Saitama: "..."
He stared blankly at his game character on the screen, which had fallen down in a split-leg posture.
He then turned to look at King, who was beside him and whose expression hadn't changed much from beginning to end, as if he had just casually pressed a few buttons.
Saitama immediately fell silent.
His intuition told him that everything that had just happened was definitely not a coincidence.
This guy is unbelievably strong at playing games!
But Saitama remembered Han Sen's instigation from earlier and felt a bit unwilling to accept defeat.
"Just one game! Mr. Han Sen, wait, I'll play one more round!"
"It's fine, you guys continue!"
Han Sen, who was off to the side, opened another bag of shrimp crackers, his gaze like a Mudkip that saw through everything.
"Saitama, don't rush. Fighting games are all about mindset."
"You were too impatient just now, and he caught your weakness. Quickly use your invincible power to think of a solution!"
Saitama, filled with fighting spirit, listened until steam seemed to come out of his ears: "One more round!"
"ROUND 2! FIGHT!"
...
...
"K.O.!"
"PERFECT!"
"One more round!"
...
...
"K.O.!"
"PERFECT!"
"One more..."
...Two Thousand Years Later...
The sun set in the west, and the orange afterglow streamed through the window, spilling onto the apartment floor and illuminating three faces with different expressions.
King's expression remained calm, as if he had been doing some repetitive daily task all afternoon, only occasionally picking up his cola for a sip.
Han Sen's expression, on the other hand, was one of contentment. He leaned back on the sofa and let out a satisfied burp.
Beside him, various types of snack packaging had already piled up into a small mountain.
As for Saitama...
His facial muscles were twisting wildly, and veins bulged on his forehead, as if countless small earthworms were wriggling under his skin.
He clutched the controller tightly, his knuckles white from the effort, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at the television screen.
On the screen, the outcome remained unchanged.
"K.O.!"
Finally, after being defeated by King in various inconceivable ways for the umpteenth time, Saitama's string of sanity...
Snapped.
Above the uninhabited area of Z City, a desperate, indignant, and sorrowful scream suddenly rang out—
"No! Why!! I! Can't! Win! Even! One! Game! Ahhhhhh—!!"
In the last round, Saitama had learned from countless failures, abandoned all flashy and impractical combos, and maintained the most cautious defensive posture throughout the entire game. He finally seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when King was distracted by drinking cola.
He succeeded! He landed a perfect combo, beating the damned little girl controlled by King until she had only a sliver of health left!
The dawn of victory was right before his eyes!
However, just as he was about to use his final blow to end the match, the silver-haired little girl, who had only a sliver of health left, suddenly burst forth.
King didn't even put down his cola; he held the controller with one hand, his fingers dancing across the buttons in a blur.
The seemingly pitiful little girl, at the moment her health bottomed out, her eyes erupted with crimson light, entering some kind of berserk state.
A 99-hit combo, incorporating techniques Saitama couldn't understand or counter, such as 'visual timing,' 'forced cancellation,' 'corner limitation,' and 'aerial pursuit,' was unleashed instantly by King in a manner that could only be described as art!
Saitama's game character didn't even have time to let out a cry of despair; his health instantly evaporated in the fatal, ultra-long combo!
A comeback from a sliver of health!
This was the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"Burp—"
Beside him, Han Sen patted his stomach contentedly.
Looking at Saitama, whose head was almost physically emitting black aura, and King, who was completely calm as if nothing had happened, a sense of unprecedented relief and exhilaration surged within him.
Saitama, good brother!
In this house, I'm finally not the weakest one anymore!
...
...
Meanwhile, in A City.
The Hero Association's follow-up units and cleanup crew finally arrived late at the disaster site.
When they saw the ruins of the city center before them, as if it had been repeatedly bombarded by a meteor shower, everyone gasped, feeling their scalps tingle.
"My god... Is this the destructive power of a Dragon-level Weirdo?"
"Where is the Monster? Where is the corpse of the Monster that caused all this?" the high-ranking Association executive leading the team asked with a solemn expression.
The staff quickly conducted a carpet search, using the most advanced life detectors, but aside from endless destruction, they couldn't even find a single hair of the Monster.
It was as if the Monster that had caused such a terrifying disaster had simply vanished into thin air.
Just as everyone was at a loss, a civilian survivor, still shaken but with fanaticism in his eyes, was brought before Sitch.
"I... I saw it! I saw everything!"
"You saw it? Quick, tell us, what happened?" the Association staff member eagerly pressed.
"It was King!" The civilian's eyes instantly filled with fanatical adoration, and he spoke incoherently with excitement, "I heard it! The roar of the legendary Emperor Engine! It rang right in my ears! The entire earth was trembling!"
"And then? How was the Monster defeated?"
"It seems King roared at the Monster, and that Monster instantly turned into dust! Not even a speck was left!"
"What?!"
All the Heroes and Association staff present, including Sitch, were utterly stunned.
Soon, several more surviving eyewitnesses were found. Their accounts were largely similar but, on top of the original facts, they added a tiny bit of artistic embellishment and imagination.
"That's right! That's right! I saw it most clearly! King didn't roar at all; he just gave that Monster a cold glare, and that Monster got so scared it exploded on its own!"
"No! What I saw was King's aura! His aura was too strong! I felt the earth tremble beneath his feet, and the surrounding ruins resonated. It was practically a massive earthquake! The Monster was literally shaken to death!"
"The strongest man on Earth! How terrifying!"
Finally, a report, rigorously analyzed and deduced by experts, was urgently sent to the Hero Association headquarters.
The result was...
King's daily contribution +1.
His combat record was verifiable, but his strength remained unknown.
And at this moment, this legendary "strongest hero on Earth who makes anyone he glares at explode" was being relentlessly pestered by a red-eyed Saitama, who was tearfully demanding their 101st duel.
"King—! One more game! Just one last game! I'll definitely win this time!"
King: "..."
—Ugh, my hand is so tired...
-------------------------------
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