I want to become a Kamen Rider

The white creature lingered suspended in mid-air, its tail swaying leisurely.

Only children who voluntarily agree to make a contract with Kyubey can become Kamen Riders.

Fan Kang released his grip, and Qiu Bi landed lightly back on his shoulder.

……

……

"You planned this all along, you beast."

It's simply about making reasonable use of the probabilities of fate.

The rain started again.

'The number of Fallen Knights in a given area is limited; defeating a sufficiently powerful Fallen Knight will grant you a Fallen Knight Seed to remove the corruption.'

Another Cupid jumped onto the top of the vending machine, its red eyes reflecting the direction the girl had gone.

'Well, Shoko Toyokawa? Will you become a hero to protect her daily life?'

The sound of rain drowned out the answer.

The girl called Toyokawa Shoko's knuckles, gripping the umbrella handle tightly, had turned white.

I heard it; among the fallen stones, a faint, goldfish-bubbling cry for help could be heard.

"I……"

She hesitated, about to speak.

.........

……

"I reject."

A boy with a Kyubey on his shoulder suddenly appeared between the wavering girl and the Kyubey on the vending machine.

"But……"

This was the first time Toyokawa Shoko had ever seen a human being like this.

When selfishness becomes the norm, nobility becomes shameful, and self-preservation is perfectly justifiable, she never imagined that one day she would witness such purity and passion somewhere.

"There is no need to add any more Kamen Riders."

Pointing to the Kyubey on his shoulder, the man said matter-of-factly, completely ignoring the murderous glares of the two Kyubeys present.

"I'll take on the duty of fighting."

Chapter Seven: Speeding Through the Night

Two months later.

Shinjuku Ward, Okubo Bridge.

The steel dragon arched its back on the inky river, its twelve cable-stayed cables vibrating like harp strings, producing a deep hum in the night wind.

At 11:47 PM, the rider arrived as promised. He took off his helmet, revealing a handsome but sickly young face. The biker gang members blocking the way sat astride their modified Honda CB750 motorcycles, staring at the young man before them.

"Hey buddy, you have to pay a toll for nighttime tours."

"Are you the strongest monster in this area?"

Fan Kang turned off the engine, and the roar of the Kawasaki ZII he bought with money borrowed from Toyokawa Shoko startled the night herons perched on the bridge piers. As those pure white birds swept across the bridge, he looked back at the biker gang.

That's the look of prey.

"Are you the strongest knight in this area?"

"I am the most powerful knight in the world right now."

There is not a trace of boasting or exaggeration.

While most contractors are just getting to know Kyubey, making a contract, becoming Kamen Riders, and figuring out how to fight, he has already traveled across time and has over twenty years of combat experience. He has even defeated Godzilla. When he calls himself the strongest, he is simply stating a fact.

The biker gang removed their skull masks, revealing the bluish-black lines creeping across their necks. The Honda CB750 beneath them emitted a defiant, beastly growl, and sparks from the exhaust pipe scorched the road surface.

"You're really talking big. Do you think you can catch up with me?"

"You can try it."

The boy stood on one foot, letting the night wind blow into his open coat, the Yaguru belt around his waist gleaming with a scarlet luster.

The other party's scarlet Honda CB750 was modified to the point of being deformed, with four mufflers extending from the exhaust pipe like octopus tentacles, and tattered strips of cloth stained with the blood of living people wrapped around the rims. The biker gang member was dressed in Showa-era special attack uniforms, the word "Yaksha" on the back being lifted by the airflow from the bridge's vibrations, revealing dark purple, scaly skin underneath—in this brief exchange, the other party had already completed their monster transformation.

Or to be more precise, he turned back into a Gurongi.

"Kuuga, follow me."

The biker gang... no, the Gurongi grinned, revealing fangs, and the modified exhaust pipe no longer spewed out exhaust fumes, but rather a blackish-purple mist carrying a putrid stench.

Gurongi twisted the throttle sharply. The moment the front wheels of the locomotive lifted off the ground, the bridge lights exploded one after another, and dark red energy surged from the tire marks, melting the asphalt road surface into a boiling pool of magma.

"Catch up with him."

As the Gurongi motorcycle vanished in a dark purple blur, Fan Kang lightly tapped the spirit stone at his waist.

The Kawasaki ZII's dashboard then disintegrates into honeycomb-like particles, the fuel tank bulges with the metal armor of a stag beetle, and the front fork extends into three pairs of anti-jointed mechanical feet—the Golem motorcycle is completed in an instant.

The two motorcycles engaged in a chase on the surface of the bridge.

Two sonic booms resounded almost simultaneously throughout the long night.

Just when Gurongi thought it would be a thrilling motorcycle showdown, the rider reflected in the rearview mirror tilted his head back and drank in the night wind.

Then, he heard an unbelievable sound...

"Feel sorry."

Unbelievable! In just two months, Kuuga, who killed monsters like dirt and made everyone afraid to show their faces, actually apologized to a Grongi who had several lives on his hands. What was he apologizing for?

Soon, he, a former biker gang member and a motorcycle enthusiast, learned the reason.

What followed behind was not a Kamen Rider vehicle to test speed, but a large fireball summoned by Kuuga, its flames illuminating the night—an apology for disrespecting the already arranged contest.

One shot, two shots, three shots, four shots, five shots.

The barrage of fireballs nearly blocked his path.

He desperately tried to dodge on his motorcycle, but to no avail. Having been caught off guard and attacked so swiftly, he was simply a sitting duck for his opponent.

"Despicable!" Gurongi roared, flinging the blood-stained strip of cloth from the wheel hub, but the cloth burned to ashes in the flames.

"Eighth shot." Fan Kang counted softly, the fireball collapsing into an incandescent point of light in his palm.

