Inside his underground secret chamber, Aomori examined the spoils of the recent dungeon as he usually did.
First were the Dungeon Quests. He had secured three stars for the first two. The third, a hidden quest, required him to resolve major incidents involving the survival of a vast number of humans. To his surprise, he had completed four such incidents, even if he fell short of the maximum requirement of five.
Next came the chest openings. From the second quest reward chest, he pulled a fortune-telling cylinder that could vaguely manifest future destiny. However, since Absol already possessed Future Sight, this item was little more than a redundant curiosity.
During this dungeon run, Aomori had slain countless demons and monsters, resulting in a mountain of drop chests. Most, however, contained strange materials. After tossing them all to the system for processing, he earned a substantial amount of Points.
He had remained low-key during the early stages of the dungeon, resulting in a smaller intake of points. Later on, however, he had directly challenged the powerhouses of the human, demon, and divine realms.
In the world of Inuyasha, after dealing with the cancer known as Naraku, he had toured the Eastern Lands and given Kirinmaru a solid thrashing. In Mob's world, both the giant evil spirit Mogami and the Claw organization had met their end at his hands. Finally, before departing, he had paid a visit to Takamagahara and fiercely confronted numerous deities.
Consequently, his Points had surged significantly, once again surpassing the 100,000 mark. He estimated that by the time the next dungeon arrived, he would be able to perform another ten-pull from the Advanced Treasure Chests.
Other changes were minor and need not be detailed.
Aomori organized his memories, reviewing his affairs in the world of One Punch Man, and returned to his office. Now, he was no longer a deity, but the Chairman of the Hero Association.
…
"Justice Crash!"
On a clearing by the reservoir, a man wearing strange armor and goggles bent his waist, shielded his head with his hands, and charged like a rhino into a glasses-wearing young man. The impact sent the student flying several meters until he tumbled to the ground.
"Ha... ha... I lose," Glasses panted, propping himself up on the ground. "Mumen-senpai, you've gotten stronger again. I really thought I could take a round this time. Counting this, that makes 108 losses, doesn't it?"
"You're strong too, Glasses. I almost couldn't hold on," Mumen Rider replied, resting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily.
The two like-minded men had moved in together, training and sparring constantly. Their strength was rising at a blistering pace. Currently, their cooperation allowed them to defeat average Tiger-level monsters, truly possessing the strength of B-Class heroes.
"Stop trying to comfort me. I know you still have a trump card you haven't used," Glasses said, adjusting his frames.
"You mean that?" Mumen stood up and shook his head. "It only works half the time. I haven't fully mastered it yet; it hardly counts as a trump card."
"It's still better than me. I've tried countless times and haven't succeeded once," Glasses sighed.
They were referring to the Hero Three Powers created by Silver Fang, inspired by Aomori. Thanks to Aomori's vigorous promotion, the training methods for these three moves were available to all heroes, yet only a handful could actually execute them.
Those who could use the Hero Three Powers were considered true powerhouses. A saying had even begun to circulate among the heroes: "You aren't a real hero until you've mastered the Hero Three Powers."
"Saitama is so strong, surely he knows them?"
"I don't know. But I heard he defeated a Demon-level monster the other day."
"A Demon-level?!" Glasses sat bolt upright. After confirming Mumen wasn't joking, he said enviously, "His talent is truly incredible. It's only been how long? He's probably ready to be promoted to A-Class. Sometimes, looking at you guys is just depressing."
"There's no need to compare ourselves to others. We have our own path as heroes. Take it slow; we'll catch up eventually." Mumen extended his right hand to Glasses.
"Yeah!" Glasses took his hand and stood up, smiling. "Saitama must be riding high right now. Should we go to his place and score some lunch?"
"Good idea," Mumen agreed. "We can also ask him about the Hero Three Powers. Maybe he can give us some advice."
…
At that moment, Saitama was not "riding high" as Glasses imagined.
In the bathroom, he was staring grimly at his reflection, specifically, at his receding hairline. He muttered to himself, "Have I been overdoing it lately?"
