Chapter 5

Whoo!

I wipe the katana in my hand with a soft cloth, continuing until I can see my eyes clearly reflected in it like a mirror.

"This should be good enough."

I took an interest in katanas and blades after I coincidentally saw Atomic Samurai on the Hero Association website while scrolling. I wanted to see if my profile had already been added to the site, but it still wasn't updated yet.

"I guess I could use this opportunity to get a Hero Name, popularity, and a cool outfit design before they show me in the Ranking lists."

Indeed, one of the reasons I bought a katana with my remaining money was to get some cool points as well.

Though this katana probably won't last long in my hands, it won't be able to handle my power...

I should buy a quality blade when I get some money after killing some monsters.

Heroes typically earn their money every month based on their classes and rank, but I'm not certain if they will give me any money if I do nothing this month. They might even remove my rank.

Hopefully, some strong monster will appear so I can immediately kill it and gain some popularity. And hopefully, they're far away from the city so no civilians can be killed.

I know that being a hero, even being in S-class, you wouldn't get rich. That's why I want to gain some popularity so I can establish a business and live well-off.

"Live well, huh?"

That's right.

I shouldn't think like that when I haven't even avenged my family yet.

But for now, I will focus on establishing myself in the Hero society first before that.

"But, it's been three days..."

Still, no monster has appeared...

Small monsters frequently pop up, but defeating them wouldn't gain me anything. I would just waste my time, so I let other heroes handle them.

As I put the katana, now inside its saya scabbard, on the table, a news report on TV catches my interest.

"The City A is currently under attack! Boom! That noise you just heard was another attack! Boom! Boom! Boom! The ground continues to shake and the loud sounds won't stop! It's everywhere, it might destroy the who----"

"Hmm."

I donned a whole white outfit and grabbed my katana.

"This is a bad situation. I have to kill that monster immediately."

I don't like seeing destruction like this.

No doubt someone's family is dying.

Just like mine.

Clicking my tongue, I exited my apartment and jumped into the sky.

Thud!

I leaped from building to building at an accelerated speed.

And so, it didn't take long for me to reach City A.

"The destruction here..."

It was a mess.

Only a Demon-level monster could do something like this.

I looked around the whole city from the sky, trying to find the source of the destruction.

"There you are!"

A purple humanoid creature was sending beams of destruction throughout the city.

I positioned myself at the right angle, straight towards the monster, and, directing some power to my feet, I kicked the air.

Boom!

The power was enough to send me flying towards the monster at lightning speed.

At first, I wanted to try cutting him off from a distance, but I don't have a lot of confidence in controlling my power. I don't want to accidentally kill any civilians by causing too much destruction.

So it was better to kill it up close.

"Huh?"

Sensing the explosion, the purple monster turned its head and looked at me.

Panic seemed to surface on its face.

Hmm.

I held my katana gently as I got closer.

The monster, seeing me as a threat, directed its attacks towards me.

I slapped those beams of light away with my free hand easily.

"Die, you filthy monster!"

When the distance was right, with no civilians present, I drew my katana and sent a large wind blade towards the purple monster.

The air distorted as if space itself would crack open.

In a moment, it became a massive wind blade directed towards the purple monster.

No doubt, anything it hit would be erased from existence.

Zing---!

Boom!

The monster couldn't avoid such a massive wind blade in time. It couldn't even react because of the speed of the approaching wind blade.

In my perception, which seemed to slow down time, I saw the monster get hit directly by the giant wind blade. It was cut into thousands of pieces, and as the wind blade continued, the monster, already in pieces, was further cut into countless fragments until nothing remained of it.

"And..."

I looked at my hand, now empty.

"My sword..."

As I thought, low-class swords indeed can't handle my power...

I really hope they pay me something big or even compensate me for my sword because I will be really disappointed.

But anyway...

"I saved them."

I saved someone. No, I saved many people.

Is this what it feels like to be a hero?

"Still, I should have arrived earlier."

With this much destruction caused by the monster, there's no doubt that many people died.

I sat on some debris and pulled out the phone given to me by the Association.

"Hello."

-----Hello, is this the new S-Class hero?

"Yeah."

-----We got your location, you're in City A. Could you defeat the monster that's rampaging? The report said that it loo...

"No need. I already killed it."

There was no response for a few seconds.

-----Please wait there. We will dispatch rescue teams. Please help secure the city from any more possible attacks.

"I will do that. Send them quickly."

I waited there.

When suddenly...

"....!"

The familiar bald head with a blank face entered my sight.

He seemed to be walking around aimlessly.

"Could it be that he also planned to kill the monster?"

Likely.

I smiled.

Pushing some power into my feet, I instantly arrived in front of him.

Saitama wasn't even surprised at my sudden appearance.

He just smiled.

"Oh, it's you, Renji!"

"Glad you didn't forget my name. Anyway, I'm happy to meet you again."

We sat on the debris.

I looked into the sky.

"Was it strong?" Saitama asked.

"Nah. I was able to quickly kill it before it could continue to kill innocent civilians."

"That's great to hear."

"By the way, I didn't see your name on any of the hero rankings yet. You still haven't registered?"

He seemed worried.

"That... I forgot about that."

"You should become a hero. I became one because I want my name to be known to the world, so monsters would be afraid to even touch the surface while I'm alive."

Of course, I know that's unlikely to happen. Monsters always attack the weak, even knowing that many heroes on the surface can kill them. I won't be everywhere at the same time, so I won't be able to achieve that goal.

"Hmm. I'll try that."

"Haha. That's great to hear. Also, don't try giving credits anymore. I want to see you in the same class as me, where you rightfully belong with your power."

Yet, he didn't seem to care.

"I'll try."