By coincidence, Lu Xun was exactly the friend Yun You had mentioned to her father that morning—the one who had grabbed an Epic-related toy during the grab ceremony.
This was not something he made up to fool Yun Li.
In a certain sense, Lu Xun could proudly say that he had been a one-track fan of Epic since birth.
…So, the reason he never joined in the class discussions about this topic, and even cut others off when they spoke, was actually quite simple—
Lu Xun didn’t dislike Kamen Rider in general, but rather Legend, who looked and had powers similar to Epic!
Epic translates to “史诗” (Epic), while Legend means “传奇” (Legendary Tale).
Their Rider names were originally very close, and with many shared traits, fans who had seen them fight side by side multiple times had already started calling them the Epic senior and junior.
However, wherever there are fans who enjoy this senior-junior interaction, there are bound to be those who dislike it.
Lu Xun was one of them.
In his eyes, Legend was just a kid who had recently become a Kamen Rider.
How could he be compared to Epic, who had saved everyone countless times—especially him?
Some even said it gave them a nostalgic feeling of “youth revisited”!
That’s way too cheapening their youth!
It was clearly riding on Epic’s popularity!!
Yet Epic, the senior, seemed completely oblivious to Legend’s scheming—he treated Legend very well!
More than once, people had caught photos of the two cooperating to fight enemies!
Lu Xun had even seen a candid shot of Epic patting Legend’s head, supposedly proof of their close relationship.
Immediately, Lu Xun grabbed his keyboard and argued for three hundred rounds with the poster, his main point being—Epic was an upright, kind, and reliable senior.
He treated every junior equally and helped them tirelessly, so that photo alone didn’t prove they were close!
Maybe Epic had juniors he liked more!
For example, what about that Glory?
Glory could also team up with Epic and be patted on the head!
Why not support the cool-sounding combo of Glory and Epic?
The day after his spirited online debate, a depressed Lu Xun, carrying a Pain Bag decked out with Epic Epic Badges and Epic Standees, went to a comic convention and encountered a cosplayer dressed in Epic’s full suit.
The enthusiastic cosplayer, impressed by Lu Xun’s fandom, immediately handed him a stack of free Photo Cards featuring senior-junior Epic shots…
Lu Xun really wanted to refuse, but the cosplayer’s suit was astonishingly accurate—every detail perfect, as if the idol himself had appeared.
The voice was probably sampled from Epic’s past interviews and post-processed, truly a one-to-one reproduction from head to toe.
Faced with such a cosplayer, Lu Xun couldn’t find any words to decline.
When he came to his senses, his phone was full of selfies with the cosplayer, showing him smiling like a fake fan.
And those Photo Cards… naturally, he took them all home as is.
…Utter humiliation.
Too humiliating.
“Lu Xun, are you here to return my notebook?”
A familiar voice snapped Lu Xun back.
He looked down at Yun You’s calm expression.
The main relief was that Yun You hadn’t brought up Kamen Rider to chat idly, which eased Lu Xun’s face and softened his tone.
“Yeah, thanks for lending it to me.”
“You’re welcome, no problem.”
Yun You took the notebook from his hand knowingly and instinctively stroked its smooth cover—no bumps from hard paper inside.
This gave him a quiet sigh of relief.
Once, inside a notebook Lu Xun returned, there were a few clearly trimmed Photo Cards showing only Epic alone…
Yun You recognized the backgrounds from posts he’d seen on wb, and he’d even noticed Yun Li collecting some of those cards, whether printed by himself or gifted by others.
So Yun You was fully aware that the cropped parts were his own Transformation form.
He had intended to pretend he hadn’t noticed and would quietly put the Photo Cards back into the notebook when returning it.
But the next day, Lu Xun unexpectedly came to him, shyly asking if he had seen the photos in the notebook.
…Yun You silently returned the notebook, never asking the forbidden questions like
“How did you get this?”
or
“Who was cropped out?”
This was exactly the survival strategy of Kamen Rider Legend, growing up safely in such a special family.
Lu Xun noticed his actions and recalled the blunder he had made earlier.
He stiffened with regret—why hadn’t he burned those delicate Photo Cards right away?
…Oh, that was when he hesitated, unable to set fire to the photos of Epic’s heroic pose.
Well, then, no big deal.
Anyway, the pesky Legend had already been cropped out, so even if others saw it, it didn’t matter much!
Besides, Yun You was a rare good person who, unlike others, never constantly mentioned Legend and often helped him out.
So even if he found out, what could it hurt?
Yun You cleared his throat to prevent Lu Xun from being so embarrassed he might snap at him.
“Is there anything in the notebook you don’t understand?”
A trace of awkwardness flashed across Lu Xun’s face.
“…I don’t understand half of it. Sorry, I wasn’t in class before…”
“Then I’ll teach you. There’s still some time before class starts.”
Lu Xun’s eyes flickered—see, he really was a good person.
He solemnly nodded,
“Th-thank you.”
