Sweet Mask listened silently as the Hero Association delivered its report on the incident.
After hearing everything, he stood and said,
"Use every available resource to find him. He must still possess some self-awareness. If he had completely lost control, no one at the scene would have survived."
"If we do nothing now, the situation will only grow worse. Once he is found, I will make contact with him personally."
Ren put on a regretful expression.
He claimed that he had been close to Kou and had never expected him to become something like this. He also expressed deep regret that he had been too far away to reach the battlefield in time.
After hearing him speak, Sweet Mask glanced at Ren without saying anything.
Then he stood and left.
He had the feeling that Ren was similar to him.
He was always wearing a mask.
That was why Sweet Mask had repeatedly urged the Hero Association to be extremely cautious when evaluating S-Class Heroes.
How could someone be promoted to S-Class simply because they possessed enough power?
Perhaps there was no hero in the entire Hero Association purer than Kou.
Ren watched Sweet Mask leave with quiet disdain.
He was nothing more than a monster hiding beneath human skin, yet he truly believed himself to be a hero.
The moment his real appearance was revealed, humans would certainly reject and despise him.
They might even respond with open hatred and hostility.
There was no reason to waste much effort dealing with someone like that.
At that moment, Ren was considering his next move.
Unfortunately, he had no good ideas.
When he had been weak, he had relied heavily on his intelligence.
But after becoming powerful, most of his opponents had been so foolish that they were almost laughable.
His mind had not faced a genuine challenge in a long time.
As a result, when he finally encountered a situation that required serious thought, he no longer knew what to do.
Just then, a voice suddenly sounded in Ren's ears.
[Do you wish to obtain greater power?]
"Who are you?"
Ren frowned as he spoke.
The Hero Association staff around him appeared not to notice anything and continued discussing their work.
[You may call me God. I can feel the desire within your heart. You wish to obtain greater power.]
[With greater power, you could better enjoy the life you desire, gain higher status, and possess even more beautiful women.]
[You are an extremely selfish person. I can sense that clearly. Do not deny it.]
[The only things you have ever truly cared about are your own happiness and whether your life can remain pleasurable.]
[I am very satisfied with you. Are you willing to accept the power I offer?]
[Combined with the abilities you possess from beyond this world, this power will allow you to advance rapidly in a very short time.]
[However, there is a price. You must become an enemy of humanity. You must kill enough humans in this world.]
Ren immediately understood that the being speaking to him was the mysterious entity known as God, an existence resembling the ultimate villain of the One-Punch Man world.
God's exact level of strength was impossible to measure.
Yet even a small portion of its power had been enough to transform an ordinary homeless man into a Dragon-level monster.
"I am human. You want me to kill other humans? How could I possibly do that?"
[What makes you human?]
[Those humans grow old, become sick, and die. You do not.]
[Your soul and body have already merged into one. You are immortal, and you possess what could be called limitless energy.]
[To you, those humans are nothing more than ants who happen to resemble you.]
"...But I was human once. Besides, if I become an enemy of humanity in this world, I doubt it will be long before someone kills me."
[I know. You are referring to the man named Saitama.]
[But he is merely a brute with overwhelming physical strength. You need only transform into a spiritual state. No matter how powerful his fists are, what could he possibly do to you?]
[And if that is still insufficient, create more chaos to distract him, just as you did before. Would that not solve the problem?]
"...Then you should know that another being like me, someone who does not belong to this world, is also hiding here."
[I know nothing of such a being.]
[From beginning to end, I have detected only two individuals who do not belong to this world.]
[One is you.]
[The other is the man who calls himself Kou.]
"What?"
Ren froze.
He had never expected that after everything he had considered, Kou was simply another System holder whose amnesia had been genuine.
All those elaborate theories and plans had been the result of his own overthinking.
"Could the other person simply be hiding too well for you to detect them?"
[I can easily identify power that does not belong to this world.]
[When you first arrived, I immediately sensed your incompatibility with this reality.]
[The same is true of the man named Kou. Neither of you belongs here.]
"He appeared suddenly?"
[Yes. Extremely suddenly.]
[Although some traces of the power within him share similarities with this world, much of it is completely foreign.]
[He possesses no past.]
[His existence began abruptly.]
Ren almost laughed in anger.
After all that, he truly had been overthinking everything.
Still, his caution had not been entirely foolish.
The dark form Kou had entered posed a genuine threat.
Furthermore, Kou was currently suffering from amnesia. Had Ren attacked him earlier and created a life-or-death crisis, it might have triggered the recovery of his memories.
That could have caused serious trouble.
But none of that mattered now.
[Hidden Mission triggered.]
A notification from Ren's System appeared.
[Hidden Mission: Good and Evil]
[Mission Introduction: You have attracted the attention of this world's God. It will directly grant you the energy required to break through to the Fourth Rank. However, everything has a price. Are you willing to pay it?]
[Mission Objective 1: Accept God's gift. You must kill no fewer than ten million humans in this world.]
[Failure Penalty: Lose all abilities and become an ordinary person.]
[Mission Objective 2: Reject God's gift. God will place a temporary curse upon you, causing you to encounter various powerful enemies. During this period, all points gained from killing monster-type units will be doubled.]
[Failure Penalty: None.]
Ren stared at the mission panel before him.
He thought for a long time.
By the time the sun had set, the Hero Association staff around him had already finished their work and gone home.
Throughout that entire period, God did not hurry him.
It simply waited in silence.
"That's right."
"From beginning to end, I have always been a selfish person."
In the end, Ren made his choice.
He accepted God's gift.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)