Chapter 10: Should I Give It a Try?
Feeling the sensation on her head, Tatsumaki froze. A clear liquid seemed to slide down her cheek.
Staring at the figure deeply etched into her memories—a back she could never quite reach—Tatsumaki subconsciously reached out, trying to grab hold of the blurry silhouette.
However, the figure merely let out a faint chuckle, gave her a thumbs-up, and turned to walk away. Only a single sentence drifted through the air:
"Don't let anyone look down on you. Believe that you are the best. You have the power to protect your little sister."
"Don't go..."
Tatsumaki scrambled up from the ruins. She ran desperately toward the figure walking further and further away, her breathing ragged, stumbling as she charged forward.
That was the person she had looked up to for 20 years. The person she had waited for. The person she had been searching for.
S-Class Rank 1: Blast.
"Don't go..."
Tatsumaki murmured. Her stumbling footsteps steadied, and finally, she used her psychokinesis to take flight, pushing her speed to the limit.
But even then, she couldn't touch that back.
"DON'T LEAVE ME!!!"
A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the white void. Cracks appeared on the surface of the space around her, and then, like a shattered mirror, the dream world exploded into fragments, leaving only nothingness.
.................
Reality
Tatsumaki snapped her eyes open. Her vision was tinged with red, the whites of her eyes completely filled with broken capillaries.
It felt like countless steel needles were piercing her brain. The intense pain brought the S-Class Rank 2 hero to her knees.
That's right... I promised Blast... I would become the strongest!
So! How could I... how could I possibly lose to a guy like King?!
With a piercing shriek, massive green energy erupted from her body. Tatsumaki forcibly pushed her mental load to the absolute limit, unleashing a full-scale psychic outbreak.
If I can't wring him into a pretzel directly, and if wide-range attacks can't force him to dodge...
Then I just need to condense all my power into a single point!
The boundless psychic energy, strong enough to rip up the surface of an entire city, began to compress rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, spiritual power as vast as an ocean was compressed into a tiny needle, less than ten centimeters long. Terrifying power surged within it.
The moment this psychic needle formed, the surrounding space began to warp, clearly unable to bear the burden of its density.
Sensing the crisis signal from the depths of his instincts, Kenji's face finally showed a hint of seriousness.
The intensity of that needle... it's enough to hurt me. And the injury wouldn't be light.
With a thought from Tatsumaki, the needle moved. In 0.01 seconds, it crossed the distance almost instantaneously, arriving right in front of Kenji's face.
Kenji's pupils constricted. His body turned into an afterimage and vanished from the spot, leaving only a streak of blue light as he maneuvered through the air at speeds invisible to the naked eye.
In the spot where he had just been standing, the space itself collapsed. The tiny needle had pierced through the stability of reality, triggering a localized spatial implosion.
"Don't you dare run!!"
Tatsumaki shouted. Although she was growing weaker by the second, she continued to pour power into the tracking needle.
But in the next second, a figure appeared abruptly behind her.
A completely ordinary hand chop descended gently. It smashed right through her already crumbling psychic shield and struck the back of her neck.
Thud.
The flow of psychic power cut off instantly. Tatsumaki's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Without its power source, the terrifying psychic needle lost its momentum and slowly dissipated into specks of green light in the wind.
The battle ended with Kenji's effortless victory.
From start to finish, Kenji had allowed Tatsumaki to attack freely. He had only made two moves, and she was already exhausted and knocked out.
He reached down and picked up the petite Tatsumaki by her collar, yawning in boredom.
I thought it would be a hearty, exhilarating battle. Turns out this little loli is pretty weak.
The white steam on his body slowly faded as Kenji exited the Gate of Wonder. Holding Tatsumaki, he flew up into the sky, heading back toward the Hero Association.
[Ding! Congratulations Host, you have completed Option 1.]
Hearing the system notification, Kenji shook his head helplessly.
Unless something unexpected happened, he was now solidly one of the top-tier powerhouses in the One Punch Man world.
Tatsumaki was supposed to be the strongest active hero aside from the hidden "cheat characters," yet she had no way to fight back against him. It was practically an instant kill.
With the Gate of Death physique as his base, plus the multiplier of the Eight Inner Gates stacked on top, Kenji had become a certified "Stat Monster."
No fancy mechanics, just pure, overwhelming numerical superiority. Exactly like a certain Caped Baldy.
In the end, I still didn't get to test out "Night Guy"...
There was simply no opportunity. A single serious punch had nearly killed Tatsumaki.
If he had actually used a Night Guy kick, Tatsumaki would have turned into a mist of blood on the spot.
High in the sky, the biting cold wind blew against Kenji's face as he carried the unconscious Esper.
He was currently pondering a very important question—a question that could determine life or death.
Should I go find Saitama to test the power of my skills?
.................
Meanwhile, Hero Association Headquarters
"Mr. Saitama, the exam venue and props are ready. You may begin now."
Saitama, who had already devoured several platters of fruit, shuddered instinctively when he heard the staff member's voice. A drop of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
When he realized they were just calling him for the exam, he let out a massive sigh of relief.
I almost thought they were going to ask me to pay for the fruit. That was terrifying.
These fruits look expensive. And I ate a few huge plates of them. If they charged me, I wouldn't be able to pay it off even if I starved for months.
"Coming!"
Saitama shouted back. He quickly stuffed one last Shine Muscat grape into his mouth and ran out of the break room.