The Hero Association's Z City Branch

At the system's reminder, Bai Ye suddenly remembered that the Hero Association really did have such a rule.

Since there were so many C-Class heroes, and their strength was generally quite low, the association periodically removed useless C-Class heroes from its roster in order.

Even so, there were nearly four hundred active C-Class heroes.

In the world of One-Punch Man, humans were not the only beings around. Monsters existed too.

Monsters could be humans who had mutated due to excessive stress, bad habits, genetic mutations, and other causes, or undergone technological modification. They could also be animals mutated by environmental pollution and other factors, special beings such as Subterraneans and Seafolk, or even aliens...

Simply put, monsters threatened human society and caused human casualties, so heroes emerged to fight them.

Years ago, there had been no such thing as professional heroes, only ordinary people who acted as heroes of their own accord. That changed after Saitama saved Double-Chin Boy, who was the grandson of the wealthy Agoni...

In gratitude to the hero who had saved his grandson, Agoni invested a massive fortune in establishing the Hero Association. From then on, professional heroes became a recognized occupation.

Bai Ye was now one of those many professional heroes, though he was only a C-Class hero, the lowest rank.

C-Class, B-Class, A-Class, and S-Class were the Hero Association's professional ranks.

Likewise, the Hero Association classified the disaster levels posed by monsters as Wolf, Tiger, Demon, Dragon, and God, also ranked from weakest to strongest.

"Oh, Mr. Bai Ye, you're here."

Just as Bai Ye entered the Hero Association's Z City branch, a staff member in a suit greeted him.

Bai Ye had no memory of this staff member, but the man seemed to know him, so he could only smile and nod as though they were acquainted.

"Mr. Bai Ye, it looks like you're about to be removed from the roster. Today's already your sixth day on the Hero Roster. If you don't perform some heroic activities soon, you'll be removed."

The staff member kindly reminded Bai Ye.

"Thanks for the reminder. I'll keep that in mind."

Bai Ye nodded.

"Good. I was worried you'd forgotten."

Then the man suddenly remembered something else and continued, "Also, although the Hero Association's main job is fighting monsters, don't actually go looking for one to fight. C-Class heroes should generally focus on subduing criminals. Monsters are still too dangerous for you."

"I understand."

Bai Ye said nothing more on the subject.

"I'll get back to work, then. If you need any help, Mr. Bai Ye, feel free to come find me."

With that, the staff member turned away to attend to his own work.

Yet shortly after leaving, he suddenly realized something. "Huh? When did I meet that Bai Ye fellow...?"

"Never mind. Maybe staying up late these past few days has been messing with my memory."

Although he found it a little strange, he did not dwell on it. After all, the Hero Association had so many C-Class heroes, especially newcomers who came and went, sometimes getting removed after only a few days. It was normal not to remember one of them.

In the lobby of the Hero Association's Z City branch, Bai Ye spotted the Hero Roster on a large screen. It displayed every active professional hero's ranking, portrait, and information.

The Hero Roster was also publicly available on the Hero Association's official website, allowing the public to monitor the heroes. If people discovered a professional hero doing something unethical, they could report it directly.

Naturally, the S-Class heroes were at the top.

① Blast

② Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror

③ Silver Fang

Bai Ye's gaze quickly passed over the top-ranked heroes. Scanning down, he found himself ranked last among the C-Class heroes, which also made him dead last in the entire Hero Association...

That was hardly unexpected. After all, he had yet to perform any heroic activities and was about to be removed. Naturally, they had placed him at the bottom so they could remove him at any moment.

Still, it was a little too embarrassing...

"Huh? Unless I'm seeing things, you're the guy at the very bottom of the Hero Roster, aren't you?"

Just then, a mocking voice suddenly came from behind Bai Ye.

Bai Ye turned his head slightly and caught sight of a burly man wearing a yellow tiger-striped tank top out of the corner of his eye.

If he remembered correctly, this fellow was Tank-Top Tiger of the Tank-Top Army, the professional hero ranked sixth in C-Class.

Once he saw who it was, Bai Ye immediately understood.

This guy was not only all brawn and no brains, but had a rotten personality too.

Just ignore him.

Seeing Bai Ye glance at him without saying anything, Tank-Top Tiger immediately felt that he was being looked down on.

He mocked Bai Ye even more aggressively. "What's wrong? Too embarrassed to answer? I really never expected to run into the bottom-ranked guy here. More precisely, I never thought you'd have the nerve to come look at your own ranking."

The other heroes nearby had not reacted at first, but with Tank-Top Tiger egging them on, some began laughing at Bai Ye too.

"Tank-Top Tiger's bullying a newcomer again. He really is a nasty piece of work."

"Yeah, he's always putting newcomers down, and no one can keep him in line."

"Forget it. Keep your voices down. The Tank-Top Army has strength in numbers, and their leader, Tank-Top Master, is an S-Class hero. Best not to get on their bad side."

"..."

Although quite a few reasonable people were present, not one dared step forward. They were all wary of the Tank-Top Army backing Tank-Top Tiger.

Besides, Tank-Top Tiger had a certain amount of strength himself. He was ranked sixth in C-Class, after all, making him stronger than most of those present.

Bai Ye, meanwhile, still could not be bothered to acknowledge Tank-Top Tiger. Having finished looking at the Hero Roster, he was ready to leave and get on with his actual business.

After being ignored repeatedly, Tank-Top Tiger grew even more furious.

"Hey! You, the newcomer! I'm talking to you! How dare you ignore me, Tank-Top Tiger, sixth-ranked in C-Class?"

With an irritated expression, Tank-Top Tiger strode forward and swung a hand hard toward Bai Ye's shoulder, intending to teach this arrogant newcomer a lesson.

Although casual brawling was forbidden in places like Hero Association branches, using a little force to intimidate someone was not prohibited.

Yet as Tank-Top Tiger's large hand came down on Bai Ye's shoulder, his right hand passed straight through Bai Ye's body!

The completely unexpected miss nearly sent Tank-Top Tiger stumbling forward, but he barely managed to steady himself.

"You?!..."

Shocked, Tank-Top Tiger was about to shout at him, but when he looked up, his gaze met Bai Ye's.

At some point, Bai Ye's eyes had turned blood-red. Those eerie, icy eyes sent a shudder through Tank-Top Tiger, and cold sweat involuntarily broke out across his face.

That single look frightened him into cutting his shout short.

Most terrifying of all, his hand had been unable to touch Bai Ye just now?!