This Kamen Rider superfan had a deceptively handsome face, with sharp, cold features even more striking than those on recent idol audition shows.
When he didn’t make expressions or speak, he gave off an aura of intelligence—according to the girls in class, he was the perfect “cold school prince” character straight out of a campus novel.
But in some ways, Lu Xun was rather slow-witted, often reacting half a beat late.
If the girls knew this, they’d probably have to erase the “cold prince” label and replace it with “handsome idiot.”
Even if he attended classes and did homework normally, he could only maintain above-average grades.
Now, due to frequent absences for some reason, it was even harder to keep up.
If it weren’t for Yun You’s notes and the tutoring classes his family enrolled him in, he’d probably have fallen behind.
And that reason, the one causing his constant absences…
After morning self-study, Yun You was concentrating on writing formulas when he clearly felt a vibration from his wristwatch.
A warning that a monster had appeared.
Yun You realized this, and also sensed that the peaceful morning was about to be disrupted.
Almost simultaneously, Lu Xun, who was bent over furiously taking notes in front of him, suddenly turned his head, eyes blazing as he looked at Yun You—
Remember to lend me the notes tonight.
No problem.
Yun You understood what the “handsome idiot” meant just from his gaze and nodded knowingly.
Relieved, Lu Xun immediately stood up with a quick
“Teacher, my stomach hurts, I need to go to the bathroom!”
…His acting was so utterly lacking in conviction it was practically nonexistent.
He looked nothing like someone in pain.
If one day he took the girls’ advice and joined an idol competition, he’d probably only get as far as an idol type—just a pretty silent vase.
Their math teacher and homeroom teacher, Gu Ruofeng, maybe out of habit from the past month of Lu Xun’s various frequent absences, merely pushed his glasses up and calmly gave him a scrutinizing look.
Lu Xun stared back unafraid under that intense gaze. After a moment, Gu Ruofeng nodded and agreed,
“Go ahead.”
The poor acting wasn’t only obvious to Yun You—others noticed it too.
Immediately, someone else tried to copy Lu Xun’s escape tactic,
“Teacher, my stomach hurts too!”
Gu Ruofeng turned to look at the student with the same calm expression and tone, though his words carried a subtle pressure that made listeners uncomfortable.
“His family doesn’t mind him often having stomachaches. Does your family not mind?”
The student who spoke first couldn’t hold Gu Ruofeng’s gaze like Lu Xun had.
Wiping his sweat, he slumped back down.
“Oh no, teacher, I suddenly don’t hurt anymore. Thanks for your concern. Teacher’s magic hands!”
Laughter broke out, and Gu Ruofeng knocked the blackboard.
“Anyone else stomach hurting? No? Then let’s continue.”
Yun You wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt Gu Ruofeng might have been glancing at him too.
He quickly pulled back his thoughtful gaze from the door and focused on his book.
Judging from footsteps outside the corridor, Lu Xun had probably dashed off as soon as he stepped out, and was already out of sight down the hall.
Staring any longer was useless.
First High School’s restrooms were rare single-stall ones.
The school, with its long history, hadn’t always been like this, but in recent years, after receiving some investments to upgrade infrastructure, the restrooms had also been prioritized for renovation…
No one really knew why the investors insisted on single stalls, but for someone like Lu Xun who desperately needed to avoid being seen, this was very convenient.
Avoiding everyone’s sight, Lu Xun entered the restroom and took out a bronze belt.
The belt was wrapped with bronze Vine Patterns, exquisitely detailed as if the vines might come alive any moment and entwine around a human body.
Lu Xun fastened the belt around his waist, then slid it over the plain-looking watch on his wrist, and whispered low,
“Transform!”
The shadow of a huge, thick Book of Story appeared beneath his feet.
Accompanied by the rustling sound of flipping pages, the book opened and stopped on one page.
The story on that page projected upward onto Lu Xun’s body.
When the light faded, gleaming blue armor with metallic luster had covered him completely.
The figure standing here was no longer the high schooler Lu Xun, but Kamen Rider Glory.
…That’s right, Lu Xun was also a Kamen Rider, code-named Glory—the other Rider discussed by the bespectacled boy and the chubby kid that morning, the so-called “Second Rider.”
The title of Second Rider didn’t have a strict official definition; it was just a convenient fan term to distinguish Riders by the order they appeared in each generation.
Glory appeared after Legend, so it made sense to call him Second Rider, which Lu Xun didn’t mind…
No way!
What he wanted most was to be the Main Rider, after all, his greatest idol was Epic—the Main Rider!
Unfortunately, Legend had appeared a month earlier, and this wasn’t something Lu Xun could change just because he was unhappy, so he had to accept it grudgingly.
That morning, when Lu Xun interrupted their discussion, the reason he hated Legend was only part of it; more importantly, they talked about Glory.
No, how was he being tsundere!?
He really hated Legend!
Whether it was activating his ability to speed up and block attacks in front of Legend, or fighting alongside Legend, it was only because he didn’t want the monster to escape!
Don’t get the wrong idea!