Ryuki 3

After leaving the countryside and working at various jobs, Shinji Kido finally got his job as an odd-jobs service provider to take off. It was around that time when he became a Masked Rider.

He didn’t really start working odd-jobs with any concrete thought put into it, but he liked the job. 

His job was always different so it never got boring. He didn’t have to wake up early, and he didn’t have to deal with an annoying boss. 

Most of all, he loved seeing his clients thank him from the bottom of their hearts. 

Shinji happily cleaned gardens, took dogs out for walks, helped people move, looked after the elderly, and sometimes even acted as a model for art students. 

One day, he received a request from a first-timer to his service, asking him to clean his house. 

It was a job he was used to, so Shinji put on some sweat pants and a sweatshirt and headed out of the house with a scrubbing brush, a bucket, some rags, and detergent. There were a lot of clients that didn’t have any cleaning tools on them. 

Shinji sped off on his 50cc moped, stopped by at a street booth to buy a lottery ticket along the way, and then headed to his destination.  

His business was going well at the time and luck was on his side. 

He received quite the generous tip from a client not too long ago, and when he was eating breakfast that morning, a small spider dropped onto the tip of his nose. His grandma had said that spiders in the morning were a sign of good fortune. 

Perhaps he’d even win the lottery.  

Shinji drove his moped while thinking about what he’d do if he won the lottery. The first thing he’d do would be to buy all the ice cream at the convenience store. He’d buy every single ice-related item in the icebox. Now that would be a big purchase. 

Shinji loved frozen desserts ever since he was a child. 

He enjoyed the sensation of the sweet flavor mixing with his saliva and disappearing. He also loved having his mouth cooled. It was like his body was being washed.  

Back when he lived with his parents, he’d often sit at the veranda while eating the shaved ice his grandma made until his stomach hurt. 

After arriving at the address he was given over the phone, he parked his moped and made his way up the stairs of the aged apartment.  

He pressed on the doorbell of the apartment number he was given only to get no response. 

Upon knocking on the door while calling the name of the client, he ended up slightly opening the door with a creak.  

He suddenly had a bad feeling about this. It was the middle of the afternoon yet the room that could be seen from beyond the door was pitch black. It was as if there was darkness oozing out from it.  

Excuse me~, he said as he stepped foot into the house, but he couldn’t see a thing. 

After his eyes grew more accustomed, Shinji realized the cause behind the darkness. 

Black curtains were drawn over the window. Shinji ran his hands across the walls and found a light switch, but the lights wouldn’t turn on.  

He felt something sting him at the bottom of his foot. Upon illuminating the area with his cellphone, he noticed that a tiny piece of a mirror had stabbed him. There were numerous fragments scattered across the floor. Pieces of glass were mixed in among them as well. 

Shinji tried opening the curtains but no light would shine through. Black paint covered the window and numerous newspapers were pasted on top as well.  

There wasn’t anything in the room that could reflect light. In other words, there was nothing that could reflect the world. Upon taking a closer look at the mirror fragments, each one was scratched up and had clouded surfaces The glass of the clock had been shattered and the television was covered with newspapers. 

Shinji once again tried calling out the name of his client. 

He then found a young man about the same age as Shinji hanging with his neck tied to the ceiling.  

Shinji couldn’t quite remember what he did over the next few minutes after that.  

All that he knew for sure was that he called the police and an ambulance, followed by lowering the man down to the floor and giving him CPR. 

The man regained consciousness. He then stretched his arm out towards Shinji and grabbed onto his hand. 

He then let the emergency response team who rushed in to take over, and by the time Shinji explained the situation to the police and was released by them, it was already evening. 

Shinji rushed home on his moped while thinking about the day’s events. 

Why was that man trying to kill himself? Why was his room pitch black? Why were there broken mirrors and glass everywhere? 

Shinji thought about how the man should’ve contacted him earlier. 

He handled all kinds of odd-jobs. He could’ve heard him out.  

The only consolation he had was that he was able to save the man’s life. 

After a while, Shinji decided that he would visit the man once again. He’d tell him that he should never try to kill himself again. He’d even become his friend if that’s what he’d want. 

Suddenly purple clouds began drifting through the area. 

Shinji had no way of knowing this, the events that would follow were almost the same as what happened with Ren. 

The wind made a road within the clouds. 

Beyond the road appeared an old-looking church. 

Shinji got off of his bike and sneaked into the church. Numerous Shinjis appeared in front of him. They were Shinjis inside the mirrors, as well as the reflected images of the Shinjis inside the mirrors.  

Eventually, a black shadow emerged from deep within the mirror labyrinth and stared at Shinji. 

Shinji found himself to be a little lost. Perhaps he was drunk off the clouds. 

