"Thank you for gracing us with your presence again, King-san!"

The Strongest Man on Earth, King. A tall blonde whose scarred face alone strikes fear into even dragon level threats. They say no monster can ever hope to match his level, and that even the sound of the "King Engine" fully unleashed will slay them. The S class hero was currently sweating bullets as he walked out the game store, clutching a plastic bag in his hands.

Donning a hoodie, the man walked quickly, hoping to get past the crowd, for in his hands he held a most valuable item. Unfortunately for him, life had other plans, as citizens started screaming in terror, for an ugly lizard man began to terrorise everyone, specifically the women, making lewd comments involving his tongue. As King neared the creature, he removed his cap, the hoodie falling back.

The creature's eyes bulged in terror as he turned to face the hero. "WHOA! YOU SCARED ME, WHO ARE YOU!"

A loud rumbling came from King, and the monster started to cower, as an aura of killing intent grazed his skin. The sound got louder, and the blank stare of the hero only continued to further terrify the monster. The crowd quickly took notice of the source of the sound, and it didn't take long for all of them to identify the S Class hero. By the time the monster surrendered, the crowd had almost doubled in size, and only a lucky few were able to see him up close, as the S Class made his way through the crowd.

"Phew, it's a good thing we came early, huh Genos?"

"Yes Sensei. Once again, your wisdom falls through."

Saitama and Genos were walking home from City M's supermarket with three filled plastic bags and a box of sea vegetables. There was a huge sale on a variety of product, and Saitama couldn't help but pull himself and his companion to the city an hour before opening time. Good thing too, because there was already a crowd when they got there.

"Man, think of all the stuff we could cook. What do you think we should have for breakfast Genos?" When the blonde didn't reply, Saitama turned around, "Genos?" Seeing his friend intently studying something, he followed his gaze, and laid eyes on a tall blonde with three scars on his left eye.

"Sensei," Genos finally said, "that is S Class Rank 7, King-san."

"Who?"

"He was at the meeting Sensei, as well as the spa. He has taken your place as the strongest man." Genos remarked. The air quotes audible as he spat out the last three words.

"Really?" Saitama raised his eyebrow. Strange that he holds such a title, especially since he can't really feel anything from the guy.

It was then cries rang out about another monster, catching the attention of the duo.

"A monster? Sensei, we shoul-no. This is a good opportunity to see King in action. Let us watch."

"I dunno Genos," Saitama stated, "I'm kinda itching to fight that." he pointed towards the direction of the monster. A large robot decorated with enough jewelry to make a pimp look frugal, as if the shiny metal it was made on wasn't enough.

"I am G4. A machine god created by the organisation." The machine announced. "You are the strongest man, King. I will obliterate you."

Hearing the name King, the crowd visibly relaxed, as everyone cheered about how they were saved, and that there was nothing to worry about. The King Engine came to life as the hero kept his head down, and his grip on the plastic bag tightened.

"Organisation? And you know I am the S Class Rank 7 hero, the strongest man on earth?" King asked, as if trying to confirm the robot's stupidity for challenging a man of his caliber.

"Organisation? Could it be?..." Genos furrowed his brow, now regretting he didn't rush in for the kill immediately.

The robot reached behind its back and pulled out a blade, the wind from the sudden movement blowing King's cap off. "I said I came to KILL YOU." The robot exclaimed. "This is a test of my combat A.I! I must have data, so you will fight me with your full strength!"

King stayed silent, yet the rumbling of his engine only got louder. "Fine." he finally said, "But first, let me use the john." The hero finally looked the robot in the eye without even a hint of urgency bar the King Engine, as his hands stayed tucked in his hoodie pockets. "When nature calls, I cannot fight at full strength. That can't be good for your data, can it?"

G4 considered this for a second, before sheathing his sword. "I will give you ten minutes. Every minute you are late, 10 civilians die. If you run, this town is finished." As King walked off, Saitama and Genos poked their outs out from behind the pole.

"That monster looks tough." Saitama commented.

"I detect high energy levels Sensei. It may even be beyond my strength, despite Doctor Kuseno's modifications. I estimate it to be threat level demon."

"Well, that strongest guy on earth should take it down easily. But we should be ready in case he's taking a shit."

"Of course Sensei." Genos replied, as his core powered up with a loud whirring.

Meanwhile, in a public restroom stall, the strongest man on earth was indeed shitting. Shitting himself in fact, though metaphorically.

