When Yun You sat down at the table, Yun Li was pouring the warmed milk into three separate cups, while Lin Zhifeng rested her chin on the dining table, scrolling through short videos out of sheer boredom.
Her thumb flicked rapidly across the screen, clearly unable to find a satisfying snack-time video.
“Mom, don’t play with your phone while eating,” Yun You reminded her.
Lin Zhifeng waved her hand carelessly.
“I know, I know, it’s just that the food isn’t served yet.”
Perhaps looking for an ally, she tilted her head and gave Yun Li, who was carrying the milk, a sly smile.
“Right?”
Yun Li, who was utterly unreserved when it came to his wife, nodded.
“That’s right, that’s right, the meal hasn’t started yet. It’s okay to play for a bit.”
Yun You silently reproached him with her eyes for his betrayal, though it caused no real harm to Yun Li.
Yun Li placed the milk in front of Lin Zhifeng and Yun You, then leaned against Lin Zhifeng’s chair, taking a few sips from his own cup.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the video title on Lin Zhifeng’s screen—and immediately spat out a mouthful of milk.
“‘Nostalgia Overload! A Recap of Kamen Riders Through the Years—Which One’s Your Favorite?’”
Lin Zhifeng quickly put down her phone and handed a tissue to Yun Li.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
The video kept playing clips of various Kamen Riders executing Rider Kicks against enemies from every angle.
Each move perfectly matched the intense background music.
Even though some footage was understandably blurry due to age, the care of the video’s creator was evident. The comment section was flooded with praises like
“So cool!”
and
“When will the Hero Belts the country owes me be released?”
Of course, a brief glance like this couldn’t reveal much.
The issue was, Yun Li had seen this video before—and not just once.
He even knew the creator, Yuluo Lianyi.
In fact… the cover photo of the video was taken by Yuluo Lianyi herself back in the day when she asked him to pose up close.
Otherwise, how could he have pulled off such a perfect classic pose?
So he also knew that since this was a recap video, it was inevitable there would be the usual showdown among fans comparing strength.
Starting with the comment
“Kamen Rider King is the strongest, no arguments,” viewers would inevitably start defending their favorite Riders and debating who was truly the strongest.
Naturally, this would include Yun Li himself—the first-generation Rider.
Nostalgia was a powerful balm; as the childhood and youth of many, Kamen Rider Epic’s combat prowess was unquestionable.
Then there was Kamen Rider King, the hottest Rider in recent years.
Known for his decisive style and near-perfect record, King attracted many fans who admired strength.
However, since King debuted recently, his fanbase tended to be younger and more prone to stirring up trouble online, which somewhat complicated his public image.
When Yun Li first saw this video, he was secretly pleased—look at that, after all these years, he still had so many fans.
Not quite washed-up yet!
He even used a secondary account to give Yuluo Lianyi a like and a couple of coins, then posted a lengthy comment: Although he also liked Epic a lot, strictly speaking about combat strength, he believed King was stronger, both in achievements and raw data.
After all, just a few days ago, Yun Li had witnessed King, without even transforming, single-handedly take down a group of fruit knife-wielding thieves while apologizing at the same time.
Yun Li reckoned that even with his own training, it would be hard to pull off that feat unarmed…
Just for that, he was willing to call King the strongest.
As expected, his comment was brutally attacked by his own fans, with private messages bombarding him with compilations of Epic’s most intense moments, telling him to see who the real strongest was.
None of this dampened his mood.
Someone who could be a Kamen Rider couldn’t afford a bad attitude.
The only reason Yun Li reacted so strongly now was because the person who had just watched that video was Lin Zhifeng!
When he first met Lin Zhifeng, she had been very clear about disliking Kamen Riders.
Even when Yun Li, as Kamen Rider Epic, pulled her out from a collapsing building, she had given him a fierce glare before grudgingly thanking him.
All signs showed she really hated Kamen Riders.
Because of that, Yun Li had forced himself to keep his distance from Kamen Riders in front of her, afraid of being lumped in and disliked as well.
And… though he had thoroughly enjoyed posing for that photo Yuluo Lianyi asked him to take, and later admired his own heroic image, looking back now, that photo’s pose was really over the top!
Just showing Lin Zhifeng that cover photo was already suffocating enough.
With so many debates in the comments and bullet chats arguing Epic was the strongest…
Yun Li felt so embarrassed he could’ve invented a whole new final form with his toe curling in shame.
He accepted the tissue and awkwardly wiped the corner of his mouth.
“Zhifeng, aren’t you… not that into Kamen Riders? Especially Epic? Come on, listen to Xiao You, put down your phone.”
As he spoke, he casually reached out and swiped away the video, his movements smooth and natural, betraying no trace of deliberate interference.
The intense drums and guitar vanished, replaced by a lively, sweet female vocal humming a cheerful tune.
