As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider.

It was late at night when the sticky, hot summer air of Tokyo swept over the barbed wire fence of Smart Brain Academy.

It has been a full six months since Lin Chen first infiltrated the underground area of ​​the main teaching building.

For the past six months, the entire academy has maintained a calm facade, like a thin layer of ice concealing turbulent undercurrents. The most obvious change is the airtight security in the main teaching building's underground area. Guard posts, once confined to the core passageways, now cover every corner from the first to the third basement level. Orphnoch factor detectors operate at full power 24/7, and even the ventilation ducts are equipped with miniature sensors. The weapons carried by the disciplinary squad members have long since changed from stun batons to specially made rifles loaded with photon paralysis bullets—bullets capable of instantly shattering Orphnoch essence; even high-level Orphnochs would lose their transformation abilities upon being shot, becoming helpless victims.

Lin Chen leaned against a sycamore tree outside the teaching building, his fingertips unconsciously tracing a five-cent coin. His amber pupils reflected the cold, somber light of the underground entrance. In the past six months, more than once, as he looked at his stagnant lifespan on the panel and felt the surging power of his fully formed body, the urge to force his way in grew like wildfire. But each time, he forcefully suppressed it.

He knew all too well the consequences. Once exposed, not only would he lose the Earth Emperor's Belt, but all his six months of lying low, enduring, and meticulous planning would be for naught. In this cannibalistic world, without his cover in the shadows, he would become the Lucky Clover and the Disciplinary Committee's number one target for elimination.

Fortunately, the six months of dormancy were not without results.

Lin Chen silently invoked the system in his mind, and a pale blue virtual panel instantly appeared in his mind, clearly displaying his growth over the past six months:

Ultimate Evolution System

[Host: Lin Chen]

[Race: Tiger-type Orphnoch (Complete Form)]

Core Attributes:

Physical fitness 43/118 (average human average 5)

Agility 35/107 (average human 5)

Spirit 37/82 (average human level 5)

Lifespan: 33 years

Evolution Points: 4

For the past six months, he maintained a precise hunting rhythm—almost always appearing in his Tiger Orphnoch form just as Oogami was about to finish the kill, reaping the dying Orphnochs. Using the evolution points from dozens of monsters, he achieved a leap in attributes. The Tiger Orphnoch form also evolved from its initial form to its complete form: when its entire body was covered in silver-black scales, its innate high-ranking racial pressure could directly intimidate ordinary Orphnoches. Its strength, speed, and defense were nearly doubled compared to its initial form; even without transforming into a knight, it could easily crush mid-level Orphnoches.

However, the rigid rules of the system completely disrupted his plan for a well-rounded physique.

He originally only wanted to focus on improving his physique to offset the lifespan loss caused by the transformation and bring his lifespan to a safe range. However, the system rules were cold and ruthless: the three attributes complement each other, and once the difference exceeds 10 points, the button to increase the attribute with the highest value will turn gray, completely locking the improvement path. He could only be forced to improve his spirit and agility in a balanced way, which greatly slowed down the growth rate of his attributes, and his lifespan growth could not keep up with the rate of consumption.

Even more fatal is the cost of the complete form.

Now, every time he completes his full transformation, he irreversibly loses two years of his lifespan, leaving his lifespan stuck at around 33 years, like an invisible shackle that tightly binds his hands and feet.

Evolution points are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, underground defenses continue to upgrade, and the lifespan bottleneck remains unbroken. Lin Chen knows that he doesn't have much time left.

His night patrol hours were extended from midnight to 5 a.m., which meant he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in a long time.

After two weeks of precise calculations, he finally chose tonight—3 a.m. on the monthly shift change day. This was the only guard gap in the past six months: there was a 12-minute gap during the handover between the old and new guard posts of the disciplinary team, and the electronic locks and detectors entered the monthly calibration mode, creating a full 15-minute signal blind spot, which was his only chance to infiltrate the underground core area.

