Two weeks passed, and it was already late May.
The third season of One-Punch Man had officially entered the Monster Association arc. A group of S-Class Heroes launched a full-scale assault on the Monster Association's headquarters.
For several consecutive weeks, the plot barely involved the protagonist, Saitama.
After all, King had asked Bang to bring Saitama to him. That was King's only way to stay alive after barging into the Monster Association's territory.
As for Saitama, after entering the underground base, he promptly got lost.
Completely lost.
As a result, he barely appeared in recent episodes, and the anime shifted its focus almost entirely to the battles between S-Class Heroes and Dragon-level Monsters.
Zombieman.
Child Emperor.
Flashy Flash.
Each of them stepped forward in turn.
The ratings did not skyrocket, but discussion grew hotter week after week.
Every Friday night when a new episode aired, One-Punch Man topics rushed into the top three spots of the national trending list.
And today was Friday once again.
From early morning, fans could no longer sit still. Online forums, comment sections, and chat groups exploded with anticipation.
Capital TV Station's viewership began climbing from six o'clock in the evening.
By seven, even during commercial breaks, the ratings never dipped below 3.5 percent, clearly higher than usual.
By seven-thirty, discussion of the anime had completely flooded the internet.
After several weeks of spotlighting S-Class Heroes, most fans assumed tonight would follow the same pattern.
But this time, something different happened.
After nearly a full month of absence, Saitama finally returned.
No one could have predicted that while wandering aimlessly underground, he would stumble straight into the lair of the Monster King, Orochi.
Everyone already knew the outcome.
Still, Rei had no intention of rushing through it.
The studio animated the battle between Saitama and Orochi with a movie-level budget.
The clash lasted a full five minutes, giving the so-called Monster King every ounce of dignity he deserved.
In Rei's past life, Orochi's original design in the redrawn manga had been infamous among artists. His irregular, serpentine body fused with flesh made him a nightmare to draw.
But his presence in battle was overwhelming.
Rei refused to cut corners.
So when the episode aired, viewers across Japan simply leaned back and watched in silence, absorbing the god-tier production quality.
Then came the final shot.
The moment everyone had been waiting for.
Saitama's fist smashed Orochi's head to pieces.
No twist.
No reversal.
Exactly what fans came to see.
The stronger the monster, the cleaner the one-punch finish, and the more satisfied the audience.
That night, discussion exploded.
"So satisfying. Cheers to Orochi's exit."
"They hyped him so hard. Hundreds of beams, insane power, and still one punch. Classic."
"From what he showed, Orochi should be the second strongest monster so far, right after Boros."
"Not sure. I think he might not even beat the Younger Giant Brother."
"Still, that animation was insane. Orochi might be gone, but if his figure comes out, I'm buying it."
"Monster King died too easily. Probably because his design was too annoying to animate, so Shirogane cut him early."
"But if even Orochi gets one-shot, what's left of the Monster Association arc? The final boss is already gone."
"There's still Garou. Orochi was never the real final boss. Only Garou will make it to Saitama in the end."
"It's almost June already. Season three feels half over. I really don't want it to end."
"Why worry? Season four starts in July and will overlap with the final episodes of season three."
"So we're getting seasons five and six too?"
"No official word yet. No filings for five or six."
"My friend works at Illumination Production Company. He said after season four, Shirogane Sensei might stop for a while."
"Stop at season four? No way."
"Not stop forever. Just pause. Four seasons back-to-back, over sixty episodes, plus all his other projects. Anyone would need a break."
"No way. I can't stand waiting years for new seasons like other shows."
"There's nothing we can do. Four uninterrupted seasons is already a miracle. The staff must be completely exhausted, they deserve a break."
The next day, the latest episode closed at 6.89%, setting a new all-time record for the series.
The fight choreography and storyboards left viewers stunned. Clips, GIFs, and short edits flooded every major forum overnight.
With Orochi eliminated in a single punch, the pacing of Season Three accelerated sharply.
Then June arrived.
And Hoshimori Group made its move.
They launched a full-scale advertising blitz.
Open any anime website, Hunter x Hunter's premiere announcement popped up instantly.
Offline, posters blanketed the otaku shopping streets of every second-tier city. Comic conventions were no exception; even the front pages of Dream Comic journals carried bold ads promoting the upcoming anime adaptation.
Season One's production budget was only three hundred million yen.
Yet Hoshimori Group poured just as much money into promotion, matching the production cost.
The reason was obvious.
At present, Rei had three projects in motion.
Setting aside arcane, scheduled for next year, one-punch man had long eclipsed Hunter x Hunter in overall popularity.
And Hoshimori Group could not tolerate that.
Thus came the all-out push for Hunter.
Their objective for the next quarter was singular and unmistakable: boost the manga's sales and siphon off part of one-punch man's massive audience.
If one-punch man could dominate Japan and go viral overseas, why couldn't Hunter?
The anime didn't just need to succeed.
Its tankōbon sales had to explode, surpassing Echoes of the End,claiming the highest per-volume sales among all currently serialized manga.
Only then could Hunter x Hunter truly be crowned the number-one manga in modern Japan.