I want to become a Kamen Rider

Her face was filled with disbelief, as if she were seeing a lion bowing down to a cat.

The boy didn't want to explain at first, but seeing the expression on her face, he did.

"It's okay, at worst we can just sideline Yukinoshita later."

"Fictionalized?!"

Tongwu Tina almost bit her own tongue.

“I said it to Yukinoshita in front of her, and she agreed, saying, ‘Welcome, Mr. Fan, to take on the challenge.’”

"Um, Yukinoshita-san's reaction..."

"She's very kind."

"I mean, didn't Yukinoshita-san make any sarcastic or offensive remarks about you, Captain?"

The fifth campus ghost story: Beneath the iceberg beauty lies a chilling and piercing voice that will shatter anyone who dares to challenge her.

"Um, I think that's your prejudice. Yukinoshita may have a sharp tongue, but there's no reason for her to be sharp-tongued at someone she just met on the first day, especially in front of Hiratsuka-sensei."

The boy in front of him didn't care about these school ghost stories; he just thought for a moment and casually said:

"I think Yukinoshita is just living too seriously, which is why these rumors have spread."

This explanation clearly failed to completely appease Tongwu Tina, but before she could ask any more questions, Fan Kang had already raised his hand to look at a non-existent watch:

"Alright, I have something to do, I'm skipping school now." He started walking, his tone as casual as if he were saying, "I'm going to the convenience store," and "I'll take you to see the Service Department that we merged with tomorrow."

After saying that, the boy turned and went downstairs.

"minister!"

This was the second floor, but when Hiiragi Tina looked down from the railing, the boy had already leisurely reached the school wall. When he saw her looking at him, he even waved to her.

"Minister, where are you going?"

Tongwu Tina couldn't help but lean on the railing and shout down, her voice sounding somewhat weak in the empty courtyard.

The boy, who had already reached the high school wall, stopped and turned around.

The afternoon sun cast a long shadow of him. He looked up at the small, purple figure on the second floor, and without a long speech, simply uttered four words, his voice carrying clearly:

"save the world."

After saying that, he took two steps, touched the wall with his toes, grabbed the edge of the wall with both hands, and did a clean and neat pull-up and flip. His figure disappeared outside the wall, leaving only swaying branches and a dumbfounded Tongwu Tina.

I have a feeling that knowing this department head, Tina Hiiragi, has really messed up my otherwise peaceful and wonderful school life...

Chapter Twenty-Four: Two Knights W (4K)

Fan Kang braced himself against the top of the cold wall with one hand, nimbly vaulted down, and landed steadily on the soft mud outside the school.

Not far away, a Kawasaki Z-series heavy motorcycle with rugged lines and a paint job that stretched out like a crimson flame was parked under the shade of a tree, just like a lurking steel beast.

He strode forward, flipped onto the engine, turned the key, and the engine roared to life with a deep, wild thud, wisps of blue smoke billowing from the exhaust. A suspicious white alien creature leaped out at the opportune moment, landing on his shoulder and bringing with it some less-than-good news.

'Kamen Rider W is engaged in a fierce battle on the riverbank.'

"Where's Hibiki? Didn't he provide timely support?"

'Hibiki patrols Chiyoda Ward, and besides, her mobility is already lacking; she can't catch up.'

Despite fighting as a Kamen Rider, and being able to modify a motorcycle with the power of a Rider Contract, most Contract Riders do not own motorcycles.

The purchase price and modification costs of motorcycles are too high for contract riders who are mostly minors, and increasingly stringent traffic control laws and regulations on motor vehicle modification are also insurmountable barriers.

The reason why there are fewer and fewer motorcycle battles in Kamen Rider series after Kuuga is the same.

"Let's go, Cupid."

He gave a low shout and simultaneously twisted the accelerator pedal sharply.

Woo buzz——!

The motorcycle shot off like an arrow, the intense thrust pressing Fan Kang firmly onto the seat. The wind howled, tearing at his school uniform jacket, the hem fluttering loudly, the open collar filling with the sweltering air of early summer.

He crouched low, his sharp gaze piercing through his goggles, intently watching the gaps in the traffic ahead, skillfully maneuvering his steel steed through the city's arteries, overtaking and navigating.

A suspicious white alien creature with long ears and ruby-like eyes—Kooby—seemed to defy the laws of physics, perched steadily on his violently swaying left shoulder, its long tail even curling leisurely.

