As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider

The milky white broth was simmered to a rich, creamy consistency, topped with double-thick slices of char siu, a perfect balance of lean and fatty meat, stewed until tender. A halved soft-boiled egg lay beside it, its amber yolk coated in sauce, topped with vibrant green scallions and seaweed flakes. The scalding steam hit my face, momentarily blurring my vision.

Lin Chen didn't say anything, picked up his chopsticks, and started eating heartily.

The chewy noodles, coated in broth, slid into my mouth, and the warmth flowed down my throat into my empty stomach, dispelling all the chill of the night.

He ate quickly, but without wolfing it down. He didn't put down the bowl until he had finished the last drop of soup.

He looked up at Grandpa Sato, who was wiping the table. His lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to begin. He didn't have a single penny on him, not even a piece of paper to prove his identity. He subconsciously touched the Orga phone in his pocket, his fingertips brushing against the cold metal casing. He hesitated for a moment, but still didn't take it out.

The old man noticed his embarrassment, wiped his hands, came over and took the bowl away, speaking casually as if he were talking about the weather: "It's just a bowl of noodles, it's not worth much, don't worry about it."

After wiping the last table, he pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Lin Chen, looking him up and down: "I see you're able-bodied and reliable. My shop needs a helper. If you have nowhere else to go, stay. Food and lodging provided, plus a monthly allowance. You won't be shortchanged."

As he spoke, he pointed to the flour sacks piled up in the corner: "If you really feel bad about it, just move those sacks of flour to the kitchen now and pay for tonight's meal."

Lin Chen paused for a moment, then nodded, stood up, walked over, picked up a 50-pound bag of flour with one hand, and steadily carried it into the kitchen. He did this several times, quickly and efficiently.

The old man smiled with satisfaction as he watched his quick movements, then tossed him a rag: "Alright, you've got the work done. You can start helping out tomorrow. Your place is upstairs; you'll need to tidy up the storage room first, don't mind."

Looking into the old man's gentle yet resolute eyes, Lin Chen felt a lump in his throat. He remained silent for a long time before nodding and whispering, "Thank you."

And so, Lin Chen settled down at Sato's noodle shop.

The noodle shop has been open for thirty years. Sato Genji has spent his entire life working with ramen. He has a gentle temperament and authentic skills, and almost all the local residents are regulars here. Lin Chen gets up at five o'clock every morning to help the old man knead dough, prepare ingredients, wipe tables, and keep the shop in good order. During the lunch and evening rush hours, he helps take orders, serve noodles, and clean up the dishes.

He didn't talk much, but he was exceptionally quick and efficient. He learned things fast, and in just two or three days, he had mastered all the tasks in the shop.

As the days went by, Lin Chen gradually got to know all the regular customers coming and going in the noodle shop, but he still dared not let his guard down. The strange people in this world were disguised too perfectly, and he never knew when they would jump out and attack humans.

At two in the morning, Nakamura Yuko, having finished her night shift, would always push open the door and come in, ordering a bowl of hot ramen with less salt. She always smelled of disinfectant, and her eyes couldn't hide her exhaustion, but she would always smile and tell Lin Chen about the trivial things that happened at the hospital—which child who had pneumonia recovered and was discharged today, and who gave her a piece of candy as they left; which elderly man living alone had his children finally come back from abroad to visit him, and the old man held the children's hands and cried for a long time.

Occasionally, she would bring Lin Chen a piece of fruit candy, place it in his hand, and say with a smile, "You always have such a long face, have something sweet to cheer you up." At first, Lin Chen would refuse, but later he started accepting it.

Just after the midday rush, deliveryman Kenta Tanaka would always rush in, yelling for a bowl of regular ramen. He would wolf it down, wiping his sweat as he complained to Lin Chen about how difficult the deliveries were and how demanding the customers were. After complaining, he would grin and say that he had helped an elderly lady with mobility issues carry 20 kilograms of rice up to the seventh floor, and she insisted on giving him two freshly picked oranges, which were very sweet.

Lin Chen would always quietly hand him a cup of iced barley tea, and as he chattered on and on, a slight smile would unconsciously appear on his lips.

Every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon, Matsumoto Keiko would push her stroller with her three-year-old daughter to eat children's tomato noodles. The little girl would always timidly hide behind her mother, staring at Lin Chen with her round eyes. Lin Chen would always help them carry the heavy stroller inside beforehand, and occasionally he would take a piece of candy that the old man had prepared from the counter and hand it to the little girl.

