I want to become a Kamen Rider

She recognized the rider; it was Kamen Rider Gills!

Zila——!

The claw blades were deeply embedded, and the golden energy clashed fiercely with the monster's dark red energy.

Immediately afterward, a figure wielding a uniquely designed firearm, covered in blue and white armor, and moving with agility appeared at the edge of the battlefield. She unleashed a dense barrage of energy projectiles from her weapon, resembling a honeycomb; though limited in power, their sheer number made up for it.

More and more knights appeared, some she recognized and some she didn't, making the battlefield chaotic and intense.

The monster, hailed as the ultimate weapon of Shocker in the Deep Sea, was besieged like never before. The hurricane summoned by W, the frenzied tearing of Gills, the barrage of interference from several gun-wielding knights, and attacks from many other moves she didn't recognize, all exploded with energy beams of various colors on the monster's massive body.

It roared deafeningly, its massive lava arms and feet flailing wildly in an attempt to shoo away the annoying "flies." But the knights, working in perfect unison, made full use of their numerical advantage, employing speed and agility to maneuver around it and attack its weaknesses.

"Knight Kick!"

"Energy Recharge!"

"Stop it!"

"Protect the rear!"

The shouts of the boys and girls rose and fell, just like her before, filled with tension, exhaustion and even fear, but they still kept launching attacks. The attacks rained down on the enemy, and the monster that was so terrifying in her eyes finally began to struggle and be overwhelmed.

After unleashing another heavy bone blade, she staggered back a few steps, her deep purple compound eyes flashing intensely as she looked around in shock.

So many knights.

So many!

No longer alone, nor can they rush towards the monster alone in tears and despair.

"..."

Exhausted, she leaned against the scorching ruins of the broken wall, trying to gather her strength again. A faint, deep purple light flickered weakly at the tip of the shattered bone blade before going out completely.

The last bit of strength in his body had been used up. Dark purple blood gushed from the cracks in his carapace, and his consciousness sank deeper and deeper into a viscous swamp, his vision blurring and spinning.

"hold onto……"

She whispered to herself, but her voice was barely audible. Her body betrayed her will; her mutated legs could no longer support her and slowly bent, causing her to fall backward helplessly.

Just as she was about to fall into the cold ruins—

A pair of arms caught her falling body steadily and powerfully.

The weeping around her ceased, and golden feathers of light fell from the sky, soothing the wounded world. Even without looking up, she knew who this person was.

"...You're taking so long, Minister."

"I've rushed back as quickly as possible."

She tried to roll her eyes, but she barely had the strength to even move her eyelids.

"Sorry I'm late, right now?"

“It’s fine to say this to you, but I really don’t want to follow the script and say it to the other knights present.”

"Minister, a man who is arrogant... has no future..."

As usual, he made a sarcastic remark, which earned him a counterattack from the minister, who, in order to appear genuinely tsundere at this moment, even imitated a classic line.

"Shut up, you idiot. You're the one who's arrogant. Your whole family are arrogant."

She felt like laughing.

The arrogant man, repeatedly calling her an idiot, used his arms to gently support her broken body, his movements clumsy and cautious. He asked:

"You must be very tired."

"……Um."

All the perseverance, fear, and pain were reduced to the simplest syllable in this question.

"Then take a good rest."

The man, whom she never knew would lie outright, gave her a thumbs up and said, "I saw it..."

She's clearly just a tsundere who exploits and oppresses innocent members, yet her words are so endearing.

"—So handsome."

Chapter Forty-Three Wear and Tear

warmth.

Like sinking into the softest clouds, or being enveloped by the warmest afternoon sun in winter. Consciousness floats in the deep darkness, without pain, without fear, only a captivating tranquility. It feels like a long time has passed, yet also like only a moment; a faint sensation spreads gently like ripples on the water.

Tina Hiiragi felt herself being steadily supported. Her back wasn't touching the cold, hard ground, but a solid, warm support. A familiar scent lingered around her nose—it was the captain's scent.

She seems to be in the minister's arms right now.

