As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider

Bingchuan Cheng gritted his teeth, exerted force with his feet, and took the lead in rushing forward.

His fist moved swiftly, aiming for Lin Chen's shoulder. However, just as the fist was about to touch Lin Chen's clothes, Lin Chen simply shifted his body slightly, easily dodging the punch. The force of the blow grazed Lin Chen's clothes.

Bingchuan was startled and immediately changed his move, delivering a swift side kick towards Lin Chen's ribs.

This time, Lin Chen did not dodge.

"boom--!"

A dull thud echoed in the fighting room. Bingchuan Cheng felt as if he had kicked a wall made of solid steel. Lin Chen didn't budge, but a piercing, dull pain shot through the back of his foot.

Bingchuan Cheng no longer held back. He used punches, kicks, elbows, and knees in rapid succession, his attacks as dense as a storm. Straight punches, hooks, elbow strikes, sweeping kicks, and knee strikes were executed with fluid transitions and tricky angles. This was the skill he had honed through countless training sessions and real sparring sessions.

But Lin Chen still did not launch an attack.

He was like a leaf swaying in a storm. No matter how fierce Bingchuan Cheng's attacks were, he could dodge every attack precisely by turning to the side, backing away, or tilting his head with minimal effort. Occasionally, a fist would land on him, but it felt like hitting a steel plate, making Bingchuan Cheng's finger bones ache and his arms go numb.

His physical strength was rapidly depleting. Bingchuan Cheng's movements began to distort, and sweat mixed with blood from the cut at the corner of his mouth dripped down his chin. He was gently pushed by Lin Chen again, and staggered back several steps before regaining his balance. He looked up and saw that Lin Chen was still standing in the same spot, without having moved an inch.

He gritted his teeth and charged forward again.

Bingchuan Cheng began to adjust his strategy, abandoning a direct assault and instead rapidly circling around Lin Chen, attempting to find a breakthrough. But he soon discovered an even more brutal truth: Lin Chen didn't even need to use his eyes.

He circled around to Lin Chen's blind spot and, with all his might, delivered a surprise punch to the back of Lin Chen's head.

Lin Chen didn't turn his head, but just tilted it slightly.

The fist grazed his earlobe and missed.

Hikawa Makoto finally understood. This person seemed to have grown eyes in the back of his head, able to see through all attacks.

His knees began to buckle, and his hands trembled slightly uncontrollably. But he didn't stop.

Lin Chen, who was watching from the sidelines, had already noticed that Bingchuan Cheng was exhausted and was about to say, "That's enough." But a moment before he spoke, he glanced into Bingchuan Cheng's eyes—those eyes, soaked with sweat, were still bright and piercing. There was no fear, no resentment in them, only a flame, stubbornly and recklessly burning.

Lin Chen swallowed the words that were about to come out. He decided not to call a halt for him.

Ten times, twenty times, thirty times.

After being pushed away for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Hikawa Makoto slipped, lost his balance, and was about to fall heavily to the ground.

Just then, Lin Chen reached out his hand.

He grabbed Hikawa Makoto's arm and pulled him back steadily.

This was the first time he had taken the initiative to touch Bingchuan Cheng.

Bingchuan Cheng was stunned. He could feel that Lin Chen's hand was cold, yet unusually strong.

"Take a five-minute break." Lin Chen released his grip, his tone still calm. "If you keep practicing like this, your arm will be ruined."

“Fifteen minutes.” Hikawa Makoto was panting, his voice hoarse. “Not counting the time I spent training alone before… I only lasted fifteen minutes.”

"That's pretty good." Lin Chen stood beside him, his breathing as steady as if nothing had happened. He knew his own condition well; his current physique was no weaker than those ordinary-level monsters from before, so he hadn't made a single move against Bingchuan Cheng.

After a moment of silence, Bingchuan Cheng asked again, "You... didn't open your eyes just now."

"Ah."

"why?"

Lin Chen didn't tell the truth about his special abilities, but simply tapped his temple with his fingertip: "Breathing, signs of shifting center of gravity, the sound of muscles exerting force—all are a step ahead of the eyes. The eyes can lie, but the ears can't."

