City A, Hero Association Headquarters.
After concluding the high-level meeting, Sitch entered the reception room with a smile on his face.
"Congratulations! Lynn!"
"After the unanimous decision of the Hero Association's high-level members, you have successfully passed the assessment and promoted to S-Class Hero, ranked 14th."
"Starting at 14th place?"
Lynn was slightly surprised: "That's a bit higher than I expected. I thought I would start at 17th."
Sitch: "We considered that point too, but ultimately decided to place you at 14th."
Before Lynn was promoted to S-Class Hero, there were a total of sixteen S-Class Heroes, whose strength could generally be divided into three tiers.
The first tier was led by Tatsumaki, the powerful S-Class members who all possessed sufficiently strong abilities to annihilate Dragon-level Monsters in a short time and protect the city's peace.
The second tier consisted of S-Class Heroes like Pig God and Tank top Master, who also had the ability to deal with Dragon-level Monsters, but required some time to fight them. Their strength was equally powerful, and they were deeply loved by the people.
Below these two tiers, in the third tier, were people like Sexy Prisoner and Metal Bat. The Hero Association's reputation for them was not as good, and they were secretly nicknamed 'Watered-Down S-Class Heroes' by the higher-ups.
Although their strength was far superior to A-Class Heroes, these S-Class Heroes often performed unsatisfactorily when facing Dragon-level Monsters, and they might even fail when fighting powerful Demon-level Monsters.
Since Lynn could slay a Dragon-level Monster in five minutes, he naturally did not belong to the ranks of the 'Watered-Down S-Class Heroes'.
After simple deliberation, the Hero Association's high-level members believed that Lynn's strength was in the second tier, comparable to S-Class Heroes like Pig God and Tank top Master.
However, since he was a newcomer who had just been promoted, his achievements could not compare to veteran S-Class Heroes, so the Hero Association did not rank Lynn too high.
S-Class Hero rank 14, higher than the three 'watered-down' heroes—Sexy Prisoner, Metal Bat, and Super Alloy Dark shine—but lower than Flash, whose strength was among the top in the S-Class Heroes. In their view, this ranking was just right.
"That's generally how things went."
After briefly recounting the whole story, Sitch handed over a certificate that had just been printed.
"Lynn, from today onwards, you are an S-Class Hero. The Hero Association will also announce this news later to help promote you and increase your popularity."
"I care more about Monsters than popularity."
Lynn accepted the certificate and replied: "Whether it's a Demon-level Monster or a Dragon-level Monster, notify me if there is any news."
Sitch nodded: "Don't worry. If a Monster of that level really appears, I will look for you even if you don't ask."
"Then I'll head back first."
Lynn got up from the sofa.
His main purpose for coming to the Hero Association was to complete the formalities. Now that he had the certificate, it was time to go home.
Leaving the reception room, Lynn walked through the sci-fi-filled steel corridors. Robots passed by on the way.
"Hmm? Isn't that Tatsumaki?"
After walking through a few corridors, a familiar figure floating in mid-air caught his eye.
"You're not waiting for me, are you?"
"Stop being narcissistic. I just have something I want to ask you."
"Then you are waiting for me."
"...Forget it, I have something else to do. I'm leaving."
Tatsumaki turned around and floated toward the adjacent corridor.
Seeing this, Lynn naturally made a turn and followed behind her.
"Tatsumaki, there's something I want to say to you."
"What?"
"Being too tsundere will make you a loser in love."
"I think you want to die."
Although Tatsumaki was busy with work and didn't read many manga, she still understood what 'tsundere' meant.
"Say another weird thing like that, and believe it or not, I'll throw you up ten thousand meters high for freefall."
"Then please spare me. Even for me, it would take some time to recover from ten thousand meters."
Lynn shrugged: "Let's get back to the main topic. Are you here to ask me about Fubuki?"
"No, I'm not interested in the weak."
Tatsumaki paused: "But I did hear Sitch mention that you and Fubuki have a good relationship."
Lynn nodded: "We've had some cooperation."
Tatsumaki: "Cooperation?"
Lynn: "When I was just promoted to B-Class Hero, Fubuki invited me to join her organization."
As the pinnacle of the martial arts world, Bang's fame in the Hero Association was undeniable.
Influenced by Bang, Lynn, as his disciple, also attracted attention to a certain extent.
Two years ago, when he joined the Hero Association, he often fought Monsters to gain practical combat experience, and his ranking rose steadily.
After being promoted to B-Class Hero, Fubuki, who had already formed the Blizzard Group, came to City Z to find Lynn.
"[You have great potential. Join my Blizzard Group and let's grow together. ] That's what she said at the time."
"How did you reply?"
"No time."
"A good answer."
Tatsumaki nodded in satisfaction: "There's no point joining a B-Class Hero fan club like that. Only weaklings with no real strength huddle together for warmth and play house."
Actually, it was because he was too busy training to socialize.
Seeing Tatsumaki had misunderstood his meaning, Lynn thought for a moment but didn't bother to explain: "You seem to really dislike the Blizzard Group. Is there a reason?"
"No particular reason. I just don't like it. I don't understand why Fubuki insists on playing house with a bunch of deadweights."
"Got it. A sister complex's possessiveness."
Boom—!
"No need for such a big reaction."
Lynn exerted force to pull his feet out of the ground: "To be honest, I think your awkward personality is a big part of why your relationship with your sister is so strained."
