Ultraman: I am really just a human.

Chapter 18 Survival

The rooftop of the base's central building.

Kondo Isami still had no appetite in the end, and wandered to the edge of the rooftop in a daze. After a while, he hesitated and dialed the phone.

"team leader."

"What's this?" a gentle laugh came from the other end of the phone. "You've already made some progress? As expected of Kondo..."

"No!"

Kondo Isami's fingers were still trembling uncontrollably.

"Captain, you never told me that there were such terrifying monsters here."

"monster?"

"It was Kuuga! I saw it with my own eyes!"

Kondo Isami exclaimed excitedly.

"That thing has turned into its black form; its danger level is probably over level 4..."

"Impossible, Kondo," the other person chuckled. "You simply don't understand. A Level 5 Knight is impossible in this world."

"What?"

"It seems you've suffered a severe psychological attack. How pitiful. You must be terrified. If you really can't take it, come back. I'll send Xiao Nan over."

"I'm fine!" Kondo Isami's expression changed drastically. "I'm just... not feeling well, I'll take care of it!"

"Really?"

"real!"

Faced with the captain's questioning, Kondo Isami kept wiping away sweat.

"And I did gain something, too. There's a mentor here named Shinji Kaminaga who's incredibly strong. He actually used my weapon to repel a Level 3 monster. It might be related to that young master Fujiwara's plan..."

"Shinji Kaminari?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded disappointed. "You've got it wrong. That guy was once Ultraman who saved humanity, so it's not surprising that he's stronger. Otherwise, do you think just anyone can teach Kamen Rider?"

"Ultraman?" Kondo Isami's face darkened. "That guy is actually Ultraman from 5 years ago?!"

"Don't worry, it's all in the past. He's nothing now."

In an underground research lab, a friendly-looking, short-haired young man observes with a smile several low-level Orphnochs that have been captured alive.

"You don't need to think about anything right now. Just keep an eye on the Knight School for me. Oh, and pay special attention to that Faiz person. He might be related to the Knight System that the Fujiwara Foundation is developing."

"Faiz? Is that Takumi Onoue from Class A?"

Kondo Isamu still remembered the students' information.

He doesn't want to have any contact with the students in Class A right now; whenever he sees Xia Chuan, the instructor of Class A, he can't help but think of what happened last night.

His deep-seated pride made him not want to see Xia Chuan.

"Is there a problem?" the short-haired youth asked with a smile.

"N-nothing!" Kondo Isami stammered, "He's just a student, what problem could there be?"

……

Comprehensive training hall.

Xia Chuan walked up to the stands and quietly surveyed the Class A students below who were conducting their basic training.

Onoue Takumi, Watari, and Kenzaki Kazuma trained almost to the point of exhaustion, which influenced the others to start competing with each other as well. Only Sakurai Keikawa, like a seasoned veteran, slacked off.

It is said that Tamura originally intended to make Sakurai Keikazu the teacher of Class B, but the guy refused to agree no matter what.

Because of psychological trauma, Sakurai Keikazu seems to genuinely resist even the transformation.

However, in Xia Chuan's opinion, this guy had not completely given up the fight, otherwise he would not have been able to stay in Class A.

"Fight?"

Xia Chuan's thoughts wandered, and the image of his private conversation with Tamura surfaced in his mind.

It seems that he doesn't have as much time as a year. About a month later, this group of trainees will participate in actual combat, and they will be training at the school while carrying out missions.

Tamura hoped that he could improve the trainees' survival skills as much as possible within a month.

Basic training is a long-term process; in the short term, we can only start with the fusion coefficient.

Thinking of this, Xia Chuan clapped his hands and summoned everyone who was training.

"Everyone, as I said before, even if you don't have a dream, there's always a reason to become a Kamen Rider. I hope you will strive to become stronger for that reason. Of course, I still don't recommend using the Rider System to compete."

Natsukawa's gaze lingered briefly on Haruto, whose expression was relaxed.

This troublemaker may seem fine on the surface, but in reality, he has bigger problems than others.

This isn't a knight world, and there's no protagonist's halo here. Anyone who lacks strength but is too unconventional will most likely become cannon fodder within a month.

"Fujiwara."

Xia Chuan passed by the group and reminded them one by one.

"The core of Thebee is responsibility and belief. A sense of responsibility and firm belief can help you improve your integration coefficient. Conversely, once you lose these, it is not impossible for Thebee to abandon you."

