It had been about two weeks, but...
Snack still remembered it vividly, as if it had happened just moments ago.
The limits he had encountered on Maguchi Mountain.
The moment three A-Class heroes had gone after it, only to be effortlessly countered and crushed in defeat.
The monstrous thing that had looked at his [Social Circle] and learned martial arts on the spot...
Ever since the day he met that lizard monster...
Snack had not had a single good day.
It had been two weeks of pure misfortune.
First, the incident that happened after he was beaten by that lizard monster.
As soon as he was discharged from the hospital, he headed straight for Z City and, the moment he arrived, held a pass seminar for two new recruits.
He gave a lecture on the mindset a hero should have, mixing in advice that came from the heart as a senior in the profession.
But...
One of them was so taciturn he didn’t react at all.
And the other went one step further and just sat there blowing bubble gum.
In the end, when he complained to a colleague afterward, he was told that one of them was an S-Class hero and the other would surpass him before long.
Honestly, by then he no longer cared about rank.
After experiencing that overwhelming wall once, he had felt his own limits and thrown himself into training, training, and more training, along with battle after battle.
He could feel himself growing at a considerable pace, but he hadn’t reported it to the Hero Association for the sake of caution.
He no longer intended to obsess over being the lowest-ranked A-Class hero. At least, not unless someone brought it up first.
But then...
That rude bastard.
That guy who looked like he didn’t even know the first thing about being a hero.
He was going to surpass him soon?
That, at least, was something his pride as a hero could not forgive.
In the world of pro heroes, there was a culture called rookie crushing.
In fact, he disliked it so much that he thought it was a harmful practice that should disappear entirely.
No matter how competitive pro heroes were with one another, the strong trampling the weak for no reason was absolutely unacceptable.
More than that, for an A-Class hero like himself to do rookie crushing against a hero who had only just reached C-Class was... something he should never do.
But at the time, he had already lost half his reason.
He chased after him and landed a punch squarely on his face.
And then he was driven straight into the ground.
It was over in an instant.
He probably couldn’t even lift his head for about twenty minutes after that.
There was no strength left in his arms at all.
Sea King.
The guy who looked like a top-tier Demon-level threat burst in by smashing through the shelter wall without warning.
He had judged that he would be no help, so he had stayed in the shelter to avoid getting in the way.
Twice, his spirit had been broken.
Twice, he had been forced to face the painful reality that there were monsters stronger than him everywhere.
He had finally thought he understood his own place in the world.
But then...
How could he, a hero, run away or back down while civilians were in danger and terrified for their lives?
If not a hero, then who would step up in a situation like this?
Winning or losing didn’t matter.
Five seconds. He had to buy five seconds, at least.
Even if it killed him, he had to stall somehow.
He dragged his heavy steps forward, one by one, and approached Sea King.
He charged in with the other heroes against the bastard who was laughing as if they were beneath him.
In the end, he drove a powerful uppercut into the monster’s jaw with his [Sharp Claws].
But that was his last memory.
Before his vision went dark with a burst of searing pain, he thought he heard the sound of a fist rushing toward him by his ear.
There were plenty of others, too.
With a bitter smile, Snack recalled them and widened the distance between himself and his opponent.
Benpats, the bastard who had looked down on and mocked pro heroes, had been dealt with by nothing more than a one-sided beating.
He lacked both technique and physical ability.
Even if the other side swung hard, he could let the blow flow away with [Social Circle] while rushing in to strike back, so his own damage was almost nonexistent.
'Wh-what... the hell... You're not weak at all... I was tricked...'
'Winner, Snack!!'
In the end, he had used a double palm strike as the finishing blow and brought the guy down.
...However.
The guy’s words had left him somewhat unsettled.
“......I’m weak.”
He wanted to think of himself as someone standing among the strong.
But by now... the world was already overflowing with monsters.
Monsters with such overwhelming strength that there was no way to win or even resist them.
He had once witnessed Tatsumaki’s battle with his own eyes.
It had only happened because he had stopped obsessing over rank and had focused more than ever on battle and training, which just happened to bring him to the scene.
He had watched buildings twist like strands of taffy and become a single gray spear.
And then it flew out and pierced the monster squarely through the chest.
There had been zero civilian casualties.
The monster with a hole in its chest had ceased all life functions on the spot.
It had been a dragon-level monster, not even a Tiger or a Demon.
Could he have won against something like that?
No. Absolutely impossible.
All he could do was buy time.
