Chapter 19: What Kind of Sh*tty Codename is This?!
By now, King had almost exhausted the duration of one [Taijutsu Auto-Training Card]. He was just waiting for the hour to turn so he could pop another one.
His gaze flickered between the dozen or so muscular behemoths on the character select screen. Beside him, Saitama suddenly sighed, his expression filled with a desolate loneliness.
"King... I feel like I'm gradually losing my human emotions. I can't find that feeling of passion in anything I do anymore.
"You're strong too, so you must feel it, right? That boredom of ending everything in one punch. It feels like nothing can spark my interest anymore."
King glanced at Saitama and gave a faint, enigmatic smile.
I hope you can still say that with a straight face in ten minutes.
The character selection screen faded, and the game officially began.
Saitama stopped chatting. His face turned serious as he began furiously mashing the controller buttons, attempting to pull off what he thought were cool combos.
But in King's eyes, this guy was just blindly spamming the punch button. Heavy punch, light punch—maybe tapping the movement key twice if he felt spicy.
It was safe to say that a casual who had only played the game for thirty minutes could hang Saitama up and beat him like a piñata.
In games that relied purely on stats rather than skill, a novice could beat a master with random flailing. Someone like Saitama, who just mashed buttons, usually relied on his broken physical stats to crush skilled players in real life.
But in a fighting game where the stats were equal? Saitama was just a roadside NPC that anyone could kick around.
30 Rounds Later.
Saitama's shiny bald head was visibly turning red. Veins were popping out on his face one by one, and his speed on the controller was accelerating to inhuman levels.
King, on the other hand, remained as calm as a drifting cloud. He wasn't even sticking to the "one finger" handicap anymore; he was using both hands.
However, he would only start actually playing when Saitama had beaten his health bar down to a single pixel.
It was always at that exact moment—when victory was within Saitama's grasp—that King would unleash a "death combo" with breezy nonchalance, stunning Saitama's character from full health to zero, leaving the bald hero slumped on the floor in despair.
Sitting to the side, Genos held a notebook in his left hand, while his right hand had turned into a blur, furiously recording the battle process between King and Saitama.
[King-sensei and his friend are engaged in an intense gaming competition. While it appears to be an ordinary fighting game, it is actually a profound simulation of the battlefield and a training method for instinctual reactions under fire.]
[Facing Mr. Saitama's chaotic and unpredictable attacks, King-sensei deliberately allows his health to drop to the absolute limit. Then, at the moment before execution, he unleashes a fluid, limit-breaking counterattack to turn the tables. This demonstrates King-sensei's combat philosophy of "finding life in the face of death" and "destruction before construction." It also showcases his supreme disdain for the weak as the Strongest Man on Earth.]
King, who was busy destroying Saitama, glanced over at the mechanical kid scribbling like a maniac. Black lines dropped down his forehead.
This guy is a God-tier bootlicker. He can hype things up better than the tabloids outside.
"K.O.!"
The loud announcer voice rang out from the screen.
Saitama clutched his head and screamed in agony. He threw the controller aside and let out a wretched howl.
"WHY?! Why won't the move come out?!!! AHHHHHH!!"
He lost again. And it was a humiliating defeat. King had used a very obscure, cheap combo.
The Infinite Jab Loop.
Using only the most basic light punch, King had stun-locked Saitama's muscular alien character until he died. Saitama had spent the entire match saving up a full meter for his Ultimate Move, but he never even got the chance to press the button.
This feeling of being "edged" to the limit and then denied caused the Caped Baldy—who claimed his emotions were fading—to have a complete mental breakdown.
Seeing that Saitama was angry enough to explode, King was about to offer some comforting words when he heard the buzzing of a drone outside the door.
He opened the door to find a package on the ground, stamped with the Hero Association's logo.
"Saitama, don't be sad. Your official Hero Appointment has arrived!"
"Really?!"
The suffocating depression of being beaten in the game vanished instantly. The thought of his multi-million yen annual salary revived Saitama immediately.
He grabbed the package. With a gentle tear, the box was ripped in half, and the contents fell out.
It was a card made of some unknown hard material, engraved with a string of flamboyant gold letters:
[Saitama: Due to your excellent test results and powerful strength, you are hereby appointed as a new S-Class Hero of the Hero Association.
Current Rank: S-Class, Rank 17.
Codename: CAPED BALDY.
We look forward to your future contributions to human society.]
Saitama: "......"
Seeing the words "CAPED BALDY" written in bold, enlarged font, King almost couldn't hold back his laughter.
Sure enough... it's still that name.
Holding the appointment paper, Saitama looked like his soul had been sucked out of his body. He sat frozen in place.
The frustration from being beaten in the game surged back up, combined with the hatred for this humiliating name. Saitama collapsed to the floor again.
"Why?! Why is it such an annoying yet accurate codename?! I'm going to the Hero Association to complain! How do they come up with these names?!"
King briefly tidied up his things and prepared to go out with Saitama to the Hero Association.
He crooked his finger at Genos, signaling the mechanical boy—who was still recording "philosophical quotes"—to follow.
"Genos, remember the goal I gave you? If you want to become my official disciple, you need to reach the Top 10 of the S-Class. But to achieve that goal, you first need to become a Hero.
"Come with me. I'll take you to take the Hero Association exam. With your talent, you should be able to enter the S-Class directly."
To become an S-Class hero, one first needed Demon-level strength. The current Genos already possessed that.
Secondly, Genos had a solid track record. He had been fighting evil organizations all over the country for years, and the Hero Association had definitely taken notice.
As long as he took the test, there was a high probability he would debut as S-Class. He had both the power and the achievements.
"Yes, Sensei!"
Genos immediately put away his notebook and followed behind King with a solemn expression, as if embarking on a sacred mission.
Just then, the phone in King's pocket let out a piercing alarm.
[Emergency Alert: Major Disaster in City B.]
[A giant unidentified lifeform is trampling the city. Current Disaster Level: Demon (Rising). Estimated Final Disaster Level: Dragon.]
[This is a Priority Summons. All S-Class Heroes near City B are requested to respond immediately to prevent the total destruction of the city!]