I want to become a Kamen Rider

"Then I'll go buy dinner for the master!"

The troublemaker skipped and hopped towards the light.

He shouted at her retreating figure:

"Hey, don't come back. I'll take care of dinner myself."

Fan Kang walked towards the bench. It was a nice spot. The streetlights overhead were broken, so it was perfect for him to close his eyes and rest for a while. Not long after he closed his eyes, the troublemaker jumped out carrying a big box of takoyaki.

This guy tugged at his sleeve, insisting on changing to a different bench.

"Sir, sir, the streetlights over there aren't broken, let's go over there."

Why takoyaki?

"I'm out of money, but takoyaki is on special today!"

The girl smiled and cut off half of it, handing it to herself.

After a quick and easy meal, feeling full and sleepy, Fan Kang was about to close his eyes when the troublemaker made some noise again. Opening his eyes, he found the guy slapping his thigh and looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Lap pillows, don't boys all like them?"

"...Everyone says you're going in the wrong direction when trying to win people over."

I closed my eyes, too lazy to pay any more attention to this guy.

Tsk, there's light.

After a while, the light disappeared.

He opened his eyes in confusion, only to see a pair of small hands, small but able to block out the light. He recognized these hands; they had no talent, so they were full of traces of hard work.

Tilting his head, the guy grinned foolishly.

I'm already very tired, it's okay to take a break for now.

With these thoughts in mind, Fan Kang drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Nineteen: Not Wanting to Become Weak

The next day.

An unnamed bridge archway somewhere in Chiba.

"Martial arts do not require external aids, but the refinement of martial skills is a process that requires continuous learning from the outside world."

"Thousands of years ago, martial artists on the land of Kyushu turned their attention to learning from the creatures of nature in order to improve themselves. They began to emulate and imitate these creatures, which is the origin of the earliest form of Xingyi Quan. Similarly, there are similar things within the framework of Xingyi Quan, namely the Twelve Forms: Dragon, Tiger, Monkey, Horse, Rooster, Hawk, Swallow, Snake, Alligator, Horse, Eagle, and Bear."

"Imitate their forms, capture their essence, and base your boxing style on the shapes and skill characteristics of twelve animals. This is the principle of Twelve Forms Boxing, although what I'm teaching you may seem to contradict this principle..."

The morning mist condensed into dewdrops on the concrete bridge piers. Mizutani Mikoto's high ponytail swept across the mottled moss. When she stood on one foot on the rusty drainpipe, her slender ankle, wrapped in black straps, was trembling slightly. Fine beads of sweat clung to her collarbone, which was exposed at the neckline of her training uniform, like scattered diamonds sparkling in the morning light.

"Stop, make your move."

Fan Kang held a bamboo branch in his hand and pointed at it.

"The monkey breaking a branch is not the same as a zombie reaching out."

The girl's taut fingertips pierced the morning mist, and the resulting whirlwind startled the night herons perched on the bridge piers, but he was not quite satisfied.

"A crane's beak isn't for you to peck at rice like a chick."

A bamboo stick struck the girl's elbow, and she puffed out her cheeks in pain, pursed her lips, and blew away the stray hairs that were obscuring her eyes. This action made her look like a sulking cicada pupa.

"It's not about posing; it's about capturing the form and the meaning. Once you've mastered it, you still need to try to forget the form and meaning and grasp its essence."

This guy's starting stance, imitating the dragon shape, is too stiff, like a frozen bamboo viper.

In short, Fan Kang was very dissatisfied and even doubted that he should have let her, who had no talent, practice Xingyi.

That which is above form is called the Way, and that which is below form is called the instrument. In Xingyiquan, if you want to go further in the end, you need to abandon the instrument and seek the Way, which is to say... forget the form.

The so-called mastery of various martial arts styles without being bound by a single move is just a nice-sounding phrase. For most martial arts practitioners, it's already quite good if they can memorize and use the moves well. Ordinary geniuses are just people who learn faster and memorize better than others. Only those peerless geniuses who appear once every few decades or centuries may be able to truly appreciate it before they grow old.

In his previous life, he fought monsters for over twenty years without ever understanding what it meant to lose oneself. But after dying once, he understood without even thinking about it or practicing.

Not only does Xingyi Quan reach its highest level of transcending form, but it also doesn't require deliberate practice. As long as one understands the basics and expands upon the principles of boxing, one can roughly execute Baguazhang, Bajiquan, Wuxingquan, Baihequan, Mizongquan, and other boxing styles based on these principles. All boxing principles are interconnected because the world is material. Baihequan can also be expanded into other boxing styles such as karate. With a comprehensive understanding, it can probably guide any human being living on Earth in the realm of martial arts.

But he has the experience of two lifetimes, and the miracle of dying once. What does Mizutani Migen have? Just like him back then, only hard work and perseverance.

