J-City's emergency evacuation order was lifted soon afterward. Almost at the same time, a short video appeared online and quickly spread across the internet.
Recorded by the surveillance cameras inside the disaster shelter, the video wasn't very long, after editing, it came to roughly five minutes. Its contents were simple enough: it showed what had happened inside the shelter.
The footage began around the time Sylvia's program went on air. It showed Sylvia's speech, followed by the Deep Sea King smashing through the shelter's reinforced outer wall and breaking inside. The Heroes stepped forward to stop him, only to be swept aside without being able to fight back. Then the civilians began chanting together, calling for a Hero to save them.
Finally, Fang Li descended from above and killed the Deep Sea King in a swift, decisive strike, saving everyone inside.
That was the entire video. Its final shot showed Fang Li standing before the Deep Sea King's corpse as the crowd's cheers thundered around him.
The moment the video was uploaded, it caused a massive reaction. After all, the whole thing was incredibly inspiring. Sylvia's words had given people hope. The citizens had faced a Demon-level Mysterious Being and still cried out for a Hero. Then Fang Li had answered their call, descended from the sky, and killed the Deep Sea King.
Put together, the sequence of events was enough to make people's blood boil and leave them deeply moved. And this hadn't been some fictional story, it had actually happened. Naturally, everyone was drawn to it.
Almost immediately after the video appeared, the Hero Association reposted it on its official website, pinning it to the front page for everyone to see.
As a result, J-City became famous overnight. The brave adults and children from the shelter gained widespread attention, and the incident quickly surpassed even the recent meteorite disaster in Z-City as the hottest topic of discussion.
Many people watched the video several times before leaving comments.
"Amazing!"
"The people of J-City were incredible!"
"The Heroes in J-City deserve praise too!"
"They were facing a Demon-level Mysterious Being, but the Heroes still stepped forward without hesitation! Even the adults and children refused to give in to fear! They're an example to all of us!"
"I don't even know what to say. Respect."
Countless comments expressed admiration and emotion. The J-City disaster had turned into a massive public sensation, one that wouldn't die down anytime soon.
Naturally, the person at the center of all that attention was Fang Li.
"Rakshasa-sama was so cool!"
"I'm officially obsessed!"
"That's it! I'm becoming a Rakshasa fan! Nobody stop me!"
That was more or less the reaction of everyone who watched the video. Without question, an overwhelming number of people became Fang Li's fans.
And really, how could they not? Given the situation, Fang Li had appeared in response to everyone's desperate cries, descended from the sky, and killed the Mysterious Being threatening them before anyone could even react. Becoming a true Hero in the eyes of the public was only natural.
Of course, Fang Li himself hadn't been thinking about any of that. He knew perfectly well that he wasn't what people would normally call a Hero. But the result couldn't be denied: he had answered everyone's hopes and saved them from certain death.
That was a fact.
As a result, Fang Li's fan clubs and official support groups sprang up almost immediately. Popular Heroes already tended to have fan clubs, and the Hero Association's official website even maintained a popularity ranking.
For a long time, Sweet Mask had held first place. Then Sylvia joined the Hero Association and, unsurprisingly, knocked him down to second.
After the J-City incident, however, Fang Li's popularity skyrocketed. He shot past most of the other Heroes and, astonishingly, even surpassed Sweet Mask.
Fang Li was now ranked second in popularity, behind only Sylvia.
Naturally, Sweet Mask knew about it. He had even watched the video himself.
As he watched Fang Li defeat evil like a true Hero, answer the hopes of the people, and stand beneath their thunderous cheers, Sweet Mask fell silent.
Because he had once told Fang Li: '"You aren't qualified to be a Hero."'
Yet that short video was practically a slap across Sweet Mask's face. Not only had Fang Li become a Hero in the eyes of the public, but everything he had done matched Sweet Mask's own definition of what a Hero should be.
Strong.
Stylish.
Capable of decisively destroying evil.
Fang Li had done all of it. And in the end, he'd even won the hearts of the people.
How could Sweet Mask not fall silent?
Apparently, after finishing his filming that day, Sweet Mask left immediately without saying much. His feelings were probably pretty complicated.
As for Sylvia, she merely smiled when she heard about it. And when her shocking statements from the earlier program were added into the mix, Fang Li's popularity completely exploded.
...
In Sylvia's villa in A-City, Fang Li stared at the enormous cardboard box in front of him, completely speechless.
Sylvia and Fubuki, on the other hand, were having a wonderful time opening the letters inside and reading them aloud.
"'Rakshasa-sama, I'm a huge fan! I watched the J-City video and you were so cool! Please keep doing your best! I'll always support you!' That's what this one says."
Fubuki opened another.
"'Rakshasa-sama, I'm from J-City and I was there during the Deep Sea Race incident. Thank you for saving me. My daughter and I both really like you, and we've joined your fan club as well. Please keep up the good work. To us, you're the greatest Hero.'"
Sylvia and Fubuki continued opening letter after letter until fan mail covered the entire table.
Nearby, Tatsumaki, currently transformed into a small dog, gave the letters a single glance before turning away in complete disinterest. Her expression practically screamed: 'Something that minor caused this much fuss? People really have too much free time.'
That was definitely what she was thinking.
"Sigh..."
Fang Li rubbed his forehead and let out a long breath. How had things ended up like this?
"What's wrong?" Sylvia teased. "Isn't being popular a good thing?"
Fang Li shot her an annoyed look. "You've got some nerve saying that. If you hadn't said all that stuff on the program, things wouldn't have gotten this ridiculous."
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
(End of Chapter)
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