As a weirdo, I like being a Kamen Rider.

When Lin Chen opened his eyes again, what he saw was not the familiar battlefield, nor the giant crab, nor Tsukasa Kadoya and the others—but an unfamiliar night sky.

The neon lights buzzed overhead, casting his shadow on the graffiti-covered wall. He leaned against the roller shutter of a closed shop, his back against the rusty metal, a damp, musty smell filling his nostrils. Sensing an atmosphere so different from the world of Hibiki, Lin Chen felt utterly helpless.

"here we go again."

He spoke in a low voice, his tone filled with a desire to grind Narutaki to dust.

Last time, when Narutaki threw him into the dimensional rift, he was able to fight back—his Earth Emperor Sword shattered the spatial barrier, carving a path through it. This time, his opponent had clearly learned his lesson. He was directly thrown into some unknown world. He still doesn't understand how Narutaki tricked him. His feet suddenly gave way, and he entered that abandoned city, and then he appeared here.

He stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes that he had picked up in that abandoned city.

"You bastard."

He cursed, but it was unclear whether he was cursing Narutaki or himself for being careless once again.

Emerging from the alley, he found himself standing at the end of a commercial street.

It was completely dark, but the streets remained bustling. The lanterns of the izakayas glowed with a warm yellow light, and the smoke from grilled skewers mingled with the salty aroma of soy sauce. Housewives hurried by carrying plastic bags from the convenience store, while students rode past the alleyway, ringing their bells, their baskets filled with bread and drinks from the store. Several office workers stood waiting outside the izakayas, looking at their phones and complaining about their workday, their ties hanging loosely around their necks.

Lin Chen stood at the alley entrance, surrounded by these sounds.

He hadn't heard such a sound in a long time. At Smart Brain Academy, there were only the footsteps of the disciplinary team and the roars of the Orphnochs, only Kurosawa's cold commands and Momose's arrogant reprimands. Although there were also students' cheerful laughter, he always felt it was all fake. And during his journey with Kadoya Tsukasa, it was basically just finding monsters, fighting, resting, finding monsters, fighting—Den-O's Imagin, Kabuto's Worms, Hibiki's Makamochi. Only on the day he trained with Hibiki did he truly stop for the first time.

He blended silently into the crowd, attracting no one's attention. He treated himself as a stranger passing by, walking through this new world.

After walking a few steps, he saw several televisions in the window of an electronics store simultaneously playing the same image. The female presenter had a serious expression, and the background was a blurry photograph of the scene—

"We would like to remind the public once again that there have been a series of attacks by unknown life forms in the city recently. The Metropolitan Police Department has established a special task force to deal with the situation. If you spot any suspicious individuals, please stay away immediately and call the police. The identity and origin of these life forms have not yet been confirmed, but experts speculate that they may be a new type of biological weapon—"

Lin Chen paused for a moment.

Unknown life form. It seems this world is also the world of Kamen Rider. But he couldn't tell which one it was; the image on the TV was too blurry for Lin Chen to make out.

He touched the five-cent coin in his pocket and continued walking.

At the end of the commercial street is an intersection, beyond which lies a residential area. The streetlights illuminate the asphalt road, making it appear white, and several private cars are parked on the roadside, their roofs covered with fallen leaves.

Lin Chen was about to turn when he suddenly stopped.

A peculiar alertness arose within my constantly activated senses.

He turned around abruptly.

At the convenience store entrance, a tall, thin man in a dark gray trench coat was following an elderly woman. His life force was indistinguishable from that of a normal human, but his gait was odd—his steps were too even, as if he were being pulled along by some force. The elderly woman, oblivious, turned into a narrow alleyway beside the store, carrying her shopping bags.

The man followed him inside.

Lin Chen didn't hesitate. His right hand reached into his pocket, his fingertips touching the metal casing of the Didi phone. The cool touch spread up his fingers.

He rushed into the narrow alley.

The motion-sensor lights came on. The stark white light illuminated everything that was happening—the man's trench coat melted off his shoulders like wax, revealing dark golden scales emerging from his skin. His spine bent outwards, revealing a leopard-like monster. Claws rose high, aiming to stab at the old woman's back.

Lin Chen raised his right hand. The Earth Emperor Phone transformed in his palm, its muzzle aimed at the dark golden figure.

Pull the trigger directly.

103 mode. Single shot.

An energy bullet shot from the muzzle, tearing a scorching trail through the narrow alley. The bullet struck the leopard-like Venerable's raised forearm with pinpoint accuracy, exploding in a dark red flash against its scales. The Venerable let out a sharp screech—not of pain, but more of an angry outburst of offense. Its claws were forced to stop less than ten centimeters from the old woman's back, the impact sending it staggering two steps to the side.

The old woman then noticed something amiss behind her, turned around in terror, saw the monster, screamed, and fell to the ground. Apples from her shopping bag rolled all over the floor.

The Leopard-shaped Venerable steadied himself, shifting his gaze from the old woman to Lin Chen at the alley entrance.