"Keep talking and I'll throw you out."
"Fine, fine. You're strong, you're right."
Lynn caught up to Tatsumaki: "Let's change the subject again. Do you have any methods for training psychic powers?"
Tatsumaki: "Yes."
Lynn: "I've kept you company chatting for so long. How about giving me a training method as payment?"
Tatsumaki: "..."
Trying to get a cultivation method from her after just a few words of conversation? He certainly had thick skin.
Glancing at the black-haired boy following beside her, Tatsumaki turned left at the next intersection.
"Speaking of which, you refused Fubuki's invitation, so why did Sitch say you have a good relationship with her?"
"Probably because I threw her a birthday party last year, and I occasionally meet up with her..."
Boom—!
"Hey, don't suddenly attack me like that."
Lynn sounded somewhat helpless: "There's nothing improper between us. I meet her for training."
"Training?"
"Yeah. Even though she's stuck herself at B-Class and won't advance, you should know your sister's strength is about on par with the top-tier A-Class Heroes."
Lynn strained his body, extracting himself from the wall: "And unlike martial artists, psychics are strong in a different system. Training with her helps increase my practical combat experience."
"It's a similar thought on Fubuki's side too. Training to increase practical experience, and by the way, using my connections to expand... well, expand the fan club's scale."
"Tch, next time, don't drag out your speech like that."
"You're the one who suddenly interrupted by attacking."
Squinting his eyes, Lynn retorted: "They say women with small chests have bad tempers. If you keep this up, I'm really going to develop a stereotype about that saying."
"You seem quite unafraid of death yourself."
Tatsumaki snorted coldly but didn't attack again.
She was a reasonable person.
As long as it didn't involve Fubuki, she could maintain rationality most of the time.
A dense wave of psychic energy spread into the distance, and soon, a stack of papers filled with writing floated over.
"This is what you wanted. However, I've only used it to train my telekinesis. I can't guarantee it will be useful for your psychic powers."
"It's fine, I just want it for reference."
Looking at the still-wet ink on the papers, Lynn once again marveled at how useful telekinesis was.
At equivalent power levels, telekinesis might not surpass Current Propulsion in destructive force, but its versatility was definitely higher.
But then again, could Current Propulsion really be considered a psychic power?
Tucking the papers into his clothes, Lynn, having achieved his goal, stopped walking and bid farewell to Tatsumaki.
"I'm heading home. Let's chat again next time."
"I don't have that much time to chat with you..."
"Next time, I'll organize some strategies to teach you how to improve your relationship with Fubuki."
"..."
Tatsumaki's voice cut off abruptly.
After silently staring at Lynn for two seconds, she snorted coldly and floated off towards another corridor.
"So easy to read."
Lynn shrugged and turned to leave.
The Hero Association headquarters were in City A, quite a distance from City Z.
Without a dedicated aircraft to pick him up, by the time he took the high-speed train home, it was already evening.
"Lynn, you're back."
Hearing the noise, Saitama opened his room door and casually dragged out a two-meter-tall giant butterfly.
"This is a Monster I ran into just now when I went to the supermarket for ingredients. Can we exchange it for money?"
"Of course, we can."
A flash of lightning, and the Butterfly Monster met its end.
Although it looked unremarkable and offered no resistance in Saitama's hands,
judging by its soul quality, this Butterfly Monster's strength wasn't bad even among Demon-level Monsters.
"Here, this is the reward."
"Wow! We're rich!"
Saitama happily took the money.
It had been a long time since he'd been this well-off, ever since he quit his job three years ago.
"By the way, Lynn, you're either training or fighting Monsters every day. Where do you get so much money?"
"I'm a Hero Association hero. I get a salary every month. I told you before, didn't I?"
"Huh? Did you?"
"Of course, I did. When I first moved in two years ago, you asked me what I did."
"That was too long ago. I've already forgotten."
Saitama tried hard to recall, but unsurprisingly, remembered nothing.
Two years ago, he was still in his training and growth phase, not as strong as he is now.
To become a hero, he trained hard every day, and many unimportant details were simply tossed aside after hearing them.
"Is the Hero Association salary a lot?"
"It depends on rank. The salary for an S-Class Hero like me is quite high. But the salary is just part of it. Fan donations and co-branded endorsement products are the core income."
"You have fans too?"
Saitama seemed to remember something: "Wait! Every time you defeat a Monster, you get surrounded by onlookers. Could that also be related to this Hero Association?"
Lynn nodded: "Yeah, the Hero Association is an organization that maintains world peace. Didn't you know?"
Saitama: "...No."
Actually, he had heard the name before.
Thinking back carefully, he often heard reporters mention the Hero Association when watching the news.
But it went in one ear and out the other. His focus was always on the Monsters reported in the news.
He had never looked into the Hero Association at all.
Recalling that he and Lynn had been fighting Monsters together for two years, yet he remained an unknown nobody to this day while Lynn had become a famous S-Class Hero, Saitama suddenly felt a pang of imbalance.
"I've decided! I'm joining the Hero Association too!"
"Do you need my help? As an S-Class Hero, I have some privileges. I can recommend you to the higher-ups."
"No need, I'll do it myself!"
Saitama replied with fighting spirit.
If Lynn could make it to S-Class Hero through his own efforts, and he was stronger than Lynn, there was no reason he couldn't do it too.
...