Z-City, Hero Association Branch.
Click—Click—Click…
"Group Leader! Group Leader!"
The sound of high heels advancing on the mirror-like marble hallway suddenly stopped.
Wine-red high heels revealed two long, straight legs wrapped in black stockings. Their owner wore a tailored Hero Association uniform with a fitted pencil skirt that traced a perfectly seductive S-curve. Golden wavy curls framed her face, and she wore wine-red glasses that matched her shoes.
It was Lanie.
She held a stack of documents against her chest with one hand and pushed up her glasses with the other, "What's so urgent that you're looking for me?"
"Headquarters just updated the latest hero rankings, and they've finally confirmed the hero names and ranks for the two potential heroes we reported!"
"So that's what this is about." Lanie nodded, her gaze turning cold, "Those useless parasites at headquarters are as inefficient as ever. We've repeatedly emphasized these heroes' combat levels, yet they still dragged it out this long... Never mind, let's go to the meeting room first."
"Yes!"
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"Lord Johnson! Are you Lord Johnson?"
Johnson had just left the bubble tea shop near the police station, straw between his lips, when two sweaty men in black suits blocked his path.
"I'm Johnson. And you two are?"
"Lord Johnson, we finally found you!" One of the young men, wearing sunglasses and an earpiece, wiped his sweat, "We're staff from the Z-City branch of the Hero Association. We've been sent to invite you..."
BOOM—
Suddenly, the earth shook violently!
Intense vibrations and thunderous sounds came from the distance. The surrounding buildings began to shake and sway. The two Hero Association staff members stumbled, only kept from falling by Johnson's telekinesis.
People in the streets ran in terror, shouting in panic as fear spread through the crowd. The recently installed emergency broadcasts along the roads began their announcement.
"Emergency broadcast! Emergency broadcast! A giant unidentified monster has appeared in Z-City urban area, suspected disaster level: Demon! Please proceed immediately to the nearest shelter and await rescue under staff guidance!"
"Repeat broadcast! Z-City urban area..."
{T/N: Demon: Threat of a city's functionality stopping or destruction.}
"Whatever you need to tell me can wait. I need to head over there first." Johnson steadied the two staff members, then rose into the air, flying toward the monster's rampage.
"Ah, but... he's already gone?"
"Can't even see him anymore — so fast! As expected of Z-City's first A-Class hero!"
"But we haven't completed Lady Lanie's task..."
"What can we do in this situation? Let's ask the Group Leader to handle it personally..."
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Z-City, Shelter Nr. 7.
The Hero Association had tried various approaches to emergency response. Among these, city shelters were now one of their key projects.
Using the Association's immense resources, they built multiple large-scale shelters in major cities. These facilities came equipped with powerful defense systems designed to repel all types of attacks during disasters.
This strategy served two purposes: buying time for heroes to arrive and maximizing citizen survival.
Today, Z-City's shelter was packed with shaken citizens, its defensive systems fully operational. This could only mean one thing — a monster attack.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Residential buildings collapsed under mysterious attacks, sending clouds of dust in all directions. In moments, several thriving districts had transformed into hellscapes.
Through the billowing smoke emerged a massive figure nearly as tall as the city's elevated highway. It had strong jointed limbs, sharp mouthparts, and an armor-like carapace resembling alloy. A grotesque, ugly human face grew from its head, completing the form of an overfed giant insect.
Monster: 170,000-Year-Old Cicada Larva!
Disaster level: Demon!
Professional heroes in the vicinity rushed to battle immediately. They were C-Class Rank 299 "Grad School Graduate", C-Class Rank 140 "Red Muffler", and the promising rookie B-Class Rank 64 "Darkness Blade".
The three young heroes joined forces and after an intense battle, they finally succeeded in... being driven back by the monster.
Fortunately, they escaped with their lives, retreating with the crowd into the shelter, covered in dirt and dust.
Seeing these supposedly powerful heroes looking so pathetic, many self-proclaimed Hero Association supporters lost their composure.
"Hey, hey, hey! What kind of heroes are you idiots supposed to be?!"
"Are you kidding me? Why are you hiding in here too? What if you lead the monster here? Then what?"
"Useless! Absolutely useless! And to think I donated a decent sum to the Hero Association just days ago!"
The defeated heroes had no defense against these accusations. They had reached the limits of their abilities. Simply escorting a large number of civilians safely into the shelter was already fulfilling their duty.
For that effort, many grateful voices could also be heard. Quite a few rational citizens were present who understood that a monster attack was no joke.
With the shelter doors completely sealed, at least those inside were safe.
As for the psychotic monster outside — its hide impervious to blades — it wasn't something these ordinary B and C-Class heroes could handle. Defeating an enemy of this level was impossible, would never be possible in their lifetime. Red Muffler suggested they could only hide in the shelter and wait for the monster to die of natural causes.
Hearing this defeatist statement, the trapped crowd erupted into chaos.
"...Bastard! What kind of talk is that?"
"Are you kidding me? Waiting for that monster to die naturally — how many years would that take?"
...
"This is troublesome..." In the crowd, an ordinary-looking young man with black hair listened to people's discussions as sweat beaded on his forehead, "Where exactly did they say this place is?"
"This is a shelter." A nearby office lady with long straight black hair replied, offering a relieved smile, "Once you're in here, you're safe. We're finally out of danger!"
"That makes it even more troublesome..." The black-haired young man scratched his head in frustration, earning a confused look from the lady, "I was following those self-proclaimed heroes hoping they'd lead me to the monster — not to a shelter. By the way, can that door be opened?"
"Uh..." The office lady blinked, struggling to understand his reasoning, "I suppose it will open once other heroes arrive and deal with the monster destroying the city?"
"Oh, so it can be opened! That's good!"
Hearing this, the black-haired young man's face lit up as he immediately pushed through the crowd toward the door.
The office lady: "Huh?"
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T/N: Favorite, comment and save to your library of best reads in the world, thank you for reading this far!
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