[Now then! Everyone who has come to visit, thank you for waiting so long!]
“...So it’s finally starting.”
After waiting in the holding room for about thirty minutes, it was time for the fighters to enter.
My current limit was four more hours.
I’d spent the past three days using Body Transformation like it was a daily meal, pushing my maximum transformation time up to five hours, but beyond that there was no wiggle room.
Thirty minutes had already been lost before I even got into the holding room, and another thirty had gone by just waiting around.
But that was fine.
Four hours... I could manage somehow.
I’d be able to hold out without any problem.
That was enough.
[The 22nd Super Fight is now welcoming all fighters to the stage!!]
Let’s go.
I hadn’t checked the opponents yet, but... I could do that from here on out.
It wasn’t like I’d properly looked at the bracket either.
With those idle thoughts in mind, I followed behind the other fighters and walked toward the dazzling light.
Before long, I could feel the gazes of countless spectators focusing on me from above.
So this was it.
Maybe this was what it felt like to stand under the pressure of so many eyes.
Well.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that I felt burdened. I just wasn’t used to this many eyes on me.
[First up, making his debut! Currently ranked 19th among A-Class heroes, this man goes by the name “Lightning Max”! Will his flashy kicking techniques dazzle once again in this tournament!?]
[“Hyper Karate” Max!!]
“All I see is victory!”
His sharp eyes looked like they’d been lined with eyeliner, and lightning patterns marked his cheeks.
And then there was that blond hair with its bizarre style.
...I felt like I’d seen him somewhere before. Where was it again?
The skill he gave off was... probably decent.
He was an A-Class hero, so there was no way he was weak.
Next.
[The lone woman among them! Her lightning-fast techniques are practically art! In the women’s martial arts world, she laments that there are almost no opponents left to fight!]
[“Long-Life Fist” Lingling!!!]
“I want to fight already....”
...Hmm.
She seemed pretty good in her own way.
Still, she was weaker than Max.
I found myself wondering why she had bells hanging from her head and ears.
Next.
[The man who made his name by crushing dojos, the one who oversees Hokuto-ryu, has appeared in an official tournament! Will he become the eye of the storm, or...!?]
[“Hokuto-ryu” Benpats!!]
“Nuhuhu... I’ve finally made my debut.”
“..............”
How can someone’s name be Benpats?
...No, well.
There had been a guy named Nigamushi too, so maybe it didn’t matter.
His skill was....
“...Trash.”
He didn’t look like he had anything worth learning from his movements.
At that level... maybe even I could have beaten him back when I was at the very top of the Wolf level.
That was back when I didn’t even know the “mu” in martial arts, but for some reason I didn’t think I’d lose.
Well, if I ended up fighting him, I’d have to go easy.
Next is... huh.
[A man who has maintained a streak of four straight best results! His bending arm chases opponents anywhere and finishes them off for sure! The lowest-ranked A-Class hero!]
[“Snake Fist” Snack!!]
“...Was there any need to mention that I’m the lowest-ranked?”
...A face I never expected to see here.
Of course I remembered him clearly.
Even if it hadn’t hurt much, he’d still struck my head right up until the moment he passed out.
And also.
The human I had almost killed for the second time.
“...............”
That was in the past.
Let’s not dwell on it too much.
But.
Let’s not forget it either.
I chewed over that feeling from back then, just so something like that would never happen again.
His skill was... well. Of course it was top-class.
You’re using Snake Fist really well. Thanks.
Next.
[Who could have imagined that a lightning strike in his childhood would turn him into such a powerful fighter?! The first-born electric body!]
[“Thunder Fist” Bolton!!]
“Hmph....”
His eyebrows were unusual. His eyes were unusual too.
Electricity crackled around his body.
For some reason, I felt like if I did it right, I might be able to imitate that with psychic power too.
But that thought flared up and died just as quickly.
...Let’s not do that for now.
If I used psychic power here, there was a high chance my identity would be exposed.
And also.
His skill was... pretty decent.
He looked about on par with Snack and Max.
His power was decent too.
Still, above all else, he seemed like the type to win a lot through favorable matchups.
Next.
[Fights are always decided within ninety seconds! Can this stubborn, rough style built on sheer one-hit destruction carry him all the way to victory?!]
[“Bazuz Nuclear Fist” Bazuz!!]
“Kya-haha! Don’t think I’m the same as I was in the last tournament!”
...Something about him.
He looked incredibly weak.
What kind of martial art has a grand name like Nuclear Fist? It’s not even Fission Fist or Gravity Fist.
...Still, if that introduction was true, it might be a pretty good martial art for me.
Just then, I’d been looking for a way to split up [Flowing Snake Bite Killing Fist] so I could use it more than once, even if only a little.