Bingchuan Cheng thought for a moment, then nodded vigorously. He etched those words deep into his heart.

He struggled to stand up, dusted himself off, and got back into a fighting stance.

"One more time."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow slightly. "You can't beat me."

“I know.” Hikawa Makoto’s eyes were incredibly firm. “But I just want to know—how many steps does it take to hit you once?”

Lin Chen was silent for a few seconds before speaking: "Lower body. Before each kick, your center of gravity will unconsciously shift one centimeter to the right. If the enemy can 'hear' it like I can, that's their chance to break your leg."

Bingchuan Cheng was stunned. He looked down at his bandaged instep, then suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with an alarming light.

"……I see."

The next two hours became a period of solitary asceticism for Hikawa Makoto.

He was knocked down time and time again, and got up again and again. His arms and knees were scraped and bleeding, and his face was covered in a few abrasions. Sweat mixed with blood streamed down his face, making him look utterly wretched. But his eyes grew brighter and more determined. Each time he fell, he would linger on the ground for a few more seconds, carefully recalling Lin Chen's words, then get up, adjust his posture, and charge forward again.

Lin Chen broke his silence. He began to occasionally offer pointers—"Breathing too shallow," "Shifting your weight too early," "Your left shoulder is half an inch higher than your right." Each word was short and sharp, hitting the nail on the head. Bingchuan Cheng etched every word into his muscle memory.

By the time training ended, the setting sun had already streamed through the windows into the fighting room, casting two long shadows on the floor.

The two leaned against the wall to rest. Bingchuan Cheng unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and gulped down more than half of it in one go. The cool liquid slid down his throat, finally relaxing his nerves that had been tense for two hours.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly said, his voice a little hoarse. "I held you back in yesterday's battle. I know better than anyone that the G3 armor has its limits. But if I were stronger, I wouldn't have let you face all the dangers alone."

Lin Chen also unscrewed his own bottle of water, took a sip, and didn't reply.

The silence lasted for a long time.

“I told you yesterday…you didn’t hold us back.”

Bingchuan Cheng suddenly turned his head.

Lin Chen's gaze fell on the setting sun outside the window, his voice still calm: "You were just doing what you could do—and you did it."

He paused, turned his head, and met Bingchuan Cheng's gaze.

"You are more persistent than most people I've ever met."

Bingchuan Cheng stared at him blankly. He had never imagined that Lin Chen would give such an evaluation.

After a moment of silence, he clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white from the force.

"...I will work hard to become stronger. One day, I will catch up with you. Not to be a burden to you, but to be your partner."

Lin Chen looked into his eyes, seemingly trying to find a trace of bluff. But those eyes only held pure, unwavering determination.

He nodded very slightly.

Thank you all for your monthly tickets and recommendation votes! Without further ado, here's three more extra chapters tonight at 8 PM sharp!

Chapter 68 The Shocking News from the Archives

During the break, Lin Chen suddenly spoke, his tone tinged with confusion.

"Glacier, why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

Hikawa Makoto was taken aback.

“I learned from Hojo that your family is well-off. Why did you choose to become a G3 uniform wearer?” Lin Chen’s voice was calm. “You could die in the next battle at any moment. Against the power of unknown life forms, the G3 armor is just a thin sheet of iron. Your fighting skills, your badge, the people you’ve protected—none of them can withstand an attack. You know perfectly well that this might be meaningless.”

Bingchuan Cheng remained silent for a long time. So long that Lin Chen thought he wouldn't answer, so long that only their breathing could be heard in the fighting room.

"...I was not the first person to wear this armor."

His voice was very soft.

"His name is Koji Kono. He was my classmate at police academy. He was number one in every subject at the academy. Everyone said he would be the Metropolitan Police Department's future ace."

Lin Chen didn't speak, but listened quietly.

"On the day of the first combat test of the G3 system, he was the one standing inside the armor. I... was just on the perimeter. We all thought it was just a normal test, that the most advanced armor could overcome everything. But the performance of the G3 was far inferior to that of the Unknown. I watched with my own eyes as the rhinoceros beetle shattered the G3 armor, and watched him die in front of me."

