Witch Special

One evening after Wild Hammer was rated as S-class, Hayashi Maki once again came to Saitama's house with food to eat.

There was no way. Aside from their shared "hobby" of hot pot, Hayashi Maki found herself unable to find anything in common with Saitama. What could a magician (or otaku) like to research within a magic field with Saitama, the strongest bald man who couldn't enjoy the thrill of battle because his enemies were too weak, possibly have in common?

But who told Lin Maki to cling to Saitama? If the sky really falls, she will only be safe by Saitama's side. For the sake of her own life, Lin Maki created a persona for herself that "the alien who will die in the kitchen", and then every now and then she would bring ingredients to Saitama's house for a free meal. According to Lin Maki's own description, apart from the hot pot at Saitama's house, she can only survive on various convenience foods every day, and coming to Saitama's house for a free meal is already an improvement in her diet. Not to mention, Saitama is very confident in his hot pot skills, whether it is sauces or pot bases, he always has them ready. Hearing Lin Maki praising his hot pot, Saitama was so happy that he wanted to have a hot pot every day.

Anyway, the raw materials for the hot pot are provided by the rich woman Lin Zhenxi, and they are all high-end ingredients that Saitama had never dared to think about before. He only needs to use his cooking skills.

At the dinner table, separated by a bubbling pot of soup, Saitama turned to watch the TV news broadcast about Hammerman again and suddenly said, "Xiao Lin, why don't you think I'm famous?"

Lin Zhenxi was currently feeding the black cat a roll of shabu-shabu meat with chopsticks. After all, they were eating hot pot, and the black cat couldn't stick her paws into the pot to get the meat, and she also didn't want her clean paws to get greasy. So every day when they ate hot pot, Lin Zhenxi would feed her the meat with chopsticks. Hearing Saitama's question, Lin Zhenxi looked up at Saitama's iconic bald head and said, "Uncle, have you ever attracted anyone's attention? You always leave after playing, and no one has ever seen you. How can you be famous?"

Although Saitama really wanted Hayashi Maki to change this address, it was obvious that his efforts were ineffective. The main reason was that Hayashi Maki didn't know what to call Saitama besides "uncle". Should she call him "big brother"? It felt that "uncle" was more natural.

Saitama's personal feelings were rather thin, and there weren't many things he cared about. Even with things like calling someone by their name, he'd gotten used to it after being called that so often by Lin Zhenxi. It was nice to have grown a generation for nothing.

So "Miss Witch" naturally became "Kobayashi" or "Maki", and the way the two people addressed each other became much closer than at the beginning.

Hayashi Maki didn't really want Saitama to receive too much attention. Saitama's power was simply on a different level from the registered heroes of the Hero Association. No matter how much those sluts tried to attract attention, it couldn't change the fact that the monsters they had to fight hard to defeat, or even simply couldn't defeat, were no match for Saitama's single punch. Once Saitama gained more exposure, someone would surely discover that he was the hidden mastermind. Even a gem covered in dust could not conceal its true brilliance. While Saitama's current downturn had lasted a while, if he changed his ways and became more outgoing, he would surely attract everyone's attention. At that point, a large group of people would undoubtedly gather around Saitama. With the arrival of these people, Hayashi Maki, who had no intention of developing a further relationship with Saitama, would inevitably be marginalized and her importance would diminish, something Hayashi Maki didn't want to see.

I'm holding my thighs tightly, and you guys come here to push me. Why are you pushing me? Do you understand the principle of first come first served?

But she couldn't possibly lie to Saitama about this. Putting aside the fact that Saitama's problem was too obvious and so easily solved, the powerful were extremely sensitive to the good intentions and ill intentions of others. They might be picky about telling the truth, but they absolutely couldn't lie. If Hayashi Maki hadn't approached Saitama with genuine intent, Saitama might have simply waved her away like a fly. If Hayashi Maki had been even more persistent, she might have escalated from chasing away flies to swatting mosquitoes. For Saitama, swatting a mosquito wouldn't have required much more effort than killing Hayashi Maki.

Maybe the latter is simpler, after all, the goal is bigger.

The strong always have privileges, and only the weak need to work hard to gain advantages. If you are strong enough, who wouldn't want to just crush them?