Wait a minute, why is she in the minister's arms? Shouldn't she immediately open her eyes, jump up and scold the lecherous minister for taking it upon himself to hold a girl in his arms? But... she feels so at ease.

Hiiragi Tina swears she only hesitated for a moment, really just a moment, and then she missed the chance to wake up naturally.

"Kang Jun, you've gotten hooked on Three Kingdoms Kill? How could you get hooked on Three Kingdoms Kill? Do you even know what kind of people play Three Kingdoms Kill?"

A very flamboyant voice rang in my ears; it was Cupid's voice.

"Don't make it sound like I'm addicted to drugs just because I play Three Kingdoms Kill!!"

That loud complaint must be from the minister.

Hiiragi Tina swore she didn't mean to eavesdrop, but look, she's lying in the captain's arms right now, it's hard not to hear. Well, it was all an accident.

Speaking of which, isn't Kyubey able to communicate telepathically? Come to think of it, it seems that sometimes when Kyubey talks to the minister, he really does make a sound. By the way, what is Three Kingdoms Kill? It sounds scary... While she was lost in thought, the conversation continued and inevitably reached her ears.

"In short, repent now. Give up Three Kingdoms Kill and start dating beautiful girls. It's not too late to live a respectable harem life with hope and a future."

"I'd rather play Three Kingdoms Kill than cause trouble for others..."

"Then what are you going to do about the money you owe Toyokawa Shoko?"

"I still work."

Does the minister still owe money to the woman who caught him in adultery? So, the woman who caught him in adultery isn't actually catching him in adultery, but rather a creditor?

"Although Kang-kun is indeed quite capable of working hard, when will you ever be able to pay off so much money by working? Take a word of advice from Qiu Bi: marry Toyokawa Shoko, reach the pinnacle of life, and avoid twenty years of detours. By then, your personal debts will become joint debts of the couple, and you won't have to pay them back. You can also inherit the Toyokawa family's billions of assets. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"It's so noisy! I'm just playing Three Kingdoms Kill, and you're making such a fuss. I've already worked so hard, and all I'm doing is playing Three Kingdoms Kill. My contribution to this world is just to..."

The minister's voice paused there, and just as Tina Hiiragi was expecting more, she heard a faint sound of fingers rapidly swiping across a phone screen, followed by Kyubey's unexpected shout:

"Hey, hey, hey, why did you delete the Three Kingdoms Kill game, Kangjun?"

"Tell me the truth, Cupid, what did you do to me?"

It's not a question, it's a statement.

There was a brief silence.

The white "cat" flicked its tail, brushing against Tina Hiiragi's face and making her feel a little ticklish. Kyubey's voice returned to its calm state, even carrying a hint of appreciation:

"Kang Jun, you discovered it so quickly."

"If it's just being addicted to mobile games, it's not so obvious. When I skipped out on the bill before, I just thought it was a random outburst of my nature. But the kind of thinking that I should do something in a certain way is something I used to say."

For no apparent reason, Tina Hiiragi remembered the captain's statement that "Kamen Riders are just unlucky guys." She had previously thought it was an outrageous statement, but now it seemed more like self-deprecation.

Don't you feel wronged?

"What do you mean?"

"I spread the news that Kangjun was addicted to mobile games and had incurred huge debts. Do you know how those people who can only live a normal life because of you spread those rumors about you? They said some really nasty things. Kangjun has done so much, worked so hard, and put in so much effort, and just because he's addicted to a mobile game, he's attacked by them with such self-righteousness. At some point, didn't you feel it was unfair? Didn't you feel wronged?"

"What are you trying to sow discord about...?"

"No, I was just curious."

Hearing this, even Tina Hiiragi couldn't help but clench her fists, feeling indignant. But when she opened her eyes a crack and secretly glanced at the captain, the man's face remained calm.

His calmness made her feel a little...heartbroken.

"If I squat down, cry, feel wronged, go on strike for a few days, and then wait for an acquaintance to coax me back to my fighting spirit, do you know how many more people will die if this standard procedure is followed?"

