In an apartment in City M.
A heavy and oppressive atmosphere permeated the air.
The source of this killing intent came from the man with the shiny bald head, sitting cross-legged on the tatami in the center of the living room.
Saitama leaned slightly forward, his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him, bloodshot.
His hands gripped the game controller tightly, his knuckles white from the excessive force.
Visibly, he exuded a dangerous aura of "do not approach."
Saitama was fuming.
"Damn it! Mr. KING, are you cheating?!"
On the screen, his character was cornered by a flamboyant Fighting Character with a fluid combo, his health bar instantly depleted.
In the center of the screen, two large blood-red letters slowly appeared—"K.O."
Immediately after, an even more dazzling golden word popped up—"Perfect."
Another perfect kill.
This was the twenty-seventh time Saitama had seen this scene.
Each time, it was like a heavy hammer, striking hard at his pride.
Sitting opposite him was the instigator of this "tragedy."
A man with a striking head of golden hair and three prominent scars on his face.
He was Mr. KING, the S-Class Hero, s-class rank 6, recognized by the Hero Association and the entire world as The Strongest Man on Earth.
At this moment, this legendary strong man was just lazily leaning on the sofa, his left hand even casually holding a bottle of cola, controlling the controller with only the index and middle fingers of his right hand.
"You're just too bad, Saitama."
Lin Mo took a sip of the bubbly soda, mercilessly delivering the final blow to Saitama's battered spirit.
"Your playstyle is disorganized, you only rush in, full of openings."
Saitama's head was buzzing; he understood every word Mr. KING said, but combined, they made him feel an unprecedented sense of frustration.
He couldn't understand it.
He had clearly given it his all.
Prediction, positioning, feints, psychological warfare... He had applied all the game knowledge he had learned from comics and strategy videos.
He even, for a moment, felt like he had touched the essence of the game, comprehending the true meaning of e-sports.
At that moment, he was practically the god of games!
However, reality was a cold twenty-seven consecutive losses, and a light-hearted "disorganized."
What a joke!
"Mr. KING..." Saitama slowly turned his head, looking at Lin Mo with a somewhat pitiful gaze.
"Who... who exactly are you? Why are you so good at gaming?"
Saitama asked this question with utmost seriousness.
Lin Mo heard this, put down the controller, gently stretched his fingers, and showed a gentle smile on his face.
"I'm just a player who plays for fun," he replied calmly.
"..."
Saitama felt a lump in his chest; a mouthful of old blood was neither up nor down, and he felt like he was about to spontaneously combust.
"One more round!"
Saitama shouted defiantly, quickly pressing the restart button, "This time I'm definitely going to win!"
"It's meaningless, your skill level..."
Before Lin Mo could finish his sentence, a sudden urgent and sharp alarm blared throughout the room.
"Beep—beep—beep—!!"
This was the Hero Association's emergency mobilization alarm, sent directly via encrypted channel to every S-Class Hero's exclusive communicator.
On the small table, the screens of Lin Mo's and Saitama's phones suddenly lit up, red warning signs frantically flashing.
[Emergency Alert! Emergency Alert!]
[Disaster Level: Dragon]
[Location: Z-City Ruined District]
[Content: The Monster "Elder Centipede" has appeared, its size is immense, and its destructive power is immeasurable.]
[S-Class Hero Silver Fang and Demon Cyborg are currently engaging it, requesting all nearby S-Class Heroes to immediately proceed for support! Repeat! Request immediate support!]
Almost simultaneously with the text message popping up, Lin Mo had already answered the call.
Immediately, the Hero Association liaison's voice, frantic to the point of cracking, rang out.
"Mr. KING! Are you there? Mr. KING! The situation is extremely urgent! Elder Centipede has appeared in Z-City! Mr. Bang and Demon Cyborg might not last much longer! We..."
The liaison on the other end was clearly flustered, speaking at a rapid-fire pace, trying to convey all information to The Strongest Man on Earth in the shortest possible time, hoping he would understand the gravity of the situation.
On the other side, Saitama's eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the words "Monster."
"This is great!!!"
A heartfelt cheer burst from Saitama's mouth.
He shot up from the ground with a "whoosh," so fast that he even created a small whirlwind.
"Finally! A Monster!"
He excitedly waved his fists, a ferocious grin on his face.
"I've been holding in so much frustration from playing games with nowhere to vent it! This is perfect! Absolutely perfect!!"
The Hero Association liaison on the other end of the phone clearly heard Saitama's hearty cheer, and his voice instantly faltered.
"Mr. KING! Is there... is there something going on over there? Is Mr. Caped Baldy also there? That's great! Please be sure to tell him..."
The liaison's words were cut off before he could finish by a calm and steady voice.
Lin Mo picked up his phone, glanced at the blurry satellite image of Elder Centipede, which obscured the sky on the screen, then put the phone to his ear.
He only said one sentence.
"I know."
These simple four words, transmitted through the line to the Hero Association headquarters' command center, seemed to possess a magical power to calm people's hearts.
The liaison, who had been as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, instantly calmed down.
The entire command center also fell silent for a moment because of these four words.
Everyone subconsciously stopped what they were doing and turned their gaze to the hero avatar representing "Mr. KING" on the main screen.
"It's... it's Mr. KING..."
"Mr. KING responded!"
"He said he knows..."
An indescribable sense of security instantly swept over everyone in the command center.
It was as if as long as this man spoke, no matter how desperate the disaster, it would be resolved with ease.
"Beep."
Lin Mo hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.
He stood up and brushed the wrinkles off his pants.
"Let's go, Saitama."
He looked at Saitama, who had already changed into his familiar yellow skin-tight battle suit and white cape.
"Hmph, don't think that just because you beat me in a game, you can beat me to the Monster!"
Saitama tugged at his red gloves, a confident smile playing on his lips, all his previous vexation swept away.
For him, this was his home turf.
Without any unnecessary words, the two figures flashed, leaping out of the apartment window, transforming into two streaks of light difficult for the naked eye to catch, and rapidly sped towards the Z-City ruins.