From Shinji's elevated perspective, it would still be a few more days before the Deep Sea King led the Seafolk onto land, so there was no real urgency. After planting kunai in multiple coastal regions, all he had to do now was wait for their arrival. As for the Hero Association, he had no intention of giving them advance notice. There was little benefit in doing so, and without any solid evidence, they probably wouldn't believe his prediction anyway. It simply wasn't worth the hassle.
The moment Shinji arrived in J-City, he used his teleportation technique to place Flying Thunder God markers across the coastline and then returned home. The entire process took less than a minute. When Shinji reappeared, Genos assumed he had just stepped out briefly and had no idea his teacher had already completed a full circuit around J-City, leaving markers in multiple locations.
"Master is currently ranked 5th in the S-Class. I bounced between 18th and 19th, while Mr. Saitama dropped to 16th," Genos reported while sitting at the table with a plain, brandless laptop, checking the Hero Association's official rankings.
"Dropping one spot isn't so bad. At least I'm not dead last," Saitama replied casually.
"Though I'm second to last, I ranked 7th on the Weekly Popularity Poll voted by the general public," Genos added with an unreadable expression as he scrolled through the results.
"What?!" Saitama nearly spat out the water he had just drunk. "Check where I am!"
"Mr. Saitama..." Genos continued scrolling and answered flatly while looking at Saitama's shiny bald head, "Sorry, I didn't see you. Looks like the popularity poll only shows the top 30."
"Oh... okay..." Saitama's shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment.
He was an S-Class hero too, yet Genos, who ranked below him officially, had such a huge lead in public favor?
"So why is that? We are both S-Class. Why's there such a huge difference?" Saitama asked, puzzled.
"A 19-year-old S-Class genius. Rejects media interviews. Cold and handsome type. The Cyborg Prince. Ranked top five on the Handsome Hero list," Genos listed off in a calm tone. "These are the labels people gave me based on my photos."
"You're not even a little embarrassed saying that out loud?" Saitama couldn't help but fire back.
"Not at all. Those are just others' evaluations based on pictures. Not how I see myself," Genos answered with a shake of his head.
"..."
Saitama had no words.
Curious, he turned to Shinji. "What about you? What's your ranking?"
Shinji shook his head slightly. "I haven't really looked at the popularity poll, so I'm not sure."
Genos answered for him. "Master's ranked 5th. I think he just shot up this week. Ever since he stopped that meteor, his exposure skyrocketed."
"Shinji is ranked even higher?" Saitama looked like he was struggling to accept the news.
So he was the only one stuck in the 'others' category...
Saitama usually didn't care about things like this, but when everyone around him was getting recognition, it was hard to ignore. It reminded him of the hero registration situation. For over three years, Saitama never paid attention to the existence of professional heroes, but once he learned about it, he still went ahead and took the exam.
"That's right," Genos nodded and read aloud the public tags listed under Shinji's name. "Another handsome-type hero. Black-haired good looks are great too. Only 20 years old and already S-Class Rank 5. Mysterious patterns in his cold, blood-red eyes. Rose from the bottom of C-Class. Savior of Z-City."
"So it's mainly the looks, huh? Having hair really is nice," Saitama muttered, pouting slightly.
And honestly, that was the truth. His bald head was the biggest issue. On top of that, his fashion sense didn't help either, considering he usually wore shirts with ridiculous prints like "OPPAI" or "BALD" in bold English letters.
Otherwise, Saitama was actually quite good-looking. I mean, just look at Dwayne Johnson and other bald celebrities. But in the end, it didn't really matter. He had traded his appearance for overwhelming, invincible strength.
As their conversation tapered off, Shinji pulled out his phone and opened the Hero Association's official site. Until now, he'd only cared about the official hero rankings and had never looked into the popularity polls. After all, popularity didn't earn him any merit points.
Just then, a new message from Lily popped up.
[Didn't you invite me to your place for tea? I thought about it and… it feels a bit too fast. How about we hang out somewhere outside first?]
"...?"
Shinji blinked, clearly confused. What exactly did she mean by "too fast"?
[What do you mean 'too fast'?]
He sent the message right away.
It was marked as read within seconds, but it took a few more minutes before she replied.
[I just mean… we only just became friends, and that kind of thing feels like rushing it a bit…]
Reading this, Shinji immediately realized something wasn't right.
This girl… could it be...
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. If he wasn't mistaken, Lily had misunderstood his intentions. It was probably something he had said, like inviting her over for tea, that made her think he had something else in mind. Even though she was the one who misinterpreted things, Shinji could admit that the wording he used might've caused the misunderstanding.
Most guys wouldn't casually invite a girl to their home like that, especially if they weren't close.
He had just gotten too used to people like Saitama, Genos, and Fubuki dropping by all the time. It had become second nature for him to think that way, without considering how it might sound to someone else.
After thinking it over, Shinji decided not to clear things up right away.
If Lily were the thick-skinned type, explaining would be fine. But if she were sensitive and suddenly realized she had been overthinking it, it would probably leave her feeling embarrassed or hurt. And Lily definitely doesn't strike me as the thick-skinned type.
Sometimes, saying nothing was the kinder choice.
He figured he'd clear up the misunderstanding gradually, in a way that wouldn't make her feel awkward.
[So... where would you like to go?]
He typed and sent another message.
[Let's go to a bubble tea shop or something. Bubble tea is tea too~]
[٩(ᐛ)و]
Seeing the playful emoji at the end, Shinji couldn't help but smile faintly.
"Master, is something wrong?"
Genos glanced over and asked with curiosity, "You were just rubbing your forehead, and now you're smiling at your phone."
"Probably just chatting with one of his fans again. He told me about some app... what was it... LI-something?" Saitama added, frowning as he struggled to recall the name.
"LINE, I think. I've never used it myself," Genos said thoughtfully. Then, as if something had just clicked, he abruptly pulled out his notebook and scribbled something down. "Looks like interacting with fans on LINE is also part of the path to becoming stronger. I must remember this. Once I'm free, I'll download LINE!"
"..."
Shinji was at a loss for words, but chose not to correct him.
[Have you thought about which bubble tea shop you want to go to?]
He typed the message and hit send.
[Yeah, there's a really good one near my school. They also have a lot of desserts. I think it'd be a nice spot.]
[Alright, let's go with that place, but we'll have to wait until next week.]
Shinji confirmed the plan for the following week, since he needed to take care of the Seafolk situation first.