Kenji walked and pondered as two figures chasing each other dashed across the intersection ahead, causing a disturbance among the pedestrians.
Eh?
What just went past?
His Spider Sense caught a blur of red and yellow at the last second, along with a white cape fluttering behind it, looking like a running plate of tomato and scrambled eggs.
‘It’s Saitama!’ Kenji realized.
Seeing him in his familiar suit actually looked a bit jarring; it must be because he wasn’t bald yet.
Locking onto the two with his telekinesis, Kenji followed them along the road.
After turning a few corners, he saw Saitama cornering a red monster in an alley, grappling with it.
Looking closely at the monster, it was actually a giant, human-sized carrot.
“Yo, Saitama, out doing hero work?” “Eh?
Kenji, long time no see!” Saitama struggled to pin down the fiercely resisting Carrot Monster, turning his head to greet Kenji.
“Hold on, I’m a bit busy right now!
Wait until I finish off this guy!” Five minutes later.
“My suit got dirty again.
Washing it is such a pain!” Covered in carrot juice, Saitama walked out of the alley with a look of disgust.
He had already snapped the giant carrot into several pieces and casually tossed them into a trash can.
Because the location of the fight was too dirty, Saitama gave up on the idea of taking a few pieces of carrot meat home to boil and eat.
Of course, Kenji watching from nearby was also part of the reason.
“Kenji, where have you been lately?
I went to your place to look for you, but no one was home.” “I went on a business trip to City A recently and just got back.
Is there something you needed me for?” The two walked down the street, ignoring the strange looks from passersby, chatting as if no one else was around.
Saitama explained, “It’s nothing major.
You’ve always looked out for me, and I made some wages from my part-time job recently, so I wanted to treat you to hotpot.
While it might not be as explosive as your hotpot, I’m still confident in my cooking skills!” “Oh?
That sounds good!” Hearing Saitama’s confident guarantee, Kenji immediately became interested.
“Let’s do it today then.
I just sat on the train for half the day, and I’m quite hungry.” “Eh…
today?” Saitama instinctively patted the pocket sewn inside his suit, his expression stiffening.
“What’s wrong?
Is it inconvenient?” Kenji saw through Saitama immediately.
Given the sudden aura of poverty radiating from him, he was probably broke.
“It’s not that it’s inconvenient…” “It’s fine.
Let’s just go to my place.
I’ll provide the ingredients, and you cook.
No problem, right?” “Eh, but I was supposed to be the one treating you…” “Then next time.” “Alright, got it.” Having settled on hotpot, the two changed their route and headed to a nearby supermarket.
Before they had taken two steps, a man and a woman dressed as reporters ran over from nearby.
The man’s camera and the woman’s microphone were shoved in front of Kenji almost simultaneously.
“Excuse me, are you the hero who resolved the City A monster disaster three days ago, Mr.
‘Frenzied Thunder’ Kenji?” “…” Kenji looked confused.
When did he get the weird title “Frenzied Thunder”?
“Well, if you’re talking about the Crane Monster in City A, I was indeed involved.” “That’s great!
We are reporters from Hero News.
You’re very popular on the internet right now, with a growth rate comparable to Miss ‘Tornado of Terror’ previously.
Could you spare us some time for an exclusive interview?” Kenji glanced at Saitama, who had quietly stepped aside, and said, “You can make an appointment for an interview at the Hero Association, but not today.” “Eh?” The blonde female reporter covered her mouth in shock but professionally lowered her microphone, gesturing for her partner to lower the camera.
“Mr.
Kenji, our program has very high ratings recently, which would be very helpful for your exposure.
Won’t you reconsider…” “Sorry.” Kenji shook his head, turned around, and walked toward Saitama.
“Why?” The female reporter got a bit anxious and blurted out what was on her mind.
“Being seen and photographed with such a shady, weird person will negatively affect your popularity!” “My friend is not a shady person,” Kenji stopped, turned around, and looked seriously at the two who were about to chase after him.
“If you don’t take that back, I will refuse your interview.” “S-sorry!” Leaving the two intrusive reporters behind, Saitama suddenly said, “So you’re also working as a hero, Kenji?
I thought you were just a police officer.” “Yeah, being a hero is a part-time gig for me, but it’s also a very important job.” Kenji nodded, then had a thought and suggested, “By the way, Saitama, do you want to come with me to register at the Hero Association?
With your current strength, you’d definitely pass.” “The Hero Association?
An organization that manages heroes?” Saitama scratched his head.
Who knows what he imagined, but he suddenly shivered as if catching a chill.
“I’ll pass.
I just want to be a hero for fun.
If my hobby turns into a job, it feels like it would completely defeat the original purpose, right?” Hearing Saitama’s reply, Kenji swallowed the words “it pays pretty well” that he was about to say.
“In that case, we can talk about it later.” …
He spent a day selecting officers and establishing the framework for the Special Affairs Division.
Since it was a newly established division, everything had to start from scratch.
Kenji wasn’t in a hurry.
He ordered them to handle the foundational work.
If a monster disaster occurred while he was away, Kyoko would be the acting Chief, and her only job would be to contact the Hero Association for a joint response immediately.
To sum it up: call for backup.
Having delegated everything, Kenji ignored the complaints from Kyoko and the others and comfortably took on a hands-off approach.
Well, saving the police top brass gives you that kind of leverage.
At the same time, he didn’t forget to report to Chief Kuma that he might be away for a while, and then began preparing for his world travel.
With his current strength, there wasn’t actually much he needed to prepare.
