A Bizarre Adventure Starting with One-Punch Man

The establishment of Class S.

To date, the association's ranking of heroes is still based on popularity, battle record, and contribution over combat power, which is also the most scientific ranking method reached through extensive discussions.

Most of the verification of battle records requires the hero himself to declare them, and only a small number of records verified by the public and the media will be directly calculated into a hero's ranking points.

The overly simplistic certification mechanism has resulted in some players who find the process troublesome or don't care about rankings remaining at low levels, while heroes who accidentally discover monster corpses and claim credit or who like to be in the spotlight can quickly advance.

If you encounter someone like Saitama who has a built-in "street person" buff, even if you're caught on camera and recorded, you'll be ignored for various reasons, or at worst, you'll just be able to pick up a bargain.

Similar incidents are commonplace, and the idea that whoever discovers something first gets all the credit has become an unspoken rule in the industry.

Seeds of unethical conduct slowly sprouted in the shadows.

However, the truth will always come out eventually; what is false will never become true.

As more and more powerful monsters appear, many of the top-ranked heroes are squeezed out of their saturated state, like sponges that have absorbed a lot of water.

It takes several, or even a dozen, heroes working together to defeat a single Demon-level monster; seemingly powerful and popular heroes suddenly die; and some heroes are even exposed for faking their battle records...

Similar situations have occurred one after another, and there is even a trend of them getting worse.

The Hero Association wants to cultivate a strong and reliable reputation among the public, and this kind of news is not what they want to see.

Therefore, while internally rectifying and strengthening the review of hero admission criteria, a special project was put on the agenda.

Heroes with outstanding achievements in defeating strange monsters and possessing remarkable combat abilities, but who are not widely known, will be given priority attention. Together with truly powerful and popular heroes, they will form a completely new ranking system—that is—

S level!

“...In conclusion, this is why I brought you here,” Lani explained. “Because the resources and exposure allocated to S-class heroes far exceed those of heroes in other categories, not everyone likes to be a public figure, and there have been cases recently where some heroes were unwilling to join the S-class category. Therefore, headquarters requires us to send a formal invitation to all selected heroes, allowing them to make their own decisions.”

So what you mean is?

"Of course I'd choose to join such a great opportunity! After all, the benefits alone are double those of Level A!"

Upon hearing Johnson's answer, Lani breathed a sigh of relief, her body relaxing so much that the ground shook, which was quite eye-catching.

"That's wonderful! Mr. Johnson, I'm honored to inform you that you will become one of the Association's first S-class heroes, ranking second!" Lanny stood up and shook hands with Johnson, while apologizing, "This is already the limit of my efforts. Headquarters has higher hopes for 'Blast,' who has left an amazing record, as the number one S-class ace, but in my heart, you are the strongest hero!"

"Huh, did they rank me second in S-class?"

For no apparent reason, a simple-looking green-haired loli appeared in Qiao Sen's mind. Considering her personality of disrespecting everyone except for explosives, he immediately felt that he was in trouble.

“Miss Lanny, you’ve done very well.” Noticing Lanny’s slightly agitated expression during their handshake, Johnson released the blonde woman’s soft, smooth hand and gently patted her shoulder, calming her emotions somewhat. “Now, is there anything else I can do?”

"Oh, I also need you to sign the new agreement one last time. After all, it involves updates to the treatment, and the association needs to keep a record," Lani, who had recovered, bent down to help her flip to the last page of the document. "This is your 'S-Class Hero Certificate.' The agreement is in duplicate, so please sign here and here. Of course, don't worry, the S-Class Hero agreement has almost no restrictions. You can just help when humans need you or when the association asks for your help."

Johnson nodded and signed his name on the document: "Of course, it's what I should do."

"Please keep this S-class dedicated communicator safe. It can be used to contact you via satellite even in places without network access."

"Okay, I know."

Lanny carefully put the documents away, clutching them to her chest. Her blonde hair was flushed, a blush spreading across her face—whether from excitement or something else—making her exceptionally alluring. She then reached out her small hand to Johnson again, tilting her head back and saying, "Mr. Johnson, the second-ranked 'Super Cop,' I look forward to your continued support in the future!"

The two hands, one big and one small, clasped together again.

"Pleasant to work with."

……

Streets of Y City.

"Bullying the weak is not the act of a man. Even if it means mutating into a monster, it is still unforgivable. 'Water Flow Rock Smashing Fist'—Tooth-Piercing Finger!"

A silver-white figure flashed by with incredible speed, and the two-headed monster who was committing violence in the street watched helplessly as a hole the size of a basketball was torn open in his chest. He let out a wail and collapsed to the ground.

Fifty meters away, a sprightly old man with silver hair appeared on the sidewalk. He glanced at the young people who were taking pictures and celebrating around the strange corpse not far away, flicked the dust off his sleeves, turned around, put his hands behind his back, and walked forward on his own.

His originally straight back hunched over after a few steps as his muscles relaxed, making him look like an ordinary old man taking a stroll in the park.

"Found him! That's Mr. 'Silver Fang'!"

"Please wait a moment, Bangusang!"

"Hmm?" Bang's ears twitched, he stopped, and turned around to see two young men in black suits, sweating profusely, rushing towards him. "Did you come here specifically to see me?"

