Chapter 387

The instant this thought surfaced in his mind, the Unlicensed Knight recalled a scene he had seen earlier in City J.

He remembered the mysterious swordmaster he had once seen before…

The Unlicensed Knight slammed the brakes hard; the bicycle skidded a distance before stopping.

He turned his head—and the silver-haired boy was gone.

…………

Inside the arcade.

KING, ranked 7th in the S-Class Hero Rankings and known as "the strongest man on Earth," focused intently on his controller, maneuvering his low-health character into a rapid combo attack.

【K~O!】

As the screen displayed GAMEOVER, KING exhaled, gazing at the screen with disappointment: "Seven wins in a row—can't I find even one decent opponent?"

"You're really good at video games."

The voice behind him made KING flinch violently.

He whipped his head around.

There stood a beautiful silver-haired boy with heterochromatic eyes, eating a banana split.

Seeing him look, the silver-haired boy smiled at him:

"You're KING, 7th in the S-Class, right?"

Vroom-vroom-vroom!

Amid the roar of the "Imperial Engine," sweat beading on KING's palms, he stared at the silver-haired boy and growled: "Who the hell are you? Some kind of weirdo? You know who I am—and still dare show up? That's some serious guts."

38, who are you…?

"No wonder you're ranked 7th in the S-Class—you're remarkably calm."

"Glad you know it."

Listening to the thunderous roar of the "Imperial Engine" beside him, watching KING's face—fear trembling beneath his forced bravado—

Luo En couldn't help but smile.

Maybe just tease him a little…

KING stared at the impossibly beautiful silver-haired boy before him, and a quiet sigh of relief slipped out.

He doesn't seem to be here to cause me trouble—phew, good…

"Um… are you troubled by not finding a decent opponent?"

KING glanced at the still-lit game screen, assuming he meant the game, and nodded: "I… guess so."

Luo En smiled: "Then I'll be your opponent."

"Sure, if it's a game, I—"

"Game? No."

"... Huh?"

KING looked at Luo En.

The silver-haired boy's golden-blue heterochromatic pupils glowed with an eerily unnatural light.

The instant KING saw those eyes, his consciousness went utterly blank.

…………

Within a crimson space.

KING came to his senses, finding himself standing atop a sea of blood, a colossal crimson sun hanging in the sky, bathing all in its glow.

KING stared at the scene before him, blinking dumbly, utterly bewildered.

"Wasn't I just playing games in the arcade? Where the hell am I?!"

He pinched his own face—there was pain.

"Not a dream…?"

Suddenly—

The sea surface trembled once.

KING lost his balance and fell hard onto his backside.

His hand brushed against something hard; he looked down.

It was a white bone.

KING froze, then his face turned instantly ashen.

"Aaaah!!!"

He leapt up like a startled bird, staring downward again.

Beneath the blood-red sea stretched endless, gleaming white bones—as if the entire ocean had been filled with them.

"Gulp."

Pale-faced, KING swallowed hard, sweat pouring down his forehead, his legs trembling, the Imperial Engine roaring at unprecedented power.

"What the hell is this…?"

"Hah, already scared?"

A light laugh echoed across the heavens and earth.

Then—

With a thunderous roar, the sea churned violently.

From the surface rose a mountain of bones.

In KING's stunned gaze—

The silver-haired boy he had just met sat cross-legged atop the bone mountain's peak, on the Wang Zuo, chin resting on his hand, looking down at him.

Behind his throne, a colossal blood-red sun loomed, shrouding half the sky.

Beneath the all-encompassing blood-light, atop the white-bone throne, a silver-haired youth with heterochromatic eyes gazed down upon the mortal world with a smile, like a demon king bent on destroying the world.

"The S-Class hero ranked seventh, the strongest man on earth, KING! Hello."

"My name is Luo En."

"Come and fight me with everything you've got."

Luo En raised a hand and pointed.

A white-bone spear descended from the sky and landed heavily before King.

At this moment, King stared blankly up at Luo En, who sat enthroned upon the white-bone throne.

An opponent?

An opponent means this?!

Isn't this just a game?!

King's legs trembled, his heart pounding violently.

I'm just an ordinary person with rotten luck—how am I supposed to fight an opponent like this?!

Absolutely impossible!

At this moment, he felt a despair he'd never known before.

"Still not making a move? Then I won't hold back."

Luo En spoke, and threw a punch at King.

King's eyes rolled back, his body toppled, and he fainted dead away from fright.

……

Inside the arcade.

Luo En crouched before King, who lay on the ground with his eyes rolled back, unmoving, and poked him with a finger.

"Fainted from just this much? Faster than I expected."

He glanced at the parfait in his hand.

It was already finished.

"Well, I've had my fun, and the parfait's done too. Time to go find Saitama to hang out."

He set the empty parfait cup down beside King and rose to leave.

………………

Z-City, the uninhabited zone.

Inside Saitama's house.