A restaurant on Oak Street in Damu City.
"Eat it," Mukai said lazily, pointing his chopsticks at the lobster on the plate.
"I… I can't…" Hayari tried to refuse.
"Hayari is allergic to lobster, right?" Ms. Nitta suddenly cut in. "He mentioned it during the last company gathering."
Hayari nodded.
Mukai, already drunk, clicked his tongue in irritation.
Allergic? What nonsense.
He staggered to his feet.
"What are you talking about? Don't tell me you're disrespecting me."
He grabbed the lobster and shoved it in front of Hayari.
"Eat it. Even if you don't want to, you're eating it today."
Hayari hesitated. He remembered when he was a child, eating lobster once had made his throat swell so badly he could barely breathe. He almost ended up in intensive care.
His supervisor, Yogo, sat nearby.
"Eat it," Yogo said loudly. "Don't keep Mukai waiting."
As Hayari's boss spoke, he had no choice.
He thought, maybe the allergy is gone now. It's just one bite… it should be fine.
He picked it up with trembling hands.
Mukai burst out laughing.
"Look at this! Our elite salesperson needs his boss's permission just to eat!"
The table erupted in laughter.
Hayari forced a smile and began chewing mechanically. But instead of taste, a sharp stinging sensation spread across his tongue.
Mukai snorted.
"What, it's edible, isn't it? Didn't you just refuse me? Eat more. Keep eating."
"Yeah, hurry up," Yogo added, joining in.
Under his boss's pressure, and thinking of his mortgage and car loan, Hayari had no choice but to finish the lobster.
But the consequences came quickly.
His ears began to burn. Red, worm-like rashes crawled up his neck. His face swelled until his vision blurred.
"What… look at his lips!" Ms. Nitta screamed.
"Hahaha!" Mukai slapped his knee. "Look at that! He looks like a pig-head cosplay!"
Yogo raised his phone. "Hold on, I'm sending this to the group chat!"
Everyone laughed at him.
Hayari's consciousness faded, but survival instinct forced out a plea.
"P-please… call an ambulance…"
No one listened.
Fragments of memory flashed through his mind.
Being pushed down in elementary school.
High school graduation, his clothes scribbled with "loser."
At work, customers calling him "trash."
Why… Why no matter how hard I try, I still get treated like this?
Do I deserve to be bullied forever?
Just die. All of you, just die.
His body began to twist and swell. Bones cracked with horrifying sounds.
His skin split apart as deep red armor-like shell burst out from beneath.
His arms expanded, joints deforming into massive, terrifying lobster claws.
In moments, he was no longer human.
A monster had been born.
Monster Transformation
In the world of One Punch Man, humans can turn into monsters when overwhelmed by emotion or mental collapse.
Mukai was the first to notice something was wrong.
The mockery on his face froze, then turned into pure fear.
"W-what is that?!"
Before he could finish, two nearby people were sliced cleanly in half by a snapping claw.
"Run!"
Ms. Nitta screamed and fled.
Mukai and Yogo rushed toward different exits.
Two choices.
The transformed Hayari paused briefly.
Yogo, his boss. The man who had crushed him for five years.
Mukai, the client who forced him to eat the lobster.
He chose.
Yogo.
Yogo ran desperately through the alley, lungs burning.
Help me. Where are the heroes?
He turned a corner.
Dead end.
A towering concrete wall blocked his escape.
"Yogo."
A low voice came from behind him.
He turned slowly.
A three-meter-tall lobster monster stood there.
"Ha… Hayari…" Yogo's legs gave out. "Please don't kill me! I did it for the company! I'll give you a raise! Anything you want!"
The monster said nothing.
It stepped forward.
"It's too late."
The claw came down.
Blood splattered.
Meanwhile, Mukai was hiding inside a dumpster, trembling.
Don't find me… please don't find me…
Sirens echoed across the commercial district.
A red alert flashed on the electronic billboard:
"Monster outbreak in Damu City commercial zone. Evacuate immediately."
A yellow figure rushed through the fleeing crowd.
"B-Class Hero Rank 42, Marbles Man, arriving!"
He wore a bright yellow combat suit, marble pouches at his waist, and held a specialized slingshot.
He blocked the monster's path.
"Disgusting… a lobster-type monster?"
He licked his lips.
"Die."
"Rapid Marbles Type 1!"
Three marble shots fired.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
They struck the monster's face, chest, and shoulder.
No effect.
The monster stood still.
"Is that all?"
Marbles Man's eyes widened.
These were Hero Association-grade projectiles. They should have had the power of bullets.
Yet they did nothing.
"I'll finish this properly!"
He loaded a red marble.
"Explosive Marble Type 2!"
But before he could fire
The monster vanished.
A claw slammed into his stomach.
He flew back like a broken kite, crashing into a storefront wall.
The monster walked closer.
"Hero?" it said coldly. "A few minutes ago, I might have admired you."
"But now… you're nothing."
The claw rose again.
"Wait!"