"It... wants to kill me?" he asked no one in particular, before bursting into a hybrid of desperate laughing and crying. The King engine got louder. "HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?! Scared... I'M SO SCARED!", louder, "I'M NOT STRONG, I'M A 29 YEAR OLD, UNEMPLOYED, ANTISOCIAL OTAKU LOSER!", louder still, "I'M SUCH A COWARD I'M A TOTAL OF TWO, NO, DOZENS OF PEOPLE! MY HEARTBEAT IS AUDIBLE FOR FUCKS SAKE! KING ENGINE, WHAT ARE THEY, STUPID?", it got so loud, the walls practically vibrated, or maybe that's just King's vision being affected by how much he's shaking.

For you see, this is no mere hero. This is a fake hero. King just happened to be next to a demon to dragon monster, screaming like a little baby, when it got killed while his eyes were closed. By chance, this happened five times, and it ended up with the association sending him an S Class certificate along with praise about how his deeds were appreciated, and how he is the strongest man on earth, just like that.

King felt like vomiting. In fact, he was sure he could taste bile as he brought his hand up to his mouth, trying to steady himself on the wall. His whole body trembled as he gasped for air, breathing getting harder by the millisecond.

"MY NAME WON'T INTIMIDATE A ROBOT! I'M GOING TO DIE!" he thought to himself, as his heart continued pounding. "MY HEART'S GOING TO BURST!" He screamed, internally and audibly. He let out a gasp as it struck 11 minutes, and a loud whoosh could be heard, as if a giant sword cut through the air with unimaginable force. "OH GOD, IT'S STARTED!" the man panicked, placing both his hands on the wall now, as his legs caved in and he landed on his knees. "Ten people every minute... I'm sorry." The sounds of a slaughter continued. "I'm so sorry!"

He tried to think, think of a way to deal with the robot without costing him his life, just like he did every other 'battle'. A lightbulb went off in his head, but it was crushed just as quickly. "It's two minutes on foot from here to the robot..." King said to himself, still sweating profusely. "Can I run?..."

As explosions rang off in the distance, a man in a blue hoodie could be seen bolting away at an impressive speed, as he apologised again to those he failed to protect in his head.

Back at the battle, G4 swung his sword at the first civilian he saw, some poor soul who dropped his groceries, walking up to him to accept his death. Or so he thought, as the blonde caught the blade, and shattered it with a punch. G4 watched in shock as what it realised now was a cyborg charged his fist, sending a rocket punch straight into its eye, sending it flying onto the ground with a crash.

"Oh cool, a rocket punch?" Saitama asked as the resulting shockwave shook him a little, his grip on the groceries tightening.

G4 was not down however, as thrusters on its back launched it back up, with his foot aimed right at Genos. The blonde managed to push the immense weight off of himself, as Saitama asked if he needed any assistance.

"No." He confidently stated, despite cracks appearing on his face, "Your assignment was for me to reach the top ten of S Class," Genos explained, as he launched himself through the foot of the 'Machine God'. "AND THIS IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY!" he exclaimed, as he sent multiple punches to his opponent. "I must defeat it on my own!"

"Oh. Don't lose then." Saitama encouraged, before walking off as the sirens accompanying the Hero Association's warning sounded.


King slammed the door to his apartment, as he tried to catch his breath after running the whole way home. "Made it home in one piece..." he thought, "That robot will haunt my dreams..." His eyes once again caught sight of his console, and he walked over to it, picking up a controller in hopes of forgetting everything through the paradise that is a dating sim game.

"Wake up big boy! It's morning!"

"What's with that voice actress? So Stiff!" He complained. "I need to name my character huh... not my real name, that's too embarrassing for a 29 year old..."

"Just use King."

"No, not my hero name. If someone saw them call me 'Big Boy King', I would die from-" Realisation dawned on him, and he turned around to face the mysterious voice, and found a bald man hunched over him with a blank stare and a dumb smile. "Huh? Who's this guy? What's he doing here?"

"Your window was open." The bald simply stated.

"This is the 22nd floor..." King started sweating again, his heart once again thumping. "Y-you can't just come in here uninvited!" He shouted as he stood up wobbling. "D-Don't you know I'm an S Class hero?"

"You're King right?"

King let out a gasp as he recognised that bald head. "He's the new guy..."

"Uhm... It's kinda surprising you play these games."

King let out a squeal as his heart thumped louder, suddenly remembering what game he was playing thanks to the trash voice actress reminding the player to choose a name.

"Oh, what's this?" The baldy picked up another game disk cover. "It looks fun."

Worried that was another dating sim, King started to tremble. "No, plea-huh?!" As his eyes landed on the cover art, he felt relieved. "That's an action game!"

"Robots and stuff?"

"YES, YES!" King nodded, an idea springing forth. "I love action games! That's what I thought THIS game was! But it's a romance game?! I bought the wrong one!" he yelled as he threw the precious dating sim disc cover onto the floor.

"But it says 'Doki Doki Sisters'." The bored voice noted.