It naturally had tremendous power, since it twisted the opponent’s attack and drove straight in, but the huge drawback was that one use drained all my stats to the bottom.
If an enemy appeared that I couldn’t beat with that one strike, using it could actually be dangerous.
I had felt that limit clearly in my previous fights with the Sea King and Gloribus.
Maybe I could find the clue to a solution here.
Next.
[“Water Strike Fist” Gatling!!]
“Rapid strikes are the best defense.”
[“Gentle Self-Defense Arts of the Sunflower Dojo” Hamkichi!!]
“My monthly fee is 2,000 yen. Nice to meet you.”
[“Mighty Man Style Crushing Art” Debu!!]
“Hoo—hoo—”
[“Psychological Analysis Combat Tactics” Roshi!!]
“I’ll revolutionize the martial arts world according to psychological logic.”
“...............”
How should I put this.
Hmm.
I couldn’t help thinking that every participant here was overflowing with personality.
One had mismatched eyes and a name that reminded me of an A-Class hero I’d beaten before.
One was a huge, scar-covered brute who didn’t look gentle at all.
Another big guy was... his name was weird too. How was a person named “Fatty”?
And the other one was... what was this scrawny guy? Could he even survive here with that body?
None of them really interested me all that much, but that was the same for all of them.
Honestly, I was a little interested in Gatling’s Water Strike Fist, but that was it.
The rest were all just self-defense arts and crushing arts.
I already had more than enough self-defense with Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, and as for crushing arts... I wasn’t built big enough for them to be effective.
And the scrawny guy with glasses didn’t look like he had anything at all, martial arts or otherwise.
[In the pre-tournament survey, one comment stood out for looking down on every single fighter!]
Ah.
So this was Choeje.
[A mysterious man who maintains a cold expression while seeming to analyze the fighters one by one! Just how skilled is he!?]
[“Elite Bloodline Combat Arts” Choeje!!]
“...............”
Was I too expressionless?
My current body’s muscles and structure were pretty different from the one I’d been using before, so if I wasn’t careful, my face would go blank in no time.
...But that didn’t mean I needed to force a smile or anything.
Good. Let’s keep the blank face.
[He attacks his opponent’s eyes directly with a fist coated in pungent spices! Only the Super Fight doesn’t treat that as foul play!]
[“Spice Fist” Menta!!]
“I’m going with red pepper today.”
“...That’s just plain cheating, isn’t it?”
[“Gigapro Wrestling” Jackman!!!]
“I only came to promote the event, and now you’re using such vulgar words like fighting... hmm....”
...I wasn’t very interested in those two.
Next... was his name Nigamushi?
He didn’t really look strong....
[A former master of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist who broke away to found his own school!!]
“...Huh?”
A master of Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist?
That guy?
[Can he produce good results and gather a large number of disciples!?]
[“Nigamushi-style Fist Arts” Nigamushi!!]
“Uu...ugh. I’m so nervous I feel like I’m going to throw up....”
“........”
He didn’t look especially strong.
He didn’t seem like he could even beat a low-end Demon.
His power was... so-so.
And his legs were short, so his technique looked like it would be lacking too....
“...No. Maybe not.”
Come to think of it, I’d never once seen anyone else use Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.
Maybe that guy could use the “real” Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist better than I could.
If so, then he was definitely worth watching.
[“Headlong Assault Fist” Jakos!!]
Nigamushi-style Fist Arts... it seemed like something he’d created himself, but since he’d learned Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, I figured there might be at least some of it mixed into his style.
By the way, when was this fighter introduction going to end?
Were there still three left? Who was left that they had to drag this out so long—
[A man who reads manga in the holding room and wrote on his survey form, “Please don’t aim for the head”! Is he really here to fight!?]
“...........?”
[But anyone with a ticket can enter the Super Fight!]
...No.
No, no, no.
Wait.
Hold on.
No, that’s weird.
Even if this was a big tournament, why.
Why are you showing up there?
It’s like letting a whale loose among minnows.
[“Water Ball Carbonated Fist” Charanko!]
-Boooo....
-Booooooo....
“Why are they booing already?”
Saitama.
Are you here to kill the other participants or something...?
His alias was thrown together carelessly, his disguise was just a wig, and his martial art name was... awful.
He didn’t look like he’d come here in any serious capacity.
What on earth was he thinking?
[“Dark Hell Killing Arts” Bakuzan!!]
[“True Fist” Suiryu!!]
Some grand-sounding names followed after that, but honestly, those small fry didn’t matter.
More importantly.
What is that human doing here?
Why would a man who can casually blow apart dragon-level monsters with a single punch come here... why...?
[And so, with 18 fighters assembled... the 22nd Super Fight begins!!]
“...............”
Good.
I don’t know what’s going on, but.
Should I forfeit? Right now.
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