I want to become a Kamen Rider

"But what reason do I have to accept you as my disciple?"

"I can sweep, cook, do laundry, and mop. I'm very capable! If my master needs money, I can work to support him!"

Fan Kang couldn't hold back any longer:

"Shouldn't the usual procedure be that you first show your desire for enlightenment, and then I'll concoct an impossible test to get rid of you? Is becoming an apprentice this materialistic these days?!"

He inserted the motorcycle key into the lock, started the motorcycle, and the engine roared. Fan Kang wanted to leave.

The girl caught up with them.

Yes, that's right, she caught up with us.

Although she fell after running only a few steps and the figure in the rearview mirror quickly disappeared, Fan Kang could still hear the girl shouting loudly, saying things he couldn't understand.

"I can understand your boxing style..."

So what if you can understand it? You were still beaten down in 27 seconds.

"That's the fist of a mortal, just like mine!"

Wow, when did "a mortal's fist" become a compliment? Shouldn't it normally be "a genius's fist"?

"That was achieved purely through hard work. Even someone like me, someone who isn't a genius, someone without talent, could learn it and see it. It's even better than what geniuses achieve... the 'strongest'!"

I don't understand, I don't want to understand, and I don't want to teach you. Goodbye.

……

……

The taillights of the departing vehicle flickered at the edge of the rice paddies, like a crimson shooting star falling below the horizon. The girl lying on the ground grabbed a handful of scorched earth and pressed it against the wound on her knee; the smell of blood mixed with the scent of ashes filled her nostrils.

She spread her fingers in the moonlight, watching the black ash fall through her fingers.

This action subtly overlaps with a scene from a snowy night ten years ago.

"It doesn't matter if you don't have talent, it doesn't matter if you don't have ability. Maybe you will hate me, Mikoto, but one day you will see that you can climb to the top without talent or ability, the strongest being is forged purely from blood, sweat and tears."

The girl, covered in wounds, huddled in a corner of the dojo, watching her master scatter incense ash into the night sky: "The way of martial arts is like this—"

The old hand suddenly clenched into a fist, and incense ash shot out like stars from between the fingers.

"Grind all the impurities into powder."

Chapter Ten Tuition Fees

The next day.

The cicadas' chirping tore at the midday sun as Fan Kang propped his motorcycle in the shadow of an abandoned warehouse. He sat down, leaning against a rusty oil pipe. In the distance, the asphalt ground emitted distorted waves of heat, and the three Gurongi corpses vanished with the wind, scattering into dark red particles.

As you bite into the plastic packaging of the convenience store rice ball, seaweed flakes fall out in a flurry.

"Master, please have chilled milk—"

A clear, spring-like voice rang in his ears, and he sighed deeply.

It's hard to imagine that a typical high school girl with long, straight black hair would shamelessly pester him.

A cold aluminum milk bottle was offered to her, its surface frosted with white foam and bearing the pale blue words "Meiji Oishii Milk." The girl named Mizutani Migenko, unfazed by the heat, knelt on the ground, her patent leather shoes just an inch from the pool of blood.

The girl who challenged herself last night is now wearing a white stand-up collar shirt, and her calves, wrapped in bandages, extend from the hem of her black pleated skirt—a Pikachu band-aid is stuck to the tear in her left over-the-knee sock, and her right leg is bound with a blood-soaked white bandage.

Despite being the culprit behind these wounds, she eagerly presented a delicate bento box adorned with goldfish in the style of ukiyo-e prints. Inside the opened lid were tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet) and fried shrimp, each rice ball shaped into a perfect equilateral triangle.

"Master, you've worked so hard! You've taken down so many Gurongi all by yourself, you're truly amazing!"

Fan Kang had previously criticized the oblivious male protagonists in anime more than once, saying they couldn't even react to the extremely ambiguous behavior of female characters making them lunchboxes. Now, he wants to apologize to those male protagonists he used to criticize.

Because the girl in front of him, with her cold voice, tall figure, and long, flowing hair, who should have been an iceberg in appearance, behaved like this. What was even more speechless was that she had undisguised fawning on her face.

Even so, he couldn't detect a trace of wickedness in her eyes, only a pure desire to become stronger.

It turns out that there really are people in this world who are so pure.

"Are you hot, sir?"

"not hot."

The girl took out a fan.

"Master, are you tired?"

"Not tired."

The girl took out a neck massager.

"I'm not your master."

"...Not yet."

Fan Kang coldly refused, but the girl remained unmoved.

"Don't you have to go to school?"

"I took a long leave of absence in order to become an apprentice of a master."

"..."

Even Fan Kang, who hadn't flinched at being ambushed by a mixed army of more than twenty monsters and Gurongi, was a little frightened for a moment.

When her attempts to please him failed, the young woman turned to the greater good.

“Master, your combat prowess is exceptional. You single-handedly suppress many dark forces around Tokyo, but human strength has its limits. Taking on a disciple can not only share the burden but also become a powerful ally. Why not do it to help more people?”

In fact, it's not just around Tokyo, but over a vast area; "Golem" can fly.

Instead of correcting him, Fan Kang asked in return:

How do you know I don't plan to take on any apprentices?

