Training camp in A City

His knotted, muscular legs drove down hard, unleashing a deafening sonic boom.

Ultrahigh-frequency vibrations instantly swept outward in every direction!

Josen swept his senses over his surroundings and immediately spotted the problem.

The windows of the surrounding buildings were about to suffer!

With a thought, Spider-Time stretched out indefinitely. Josen activated his ability, converting his already overflowing psychic power into tons of soul matter. Countless AT Force Field barriers snapped into place, intercepting the shock wave just before it struck!

Whoosh-

At that moment, Josen accelerated in defiance of gravity, bursting through the vapor cone in an instant and shooting straight into the sky like a water droplet!

Only then did a relieved sigh slowly fade away where he had stood.

Boom, boom, boom!

His immense kinetic energy easily crushed the air resistance. The force field enveloping his body continually adjusted, reshaping itself into the ideal aerodynamic form for flight.

Amid an unbroken succession of sonic booms, Josen climbed higher and higher.

The cool night breeze became a bone-deep chill. The oxygen in the air grew steadily thinner, and the plummeting temperature reached a level that could freeze steel.

Josen did not stop. Having broken through its limits, his body rapidly adapted to the hostile surroundings and responded.

His vibrating muscles generated intense heat to counter it, physically driving away the encroaching cold!

He was still climbing!

His surging psychic power lit up the night sky like a torch. The torrent of psychic particles formed a brilliant blue trail, which the increasingly intense cosmic rays and radiation painted in dazzling colors.

"Huh?"

Having finished tidying his new home, Saitama was drinking tea in a lounge chair on the balcony when he suddenly shaded his eyes with a hand. He saw a brilliant streak of starlight cross the night sky.

"A shooting star!"

Holding his teacup, Saitama grinned. "Seeing a shooting star on moving day feels like a good omen... That's how the saying goes, right?"

That night, countless people-not just those in Z City-saw the shooting star streak across the heavens and made heartfelt wishes.

"Josen, the chief wants to see you!"

Dressed in her uniform shirt, Kyoko came to Josen's desk with a folder held against her chest and lightly tapped the desktop with her pale fingers.

"Coming." Josen set down the case files he had just sorted and stood up. Seeing Kyoko staring blankly at him, he asked, "What's wrong, Kyoko? Is there something else?"

"N-no, nothing..." Kyoko snapped out of her daze like a startled rabbit, her cheeks flushed and her gaze dreamy. "Josen, is it just me... or have you changed a lot...?"

Following the young policewoman's gaze, Josen looked down and saw his pectorals, several times larger than hers, filling out his crisp uniform with an imposing outline.

Oh, she meant that kind of big.

Josen pressed a finger to Kyoko's forehead and pushed her aside. "All right, you've gotten prettier too. Move along. Didn't you say the chief wanted me?"

"Uh, uh, uh..."

Ruthlessly pushed aside by a single finger, Kyoko finally recovered. Her brows shot up, and she pulled a face at Josen's retreating back, sticking out her tongue. "You jerk! I'm practically throwing myself at you... No wonder you don't have a girlfriend!"

"I heard that!"

"..."

"Chief, you wanted to see me?"

"Sit down and take a look at this document."

Seeing Josen come in, Chief Xiong nodded and slid a document across to him.

Josen picked it up as instructed and skimmed through it at lightning speed.

"The Metropolitan Police Department is organizing a special training camp for officers in A City. Do you want me to attend?"

"As an instructor. I recommended you to serve as an instructor at the camp. Any problems with that?"

"...None!"

Josen was still a little bewildered when he left the chief's office.

Wasn't the normal course of events supposed to be getting sent to training camp, stunning everyone with my performance, and winning first place for the Z City Police Station?

How did I end up going there as an instructor instead?

Still, an instructor it was. Neither role would pose any difficulty for him anyway.

The next day.

The cities of this world were connected by rail. Josen boarded a high-speed train from Z City to A City and arrived at A City Police Headquarters around noon.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

Josen came back to his senses and saw a capable-looking policewoman standing before him, her hair tied in a high ponytail, dressed in a white shirt and blue uniform trousers.

She had almond-shaped eyes, an oval face, and shoulder-length hair. She looked sharp, carried herself well, and was far better endowed than a certain unfortunate young policewoman in Z City.

Sure enough, even the random girls in this world are gorgeous. Pick almost any one of them, and she could walk onto the set next door and play the female lead.

Their eyes met. Looking at the tall young man she had to crane her neck to see, the young A City policewoman proudly puffed out her chest.

Noticing more and more gazes gathering nearby, Josen reached into his jacket pocket and took out a letter of introduction handwritten by Chief Xiong.

"Josen, officer from Z City, reporting as ordered."

"Oh, so you're a trainee with the special training group..."

"An instructor, to be precise."

"Oh, an instructor... Please follow me, then!"

"Sorry for the trouble."

Following the pretty policewoman through the signatures and paperwork required to check in, Josen eventually boarded a bus bound for the outskirts of A City. An hour later, he arrived at a secret training base belonging to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Woooo-

The moment he set down his luggage, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded. The officers hurried toward the training ground, following the signs along the way.

What followed was a brutal mass conditioning session.

Up on the platform, the head instructor roared himself hoarse.

"Run! Get moving, you worthless trash!"

"As police officers, you must be prepared to sacrifice your lives at any moment! If you can't even handle this much training, how are you supposed to protect the public?"

"Anyone who falls behind is eliminated! Trash doesn't deserve to wear this uniform! You might as well hide at home and wait for those so-called 'Heroes' to protect you!"

Josen, who had just changed into his training clothes and put on his instructor's armband, said, "..."

I'm pretty sure I'm one of those so-called "Heroes"... right?

Ahem. There really is quite a rift between the police and Heroes.

By the end of the first day's hellish conditioning, quite a few promising officers had emerged from the special training group.

Judging them by Hero Association standards, Josen estimated that they ranged roughly from Class C to Class B in strength.

Among ordinary people, they were already outstanding.

As one of the regular instructors, Josen mostly coasted along while the head instructor shouted himself hoarse, recording the scores for each test. It felt easier than his usual street patrols.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

As it turned out, people only showed their potential when pushed.

Even the worst officers had improved their fitness tremendously after half a month of grueling training.

As for Josen, his daily life as an instructor was plain and dull.

His class had twice the regular training load, with three additional training sessions each in the morning, afternoon, and night.

At first, a group of individually strong trainees tried to reason with their instructor. But after Josen put them in their place with a smile, not only did they all fall into line, even trainees from the neighboring class trembled at the sight of him.

What breed of devil are you?!

Extra training until four in the morning, followed straight away by the regular morning drills-even livestock would be worked to death like this!