The story we started

[After entering the Shinkansen, Akiyama Mio turned around and found that Hirasawa Yui was still standing there without moving, so she waved her hands and shouted at her back. ]

[“Wait a minute! I’ll send you a message first, and I’ll be right there—Hey~whoosh!”]

[After looking at the message she had edited, Hirasawa Yui nodded her head with satisfaction and pressed the send button with her finger.]

[“Huh? Why did I click on delayed sending? Never mind~”]

[She scratched her hair, then turned around and trotted towards Akiyama Mio who was standing at the entrance of the Shinkansen carriage.]

[The message she sent showed the following content:]

[——Yoshiki-nii, we are going to take the Shinkansen to the villa of the Xiao family on the beach in Niigata City for a joint training camp. We will do our best, and you should do your best tooφ(゜▽゜*)?～”]

【——Leave a message at Maibara Station Tokaido Main Line (～￣(OO)￣)ブ. 】

……

【Tokyo. 】

【More than an hour ago. 】

[“It seems that the Lindos have figured out the rules of your game.”]

[Baruba stood on a tall building, from where he could overlook the discontinued Sobu Line from a distance, and turned to Garima who was standing behind him and said.]

[“It doesn’t matter. It’s just the place I used last time. Now I can change to another toy.”]

[Garima ignored her words and played with his phone. ]

[Although it has only been about half a year since they woke up from the seal, if ordinary humans had experienced this, they might not even have mastered the language used in this era, but these Gurongi not only mastered it perfectly, but they are even better than today's young people in adapting to some trendy styles.]

[For example, Garima is now wearing a very fashionable hot pants and short-sleeved T-shirt, and a baseball cap. He is looking down at his phone, just like the young people today. No one could have guessed that he is actually the unconfirmed life form No. 26 that is killing people in the news. Even the news about him is being continuously broadcast on the horizontal screen of the building opposite this building.]

【“——Got it.”】

[The finger sliding on the touch screen suddenly stopped, and Garima looked at the map displayed on the phone, his eyes shining. ]

[“I found my new gaming goal~”]

[It drew a red line on the map it found, and then raised it towards Baruba, who narrowed his eyes and said with interest.]

[“Wow? This is a really long route. Are you sure you want to use this as your game goal?”]

[As he spoke, Baruba raised his hand with the ring on it, and the golden striker shone coldly in the sunlight.]

[“Of course, I want to test my current strength, so of course I have to find a more suitable target.”]

[Garima turned over the phone and looked at the red line drawn by the oil on it, with a cold arc at the corner of his mouth.]

[“The Tokaido Main Line… This route that separates the east and west of the Rindo country is the best prey for experimenting with abilities, isn’t it?”]

Is this what you mean by trusting him?

Author's message:

PS: I'm fed up, this backend is acting so crazy. The day before yesterday, I just clicked send chapter and it crashed directly. When I refreshed the page, I found that even the drafts of the chapters that were split before were sent together. Yesterday, it crashed directly. I sent the 5,000-word draft I wrote directly, which almost made me vomit blood.

I also had a chat with several big guys on the best-selling list, and my thoughts have been enlightened a lot in the past few days.

Just like what the big guys said, even if it is a masterpiece as well-written as "Lord of Mysteries", there are still a lot of people finding fault with it, not to mention me who writes Kamen Rider fan fiction, so the best way is to not pay too much attention to those opinions and just quietly write the story you have conceived.

After all, writing a book is not just about making the readers happy. If the author is in pain while writing, the book will only get worse and worse, and in the end, neither side will be pleased. Not only will it satisfy the wishes of some people, but it will also hurt the hearts of the readers who support the author.

I really need to take a break. I'm not only physically tired but also mentally tired lately.

Chapter position: 184 / Chapter price: 35 / Word count: 7424 / Update time: 2023-07-16 02:31:29

4. Hunter's Mark (K)

【One day later.】

【Tokyo, Jonan University, Research Laboratory. 】

【 09:34 AM 】

[“That’s how it is…”]

[Zaimokuza, who was sitting on a chair, took a sip of coffee while staring at the woman typing on the keyboard with his eyes that had dark circles under them.]

【"I see."】

[Yukinoshita Yukino replied calmly while typing away on the keyboard.]

