Hero.
What exactly was a hero?
According to the dictionary, the word had several meanings.
A person of extraordinary courage and talent.
A person who possessed heroic qualities.
Or someone who selflessly endured hardship and fought for the interests of others, earning admiration from society.
But in this world, “hero” possessed one additional definition.
It was a profession.
Its work included maintaining public order, fighting crime, rescuing and protecting civilians, and dealing with disasters caused by monsters or natural phenomena.
Compensation was awarded according to one’s contribution to society.
Lu Yao himself didn’t possess particularly strong feelings toward the profession.
It was certainly one of this world’s distinctive features.
But he had little desire to experience it himself.
Only Yumemi Okazaki’s suggestion a few days earlier had sent him into several days of serious thought.
First, he wasn’t short on money.
Dark Matter could manufacture practically any form of physical matter.
Naturally, that included precious metals which could function as hard currency.
But Lu Yao didn’t actually create precious metals very often.
There were far more valuable things.
Californium, platinum, palladium—even secondary adamantium and similar rare materials.
After Yumemi introduced him to various laboratories, plenty of them practically waved cash in his face begging to buy from him.
So Lu Yao had no need to worry about money.
Naturally, he wouldn’t become a professional hero for financial reasons.
Second, Lu Yao didn’t consider himself someone who hated evil with a burning passion.
Now that he possessed a certain level of ability, he would do what lay within his power.
If someone was attacked by a monster in front of him, or if a weak person was being unreasonably bullied, Lu Yao certainly wouldn’t stand by and watch.
But calling him an ally of justice based on that alone would be far too shallow.
After all, such acts amounted to little more than kindness performed when his own interests weren’t threatened.
If the opponent was someone he had no hope of defeating, Lu Yao would choose self-preservation without the slightest guilt.
If an action directly damaged his own interests, naturally he wouldn’t do it either.
If you wanted to live a long and happy life, a certain degree of cold rationality was essential.
Finally—
Lu Yao wasn’t Saitama.
He didn’t admire heroes.
Nor did he possess a desire to become one or engage in hero activities.
He had once followed Saitama around for a while to experience what being a “hero for fun” was like.
It was mostly defeating monsters and stopping crime.
Afterward, he didn’t feel anything particularly special.
It was somewhat exciting, perhaps.
In short, there was no compelling reason for him to become a professional hero.
But what Yumemi had said—
About learning to entertain himself.
About not drifting around aimlessly with no objective.
That had stayed with him.
He had already stepped onto the path of a world traveler.
His future had completely diverged from an ordinary human life.
Naturally, he could no longer approach his remaining existence with the mentality of someone who expected to live merely a century.
To Lu Yao, the future was both predictable and impossible to confirm.
Now that he knew he would eventually wander endlessly through different worlds, maintaining this salted-fish-like lifestyle forever probably wasn’t ideal.
His system had given him far too much freedom.
Aren’t systems supposed to issue missions and force transmigrators to complete them?
His own system had thrown out a beginner package and immediately gone underwater.
So in the end…
He would have to find things to do for himself.
Should he try becoming a professional hero?
At the very least, it might be interesting to see what it was like.
Tormented by this question, Lu Yao went for a walk.
Come to think of it…
Why were there so few people on the street?
This wasn’t near his apartment.
This was supposed to be the closest commercial district.
Yet after walking for a while, Lu Yao saw hardly any pedestrians.
Even the roads held very few vehicles.
The city wasn’t abandoned.
He could sense people inside the nearby buildings.
But doors and windows were tightly shut, as though everyone were guarding against something.
A disaster warning?
Lu Yao checked his phone.
Sure enough.
A massive swarm of mosquitoes was apparently approaching City Z.
They weren’t ordinary mosquitoes.
They were extremely vicious.
Livestock and people attacked by them could have all the blood in their bodies drained within moments.
Encountering the swarm effectively meant certain death.
Disaster Level Demon.
A crisis capable of paralyzing or even destroying an entire city.
“How terrifying. I should hurry home and close the windows.”
Muttering that, Lu Yao quickened his pace.
There was a convenience store nearby.
Crash!
The sound of breaking glass rang out.
A delinquent wielding a crowbar emerged from the store carrying a huge bag of stolen goods, taking advantage of the chaos.
Something was coming.
Lu Yao looked up.
A vast black cloud rolled toward them like a storm.
No. That wasn’t a cloud.
It was a mosquito swarm consisting of an enormous number of insects, operating with astonishing coordination.
The delinquent nearby barely had time to react before the swarm swallowed him.
One second later, he was a dried corpse.
One human body naturally wasn’t enough to satisfy that many mosquitoes.
The swarm noticed Lu Yao standing ahead.
It surged toward him.
Being an ordinary person in this world really is difficult.
Things this terrifying happen all the time.
Lu Yao could harden his skin to steel, so he wasn’t afraid of mosquito bites.
But having insects crawling all over his body was still disgusting.
With that thought—
Metal resembling liquid flowed across Lu Yao’s body at tremendous speed.
Within moments, he was completely covered in armor dominated by crimson, with gold accents.
Mark 50.
A nanotech battlesuit.
One application of Lu Yao’s Dark Matter.
Dark Matter emerged from within his body in the form of nanomaterials, then assembled across his surface.
In truth, even the clothes Lu Yao normally wore were nanomachines made from Dark Matter and could connect directly with the material inside him.
Once the armor covered him, the mosquitoes naturally couldn’t touch his skin.
Unfortunately, the mindless insects still swarmed over him until he looked like a mosquito man.
“Sir, analysis complete. The mosquito swarm is being directed by a single signal source continuously transmitting commands. The source is currently twenty meters above ground at your eleven o’clock. Additionally, another individual is fighting the monster approximately one hundred and ten meters from your position.”
The intelligent program responsible for the armor’s avionics finished scanning the battlefield and reported its findings.
Someone else?
Anyone capable of joining this fight presumably had significant strength.
A professional hero from the Hero Association, perhaps?
Either way, he should handle this Demon-level disaster first.
The energy core in his chest flared brilliantly.
Several parts of the nanotech armor opened.
A blast of extreme heat erupted outward.
The mosquitoes clinging uselessly to his armor, together with those within several meters, were instantly incinerated.
Lu Yao looked up.
He immediately locked onto Mosquito Girl hovering in midair.
Apparently, Lu Yao’s sudden appearance had made her uncertain.
“There’s another one?!”
I see.
I spaced out for a moment, so someone else got here first.
Lu Yao glanced at the other combatant.
He was clearly no ordinary fighter.
If he was a professional hero, Lu Yao joining the battle might split his credit.
In that case…
He might as well stand down.
He had been thinking of firing a Railgun, too.
But taking away someone else’s livelihood wasn’t particularly nice.
More importantly—
Lu Yao was still technically an ordinary civilian in need of protection.
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