Huizi would tell him about the hardships of raising children and the exhaustion of working two jobs, but when she talked about the first time her daughter called her "Mom" in a fuzzy voice, her eyes shone like stars.

Every morning at seven o'clock, retired middle school Chinese teacher Masao Watanabe would arrive on time, order a bowl of clear soup noodles, and take the day's newspaper with him. He would sit by the window and eat slowly. He would teach Lin Chen to recognize the Japanese kanji in the newspaper and correct his non-standard pronunciation: "Young man, you learn things very quickly, but you have too many worries in your eyes. When you're alive, don't always carry everything on your own shoulders."

Every Friday night, Ichiro Suzuki, the owner of the old bookstore on the corner, would come over, order a cup of sake and a plate of edamame, and sit until late into the night. He would bring Lin Chen some old books and novels, and chat with him about his past, about his experiences traveling the world when he was young. At the end, he would always pat Lin Chen on the shoulder and say, "When you're alive, you always need something to look forward to. You can't always live in the past. Look ahead, the road ahead is still long."

Lin Chen felt as if he had returned to the days before he awakened.

There is no fighting, no scheming, and no law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak.

Life may be ordinary, but it can still bring warmth.

The warmth was amplified by the morning breeze.

That day, just as the noodle shop opened, Grandma Takahashi Chiyo from next door came running over chasing a kite. The kite string broke, and the colorful kite got caught on the old locust tree in front of the noodle shop. Grandma stood on tiptoe for a long time but couldn't reach it, and she was so anxious that she kept stamping her feet.

Lin Chen didn't say anything. He put down the rag in his hand, walked to the tree, and nimbly climbed up the trunk in a few steps, retrieving the kite that was tangled in the branches intact.

Grandma took the kite, her face beaming with smiles that smoothed out all her wrinkles. She turned around and pulled two freshly steamed, still-hot red bean buns from her cloth bag, insisting they go into Lin Chen's hands. She said repeatedly, "Good boy, thank you so much! Eat them while they're hot, they're freshly steamed and sweet."

Lin Chen held the still-hot red bean bun and silently accepted it.

When the midday rush subsided and the shop quieted down, Sato Yuki, the granddaughter of Grandpa Sato and a third-grade elementary school student, timidly emerged from behind the counter. The little girl usually hid behind her grandfather, secretly watching Lin Chen and rarely spoke. This time, however, she clutched a neatly folded drawing, walked up to Lin Chen, and handed it to him. Her face was flushed, and her voice was so soft it was almost a whisper: "Brother, this... is for you."

Lin Chen took the painting and unfolded it to look at it.

The drawing shows him in his work uniform, standing at the entrance of a noodle shop, surrounded by a circle of smiling faces—grandpa, the nurse who frequents the shop, the deliveryman, Aunt Keiko and her little sister, and Grandma Takahashi. The drawing is childlike, yet exceptionally meticulous, with each smiling face drawn clearly.

Lin Chen stared at the painting, momentarily stunned.

He folded the painting neatly and put it in his left pocket, along with the coin.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Grandpa Sato was wiping the pot when he called out to Lin Chen, "Chen-kun, could you please go to the flour mill at the dock and bring back the flour we need for next week? I've already placed the order."

"Okay," Lin Chen replied, picked up his coat, and went out.

He walked towards the dock, sunlight filtering through the gaps in the plane tree leaves and falling on his shoulders.

As soon as he entered the dock warehouse area, the surrounding tranquility was completely shattered by the piercing gunshots and screams.

Chapter 64 Reencounter with G3 and the Invitation

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A barrage of gunfire erupted from deep within the warehouse, accompanied by the piercing sound of metal being torn apart. Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Chen shoved the delivery slip into his pocket and turned to rush towards the direction from which the sound was coming.

In the open space of the warehouse, the Tortoise-shaped Venerable was brandishing its sharp forelimbs, launching a fierce attack on the G3-clad soldier. Its thick shell blocked all bullets, and the G3 rifle shots only left shallow scratches on its body, causing no real damage whatsoever.

A huge gash had been torn in the left arm of the G3 armor, and the crew member was slammed against the container. Strangely, he did not continue his attack but instead prepared to leave.

Lin Chen's eyes instantly turned cold.

Without the slightest hesitation, he reached out and pulled out his Orga phone from his pocket, his fingertips rapidly pressing the buttons.

