Great, we're doomed now!

[...According to footage taken by eyewitnesses, we can see that this strange creature, codenamed 'Killer Rabbit,' had previously defeated A-ranked opponents ranked seventeenth and twenty-first...]

The host's tone suddenly became urgent, and the screen switched to show the Killer Rabbit's past achievements.

The Killer Rabbit's attack methods are extremely cruel. It is adept at throwing its prey high into the air and then letting them freefall. Many victims have died from the violent impact, and the Hero Association has classified it as a Tiger-level hazard.

The scene shifts back to yesterday's fierce battle. The killer rabbit seems oblivious to the fact that its prey has been caught. It turns and pounces on a terrified, crying child, instantly extending its claws to tear the fragile human body to pieces.

Just then, that same yellow figure flashed by, capturing Saitama's face, which was then magnified—appearing very abstract due to the high-speed movement.

He was wearing his signature bodysuit, his expression unchanged, but with a swift movement, he stood in front of the child, catching the killer rabbit's claw with the back of his head.

"Danger!"

The screen showed a witness's gasp, and the camera shook as it captured Saitama lifting the child with his other hand and gently placing him on a safe step. His movements were swift and clean, as if he hadn't been injured at all.

The killer rabbit was stunned... After regaining its senses, it first barked wildly for a few moments, then began to furiously strike Saitama's head—

Saitama's face wasn't even scratched.

Immediately afterwards, the scene froze at the moment Saitama threw his punch... because the scene afterward could not be captured.

The fist was unremarkable, without any dazzling flashes or earth-shattering roars, but the next moment, the killer rabbit's head exploded like a watermelon, and its whole body flew backward like a deflated balloon, without even a chance to resist.

Not only could the street surveillance cameras not capture the hit, but even bystanders who witnessed the entire incident were stunned!

"I...wow, I'm so bad at taking pictures...I should have worn makeup...Ugh!"

Saitama scratched his head sheepishly, only then realizing that he had no money to buy cosmetics.

But anyway, after three whole years of continuous hero activities, they actually made it onto TV for the first time ever, which is really... secretly awesome!

[Next, we'll connect with the citizens who were rescued from the scene!]

As soon as the host finished speaking, a little girl with pigtails appeared on the screen, her face still wet with tears, waving her little hands vigorously: "Thank you, bald big brother! He suddenly appeared and saved me! He's so amazing, he punched the big rabbit away with one punch!"

The little girl's mother also appeared on camera, repeatedly expressing her gratitude into the microphone: "Thank you so much! If it weren't for that hero, the consequences would have been unimaginable. We only know that he was wearing a yellow shirt, and we hope to express our gratitude to him again through the television station!"

Saitama stood at the balcony doorway, holding a watering can in his hand, his bald head gleaming in the sunlight.

He looked at his reflection on the screen, then looked down at his fist, took a deep breath for no apparent reason, and could clearly feel a sense of happiness.

He put down the watering can, walked to the refrigerator, and took out a can of beer—beer should have been served at this time, but there was only barley tea inside.

The colors are all pretty much the same anyway!

The cold liquid flowed down his throat. He looked out the window at the street, feeling nothing in particular. Whether he was on TV or being thanked, it was just a heroic act he had performed "out of interest."

Honestly, he wasn't happy at all! He had absolutely no intention of going out in his uniform to see if anyone would recognize him!

Now, viewers, let's play a little game. Call the number below and vote for the most suitable hero title!

[The Bald Cape Hero!]

[One-hit kill on the man!]

[The steel head will never fall!]

Saitama: "?"

No, can't you say anything nice?

[Also, a quick news update: the hero who recently saved the derailed train has registered with the association. Although the association claims it's just an intelligence-sharing partnership and therefore doesn't participate in hero rankings... their title has already been revealed—]

【Divine Might Mounted Rider】!

—Let's welcome the rising star of the hero world!

Saitama: "..."

...You guys know how to come up with a good name!

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(I went a bit too far yesterday, almost 20,000 words... Let's see if I can manage three updates today~ Keep it up, everyone!)

Chapter 321: Of course, we'll talk about it later! (Third update! Please vote!)

On the seventh floor of an office building in Z city, a room that was originally empty is now bustling with activity.

Moving company workers carried brand-new desks and chairs back and forth, the metal frames clanging together, and dust swirling in the sunlight streaming through the windows. The members of the "Snowstorm Team" were busy with their tasks: some were assembling computers, others were affixing signs, and still others were organizing documents; everyone wore a cheerful and energetic expression.

Only a few individuals had a subtle, complex expression hidden between their brows.

It's like winning the lottery. For some reason, the team suddenly had plenty of funds. Not only did they buy the rented van, but they also now have a fixed location and can start operating in a proper manner!

From now on, their Blizzard team will be divided into field staff and administrative staff... It feels just like a proper company!

From Blizzard down, most members were happy about this:

They consider being a hero a rather honorable job, but their combat strength is low, and they don't have the courage to hunt powerful monsters, so they only receive a basic salary and live a rather frugal life.

Many people join the Fubuki group just to stick together and keep each other warm!

Fubuki knew that a significant portion of the members were a burden, but she didn't expel them. Instead, she used her own money to subsidize her subordinates... As a boss, she was quite humane.

The organization's situation and benefits have suddenly improved. Most people don't know what happened, but they can sense that things have become much more luxurious, so they are naturally very excited.

"This is great~ This office building isn't in the city center, but it has a great view and the office space is big enough to accommodate the entire Fubuki Group. Compared to the days when we were crammed into a minivan and had to travel around... it's like night and day."

However, the familiar sense of frugality did not disappear. Most of the "new" furniture that was moved was refurbished second-hand, and the walls were covered with cheap printed posters, revealing the traces of "meticulous budgeting" everywhere.