"Getting paid for every monster kill is just too tempting. It's got me wandering outside from dawn till dusk looking for them. How long has it been since I've read a manga?"
Saitama's gaze drifted as he reminisced. "Come to think of it, I only wanted to be a hero for fun. I shouldn't be like some corporate drone, forcing myself to work all day for a little bit of cash. This is wrong. I need to get back to my roots and be a hero for fun."
Having made his decision, Saitama gave his reflection a firm nod. "I'm not going out this afternoon. I'll take a nap instead."
As noon approached, Saitama prepared to make himself a quick meal. He opened the fridge, only to find it completely empty.
"Ah, crap. I forgot to buy groceries."
But going out to shop now felt like such a hassle. He agonized over it until his stomach growled so loudly he was forced to change his clothes and prepare to head out.
He opened the door just as Mumen Rider and Glasses arrived.
"Are you guys here for me?" Saitama asked, confused.
"Yeah, we're here to mooch some food."
Saitama frowned. "Hey, you guys mooching all the time is a real problem. And unfortunately, I'm out of food. I was just about to go shopping."
"What a coincidence." Mumen and Glasses exchanged a look and grinned. They both held up large bags of groceries for Saitama to see.
"These are all ingredients for hot pot. More than enough for all of us."
They said they were "mooching," but they had brought the ingredients after all.
"It's all food?" Saitama's eyes instantly lit up. His expression shifted to one of dead seriousness as he grasped their hands and said sincerely, "Welcome! Please, feel free to come over every day from now on!"
They moved quickly to boil the water and toss the prepared ingredients into the pot. While waiting for the food to cook, Mumen asked, "Saitama, have you learned the Hero Three Powers yet?"
"Hero Three Powers?" Saitama looked puzzled. "What's that?"
"No way, you've never heard of them?" Glasses said in shock. "The training methods for the Hero Three Powers are right there on the smartwatch."
Looking at Saitama, whose expression was even more surprised than his own, Glasses had a bad feeling. "Don't tell me... you've never actually used the smartwatch?"
"Of course I have!" Saitama struck a "don't look down on me" pose. "Isn't it basically an alarm? It constantly sends me notifications about where monsters are appearing."
"That's only one of its uses," Mumen explained. "It also has the Hero Forum, the Hero Point Store, and other practical modules."
"Oh. Sounds like a lot of work," Saitama said, rubbing his chin.
"It's not a lot of work at all. Look." Glasses opened the browser interface on his own smartwatch to show him. "This is the Hero Forum. You can post and exchange info here. The officials occasionally release precious tutorial posts—the Hero Three Powers I mentioned is one of them."
"I see." Saitama wasn't very interested, but he followed Glasses' lead and clicked into the Hero Forum. He saw the top trending post was [Ranking the Top Combat Powers of the Hero Association] and clicked in out of curiosity.
[As everyone knows, there are currently 6 S-Class heroes in the Association. Do you know who is the strongest? Allow me to analyze.]
[1. Blast! He's been active for nearly thirty years. His strength is undisputed, the strongest!]
[2. Tatsumaki. Some might question this, but look at these pictures and you'll understand. (Image)(Image)(Image) See that? That's all her doing. Her destructive power rivals a nuclear bomb!]
[3. Bang. The titan of the martial arts world. No issues here.]
[4. Atomic Samurai. The youngest Swordmaster, but compared to Bang, he lacks a bit of seasoning. One for the future.]
[5. Flashy Flash. Instantly defeated a crowd of trainees at the debut ceremony, showing incredible speed, but that's about it.]
[6. Superalloy Darkshine. Lost to a trainee at the debut ceremony. A total embarrassment to the S-Class.]
The replies were staggering. Saitama scrolled through and found that most people agreed with the ranking, though some defended Darkshine, claiming he was holding back at the debut. Others argued Flashy Flash should be ranked higher than Tatsumaki, only to be met with mockery.