【Standing By!】

The moment the cold, mechanical voice rang out, he shoved his phone into his belt.

【Complete!】

Black photon blood instantly swept through his body, covering the entire body of the Earth Emperor Orga. The black knight gleamed with a cold metallic luster in the afternoon sunlight. Lin Chen rushed to the back of the tortoise-shaped Venerable almost instantly, and before it could react, he punched it hard in the back.

Suddenly attacked, the Tortoise-shaped Venerable let out a shrill roar and turned to fight back, but its speed was as slow as a snail compared to Orga.

Lin Chen dodged its forelimbs by sidestepping, raised his hand and picked up the Earth Emperor Sword. Photon energy adhered to it, and with a single strike, he pierced through the tortoise-shaped Venerable.

A halo flashed above his head. The Venerable One's body turned into specks of light and dissipated into the air.

Lin Chen deactivated his transformation, turned around, and took a step to leave when he was stopped by a voice behind him.

"Please wait a moment!"

Lin Chen paused, turning back in confusion. The G3 uniformed man, supporting himself against the container, stood up, removed his helmet, revealing a sharply defined, somewhat edgy face. Despite a scratch on his forehead, he stood ramrod straight, his eyes filled with the relief of surviving a close call, and even more so with undisguised respect and solemnity.

He is Bingchuan Cheng.

"I am Hikawa Makoto from the G3 squad of the Metropolitan Police Department." Hikawa Makoto, panting, gave Lin Chen a solemn salute. "Last time, you saved me too. I am very grateful for your two life-saving graces."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow slightly but remained silent.

He could clearly hear a woman's urgent and excited voice coming through Hikawa Makoto's earpiece: "Hojo! That armor! You saw the combat data just now, its technology is far ahead of our G3! We must bring him back to base no matter what! I'm so interested in this armor!"

It's Sumiko Ozawa, the developer of the G3 armor.

Hikawa Makoto raised his hand and pressed the button on his earpiece, his gaze still fixed on Lin Chen, his tone extremely serious: "Mr. Orga, the attacks by the unknown life forms are escalating, and our team's casualty rate is rising. The performance of the G3 armor is becoming increasingly inadequate to deal with these monsters. We need your help. Could you please come back to the G3 base with me?"

Lin Chen remained silent for a long time, various pieces of information flashing through his mind, and finally chose to agree.

"Okay, I can go with you."

Lin Chen accepted Bingchuan Cheng's invitation after careful consideration. In the past few minutes, he had already gone through all the pros and cons in his mind.

He knew very well that this world was never a peaceful daily routine. From the first day he transmigrated here, with the attack from the Leopard-shaped Venerable, to today's encounter with the Turtle-shaped Venerable, everything told him that the threat of unknown life forms was everywhere. Although he understood that this should be the world of Agito, and that those monsters only targeted those who had awakened the power of light, he still wanted to do something after gaining power from his journey with Kadoya Tsukasa and the others, even though it hadn't been long.

Moreover, parallel worlds of Kamen Riders are countless. He only knows that he is in the world of "Kamen Rider Agito," but he knows nothing about the specific timeline or variable deviations of this world. The Metropolitan Police Department's G3 Squad, as the official organization dedicated to dealing with unknown life forms, should have the most complete case files and the most detailed monster data—this is the most reliable source of information he can currently find.

Having figured all this out, Lin Chen no longer hesitated. But before leaving with Hikawa Makoto, he turned and headed towards Sato's noodle shop. He had to go back and tell the old man.

When Lin Chen pushed open the door of the noodle shop, Grandpa Sato Genji was kneading dough in the kitchen, while Sato Yuki was doing her homework at a small table next to the counter. Hearing the door open, she immediately looked up and called out with bright eyes, "Brother Chen!"

Lin Chen paused, feeling a pang of guilt. He had only been here for a week, taken in by the old man, and now he was about to leave; it seemed somewhat ungrateful.

He walked to the kitchen door and bowed, saying, "Sir, I'm sorry."

The old man stopped what he was doing, looked up at him, and showed no surprise. He simply wiped the flour off his hands and said, "What's wrong? Tell me slowly."

"The Metropolitan Police Department contacted me, wanting me to join them in fighting those monsters that are hurting people everywhere." Lin Chen lowered his eyes. "I agreed, so... I probably can't continue working for you here."