The only difference between what happened to Ren and Shinji was that Shinji already had the emblem in his hand. 

(Write your wish.) 

The shadow spoke to Shinji. 

This is a dream, Shinji thought to himself. A really special dream, at that. 

God had appeared in Shinji’s dream and was telling him that he’d grant his wish. It was probably his reward for saving someone’s life.  

Shinji wrote his wish on the mirror with his finger. 

(I wish that I will win the lottery.) 

The wish turned into letters of blood and flowed into the mirror. It was only then that Shinji first realized that he had an emblem of a dragon’s face in his hand. 

The emblem was embedded into his hand like an engraved stamp, with the blood seeping out from it dripping from his fingertips. 

This wasn’t a dream. 

Upon finally recognizing the pain in his hand, Shinji returned to his senses and looked at the shadow. 

What the heck is going on? Who in the world is this person? 

(The man you saved was a Masked Rider who abandoned his contract and instead handed it to you. By writing your wish, you have finalized the transfer. From now on, you must fight as a Masked Rider. You are capable of transforming via the power of your emblem. If you can survive as the last one standing, then your wish will be granted.) 

Shinji stared at the emblem in his hand and then remembered.  

When the man hanging from the ceiling drew breath again, he stretched out his arm and grabbed Shinji’s hand.  

That must have been when he left the emblem in Shinji’s hand. 

But realizing that didn’t help solve any problems at all. He still had no idea what was going on. 

“Wait, hold on just a second here! I seriously don’t get what you’re going on about. What’s a Masked Rider? Who am I supposed to fight? And who even are you?!” 

The shadow then disappeared into the mirror without responding to him. 

“W-Wait!” 

Shinji stretched out his hand towards the mirror in an attempt to grab hold of it. 

The very next moment, his body was enveloped by the light of the emblem, and he was transferred to the Mirror World. 

A world flipped left to right, a world with warped constellations, a world without sound, a world that caused dizziness from the silence that seemed to seep into the body.  

Within this soundless space were several strange figures fighting each other. Their bizarre forms all differed from one another, but each one was wearing a metal mask and wielded differently-shaped weapons as they fought each other with extreme bloodlust.  

Shinji realized that he too had transformed at one point and began to struggle to take off his mask in a panic.  

He couldn’t breathe. The only thing on his mind was to take off the mask so that he could fill his lungs with oxygen again. 

Upon receiving a blow to the back, Shinji was thrown forward. 

Turning around, he was received with the low laughing voice of a man with a mask of a cobra. 

(This is a festival. You should enjoy it, too. No, rather, I want you to entertain me.) 

The cobra man cracked his neck and knuckles as if he was warming up and then snapped his fingers. That being said, there was no actual crack or snap, as there was no sound in the Mirror World. But Shinji was able to imagine the sounds coming from the man’s neck and finger bones.  

The cobra man slammed his heel down onto Shinji’s stomach while he still laid on the floor. 

Shinji could feel his gastric juice and blood regurgitating from within his throat.  

The man’s attacks were relentless. He aimed for a single point on Shinji’s stomach and stomped on it again and again. Shinji was able to pick up on a clear sense of madness and bloodlust coming from him, sending chills up his spine. 

Shinji quickly got up and grabbed onto the man’s waist. 

At the same time, he performed an overhead throw and sent the man flying. 

(Stop! Just stop this already! This has to be some kind of mistake!) 

Shinji shouted but no voice came out. Even so, he continued to shout. 

(I’m just a humble odd-job handyman!! I mostly live my life cleaning people’s houses and walking their dogs! So please just bring me back to my own world!) 

(Die, odd-job handyman!) 

When the cobra man swung his drill-like sword, an explosion occurred. 

The origin of the flames that had swelled up below the man’s feet couldn’t be discerned. 

It was likely a stray bullet that had flown in from the numerous Masked Riders fighting against each other. 

At the same time, Shinji and the cobra man were launched into the air before heavily slamming into a guard rail and leaving dents. 

Shinji could hear the echoing shouts of Masked Riders in the soundless Mirror World. They were all made up of murderous intent, fear, and regret. 

The multiple emotions entangling and mixing with each other formed a bullet that pierced Shinji’s heart.  

(Stop!) 

Shinji found himself shouting. 

(What the heck are you guys doing?! Stop this! Don’t fight! Calm down!) 

But no one would pay heed to Shinji’s words. His voice simply got lost in the dark vortex of screams and disappeared.  

Just as he thought that the fighting would continue on forever, something strange happened. The cobra man jumped into a roadside mirror. His body disappeared into it as if he had jumped into water.  

(So that’s the exit, huh?) 

Shinji followed the man’s example and dived into the mirror. 

 

He found himself on an empty night road.  

He suddenly realized that he had returned to the real world. 

The moped that he had been riding was toppled sideways on the side of the road. 

Shinji confirmed the pain in his body and his hand and let out a small groan. 

It’s not a dream. That insane world actually exists. It’s another world just like this one. 

Shinji was lost in confusion. As he attempted to sort out every single thing that happened that day in order, he heard footsteps coming from the darkness, and soon enough, a man showed up, illuminated by the street lights.  

Ren walked towards Shinji, approaching closer and closer until the tips of their feet were practically touching each other.  

“Are you… a newcomer?” 

Ren, who was taller than Shinji, looked down on him with his dark furrowed eyebrows. 

“W-What’s your deal? Wait, don’t tell me you’re that cobra guy.” 

Upon reaching that conclusion, Shinji quickly put up a defensive stance. He knew he would be in big trouble if his hunches were correct. 

“…No. He’s a contractor called Ouja.” 

“Ouja?” 

“He’s the most insane guy out of all the contractors. You’re lucky that you still managed to survive after having had his eyes set on you.” 

“Then who the heck are you?” 

After Ren stayed silent for a while, Shinji decided to introduce himself first. 

“I’m Shinji Kido. It’s nice to meet you. And you are?” 

“We’re bound to kill each other. There’s no point in telling each other our names.” 

“What the heck do you mean by killing each other? There’s no way you’d catch me doing something like that. What’s even going on here, anyway? What was with that weird world?” 

Shinji just kept talking and talking. He didn’t care who the person was. He just wanted his questions answered. 

“This is all something you chose to do. You wrote your wish on those mirrors of prayer too, didn’t you?” 

“Mirrors of prayer? You mean at that church? Well, yeah, I did. I wrote that I wanted to win the lottery. But what would that have to do with anything?”
“The lottery, huh? That’s one hell of a wish.” 

Ren’s lips curled into a sneer. “Let me give you a warning. If you’re a contractor, then don’t try to stop the fighting. It’s futile. Plus, hypocrites pull shit like that piss me off to no end.” 

“What do you mean by hypocrite? I’m pretty sure the average guy would try to stop fights like that.” 

“If you don’t want to fight, then just retire like the last Ryuki.” 

“Ryuki?” 

“That’s your name now.” 

After leaving those words, Ren disappeared into the darkness. 

  

The next day, Shinji went to the hospital to visit the man who attempted to kill himself in his apartment. 

There was a lot he wanted to ask him, and more than anything he wanted to give back the emblem. 

He ended up trying to stop the fighting in the Mirror World on impulse when he saw it, but the truth was that he’d rather avoid involving himself with it altogether. Shinji didn’t want to fight. 

He just wanted to help people through his odd-jobs. 

Shinji was informed of the man’s death at the reception desk. 

He was on track with his recovery, but apparently, he suddenly got out of bed and began to break mirrors and glass before finally breaking the glass to the window and falling from the 7th story of the hospital.  

Shinji returned to his apartment and filled a bowl with salt, prayed for the man with an incense stick he bought on his way back home, and then once again took a closer look at the emblem.  

There was no doubt that it was supposed to resemble a dragon’s face, but the pale gold emblem was incredibly light. Light, but sturdy. 

His hands could not bend it in even the slightest. Scissors wouldn’t cut it and fire didn’t seem to have any effect on it whatsoever. 

As he fiddled with it in every way he could think of, Shinji looked at a mirror and jumped in surprise. He just happened to face the emblem towards a mirror, causing it to shoot out light and form words on the mirror’s surface. 

They were words detailing the rules of the Masked Rider battle. 

  

One, contractors are to fight until they are the last one standing. 

Two, the victor can have any one wish of theirs granted. 

Three, contractors are bound by contract to the Mirror Monster their emblem symbolizes. Contractors are capable of transforming using their Mirror Monster’s power. 

Four, contracted Mirror Monsters are required to be fed at least once every 120 hours. Their feed can either consist of other Mirror Monsters or the life of another contractor. 

Five, if Article Four cannot be satisfied, the Mirror Monster will feed on their contractor instead. 

Six, if a contractor wishes to do battle, they are able to announce their fighting will to other contractors by transforming and entering the Mirror World.  

Seven, contractors can only remain in the Mirror World for five minutes. If that time limit is exceeded, then the contractor’s body will disintegrate. However, if the contractor returns to the real world, then that time limit will be refreshed. This can be done up to three times every 24 hours. 

Eight, fighting amongst each other in human form is strictly forbidden. Battles must be conducted within the Mirror World. 

Nine, contractors are capable of nullifying their contract. However, this requires that another individual be found to take over their contract.  

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