"WHAA?! I THOUGHT IT SAID WRATHFUL SHOOTERS!" King once again exclaimed, "THEY LIED TO ME! I'LL HAVE IT REFUNDED!" He quickly shut down his console, secretly grateful he hadn't yet started and no data was lost. "Better cut the power, wouldn't wanna waste electricity right?! Hah... how embarrassing, a 29 year old man buying a romance game, haha..."

"Let's play the other one."

"GOOD IDEA! THAT ONE's BETTE- huh?" King turned to face the baldy again. "You wanna play that?"

"Can't I? You've got time, right?"

"Uh, well..." King trailed off, utterly confused as to why someone with a rank far below his would act so casually around him, then he remembered rumours of him dating Tornado of freaking terror for gods sake. But weren't they just rumours?"


As Genos dodged another of G4's punches, he grabbed the giant's neck, pulling it backwards as it roared in frustration. His core powered up, tearing his jacket as he fired a fully charged "INCINERATE!"

Somersaulting off the robot, and once again doing a superhero landing, Genos stood up and watched in satisfaction as his opponent began melting, oozing molten metal from its crevices.

"I melted your internal framework so you couldn't move. Your big body was your downfall." Unfortunately, Genos quickly realised he shouldn't have celebrated his victory so soon, as a much smaller robot appeared from the corpse. "The pilot? Or its true form..."

All of a sudden, its head, shoulders and knees opened up to reveal holes from which what could only be explained as anime lasers shot out. Alerting the crowd, Genos dodged the lasers and prepared himself for battle against the tiny thing.


"Whoa King, you're good at this."

King was currently trashing whatever came his way in the video games, sipping at a carton of orange juice he somehow is holding onto by the straw alone, as his uninvited guest sat behind him watching in awe, another carton of juice in his own hands.

"Yea, I won a lot of tournaments in the past." King stated as he wondered why the guy was still here.

"Wow, strong in real life, and great in video games too!" The baldy pulled the straw out of his mouth. "Actually, I wanted to ask you, why did you run away earlier? Genos is fighting in your place."

Spitting out the juice, King could feel his hearth thump again as once more he sweated bullets.

"You're a super strong S Class hero, right? Why did you run from that robot?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "You play video games, so why don't you take on the monster?" The thumping of King's heart was very audible now, "Or are you so strong you got bored of fighting?" There was a tone of accusation in the baldy's voice. "What are you thinking? Please... Tell me."

The sirens sounded, and another warning from the Hero's Association sounded. A threat level demon in the form of a giant bird apparently.

The baldy tilted his head to the side. "Another warning? There's a lot these days." He picked up his groceries. "Welp, I'm going. How about you? Not gonna do anything? I guess I can come later." But King couldn't respond. Not when he was staring right at a giant bird with sharp teeth on its beak, headed straight for his apartment. With a loud crash, the avian shook the entire building, as the infrastructure bended to its giant beak, which was being held back by the baldy's palm resting on it.

"Whoa, it flew straight to your place. It's like you attract monsters." The baldy stated, as the sun glared off his chromedome, having done its job of attracting the monster.

"I know, I've always been unlucky. But it's been getting worse..." King quivered, "Is this punishment for my lies?"

"Well, now what?" The supposed fraud turned around, "It's in your apartment, so you gotta fight, right?" he asked the fraud.

"Please god, forgive me..." pleaded the fraud, as his heart thumped on.


Genos dodged even more of the lasers, landing on a nearby electrical tower. He barely dodged more sent his way, as they tore trhough his jacket, the tower, and half of his right arm. Jumping off again, he clicked his tongue as he realised he'd have to somehow stop those lasers. Landing on the staircase of a flat, he tried to think of an solution when his scanners landed on one.

"COME DOWN." G4 commanded, "IT IS A FOOLISH WASTE OF TIME TO WORRY ABOUT BYSTANDERS," it said, misinterpreting Genos' intentions of bringing the fight away from where the crowd was running to, "I ONLY WANT KING!" it yelled as more lasers were launched towards the building.

Launching himself into the air, Genos flung the item straight into G4, who, as planned, destroyed it with more lasers, releasing the foam inside. The robot started fizzing out as the foam of the fire extinguisher covered his body, blocking the lasers.

"Why you-" G4 noticed the blonde cyborg ripping out the plug of a water outlet, firing at the gush of water. "Steam?" A line came from within the cloud, cathing G4 off guard as it entangled the robot. With a grunt, G4 was pulled into the steam. "How dare you!" It exclaimed, readying its lasers, "This will never-"

"Don't bother." Genos coldly interrupted, as the lasers did nothing. "Moisture disperses light. You want King," Genos dragged G4 closer to him, "but I know someone stronger." He clenched his fist, charging it, "And I, am stronger than you."


