Chapter 11: He Wasn't Even in Combat Mode!
Location: Exam Venue
Saitama stood on the running track. His yellow jumpsuit was already stripped off, revealing a physique of sculpted, powerful muscles.
Two staff members stood at the finish line, stopwatches in hand, shouting loudly:
"First test: 3-kilometer sprint. Ready... G—"
Before the word "GO" could even leave their mouths, a violent gust of wind roared past their ears, followed by a sonic boom.
Startled, they turned their heads, only to find Saitama already standing past the finish line, casually cracking his neck as if bored.
On the rubber track behind him, a series of deep, sunken footprints were visible—proof that Saitama had achieved such speed purely through the raw reactionary force of his legs against the ground.
What monstrous strength...
The staff members swallowed hard. No wonder this bald guy was granted a special solo exam. It turned out he was terrifyingly strong.
Soon after, the second test began.
"Shot Put!"
BOOM!
With a deafening clang of metal striking metal, the steel-reinforced ceiling of the exam hall was blasted open, leaving a hole several meters wide.
The shot put ball Saitama had thrown was already gone, wrapped in blazing flames from atmospheric friction as it shot toward outer space. Before its momentum ran out, it would probably become a new star in the night sky.
"100-Meter Shuttle Run!"
The staff members saw only a blur. In a mere 0.1 seconds, Saitama had already crossed the finish line back and forth hundreds of times.
"Weightlifting!"
Without his muscles even seeming to flex, Saitama casually lifted a dumbbell weighing several tons with one hand, tossing it up and catching it like a toy.
"Punching Machine!"
A light, casual punch. The entire punching machine was sent flying backward over ten meters, smashing heavily into the far wall.
"Whack-A-Mole!"
Ten holes. The moment a mole head popped out of one, a red hammer descended from the heavens, smashing the toy head into plastic smithereens.
With the full set of physical tests complete, Saitama put his yellow jumpsuit back on and returned to the break room to inhale more free snacks and drinks.
Looking at the data on their clipboards, the two recording staff members looked at each other, their hands trembling uncontrollably.
"This guy's physical stats are practically a monster's..."
"Are we about to see the birth of a new S-Class hero?"
Location: Hero Association Monitoring Room
A staff member in a white lab coat burst through the door, nervously handing a data sheet to Sitch, who was seated in the command chair. His face was flushed with excitement.
"Sir! These are the physical test results for Mr. King's companion, Saitama. He isn't human! He's a superman!"
Looking at the data, which was off the charts in every category, Sitch's eyes widened. King's words from earlier echoed in his mind.
["I can guarantee you: his strength is absolutely not inferior to mine."]
Originally, Sitch had been skeptical. King was the "Strongest Man on Earth," so how could this weak-looking bald guy possibly rival him?
But now, looking at the data that suggested a god resided within that body, Sitch's doubts began to waver.
With these numbers, even if King was exaggerating slightly, Saitama definitely possessed S-Class capabilities.
Now, it all depends on the written exam.
With such extraordinary physical results, as long as he got a decent score on the written portion, there was hope for a direct promotion to S-Class.
Location: Written Exam Room
When the exam bell rang, Saitama's face paled slightly. A fear from the depths of his soul flashed through his mind.
Before becoming a hero for fun, Saitama had been a student and job hunter for over a decade. He had practically developed a stress response to exam bells.
However, looking at the questions on the paper, he realized they were basically exactly what King had quizzed him on earlier. A rare, genuine smile appeared on his simplified face.
I didn't expect it to be exactly what that guy said.
Scanning the essay questions, Saitama almost impulsively filled them all with a single answer:
"Punch it until it explodes."
To him, every problem on the paper could be solved with that sentence.
But just as he was about to write, King's advice echoed in his head.
["You need to change your perspective. Look at the problem from the perspective of a weak person."]
The perspective of the weak...
Saitama closed his eyes and recalled his past self.
Back then, he was weak. But every day felt fulfilling. Training, eating bananas, going out to fight monsters.
He fought monsters far stronger than himself. Even when he was beaten bloody, he would still scream and charge forward to save the civilians.
With that thought in mind, Saitama opened his eyes. His pen began to scratch against the paper, leaving behind the sound of graphite and sincere intent.
.............
While Saitama was taking his exam, the staff in the monitoring room suddenly stood up in excitement. Sitch rushed over.
"Report! The hyper-energy readings in Sector 302 of the outskirts have vanished. The battle between Miss Tatsumaki and Mr. King has concluded!"
Hearing this, Sitch's heart clenched.
The energy readings from their clash earlier were equivalent to a massive Dragon-level disaster. If that fight had happened in the city, the entire metropolis would have been wiped out instantly.
But what confused Sitch was the duration. For powerhouses of that level, shouldn't the fight last a long time? Why was it over in less than five minutes?
Just then, the doors to the control room slid open.
Kenji walked in, carrying the unconscious Tatsumaki in one hand like a sack of potatoes. He barely had a scratch on him. His deep voice echoed through the spacious room.
"Please take Tatsumaki for treatment. I'll leave the soothing and comforting to you guys."
Sitch immediately barked orders into his comms. In less than two minutes, a dozen medical personnel rushed in with a stretcher and carried the unconscious Tatsumaki away.
Watching Tatsumaki disappear around the corner, Sitch wiped his forehead, only realizing now that he was drenched in sweat.
Looking at King's majestic, intimidating face again—a face he thought he was used to—Sitch felt a renewed sense of awe and terror.
To defeat the "Tornado of Terror"—the Hero Association's ace—in under five minutes...
Mr. King...
Just what kind of divine being are you?!
Suddenly, Sitch realized something. His pupils constricted sharply.
He realized that after Kenji walked through the door, he hadn't heard the King Engine—the sound that signified King entering combat mode—at all!
Which means... even after defeating S-Class Rank 2, King never even entered his Battle Mode?!