Hope instantly lit up Mizutani Migen's face. She dropped the bento box and eagerly grabbed his hand.

"If that's the case, why don't I go first..."

"Hey, don't get physical."

The rusty iron sheets on the roof of the abandoned warehouse twisted and groaned under the scorching sun, with cascading light filtering through the spiderweb-like cracks.

She crawled half a step onto her knees and stepped into the center of the waterfall of light, the shadow of her pleated skirt spreading out like a black iris on the iron plate. Ignoring the scorching ground and showing no restraint as a girl, she knelt down.

Kneel.

"I admire my master's boxing style. It is the result of unimaginable effort by ordinary people. Looking at such skills, I feel that one day I may be able to reach that level as well."

Fan Kang's mouth dropped open, half in surprise and half in... self-mockery.

"You have the right to refuse, just as the sky has the freedom to let rain fall."

“I will not interfere with my master’s repeated rejections. You have no obligation to teach me. Moreover, you have swept through the area around Tokyo and saved many people. So many contract knights are acting in order to purify the monster seeds that have corrupted them. Only you are fighting at an intensity that makes you feel like you will die from overwork, and you are generously sharing the spoils with others.”

"Such behavior is certainly noble."

Her kneeling back bulged out the outline of her slender bones under the pleated skirt, and beads of blood seeping from the bandages slid down her calves, turning into crimson stains on the ground.

"I've also heard that you'll dissuade many knights from entering this path without proper preparation and awareness, take over their defenses, and shoulder the responsibility of fighting for them."

“When I challenged you last night, I was angry because your actions were tantamount to looking down on the other knights and wanting to fight alone.”

"You have proven that you have the power to make such a choice and to match it, which makes people even more concerned and worried about the reasons for your actions."

"I don't have the same burning desire to protect others as my master, but if I can get this power from him, I swear I will use it for good."

"So, if you must reject me, please don't make excuses like we don't click or you don't like me. I hope you can tell me... the real reason."

The sound of his forehead hitting the ground was crisp.

Then, the girl looked up, waiting for his answer.

The boy first helped her up, re-bandaged her wound, and then sat back in his previous seat.

After a long silence, he uttered two words.

"Talent."

He said briefly.

"You lack the talent for fighting."

"I know that kind of thing very well..."

"No, you don't know. You, all of you, don't know the price to pay, the despair to endure, or the future to face when you sign a contract with the Ringed Beast."

There are no great people, only great things.

Although his current actions can be considered quite good, Fan Kang does not consider himself a great person. He simply believes that he transforms into a Kamen Rider by means of a spirit stone belt from who-knows-where, rather than by means of a contract with Kyubey.

Therefore, by going into battle, he was not only more efficient and less risky, but he also avoided the desperate future that many people would face because of that contract.

He wasn't so arrogant as to think he could solve all the problems by himself; it was just the optimal solution in the early stages of the disaster.

Before the meteorite fell from the sky in 2032 and plunged humanity into utter despair, 60% of the world's Contract Knights had reached his current level without using Kuuga Ultimate Form. As for the price... it was a 95% casualty rate for Contract Knights.

Like gold being sifted from sand by the great waves, those that survive become gold.

Those who didn't survive mostly didn't even deserve to be remembered. It wasn't that humanity would forget the heroes who stood up to protect them, but rather that humanity itself was on the verge of collapse at that time.

Among the many "golden" whose names were remembered, Mizutani Migen's name was not among them.

Given her personality, she would never choose to run away. In the future he experienced, there was no one like him who would give contract knights the option to run away. Therefore, her fate was already crystal clear.

Don't make foolish statements about changing the future so easily. Even now, he doesn't think he can defeat a superior Godzilla in a one-on-one fight.

If it were thirty years from now, he would definitely recommend a girl with such a will to become an artificial knight with fewer side effects, but this is thirty years ago, and he doesn't think she is suitable to become a contract knight.

Similarly, even considering cost-effectiveness and minimizing casualties, taking the people of this land as an example, he would prefer to have "gold" figures like Houtarou Oreki, Sakuta Azusagawa, and Yoshiki Nukumizu, who have already been proven in the future, fight as contract knights.

The latter is more worthy of cultivation, even if the former's awareness is so dazzling.

"But your punches have proven that even mortals can reach the pinnacle."

"I am a mortal, that's true, but my experiences are almost impossible to replicate."

From the moment he died once, he distanced himself from the vast majority of geniuses.

"I see... I understand..."

The girl got up listlessly and walked outside in a daze.

"and many more."

"?"

"Although you may never reach my level, if you can gain some guidance, you should be able to live a little longer."

The girl turned around with delight.

"master!"

"I am not your master, nor do I intend to take you as my apprentice. I am just teaching you some basic things so that you can live a little longer."

"Yes, yes, Master!"

Fan Kang was somewhat angry.

"I've decided to charge you tuition."

"..."

The girl took out a pink wallet.

"It's not about money."

"What does the master want to accept?"

"Come closer and listen to me."

The girl who had previously been fawning over him by serving him tea and water was now frowning.

"Isn't this... a bit too much...?"

"If you don't want to, then forget it."

"I will do my best, I will do my best, I, your disciple, will do my best!"

Seemingly remembering something, Fan Kang added briefly: