The world dissolved into a hazy red.
Rikuo felt the emotions in his heart calm down before he began to pay attention to the current space. He saw himself standing in a long corridor with no end in sight. Under his feet was a mirror-like calm water surface, and every step he took caused ripples, but he could not hear the sound of water. There was no sky above, only countless suspended cards, slowly rotating like stars.
"Is that so, old man? Then I won't hold back."
Rikuo simply sat down cross-legged, looking at the middle-aged man opposite him. Although he called himself an old man, he was actually very strong and showed no signs of time having left its mark on him. It was as if the person who left that day was not him.
"Then let's start from the beginning. Old man, you're also a Kamen Rider, aren't you?"
"No."
"No?"
"That's right, I am not the Kamen Rider you speak of, or rather, there is no such thing as a Kamen Rider at all."
"?"
Rikuo clearly felt that his brain was clear, but he could not understand what the other person was saying.
"What do you mean there's no such thing as a Kamen Rider? Then what was I transforming into?"
"That was your Kamen Rider."
"?"
Rikuo felt even more confused after asking.
"My Kamen Rider? What does that mean?"
"Actually, Kamen Riders never existed in this world. There were only Undead and their species wars. The losing species would enter a cycle within 10 years. The winner could fulfill any wish that wasn't resurrecting other species or guaranteeing their own victory in the next battle."
"But, child, there are no winners in war. All the Undead, in their endless cycles, discovered one thing: even if they won the species war and their own species survived, then what?"
"Then they can only kill each other? Losing their natural predators, their food? While it's not impossible for herbivores to be overlords, but child, what about the next cycle? Can you guarantee you'll always be the winner? Can you guarantee your species will always be peaceful?"
"A war limited by rules, or any war for that matter! It will only be a bloody marathon! Everyone has to risk their lives to harm each other, to achieve a victory that isn't even a victory!"
"So all creatures began to have an unwritten rule: stop meaningless wars. Of course, natural selection is instinct. What we need to stop is the genocidal wars of the Undead!"
"But the Creator is not a fool. After 500 consecutive years without a winner, a creature that promotes war appeared: the Joker. No matter what, if only one remains, the Joker will always be the strongest."
"The Joker will assassinate the Undead in the dark when they stop fighting. Once the Joker becomes the ultimate winner, the world will be destroyed and then reincarnated."
"However, because the meaningless wars stopped, the world began to develop, and creatures began to evolve, leading to the emergence of intelligent beings like humans. The human Undead proposed that he win the war, and then he would use himself to seal the Joker, because through long evolution, humans also developed their unique ability: the soul. That is, emotions."
"After the war ended, humans had originally won, but he chose not to eliminate the Joker and continue this cycle. He chose to have the Joker seal himself. Although all creatures lost in this cycle, he brought hope."
"Entering the previous cycle, this time the Joker gradually developed emotions. In natural selection, all creatures showed greater growth. In this future full of hope, all Undead (including the Joker) chose self-sealing. This way, there would be no winners, and no losers. Or rather, all creatures would be winners."
"But, as mentioned before, the Creator is not a fool. After the world prospered for hundreds of millions of years, he finally discovered that something was wrong with one of his planets. So he unsealed all the cards, but this time there was no such thing as sealing, only death. Once all Undead die, their species will no longer reincarnate. If all other Undead die, the world will be directly destroyed."
Rikuo interrupted the other party at this point.
"But, you said 'last time'?"
"That's right, it was indeed last time, because the Creator forgot that the Joker had emotions! As long as the Joker wins, the world will be destroyed and reincarnated."
"Since the Joker had emotions and bonds, all that was needed was for another Joker to appear after the world was destroyed. Because the Undead were gone, as long as this Joker also had emotions, there would be no more wars. Although creatures would need to reincarnate, as long as there were always two Jokers in the world, the world would never reincarnate or be destroyed."
"Because the Creator could not change the original rules! He could only add a few conditions, but this also cost him his life, because that was the Joker he had set up! No matter what, if only one remains, the Joker will always be the strongest. So before the world was destroyed, besides the Joker, there was only one left!"
"The Creator!"
"In this species war, the Joker's final wish was for another Joker with emotions to appear. The two would never meet but would stay in contact to ensure there were always two Jokers in the world."
Rikuo listened silently to his father's long discourse. Although he felt the truth of the world was cruel, he was glad it had a beautiful ending.
"But, because the Joker had human emotions, when the Creator died, he cursed them. The Joker became human, and all their descendants would be powerless Jokers, and there could only be a maximum of two Jokers. So whenever a Joker had a child, after the child matured, they would also be stripped of being a Joker and quickly die."
Rikuo understood at this point that his father was one of the Jokers, and he would be the next one.
"However, things are unpredictable. The other Joker died accidentally without children. (Because the Joker was cursed to be human, they are essentially human.) Actually, it's not surprising, because this cycle has been going on for 4.57 billion years, or perhaps it's another fulfillment of the curse."
"Nothing is without accidents. Just like your current emotions. But, child, you are different."
"Me?"
"You have the resolve to change fate. Although you haven't become a Joker yet, you have unlocked the key to power with your resolve. If you can become a true Joker, then your opponent is clear. If only one remains, then the Joker is the true ace, and your opponent is: fate!"
"Just like the first Joker who had emotions, he had the resolve to challenge the Creator, so he could touch and defeat the Creator. And only you have the resolve to defeat fate. So now, if you become this ace, you can defeat fate!"
Rikuo's mind was very clear in this space, but he still found these things difficult to digest.
"But can someone like me, who can't even understand his own emotions, really have such ability?"
Rikuo's father burst into laughter, a hearty, bold, and wild laugh, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
"My son, he dares to challenge fate! Would he be afraid to face his own emotions? People get confused, but the decisions made after confusion are the most precious. As long as you are worthy of your heart, the true ace is not some Joker, but the heart that dares to challenge fate."
Rikuo suddenly realized, and the world dissipated.
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