"C-Class Rank 2: Big Iron Pot.
C-Class Rank 3: Skateboard Hero.
C-Class Rank 4: Baseball Ace.
C-Class Rank 5… all the way down to C-Class Rank 273: The Janitor…"
License-less Rider muttered their names in his heart.
Every single C-class hero present—he knew them all.
In the world of One Punch Man, C-class had the largest numbers, the lowest pay, treated worse than even taxi drivers. And yet, countless still pursued the dream, fighting weak and fragile like ants, struggling to protect their cities.
These heroes—
In manga panels, in news reports—they weren't even worth a line. Just a phrase:
"Several C-class heroes deployed."
And when they died protecting citizens? Their names were forgotten.
B-class, A-class, S-class—the world only remembered them.
C-class? They were like auxiliary police in society. Cheap labor, looked down upon, their salaries no better than security guards. Many citizens didn't even acknowledge C-class as real heroes.
But the truth was—they worked the hardest. Rebuilding cities after disasters, clearing rubble, delivering supplies, hauling debris. Low-risk, backbreaking labor. Work that barely kept them alive.
As C-Class Rank 1, License-less Rider earned the most among them—yet even then, he gave much of his pay to help others survive.
He aided struggling comrades without complaint, asking nothing in return.
To B and A-classes, it was laughable. "Just weaklings clinging together," they'd sneer. "Ants huddling are still ants. Garbage piled together is still garbage."
That was how C-class was seen: mockery. Unworthy even to step inside headquarters.
Yet today, those he'd once helped—those who remembered—came. To see him off.
To congratulate him for supposedly becoming an A-class hero.
License-less Rider gazed calmly at his comrades, those who'd once bled beside him in battle, sweat and tears shed together.
To him, it was yesterday. They were still together, fighting.
Though scorned, looked down upon, dismissed as weak—
C-class remained his circle, his brothers.
"…Heh. You all came, huh~."
At his words, over a hundred C-class heroes fell silent. Eyes reddened.
They knew the truth. With him gone, no one would shield them from bullying by stronger heroes. No one to resist when points were stolen, when the weak were exploited.
License-less Rider smiled, held up his license.
"I let you down… seems I failed the promotion test. But hey, tonight's on me. Let's celebrate anyway. I got lucky—picked up a scrap."
The silence grew heavier. Many groaned with regret. Some urged him to retake the test, to try again for A-class.
He only laughed and brushed them off.
He wouldn't abandon them.
Because without him, they would lose even their fragile dreams.
"Ding ding ding… isn't that the so-called lucky brat from last time? Still just C-Class Rank 1?"
Snide voices cut in.
Snake—the same man who once schemed against Saitama—stepped forward. His narrow eyes gleamed with mockery, lips twisted. "So this is the 'black horse' of the exams? A mere piece of trash."
His cronies laughed.
But the C-class heroes erupted.
"Shut up! Don't you insult Rider!"
"He doesn't need A-class! He's already more of a hero than you'll ever be!"
"Snake, you're nothing but an arrogant fraud!"
Fury spread like fire.
For once, the bullied rose together, a hundred weak men glaring like a storm.
Snake's face twitched. To retreat before C-class worms? Impossible.
A snarl twisted his lips.
"Garbage is garbage! You vermin dare bare your teeth? I'll remind you what true strength is!"
With a blur of motion, Snake lunged, striking with enough force to pierce steel, ready to cripple a helpless C-class.
But—
Thud!
Blood trickled down his palm. His strike had been stopped.
He looked up in shock.
License-less Rider stood before him, arm raised, blocking the blow with ease.
No pain crossed his face.
Because pain—pain was nothing new to him.
All eyes—C-class, B-class, even passersby—turned to him.
His calm expression didn't change, though his eyes flashed cold.
"…According to Association rules," he said flatly, "once attacked, a hero has the right to respond."
(End of Chapter)
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