Lin Chen didn't give it time to think. He supported his right wrist, which was holding the gun, with his left hand and flicked the switch button on the side of the phone with his thumb.

106 mode. Burst fire.

Pull the trigger again.

Energy projectiles rained down like a storm, exploding in bursts of light against the walls of the narrow alley. Brick and stone fragments flew everywhere, and shards of glass rained down. The leopard-shaped lord crossed its arms to protect its head, sparks flying from the energy impacts on its scales. Each hit forced it to take a half-step back.

But before the next wave of bullets arrived, the Leopard-shaped Venerable's form vanished into the night like vapor. Dark red energy blasts pierced the spot where it had stood, blasting the last row of charred bullet holes in the wall.

The narrow alleyway quieted down.

Only the broken filament of the motion sensor light flickered intermittently, emitting a faint hum of electricity. The walls, riddled with bullet holes, were still emitting wisps of smoke. The air was thick with the smell of ozone and burning.

Lin Chen put down his gun and walked over.

The old woman slumped to the ground, trembling, but alive. Her back was unharmed, except for a tear in her coat caused by the wind pressure from the claws. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but no sound came out.

Lin Chen squatted down and picked up the fallen apples one by one, putting them back into the shopping bag.

"It's alright now."

His voice was calm, as if he were talking about something trivial.

He placed the shopping bag beside the old lady and stood up. He put his phone back in his pocket. Without lingering, he turned and walked out of the narrow alley, his footsteps echoing slowly in the empty street. The streetlights cast long shadows of him.

Lin Chen's figure disappeared around the corner without looking back.

He deliberately slowed his pace, walking slowly along the wall of the residential area, his fingertips never leaving the Didi mobile phone in his pocket.

The leopard-like monster had fled so decisively, unlike any enemy he had ever encountered before. He had expected it to retaliate and had even prepared to transform, but the monster merely glanced at him before vanishing without hesitation.

"The strange people in this world..." Lin Chen frowned.

What troubled him even more was something else.

Perception diffusion—this was his most relied-upon method, an ability that had helped him countless times since his awakening in the Faiz world. But just now, if that man's walking posture had been a little more natural, if he hadn't happened to turn around, that old woman would already be a cold corpse. And he himself might be ambushed from behind at any moment by a seemingly normal "human," without even a chance to transform.

"The strange people in this world have such incredible disguise skills..."

Lin Chen muttered to himself. None of the other beings he had encountered before could achieve this level of skill. Orphnochs, Otherworldly Gods, and Otherworldly Insects could also maintain human form, but their life force was ultimately different from that of humans, shining brightly in his perception like a beacon in the darkness. But that man just now, until he revealed his true form, had a life force exactly like that of an ordinary person.

A chill crept up my spine.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. No matter how dangerous it was, it wouldn't help; things had come to this point, and complaining and fear wouldn't solve anything. He had experienced far more desperate situations—fifteen years of living as an ordinary person had taught him that no matter what happened, survival was the priority.

Thinking of this, he suddenly chuckled self-deprecatingly. He had just been worried about how dangerous the world was, but the most pressing problem right now wasn't those weirdos at all.

Lin Chen searched through all his pockets.

Left pocket: A gleaming five-cent coin. Right pocket: A Didi cell phone.

Besides that, he had nothing. He didn't even have a piece of paper to prove his identity.

He looked at the lone five-cent coin in his hand, feeling both amused and exasperated. Since awakening as an Orphnoch, he had never worried about money—even though he was under house arrest at Smart Brain Academy, at least he was fed, not to mention he later joined the Light Photography Studio. He never imagined that he would one day be penniless again.

He looked up at the other side of the street.

A ramen shop, open for business, was bathed in warm yellow light, a thin layer of condensation clinging to its glass door. Even across the street, he could smell the rich aroma of tonkotsu broth, along with the scents of chashu pork and soft-boiled eggs. Several office workers, just off work, sat inside, eating steaming bowls of ramen and chatting loudly.

Lin Chen glanced at it, then silently looked away.

We can't just rob them, can we?

He turned and continued walking, aimlessly wandering through the streets.

As night deepened, the number of pedestrians on the street gradually decreased. One by one, the lights in the izakayas went out, making the convenience store lights the most conspicuous presence in the darkness. Occasionally, a taxi would drive by, its headlights piercing the darkness before quickly disappearing into the distance.

Lin Chen walked for nearly an hour before finally entering a park in the middle of the street.

The park was quiet, with only a few dim streetlights casting their glow. In the distance, under the shade of a tree, a couple was talking softly. A cool evening breeze carried the scent of grass and earth.

Lin Chen found an empty recliner and sat down. Looking up at the sky, a crescent moon hung in the dark blue sky, and the stars were sparse and not very pretty.

I wonder if Tsukasa Kadoya and the others will be worried if they find out I've suddenly disappeared.

He suddenly felt homesick again, wondering if he would ever be able to go home.