The physical condition of young people these days is really as bad as ever. You can tell at a glance that they have no talent for martial arts.

As Bangu pondered this in his mind, he thought of another tall figure with some regret.

That brat hasn't come to ask me for a drink in ages. I bet he's been eating and drinking with another drinking buddy all the time.

“Bang, Bang Gu Sang…”

"No rush, young man, I'm not going to run away," Bang joked with a smile, looking at the two young men who were panting heavily as they ran up to him. "So, what do you two want from me?"

Chapter 78 The New Order (Part 2)

"I...I...we are staff members sent by the Hero Association to contact you!"

Of the two men in black suits, the bespectacled guy, sweating profusely, finally caught his breath and said, "We've come here about your hero rank advancement. Please come with us to the association!"

"Hero rankings?" Bang's head was filled with question marks. "Isn't that something you just announce on TV every time? Why has it suddenly become so complicated?"

"Ah, yes, it's because it involves a new ranking system, and you're on the association's invitation list, so we came here specifically!"

"Is that so? Then let's go. Anyway, I don't have anything to do for the time being."

"Thank you so much, Bangusang! You've been a great help!"

……

City A, headquarters of the Heroes Association.

"What exactly did you call me here for?"

A glowing green orb floated above the operations room, making the staff member who brought the coffee below break out in a cold sweat: "I saw it... no, Miss Tornado, please wait a moment, Lord Sitch is on his way, he will explain the details to you!"

"Hmph, Sitch?" Tornado, who always wore a long, slit dress and had green hair, put her hands on her hips and snorted, "This guy, if he asked me to come to headquarters, he should have waited for me here! Why did he make me wait for him? It's been almost two hours!"

"Lord Sitch has gone to deal with the disaster in City B..." The staff member explained softly, smiling apologetically, "Miss Tornado, why don't you come down and sit on the sofa for a while? Lord Sitch should be here soon!"

"Hmph, fine then." Tornado curled her lip and fell from the sky. "If he doesn't give me a reasonable explanation, I'll tear down the headquarters today, so he won't have to take the elevator up every time."

"..."

(?_?)

The staff member looked like she was about to cry: "Please don't do this!"

ten minutes later.

Sitch strode into the conference room, wiping sweat with a handkerchief as she said, "I'm so sorry, Miss Tornado! Something came up and I had to come up with something!"

Seeing Tornado's impatient glare at him, Sitch felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly sat down opposite this ancestor and opened the documents in his hand: "Now, let me explain the latest plan to you..."

Five minutes later. Tornado held the S-class hero rankings determined by the association's internal selection process, and Liu Mei was conflicted.

(╬￣ Pan￣)

“It’s fine that ‘Explosion’ is ranked first, but… ta-da…” Tornado, her anger transforming into a powerful figure, abruptly stood up and slammed the ranking list onto Sitch’s face. “Why is Johnson ranked ahead of me? He was clearly weak the last time we met! Or were you all collectively blind while I was watching?”

"Uh……"

Looking at the green orbs of light darting around in front of him, Sitch chuckled awkwardly: "It's like this, Miss Tornado. 'Super Cop' has been very active lately. The Z City branch has submitted a lot of materials proving that he does indeed have the strength to match his achievements. In addition, 'Super Cop' is currently among the most popular heroes. The only one who can compare to him is 'Sweet Mask,' who has recently seen a rapid rise in popularity..."

"Stop arguing, stop with these pointless excuses." Tornado crossed her arms, turned her face away, and huffed unhappily. "I'll just go find him and fight him, then you'll know who's stronger. What city does he live in again? Oh right, Fubuki mentioned it to me before..."

Please don't do that!

Tornado: ?

Have I just heard this sentence before?

Seeing Tornado about to leave, Sickey's body trembled, and he automatically activated his once-in-a-lifetime Flash ability, lunging forward to block the door: "Miss Tornado, please think twice!! The association has just announced the formation of S-class heroes. If discord breaks out among the top S-class heroes at this time, public opinion will take a sharp turn for the worse!!"

"Hmph, I won't bother with such trivial matters."

"Miss Tornado...you wouldn't want the association protected by Mr. 'Explosion' to fall apart, would you?"

"……snort!"

……

In front of a school gate.

"It must be him, right?"

"Judging from that hairstyle, it should be correct."

"Then let's go over there..."

Two men in black suits, wearing headsets, whispered to each other as they approached a man at the school gate who looked like a delinquent: "Excuse me..."

"What's up!?"

Josuke Higashikata—no, the delinquent with the same steak-head hairstyle as Josuke Higashikata—suddenly turned around. Two murderous glints flashed across his face, which was not clearly visible because his hair blocked the light: "Are you thugs planning to cause trouble outside of school? I advise you not to make a move at this time, because Yoshiko will be getting out of school soon, and I don't want him to see anything bad!"

"what!"

"What a terrifying aura!"

Startled, the two men who had fallen backward quickly scrambled to their feet: "No, no, no, we're not thugs! You're 'Metal Bat,' ranked C-class 223, right? We came here specifically to see you!"

"What, you really came to see me?" Bat was taken aback, but his bad temper quickly returned. "Just say what you want, don't delay me from taking Yoshiko to her piano lesson!"