Master of Kaidan
Chapter 286: Aspiring to Stand Out with a Glimpse into the Path

Chapter 286: Chapter 286: Aspiring to Stand Out with a Glimpse into the Path

Hitotsume-Kozo (Note 1) walked around the campus with his team, sighing out of boredom.

As the Tales of the Hundred expanded, more and more low-level Kaidan like them, who couldn’t snatch up the Residence Right to the Tower of Babylon, were rooted in the present world.

But with the increase in numbers, the distribution and acquisition of Identity became issues. The well-known Kaidan rested easy once they secured their labels, but for someone in an ambiguous position like him, who might play just a passerby role even in a demon-themed anime, it became necessary to generate buzz and attract attention just to maintain popularity.

Their weakness stemmed from their lack of distinctive features and exaggerated abilities. If they allowed everyone to freely spread their legends, eventually all Kaidan would be jumbled together, failing to garner due attention, and might even merge into a strange new Kaidan.

To ensure everyone’s interests, Kaidan within Tales of the Hundred gradually formed an unwritten rule—

By relying on Bird House, the Companion Phantom Object of a certain executive, the Kaidan could enter a realm known as the "Invisible World."

It wasn’t truly an independent world, but rather an extension of the concept of "Bird House dividing the boundary between humans and deities," which separated the distance between humans and "deities," creating a state where humans and "deities" coexisted in the same world, yet humans couldn’t see the "deities."

They used this to hide themselves within the shadows of the present world and made a Contract not to reveal their presence casually, only emerging to attack when their own rules were satisfied or when they encountered a "Binder" who could see them.

This Contract did not reduce each Kaidan’s income, but instead, by imposing strict appearance standards, it made each Kaidan’s characteristics even more pronounced. With the high-level Kaidan controlling the country, the mortals of the country had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the Kaidan.

In addition, Tales of the Hundred implemented an internal reward system. Contributors could earn a main role in anime or games, spreading their "character design" even wider.

Of course, the strong, elegant, handsome, evil big villains were always reserved for the executives.

Consider Cyclops Boy, who was closely related to him and even from the same period. For his contributions, he had scored a supporting role in an anime, and now had become an executive, while he could only be a no-name trash Kaidan, barely surviving on the collective earnings of Tales of the Hundred.

"I, Hitotsume-Kozo, shall also make a name for myself!"

Hitotsume-Kozo cheered himself on and once again set out on a quest to search for his target.

Master Kaidan made a prophecy on the first day of the new year, "The Masked Rider who will kill Lord Saimon will appear in Chiba," and last night, Lord Hundred-eyed Demon also confirmed the flow of Masked Rider Identity in East Tianzhu Town.

Though as a minor Kaidan, it was impossible for him to capture such a powerful being who could even kill the executives, Hitotsume-Kozo possessed a Power very suitable for delaying time, just like Cyclops Boy.

However, unlike Cyclops Boy’s Taunt, Hitotsume-Kozo’s Power was Selling Pity.

It might sound a bit embarrassing, but this Power was much safer than Cyclops Boy’s Taunt, for whenever he would wail and plead pity, others would feel compassion, which was way better than being chased down after making someone angry!

"Just let me stumble upon that Masked Rider, and I’ll immediately spread the word, then kneel down and sell pity to buy time!"

Hitotsume-Kozo stuck out his disturbingly long tongue to lick his eyeball, split up with his team members to search, and although he didn’t think the Masked Rider would be hiding in a school, just last night Lord Yan Yanluo had led Kaidan like Filth Taster and Sky Vault Taster to comb through all the houses in East Tianzhu Town. If there was something to find, they would have found it already.

But Master Kaidan’s prophecies were absolute. With Takamagahara unfolding now, Descent rules and gates would be temporarily locked, ensuring that the adversary was still in Chiba!

As he walked past each student, staring with his enormous eye, he knew it was unlikely to find the Masked Rider this way, but if he could encounter one or two Binders who could see him, it would be great to scare them and harvest some Identity energy.

While Kaidan strolled past each student, he suddenly detected a gaze. It was faint, but he noticed the peek.

"Hit the jackpot?" Kaidan twisted his head, also mentally preparing to kneel and beg for mercy at a moment’s notice. He stretched out his tongue, sensing the flow of Identity in the air. As his huge eyeball swiveled, he slowly locked onto a girl.

"She doesn’t look special, and there’s no trace of Identity on her. A Binder?" he thought, yet he didn’t pounce on her immediately.

After being a Kaidan for so long, he knew how to leave the deepest Impression on someone. Amateurs simply rushed in, but gently squeezing their psyche to the limit—that was the way to extract Identity most efficiently.

He pretended not to notice the gaze and continued walking past the ordinary students, inching closer, until finally, the girl seemed to be unable to bear it any longer. As her contained panic began to break free, Kaidan pretended to have discovered something and left the student he was in front of to approach the girl, step by step.

"Hehe, you must be scared out of your wits, right? Oh, you’re about to cry! Hehe, how cute. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you..."

Kaidan imagined various scenarios in his mind, deliberately making his wooden clogs click crisply.

With each step he took, the girl’s eyes twitched, bringing him an intense thrill.

"This reaction is so amusing!" Kaidan had now reached in front of the girl, seeing her already scared to the point of nearly [beep—], yet still maintaining a vacant look in her eyes, as if trying to see the wall behind him through his body, which almost tied his tongue in joy!

He brought his huge eye close to the girl’s face as if to reflect her entire face in his eye. Then, biting his tongue, he asked in a sinister tone:

"Can you see it?"

"..." The girl didn’t speak, but the horror and tremors in her eyes seemed on the verge of spilling out.

"How interesting!" Shifting slightly, as if observing prey, Kaidan waved his tongue in front of the girl and continued:

"Can you see it?"

"Whimper..." The girl let out an involuntary whimper, and Kaidan knew the moment had come, and he loudly exclaimed:

"So you can see!"

With that, he opened his mouth wide and lunged at the girl, looking ready to swallow her whole. But just at that moment, a shadow flickered before his eyes, and Kaidan felt a sharp pain in his eye, followed by a complete loss of sensation.

And the last sound he heard before dying seemed to be...

"Muda!"