Talent can transcend time, but hard work and perseverance cannot, because the power of hard work and perseverance is revealed over time.

"But why did I become stronger even though I haven't made much progress in martial arts?"

Looking at the beautiful figure ahead, Fan Kang felt deeply puzzled.

The improvement here does not refer to advancements in skills, but rather to a rapid increase in speed and strength.

'Because they're in love...'

A snow-white creature emerged from somewhere under the bridge and jumped onto his shoulder. Fan Kang wasn't surprised, but simply said with disdain:

"It has appeared; it's a suspicious white alien creature."

'Kang Jun, your words are so hurtful.'

Most people he met called him Anti-King, Mizutani called him Master, and the old man from the East Island called him Foreign Kid. The only one who would call him Anti-King was Kyubey.

"Not everyone can hone their skills like Kang-kun, bit by bit, and even after becoming so strong, they never slacken. Training is tiring, and perseverance is tough. To be honest, I'm already quite surprised that Kang-kun could find another exceptional individual like you, willing to work hard to become stronger."

It wasn't that he approached his cheap apprentice; rather, this guy took the initiative to pester him.

Cupid glanced at him, roughly knowing what he wanted to say, and persuaded him:

"Therefore, the Kamen Riders who sign contracts with us don't need to put in arduous efforts to become powerful in a simple way—by falling in love!"

'Being happy because you like someone, being sad because the person you like doesn't like you back, hating because you were once passionate, and despairing because your passion has cooled—these are all sources that strengthen the power of the knight…'

'Even if the enemy is already powerful enough, there's no reason to reject becoming even more powerful, is there?'

Fan Kang scoffed:

"That's not true strength. Strength is strength. I won't say that the strength obtained that way is fake strength. I could take on about four guys who can obtain power in that way, even if they are at the same level as me."

The fact that he said it was one against four, not one against ten, and that he used the words left and right, shows that he was serious.

Even if strength and speed are at the same level, experience and skills are difficult to imitate. To put it another way, experience and skills can be learned, but courage cannot.

It sounds ridiculous to put courage on the same level as strength, speed, experience, and skill—things that truly influence the outcome of a battle. But Fan Kang, who has defeated many strong opponents, knows that many powerful people are afraid of death.

'And what about the child?'

Kyubey looked at Mizutani Migen, who was diligently practicing his skills.

"I will straighten her out."

'I don't know why, but I suddenly feel like uttering a sigh of lamentation about how the ruler doesn't understand people's hearts.'

"It's not that I don't understand people's hearts, nor that I hate love, I just don't want to become weak."

Fan Kang shook his head.

He wants to protect the world, he wants to challenge powerful enemies, he wants to rewrite destiny, and he has an absolute reason not to become weak.

'That makes Kyubey really excited...'

"What do you expect?"

The suspicious white alien creature flicked its tail.

'I look forward to the day when the one who doesn't want to become weak, the one who resists, finally becomes weak.'

"That will disappoint you; that day will never come."

After arguing with Cupid, Fan Kang picked up the bamboo stick in his hand and stepped into the sunlight.

"That move was incorrect. Practice it again!"

Chapter Twenty: Hiiragi Mai Tina

As a demanding master reprimands his increasingly unruly disciple, as a new day dawns and people begin their struggles for a living, and as the world's surface remains shrouded in the illusion of peace, a fierce argument is erupting four thousand meters below the deep blue abyss of the Pacific Ocean.

"Who exactly came up with this psychological warfare plan? Why didn't the Butcher's morale drop as expected? Instead, it's rebounded a bit in the last two days."

"If the execution department has problems, no matter how good the plan is, it will be useless if the execution goes wrong."

A colossal glass dome enveloped the sharply defined steel complex. The red glow of various instruments flickered in the corridors, filled with mechanical tentacles, casting distorted silhouettes of bio-engineered beasts within the incubation chambers into shimmering shadows. Outside the dome of the central conference hall, a swarm of glowing deep-sea jellyfish was startled by a passing mutated oarfish, and falling phosphorescent fragments clung to the blast-proof glass, resembling an inverted starry sky.

The octopus-headed monster slapped the holographic control panel with its three mechanical tentacles, and sticky suction cups dragged trails of slime across the tempered glass.

"The original plan was to create some tragedies that could have been averted, to make the Butcher disillusioned with his colleagues and the government police, increasing his pressure. Given that inhuman fighting intensity, all we needed to do was put the final straw that broke the camel's back..."

When he said this, there was a clear sense of blame in his tone.

"But who would have thought that the combatants sent by the Executive Department would be intercepted by a mere mortal who isn't even a Kamen Rider? It's laughable."

"The key issue is that this tragedy could have been averted! The plan itself was sound, and unexpected events are perfectly normal. We can't just give up because of one or two accidents or failures..."

The cyborg with the shark's head swung his tail, smashing a row of tables and chairs, and coldly looked at his colleague.

