Chapter 89: You're Tatsumaki's Boyfriend?!
Just as Ryū was paying his respects to Boros's memory, a voice suddenly called out from behind him:
"Huh? You guys are… aren't you friends of—of Tatsumaki?"
Ryū turned around to find a fairly tall man standing behind him.
The man wasn't scrawny by any means, but Ryū could tell at a glance that there wasn't any real power in that physique.
It was the kind of muscle you'd get from a very brief, superficial training regimen.
Maybe impressive by civilian standards, but with that level of physical strength, he'd probably struggle to beat even a C-Class hero.
There were also three parallel scars across one of his eyes.
Like claw marks from some kind of beast.
Add in that swept-back blond hair—
With all those features combined, Ryū recognized him immediately.
He'd watched One-Punch Man, after all.
The anime and the original manga both.
He'd gone through them more than once.
He'd even rewatched Season 1 three times. There was no way he wouldn't recognize a character this important. This was the Hero Association's S-Class Rank 7—codename: King.
* * *
Although he was only ranked 7th among the S-Class, in the eyes of most people—
Including in the eyes of many S-Class heroes themselves—King's strength was believed to be extraordinary.
Some even considered him close to rivaling the S-Class Rank 1, Blast.
He was known as the Strongest Man on Earth's Surface.
Of course…
Ryū, who knew the plot inside and out, understood exactly why that reputation existed—and that King was, in fact, nothing of the sort. Quite the opposite, really. King was arguably the weakest S-Class hero of all, because he was just an ordinary person.
As for how an ordinary person had ended up as an S-Class hero—well, his luck was just that absurdly good.
Every time a major crisis had threatened the OPM world's Earth—
The protagonist, Saitama, would show up and obliterate the Mysterious Being responsible.
King had happened to be at the scene of several of these crises. And every time, after Saitama finished the job, he'd simply walk away without a word.
Then the Hero Association's people would arrive, find nothing but a dead monster and King, who just happened to be passing by…
And assume he was the one who'd killed it.
So they'd credited every single kill to King, entirely on their own initiative.
And just like that, King had risen to S-Class Rank 7.
Even he himself had no idea how it happened.
His most famous "ability," the King Engine, was something other people had invented for him too.
The so-called "King Engine" was actually just the sound of his heart pounding way too fast because he was scared out of his mind. The thunderous heartbeat was so loud that people around him interpreted it as some kind of overwhelming battle aura.
In other words—the King standing before Ryū right now was just an ordinary guy.
* * *
Ryū felt a certain kinship with King.
King was someone the Hero Association staff and ordinary civilians had collectively headcanoned into being incredibly powerful.
Ryū was someone the Dimensional Chat Group members had collectively headcanoned into being incredibly powerful.
Their situations were remarkably similar.
The one difference being—
Ryū's strength was genuinely, steadily growing.
While King was still a salted fish.
* * *
"I think I saw you all in the meeting room earlier. You're… hmm, I'm not mixing you up with someone else, am I?"
King asked, sounding slightly uncertain.
Ryū shook his head. "You're not mixing anyone up. We are, in fact, Tatsumaki's friends."
He wasn't particularly close with King, but since the man had asked, he didn't mind answering. He didn't harbor any ill will toward King.
At the very least, King was polite enough not to offend people the moment he opened his mouth.
Ryū didn't mind chatting with someone like that.
King scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh. "I thought I had the wrong people. I mean, I don't know Little Tatsumaki that well, but even I know she's always been really antisocial. A total loner, you know? Barely ever willing to talk to anyone on her own."
"So I was pretty surprised she'd have this many friends… Uh, wait, no no no, I didn't mean it like that! What I meant was… hmm, I meant that seeing Tatsumaki like this is just really unexpected. I've never seen her act this way before."
Realizing he might have put his foot in his mouth, King quickly corrected himself.
Ryū nodded thoughtfully. So that was how things looked to these professional heroes.
The chat group members must have seemed downright bizarre in their eyes.
Especially when combined with Tatsumaki's "strange" behavior.
To her fellow S-Class heroes—
Tatsumaki had definitely been acting "strange" today.
It was like a man who'd never shown any interest in women suddenly showing up one day with a girlfriend—and not just one, but a whole entourage of girlfriends, all of whom seemed to be on fantastic terms with him.
That was more or less King's thought process. The contrast between old Tatsumaki and new Tatsumaki was just too stark.
Anyone paying the slightest attention would find this version of Tatsumaki deeply strange.
Strange in a way that was hard to put into words.
Even King, ordinary civilian that he was, could tell something was off.
It was like meeting a completely different person.
* * *
In response to King's questions, Ryū offered the following explanation: "Probably because I'm pretty good-looking. So she decided to be friends with me."
King: "Uh… huh??"
Having received this baffling answer, King's face was a portrait of pure confusion.
Pretty good-looking, so she… became friends with him?
Since when was Tatsumaki the type to care about looks?
Granted, this "friend" of Tatsumaki's standing before him was genuinely handsome—easily on par with Sweet Mask before his face got rearranged. But that excuse was still… a bit too obviously fake, wasn't it?
Not exactly the most convincing cover story. If you're going to make something up, at least make it believable.
King silently roasted the answer in his head but didn't say it out loud.
Wait a moment… if he really thought about it…
Actually, it wasn't entirely impossible.
Tatsumaki didn't look that young, after all. Sure, she was on the short side, but he'd heard from others that she was actually in her twenties.
A woman in her twenties, still single—was it really so outrageous for her to get a boyfriend?
These days, tons of girls had boyfriends by the time they were teenagers.
Some kids were playing "boyfriend and girlfriend" before they even hit ten.
Kids these days were way too mature for their own good.
So for Tatsumaki—who'd been single for over twenty years, never dated, never had a boyfriend—
Getting a boyfriend was perfectly normal, wasn't it? Especially when the guy was this young and this good-looking.
He looked like he was somewhere between seventeen and nineteen.
Must be nice… having a girlfriend in your teens.
Meanwhile, here he was at twenty-nine, still riding solo.
* * *
"So what you're saying is… you're actually Little Tatsumaki's boyfriend?!"
King finally blurted it out, his face awash with shock.
Kaguya: "!!!"
Ying Zheng: "??!"
Wolffy: "Pfft—"
Wandering Planet: "Huh?"
Josuke: "…"
Ryū: "What… the hell?!"
The moment those words left King's mouth, everyone present froze.
What kind of deranged logic was that?!
An idiot could have heard that Admin-dono was joking.
And this guy had taken it at face value.
Ryū himself nearly coughed up blood. He'd just tossed out the first excuse that came to mind—it wasn't as if he could tell King about the Dimensional Chat Group, could he?
But what in the world was going on inside this King's head?
Looking at King's face cycling through shock, then dawning comprehension, then envy—
Ryū felt a distinct headache coming on.
This guy was definitely headcanoning something wild right now.
* * *
He, the dignified Admin of the Dimensional Chat Group—how could he possibly lay his villainous claws on a female group member?
Although, technically, Tatsumaki was a legal loli…
But he wasn't really into the flat-is-justice type.
Now, someone more along the lines of Kaguya Shinomiya or Yukari Yakumo—that'd be a slightly different story.
Even if he were to extend his villainous claws, his first target would definitely be Kaguya, not Tatsumaki.
Because among the group's three female members, Kaguya was by far the easiest route to clear.
If Kaguya Shinomiya's conquest difficulty was B-rank—
Then Tatsumaki's was S-rank.
And Yukari? Absolutely SSS-rank.
Wait—hold on. What the hell was he even thinking about?
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you