As the motorcycle roared across a bridge spanning a river, Qubi once again began to persuade him:

"Kang-kun is also a wealthy woman. Her family owns a construction company and even has a seat in the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. If we can win over Yukinoshita, we can avoid twenty years of detours!"

"I feel like your comments are getting worse and worse..."

'Could it be that you're dissatisfied with Yukino's figure? But having small breasts has its advantages! Lightweight, saves fabric, and allows for easy movement. From an ergonomic and combat adaptability perspective, it actually has considerable advantages…'

"Sometimes I really admire you, Cupid, for being able to say such nonsense with such a straight face."

After repeating the same jokes countless times, this time, perhaps genuinely harboring a different kind of covetousness towards Juno, Kyubey said a few more words.

'Kang-kun, what are your thoughts on Yukinoshita?'

"I've already said I won't play with other people's feelings."

It's no use talking about it. Other contracted knights can become stronger just by jumping around a lot, but he has to honestly and slowly hone his body, refine his skills, and accumulate imperceptible but real progress.

Incidentally, if a "Pond Master" really did appear in Contract Knights, becoming incredibly powerful by manipulating other people's feelings, as long as he properly fulfilled his obligations to those who possessed that power, Fan Kang, who was already under enough pressure, would neither have the right nor the grounds to criticize him.

Unfortunately, despite having such convenient ways to become stronger, those contracted knights haven't had a single strong enough helper appear yet. He still has to keep receiving distress calls and rushing out to rescue them.

Circumstances dictate actions. As that day drew ever closer, looking at his incompetent colleagues, Fan Kang had gone from disdain for the contract knights' methods of becoming stronger to complaining that despite having such convenient ways to grow stronger, not a single one of them had yet emerged to shoulder the responsibility.

'You, my lord, do you crave power?'

"Of course I want to."

Has it come to the point of resorting to any means necessary?

"No, and never will. I can never accept becoming stronger by trampling on life and toying with other people's feelings."

In reality, there is no story of exchanging a temporary setback for a brief opportunity. Once a setback begins, it is difficult for humans to stop. He has seen far too many such things in the future.

What is more terrifying than Godzilla is the human heart.

Some scientists have also tried to verify that it was human greed and shortsightedness that gave birth to Godzilla.

What sustained humanity in that terrible future was never ruthlessness, but rather the innocent spirit of helping each other and working together to survive.

Fan Kang firmly believes that what makes humans human, rather than those eliminated beasts, monsters, or Gurongi, is precisely this seemingly cheap naivety that sustains one hero after another who steps forward, burns themselves out, and never despairs or regrets.

This is why he always harbored feelings of envy, jealousy, and hatred towards the Contract Knights, but never once truly wanted to become a Contract Knight himself.

The motorcycle roared off the approach bridge and sped along the road beside the river. The blazing sun dyed the river surface molten gold, and also lengthened the shadows of the motorcycle and the white, suspiciously alien-like creature on its shoulder.

Cupid still did not give up.

"Let me put it another way, Kang-jun, what kind of girl do you think she is?"

"Beautiful, long and straight black hair, aloof and upright, just my ideal type."

'I meant personality.'

"They live very seriously, even to the point of being obsessive. What must they have experienced in their childhood?"

The answer given by the man from the distant future, who was already very good at judging people, was quickly supplemented. The creature on his shoulder no longer seemed to be a suspicious alien that could only act cute and say stupid things, but at this moment it seemed to be a demon who could see through people's hearts.

'Her talents are very, very special; she's sensitive, fragile, yet incredibly strong. She probably yearns to possess something different from others to prove her uniqueness. Coupled with the inherent challenges of her age, if she were to attain supreme happiness and then subsequently lose it, plunging into the abyss of despair, that would be an incredibly terrifying force.'

This was the first time that Cupid had so openly expressed his desires in front of him, and he even repeated it.

'Absolutely terrifying.'

"How scary is that?"

'Perhaps he could reach the level of Oma Zi-O.'

What is Oma Zi-O?

Kyubey glanced at the boy in front of it in surprise. The boy was too intelligent, too powerful, and often seemed to have a precognitive ability. It made Kyubey forget that it was 2011. In the course of the story, Kamen Rider would naturally stop filming. It was natural that Kyubey would not know about the Kamen Rider story in 2011 and beyond.

