51 Everything's fine

"I'm lost." Looking around, Hiroto had no idea where he was. Looking around, he could see various people dressed in either formal or casual clothing going around to the various shops and exhibitions.

Since he just exited from the airport, he knew that he was near the outer ring of the Island, where the first city was located. Shaped like a triangle, there were 3 cities on each corner, with a 4th in the middle. Hiroto was near the bottom city, which was designed to welcome tourists.

"From what the flight attendant told me, I should be able to have access to this place called the Pavilion, as well as the cafes, musical shows, and a bunch more," Hiroto muttered, looking around with a phone in his hand, trying to find a map of the island.

Deciding to just go with the flow, he started to walk towards the city and past the various attractions around him, giving them a few glances here and there, but not too interested.

Unlike the majority of people here, Hiroto was in his Hero suit and could see some people giving him curious glances here and there, wondering if he was also a Hero himself. He decided to ignore the gazes directed to him, well, that was until something unexpected occurred.

"Hey! One Punch Man! Is that you?!" A man shouted from behind Hiroto. Turning around, he saw a man wearing bright casual clothes standing next to another man, giving him a bright gaze.

Pointing to himself, Hiroto asked, "You know me?"

"Of course I know you!" The man in bright clothes said excitedly, taking out his phone. "I'm following your HeroBook account and keeping up to date with what you've been doing ever since you took down those Villains in a car with the Rabbit Hero Mirko!"

"Oh, uh…" Hiroto didn't really know how to respond, opting to say, "Thanks?"

"Of course!" He then nudged his friend, passing him the phone, and saying to Hiroto, "Hey, do you mind if we take a picture? If you're not too busy of course"

Meeting the man's determined gaze, Hiroto nodded, to which he cheered and stood next to Hiroto while giving a peace sign. Hiroto thought to himself, 'What should I do? Do I pose? Smile? Flex? Oh no, I am so not ready for this anxiety.'

He instead just crossed his arms and act like he usually does after defeating a Villain… Looking like his usual bored self.

The man next to him, however, didn't seem to mind and actually preferred this since it was similar to how Hiroto would always act in his photos. After thanking Hiroto, the two people then left, leaving Hiroto exasperated by them.

'This is going to get worse in the future when more people know who I am.' Hiroto said inwardly, continuing his journey through the city, completely oblivious that there was a blonde girl with glasses panicking trying to find him.

Taking a quick stop, Hiroto got some ice cream and was viewing a showcase of a floating ball that allowed people to travel from within it to the other cities through the sky.

He did find the city to be a great place to explore. There was just one downside to such a technologically advanced city, however.

"Everything's so damn expensive!" Hiroto muttered, walking away from the showcase and passing by a household gadgets shop, where just by seeing the prices of the items from the outside made Hiroto avoid it like the plague. (corona much?)

Passing by those shops, Hiroto came across what seemed to be an area with various cafes and restaurants.

"I am a bit hungry… But I'm pretty sure the food at where I'm staying would be free. Wait…" After speaking to himself, Hiroto started to feel a sense of dread coming over him. "Where am I staying?"

Hiroto quickly fished out his ticket, however, it didn't say anything on there about where he was staying. He then opted to search for the electronic ticket instead, but it once again didn't specify where he was staying.

"Argh! How am I supposed to find where I'm staying?" Hiroto said to himself, shaking his head. That was when he heard someone talking to him.

"Excuse me, sir? Do you need any help?"

Turning around, Hiroto saw a woman wearing a white dress with blue lining on it, along with white gloves and white stockings. One of the uniforms for the I-Island and I-Expo staff.

"They really do like white…" Hiroto muttered, walking up to the brown-haired woman, saying, "I'm a bit lost."..

The woman smiled and said, "If you're lost then I can certainly be of help, it can be very overwhelming. Are you by yourself, and are you trying to find a specific venue?"

Hiroto shook his head and explained how he had his language transported to his hotel room for him, but he was never told where he was actually staying. The woman was about to say something, but the moment Hiroto showed her his ticket, her attitude changed completely.

"W-We're so sorry! I will immediately get on this matter and find where your luggage and place of residence!" Ignoring Hiroto's confused look, the woman took out an earpiece and slotted it into her ear, saying, "Tower control, a VVVIP has encountered a problem and wasn't informed of where he is staying. Yes. That's right. Send them here."

Taking a bite of his ice cream, Hiroto just watched on curiously as she was talking in her earpiece with a serious tone of voice. Not long after, a helicopter came into view and descended right in front of the two, however, due to Hiroto's quick thinking and actions, he managed to shield his icecream from being blown away.

The woman then gestured to the helicopter while trying to keep her hair from blowing all over the place, saying, "Please, use this helicopter as it will take you to The Resident, our top hotel. Due to negligence on our part, we have upgraded your room, please accept it as our token of apology."

Staring at the woman for a moment, who felt nervous under his gaze, Hiroto took another bite of his ice cream and said, "Sure." He then proceeded towards the helicopter, still shielding his icecream, and entered the back. Inside was a well-furnished interior that was on a similar level to the private jet, just a little less regal, but still over the top nonetheless.

After confirming that Hiroto was strapped in, the pilot took off under the many wondrous gazes of the crowd below, with the woman breathing a sigh of relief.

"Excuse me! Have you seen a person with no hair, a lazy look on his face wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a white cape and red gloves?" A girl with blonde hair and glasses approached the woman while jumping on a pogo stick and getting off of it, retracting its entire shape into a small red container, fitting into her pocket.

"Miss Melissa Shield! The person you're talking about just took off in one of the Island's private helicopters." The woman pointed towards the receding helicopter in the sky and it made it's way over the top of a building, out of the girl's sight.

The girl, Melissa Shield, sighed, thinking to herself, 'Uncle Might entrusted him to me so I can show him around, and yet I just missed him. I'll meet him at his hotel instead then.'

In the helicopter, looking out the window, Hiroto got a clear view of not just the town below him, but also the other cities in the distance. The trip took him towards the central city where the famous Central Tower is situated.

This was I-Island's primary setting for research and development, being a tall 200-story tower in the very centre of the island, also acting as central command for the entire island.

Sticking his face closer to the side door, Hiroto was amazed by its size. Looking back, the pilot saw Hiroto leaning into the door and cautioned him, "Sir, please don't stick too close to the door, it's for your safety."

Hiroto didn't look at him and just waved his hand, saying, "Don't be such a worry wort. This helicopter is probably really durable." To show this, Hiroto lightly smacked against the door. Big mistake.

Without warning, the entire side-door that Hiroto was leaning on burst open, sending it flying straight into a lake. Hiroto himself, fell out of the helicopter, causing the pilot to lose his composure and started screaming into his helmet set.

Falling down to the ground, beneath him Hiroto could see that there seemed to be a stage with multiple people on it and a large crowd watching the performance.

Adjusting his posture, Hiroto correcting his position, making sure to land on his feet. Behind him, his cape was fluttering wildly from his fast descent.

From below, the announcer providing a show of a portable gadget shield for civilians noticed an anomaly pop up on his mask, directing his gaze to the sky. His eyes narrowed as the figure of Hiroto falling straight towards the middle of the metal stage.