"Or do you really want to fight that [Butcher]?"

These words silenced the entire room.

"..."

A perfectly good Kamen Rider is called "Butcher" by a monster. This alone is enough to explain how this warrior, who is given the name "Butcher" by the monster, fights.

Extreme efficiency leads to extreme slaughter. These two simple words encapsulate the blood and death of countless monsters, Grongi, demons, and the Unknown to date.

"What's there to be afraid of? There are so many of us. At worst, we can all rush at him. He might not be able to kill us all before he runs out of energy. At that point, we'll be able to win! We can wear him down!"

A man in black armor, wielding a saber, seemed to look down on his colleagues who were so easily frightened by a single knight, and said indignantly:

“If you had listened to my advice and surrounded him before our ally ‘Black Satan’ was destroyed by Kuuga last month, how could things have deteriorated to this point today?”

“Dasmadah of the ‘Cresis Empire’, we kindly took you in after the empire was destroyed by the ‘Butcher’ and you have nowhere to go, and now you’re here criticizing our policies.”

The octopus monster chuckled twice.

"If 'Black Satan' had stood by your organization when it was attacked, your 'Crestis Empire' wouldn't have been destroyed. So where do you get the nerve to accuse us of abandoning 'Black Satan' in his time of need? Besides, even if we had stood by each other, given how easily Kuuga killed three high-ranking monster executives of 'Foundation X' when he first appeared, I think it's more likely that both organizations would have been destroyed together before he ran out of energy..."

"Remember, our organization exists not because it is more powerful or more evil than other organizations, but because our leader had the foresight to build our base in the deep sea. Unlike other organizations, we did not rashly provoke the Butcher. There are several others that share our strategy, coldly hiding in the background and waiting for their opportunity."

Just as Fan Kang, from the distant future, is unaware of the true purpose of the Cupids, the mysteries surrounding the giant meteorite that summoned Godzilla, and the dark organizations that are his enemies are also unaware of why they appeared.

It seems that one day, they, who should have been active in fantasy, stepped out of the TV screen and into reality. Their power is real, their subordinates are real, and their methods and technology are real. Naturally, they want to fulfill the great ambition they had in the fantasy world but were stopped by Kamen Rider.

The problem is that there are far too many dark organizations like them, and the Butcher is far too powerful.

The Shocker organization alone, active in the inner world, has had several leaders, as well as numerous branches and successors such as Gal Shocker and Grand Shocker. With all the leaders and their subordinates appearing, they naturally vie for command. So the question arises: who listens to whom?

The answer is either to listen to neither, or to listen to the one with the biggest fist.

The struggle to determine who has the strongest fist inevitably begins with internal strife. Meanwhile, there is a Kamen Rider named Kuuga who seems to have a premonition, hunting them down everywhere. Often, the leader has just been chosen and hasn't even had a chance to lead the organization, consolidate its power, and strengthen itself before being killed by the "Butcher" who happens to be passing by.

This happened repeatedly, and in the end, they went their separate ways and separated from each other.

The clever people hid themselves from the beginning, but even the cleverest can't withstand someone from the future who knows history in advance and is a seasoned Kamen Rider fan who knows the weaknesses and characteristics of most of the dark organizations.

In this way, many organizations were defeated one by one. Not to mention the idea advocated by the man in black armor wielding a military knife, where everyone rushed in and eventually exhausted me to win, most organizations were ambushed and attacked while they were still fighting amongst themselves. Those who survived either hid well enough or were lucky enough, and most had to have both.

The era that should have been filled with countless deaths and chaos was thus crushed by a single force.

Like gold being sifted from sand, the underage knights who impulsively made contracts with Kyubey without sufficient awareness were eliminated by the dark organizations, leaving behind the truly qualified "gold." Now, the dark organizations, besieged at their gates, are being wiped out by the "Butcher." Only organizations with ruthless methods, sufficient strength, and the ability to attract talent can continue to survive.

If they could break through with direct force or use strategy to open up the situation, why would they choose to psychologically attack the enemy? Those who are arguing here about how to deal with the enemy are just one of the few organizations that have survived by sheer luck.

"What's the point of saying all this now? Do you think we can defeat the Butcher by shifting blame and scheming against each other?"

"If we can't cooperate sincerely and work together, how can we eccentrics defeat such an enemy?"

“Bad guys should act like bad guys. Ladies and gentlemen, please be alert. I will discuss cooperation with other surviving organizations that can truly be considered an alliance.”

The obsidian throne rose silently from the ground, as if it had always been part of the abyss.

An invisible pressure instantly spread out, more suffocating than the pressure of four thousand meters of water. The figure, wrapped in a black robe and sitting on the throne, lightly tapped the ground with the scepter in his hand.

Om-!

The gravity field of the entire base instantly became disordered and reversed!