While Hayashi Maki's answer was simple, Saitama's thinking was actually flawed. He viewed his heroic career as a hobby, something that brought him joy and satisfaction. As for performing heroic deeds, something that would have no effect on eliminating monsters, he had never considered it.

If it weren't for the high popularity of Man Hammer this time, this situation might have continued, and the people in this world would never know what level of powerful person they are being protected by.

After hearing Lin Zhenxi's answer, Saitama's rigid mind was like a embolism that was suddenly broken. He clenched his fist and hit his other palm, and suddenly realized: "That's right, my battles with monsters ended too quickly. No one knew I was here. Of course, they don't know me."

Lin Zhenxi was speechless after listening to Saitama's self-questioning and answering. However, now was not the time to complain about Saitama's own behavior. Lin Zhenxi wanted to know what actions Saitama would take after realizing the reason for his lack of popularity.

"So, uncle, do you want to be as famous as Wildhammer on TV? When you walk down the street, people come up to you and ask for your autograph, some scream at you, and even some fangirls rush up to you and kiss you... Although it's normal for city heroes to be popular, I still feel that people here are a little too fanatical in their hero worship."

Speaking of this, Lin Zhenxi recalled examining Wildhammer's memories and coming across his daytime patrols. It was normal for heroes to be popular, but to be so popular was actually terrifying and distasteful. What did those people think of the heroes who protected the city? Saviors, their own beliefs? Perhaps they wouldn't be as enthusiastic about their own parents.

Lin Zhenxi discovered that this wasn't an isolated case. Beyond Wildhammer, other cities also saw an extreme level of hero worship. The threat of monsters had distorted the mental state of the people in this world. This made Lin Zhenxi incredibly grateful for her decision not to join the Hero Association. She didn't want to be the center of attention wherever she went, to be seen as a perfect human being, someone who couldn't have any flaws.

Ultimately, people still have to live for themselves, but everyone in this world, whether heroes or ordinary people, seems to pin the value of their existence on others. This is obviously wrong from the root. However, no one seems to realize this.

Saitama didn't hear the disdain for the registered hero profession in Lin Zhenxi's tone, or even if he did, he wouldn't care. Saitama's heroism came from the heart, and no matter what others thought, it would not shake his heroic heart.

He was still thinking about his own problem: how to increase his fame?

"So I still have to go to the Hero Association and register as a hero." He pinched his chin and pondered.

Saitama was a man of action, and once he made up his mind to do something, he would do it immediately. But seeing that it was already completely dark outside, he gave in to reality and decided to postpone the matter until tomorrow.

"Xiao Lin, let's go to the Hero Association to register tomorrow." The guy turned excitedly and said to Lin Zhenxi.

Lin Zhenxi frowned, moved her butt with some disgust, and picked up the black cat and held it in her arms.

"Uncle, you're the only one who wants to register as a hero. Don't take me with you. I'm not interested in being a hero."

"Why? You have the strength and ability. Wouldn't it be great if you could help more people?" Saitama looked at Hayashi Maki, his expression becoming more serious. Of course, the painting style remained simple, with the eyebrows above his eyes changing from "⌒⌒" to "\/".

This is a conflict of ideas... This matter cannot be simply brushed aside. If Lin Zhenxi doesn't come up with a reason for the past, Saitama may feel bad about her.

Lin Zhenxi rubbed the soft fur on the black cat's belly, lowered her eyes to look at the bubbling pot in front of her, and said, "You don't have to be a hero to help others. Or rather, 'hero' shouldn't be a term defined by the Hero Association. Uncle, you've been an unregistered hero for so many years. Does that affect your ability to enforce justice?"

"I'm not opposed to doing my best to help others, but I won't accept the management of an association led by others, and have an extra boss out of thin air. I will only do what is right in my heart, and not hand over the standard of 'justice' to others."

"Becoming a registered hero does give me access to the Hero Association's resources, like intelligence and such. But those things aren't worth putting me in a position of inferiority. Even if they have something valuable, don't I have it too? I will have contact with the Hero Association, but it won't be in a superior-subordinate capacity. At least it should be an equal relationship."

"Being a hero who protects humanity and becoming a 'registered hero' of the Hero Association should not be confused."

Saitama fell silent, but the aura he had gathered disappeared. Lin Zhenxi breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the boss was quite satisfied with her answer. He must have fooled her.