"Huh?" Fujiwara Saiji stared blankly as Natsukawa walked by.

abandon.

Is there anything worse than being forcibly transformed by someone else?

"Mentor, you..."

"Onoe," Natsukawa said quietly, looking at Onoe, who was still immersed in training, "Faiz may not have a fixed core, but I hope you can fight to survive."

Of the trainees, only Onoue Takumi trained relentlessly, as if deliberately torturing himself, and he was completely lifeless.

There is currently no publicly available information about the Orphnoch in this world, but Takumi Onoue himself is clearly aware of it.

As monsters created by accidental resurrection after death, especially Orphnochs who are naturally resurrected, they possess considerable abilities even without transforming.

"Survive?" Onoue paused, turning around to find Natsukawa already walking towards Watari.

"Crossing."

Xia Chuan stopped in front of the somewhat distant boy.

The fact that he can use Kiva suggests that he has the bloodline of the Fangblood.

As a non-human race in "Kiva", the Fang Vampires usually regard humans as food, and if they cannot suppress their nature, they will attack humans uncontrollably.

I don't know what's going on with the boy.

"The key to Kiva is controlling your own desires. There's no need to be afraid; just believe in yourself."

As he spoke, Xia Chuan continued walking toward the others.

"Blade's key is protecting those in front of him..."

"I just want to become strong enough to eliminate all the monsters," Kenzaki Kazuma said, his face still grim. "Mentor, can you really help me?"

"Only you can help yourself."

Xia Chuan's eyes were subtle.

He knew that the Blade wearer could potentially become the strongest monster in the final stage.

Also named Kenzaki Kazuma, it's unknown whether this student will end up like the protagonist of "Blade".

"And mage and tanuki."

Natsukawa turned to Haruto and Sakurai Kagekazu behind him.

Both are mass-produced knights, especially the former; he really didn't know how to quickly increase the fusion coefficient.

"Let's start with protection," Xia Chuan said thoughtfully. "Protecting humanity, regardless of the type of knight system, can become the core of most of them."

"Me too?" Murai Ryota pointed to himself, feeling slightly aggrieved.

He always felt like he was superfluous.

"We'll talk about it after you're able to transform safely."

Natsukawa glanced at Murai Ryodai out of the corner of his eye.

This guy is the only one who doesn't need to consider fusion coefficients.

"By the way, to tell you the truth," Xia Chuan paused, then added, adding pressure, "regardless of your previous thoughts, you will all be joining the front lines in a month. I hope you will all survive."

"How could this happen?" Sakurai Keikazu shuddered violently.

He entered the Knight School to stay away from the front lines, but now he's being told he still has to fight?

"It's not just you guys, Class B and the instructors will be going too," Xia Chuan said with a smile. "Of course, I'm just an ordinary person, so I don't need to go. I'll wait for your news here."

"..."

……

"Boom!"

The city is experiencing torrential rain.

Hiroko Asami ran to the coffee shop with an umbrella, and when she saw her partner waiting inside, she quickly put away her umbrella and went inside.

"senior!"

Kazumi Takahashi stood up in surprise.

"Any leads?"

"No," Hiroko Asami shook her head wearily. "There's no way we can find Kuuga this way. We can only start with the Grongi. Although I don't know why, Kuuga is indeed intentionally hunting down the Grongi."

"That's true, but Gurongi aren't something you can just find anywhere, are they?"

Kazumi Takahashi said disappointedly.

"There are some eyewitness reports, but they are all about minor characters. Kuuga doesn't seem interested in low-level Gurongi, like he's picky about food."

Is he really a Kamen Rider?

"Perhaps the research is correct; Kuuga is actually a high-level Gurongi. If that's the case, we're in too much danger."

"Um?"

Hiroko Asami did not respond to her partner, but looked at the strange woman walking in the rain outside with a puzzled expression.

Holding a large, scythe-like object that was taller than a person, he was completely unaffected by the rain.

"That woman is...."

"Clang!"

As the woman passed by a couple who had just walked out of a coffee shop with an umbrella, she suddenly flashed and brandished a sickle.

Don't look back.

"What?"

Hiroko Asami almost thought she was hallucinating until she saw the couple's heads fall to the ground at the same time after walking a distance away, at which point she turned pale with shock.

"It's a Gurongi!"

(End of this chapter)