"Lily, be careful when you put the computer tower down, that's how the last one broke!" a team member shouted.

"I know!" Lily nodded, carefully carrying the main unit, and walked steadily toward her workstation.

In the corner of the makeshift office area, a woman with eyelashes stood by the window, holding her phone, looking as composed as a white-collar worker handling business negotiations—and in fact, she was pretty much like one.

He patiently communicated into the microphone, his fingers unconsciously tapping his upper arm: "That's right, the advertising slots should be placed in the middle of the news segment, and the duration should not be less than thirty seconds. Can the previously mentioned fees be reduced a bit more?"

We've provided detailed video footage; you only need to edit it, you don't need to find any more material, right?

A muffled response came from the other end of the phone, her eyelashes and brows furrowed slightly, her tone more insistent: "We also coordinated the follow-up interviews. Can't we really lower the price any further?"

...After hanging up the phone, she took out her notebook and wrote down a number, her face still showing a hint of heartache.

This sponsorship amount would have been enough for the Fubuki Team's activities for one or two months in the past!

If it weren't for Lord Fubuki's approval and the full financial support of a certain patron, he would never have been willing to spend so much money to buy news coverage.

—That's right, what Bald Cape Man saw on TV was arranged by Ye Shou to appear in the public eye.

Ye Shou's resilience far surpasses Saitama's:

The bald man was disheartened after his first failed attempt at hair regrowth, but Ye Shou's motivation to amass gold coins was inexhaustible; if one plan failed, he would devise another.

In the original work, Saitama has a very peculiar thing about him. He has been active for three years, during which time he has gone from weak to strong and defeated a lot of monsters, including some Dragon-level monsters. Yet he is not famous at all!

The Hero Association, a powerful organization with a wide reach, had no information about Saitama and arbitrarily identified King, who happened to be at the scene of the battle, as the hero who defeated the monster (of course, King's luck was too outrageous; it was amazing that he could be accurately witnessed every time).

Thus, the nickname "Strongest Man on Earth," which suited Saitama perfectly, ended up going to someone else.

According to the original story, Saitama made many contributions after joining the association, but his rank could not be raised for various reasons. His great strength was there, but at first only a few people, such as Bang, could see it.

The original work contains comedic elements, so there's no need to delve too deeply into them. However, since Ye Shou is in the real world, he needs to consider the logic behind them.

A reasonable inference is that Saitama is like a "homebody" among heroes. Although he is active frequently, he has almost no desire to socialize and lives a semi-secluded life in the city, which results in his extremely low exposure.

The fact that he had never even heard of the Hero Association shows that he was almost completely out of touch with society.

Secondly, he may have made a name for himself before he went bald, but he didn't realize it!

After he became completely bald (invincible), his appearance was drastically different from before, and his battle process became invisible to ordinary people. Since no one realized what he had done, his character reputation was reset to zero...

The last comparison is a reasonable guess that left Ye Shou speechless:

This guy lives in the deserted area of ​​Z City. He basically doesn't pay rent or utilities, which is practically considered trespassing. He can live peacefully only because strange people appear so frequently that no one dares to investigate.

Saitama looked cheerful, and probably knew his lifestyle all too well, so he subconsciously avoided the camera and never actively promoted it, to avoid attracting attention...

After all, in his mind, heroic deeds don't make money, and becoming famous will only make his family's finances more difficult!

(Actually, King was also afraid of being noticed, but unfortunately, he was too photogenic and couldn't hide it.)

If we can break Saitama's passive ability to "pretend to be weak while actually being strong", even if it doesn't drastically change our fate, we can at least get a few coins as a token reward!

Ye Shou "hired" the Blizzard Group so that he would have manpower to carry out his plans.

"Hey, what's troubling you, Eyelash Bro?" Lily asked curiously as she passed by after moving her computer, her bright eyes full of doubt as she saw him sighing over his laptop.

She put away her phone, rubbed her temples, and lowered her voice, as if afraid of being overheard: "It's nothing, I'm just upset about that sponsorship fee."

He paused and looked at Lily, his tone puzzled: "Don't you find it strange? Lady Fubuki seems to be very obedient to Lord Kuze lately. We've practically become his subordinates who are at his beck and call, and we have to revolve around him in everything."

Lily blinked, tilted her head, and thought for a moment: "Lord Kuze is very capable, and he has helped Lady Fubuki a lot..."

"That's a different matter. We are the Fubuki Group, which, as the name suggests, is an organization centered around Lady Fubuki, not around Lord Kuze!"

Her eyelashes furrowed, and her tone was firm: "I think most people in the organization have persisted until now because they admire Lady Fubuki... What we want is not for that lady to become someone else's vassal."

He looked out at the city view from the window, feeling mostly confused.

Lady Fubuki has always been proud and has never been willing to be subordinate to anyone. How could she suddenly become like this?

That day we went to the monster's lair together, and when we came back, he started acting like Lord Kuze's assistant... What exactly happened there?

Lily stood to the side and whispered, "But... Lady Fubuki seems to trust Lord Kuze a lot, and we have a new base now, thanks to him."

Eyelashes fell silent. Of course he knew all this. Since getting involved with Ye Shou, the Blizzard Group's situation had indeed improved a lot.

"I admit that's true, but I think we still need to be careful—"

"Let's all go out for barbecue tonight!"

A burly, booming-voiced mountain monkey appeared at the office door and shouted inside, "To celebrate the housewarming, Mr. Kuze has booked a high-class restaurant for me, costing 200,000 yen per person!"

"Oh oh oh oh!"

"Great!"

"meat!"

"I'm compiling the list now. Some people might not be able to go. Who's going to submit their names now?"

"I!!!"