[“Anyway, after you two spent a day at the Sobu Line and still didn’t find any trace of the 26th, you thought it must have gone into hiding, so you came to me this morning to ask if I had any clues about the recent changes in Zaimokuza-san, right?”]

[“Uh… yes.”]

【Zaimokuza was keenly aware of the undercurrent of anger hidden beneath Yukinoshita Yukino's calm tone, and spoke awkwardly after swallowing his saliva.】

[“When did the mutation begin?”]

【“Since, since the last time I was hospitalized.”】

[The white fingers tapping the keyboard stopped, Yukinoshita Yukino slowly turned her head and looked at him, and spoke in a calmer voice than before, like ice and snow hitting Zaimokuza's face. ]

[“…Why are you telling me now?”]

【"……sorry."】

【Based on Zaimokuza's understanding of Yukinoshita Yukino over the years, he knew that she was really angry this time, so he gave in without hesitation and said in a low voice.】

[“What’s the point of saying sorry now? If this situation wasn’t urgent, would you have kept it a secret from me forever?”]

[Yukinoshita's eyes were very cold at this moment, and Zaimokuza felt as if he was stabbed by a long knife. He subconsciously dodged and lowered his head in silence.]

[“Um, I…”]

[“Let me guess what you want to say next. I think you must want to say - 'I chose to do this because I don’t want you, the minister, to worry about me', right?”]

【“…”】

【Zaimokuza showed an embarrassed expression as if his heart was touched, and just repeated the same sentence.】

[“Please, help me…Bullmaster.”]

【“——”】

[Yukinoshita Yukino took a deep breath, used the large amount of oxygen that poured into her chest to suppress the anger in her heart, and said in a cold voice.]

[“…Just this once. Next time, if you dare to hide something like this from me, don’t come here to find me again.”]

[“Now, tell me exactly what happened before the mutation occurred in you. Don’t lie to me again.”]

【"no problem!"】

【Zaimokuza nodded quickly, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the matter was over.】

[Next, he told Yukinoshita Yukino about the time he was poisoned in the battle with No. 25 and was sent to the hospital, the mysterious voice he heard when he was unconscious, and the strange dream he fell into afterwards. After listening to his retelling, the other party frowned deeply.]

[“You mean, that mysterious voice also appeared in the previous battle with No. 23, and then appeared again when you were poisoned and dying last time, telling you that if you want to survive, you must find your true self in your dreams, and then embark on the road to the ultimate?”]

[Zaimokuza nodded, and Yukinoshita Yukino sighed helplessly, rubbing her aching temple with her fingers and said.]

[“There are more and more mysteries about the belt you are wearing, the mysterious voice, and the so-called ‘ultimate’… Zaimokuza-san, are you sure she really speaks our language——hmm?”]

[When she looked up and was about to ask some questions, she suddenly found that Zaimokuza's eyes were evasive, and this discovery immediately made Yukinoshita Yukino narrow her eyes. ]

[“Zaimokuza-san, are you hiding something from me?”]

[Hearing Yukinoshita's sudden words, Zaimokuza shuddered reflexively, and quickly forced a smile on his face and spoke.]

[“What are you talking about? Minister, I have told you everything I should tell you. How could I possibly be hiding something?”]

[…Has anyone ever told you that you’ve been like this since high school? Whenever you’re having fun or hiding something from others, your eyes will subconsciously turn in another direction when you’re talking to someone.”]

【"Well……"】

【“——Zaimokuza-san.”】

[She slowly turned her chair and looked up at Zaimokuza who was standing in front of her. Although she was looking up at him, Zaimokuza felt that he was the one being looked down upon. The majestic look in her eyes reminded him of the time when he was a child and was caught by his mother after being naughty. His whole body seemed to shrink under the gaze.]

[“You don’t look like someone who would suffer from amnesia or other old age diseases so early, so you should still remember what I just said to you, right?”]

【"……yes."】

[Faced with this ultimatum, Zaimokuza could no longer pretend and could only nod. ]

[“Then tell me, what else are you hiding from me?”]

[“Actually, I…”]

【Zaimokuza glanced at Yukinoshita's expressionless face from the corner of his eye, while twirling his index fingers, carefully brewing his words.】

[“At the end of that dream, I…saw Hachiman.”]