At 2:50 AM, Lin Chen, under the guise of night patrol, arrived at the side entrance of the main teaching building. He extended his mental energy to its maximum range; his 37 points of mental attribute allowed him to clearly perceive the locations of all sentries and patrol routes within a hundred meters, and even hear the faint electrical buzzing from the walkie-talkies of the armed personnel. After confirming that there were no spying eyes, he used his mental energy to condense a weak interference wave, precisely blocking the signal transmission of the electronic lock on the side door. With a light flick of his fingertip across the lock cylinder, he cracked the lock in just 3 seconds and silently slipped into the teaching building.

The corridor was pitch black, with only the emergency lights emitting a faint green glow. Lin Chen activated his Tiger-type Orphnoch Origin, condensing a thin, almost invisible layer of energy to completely shield himself from Orphnoch factor fluctuations and life force, perfectly avoiding the detection range of all the detectors along the way. Using the shadows of the corridor, he nimbly bypassed two fixed sentry posts, his footsteps as light as a falling leaf, making no sound whatsoever. He quickly slipped down the fire escape stairs to the basement, precisely avoiding all surveillance and patrol routes, successfully reaching the entrance to the core area of ​​the laboratory, which he had been unable to access for the past six months.

As he stood against the heavy alloy door of the laboratory, the hands of his watch pointed exactly to 3 a.m. The shift change window had just arrived, and the detector calibration countdown had 8 minutes left, perfectly timed within the safety window he had calculated.

Lin Chen held his breath and looked into the laboratory through the observation window of the alloy door.

The entire core laboratory was shrouded in a pale blue energy barrier, the floor paved with cold stainless steel plates. In the center stood a completely transparent energy storage chamber, inside which lay a dark gold belt with menacing patterns—the Orga Earth Emperor Belt, the strongest knight's belt belonging only to the Orphnochs. Kurosawa, dressed in a black combat suit, a departure from his usual white suit, stood beside him. Dozens of fully armed disciplinary team members, their guns pointed at the storage chamber. Several lab technicians in white coats surrounded the control panel, their fingers flying across the screens. The atmosphere in the laboratory was utterly tense.

Just then, the hatch of the sealing chamber slowly rose, and pale blue protective gas dispersed. A tall, high-ranking horse-type Orphnoch, covered in heavy chestnut armor, walked step by step to the sealing chamber at the command of the experimenters, and reached out his armored hand to grasp the dark gold belt.

Almost instantly upon contact, a torrent of dark golden photonic blood spread from his arm throughout his body. A menacing armor visibly covered his form, and terrifying energy fluctuations filled the entire laboratory, even causing the heavy alloy door to tremble slightly. The horse-shaped Orphnoch successfully transformed into an Earthly Knight. The dark golden Visor glowed coldly, and even through the alloy door, Lin Chen could feel its overwhelming power.

Unexpected events can happen in the blink of an eye.

The transformation lasted only 10 seconds before the dark gold armor on the horse-shaped Orphnoch shattered abruptly. His photon blood instantly reversed and dissipated, and he let out a painful groan, forcibly deactivating the transformation. The instant the transformation ended, his fingertips began to turn into sand at a visible speed, black ash falling from them. The sandification was unstoppable, and in just 3 seconds, this high-level Orphnoch didn't even have time to utter a complete scream before turning into a handful of black ash, which was then blown away without a trace by the laboratory's ventilation system.

Lin Chen felt as if his blood had frozen instantly, and his back was soaked in cold sweat.

He had initially believed that the Earth Emperor's Belt was the ultimate answer to breaking the lifespan curse and enhancing his strength, his greatest asset for surviving in this world. However, he never imagined that the belt itself was a death trap—even a high-ranking stallion-type Orphnoch couldn't withstand its operation, collapsing from its core after only 10 seconds of transformation and instantly turning to sand. The terrifying burden was a hundred times more cruel than he had learned from the story.

His initial urge to snatch the item vanished instantly, replaced by a renewed sense of rationality. He could clearly sense that all the disciplinary team members in the lab were on high alert, and the energy barrier could instantly seal off the entire lab; every second he stayed increased the risk of exposure.

Without any hesitation, Lin Chen used the shadows to silently slide towards the emergency fire escape.

