How long had I been walking?
...
No, running.
...
I walked until I was out of sight of the shelter, and from there I ran.
...
I ran and ran until I reached the deep mountains nearby.
...
I know better than to push myself right now.
...
My condition is a mess.
...
Getting hit by the unlicensed rider was fine, but right after that, all the strength in my body just drained away.
...
Staggering wasn’t intentional.
...
After taking even a weak hit, I really did start to reel.
...
But.
...
What else could I do?
...
Once I got so absorbed in the act that I accidentally accepted this.
...
I definitely couldn’t let humans see me like this.
...
“...Ghh, ugh...”
...
It hurts.
...
It hurts like hell.
...
Even though I’ve already gone through this once, I still can’t get used to it.
...
My whole body melts down and gets rebuilt.
...
Pain.
...
“Agh, uuuuuugh...!”
...
My muscles tear.
...
My bones crush.
...
They break.
...
They collapse.
...
My will shatters to pieces.
...
The sensation of my whole body being cut and shaved down millimeter by millimeter.
...
My muscles twist, my bones melt, my skin tears and seals over again and again.
...
The stinging from the rain is a given.
...
My eyeballs are burning away.
...
What used to be my eyes disappears entirely, and new ones begin to grow.
...
I clutch at my face in agony.
...
After feeling the pain of flesh mixing and twisting into something even more warped, I barely manage to tear my hands away.
...
My claws writhe and go soft, then grow back in grotesque shapes and shrink again and again.
...
My palms twist, and something sharp pushes out from the side and grows.
...
My arms lengthen.
...
My legs become leaner.
...
My eye level rises.
...
My scales regenerate.
...
It hurts.
...
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts... it huuuurts...!!!”
...
And then, the moment one kind of pain moved from my chest to my heart.
...
I...
...
“-Kyaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”
...
Let out a scream I couldn’t even properly describe myself.
...
That was.
...
The pain of cardiac arrest.
...
It’s unbearable.
...
It hurts.
...
I hate it.
...
Why am I doing this again?
...
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!”
...
The despairing pain of my entire body breaking down and being rebuilt.
...
And of course, my heart wouldn’t be an exception.
...
...That didn’t happen last time.
...
So why this time...!
...
“Hh... hhghghghghghghgh...! ...Ugh...”
...
-Thud.
...
It eases for a moment.
...
But I know.
...
It isn’t over.
...
This is only a brief rest.
...
“Th, hhuuugh... ugh...”
...
It hurts.
...
It really, really does.
...
I’d rather fight the Sea King once more, no, a hundred more times.
...
The horrific pain still lingers, enough to make me think that.
...
And I know it’s going to boil up again.
...
Because I know that.
...
-Crack-crack-crack!
...
“K, hhuuuuu...”
...
I force my melted, twisted jaw back into place and clamp my teeth down as hard as I can.
...
I steady my mind.
...
I brace myself.
...
I’ve already realized I can’t endure this with a perfectly clear head.
...
But.
...
I steel my will for the insane agony that’s about to come.
...
Yeah.
...
If I’m going to go mad, then I’ll go mad.
...
Because at the end of this pain, I’ll come back to my senses.
...
Pain is nothing... well, it is, but...
...
It doesn’t matter.
...
What scares me more is the thought of myself staying weak.
...
So.
...
Bring it on.
...
“...Hup! Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Khuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”
...
...
...
After that, my memory cuts off.
...
It all flew away.
...
My mind went completely white.
...
But.
...
“Th... hhh, ugh...”
...
I endured it.
...
Yeah.
...
I came back to my senses.
...
So.
...
Just for a moment.
...
Really, just a moment is enough.
...
“If I just, sleep a little...”
...
I couldn’t bring myself to say it would be okay.
...
Because before that, darkness had already swallowed my vision.
...
“Ghehehehehe... Monster hunter! You’re sleeping soundly, knowing nothing!”
...
A massive body bursts out from the ground.
...
A monster with thick, sturdy claws like a mole’s and a large crocodile head.
...
The crocodile mole. A tiger-level monster.
...
“You really hunted down our big brothers! I, the crocodile mole, will avenge them right nowwwww!!!”
...
“Hey. You’re disturbing him while he’s sleeping. Keep it down.”
...
“............Huh?”
...
Who is it!
...
The crocodile mole immediately spins around.
...
On a pile of broken wood sat a human I hadn’t even noticed, because I couldn’t sense a trace of him at all.
...
“...Hah. What’s with that outfit? A hero?”
...
“I do hero work as a hobby. No, more importantly, keep it down, you.”
...
The crocodile mole was certain the human in front of him was an overwhelming weakling.
...
His ability as a monster was [Stronger Detection], so the stronger the opponent, the greater the presence he could feel.
...
Even from the deeply sleeping monster hunter, an enormous pressure was pouring out.
...
By contrast, this human had no presence at all.
...
He must be so weak that he can’t even be sensed.
...
So.
...
A weakling.
...
“Perfect! If I cripple the monster hunter by cutting off his arms and legs, then tear you to pieces right in front of him, there could be no more satisfying revenge!”
...
This was it.
...
A perfect plan.
...
The fact that the monster hunter hated seeing humans harmed was information he’d only barely managed to dig up.
...
At last, it was time to use it—
...
“What do you think you’re doing to someone who’s already troubled enough?”
...
-BOOM!!!
...
...A bald head gleamed in the moonlight.
...
The crocodile mole was blown apart into meat and blood by a single punch and died instantly.
...
“...Yep. One shot.”
...
Saitama let out a sigh.
...
Well, what could he do? He hadn’t really expected much, anyway.
...
Still, at least he’d made it quiet again—
...
“...Hu, man?”
...
“Ah.”
...
So he had woken him up after all.
...
Shaking his head, Saitama crouched down in front of the lizard monster’s face.
...
“...Did you come to kill me?”
...
“Why would I? I came because I heard a weird scream.”
...
With a soft swish, he reaches out and pats the monster’s head as it stares at him in a daze.
...
It’s hard and yet soft, and surprisingly pleasant to the touch.
...
“...Well. I did come looking for you in the first place, too.”
...
“...Really? If you didn’t come to kill me... did you have something you wanted to say?”
...
“Yeah. I did.”
...
He lets out a small laugh.
...
The lizard monster was nodding again.
...
Maybe he was relieved to hear that Saitama hadn’t come to kill him.
...
...Honestly, even Saitama himself hadn’t expected to say these words to a monster.
...
Not in his dreams.
...
He’d never even imagined it.
...
But.
...
He said it.
...
“Thank you.”
...
“............!”
...
Flinch.
...
Maybe it was just his imagination that the monster’s body trembled once.
...
“Starting with saving Genos... and even while being hated by people, you still looked out for the heroes. Thank you.”
...
“................”
...
I know this guy likes people more than is normal.
...
Even when we first met, he was already a wreck from saving one little kid.
...
And yet this guy chose to become a villain hated by humans.
...
The people he liked showed him fear, hatred, and loathing.
...
What did he feel when he went through that?
...
The monster jerked his head away, and after that, silence fell.
...
No, there were still a few choking sounds left.
...
All I could do was gently pat his faintly trembling shoulders.
...
After a few minutes, the monster’s damp cheeks dried.
...
And only after another ten minutes had passed since he fell asleep again did Saitama leave the spot under the moonlight.
...
The torn cape didn’t feel like much of a loss.
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