"You had no obligation to save them in the first place."

"But I just wanted to save them."

As he said this, the man reached out and grabbed Cupid by the neck.

"It's my freedom not to save them, and it's also my freedom to save them."

"Don't you care at all?"

"A bad person can be exonerated by doing one good deed out of ten thousand bad deeds, while a good person can be no longer a good person if they do one wrong thing out of ten thousand righteous deeds. This is the common sense of humanity. What's the point of being a Kamen Rider if you're afraid of being misunderstood or slandered?"

"...Don't you feel any resentment? Don't you feel that this is completely unreasonable? Don't you have even the slightest desire to use this power to correct this world?"

"The person who used to care about those things was me."

Long ago, Tina Hiiragi discovered that the man holding her in his arms had an extremely troublesome personality, but he was never confused, never doubted himself, and possessed unparalleled "correctness".

Unlike Yukinoshita, unlike Hikigaya, and unlike the various characters in the manga who build different theories based on different reasons, his "correctness" does not need to be proven or explained to others.

He was so resolute that he could not tolerate the slightest weakness, as if his "correctness" carried the weight of the entire world.

Despite being stared at with that kind of look by the minister and having her neck choked, Hiiragi Tina still couldn't detect any fear in the white, suspicious alien creature's words.

“Answer my question, what have you done, Cupid?”

"It was just a slight amplification of Kang-kun's inner thoughts. Even though I tried so hard to amplify them, the most outrageous thing Kang-kun did was play mobile games. Even I, Qiu-bi, don't know what to do. Should I sigh that Kang-kun is too innocent now, or feel sorry that you have buried your true self too deep?"

"So, that's all the last words?"

The seductive demon spoke with a smile.

"Kuei still has some use to him."

"for example?"

"For example, relationship counseling, strategies for finding a rich woman, and... ways to heal your ever-weary heart."

"..."

"Kang-kun must be very tired, right? Even if physical fatigue can be eliminated, even if you fight with unparalleled strength, even if I, Kyubey, don't know where you get so much vitality that you can even generously share it with others, the wear and tear on your soul is irreversible. Kyubey still suggests that Kang-kun find someone to support you as soon as possible, to share the burden so that you can go further."

At some point, the minister released his grip, and the bewitching demon leaped onto the man's shoulder.

"Well said. What's your suggestion?"

"Create a harem!"

"I knew it."

Tina Hiiragi could tell that the captain's tone at that moment was less hopeful and more like he wanted to hear what other nonsense Kyubey could come up with.

But the demon simply continued speaking calmly.

"I'm not kidding. If you want to be with a rich woman, go to Toyokawa Shoko. If you want to experience a naive yet resolute love, go to Yukinoshita. If you want to be someone else's light, go to that chuunibyou with an eyepatch that even Kyubey can't stand. If you want to be loved passionately and deeply, go to your precious apprentice. In any case, having someone to support you is much easier than going forward alone, even though it will make you weaker."

Tina Hiiragi listened with great interest, seemingly understanding the captain's feelings.

This kind of devil who thinks he can bewitch people will find it very interesting if he just adds "But I refuse" at the end when facing a minister who is impenetrable.

"Of course, I think what Kang-kun needs most right now is a girl who will genuinely like you even if you are not a Kamen Rider, not the savior of the world, but just a scoundrel full of sophistry."

Hahaha, with the minister's awful, awful, and awkward personality, it's a pipe dream for him to be liked by girls if he's not a Kamen Rider. Add to that the negative label of being a scoundrel. You can't even make a wish like that.

Hiiragi Tina laughed loudly in her heart.

"Leaving aside the earlier ones, does the last one really exist?"

"Yep."

"where is it?"

"Right in your arms."

Minister, you actually asked that? How could there be such a blind person? Oh dear, Cupid, you're starting to fabricate reality too. And there's one, hahaha, right in the Minister's arms.

Wait, what's in the minister's arms now is...

Tina Hiiragi tilted her head almost imperceptibly, then, realizing something, she cried out in her heart:

Ehehehehehehehehehehehe? !