[Yukinoshita Yukino said nothing about this, and Zaimokuza could not see her expression at this moment. He could only see her legs crossed in black stockings from his lowered gaze, and had no way of judging what she was thinking.]

[But after he said this, the chill that had been gathering around him quickly dissipated, and the laboratory returned to its previous atmosphere.]

【Zaimokuza didn't know how much time had passed. He only knew that during this time, the sound of his heart beating in his chest seemed to be clearly audible, and the ups and downs of the pulsation seemed to ring directly beside his ears.】

【"--Yeah."】

[After a long while, Yukinoshita's words were accompanied by the sound of keyboard typing. Zaimokuza looked up after hearing her voice return to normal, and saw her turn back to the table again, typing on the computer.]

[“In that case, then what was the Hikigaya-san you met like?”]

[She continued to ask without turning her head. Although her voice was calm, the attentive Zaimokuza still heard something hidden in this sentence, and his expression became even more silent.]

[“He’s… fine, just like he was in high school, always hunched over and with those dead fish eyes.”]

[“…That does sound good.”]

[After Yukinoshita said this, she stopped talking, and Zaimokuza opened his mouth, but suddenly found that he couldn't find a topic to talk about, which caused the atmosphere between the two of them to fall silent.]

【“——Ahem.”】

[Just when the conversation was about to become stalemate again, a few coughs interrupted the conversation.]

[“It may be impolite to interrupt your conversation at this time, but I think we should pay more attention to the problem happening to Zaimokuza, Ms. Yukinoshita.”]

[After standing by the window like a wooden sculpture and watching silently for a long time, Kousaka Kyosuke finally found his chance to interrupt and walked over to speak. As a third party, he also broke the awkward atmosphere between the two. ]

[“Although there are many mysteries we are facing, I think the changes that the belt in Zaimokuza’s body has undergone now should be related to the ‘ultimate’ that the voice he heard when he was unconscious said. After all, all these changes began after he woke up from that dream.”]

[“We had gone to Makishima for a checkup before, but the results were no different from the previous times we went. I guess it would be difficult to find out anything about this change with modern medical methods, so I came to you, Ms. Yukinoshita.”]

[“I think that the inscriptions you’ve been translating, Ms. Yukinoshita, may contain the key to Zaimokuza’s current changes, just like the information we got about Kuuga’s various forms and Graham from translating those inscriptions. Now we can only rely on you.”]

[Kousaka Kyousuke nodded slightly in response to Zaimokuza's grateful gaze, and then continued to ask Yukinoshita.]

[“So, Ms. Yukinoshita, do you have any idea about this now?”]

[“Your thinking is correct, Officer Kosaka. I am thinking the same thing as you.”]

[Yukinoshita Yukino spoke softly while typing on the keyboard. At this moment, she was no longer in the strange atmosphere she had just had. She was serious and rigorous in her work mode and would not be affected by any other unnecessary emotions.]

[“Now we can only hope that there may be other clues hidden in these inscriptions, but unfortunately, the translation of these inscriptions is too difficult. Even though I have been following the progress for the past few months, the total number of inscriptions I have translated only accounts for the total number of inscriptions discovered from the Jiulangyue ruins, and new things are still being discovered there.”]

[“I can only promise that I will keep an eye on this progress, but in the meantime, please Officer Kosaka, keep an eye on Zaimokuza-kun and don’t let him do anything rash again.”]

[“Don’t worry, I will. He won’t cause any big trouble under my surveillance.”]

[“Thank you for your understanding. Zaimokuza-san’s promiscuous style has always been a headache for me. Now someone is finally willing to help me share this pressure. I am really grateful.”]

[“You’re welcome. Now I fully understand how hard Ms. Yukinoshita has worked in the past. I really admire you for taking care of this guy for so many years.”]

【"Well……"】

【Zaimokuza listened to their mutual boasting about business, and for some reason he felt like a parent asking a school teacher to keep an eye on his naughty child, and his expression became awkward.】

"Do I look so unreliable?" he muttered to himself.

【Om—】

[“Hmm? Xiao Wei?”]

[The phone in his pocket vibrated slightly at this moment, making a unique sound of receiving a message. Zaimokuza took out his phone and looked at the sender's name "Hirasawa Yui", and curiously clicked on the received message.]