Lu Yao had just returned from the convenience store.
He was walking home with his head lowered when his surroundings suddenly dimmed.
He looked up.
“A monster…?”
“That’s right! I loved soda so much that I drank it day and night—even bathed in it! By the time I came to my senses, I’d already transformed into the Soda Monster!” the creature shouted.
“Soda is humanity’s greatest treasure! Everyone should learn to love it! Come, drink soda!”
No wonder it looked so familiar.
It was basically a giant glass cola bottle with arms and legs.
Even though this wasn’t Lu Yao’s first time seeing something like this, he still had the overwhelming urge to complain.
The reasons people turned into monsters in this world were simply far too ridiculous.
Bad habits, excessive stress, genetic mutations… all of them could lead to monsterization.
Of those, the first two were what Lu Yao encountered most often.
Monsters born from such causes usually weren’t particularly powerful, though.
“I see. Well, keep up the good work.”
Lu Yao walked around the Soda Monster blocking his path and continued forward.
“Thanks for the encouragement! I’ll keep working hard—did you actually think I’d say that and let you slip away?! Don’t underestimate me! Take this—urk!”
Bang!
Before the Soda Monster could finish speaking, a gunshot rang out, followed immediately by the sound of glass shattering and something exploding.
Without even turning his head, Lu Yao held an M1911A1 behind him.
Smoke curled from the muzzle.
“So damn noisy.”
As he lowered his hand, the pistol began breaking apart.
It dissolved into invisible particles and flowed back into Lu Yao’s body.
The entire process was seamless.
Lu Yao didn’t spare another glance at the monster he had blown apart and continued toward his apartment.
…
At present, Lu Yao lived in a rather remote district.
About a month ago, he had still been an overworked corporate slave trapped in the infamous 9-9-6 schedule.
Then he transmigrated.
He went from an uncle to a teenager.
He did possess something vaguely resembling a system, but it was absurdly unreliable.
Aside from installing several pieces of “hardware and software” he never possessed before—that was, a collection of abilities collectively categorized as supernatural powers—it had immediately gone silent.
With no clue what was going on, Lu Yao could only focus on surviving in this unfamiliar world.
Since he had no money at first, a real-estate agent eventually introduced him to a cheap apartment in the outskirts of a place called City Z, far from its central business district.
He supposed an introduction was in order.
Unbelievable as it sounded, this world could genuinely be considered a future civilization.
Back in his original world, Lu Yao had occasionally wondered what Earth would look like a hundred, two hundred, or even a thousand years in the future.
Unfortunately, he’d never live that long, so all he could do was imagine it.
Now that he had actually arrived in the future, however…
It was nowhere near as wonderful as he had imagined.
The concept of individual nations no longer existed here.
When people looked back upon the era in which nations still existed, they called it “ancient history.”
That suggested that at least several centuries had passed.
In short, this world had experienced two major periods of upheaval.
The first occurred during the ancient era, when nations and ethnic identities still existed.
Humanity constantly fought over land and resources.
Competition escalated until conflicts known as World Wars erupted repeatedly.
Only after the population had declined to a catastrophic degree did people finally acknowledge the warnings of the past.
They gradually ceased fighting one another, standardized official languages and economic systems, and eventually established a united government.
The second upheaval occurred relatively soon after the first.
The world wars born from humanity’s infighting had left behind severe consequences.
The environment had been poisoned.
Harmful organisms multiplied explosively.
Extreme climate change melted the polar ice caps.
Sea levels rose, swallowing enormous amounts of land.
Ultimately, humanity was forced to abandon vast territories and migrate to a single supercontinent, where they established a new civilization.
The supercontinent was divided into twenty-six enormous cities, named City A through City Z.
That became the foundation of the world’s current structure.
That was the historical record Lu Yao had pieced together after spending some time in the library.
Human civilization had certainly gone through an epic series of upheavals.
Unfortunately, humanity still didn’t seem capable of finding peace.
Recently, monsters had been appearing more and more frequently.
Maybe it was because he lived in the outskirts.
He had encountered one just now, after all.
Today was actually considered a quiet day.
Normally, another monster would pop up every few stretches of road.
The worst trip home Lu Yao had ever experienced involved more than thirty monsters.
Most could be killed with one gunshot, but honestly?
It was incredibly annoying.
After walking for a while, he finally reached his apartment building.
Monsters appeared far more frequently in the outskirts of City Z than almost anywhere else.
Since not everyone possessed the means to protect themselves like Lu Yao did, very few people lived here.
As a result, rent, electricity, water, gas, and other expenses were absurdly cheap.
Calling them practically free wouldn’t even be much of an exaggeration.
The only problem was transportation.
Neither buses nor trains stopped nearby.
There were no convenience stores or other service facilities in the immediate area either.
As Lu Yao was unlocking his door, the door beside his opened.
A bald man poked his head out.
“Oh, Mr. Saitama. Taking out the trash?”
“Yeah.”
Saitama smiled faintly.
Lu Yao had first met Saitama about a month ago.
At the time, Lu Yao had just arrived in this world.
He was unfamiliar with both his changed body and his abilities, yet immediately encountered a monster.
Saitama happened to pass by and saved him.
Lu Yao had still been rather dazed at the time, so he hadn’t tried to cling to his savior.
Only after renting this apartment did he discover that Saitama was actually his neighbor.
Out of gratitude for having his life saved, Lu Yao had visited him and treated him to food several times.
After that, the two gradually became familiar with each other.
Apparently, Saitama performed hero activities as a hobby.
Lu Yao could probably be considered Saitama’s first fan.
“By the way, Mr. Saitama.”
Lu Yao raised the groceries in his hand.
“I was about to make beef sukiyaki. Want to join me?”
“Oh!”
Saitama accepted without the slightest hesitation.
“Then I’ll go prepare everything. Just come over in a bit.”
Lu Yao lived alone, so his apartment wasn’t particularly large.
It was around twelve tatami mats in size, with a kitchen, bathroom, balcony, and living room.
The place was already furnished, the lighting was good, and ventilation wasn’t a problem.
Overall, it was quite decent.
He placed a low table in the living room, took out a portable gas stove and a canister of butane, then brought out a ceramic pot.
Next came preparing the ingredients.
For the broth, kombu and bonito flakes were used to make stock, then seasoned with mirin, Japanese soy sauce, sake, and sugar.
The ingredients themselves were classic.
Shirataki noodles, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, chrysanthemum greens, baby napa cabbage, enoki mushrooms…
And naturally, today’s centerpiece was the A5 marbled beef Lu Yao had specifically traveled to City A to purchase.
Come to think of it, this is my first time making something like this.
It looks pretty good.
Maybe I actually have some talent for cooking.
Lu Yao seriously considered the possibility of changing careers.
“Whoa, that smells amazing!”
Saitama had never been particularly formal around acquaintances.
He opened the door without ceremony and strode inside as if he were returning to his own home.
Lu Yao didn’t mind in the slightest.
“Mr. Saitama, over here.”
He waved.
“The rice is ready too. I’m pretty confident I managed to make some excellent white rice today.”
“Then I won’t hold back!”
Saitama’s eyes lit up.
His mouth was practically watering.
“Isn’t this premium marbled beef?! And there’s so much of it! Damn it, Lu Yao! Aren’t you supposed to be just as broke as me?! How the hell can you afford meat this good?!”
Saitama impatiently stuffed beef into his mouth.
Moved almost to tears by its deliciousness, he simultaneously questioned Lu Yao as a fellow poor man.
“Huh… Mr. Saitama, didn’t I tell you about my ability before?”
Lu Yao tilted his head.
“The one I call Dark Matter.”