Unbeknownst to him, the instant he turned to leave, a lab technician in a white coat strode up to Kurosawa, saluted, and reported gravely, "Captain, the horse-type Orphnoch is a higher species. While its Orphnoch primordial energy purity has reached the top 5% of the academy's registered Orphnochs, it's still insufficient to support the Orga belt's photon blood circulation. The transformation load directly burned away its primordial core, causing it to instantly turn to sand. To achieve a stable transformation, a higher-level, purer Orphnoch is needed as a test subject."

Kurosawa frowned slightly as he looked at the fine black ash residue on the ground, his fingertips unconsciously tapping his thigh. The image of Lin Chen immediately flashed into his mind.

Tiger-type Orphnochs are naturally high-ranking species, and Lin Chen is one of the best among them, having even suppressed Momose back then. More importantly, Lin Chen was originally a wild Orphnoch who had been recruited, so even if the experiment failed and he turned to ashes, there would be no regrets.

A cold, calculating glint flashed in Kurosawa's eyes; he had already begun to plot in his mind.

Meanwhile, Lin Chen was evacuating up the emergency staircase. He maintained his stealth layer throughout, his footsteps so light they made no sound. The entire infiltration and evacuation process was completed within 14 minutes, just before the detector calibration was finished and the guard shifts were changed. He left the main teaching building without leaving any trace.

Back in the safe zone, Lin Chen deactivated his concealment layer, adjusted his breathing and aura, and pretended to be nonchalant as he returned to his designated patrol route to continue his remaining patrol duties. However, his mind remained unsettled, repeatedly reviewing the experimental scene he had just witnessed, a silent warning: the burden on the Earth Emperor's Belt was far more terrifying than he had imagined; he must be extremely cautious in acquiring it and absolutely could not transform rashly, or he would only end up like that horse-shaped Orphnoch.

He thought he had left no trace, but unbeknownst to him, immediately after the experiment, Kurosawa retrieved the surveillance footage from the side door of the teaching building and the underground passage, capturing the three-second abnormal signal fluctuation of the electronic lock. He also detected a fleeting, faint presence in the emergency exit's surveillance footage. Kurosawa didn't make a fuss, but his determination to include Lin Chen as a test subject only strengthened.

Lin Chen wasn't the only one who changed in the past six months.

Countless life-or-death battles have honed the novice knight, who once stumbled through transformations and missed his finishing moves, into a sharp blade. Onoue Takumi has mastered the photon energy of the Faiz belt, his transformations, attacks, and dodges flowing smoothly. His use of photon blood has become increasingly refined, and he can even switch to his acceleration form with ease. Even a mid-level Orphnoch can be killed in a matter of seconds.

Several times, when Lin Chen sensed the battle and rushed over at full speed, the Orphnoch had already been killed by Faiz, turned into a pile of black ash, without even a chance to intercept it. Faiz also changed from initially fighting passively to taking the initiative, patrolling around the academy every night, hunting down out-of-control Orphnochs, and protecting the ordinary students in the academy who were completely unaware of the danger.

Faiz remained highly vigilant against the tiger-type Orphnoch that had repeatedly intercepted him. He could clearly sense that the tiger-type Orphnoch was growing stronger, yet it never harmed him or ordinary humans, only precisely reaping the lives of dying Orphnoches. Over the past six months, Faiz had set traps more than once, attempting to capture this mysterious tiger-type Orphnoch, but Lin Chen had avoided them all thanks to his superior mental perception. At the same time, he also noticed the abnormal energy fluctuations in the academy's underground area and the unusual movements of the disciplinary team, and began secretly investigating the secrets hidden within Smart Brain Academy.

At 5 a.m., Lin Chen completed all his patrol duties and prepared to return to his dormitory.

A dark blue shadow suddenly flashed past my eyes.

Lin Chen paused slightly, his pupils contracting slightly.

It was a blue butterfly with wings that shimmered faintly, flashing through the night as if it had never existed.

He stood there blankly for a few seconds, then a faint smile suddenly appeared on his lips. He murmured softly, his tone filled with long-suppressed anticipation:

"The knight who was passing by is coming."

Thank you everyone for your votes! As a newbie, I'm truly touched to receive this for the first time. I will continue to work hard to update!