"Is this the man who defeated the Mosquito Girl?"
In a dim room illuminated only by the glow of computer monitors, a man named Genus rested his chin in his hand. His eyes, shielded behind spectacles, stared intently at the screen. The image displayed a young man who had already gone entirely bald.
"Yes. What's more, he finished her off with a single blow."
Genus raised an eyebrow at the report, though he still didn't seem particularly bothered.
"She was merely a test subject anyway. Compared to the Mosquito Girl, this man makes for a far better reference sample. No matter what, we need to look into him."
"Send some men. Bring him in."
--+--
In L-City, at the Blizzard Group's headquarters.
"Backline, keep the rotation going... Swap out already!"
"Why isn't the tank holding aggro?! How did you even die?! Where are the other frontliners?!"
"What do you mean the healer disconnected?!"
Piko's voice was a frantic mix of anxiety and sheer exasperation. Though his main expertise lay in fighting games, that didn't mean he was clueless when it came to MMORPGs.
At the very least, he had no trouble quickly figuring out new raid mechanics and shot-calling.
But the sheer frustration of queuing with random players was making his scalp tingle with rage. It was bad enough that they refused to use voice chat, but they wouldn't even follow callouts.
With the frontline wiped and the healer gone, the remaining backline players didn't dare step up to deal damage.
As the only one left actually putting out numbers, Piko's damage output alone was nowhere near enough. At this rate, the boss's enrage mechanic would instantly wipe the whole party.
"It is quite alright! Alice can tank the damage alone!"
Just as Piko felt his blood pressure hitting the ceiling, Alice surged forward, controlling her Paladin character to hold the front line.
A Paladin wasn't considered a main tank. While they possessed some tanking capabilities, their lower defense and smaller health pool compared to a standard tank meant there was very little room for error when facing a boss.
Rather than a class that traded survivability for damage and self-healing, it was more accurate to call it a warrior with a bit of self-sufficiency.
It was a makeshift substitute when a party couldn't pull together a proper frontline and healer—or rather, a pick for a solo player.
In a proper team raid, a Paladin's combined tanking and self-healing fell far short of what a dedicated tank and healer could achieve together. You could say it was a jack of all trades, master of none.
However... that rule didn't apply if the person at the keyboard was capable of parrying every single one of the boss's attacks, failing only against unavoidable, targeted hits.
Much like the instant-kill mechanics, guaranteed-hit attacks couldn't be dodged. But because it wasn't an instant-kill move, such an attack could never take down a properly geared melee character in a single blow.
And that was exactly what made Alice's desperate stand possible.
"Wait, we have a girl in our party? Is your name Alice?"
"Her voice sounds kind of young? Is she a kid?"
"What a cute voice! Is that our heal-tank?"
"The heal-tank's voice sounds a bit familiar... and her name is Alice? Don't tell me you're that S-Class hero, the Hero?"
"No way, right? Probably just a fan."
"Well, it's a pretty spot-on impression at least, haha."
Oh, so you guys know how to use your mics now? So you weren't born mute after all?
Faced with the classic gamer phenomenon of fawning over a female player, Piko clicked his tongue in annoyance.
These guys actually thought they could hit on Alice? They seriously needed to look in a mirror. Had they even bothered to ask if the Blizzard Group approved?
"Quit howling and focus on the raid!"
Piko naturally trusted Alice's skills. In fact, he and Alice had spent the previous night studying this boss and had pretty much figured out its patterns.
So far, the boss's mechanics were playing out exactly as they had anticipated.
Now, the only real challenge left in clearing the raid for the first time was their real-time adaptability.
And given that they had already mapped out the boss's mechanics, did he really need to doubt the reaction speed of an S-Class hero?
Exactly as Piko expected, having thoroughly observed the boss's attack animations and skill patterns, Alice easily used her character's shield to parry every single incoming strike.
This not only interrupted the boss's actions but also created massive windows of opportunity for everyone else to pour on the damage.
Because they were down a healer, and the frontline's demise meant the backline wasn't receiving any buffs, a single boss battle ended up dragging on for twenty agonizing minutes.
By the time they finally cleared this stressful hurdle and Piko booted everyone except Alice from the party, he could finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Even though you were only temporary companions, you all did wonderfully!" Alice praised everyone cheerfully over the chat just before Piko kicked them.
A single boss fight taking twenty minutes was indeed far too long, but managing to hold out until the very end was quite an achievement in itself.
Ignoring the flood of incoming join requests, Piko turned his attention to Alice.
"I didn't expect it to take this long. Do you still have enough time?"
"Yes! Alice moves very quickly!"
Rising from her seat, Alice offered Piko a bright smile and waved to him. "Well then, Alice is heading out!"
"Don't forget about that matter we discussed."
"Do not worry! The Hero Alice will never forget a promise made to a companion!"
Though Piko still harbored some lingering worries, he managed to force a smile. "Stay safe out there, and come back early."
"Okay!"
Watching the young girl pick up the Sword of Light and depart from the Blizzard Group's headquarters, Piko couldn't help but sigh.
Ever since the Hero Association had dispatched Alice to Z-City last time, she had been running over there quite frequently.
It seemed she had met someone she knew there, someone she apparently got along with rather well.
In just one short week, she had already gone four times. Counting today, this would be her fifth visit.
The Blizzard Group had considered tailing her to see what was going on, but just as Alice said, she moved far too fast. Even when the members of the Blizzard Group drove, they couldn't keep pace with her fleeting figure.
They couldn't just let things go on like this, remaining completely in the dark about the person Alice kept visiting.
Z-City was hardly a safe place. The people living there were generally individuals dealing with all sorts of complicated situations.
If Alice was being deceived...
At the thought, Piko's eyes practically blazed with fury.
Absolutely not! How could they let shady characters get close to little Alice!
Just they wait. This time, they had already prompted Alice to bring back the phone number of the friend she played games with. They were going to thoroughly investigate exactly who it was that Alice was spending all her time with.
--+--
On the other side of town, Alice had no idea that the Blizzard Group was overthinking things to such an extent.
After all, when the Blizzard Group brought up the matter, they had simply phrased it as wanting a contact number for Saitama's household just in case they ever lost touch with Alice, so they would at least have someone to call and check on her.
While Alice didn't think there was any chance they would lose touch, she knew everyone was just worrying about her out of kindness.
So, she readily agreed to ask for them, keeping in mind that if Saitama refused, there would be nothing she could do.
The members of the Blizzard Group had naturally nodded along with radiant smiles.
Yet, what they were plotting in their minds didn't match their expressions at the slightest.
Nothing we can do? If there's nothing we can do, next time we will mobilize everyone to put every street and alleyway in Z-City under surveillance.
We refuse to believe we won't find where Alice ultimately ends up.
Once we narrow down the specific area, we can just filter through it piece by piece.
If she fails to get the phone number this time, it'll definitely be a sign of a guilty conscience on their part. They better hope we don't catch them red-handed!
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL