Chapter 121

In the city where everything—including text, scenery, and the direction of buildings—was inverted, Ash was driving the [Ride Shotgun] through an utterly deserted world.

The mirror world of Pretty Cure was currently very quiet, with no Mirror Monsters, no Doppelgängers, and none of the golden psychopaths incessantly babbling “Let’s go” in one’s ear.

“Yet, it’s also because there’s nothing here.”

To Ash, this peace wasn’t necessarily good news. He felt a headache coming on as he turned to look at the Black Dual Dragon, who was eating his exhaust fumes from behind his car.

His relationship with the contract beast wasn’t good—not only had he repeatedly stopped and attacked it, but now the Black Dual Dragon was beginning to feel hungry.

He hadn’t considered this problem when he acquired the Ryukya Cardbox. In the original work, feeding the contract beast could be done by defeating Mirror Monsters, but how could he find wild Mirror Monsters in the Pretty Cure world?

If this continued, the Black Dual Dragon might start preying on humans in this city, or even attack its own contractor.

Though unlikely, it was still possible for a starved contract beast.

“Should I let it feed on people?总觉得不太想这样做。这么做了，感觉就好像认输了一样……

“…but there’s no other way… This, do you eat it?” No point in rushing things. Ash took out a fruit from Heimin’s domain from his inventory list and waved it in front of the beast. With his helmet on, there was no risk of accidentally eating the item himself.

The Black Dual Dragon seemed to understand him, slowly swimming over to sniff the suspicious fruit.

Almost spewing water (or fireballs) back at its contractor’s face.

“What a picky eater. I wonder if there’s anything in Pretty Cure’s world that can replace life energy.”

As he thought about Pretty Cure, Ash drove straight into the Great Core of the Mirror World, right into seeing Ai Aida from through a mirror.

“President, this is the gardening club’s application! This is the budget adjustment for the nap club, including all other paperwork is right here.”

“Put it there, I’ll handle it right away!”

“President, this is the scrap application for the fashion club.”

“Put it… Wait, does our school even have such a club?”

“President, please help me!”

Surrounded by students needing assistance, Ai not only didn’t seem frustrated but confidently waved them to come one by one, obviously prepared to take on all requests.

“Leave it all to me!”

This president, working solely as a student council president was too responsible.

Seeing Ai tackle all these tasks head-on, Ash couldn’t help but wince for her.

Who did she think she was? A superhero? A naive country girl? Superman?

Ash acknowledged that self-sacrifice was noble, but treating it as an everyday duty made the goodness mundane and foolish.

Such misguided efforts would only cause problems for both herself and others.

“Has she never considered what would happen if she couldn’t help them in the future? They might resent her instead.”

When Ai brushed off Rikka’s warnings and agreed to become a volunteer for the softball club, Ash guessed she hadn’t considered those consequences.

He remembered her earlier response to his problem—that she helped simply out of a desire to assist others, without reason.

“You might be like me, Ai.”

Ai suddenly heard a jarring noise from behind, and when she covered her ear and looked back, she saw the fleeting glimpse of Ryukya in the mirror.

“What?!”

Ai rubbed her eyes, but there was nothing in the mirror this time.

“What’s wrong, Mana?”

Faced with Rikka’s concern, Ai was unsure. “N… No. I think I just saw Mr. Ash. Maybe I’m just really tired?”

“It’s exactly that, Mana, you’re making yourself so relied upon.”

“I’m just trying to help people do small things,”

“Then you’re making a huge effort out of it!”

Without finding food for the Black Dual Dragon, Ash put the matter aside amidst its displeased growls. He lay down on the bed in the rented hut and pondered his next move.

What should he do next? Like before, collect Black Echoes while searching for fun, get killed by someone unknown, or just vanish somewhere no one knows?

Collecting Black Echoes here should be easy since he could get “dark energy” from this place.

Speaking of black echoes, what were they exactly? Despite their apparently evil names, why did good and bad people across dimensions possess them? Even the seemingly virtuous Pretty Cures and the righteous Pretty Cure Giants had them!

Too bad the system didn’t give him any answers, and it never would. He was unsure of what type of system this was, but it wasn’t like Cat客’s Iron FW system, which interacted directly with him and could morph into loli forms for playful antics. This system was cold and only gave tasks and occasional reminders, a relic from another era.

Although the rewards were generous, other than spammy notifications and non-coercive task completion mechanisms, Ash appreciated it.

“Ahh, so boring, I don’t want to do this anymore…”

Like 996-obsessed employees, Ash felt slothful in his bed.

Why not settle down here and live an ordinary life?

This world was almost overly kind to him, treating him like a welcoming outsider.

However, Ash knew these thoughts were just fantasies—he always left whenever his missions or death via the system ended.

Effortlessly dismissing the system interface that appeared whenever he had such thoughts, Ash yawned and drifted into sleep.

If he had nothing better to do, he might as well cause trouble for the Pretty Cures or play with them—a fun distraction.

Come to think of it, the blue one… Was she called Rikka? She said she’d come to see him—is that real?

Lost in thought, Ash found himself growing fond of these glittering girls.

[New Message]

As evening approached, a Gatling phone by his pillow buzzed, waking him from his slumber. Checking the message revealed it was from Belu of the Selfish Organization.

Ash didn’t like the Selfish Organization; although it consisted of a balanced mix of protagonists, the organization offered no freebies or advantages.

Reviewing his past experiences with villains, he preferred封闭王朝and 真理之剑—once you made the boss happy, anything could be yours.

“Coming to me voluntarily, quite unusual,” he thought, hearing something unexpected from the message.

“You said there’s something that would interest me? Absolute determination to battle the Pretty Cures tomorrow morning at the pier. What do you say?”

Beside him was Ai-chan encased in a bubble of power, and hearing this, the person on the other end smirked.

Ash found this intriguing—defeating an opponent who holds back isn’t exhilarating.

“Show me their true strength.”

After ending the call with Ash, “Ryukya” lifted a flustered Ai-chan by the nape, looking down at the worried-looking Jo and Ai below.

“Mr. Ash, why attack Mr. Jo? It has nothing to do with him!”

Just leaving the hospital, Ai and Jo encountered Ryukya, who launched an unexpected assault.

Not wanting to transform due to the passersby, Ai failed to protect Jo, who was knocked to the ground.

Before she could express regret, Ryukya took Ai-chan again as part of his conditions.

“If you value this child’s life, come alone to the pier tomorrow morning!”

Leaving behind Ai, Ryukya returned, revealing his true form—Belu laughed triumphantly at his successful disguise.

“Isn’t the contrast between Pretty Cure and Kamen Rider wonderful! Let’s see you handle this!”

Arriving at the pier early morning, Ash noted Ai, similarly searching the area.

The girls have softened toward him for entertainment, but is it really going smoothly as Belu suggested?

Ash held his reservations.

“Are you alone?”

Watching Ash with the sea breeze fluttering his collar, Ai extended a hand, serious.

“Mister Ash, give me back Ai-chan!”

Hearing her, Ash wore an innocent expression.

“What are you talking about?”