That kind of monstrous strength, casually swatting away an enemy like a fly... there was no other way to describe it but beyond the norm.
There was no other explanation.
“Haaaaaahhhhh!!!!”
Once, he had shone too.
He had the pride of a true hero, one of the few with the power to save the people.
But then...
Monsters appeared that he could never defeat.
The vast gap between himself and the S-Class heroes became even more obvious.
And now...
“Grrrrrrk...!!”
A single question had begun to rise in his mind.
If there were so many ordinary people stronger than heroes, like the man in front of him, Suiryu...
Were heroes even necessary?
Even without someone like him.
Even without the Hero Association.
Wouldn’t someone else step forward and deal with the monsters instead?
“Already over? You did land several attacks with about the same level as Max, but I guess that still wasn’t enough.”
“You... Haa. Why aren’t you counterattacking? You’ve been dodging this whole time... Are you mocking me?”
He hadn’t landed a single meaningful hit, not even a glancing blow.
He had definitely gotten stronger than before, and he thought he had reached at least the upper middle ranks of A-Class.
“I just wanted to check your skill first, too~ A-Class heroes are pretty rare... they’re the few competent heroes, right? If guys at Max’s or Snack’s level can make good money, maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, I thought.”
...Was he completely treating heroes as a way to make money?
It was an unmistakably mocking remark.
Stay calm. At this rate...
“Ah, but... when a monster shows up, don’t you get deployment orders or a call? I don’t want to be ordered around by anyone. I just want the money... hahaha.”
“......I have a question.”
Why was a lightweight bastard like him, with no sense of purpose at all...
Why was he so irritating...
Why was he strong?
That was what he asked.
“Hmm... If you ask me why, I can’t really say. I’ve never thought about why I’m strong.”
“Looking back on class, I just sparred with my master at a decent level... and I do have some memories of skipping out and going out with a girl now and then.”
“I haven’t done any training for the last few years, either. Is that any help?”
He was serious.
This guy was seriously saying such absurd things.
Suddenly, a wave of self-loathing crashed over him.
He had never neglected practice or training, and recently he had increased both at an explosive rate.
And yet he was losing to that guy. What did that make him?
“Can I ask one too? Why are you even doing something like being a hero? At that level, I mean.”
“Does that really mean anything?”
“............”
“Lately, the number of strong monsters has been increasing too. There’s that vicious monster hunter as well. Even if you go all out, is it worth more than pissing on ice?”
“Whether there are heroes or not, the humans who survive will survive however they please. Whether there are monsters or not, the weak are weeded out. That’s the law of nature.”
“In the end, your activities are nothing more than self-satisfaction that barely amounts to comfort in the first place. The result won’t change much.”
“Well, let’s say all the heroes get wiped out in the future. We’d still survive anyway.”
“......And who are the ‘we’ that survive?”
“The strong ones.”
The moment he said that, Snack’s vision blurred, a heavy impact struck his neck, and he lost consciousness.
[One hit!! Suiryu’s kick knocks Snack down in a single blow!!]
[What on earth is going on?! The number of one-hit KOs has exploded just today... huh?]
“Suiryu!!! Nice... huh?”
“Good! I’ll take down the rest too... huh?”
Step.
Step.
Step.
Step.
“...Haa, uuuuh.”
[Ch... Choeje has suddenly stormed into the arena from somewhere?! It’s not even his turn yet....]
“You’re Suiryu, right?”
Wasn’t he the guy who had just beaten Mentai of the Snake Fist?
What had impressed him was how he dragged out the match in a way that didn’t seem to match his ability, hiding his skill.
With Charanko, the one he had marked as a favorite to win, having a sudden issue that delayed his match, it looked like he could put on a good fight against Bakuzan.
But that was all.
With a relaxed smile, Suiryu faced the opponent who had brazenly stormed into the arena.
“Heh. What, are you maybe my fan....”
“Come at me.”
“......So it’s that kind of thing. Fine. You look strong, so I’ll take you on properly....”
“And.”
Endure it.
If you die, I don’t care.
Shiver...!
“......Hngh...!”
For an instant, killing intent swept across his entire body.
Killing intent of a different class, tightly restrained and perfectly sharpened into form.
And sure enough.
The other man’s appearance began to distort.
His white skin melted away, and scales burst out from beneath it.
Blue eyes turned yellow and widened.
His nails lengthened.
His tail grew out.
At last, he revealed it.
His true form, which he had been hiding.
His identity as a monster.
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