an office lady shaped like a praying mantis.

She swept her slender arm over a bottle of coffee and the remaining 30% off bento box, then listlessly walked to the cashier. After gently tossing the items onto the counter, she was startled by a vibration in her pocket and had to take her phone out—

"Yes, hello..."

Her voice suddenly rose several decibels, sounding just like her own when facing a client, always respectful and deferential.

Asano Yu was somewhat surprised, and then she saw her bowing and scraping to a person who was not actually in front of her.

"Yes, yes, I understand... Okay, okay, I'll go back to work right away. Don't worry, I'll definitely be able to give you the plan by tomorrow morning!"

"What? Now?"

"Okay, okay! Don't worry!"

As he spoke, the customer quickly tossed out a credit card, swiped it, and then ran out of the convenience store with his lunchbox and coffee...