As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider

Hatsuse whirled around and pulled out a Shadow Driver that he had kept hidden for a long time from the deepest part of the locker. He had obtained it from a strange guy, along with a spare Lockseed, all for the purpose of making a name for himself one day.

"As long as... we can win, that's enough."

He fastened the driver to his waist and pressed the switch.

"Henshin".

The jet-black armor covered his entire body like ink, and a muffled electronic sound effect emanated from beneath the visor. Hatsuse felt that unfamiliar power flowing through his limbs, a twisted grin spreading across his lips. He raised his foot and slammed open the training room door—

boom!

Jonouchi was hunched over his desk organizing tactical data when the loud noise nearly made him fall off his chair. He turned around and saw the dark figure, his pupils shrinking: "Hatsuse?! What are you doing?!"

"What are you doing?" Hatsuse's voice came through the mask, cold and hoarse, as if she were a different person. "Of course, I'm taking back what I deserve. Jonouchi, don't you feel stifled being a follower of Oren all this time? Why don't you join forces with me, defeat Oren together, and take the Golden Fruit together?"

"You're insane!" Jonouchi exclaimed, both shocked and furious, staggering back. "A competition is supposed to be fair! How could you—"

"Fairness?" Hatsuse sneered, her figure suddenly rising up. "Only the weak talk about fairness!"

Chapter 283 Light Gold

A jet-black fist, accompanied by a fierce gust of wind, slammed down. In a haste, Jonouchi grabbed the Sengoku Driver and fastened it to his waist: "Lock On! Soiya! Donguri Arms!"

The acorn armor instantly covered his entire body, and he raised his acorn hammer to block. However, he was not good at head-on combat, and Hatsuse's power at this moment was strange and violent. After only a few moves, he was punched in the chest armor and sent flying backward, knocking over the tactical board.

"Cough..." Cheng Nai clutched his chest, unable to get up for a moment.

Hatsuse approached step by step, and a suppressed chuckle came from beneath the mask of the shadowy guard: "Don't worry, I won't kill you. After all... you still have to watch me get the Golden Fruit."

He raised his foot and stomped hard on the helmet inside the castle—

"It's so noisy."

The training room door opened, and Huang Lian slowly removed his gloves, revealing his cold eyes. He glanced at the mess on the floor, finally fixing his gaze on Chu Se, the playful smile on his lips vanishing.

"Hatsuse-kun, it seems you've been blinded by desire."

He raised his hand, and the Sengoku Driver was already at his waist.

"Lock On! Soiya! Durian Arms!"

The durian armor crashed down, its spiked shoulder guards gleaming dangerously under the light. Huang Lian flexed her wrist, spinning the durian hammer in a graceful arc: "Let me teach you what rules are."

Before he finished speaking, he shot out like a cannonball!

Hatsuse hastily raised her hand to block, but was forced back several steps by the brutal destructive force of the durian hammer. Phoenix Lotus's attacks were fierce and ruthless, each strike precisely hitting the weak points of the shadow armor's joints. In just a few moves, Hatsuse was overwhelmed and unable to breathe, with fragments of the armor flying everywhere.

"It's time to end this."

Phoenix Lotus leaped high into the air, and the durian hammer, carrying immense force, crashed down. Hatsuse raised her arms, but the force caused her to kneel on one knee, cracking the ground.

Just as Huang Lian was about to put an end to this farce—

"Ugh... Ahh ...

Hatsuse suddenly let out a piercing scream. One after another, dark green vines burst forth from the gaps in his shadow armor!

"Hatsuse!" Shironouchi shouted in terror.

Just then, a hand suddenly appeared, grabbed Hatsuse's driver at her waist, and pulled it away in one swift motion.

Lin Chen's figure solidified in the darkness. He looked down at the driver in his hand, which was still emitting eerie black smoke, and a cold smile slowly curved his lips.

"I've got your little tail... you little bug."

Before he finished speaking, his figure transformed into a dark golden stream of light and vanished into the shadows of the training room as if he had never existed.