The old man just smiled, turned around, lifted the lid of the soup pot next to him, scooped up the cooked noodles with a slotted spoon, skillfully added the soup base, char siu, and side dishes, and in less than two minutes, he came out with a steaming bowl of ramen and placed it on the table in front of him.

The bowl was topped with double the thickness of char siu, and a soft-boiled egg lay at the bottom of the soup, exactly the same as the bowl of noodles he had on his first day here.

“Young man, there’s always something you should do.” The old man pulled up a chair and sat down opposite him, handing him a pair of chopsticks. His eyes were gentle and insightful. “From the first day you came here, I could tell that you’ve been carrying some burdens in your heart, and you’ve never really settled down. Now that you have something you want to do, just do it. Don’t feel sorry for me.”

He raised his hand and patted Lin Chen's arm: "The noodle shop door will always be open for you. No matter how late you come back, no matter what you become, there will always be a bowl of hot ramen waiting for you here."

Looking at the noodles in front of him, Lin Chen first expressed his gratitude, then lowered his head and ate them in large bites.

Sato Yuki clutched the hem of his clothes, looked up at him with her little face, and whispered, "Brother, come back safely. I want to draw you a new picture."

Lin Chen squatted down to be at eye level with the little girl. He raised his hand, stroked her soft hair, nodded solemnly, and said, word by word, "Okay."

After saying goodbye to the grandfather and grandson, Lin Chen followed Bingchuan Cheng, who was already waiting at the door, and got into the car heading to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The car drove into the Metropolitan Police Department compound, passed through layers of security checks, and finally stopped in the underground parking garage. Hikawa Makoto led him into a private elevator and pressed the button.

The moment the elevator doors opened, a cold, metallic scent wafted out.

The silver-gray metal corridor extends into the distance, with cool white LED lights overhead, and transparent laboratories, armories filled with firearms and armor parts, and training rooms with soft cushions on both sides.

On the bulletin board in the corridor, there were several group photos of the team having a meal together. In the photos, Hikawa Makoto looked reluctant as a tall, good-looking guy put his arm around his neck, a girl with a lollipop in her mouth held up a beer can and made a peace sign at the camera, and several researchers in white lab coats were huddled together, laughing so hard they were almost falling over.

On the workstation next to me was a half-empty coffee cup.

Bingchuan Cheng led him to the main control room at the end of the corridor. After swiping the access card, the heavy metal door slowly slid open. Inside, there were screens of all sizes, with countless data and monitoring images flashing across them. A girl wearing a white lab coat with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows was sucking on a lollipop, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she muttered something under her breath.

Hearing footsteps, she didn't turn her head, her tone a little impatient: "Hojo, you're finally back. I've seen the damage data for G3. If you keep pushing it like this, the armor will be reduced to scrap metal by next month."

Halfway through her sentence, she caught a glimpse of someone following Bingchuan Cheng. She stopped typing, turned around, and looked Lin Chen up and down.

With undisguised inquiry and curiosity, he twirled the lollipop in his mouth and cut to the chase: "You're the one wearing the Orga armor?"

"I am Lin Chen." Lin Chen nodded and calmly met her gaze.

"This is Sumiko Ozawa, the developer of the G3 armor and the technical lead for our team," Makoto Hikawa quickly introduced. "Ozawa is the one who saved me twice, and she also resolved the battle at the dock just now."

“I know, I watched the entire battle through the G3's helmet monitor.” Ozawa Sumiko waved her hand, her gaze still fixed on Lin Chen, even circling him once, her excitement barely concealed. “The performance of your armor is completely beyond my comprehension. I need to conduct a comprehensive system check on you and the Orga armor, is that alright?”

"Okay," Lin Chen agreed readily. Before coming here, he had already thought it through: to achieve an equal partnership with Team G3, he needed to show sufficient sincerity. Appropriately displaying his strength would not only dispel their concerns but also allow him to obtain the information and permissions he wanted.

Ten minutes later, Lin Chen stood in the center of the fully enclosed high-precision testing laboratory. Various sophisticated sensors surrounded him, and dozens of lenses were pointed at the center of the laboratory. Sumiko Ozawa and a group of researchers sat at the control panel outside, their eyes fixed on the screens.

Lin Chen took a deep breath, took out his Orga phone from his pocket, and quickly pressed the buttons with his fingertips.

【Standing By!】

A cold, mechanical sound echoed in the laboratory as he reached up and inserted his phone into the belt clip.