As his life flashed before his eyes, King could only think of what lead him here. All those times he was near a monster when it was taken down, all the praise the people and the association sang. The fact that he was named King, as a reminder of his heroism and his strength... what a joke. It was all just a mistake, but because there was money, he never said a thing. The King the people cried for, the King the people look up to, he wasn't him. That King was somewhere.

His heart pounded, and he started tearing up. "I have to say it. I have to! If I don't... I'll die!" King gulped. "The truth is-" The bird screeched, and King screamed too, as rubble flew past him. The bird was closing in, and all he heard was a loud sound. "That guy... I wasn't strong enough to save him. Why didn't he run? It was threat level demon! All because I was to slow to speak up... forgive me..." The fraud glanced up, and he couldn't believe what he saw.

The bald man's silhouette was the first thing that came to sight, and as his eyes adjusted to the light, he realised he wasn't hurt. In fact, only some stray feathers and a blood spatter on the bald told him he wasn't dreaming.

"Is it true that your strength, and history are fake?" The bald calmly asked.

King's eyes were still wide in disbelief, and it suddenly dawned on him there was a warm fluid running down his jeans.

The S Class glanced towards King. "Did you piss your pants?" he noted.

"He's still here... he... did he beat it?"

A small smile appeared on his saviour's face. "You okay?"

King squinted his eyes, before they widened again. "That voice..." How did he not realise sooner? Aside from the lack of hair, he was a spitting image of... him. His saviour from the first ever monster he faced down. The octopus that gave him his scars. "This man is..." He couldn't stop the tears from flowing. He couldn't even care about how embarrassing it was for a grown man to sob in front of another.

"What's the matter King?"

King sniffed. "Sorry..."

As the sirens of an ambulance sounded, King sat in seiza, while the baldy, Saitama apparently, simply crossed his legs.

"Is it fun being a hero who lies, and cringes in fear?" Saitama asked.

"No..."

"Well, it's none of my business, so I won't lecture." Saitama stated as he stood up.

"But I benefited from your deeds!" King argued.

"This isn't about that. You're everyone's hero!" King tried to counter, but was interrupted. "People believe you're the strongest." The blonde stayed silent.

"So," Saitama picked up his groceries, "will you keep lying? Or will you quit being a hero?"

"I don't know." King conceded.

"In that case..." Saitama paused, "why don't you get strong?"

"Huh?" King tilted his head up.

"I'm going. Bye."

"Wait!" The blonde stood up as he shouted, "Aren't you angry? You worked hard to be a hero, but I-"

"I'll come again some time," Saitama interrupted as he stood at the edge of the giant hole, "to play video games." and jumped.


I'm so sorry for the delay. I guess I kinda owe an explanation, so here goes.

Basically, I was debating whether or not to change the meeting, and along with less free time, and the amount of stories and games taking up said free time, I recently realised I've been unable to find motivation to do anything. Not just homeowrk, but my hobbies, stuff I enjoy too. It's been coming back thankfully.

Anyway, I've got a plan as to how to go from here, so if nothing else comes up, the next chapter shouldn't take as long. I'm going to be straying away from the official stuff thanks to the changes I made, but nothing too major, hopefully. Hopefully. I thank you for your patience, and once again apologise.

Also, there's this remix I found on YouTube that I feel has not gotten the attention it deserves. Not sure how many people have heard of it, but just search "One Punch man Sadness Ballad", and click the one made by Styzmask. Enjoy.


FaolenBookWolf: I see. I'll keep trying, thanks.

Ander Arias: Yea, it kinda makes sense, though honestly, I don't know if this is actually real, but I like to believe relationships don't always end with hatred. As to Saitama's character, I'll keep trying. Do tell me when it seems even a bit OOC, thanks.

Hektols: Not my idea actually, comes from 'Icebreaker'. And let's be honest, if it wasn't those two, Demon Cyborg would've incinerated cities until they got the point.

Iynxx: Nah. Just the before and after scenes, though not in detail.

Elfetrange: Yea, it felt weird to me too. But I really was tired when I wrote that, and didn't know how else to continue. When I get to rewriting the story, I'll do something about it. Speaking of rewrites...

0byZero: Sorry if I misunderstood, but are you suggesting they argue about where to go next, then race? If so, I thank you for the suggestion, but that could never work out. No restriction would do anything for Tats.

Scarletrailgun: Can't find it. Please pm me a link when you have the time. Thanks.

The Love of Reading: Let me know if it feels too slow or rushed!

Bochinator: About time.

You10: Thanks. Please tell me if your opinion ever changes. OOC means 'Out Of Character', simply meaning when you write a character so they don't feel like the original. As for Nozomi... I got plans.


Please view previous chapters for credits. Thank you, and have a nice day.