The most upvoted comment, however, was: [I'm more curious about where our Chairman would rank? (Dog face emoji)]
[Is that even a question? The Chairman is Number One under Heaven! (Smile face)]
[Upvoted. I'm a die-hard fan of the Chairman!]
[To be fair, the Chairman was just a big celebrity before, right? How strong can he be? Probably just above Darkshine.]
[Looking at past records, the Chairman doesn't have many standout feats. He was even chased by a Centipede monster once and had to be saved by Tatsumaki.]
[Good job, the two users above just lost their accounts. (Covering mouth laugh)]
Opinions varied, but most thought Aomori's strength likely fell somewhere between Darkshine and Flashy Flash. Further down, people speculated on who the next S-Class would be. Suiryu had the most support among the A-Class, while the mysterious Drive Knight and Child Emperor (who had once defeated Darkshine) were also mentioned.
"They sure have a lot of free time," Saitama remarked, curling his lip. "Arguing so much over how strong other people are."
"It's human nature to gossip, just like how people follow celebrity news. As S-Class heroes, they're naturally in the spotlight. They're basically superstars," Glasses said. "Take a look at the Hero Point Store. You might be more interested in that."
"By the way, what are Points?" Saitama asked.
"You don't even know that?" Even Mumen was stunned this time.
"Well, nobody told me."
"Usually, anyone who gets the smartwatch figures out all the features," Glasses said, exasperated. He patiently explained: "Points primarily come from completing patrol missions and killing monsters. Different levels of monsters grant different amounts. As for their use, right now they're mostly for redeeming items or directly exchanging for cash."
"Exchanging for cash?!" Saitama's gaze shifted instantly. He clicked into the Hero Point Store, saw his remaining points, and asked in a trembling voice, "How much is 1 point worth?"
"100 yen. You probably have quite a few, don't you? How many?"
"100 yen?" Saitama counted blankly. "Tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands... Does that mean I can exchange them for 813,600 yen?!"
"That many?!" Mumen and Glasses leaned in. Upon seeing the screen, they both inhaled sharply. "You actually have 8,136 points."
"I remember you rarely go on patrol. You got all this just from killing monsters?"
"A Demon-level is only a few hundred points. Exactly how many monsters have you killed?"
"Not that many," Saitama said with a beaming, blissful smile. "I just kill them if I see them on my morning run. I didn't feel like it was a lot."
"How do I turn points into money?" With that much cash, Saitama felt he could finally retire.
"Exchanging for cash isn't very efficient. I suggest you check out the items in the Point Store," Glasses suggested.
"Really? Let me see." Saitama's gaze moved down, his eyes widening further and further.
"A Housekeeping AI Robot? Can completely free your hands and do all the chores alone?! This is great! Only 500 points? Buy!"
"Smart Home System? Can voice-control all appliances? Full set for only 1,000? Not bad. Buy!"
"Latest VR Gaming Helmet? Not just for games, but has a training mode?! Incredible! Only 2,000 points. Buy!"
"..."
Most of the items were produced by the Purple Shield company, while others were inventions Child Emperor made in his spare time. They were weird, wonderful, and covered everything imaginable. Saitama, unable to control his hands, quickly spent all his points.
"Ah, this robot looks so cool! You can actually sit inside and pilot it! Too bad it's 50,000 points." Saitama looked disappointed.
But his fighting spirit was quickly reignited. "Only 50,000 points? If I work hard for half a year, I should be able to save up enough."
Saitama had completely forgotten his resolve from this morning. Was reading manga really better than piloting your own robot?
"Mumen! Glasses! After we eat, let's go on patrol together!" Saitama shouted at them.
"Oh... sure."
Mumen and Glasses exchanged a look, both seeing the helplessness in the other's eyes.
"This is so not Saitama."
"But him being serious is probably a good thing, right?"
"Should we still ask about the Hero Three Powers?"
"His brain is full of robots right now. Let's wait until next time."
And so, after finishing the hot pot, the three set out together for a patrol. It was another busy and fulfilling day.