I Am Iron Man

"I am Iron Man. Please recommend and bookmark."

"Stark Industries suffered a massive explosion last night. Witnesses claimed... Fortunately, one of Tony Stark's bodyguards..."

On television, a Press Conference concerning last night's massive explosion at Stark Industries was being broadcast live, while Rhodey stood onstage, spouting nonsense with a straight face.

Backstage, in the preparation room of the Press Conference.

Pepper Potts kept dabbing and smearing makeup across Tony's face, doing her best to conceal the small cuts on it—at the very least, making Tony look as though he had nothing to do with what had happened the previous night.

Tony Stark flipped through the newspaper. "Iron Man. It's a pretty catchy name. Just not very accurate—this thing is made of Gold-Titanium Alloy!"

But when Tony turned to another edition, he immediately grew displeased. "The massive explosion happened at Stark Industries. The R&D Center building practically set off fireworks, yet I'm not on the front page? Those reporters have no eye for news!"

Staring at the huge photo of Wind God dominating the front page, Tony Stark found it more and more irritating the longer he looked at it.

Wind God? Silver Armored War God?

You got lucky this time. From now on, every front page headline would be his!

Seeing Tony looking like a jealous child, Pepper smiled. "You were both wearing armor at the time. Who would have known you were Tony Stark?"

Hearing that only made Tony even more annoyed.

Wasn't Pepper practically reminding him that his Mark had performed worse than Wind God's in last night's battle?

It wasn't a fair loss!

Was he supposed to tell Pepper that Mark III had not lasted long enough because Obadiah had ambushed him and stolen his arc reactor?

A loss was a loss!

Tony Stark was not someone who could not accept defeat. But next time, he would definitely win it back!

"Rimuru isn't coming after all?" Tony asked curiously.

Pepper nodded. "Rimuru said she checked the almanac, and today is a good day for pulling cards. Whether she can get Illya depends on today!"

Tony Stark: "..."

He had actually lost to some shut-in who loved obsessing over fictional characters. The composure he had only just recovered was instantly shattered, and his rebounding unwillingness nearly became tangible.

With Pepper's help, Tony Stark changed into a sharp suit, and his whole demeanor immediately transformed.

At the same time, Coulson entered carrying a stack of prepared remarks.

Ever since his last investigation into Rimuru had failed, he had been left out in the cold.

The task of helping Tony Stark clean up the loose ends and completely eliminate the negative fallout from the robot battle was something Coulson had actively volunteered for.

To him, this was a heaven-sent opportunity to redeem himself and regain Director Nick Fury's trust.

Coulson was quite confident about it. He had handled more cases like this than he could count.

"It's all been arranged. At the time, you were having a party on a yacht with Miss Pepper and knew nothing about any of this. There were over thirty people on the yacht, and every one of them can testify for you."

Tony Stark looked at the sheet filled with talking points and casually flirted, "A party with more than thirty people? Can't it just be two? Pepper and me!"

Pepper said nothing. She simply tore off the tape stuck to Tony's face—the tape specifically used to hide his wounds—with considerable force.

Tony winced in pain and immediately dared not keep talking nonsense.

"Why isn't Stan mentioned here?"

Coulson said, "We handled it. He went on vacation. Small planes have always had a rather high accident rate..."

Tony was speechless. "Don't you think this sounds too much like a movie script? Saying one of my bodyguards somehow got hold of a robot..."

Coulson remained patient. "Mr. Stark, that is not my primary concern. Just read the statement, and this will all blow over soon enough."

At the Press Conference.

When Tony walked in, Rhodey—who had been talking so enthusiastically that he had nearly talked himself into a corner—wisely surrendered the stage to his best friend.

"It's been a long time since my last Press Conference. I think I'll stick to reading from the script this time!"

The nearly teasing tone immediately drew laughter from all the reporters seated below.

At the last Press Conference, Tony had opened his mouth and directly shut down Stark Industries' weapons division.

That had been a huge story, one that had earned nearly every reporter present a hefty bonus.

It had undoubtedly been a very pleasant experience!

Camera flashes went off continuously as the reporters competed to take pictures, but Tony was clearly long accustomed to such scenes.

"Some have suggested that I was involved in last night's incidents on the highway and rooftop—"

However, before Tony could finish, a reporter interrupted him.

"Sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you really think we're going to buy that? That one of your bodyguards magically appeared in armor? Doesn't that sound a little far-fetched?"

Everyone turned to look at the reporter, Stark included.

In an instant, Tony Stark recognized her—Christine, a reporter from Vanity Fair.

She was someone who had once spent an entire night in a room with him studying foreign languages!

"You could question the official statement, but don't make baseless accusations or imply that I'm a superhero."

Christine: "I never said you were a superhero."

Tony Stark froze for a moment. "You didn't? Yeah, it does sound too sci-fi. I'm not hero material. I have so many character flaws, and I've caused everyone so much trouble..."

Seeing Tony start rambling again and get flustered by a reporter exploiting a verbal loophole, Rhodey was rendered speechless. He couldn't help reminding him, "Stick to the script."

"Okay, okay."

Tony nodded, indicating that he understood.

Tony Stark picked up the slip of paper and was about to read the lines written on it when he suddenly seemed to think of something.

He put down the script, looked straight ahead, and said, "I am Iron Man!"

The moment those words fell, the entire venue exploded.

Countless flashbulbs went off. The reporters even disregarded order at the scene, all surging forward and surrounding Tony Stark so tightly that not even water could pass through.

"Mr. Stark, you're Iron Man? Then which suit were you wearing at the time? Was it this cool bright silver one?"

Tony Stark's face darkened. Way to bring up the one thing he didn't want to talk about!

Seeing the sour look on Tony's face, the reporters immediately caught on and said in disappointment, "So you were the one wearing the burgundy suit!"

Tony Stark's face darkened even further. Sorry I'm not the Silver Armored War God you all had in mind!

"Forgive me for being blunt, but according to videos taken by tourists last night, your performance wasn't exactly impressive. Mr. Stark, do you know who that superhero in the silver suit is?"

"Mr. Stark, was everything Colonel Rhodey said earlier true? Is that Silver Armored War God really one of your bodyguards?"

"Oh, my god! Mr. Stark, you aren't planning to claim all the credit for your bodyguard, are you?!"

"Mr. Stark, could you tell us the true identity of that Silver Armored War God?"

Tony Stark: "..."

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!

Shouldn't this have been his showtime?

Why had every topic shifted to Rimuru?

Silver Armored War God? Pah!

The scene was unbelievably heated. In one corner, Coulson stood alone in the wind, shivering.

He wasn't afraid of godlike opponents—what he feared were piglike teammates!

Even an ace operative like him couldn't carry Tony Stark!

Say, could he report everyone present?