Yun Li’s sharp eyes caught sight of a group of girls in powder blue, red, and yellow, jumping and dancing with dazzling magical effects activating their spells.
Magical girls.
He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, pointing to the clearly central red twin-tailed magical girl.
“I thought you liked… uh?”
Lin Zhifeng snatched the phone back with an unbelievably quick move and nonchalantly switched back to the previous video.
The fast-paced drums resumed.
She stared intently at the Riders on the screen without looking up.
“Ah, it’s fine, I didn’t really hate Epic to begin with… Hey, come on, even after all these years, Epic looks kinda cool now.”
Does this person know how to edit videos?
Why include only the part from when she first debuted, at her most attention-seeking and naïve?
I can’t take it!
I’d rather painfully compliment Epic than watch my family see my young self’s embarrassing history!
At least Epic only caused her some trouble!
Once, when she sensed a monster attacking the mall she was shopping at, she hid in a place where no one could find her to transform—but that annoying Kamen Rider Epic found her anyway and carried her out princess-style, turning it into the headline news that day.
Her classmates teased her for years after… Yeah, Epic was pretty detestable.
Destroy everything!
Because she didn’t lift her head, she missed the complex look in Yun Li’s eyes.
In another situation, Yun Li might have been pleased to hear Lin Zhifeng refrain from fiercely criticizing Epic’s pretense, suspecting he was just a greasy guy.
But why now?
Lin Zhifeng casually tucked her long hair behind her flushed ear and declared,
“Besides, everyone living here has been saved by Epic at some point. How could they really hate him?”
Then she turned her head to look at Yun You, who was quietly eating his egg.
“Xiao You, right?”
Yun You:
“He’s doing his best to stay under the radar, so why is he still getting dragged into these battles?”
Swallowing his bite of fried egg, Yun You nodded.
“Yeah, Mom’s right. My friend really likes Kamen Rider Epic. I heard when he was a year old, the toy he grabbed at the ‘Zhua Zhou’ ceremony was Epic’s Hero Belt… He even has lots of Epic merchandise at home, including the original edition SHF True Bone Carving.”
…What’s this bone carving?
Doesn’t compute.
Lin Zhifeng wasn’t interested in those highly specialized terms, but that didn’t stop her from smiling even wider.
“See? Even their generation likes it! Classics never go out of style!”
Yun Li was undeterred.
Suddenly, he swiped the video away again, moving faster than he did back in the day disarming a city-wide threat.
“No, Epic’s out of date! Not only can’t he beat Kamen Rider King, but he’s also not as popular as the veteran Magical Girl Hongfeng!”
Lin Zhifeng: “Veteran?”
At that, Yun Li shivered involuntarily.
Years of battle experience had taught him to detect danger early.
He looked around, puzzled—except for his wife and son, no one else was there.
Where was the danger coming from?
Must be his imagination.
Shaking off the strange feeling, Yun Li pointed at the million-plus views under Hongfeng’s video.
“Look, Hongfeng’s video has 100,000 more views than that Kamen Rider recap! The end of the Kamen Rider era is here! Magical girls are just more popular now!”
A vein twitched briefly on Lin Zhifeng’s forehead.
Her fist clenched under the table, holding back the urge to argue, she pointed at the video’s upload date.
“Wrong! The magical girl video just came out a few days earlier and took the lead! Didn’t you always say a man’s romance is transforming? You’re not seriously saying that kind of transformation is turning into a magical girl, are you?”
As the two of them were about to argue further, a crisp snap interrupted them.
Snap!
They both turned their heads simultaneously to look at Yun You, who had just put down his utensils.
Then their eyes lit up, and in unison they asked,
“Xiao You, who do you like better?”
Lately, so many people had been asking him this question.
Recalling that street interview, Yun You took a deep breath and gave the same answer as in the video: “I… like them all.”
But to stop them from going on forever about it, he resolutely sacrificed himself.
“But my favorite Kamen Rider is neither Epic nor Hongfeng.”
Yun Li, who had just thought he found a glimmer of hope, suddenly felt his pupils shake: “Didn’t you say Dad is your hero, and you’ll always be Dad’s loyal fan?”
Why the change of heart?
Lin Zhifeng slumped back into her seat.
If it’s not Hongfeng, then who does Xiao You like best?
The cold and beautiful Bellflower?
The gentle and bright Chamomile?
Or maybe the mysterious Heather…?
Yun You seemed to hear their inner cries.
He took the phone from their stunned hands without resistance, swiped the screen, and opened Yuluo Lianyi’s latest video, then turned the screen toward them.
“Main Generation Rider Legend and Main Generation Camellia! Who do you support more?”
With the resolve of a hero heading into battle, Yun You closed his eyes and said,
“My favorites are these two… Kamen Rider Legend and Magical Girl Camellia.”
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