'King of the Sea can be understood as a Kamen Rider's ultimate form; it's incredibly strong, extremely strong.'

"How strong?"

Even better than you.

"you sure?"

'I'm sure.'

"..."

Even though he didn't show his full strength to Qiu Bi, especially his suicidal fighting style, Fan Kang still remained silent for a moment.

You mean, he worked hard for two lifetimes, accumulating roughly thirty years of combat experience across both, struggling countless times between life and death, fighting against fate, rebelling against his innate mediocrity and lack of talent, and finally dying alongside a colossal beast that shook the heavens and earth. The power he gained after all this was enough to defeat the final forms of other knights with his basic white form. And this strength, which he forged with great difficulty, would be defeated by the emotional ups and downs of a high school girl who experienced the pain of losing a boyfriend?

"Sometimes, I really think that the way you contract knights get stronger is really illogical."

'...It's us.'

"Khubik corrected me," he said.

'As long as the rebel abandons those fundamentally unnecessary principles, there is a chance to obtain such power.'

'Even your unnecessary principles of resisting the emperor can be circumvented.'

'If becoming stronger by resisting and toying with other people's feelings is the way to go, then why don't you just truly fall in love with me?'

'Truly invest your heart, whatever your initial motives, feel sad when she cries, be happy when she smiles, genuinely like her, truly love her, do everything you can for her, make her reciprocate your passion with the same sincerity, and then… betray her.'

'I remember you have an older sister. If you don't want to be so ruthless, you could help her make friends first, and then take action.'

'All that was sacrificed was a little girl, but in return, she gained the power to protect an entire world. There's no better deal in the world.'

'So, Kangjun, are you tempted?'

"My heart is moved."

Fan Kang nodded frankly.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted.

That kind of power could avert countless tragedies and save countless lives. He wouldn't say that the sacrifice was just a girl's feelings, but like the solution Kyubey offered, there was a path that wouldn't violate his principles. At worst, he would give her the rest of his life.

If he were also part of the contract with Kyubey, he would definitely be tempted, but thankfully, he had no choice.

He is not a Kamen Rider who made a contract with Kyubey, but a reborn person who, after a bizarre dream, somehow obtained a belt because of his simple wish to "become a Kamen Rider," and used it to transform and fight.

The Kamen Rider he wants to be shouldn't be like this.

"So, Lord Kang, let's take action and capture you!"

"You're absolutely right, I'm very interested too..."

'Hmm, so...'

"So I refused."

'Why? Why? Why? We were just talking so well, and you, Kang-kun, were clearly interested too!'

Once again, I was relieved that I didn't have to face such a test of humanity. At the same time, once again, I was deeply moved by Kyubey's incomprehensible gaze and then rejected him. Once again, amidst Kyubey's wailing and screams after being rejected, I twisted the accelerator hard, and the scene of the riverbank came into view.

This place, which should have been a tranquil countryside, now looked as if it had been ravaged by a hurricane. Large swathes of reeds were snapped in half or charred, and the soft sand was riddled with huge craters and blackened marks. The turbid river water was stirred up by the fierce fighting, creating abnormal waves.

Perhaps it was because Nai's aptitude was truly exceptional, and the despair he felt from being in love with her and then betrayed was immense. Qiu Bi had been wailing and complaining all the way to this point, but Fan Kang had no time to care about this guy at the moment.

Because the battle has begun.

In the center of the battlefield, the situation is critical. Kamen Rider W—that iconic half-green, half-black figure—is being forced to retreat by a monster whose entire body is covered in twisted metal and whose movements are like a living storm.

If we consider it within the context of Kamen Rider W, he would likely be classified as a monster with a natural gas dopant.

Whether it's Shocker being able to talk or the strange man's behavior, it seems to indicate that the world's anomalies are far more than just simple fantasy entering reality. The natural gas dopant swung its arms, and the invisible wind pressure pounded W like a heavy hammer, slamming him hard into the muddy riverbed.

Immediately afterwards, the dopant raised its hands, the sky suddenly darkened, and several pale lightning bolts as thick as bowls tore through the air, bringing with them a destructive aura as they struck down on W, who had just struggled to his feet from the mud and whose movements were noticeably sluggish.

"Rikka!"

"Toka!"

Even from some distance from the central battlefield, one could faintly hear the contract knights Rikka and Touka calling out to each other, their cries a mixture of pain and anxiety.