That Woman

Bashful Student and Wash-Cut-Blow were still a little dazed after being rescued. They would probably need a while to recover.

"Keep an eye on them."

After leaving Pointed-Head Man with those words, Bai Ye instantly used the Flying Thunder God Technique.

"Oh, okay..."

Pointed-Head Man had barely answered when he looked up and found that Bai Ye had vanished without a trace.

Startled, he looked around and finally spotted Bai Ye over by Rose Dog.

"?!"

But one glance left Pointed-Head Man dumbfounded. Rose Dog's head had already been severed from its body.

The Flying Thunder God Technique was simply too fast. A moment earlier, Bai Ye had teleported in front of Rose Dog through the Flying Thunder God Mark on its head, seamlessly following up with a smooth slash of the Red Night Blade. He had decapitated Rose Dog before it could react.

[Ding! The host defeated the Tiger-Level Monster "Rose Dog." Reward received: 15 points!]

Clearly, Rose Dog was a little stronger than the average Tiger-Level Monster.

Bai Ye remembered receiving 10 points for defeating a Tiger-Level Monster last time. This time, he had earned a little more.

Tiger-Level Monsters varied in strength, after all, with ranks such as Tiger-Low, Tiger-Mid, Tiger-High, and Tiger-Peak. The gap between Tiger-Low and Tiger-Peak was enormous.

Rose Dog probably qualified as Tiger-Mid.

Having successfully decapitated Rose Dog, Bai Ye teleported back to Pointed-Head Man.

"They should be fine. They're just a little dazed from you crashing into them."

Bai Ye checked Bashful Student and Wash-Cut-Blow and confirmed that neither was in mortal danger. Then he vanished again, carrying Rose Dog's head.

Only Pointed-Head Man remained, standing there in a daze. Just who was that young man?

An A-Class Hero?

Or even an S-Class Hero?

Such a troublesome Tiger-Level Monster had been killed so effortlessly, so quickly that he hadn't even seen it happen.

Some B-Class Heroes could defeat Tiger-Level Monsters single-handedly. The standard of five B-Class Heroes to one Tiger-Level Monster was only a guideline. But he didn't think any B-Class Hero could kill one so effortlessly...

Maybe Hellish Blizzard, the top-ranked B-Class Hero, could do it...?

Still, Pointed-Head Man wasn't in the mood to speculate about that young man's identity anymore.

Bashful Student and Wash-Cut-Blow still hadn't recovered. Once they did, they might well blame him for making things worse while trying to help.

In an instant, Bai Ye returned to the Z City branch with Rose Dog's head.

He had left a Flying Thunder God Mark at the Z City branch earlier.

Just then, the head in his hand suddenly spoke. "Wait a moment. Could I trouble you to bring my body along too?"

"Huh? You're not dead yet?"

Bai Ye was a little surprised.

"My head can survive for a while even after being separated from my body, but I'll still die if too much time passes. I don't want to die yet..."

Rose Dog was quite honest about it.

"Fine. As long as you behave, I can spare you."

Bai Ye used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport back to Y City, picked up Rose Dog's body, and then teleported back to the Z City branch.

"Thank you."

Rose Dog even thanked Bai Ye.

Bai Ye promptly handed Rose Dog over to the Review Committee Member.

The Review Committee Member nearly went pale with fright. "Why did you bring a living monster in here?!"

"It's fine. It's behaving now. Look, if you don't believe me. Come on, shake."

Bai Ye began training Rose Dog as though it were a pet dog.

For its own safety, Rose Dog had no choice but to cooperate obediently, raising its right front paw to shake Bai Ye's hand.

"...All right."

Seeing that the monster really was quite obedient, the Review Committee Member breathed a sigh of relief.

But she still wasn't entirely reassured. "To prevent any accidents, though, I hope you can take this monster to the underground prison yourself, Mr. Bai Ye."

"It's fine. My head was just cut off, and it still hasn't healed completely. If you kicked my head, it would fall right off again."

Rose Dog spoke up, hoping to put the Review Committee Member's concerns to rest.

As it spoke, it flicked its own head with a hand. The head nearly fell off, and it used its hands to straighten it again.

"Ha... haha..."

The Review Committee Member's smile was a little awkward. Still worried, she had the staff separate Rose Dog's head from its body before taking it down to the underground prison.

After resolving another Tiger-Level Disaster, Bai Ye was no longer last in the B-Class rankings.

He rose from rank 101 to rank 56.

That wasn't an enormous jump, but it wasn't small, either.

Most B-Class Heroes weren't capable of defeating a Tiger-Level Monster alone. So after his promotion to B-Class, defeating just one Tiger-Level Monster had already put Bai Ye's contributions ahead of roughly half the other B-Class Heroes.

As for why Saitama's ranking rose relatively slowly, it was because he generally didn't take the initiative to ask the Hero Association to verify the monsters he defeated.

In the three years before becoming a professional hero, he had never reported any of the monsters he defeated. Most of the credit went to King, allowing him to coast all the way to seventh place in S-Class without lifting a finger. Of course, that wasn't to deny King's extraordinary presence and courage.

Even after joining the Hero Association, Saitama remained fairly laid-back about it. For instance, the Hero Association had no idea that he had defeated Boros.

Bai Ye, on the other hand, promptly reported every monster he defeated, so naturally his ranking rose quickly.

He could joke around all he wanted, but he wasn't going to mess around when it came to system rewards.

When he advanced to B-Class, for example, he had received not only points but also the Flying Thunder God Technique, an S-rank Space-Time Ninjutsu. Who knew what surprises awaited him when he later advanced to A-Class Hero and S-Class Hero?

Bai Ye didn't leave the Hero Association right away, stopping in the lobby to check his ranking on the Hero Roster.

Just then, someone greeted him from behind.

"You're Bai Ye, the guy who just got promoted to B-Class recently, right? I heard you defeated another Tiger-Level Monster today. That's incredible. You're nothing like a rookie."

"Not only that, you also taught B-Class's Tank-Top Black Hole and Tank-Top Tiger, the sixth-ranked C-Class Hero, a lesson. You're frighteningly strong."

Bai Ye turned and saw two heroes he didn't recognize.

"I'm Bai Ye."

Bai Ye nodded in acknowledgment.

"Bai Ye? That's your real name, right? Looks like you don't have a hero alias yet. You are a rookie, after all..."

One of them continued, "Since we happened to run into you, here's a little heads-up. Heroes who've just advanced to B-Class should go pay their respects to Hellish Blizzard, the top-ranked hero in the class. Otherwise, that woman will come after you."