As the driver was taken away, the wildly growing dark green vines, like parasites without roots, suddenly stiffened, withered, and slid helplessly off Hatsuse, turning into a puddle.

"Uh……"

Hatsuse's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed forward, limp and powerless. Hōren lunged forward and caught him before he hit the ground.

“He’s still alive.” Huang Lian touched the side of his neck, her brows furrowed. “He’s just unconscious… but he’s still breathing.”

Jonouchi scrambled over, his voice trembling as he looked at Hatsuse's deathly pale face: "Those vines... what are they? And who was that person just now? If he hadn't ripped off the driver in time, Hatsuse would probably be..."

World Tree Foundation, underground secret research lab.

The cold white operating lights hung from the ceiling, sharply and abruptly cutting the outline of the stone slab. Wu Daogui stood before the slab, like a statue nailed to the spot, motionless. He hadn't had time to change out of his blue and white jersey, and the hem was still covered with bits of grass from training during the day.

The stone slab's surface was mottled and covered with densely packed Fimsim script. The characters resembled the veins of some living thing, deeply embedded in the gray-black stone, winding and twisting. Interspersed among them were some strange patterns.

Beside the stone slab, an LCD screen silently lit up.

The footage was somewhat shaky. Sengoku Ryoma's familiar face filled the entire frame. He was wearing a white lab coat, and his eyes behind his glasses gleamed with an almost morbid fanaticism in the dim light. The wide grin at the corners of his mouth gave Gojima Takato a chilling sense of unfamiliarity.

“Finally cracked…” In the video, Ling Ma stretched out his hand, his fingertips almost piercing the lens, his voice trembling slightly with excitement, “This Overlord Stone Tablet records the ultimate secret of the Fimsim civilization. They were not satisfied with the naturally born golden fruit and tried to artificially cultivate a stronger fruit of wisdom… But in the end, they failed, and that thing brought about the destruction of the entire civilization.”

The screen shook violently, and Ling Ma leaned even closer, his hushed voice filled with a wild, smug joy:

"It is called Light Gold... It is a consciousness born from an artificial Gold Fruit. It feeds on fighting spirit and desire, inciting its own kind to kill each other until it devours the entire civilization. In the end, a tyrant with the ability to manipulate dreams sealed it in this stone slab with all his power."

He paused, then suddenly straightened up, opening his arms as if embracing some unseen, magnificent presence. In the background, the reflection of the stone slabs was faintly visible on the glass behind him.

"But now... the seal is about to be broken. How exciting, the true power of the Gold-Gold Fruit..."

Snapped.

The screen suddenly went black, and the research room fell silent once more.

Wu Daogui remained standing in the same spot, but his hands, hanging at his sides, were now clenched into fists.

“Lingma…”

Gui Hu's voice was hoarse, squeezed out one word at a time from his clenched teeth. He slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the cracked fruit pattern on the stone slab like a knife.

"How many things are you still hiding from me?"

No one in the study answered him. Only the ancient characters on the stone slab seemed to twitch very slightly in the unnoticed darkness.

......

On the other side, Kouta Kazuha walked alone on the streets of Sawame City, observing the world so carefully for the first time.

In stark contrast to its already dilapidated state in reality, Zeya City here is bustling and vibrant. Young people are playing soccer everywhere, and the squares that were once used for street dance have now been converted into mini soccer fields. Shop windows display merchandise from various teams, and the All Knights Cup highlights are playing on large screens. Everyone wears a relaxed smile.

No one knows about Helheim, no one knows about the Outcasts, and no one knows about the conspiracy behind the World Tree. In everyone's lives, there is only football, only the All Knights Cup, and only the legendary Golden Fruit that can grant any wish.

“Win the game, and you’ll get the Golden Fruit, and you can have any wish granted…” Kuzuha Kouta repeated the passerby’s conversation in a low voice, his brows furrowed.

The Golden Fruit—a forbidden entity that determines the fate of the world in reality—has become the prize for winning a football tournament in this world.

Do you think this world is bad?

An unfamiliar voice came from behind. Kouta turned around and saw Lapis standing not far away, quietly watching him.