The nature of his Stand ability dictated that items turned into cards would maintain their state at the exact moment of conversion.
For example, food turned into a card would never mold or spoil, and upon release, it would even retain its freshly cooked temperature.
So theoretically, the Fantasy Card deck was a storage space with unlimited capacity.
Early in his transmigration, due to a sense of crisis, Kenji had stocked his deck with a massive amount of daily necessities, clean water, ingredients, seasonings, and cooking utensils—ensuring he could maintain a normal life even in the face of severe disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis.
He maintained this habit even now.
Due to his rising fame, he rarely used his favorite novice-stage move, the “Road Roller Attack,” anymore.
Mainly because the method was too brutal and didn’t really fit a hero’s image.
But going to another world, he wouldn’t have such concerns.
After stocking up on some ingredients and daily necessities, Kenji flew alone to the outskirts of City Z.
Although it wasn’t his first time transmigrating, arriving in the One Punch Man world was completely passive.
This time, he was actively traveling to another world, so he couldn’t be too careful.
If he caused too much commotion during the crossing and destroyed something, the loss would outweigh the gain.
Flying past the ghost town, the city outskirts were covered in dense forests.
Kenji found a flat clearing and landed.
There was a sparkling lake nearby, with many birds and wild animals inhabiting the area, occasionally coming to drink and hunt.
The environment was very peaceful.
It would be a nice spot to camp and fish during his free time.
Kenji memorized the location, snapped his fingers, and the “Black Box Fragment” he acquired in City A appeared in his hand out of thin air.
The white Fantasy Card bloomed with light.
The space in front of Kenji twisted and distorted, forming a pitch-black portal leading into the void.
At first glance, it looked a bit creepy.
Would it lead directly to God’s home base?
Kenji quickly shook his head.
Setting aside the fact that God was still doing everything possible to plot his resurrection, the power sealed within the Fantasy Card was bound to be dominated by his Stand ability.
“Here goes nothing.” As Kenji stepped into the spacetime tunnel, the pitch-black portal swelled slightly before vanishing from the spot.
Within the gap in spacetime.
The first sensation was a feeling of weightlessness, like stepping into empty space.
Kenji instinctively activated his telekinesis to envelop his body, but the situation didn’t improve.
Or rather, this falling force wasn’t something his current self could resist!
The darkness was a chaotic void; there was no up, down, left, or right.
The sense of weightlessness rapidly evolved into the squeezing and twisting of spacetime.
Like riding a roller coaster, even with his Spider Sense, he had no idea where he was being thrown.
For a moment, the twisted spacetime power ignored the protection of his telekinesis and spread over Kenji’s body, as if trying to assimilate him into spacetime matter.
He tried to resist, but could only maintain his basic consciousness; his perception fell into a dark silence.
…
Marvel Universe 1610, New York City.
Miles Morales from Brooklyn Visions Academy had been very troubled lately.
First, he was bitten by a weird spider, and then strange things kept happening one after another.
He gained powers similar to Spider-Man overnight.
Then, because he couldn’t control his powers, he ruined the hair of a girl he liked; a beautiful romance seemingly ended before it even began.
At night, he witnessed Spider-Man being killed by a muscular, fat man in the Brooklyn underground, yet the news claimed he died from injuries sustained in an earthquake.
He was chased for blocks by a villain in a high-tech purple suit, barely escaping with his life.
These chaotic events tangled his originally normal life into a mess, right up until he attended Spider-Man’s memorial service.
He thought everything was settled, but he ended up finding another Spider-Man at Peter Parker’s grave.
Only this one was an out-of-shape, middle-aged version.
Whether he was the real deal or an imposter, he was now tied up in Uncle Aaron’s apartment.
So, it was time for a proper interrogation!
…
Kenji woke up from the darkness.
His perception gradually expanded.
His surroundings were still the chaotic and disordered gap in spacetime, but in the darkness, intricate, glowing white spiderwebs occasionally flashed past.
Thanks to this, he knew he was moving at high speed.
Trying to move his body, Kenji touched a tough spacetime barrier.
The sensation fed back to his fingertips told him that this seemingly solid barrier was actually as fragile as a bubble.
With his current strength, applying a little more force would easily let him break free.
While pondering, his vision suddenly cleared.
Under the starry night sky, a modern city that was both familiar and strange appeared in his view.
Familiar because he had recognized this city through various media; strange because he had never actually been here.
Locking his gaze onto a statue of a goddess holding a torch high on the coastline, Kenji immediately confirmed it.
This is New York.
And he himself was plummeting toward the ground at an extreme speed!
Just a moment before impact, Kenji flexed his arms, unleashing terrifying brute strength.
The barrier formed by spacetime energy shattered instantly, turning into countless distorted fragments of various hues that dissolved into the air.
Deploying his telekinesis, Kenji stabilized his figure amidst towering office buildings, landing right in the famous Times Square.
Neon lights flashed, pedestrians were everywhere, presenting a prosperous scene.
However, the news being broadcasted simultaneously on the surrounding giant LED screens seemed a bit off.
…Spider-Man died from severe injuries sustained in a massive earthquake in Brooklyn.
His true identity has been confirmed as Peter Parker, a 26-year-old graduate student and freelance photographer.
New York City’s friendly neighborhood hero has left his citizens forever.
Kenji landed on the rooftop of a small building.
In his perception, the people below were as shocked and bewildered as he was, pulling out their phones to confirm the news.
In the blink of an eye, an immense sorrow enveloped the entire city.
“Looks like it’s true.” _____ T/N: