Three-Section Staff Lily

The very first match began.

Since Vaccine Man knew absolutely nothing about the game or its controls, he could only mash the buttons on the controller.

As a result, Saitama scored a flawless victory over Vaccine Man in the first round.

Saitama won the next few rounds as well.

He still remembered losing all ten matches against Bai Ye last time. Now, he had finally managed a winning streak.

That left Saitama thrilled, and he enjoyed himself more with every match.

"Haha, I won again!"

Saitama shouted happily when he reached six consecutive wins.

Beside him, Vaccine Man had initially found it all dull. Humans were utterly idiotic to play such a boring game.

But as his losses kept piling up, he gradually started getting annoyed.

Wasn't losing to a human at something so pointless a humiliation in itself?

And so, Vaccine Man began actively learning the controls.

As Vaccine Man's execution and game sense steadily improved, Saitama gradually realized something was wrong.

"This guy... is actually getting better?"

Saitama cast a somewhat grave glance at Vaccine Man.

Saitama won several more rounds in a row, but each victory became harder to secure. In the previous round, he had barely scraped through with a sliver of health left.

Saitama was starting to panic a little.

Meanwhile, the corners of Vaccine Man's mouth lifted slightly, and he took the next round.

"Heh. Foolish humans aren't much after all."

Vaccine Man immediately grew smug.

"You've only won one round. Don't celebrate too soon."

Saitama refused to concede.

After that, Saitama and Vaccine Man traded wins. Vaccine Man wasn't quite capable of crushing Saitama.

Precisely because they were trading wins, neither would admit defeat, and both grew more engrossed with every match.

Bai Ye, meanwhile, sat on the couch leisurely sipping tea.

Having Vaccine Man keep Saitama occupied with games was exactly what a useful pawn was for.

Still, he had originally thought Vaccine Man would let Saitama enjoy the thrill of stomping a newbie. In the end, Saitama only got a small taste before Vaccine Man quickly caught up, leaving them evenly matched.

Apparently, the guy only refused in words, while his actions told a different story. After all, his gaming skills couldn't improve unless he willingly embraced the game and learned.

Afterward, the Hero Association confirmed that this had been a Dragon-level Disaster.

Based on testimony from the reporters, civilians, and heroes present, they credited Bai Ye and Saitama with the bulk of the achievement.

As a B-Class Hero, Bai Ye still faced some prejudice. They believed he couldn't possibly have defeated a Dragon-level Monster single-handedly.

But at least Bai Ye had made a deep impression on everyone present, and their testimony ensured he wasn't deemed to have contributed nothing. Otherwise, Saitama would have received all the credit.

Bai Ye had no particular objection to splitting the credit with Saitama, nor could he be bothered to make trouble at the Hero Association.

There would be plenty more achievements to his name in the future. Half the credit for this one hardly mattered.

Besides, even making a fuss wouldn't force them to raise his rank. At most, he could go there and prove he had the strength to defeat a Dragon-level Monster, but rankings weren't based solely on strength...

In any case, both Bai Ye and Saitama rose in rank.

Bai Ye went from B-Class rank 56 to B-Class rank 5. At first glance, that seemed like quite a leap, but it really wasn't much.

After all, this had been a Dragon-level Disaster, something that might not occur for ages. The Hero Association defined a Dragon-level Disaster as a crisis that could destroy multiple cities. Its significance far exceeded that of a Wolf-level Disaster, a Tiger-Level Disaster, or even a Demon-level Disaster.

Saitama, meanwhile, rose from S-Class rank 17 to rank 15. Although there were only seventeen active S-Class Heroes in total, even moving up two or three places in S-Class was extremely difficult.

Take King, for example. Despite receiving credit for so many of Saitama's achievements, he was still S-Class rank 7. Even with the world calling him the strongest man on Earth, he remained seventh.

It was already an old refrain that rankings considered more than strength. But besides the contributions mentioned earlier, other factors also came into play, such as background, fame, and connections...

No matter how much King was hailed as the strongest man on Earth, he was still an ordinary person with no real connections in the Hero Association. All he had left was his fairly considerable fame.

"Rank fifteen already? I'm moving up pretty fast."

Saitama saw his updated ranking on the Hero Association's official website on his phone.

"Yeah, I've moved up to B-Class rank five too."

Bai Ye also checked his ranking on his phone.

"Then you'll be in A-Class before long. But before that, let's have a match. The me of today is completely different from the me of a few days ago."

Saitama was feeling confident again.

"Sure."

Bai Ye promptly sat down and launched The King of Fighters.

Meanwhile, Vaccine Man had gone out to wander around with Bai Ye's permission, though he was restricted to Z City's No Man’s Land.

Bai Ye certainly couldn't let him roam the streets of residential neighborhoods as he pleased. That would only bring trouble down on Bai Ye himself.

A little over ten minutes later.

Saitama had turned into a boiled egg flushed red with rage.

He had suffered another losing streak, unable to win even a single match.

At least he could trade blows when playing against Vaccine Man, but against Bai Ye, he simply couldn't win.

Of course, Vaccine Man was just a "Demon King Piccolo" who had only recently started gaming. Beating him at a game didn't prove anything...

"I'm done. I'll practice for a few more days and challenge you again next time."

Saitama knew he had no chance of beating Bai Ye today, but he believed his hard work would let him win someday. After all, that was how he had gone bald.

But fighting strength and gaming skill were ultimately different things. Saitama might have unrivaled talent in combat, allowing him to keep breaking his limiter, but his gaming talent was no better than an ordinary person's.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't beat King's maxed-out gaming talent, nor could he beat Bai Ye's practically cheat-like Mangekyō Sharingan.

[Ding! The host has defeated a Tiger-Level Monster. Reward received: 10 points!]

Another Tiger-Level Monster appeared in Z City that day. The instant Bai Ye heard the news, he teleported over and, naturally, killed it in a single blow.

Afterward, he reported it to the Hero Association as usual. His ranking rose again, bringing him to B-Class rank 4.

But climbing any higher would be more difficult, because the top B-Class spots were monopolized by the [Blizzard Group]. Breaking into the top three was difficult, and stepping over the [Blizzard Group] to advance to A-Class was harder still. Put simply, it came down to "connections." With a lone hero who had little backing on one side and the largest faction, the [Blizzard Group], on the other, the Hero Association would obviously favor the [Blizzard Group].

After glancing at the spot where his name had settled on the rankings, Bai Ye was about to head home when he suddenly noticed someone discreetly asking around about him.

It was a girl who looked familiar to him, with black hair tied in a single ponytail, though portions of her bangs and ponytail were dyed cyan. She wore a black suit and a lily hair ornament, and her bust didn't quite match her youthful face.

Wasn't she Lily from the [Blizzard Group]?

She was Three-Section Staff Lily, Fubuki's personal assistant.

But Lily didn't seem to have learned anything useful yet. After the person she had just questioned shook their head, she prepared to ask someone else.

As luck would have it, she turned around and came face-to-face with Bai Ye.

"Excuse me..."

Lily had only just opened her mouth to ask when she suddenly realized the blood-eyed young man before her looked rather familiar.

Blood-red eyes?

And that face...

Apparently recognizing Bai Ye, Lily's expression froze.

P.S. That's all four updates for today. As always, gifts would be appreciated~