"Who are you?" Kouta Kazuha immediately became alert. "You were behind all of this, weren't you?"

"Me? I just want to see you. What will the ultimate victor of this trial be like?" Hearing his question, Labis smiled and countered, "There is no war, no death here. Everyone competes peacefully and lives happily. Isn't such a world wonderful?"

"What do you mean by the ultimate winner?"

Rabbis did not answer this question.

Looking at Lapis, Kouta Kazuha remained silent for a moment, then stopped asking questions: "Fake things, no matter how good, are meaningless. In reality, Helheim is still eroding the city, and many people are suffering. I can't stay in a dream forever."

“A dream…” Lapis murmured the word. “Someone has shown me that the power of dreams can sometimes change reality. Enjoy the game. This is a new possibility that someone worked hard to secure for you. Don’t be tempted by the snake.”

After saying this, he turned and walked into the crowd, ignoring Kota Kazuha's calls.

Kouta Kazuha searches for Lapis in the city, trying to uncover the truth of the world.

As he walked into a park, Hiroya Kakui walked towards him.

"Kouta, what are you doing here all alone? Everyone's been looking for you." Yuya walked over with a smile, his tone natural. "The semifinals are coming up soon, we need to make the most of our training time. If we win the championship and get the Golden Fruit, we can achieve all our dreams."

Kouta Kuzuha looked at him without saying a word.

Ever since he met this "Yuya," he had been observing him. The other man's words, actions, appearance, and voice were exactly the same as the real Yuya, but something was always off.

The real Yuya always puts the team and his comrades first, and would never talk about the Golden Fruit all the time, nor would he repeatedly encourage him to crave power.

“Yuya-nii,” Kouta Kazuha raised his head, his eyes calm, “I have a question for you. Who was the Sengoku Driver originally intended for?”

Yuya paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Of course it's for me. Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Then tell me, if you had lived, would I have become Kamen Rider Gaim?" Kouta Kazunari continued to ask.

"This..." Yuya's smile froze for a moment, "Of course I can, you're so talented..."

“No.” Kouta Kazuha shook his head, his tone certain. “If the real Yuya were still alive, he would take care of everything himself and wouldn’t let me get involved in these dangers. And…”

He stared into Yuya's eyes and said, word by word, "The real Yuya would never be like you, constantly urging me to pursue power and seize the Golden Fruit. Who are you? Why are you impersonating Yuya?"

The air fell silent instantly.

The smile on Yuya's face gradually disappeared. He straightened up, his eyes became deep and cold, and his temperament completely changed—no longer the gentle captain, but with an arrogant air of looking down on all living beings.

"I never expected that you would see through me so quickly."

Chapter 284 Got you?

Yuya's voice changed, becoming deep and magnetic, with a metallic quality. His physique began to change, his figure became more upright, his hair color turned into a dazzling gold, and his team uniform transformed into a magnificent red and gold robe.

He revealed his true colors—a handsome young man with a haughty gaze.

“My name is Guangjin,” the young man said, a mocking smile playing on his lips. “The god of the new world. He will surely rule the entire world.”

"God? So you created this world?" Kouta Kazuha immediately reached for the Sengoku Driver at his waist.

"Me? Create the world?" Guangjin scoffed as if he had heard a joke. "I don't have that kind of ability. I don't even know what being created this world."

“But it doesn’t matter, it has now become the breeding ground for my revival.” Guangjin opened his arms, his tone full of pleasure. “The desires, fighting spirit, jealousy and anger of those knights are the best nourishment... Their power and their obsessions have all become the food for my awakening.”

"You bastard!" Kouta Kazuha was furious. He pressed the driver and transformed into Gaim Orange Armor. "Those people were living beings! And you treated them like nourishment!"

"Life?" Guangjin laughed disdainfully. "The lives of the weak are meant to exist for the strong."

As soon as he finished speaking, Guangjin took out an apple-shaped lock that shone with golden light and fastened it to the Sengoku Driver at his waist.

Covered in magnificent red and gold armor, Kamen Rider Mars makes his official debut.

Battle is imminent.