"Kuuga!" The Gurongi roared, filled with resentment. "What kind of warrior are you?!"

Fan Kang held the handlebars with one hand, while his other hand grabbed dark red particles from the void. The particles collapsed into a blazing white core in his palm, illuminating the hatred in the boy's eyes.

He said calmly:

"Twenty years ago, I might have played racing games with you." The tenth fireball roared through the night sky, "But now, I only care about efficiency."

They will never confront their enemies fair and square, but will use everything at their disposal as a weapon. Even if they gain the power to save others, the habits ingrained by their past efforts will not change.

"I'm sorry, I'm an ugly adult knight, I even deceive the Grongi."

He apologized again, but before he could finish speaking, the tenth fireball had already pierced through the Gurongi's fuel tank.

This time, the flames from the explosion were not crimson but indigo; they were the flames of purification.

The falling motorcycle parts splashed ripples on the river. The boy, transformed into Kuuga, got off the motorcycle and reached out to grab a piece of flying special attack uniform. The word "Yasha" on the fabric was fading, revealing the words "Metropolitan Police Department Traffic Department Patrol Team Member - Yamada Ichiro" embroidered underneath.

To save the lives of the citizens, the police, who lacked the power of a knight, stepped forward, lost the race, and ultimately sank into the river below the bridge.

Even their clothes were taken and altered, used as spoils of war for the Gurongi to flaunt their victory.

“Your daughter is doing just fine at Yotsuya Third Elementary School,” he said to the souls of the dead who had sunk into the abyss. “This morning… she even received a report card with straight A’s.”

In the distance, the searchlights of the Shinjuku Police Station swept across the water, illuminating a string of dissipating foam, like rain rising in reverse.

The knight lit the lotus-blue flame of rebirth as a form of mourning.

……

……

At the head of Okubo Bridge, stood a very pretty girl.

Without any intention of being stingy with the fruits of his battle, Fan Kang handed over the Seed of Monsters to the girl.

"Takamatsu Akari, right?"

He speaks his mind.

"Don't transform anymore. I can fight on my own."

The bubble began to rise.

The real rain, however, was falling.

The girl's beige knitted cardigan was lifted by a corner by the night wind, revealing the strap of a canvas bag sewn with jellyfish embroidery inside. Underneath her dark blue pleated skirt, her loafers unconsciously brushed against the lingering shadow of a night heron in the water on the bridge.

Watching the other person's lonely figure leave, the girl's fingers tightened around the canvas bag. She had been preparing herself for a long time, encouraging herself repeatedly, and only now did she finally open her mouth:

"Thank you, thank you..."

"You're welcome."

Fan Kang walked toward the motorcycle, showing no intention of turning back for a few more words, nor any desire to analyze the other person's thoughts, unless she offered to share the stones she had picked up with him.

Otherwise, to him, this was just a troublesome fool who was fooled by Kyubey's words that becoming a Kamen Rider would allow him to collect more interesting "stones".

"Um... Xiao Xiang told me... about the buckwheat noodle shop..."

"..."

Perhaps her voice was too soft to be heard, or perhaps her words were too unclear. Watching the figure walk away without responding, the girl finally gave up and shouted loudly:

"Um, Xiao Xiang said he'd like to treat you to dinner!"

"I'm not free this week."

The girl looked dejected.

"Next week, maybe."

The girl suddenly looked up.

"I...I will tell Xiaoxiang!"

"Next Saturday, Yotsuya 3-chome." Fan Kang twisted the accelerator, the roar tearing through the raindrops suspended between them. "No time wasters."

Chapter Eight: The Ghost of Kanto

The night is still long.

The hunt is not over yet.

From the day of his rebirth until now, two months have passed since he got used to the various monsters, such as the Oddity, Gurongi, and Unknowns, that he began to hunt as Kuuga. Roughly speaking, the number of individuals who died at Fan Kang's hands has exceeded one hundred, and he has also destroyed several small dark organizations.

At first glance, it sounds like an exaggerated number, but in the history of the next thirty years that he knows, the frequency and strength of the enemy's appearance have been increasing day by day. In other words, this stage is when the opponent is at its weakest. With his skills and experience from thirty years in the future, it is almost like using a max-level character to block the dark organization's newbie village.

Especially after receiving a loan from Ms. Toyokawa to buy a motorcycle, his patrol and support radii were dramatically enhanced. He had become known among some of the Grongi and monsters who dared not show their faces and hid in fear as the bloodthirsty Kuuga who ate three meals a day and drank with two monster heads at each meal.

It is said that now when the two dark organizations meet in private, they must first investigate his activity patterns and run to the other side of the world to avoid being arrested on the spot. There are also those who do not believe in evil, since they are all dead anyway.

What's rather amusing is that, in my memory, this stage, when the curtain is drawn back and the demons first appear, should have been a chaotic scene of demons dancing and ghosts roaming at night, with countless deaths and injuries. But because of his activity, in the eyes of some beings, the main theme has become forbearance, forbearance, and more forbearance.

However, while seeking advantage and avoiding harm is a biological instinct, not all targets are smart enough to know to avoid Kuuga.

For example... the demonized demon.

The chirping of insects on a summer night was cut off by the sound of sticky sap.

Fan Kang held the handlebars with one hand and held up the photo with the other—the picture should have shown golden wheat fields, but now it showed barnyard grass with an eerie bluish glow.

The motorcycle rolled over the paddy field ridges, its tire treads filled with a mixture of rice stalks and frog eggs. Moonlight spilled onto the irrigation canal 500 meters away, casting three distorted silhouettes—the carapace of a demonic monster was absorbing the cold light of fireflies.

"found it."