Monster hunting

D City.

Like neighboring Z City, this city lay in the supercontinent's high latitudes. Their climates were almost identical, and there was little difference in their urban development.

The biggest difference was probably the population. Compared with Z City, which suffered from a severe population drain, the bustling crowds on these streets were worlds apart.

Comparison only brought pain. Josen sighed, then sounded off like a keyboard warrior.

It was all Saitama's fault!

A guest room at the Flowing Water Dojo.

Pop-

The snot bubble on the soundly sleeping Saitama's nose suddenly burst. His snoring stopped for a moment, and he blearily opened his eyes.

"It's morning already~ What's going on? Why do I feel like someone's bad-mouthing me?"

Downtown D City.

After teleporting over, Josen took in the local atmosphere of the neighboring city. Then, following the information he had just confirmed over his radio, he rose into the air and flew toward his destination.

"Hey! You pervert over there! Put down the lingerie on that rack!"

"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Run! That's a monster!"

"Huh... It really is a monster! Help!"

"..."

"Awooooo-"

At the BANANA Lingerie Store, a swift black-and-white figure smashed through the glass storefront and charged onto the street, his excited howls carrying far into the distance. After their initial shock, the pedestrians saw the beast charging into their midst and scattered with terrified screams. For a while, the scene descended into utter chaos.

Having arrived at the scene, Josen saw a Wolf-Type Monster with a pink lace bra perched on his head and lingerie of every color hanging from his front paws. His mouth twitched, and he stood utterly bewildered.

"...So he really is a Pervert Wolf?"

"Hm?"

The three-meter-tall Wolf-Type Monster had a coat of gray fur. His ears twitched as he picked up the voice behind him, and his excited howling abruptly stopped. Keeping his upright body still, he twisted his hideous wolf head backward, his blood-red gaze viciously locking onto Josen in the middle of the road.

With every pedestrian on the street having fled, Josen stood out all the more as he remained in place.

"Well said! I'm the very 'Pervert Wolf' who got caught stealing lingerie! The first thing I did after becoming a monster was hunt down women's lingerie all over the city! Awooooo-" His bestial instincts surged, and he threw back his head to howl before letting out a sinister chuckle. "You've got the guts to stand before me, so you must be one of those legendary Heroes, right? I suggest you keep your nose out of my business! Otherwise, I won't mind swallowing you whole! Hehehehe..."

"..."

How was becoming a monster by stealing lingerie anything to be proud of? And as for that little goal of "hunting down women's lingerie all over the city"...

Seriously, you've already turned into a monster, and that's all the ambition you've got?

Faced with the monster's bizarre, utterly deranged speech, Josen was genuinely at a loss for words.

An extraordinarily muscular purple figure stepped out of Josen's body, both hands tucked into the pockets of his skirt armor. His cold gaze settled on the perverted werewolf opposite him.

"Hehehe, no answer?" Completely oblivious to the danger, Pervert Wolf grinned, exhaling a hot, foul-smelling cloud of white vapor from his fang-filled muzzle. As though something exciting had occurred to him, his expression grew increasingly savage. "Scared? Feeling guilty? Are you trembling so badly at the sight of my magnificent form that you can't even speak? Awooo-"

"That's right. I'm no longer that scrawny, feeble human. I don't have to play nice even with these so-called Heroes... So let's use this puny human with a death wish to test out my fangs and teeth..."

"DIE!!!"

As the Wolf-Type Monster muttered to himself, his muscles rapidly swelled, exaggerated veins writhing beneath his skin like earthworms. His fully lupine head somehow managed a textbook lecher's grin. His massive body burst forward with speed and agility that belied its size, rushing to Josen's side faster than an ordinary person could track. His gaping maw spewed a foul, bloody stench as he lunged down to bite off Josen's head!

The spray of blood he had envisioned never came. Pervert Wolf felt as though something had seized his jaws. He tried to exert himself, only to find that he could not move them at all.

"...Huh?"

The monster let out a confused snort. There was clearly nothing in front of him except that short human with his hands in his pockets!

Within Josen's psychic vision, F-kid stood in front of him with both hands braced against the lunging muzzle. The jaws, despite their tremendous bite force, were held fast by two iron hands, unable to advance an inch.

"We're in a hurry. Do it."

Hearing his original's words, F-kid silently nodded and let go.

"Awoo!! Out of tricks, are you, human! Di-"

Freed from his restraints, Pervert Wolf threw back his head and howled, unaware that a thick-knuckled fist was closing in.

After a long windup, a plain, unadorned hook slammed into the monster's cheek. Its terrifying force cut off the villain's speech, punching through the air to form a vacuum and unleash a piercing sonic boom!

Bang-

A furry, headless corpse swayed and collapsed. The spray of pixelated gore instantly painted an abstract work in blood across the road.

An eyesore of an R card landed in Josen's hand, its face depicting Pervert Wolf with the lace bra perched on his head.

Josen did not even look at its effect. He casually dismantled it in disgust.

[Speed +10.]

He had scraped together ten points of base stats. Better than nothing.

[Fate Draw attempts +1.]

[Current Fate Draw attempts: 5.]

"Huh..."

With the draw attempt secured, Josen glanced sideways in surprise.

Above the monster's corpse, F-kid calmly withdrew his bloodstained fist.

"Not bad in terms of strength! That speed really is painful to watch, though."

As a monster, Pervert Wolf had displayed more than enough strength to qualify as a Tiger-level threat. F-kid's charged punch had shattered his skull, the hardest part of his body. In terms of sheer physical destructive power, he had already surpassed most A-Class Heroes.

Hmm, he's almost caught up with his original back when I first started out.

F-kid calmly nodded, seemingly unimpressed. He stepped into Josen's body and vanished as the two overlapped.

"Good grief, I guess having such an aloof Stand isn't necessarily a good thing..."

Rubbing his nose, Josen listened to the information coming through his earpiece, then vanished in a flash.

A City.

Dressed in a luxurious coat, Fubuki stood with a sizable group of underlings in black suits behind her and spread both hands toward the mutated plant monster, Evil Pitcher Plant, ahead-

"Hell Gale!"

A pale blue gale of psychic power sprang up out of nowhere. Enveloped within it, the monster sealed its enormous mouth with its leaves, allowing the storm of psychic power and stones to batter its body. Sinister laughter seeped through the gap in its mouth, its arrogant demeanor making clear that the attack barely tickled.

With her underlings watching intently behind her, Fubuki knitted her delicate brows. She was about to increase her Psychic Power output and wipe out the monster in one stroke when the thick-skinned Evil Pitcher Plant suddenly burst like a balloon. The liquid that sprayed out even stained the psychic gale a thick blue-green.