In a supermarket in D City, Ethan Cole was wandering through the snack aisle with a shopping cart.
He casually picked up a bag of barbecue-flavored chips, but suddenly realized the text on the packaging had become unreadable.
The entire supermarket dimmed in an instant.
"What's with the sudden cloud cover?" Ethan muttered, turning toward the window.
BOOM.
The entire building shook violently as if struck by an earthquake.
Then, the light returned.
Ethan saw it clearly. The buildings across the street had vanished.
"Mom!"
A child's cry rang out.
Ethan turned toward the voice.
A young woman in a floral dress was holding a child tightly. The ground beneath them was collapsing at a visible speed.
"Grab onto me!"
In that split second, Ethan grabbed the woman's wrist with his left hand and tucked the child under his right arm. Using a flying piece of shelving as a step, he leapt upward.
The moment they escaped, the floor collapsed into a massive pit over twenty meters deep. Rows of shelves snapped like toothpicks and fell into the void.
He safely carried them outside, and only then did Ethan finally see the full scale of the disaster.
Half of the entire building had sunk downward, as if something had crushed it flat.
Ahead, a giant several thousand meters tall was walking through the city.
Every step he took shattered countless skyscrapers.
On the giant's left shoulder stood a man in a white coat and goggles. He held a test tube filled with faint purple liquid.
Looking ahead, he shouted excitedly.
"Incredible! My brother! I didn't think the results would be this extreme!"
"It exceeded expectations, brother," the giant replied.
They were siblings.
The younger brother loved bodybuilding.
The older brother was a scientist who developed something called the "King of Biceps."
It was a steroid-like substance designed to stimulate muscle growth.
After taking it, the younger brother transformed into a giant several thousand meters tall.
The older brother laughed wildly from his shoulder.
"My mind and your strength! Supreme intelligence and ultimate power! Together, we can conquer everything!"
As if responding, the giant brother swung his arm.
A massive shockwave swept across the city.
Entire streets were blown away, revealing bare gray earth beneath.
The older brother looked stunned.
"Incredible… absolutely incredible! Good job, brother! Tens of thousands just vanished like that! Now let's head to the city and clean things up!"
He showed no concern at all for the lives lost.
The younger brother nodded.
"Yes, brother. This is the ultimate power I've been pursuing."
At the same time, an emergency broadcast echoed through B City.
"Warning. A massive lifeform has appeared in D City. It is approaching B City. All civilians are urged to evacuate immediately…"
Panic spread everywhere as people began fleeing.
On the giant's right shoulder, the older brother continued to incite him.
"Destroy everything! Show them your power!"
"I am the strongest man! I am the strongest man!"
Then a calm voice interrupted him.
"Put on some underwear."
The older brother froze and turned toward the source of the voice.
A bald man was standing on the giant's left shoulder.
He pointed toward the younger brother.
"There's someone on your shoulder. Kill the one standing there."
The younger brother followed the instruction and swung his left arm toward his shoulder.
SLAP.
The older brother was instantly reduced to a bloody mess.
Only then did the younger brother realize what had happened.
He stared at his blood-covered hand in shock.
"Brother!!"
"Why did this happen?"
"I only wanted power… I finally became the strongest man… why?!"
Saitama stood on the shoulder, scratching his head with a blank smile.
The giant brother roared in rage.
"Even though I don't know who you are, you're the reason my brother died!"
He grabbed Saitama and hurled him to the ground with all his strength.
Then he leapt down after him, stomping where Saitama landed.
Dust exploded everywhere.
The shockwave flattened several city blocks.
But he was still not satisfied.
He began hammering the ground with both fists.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"
"The strongest! This is the power of us brothers!"
After dozens of blows, a bottomless crater formed.
Finally, he stopped and looked at the blood on his hands.
Tears ran down his face.
"I became the strongest… but what does it matter? It feels so empty."
"Yeah."
Saitama's voice echoed from somewhere.
From inside the crater, a bald man jumped out.
Then he calmly threw a punch.
BOOM.
The giant's face twisted instantly.
Another impact followed.
The giant's massive body trembled and collapsed, shaking the entire ground.
Saitama shook his hand, expression completely bored.
"Having overwhelming power is just really boring."
Ethan Cole stood on a nearby building, watching everything.
The gap in power was absolute. It was as simple as swatting a fly.
He walked to the giant's corpse and studied the massive body.
At that moment, a man stepped out of the ruins.
He had headphones on and a scar on his forehead.
King.
The crowd immediately erupted.
"It's King!"
"S-Class Rank 7 of the Hero Association!"
Flashes from phones lit up everywhere.
King stopped walking.
His heart was pounding uncontrollably. He was not strong at all. He was just an ordinary gaming addict who always happened to arrive after monsters were already defeated.
People gathered around him.
His heart rate kept rising.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The crowd mistook it as rage.
"His Emperor Engine is activated! He's furious!"
"Make way! Don't block him!"
They cleared a path instantly.
Ethan Cole looked at King and smiled slightly.
S-Class Rank 7 of the Hero Association. The strongest man in the world.
Most people believed King was incredibly powerful.
But Ethan Cole knew the truth.
He was just an ordinary man.
However, due to extreme luck, he always happened to appear after Saitama defeated monsters.
And since Saitama was not registered with the Hero Association, all his achievements were credited to King instead.
That was why the Association believed King was unbelievably strong.
King noticed Ethan Cole smiling at him for no reason and felt confused.
Who is this? Do I know him? Why is he smiling at me?
Unable to respond properly, King left with a cold expression.
In the ruins of D City, reconstruction had already begun.
Excavators roared as workers carried rubble under the sun.
Ethan Cole sat in a roadside café, sipping bitter coffee.
He looked at the hurried crowds outside.
Life in this world was not easy.
Disasters could strike at any moment.
Monsters.
Meteorites.
Aliens.
Ethan Cole shook his head and set down his cup.
"I need to get stronger."
In this world, fists were the most reliable truth.