He paused, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"I could only watch helplessly as he was torn apart by the unknown life form, and there was nothing I could do. I never want to experience that feeling of powerlessness and despair again."

Bingchuan Cheng clenched his fist.

"So from that day on, I submitted an application to the Metropolitan Police Department to become the second G3 uniformed officer. Chief Ozawa disagreed, saying that my physical fitness was far inferior to Kono's and that she didn't want to create another victim. I didn't argue with her. I just got up at four in the morning every day, ran ten kilometers, and then trained here until I couldn't lift my arms anymore. It wasn't to prove her wrong—I was just thinking that I wanted to become stronger."

He raised his right hand and gently tapped his chest with his knuckles—where the G3 armor breastplate still bore the marks from the last battle.

“You’re right. G3 is just a thin layer of iron, which could be destroyed in the next battle at any time. But Kono didn’t even have a chance to wear that thin layer of iron properly. I have to walk the path he didn’t finish. Otherwise, what’s the point of his death?”

"So, you're asking me why I work so hard?"

He raised his head, his eyes showing no provocation, only pure honesty.

"Because this armor never belonged to me alone from the beginning. His life and my responsibility are both etched here. I don't want others to lose what I've lost. At least—not while I can still stand."

Lin Chen remained silent for a long time. Longer than Bingchuan Cheng's previous silence. He looked at Bingchuan Cheng, his gaze scrutinizing.

He looked down at his palms.

"...Get up when you've rested enough."

His voice remained calm, but it was slightly softer than before.

"Your lower body issues haven't been fully resolved yet."

...

In the afternoon, Lin Chen was given a task by Ozawa Orange: to help organize the archives. For Lin Chen, this was also an opportunity to better understand the unknown changes that might occur in the world.

The archives exuded a musty, old-fashioned atmosphere, like a thin veil, carrying the scent of paper dust and ink. The blinds sliced ​​the afternoon sunlight into long, thin strips, which fell on the files Lin Chen had spread out. In the interplay of light and shadow, the cold words seemed particularly glaring.

His fingertips traced through files marked "Unknown attack," the causes of death all the same—impregnated by a wall, buried in a tree hole, with no external injuries and sudden organ arrest.

Sumiko Ozawa's task was to organize all the recent attack cases and see if they could find a pattern in the attacks on humans by unknown life forms. Lin Chen was aware of this, and he planned to naturally share the information he had gathered with G3.

He had initially thought that Agito's absence was merely due to a slight discrepancy in the timeline, until the blue-covered file bearing the words "Not an Unknown Attack? Questionable" came into view.

Nobuyuki Kazatani, 45, a professor of religious studies at the University of Tokyo, died two years ago in his study at home.

The name flashed through Lin Chen's memory—in the original Agito story, this man was the father of the female protagonist, Kazetani Mana, a scholar who researched superpowers, and the starting point of the entire Agito story.

He opened the file: it stated that the doors and windows were intact, there were no signs of a struggle at the scene, and the deceased showed no signs of poisoning. The forensic doctor's conclusion was acute heart failure. In the scene photos, Nobuyuki Kazatani sat upright at his desk, holding a pen, his expression perfectly calm. His open notebook was filled with formulas and symbols, except for the last dozen or so pages which had been torn out.

He knew the truth about Nobuyuki Kazetani's death—the murderer was Setsuna Sawaki, Nobuyuki Kazetani's disciple and the first person in the world to awaken the Agito power. In the moment her power went out of control, she used her superpower to kill her mentor remotely, and afterwards, filled with guilt and fear, she chose to commit suicide. However, the location of Nobuyuki Kazetani's death differed from his memory.

Continue scrolling down.

Sawaki Yukina, 23 years old, a graduate student at the University of Tokyo, and a student of Kazetani Nobuyuki. She died two years ago in mid-March after falling from the top floor of the library.

The record was equally concise: no suicidal motive, no abnormal warning signs, no suicide note, and her roommate's testimony that she had been studying normally and was in a stable mood the night before.

The only suspicious point is that she burned all her notes the night before she committed suicide.

Lin Chen closed his eyes.